Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital - Blantyre

This week we got to spend a few days in Blantyre, Malawi, with WUSC. For anyone who doesn't know, Blantyre is the largest city in Malawi, and is located in the south-central region. It feels much more like a city than Lilongwe and many people wonder why it isn't the capital. We were only there a short time but I definitely preferred the landscape to that of Lilongwe's. It is set within tons of mountains and there are so many trees - it was so beautiful!

We were scheduled to depart on Wednesday morning at 7:00 am. As things often go here in Malawi, the coach bus broke down. Since they only have one, we didn't leave Lilongwe until close to 10:30 am and it definitely wasn't on a coach bus. They basically just pack as many people into the bus as possible, so not everyone has a seat. We were lucky to have seats but because people can also stand in the aisle, the two girls on the outside seats had people basically sitting on them. Blantyre is approximately 180 km from Lilongwe, but it took us over 6 hours to get there! The bus stopped every 5 to 15 minutes to let people off and then swarms of Malawians would lift vegetables, donuts, eggs, etc. above their heads to try and sell them to people through the windows of the bus. At one point four of us girls got off to go to the washroom (which we had to pay to use) and it ended up only being a hole in the ground - it was so disgusting! Times like that I really resent men, haha.... anyway as we were leaving the washroom our bus started driving away. We had to run after it a bit before it finally stopped to let us back on.

We spent Thursday at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre. It is the largest publically funded hospital in Malawi. We spent the morning in the palliative care unit with a doctor from England (here to work for 6 weeks) and a counselling officer (which are basically given all the same priveledges as are doctors but they don't have to go to medical school), quite reassuring eh... Just an FYI, palliative care is focused on relieving suffering and improving quality of life, most often in the end stages of life. We got to sit in on appointments with HIV/AIDS patients, which was so amazing. The majority were there due to karposi sarcoma (a skin cancer common in AIDS patients). I've seen many pictures of karposi sarcoma in textbooks, but nothing prepared me for actually seeing the real thing. One guy's legs were so swollen, the skin was cracking/bleeding. They gave him more gauze to wrap them up, but it was hard seeing the "doc's" not really being able to do too much besides give more pain killers, because their resources are just so scarce.

One thing that was notably different in terms of patient autonomy is that, the patients were never asked if it was okay for us to be in the same room. It was just assumed that it was okay, and although some seemed relatively shy, most were okay with it... even when they were told to undress. It just seemed so weird as a North American because patient confidentiality is such a key component of our health care system. After spending time in the palliative care unit, we went to the VCT unit. VCT stands for Voluntary Counselling and Testing which is for HIV/AIDS patients. There are several different staging rooms, some of which we could go into, and other's not, but we did get to see patients being given their ARVs.

That afternoon we were still at QECH and got a tour of the pediatrics and neo-natal wards. Within pediatrics, we were shown where patients are admitted (and their parents are counselled on HIV), had a tour of the oncology unit and saw a nutritional ward (basically for malnourished children). Visiting the pediatrics oncology unit was the hardest for me because this little girl (maybe age 2), who was sooooo cute was smilng and waving at me, but then the nurse told us her chances of survival are very small. It was just so hard seeing her so happy and knowing that she'll never get to experience life. I hate not being able to do anything for these children, but am still so greatful I had the opportunity to see what so many people in the world face every day. I know people have cancer all over the world but being told that not all kids can receive chemotherapy treatments because it's only paid for by private donors, so there aren't enough, was so disturbing.

I will never forget this day, the sights, the sounds, even the smells of this hospital, will be stuck with me forever. I wish every North American could have experienced what I did today, so that at the very least our acceptance of taxes which go to health care, our respect for health care professionals, and our overall patience with the health care system could be greater.

The rest of our time in Blantyre was spent at different NGO's similar to those with whom we are working here in Lilongwe. It was so great to see organizations that have been well-functioning since the early 90s as YOUDAO is relatively new, and therefore still trying to sort out some of the organizational "wrinkles".

We got a bus back to Lilongwe early this morning and have exactly one week left here before flying home next Sunday. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone and am so happy to have had this incredible experience. I am sooooooooooooooooo excited to get back to Canada and to spend the rest of the summer in Owen Sound. Summer just insn't summer when I'm not on Georgian Bay. Hopefully I'll get one more post in this week, and I'll definitely keep trying to load pictures too!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers!

xo Michelle

Kids, Kids, Kids...

I took these photos of a group of kids we met in a rural community outside Lilongwe. It was so dusty so you can see the dirt on a lot of their faces, but they didn't seem to mind... they're absolutely ADORABLE, and were very excited to have us in the community for the afternoon, we felt very welcome!

