July 26-29, 2009

Never having blogged, we will have to see how this goes. Somethings just seem so hard to relate over the internet... 

Also, in fair warning, I get really wordy sometimes. Entries can get really long so stop at any point :)

I am currently staying at St. Andrews, a small village about 20 min outside of Kasungu, one of the larger towns to the north of the central region. I'm in the house of the clinical officer, Peter Minjale, who practices at and practically runs the St. Andrews hospital, a missionary hospital which has a "theater" (british speak for surgery room,) a labor and delivery ward, an antiretroviral clinic, an HIV testing and counseling facility, a lab and I guess what we could classify as a general emergency/treatment room. 

The people here are absolutely incredible; Malawians couldn't be kinder or more generous. I have been completely welcomed into the Minajale's home and into the community, with a 4 hour church service on Monday where I was more or less presented to the congregation. Needless to say, the church service was slightly exhausting, and I found myself nodding a bit until I was given a thoughtful awakening by a little girl that was sitting next to me. I had been playing with her all service, which was really entertaining until she decided to start sucking on her hand. She would then take out the fist covered with saliva and reach for my hand and my shirt. I tried to shift away, but was packed into the pews, so I had to accept my spitty companion. I though I was being a really great sport, and was quite proud of myself. Things were going pretty well until the little girl went onto the ground and began crawling around my feet. She decided my right foot was a good resting place and sat down on it. I was considering what to do when I all the sudden felt a wet warmth. Yes, she peed on my foot, and the worst was that I couldn't get up and move spots during the service so was forced to sit next to my peer and the puddle for the rest of the service.

Since this welcoming sunday, I have been working at the hospital. Suffices to say that it has been inspiring, depressing, challenging, and everywhere in between. The hospital workers- be them Clinical Officers, Nurses, Techs or Counselors- are some of the most amazing and hard working people I have ever seen. Always, faced with limited resources, the are supremely aware of the needs of their patients and offer care that surpasses that of many Western clinics with the world of medicine at their finger tips.

I spent most of the day today with the HIV counselor who performs the HIV testing and counseling. Though the number of those infected has been reduced from 14.6% to 12.5%, the size of the population living with HIV is astounding. Even more incredible is the fact that so few are tested and so few have access to treatment. Today, at our testing, there were 5 people who traveled at least 15km or 3 hours by foot to get to St. Andrews.

One really interesting thing about the HIV perception in the communities is that it is normally the women who are targeted as the spreaders of the virus. Though statistically, it is very difficult for a female to transmit as opposed to receive, women are the scapegoats chosen in their families. All of the tests we performed today were on women whose husbands wouldn't be tested. Apparently, men wait to be tested to see what results their wife will get; if the wife turns out HIV negative, they will consider getting the tests themselves, but if the test comes out positive, they will most likely never come and may very well divorce their wives because of their condition. Still, these women are incredibly stoic and they take the news, whether positive or negative, with incredible fortitude.

One particular younger woman was very nervous throughout the whole process. The counseling session was underpinned by the sound of her foot tapping on the floor. Extremely composed, the rhythmic tapping was the only sign of her nervousness. Happy to say, her test came out negative.

So as a last comment, and on a lighter note departing from the hospital, I went to the larger town Kusungu yesterday. So one of my favorite things about Malawi is what has penetrated the country through the T.V. Locally, their favorite productions are these music videos. Even better than the low budget ones I saw in India, these videos consist of 2 or 3 people dancing in open fields while music plays in the background. No words really to describe it, just watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqcTtig7S-8

(also I would have to say this is even more high budget and choreographed than the ones I have seen, I'll keep looking for the real thing...)

            Almost as great as these local productions are the films imported into Malawi. You look at any DVD collection and they consist of action movies, war movies and war movies. While there are tons of Jean Van Dame and Stylvester Stalone, my favorites are DVDs that literally are just called WAR WEAPONS. These DVDs are covered with pictures of Osama Bin Laden and military equipment. When you turn the DVD over to see the episodes, they detail different  desert war tactics and devices. We worry about grand theft auto, these DVDs are literal war celebrations; it is amazing that Malawians are such happy, friendly people.

            Along the same lines, there are two international figures that have attained comparable statuses of import in Malawi: Obama and Bin Laden. As it turns out, the two are equally famous and celebrated by Malawians in truly unique fashion, with cakes. The Obama cake is a big white roll topped with granulated sugar. The Bin Laden cake is larger, harder to manage by one person, and is all covered with flour. Whiter than the Obama cake, the Bin Laden cake leaves a white residue around the mouth. One wonders... Normally, the two sweet leaders are sold side by side. Dakota and I were wondering what would happen if you took half a Bin Laden cake and attached it to half an Obama cake; we figure either the world would implode or there would be perpetual piece J