I'm back!

               I’m back! Sorry for the long hiatus, there have been a lot of changes happening here. I have moved to a new charity and a new part of the country. After several months at RIPPLE I realized it was not the experience I had wanted. It was however an amazing 5 months, I had a great introduction to Malawi and met some people I know will be life-long friends. I am now volunteering under an organization called Consol Homes, it focuses on the care of orphans and vulnerable children. I am living in a remote village on my own, and I am loving it! Some things are not easy, but I am learning to cope.

                I have now been in the village for almost two weeks. It has been quite a crazy two weeks. I arrived to the village on a Friday, while having my solar panels installed I played with the kids all day. I learned where the boreholes were, and attempted to carry my own bucket of water on my head. Yeah let’s just say it was the last time I have done that. I was not about to give up in front of all of the women and children who carry much larger buckets every single day, but I did not hesitate when a woman insisted I give her the bucket. I have now hired a woman (Ester) to bring me buckets of water every day. I am happy I can give her a small income every month and even happier I do not have to do that shit again, it hurts! Saturday was spent moving things into my home, then Sunday I became sick. It first starting with vomiting, since I have a small hole for a toilet I was throwing up in my yard and then kicking dirt over it. I was laughing at how ridiculous it was, after the 5^th time it was not funny anymore. I also felt so hot and weak, I kept trying to cool down by putting my hands and feet into my bucket; it was not working. Then the diarrhea started (sorry for all of the details, I just want you to know how sick I was!). I was losing fluids so fast. I have never felt so sick in my life. Every time I would take a sip of water I would immediately throw up. I no longer had the strength to squat over my toilet or stand to vomit. I just lied on my porch or sat on the ground while vomiting. I had went to get Mary (founder’s sister in law, basically helps me with everything in life) at her home when I started to feel very ill, of course she was not home. While sitting on my porch a group of kids were just starting at me. I asked them to get my neighbor (by asking I mean I pointed to his house and said, “English?” They responded, “yes” so I made a knocking gesture). Paul came out and asked what was wrong, I told him and that I needed help. They went to go find Mary. I lied on my porch and all of my neighbors (none of which speak English) came to help. Mary finally came, I told her that I have never felt so sick and I was afraid I was becoming dehydrated so quickly, being about 15 miles from a hospital and having no transportation I was worried. I asked her if I could go to the hospital. They knew of somebody driving through the village and called him to come pick me up. While lying on the porch waiting, Mary’s mother put blankets down for me, her daughters arranged my things trying to make me feel comfortable, and they were cleaning my house. The truck came very quickly and we were on our way to the hospital. Mary went with me. We got to the hospital the driver would not let me pay him anything, which was so kind, being from one of the poorest countries in the world and knowing I was desperate he could have said any number. I quickly saw a clinical officer, he agreed that I should be tested for malaria (I think he would have agreed with anything I said). Because I am on anti-malarials I have to be tested with a microscope, I cannot use the rapid test. They called the lab technician at home, and said he would come in. Mary went to get me a cold drink, it was all I had wanted, popsicles or ice chips would have brought me to tears I think. The lab technician came and he said, who ordered this? I told him, he said, “I am not testing this, we only do that during business hours.” I said, “Is that not something you could have said over the phone instead of coming in?” I was a bit angry. So we went back to the clinical officer, I said he refused to test me and I will have to wait until tomorrow. I told them I have no way to get home for the night and cannot come back in the morning for testing unless I stay the night. They agreed to admit me and put me on IV fluids per my request.

 I used to say I would rather die than be in a public hospital here in Malawi. This illness gave me a reality check. Not only when you are sick do you want any medical attention, but also what makes me better than anyone else here? These people have welcomed me into their village and everyday lives so openly. They love me and take care of me on a daily basis. This is where any person in my village would have to seek medical care, so why shouldn't I do the same? I felt ashamed for my previous attitude about the situation, so I climbed into my bed next to the other 30 something women in the ward and felt beyond grateful for the caring community I now belong to.

Well the result was not malaria, which I was hoping it was, that way I would have a definitive answer and not have to worry about things like water and food. I am assuming it was contaminated water. I have not treated my water anywhere in Africa so I am not convinced it was the water itself, it may have been a contaminated bottle or bucket. But since I do not want to feel like I am dying again I am sticking with my water guard and have informed my family that a filter water bottle is at the top of my Christmas wish list.

So other than being sick the last couple of weeks have been full of learning my new role and figuring out what work can be done. The main project I have is to get the clinic going. A building was constructed 10 years ago, that is about the extent of what has been done. There are two medical volunteers, they have no official training, and they give out Tylenol. Other than sick people having to walk a long way to get to a clinic, for some up to 6 miles, women also have to walk this far to give birth. In Malawi one in 36 women dies during childbirth or pregnancy, this number can be drastically decreased by a midwife or medically trained professional is present during the birth. So the clinic needs to open and start running! Today I have met with some people about how to make this happen. They were both surprised this clinic existed and is not running. I have been told to write a letter of why it is needed and what I think is important in the clinic (ummm everything! I will have to be realistic though). I have a meeting again on Tuesday to see what can be done. It feels good to at least have somebody give me a job to help get things going. The goal is in 2014 we will have a running clinic and our first baby will be born safely there!

I have also had a meeting with community volunteers. There are three sections of volunteers; early childhood development (they work with preschools), orphans and vulnerable children (not exactly sure what they do), and home based care (visit sick people and children with chronic illness in their home). At this meeting I felt like some great leader giving a speech, every time what I said was translated the room erupted with applause. Then after I was done speaking there was singing and dancing. It was so touching! Then I thought, I guess I better get my ass in gear and get some work done. One thing the volunteers have requested is training sessions. The home based care volunteers have no medical training or background, they seem so open and eager to learn. I asked what topics they would want to cover, they have given me a very long list. On Monday I am doing a training session on malaria. I have invited anyone and everyone to come. I have been told they are going to bring even the chiefs of the villages, they are all so eager to learn. I am excited to see how many people turn up, and turn up on time. I have said I do not wait for people and if you come to a meeting with me it will start on time! This is a very different culture from theirs.

I have also learned many things about the community and the culture within it. They say they have a culture of eating meat, drinking, and having sex. There are many alcoholics in the community and apparently they do not believe HIV/AIDS exists in this community. This suggests the number of people that have been tested is extremely low. I have learned quite a bit about HIV over these past few months. If a person is on ARVs and their viral load is low, it is 92% less likely they will pass the virus onto their partner, this number even suggests so during unprotected sex. So having the virus is really not a dangerous or even that bad of a thing, we have great drugs now! But the idea that it is a fatal disease and passed onto everyone so easily is what makes it so taboo. One of my goals is going to be to talk a lot about this, make it more open and discussed, encourage people to get tested, know their status, and take their ARVs. This will be quite a difficult attitude to change, but I think the more knowledge and facts people have the better!

I am so excited about all of the possibilities in this community. It is nice to be in a place where I feel so needed every day. I also love living right in the community. My house always has people especially kids around, when I pull out my laptop or camera they come in swarms. I attended soccer practice last week; many people came to watch the white girl play with the boys. They loved when I got aggressive. I am excited for all of the new ways I can begin to fit in with my new community. It is already feeling like home.