There will be more to come soon...

... poor poor girl

There isn't really an 'easy' way to write about what we experienced this morning, so I'll just get right into it. Again know that this is not to make anyone sad, or guilty, or feel any other negative emotions. My goal is only to inform you of some of the things we're facing which are sure to have a lasting affect on us. For anyone who is extra-sensitive, this may not be a blog entry you want to read.... sorry.

Today was our third visit to a primary school (gr 1 - 8) to meet with the gender club headed by the Youdao program - Violence Against Girls in Education (VAGE). This visit however, was different. We discussed the regular topics (children's rights, HIV/AIDS, violence) with the 20 to 30 girls but once they were dismissed we stayed behind with one 10-year old girl to document her story in English. For the purpose of this story I will call her D.

D understands English very well but spoke in Chichewa while Enock (a Youdao employee) translated. A couple years ago D's father passed away and her mother moved to another city leaving she and her younger sister behind. D was sent to live with her uncle, since he could afford to keep her, although things pretty much went from bad to horrific. At first D was just treated poorly for example by being made to do ALL the chores and walking miles to fetch water (even though there was a tap closer to their house). He became more and more mean to her, until one day he told his wife to go to the market and sent D to her room. He followed her into her room, told her to take off her clothes and began to touch her in private places. She told us she screamed but there was noone there to help her. I won't go into any more details to spare you the images but she described everything to us and believe me, if this were done in Canada - the bastard would be in jail for life. [I was able to keep my cool while in her presence but as soon as she left, I broke into tears, and had to leave the classroom (Shannon, Enock, and the teacher were still inside) to go outside and throw-up, I think all the emotions of listening to her story were too much for my stomach to handle.] D continued to live with her uncle but as she would fight him away more and more he just turned physically abusive and wouldn't allow her to eat. A while later her aunt was finally able to get both of them out of the house, but she wasn't able to support D on her own. Now D is living in an orphanage (apart from her sister) and although she is no longer fearful that her uncle may 'get' her, her teacher says she doesn't attend many classes because her stomach always hurts as she can't get the bad images out of her head. She is however still at the top of her class and has a great deal of potential if she can get past this. D has now been tested for HIV and is fortunately HIV negative.

As hard as this was today, I'm happy that we were there to listen to her, as I'm sure it helps just to discuss what happened. After we write up this case study the director of Youdao knows contacts in other partner organizations that will hopefully be able to get her some support. If I were 5 years older right now, and finished my master's therefore able to afford it, she and her younger sister would be coming back to Canada with me. For now I just have to remain hopeful that she is through the worst of it, and that Youdao will be able to help her. Her teacher is also a very positive person to have in her life and I know she is doing absolutely everything she can.

Shannon and I also talked to Victor (the director of Youdao) when we returned about putting together a group where girls who have been raped may get together to either share their stories or offer support to each other. This isn't much but maybe knowing that they are not alone could help a little bit. I feel very strongly about helping these girls and am absolutely determined to get some sort of program started before we leave Lilongwe in two weeks time.

I wish I could leave this on a more positive note, but I don't know what really to say. Perhaps i'll just ask that all of you put D and her sister into your prayers.

xo from Malawi, and looking forward to being back in Canada

Michelle

PS Please don't worry about me, I'm truly okay, this is just all part of the experience.

So Much to Write, Not Enough Time to Write It!

So much has been happening here in Lilongwe, I just wish I was able to write everything on my blog as it is happening. Today has very likely been the hardest as well as the best day since we've been here. Before discussing the events of today, I'm going to post part of my journal entry from Canada Day. I just feel like this was such a significant day here in Malawi, and want everyone to know exactly how it went. I'm also going to write about some of the fun things we've been able to do here in Lilongwe.

CANADA DAY - MALAWI STYLE!

Today is Canada Day! We got off work early for a Canada Day Celebration at the Canadian High Commissioner's house. His house was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for an outdoor party. There were lots of people there from CIDA, WUSC, and other Canadian organizations that have offices here in Malawi, and we all played volleyball - okay actually I took pictures, but whatever... Robert, the host, said that he wanted to prepare only Canadian food so we had hamburgers and hotdogs (there was even a sign that said "burgers are 100% beef, dogs are 100% chicken). There was potato salad and pasta salad as well as President's Choice ketchup, relish, and mustard - there were even cheese slices!! I'm pretty sure I ate more today than I've eaten all summer but it was sooooooooooooooo good! After the meal we sat in a large circle and Robert explained to all the Malawians what Canada Day (and July 1st) means to us. I felt so proud to be a Canadian in that moment but still so happy to be celebrating 'our' day in Lilongwe.

Here are some pictures captured at the party...

This is four of us (Shannon, Mireille, Me, Rebecca) waiting for our ride before going to the party. I think it's safe to say we were pretty excited! ... Yes we live in a pretty pink palace.... and love it... (Hannah this jumping picture is in your honour!)

This photo is where the garden party was held - that's OSHI at the table and the high commissioner's house. The volleyball net as well as all the other guests were behind me.

This is the 6 of us (myself, Mireille, Annelise, Rebecca, Alex, Shannon) at the party all decked out in Canada tattoos and stickers - all the Malawians thought we looked funny!

These next batch of photos I'm going to post are from a couple weeks ago when Fred (the assistant for our landlord) invited us to a Malawian wedding. We didn't get to see the actual ceremony as it apparently lasts for a couple of days, but we did get to see the bride and groom dancing. Not slow dancing the way we do at home but really dance/African hip-hop music kind of dancing. They hold a sheet between the two of them and people dance all around them throwing money onto the sheet (anywhere from 20K to 200 K - which is $0.15 to $1.50 CAD). People give what they can, but the main focus is to dance, sing and celebrate the marriage. There are three photos below: 1 of the bride, 1 of the groom, and then a photo of us outside the main hall with a bunch of Malawian kids (they were more excited about seeing white people than about the actual wedding)

Yesterday I was lucky to have another traditional African experience... Shannon and I, along with three other workers at YOUDAO had to go to a community to meet with a group of women regarding HIV/AIDS advocacy. We were trying to mobilize them to become involved with programs at YOUDAO. It was all done in Chichewa so we didn't understand very much but the best part was.... we got to go there by bicycle taxi! Some Malawian guys have bicycles that have a seat on the back along with handlebars and two foot rests. My driver was really fast and good at swerving over the potholes... haha... I was scared at first, but then enjoyed it so much I didn't want to get off. They charge 50 kwacha per ride which is equivalent to approximately $0.35 CAD. We both LOVED IT!

I've decided to post this entry separately from what we experienced today. I hope you've enjoyed seeing these photos and reading about some of the fun things we've been so fortunate to experience here in Lilongwe.

Workin' at YOUDAO

Youth Development and Advocacy Organization (YOUDAO) is the NGO (non-goverment organization) that two of the six of us (myself and Shannon) are working with this summer. Due to our week of culture and language training in Salima, our Safari in Zambia, as well as the couple days devoted to our workplan and budget to request sector funds from WUSC (World University Service of Canada), we'd only worked a couple days before this week. Here is a picture of me in front of YOUDAO which is located in Area 25A of Lilongwe.

Below is the list of subjects YOUDAO programs encompass. This sign hangs on the front gate.

This week we began projects from our workplan which included doing case studies on specific HIV positive patients as well as attending a meeting with school girls from one of the Violence Against Girls in Education (VAGE) meetings (I will post pictures from this later in the week). Not knowing right now the details that we're able to disclose I'll just briefly talk about each of the women we met with. Many were comfortable answering absolutely anything and even said to put their pictures with our report, so I'm sure it's okay that I include them here as well.

Our first case study was with a woman (approx 45 years) who is widowed due to HIV/AIDS. She discussed knowing that she had HIV after her husband died but she didn't get tested or tell anyone for many years after. Her husband was a 'womanizer' (her words) and slept with many other women, so she knows that she contracted the virus from him. Her children have been very supportive now, but she's desperate to learn skills so that she can support herself financially.

The second girl with whom we met is a sex-trade worker. She is 17 years old and began working the trade at age 13 when her parents could no longer afford her school fees so she had to drop-out. Her friends got her into it, but the money is what keeps her doing it. It allows her to have a cell phone, buy new clothes, and biscuits... she still isn't going to school. We were curious about some specifics which she didn't hesitate to share, there was no embarassement about her job, it's just reality to her. She charges 500 MK ($3.33 CAD) per round and usually gets in about 4 rounds per week. She would like to quit working but although YOUDAO has provided her with several training sessions (of other work that she could do), she hasn't given up the trade. Oh and get this, the bars here have rooms in the back that are rented out for this purpose - HOW CRAZY IS THAT!?

The last women with whom we met on our first day is a divorcee. This is EXTREMELY rare in Malawi, but because her husband was abusive, as well as slept with other women, he gave her and consequently 2 of her 5 children HIV. Only her youngest boy is on ARVs (anti-retro virals provided free of charge by the government). She had to escape and is now living with her 5 children in 2 rooms her uncle owns (each no larger than the average Canadian's shed).

This next woman is also a widow as her husband also died of HIV/AIDS and she too is now HIV positive. She has four children but only her oldest (age 13) knows as she worries the younger ones will be scared that she will die, which they obviously will, is this reason enough not to tell them...? I don't konw.... Her son was absolutely adorable and kept creeping closer and closer to sit beside me. He got close enough that I could see in the cup he was drinking water from... it was full of dirt, soooo sad. Here is a picture of she and her son below.

This is the last woman with whom we met this week and it was definitely the hardest situation. All the situations were difficult and many visits left me feeling sick or on the verge of tears, but this was the absolute worst. This woman has 5 kids. She and the three in the photo below: daugter age 4 and twin boys age 1 are all HIV positive. Her husband sleeps around and is abusive, but she doesn't feel that she can live without him (financially). Her husband knows he is HIV positive but wants more and more children, against his wife's will. She has already lost two children to HIV/AIDS, so YOUDAO has just become involved and is trying to figure out how to get her away from her husband.

YOUDAO supports all these women and their children to the best of their ability. As a new NGO, founded only in 1997, they are lacking a significant amount of funding. Action Aid an international NGO supports YOUDAO but they're constantly looking for other donors.

I haven't told these stories to make anyone sad, or to recruit funders, my intentions are only to inform all of you that I care about and that have supported me throughout this journey with OSHI, some of the things that I am experiencing here in Malawi. To leave you on a bit of a lighter note, here is a picture of me eating sugar cane - aka basically sucking the sugar water out of it - haha I'm not a huge fan, but I had to try it! They thought it was pretty funny as the juice was dripping out of the opposite end all over me - how classy am I?!

xo from Malawi

Michelle

Safari Pictures

So today is Malawi's Independence Day so we do not have to work. The funny thing is that Shannon and I asked 3 or 4 times last week if we still had to work on the holiday Monday and they said yes, so we were up at 6 this morning, left the house by 7 and arrived to work by 8 only to find out from one guy who was in to do some cleaning that they were closed for the holiday, arg..... just seems to be the way here in Malawi.

Anyway we took the mini bus back into town, I grabbed us coffees from the Kiboko Hotel and now here we are at the internet cafe uploading our photos and videos, how exciting!

Because it is difficult to post writing beside pictures, I will number them and then write captions below, hopefully this will work. ENJOY!

#1

#2

#3

#4 #5
#6 #7 #8 #9 #10
#1 - This is the first giraffe we saw - he was calm and looked so peaceful

#2 - The same giraffe but zoomed right in to it's face - they look so cooky

#3 - This is the first elephant we saw - the one that was within 5 metres of us

#4 - The same elephant but lifting its trunk and flailing it's ears so that it would look bigger and scare us away - he started towards our truck so the tour guide backed-up.... it just didn't like how close we were getting

#5 - This is a warthog aka Pumba from the Lion King - they were so funny looking

#6 - Crocodile - yuk, I was glad we didn't get too close

#7 and # 8 - Hippos were hard to get very close to unless it was at night. They are vegetarians but are known to kill humans if they get too close however, they will not eat us, which is great! :S

#9 - This monkey was right by the kitchen area at our campsite - I really liked the monkey's until one them stole my crackers (I had only walked a foot away) and then when I saw him and went towards him he showed me his fangs and hissed - it was so scary - but a cook rang out and got them back for me, haha

#10 - I couldn't believe how human-like the baboons and monkeys were - this guy's just hangin' out in the middle of the road

These are all the photos I'm going to post today because this has taken me a couple hours. There are more pictures to come of lions, zebras, and more... so please be patient.... I will also try to get some videos up soon too.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers!

xo Michelle

Lions and Tigers and Bears... Oh My

Ok so maybe we didn't see tigers or bears, but this 'jingle' was in my head the entire time in Zambia.... well that and songs from the Lion King.....

We just returned from our Safari in South Luanga National Park, which was to this day the most incredible thing I have ever done! It still almost feels surreal, and definitely did while in the truck seeing all the animals and SO CLOSE!! ... I don't want to get ahead of myself so I'll start from departure.

We left the Kiboko Hotel in Lilongwe on Thursday at 8:30 (July 3rd) and arrived to the Track & Trail River Camp around 3:30. We had to stop numerous times, including twice at the border... yes twice. We had to go through Malawi Immigration to get our exit stamps in our passports and then drive 30 seconds over 'no-man's land' to the Zambian border (that's right they're not the same borders) and get our entry visas. It was $50 US to enter. There were 12 of us on the safari, 6 in each vehicle, inlcuding a couple from Spain, a couple from Germany, as well as an Aussie and a Scott. The girl from Scottland has a Brittish Passport and was made to pay $120 US. The border agent said that it has become so difficult for African's to enter England, that they were now charging Brits more than double - how crazy is that! Anyway, then we went to exchange some money for drinks and anything else we wanted to buy while in Zambia... I bought a bit too much at the textile place on our way home today.... but gifts too, not all for me.... Their Kwacha is 3200 per US dollar, and everything was comparable in price to things here in Malawi, so cheap.

So after settling in at the camp (2 people per tent), we had an amazing dinner, probably the best tomato soup I've ever had in my life!! Along with a man course, but the soup was just so good! We went to bed early as our next two days had the following schedules: 5 am wake-up, 5:30 breakfast, 6:00 - 10:00 first safari, 11:30 brunch, 12 - 3:30 relax by the pool, around river, bar, etc., 3:30 snack before our 4:00pm departure for our night-time safari. Dinner was served at 8 and I'm sure we were all sound asleep by 9. In total we did approx. 18 hours of safari... and I never got sick of it! I loved it... so now on to the animals!

We became pretty used to seeing monkeys, baboons, impala, and other deer-like animals the first morning, all worrying that we weren't going to see THE BIG FIVE! Then Annelise saw a giraffe and it was nuts - huge and we got so close, likely within 5 metres and I took so many pictures! Next we saw 3 elephants and got probably within 2 metres. They leave the trucks running so that if the elephants start to charge we can back up.... and IT DID... that's right, the elephant fanned it's ears to make themselves look bigger lifted it's trunk and started towards us..... and I got it all filmed, along with the sounds of us screaming because we were all so scared, haha. It was fine though, the tour guides definitely know what they're doing. That night our goal was to see a lion and instead of seeing one we saw an entire pride, including cubs... they we're so cute, just like Simba (Lion King).... oh and speaking of Lion King there were tons of Pumba's as well (warthogs) I'm definitely watching that movie again when I'm back in Canada. Anyway we came really close to them as well to the point that it looked as if the lionesses would leap at us any second, their eyes were just staring directly at us. The cubs were playing too, oh I just wanted to pick them up to cuddle... don't worry... I didn't. They say the chances of seeing a lion is 50% so we were really lucky. That night we also got to see zebras which I was a lot more excited about than I thought I would be, considering my fear of horses... they seemed so peaceful though...

The next morning our tour guide was stopped by a South African in the park who had just come from where another pack of lions killed a buffalo. One of the lionesses had a snare caught around it's chest (from poacher's) so he used our radio to call the vet. We went directly to the scene and it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen - almost like watching the Discovery Channel or National Geographic but within meters... the pack of lions consisted of maybe 3 or 4 lionesses and then several younger lions all of which took turns tearing the buffalo apart. I have this filmed too and in the video you can actually here the muscle tearing and the bones breaking. The fact that we got to see two packs of lions was just insane! As we neared our last safari (last night) our tour guide was determined to show us a leopard as well as hyenas (both of which are somewhat diffcult to see). The chances of seeing a leopard is 20%, and of course, since we had the best tour guide EVER we got to see both, together! The first leopard we saw was pretty far away and difficult to see with only the spotlight from the truck but then we went off the path (which isn't really allowed - but most drivers don't care)... and we found a group of three together. The one we came really close to was so calm and just layed there posing.... it was by far the most beautiful creature we saw... then we heard hyenas coming and apparently since they are scavengers when a leopard catches something it has to hurry up a tree or the hyenas will come to steal it, and that is exactly what happened. A leopard killed an impala and before we knew it there were over 10 hyenas all around us fighting over different limbs of the impala and doing their creepy little laugh (exactly like from the Lion King, haha, serioulsy, so creepy). Our tour guide has been doing safaris in the park for over 17 years and said he had never seen anything like this and once again thanks to my amazing camera from Parson's Foto Source (haha, I thought I'd throw that in there for ya Dave) I got the entire thing filmed and as clear as could be! I can't wait to show everyone what we got to see within metres of these incredible creatures.

I kept changing my mind between which animals were my favourite between the giraffes (probably saw over 20), the elephants (maybe saw over 40 throughout the 2 days) and cubs... but the leopard, now set in stone - is definitely my favourite. Oh I forgot the buffalo, we saw lots of them too, but they weren't as exciting, their horns were just massive. So of the big five we saw... oh ya hippos too, tons of hippos, and definitely another favourite, how did I forget them? anyway of the Big Five we saw hippos, elephants, buffalo, lions, and apparently you can't see rhinos any more in this park.... but four of the five is pretty good and then some!

I really want to post pictures/movies very soon as well as a journal entry I wrote about Canada Day - it was an extremely memorable day here in Malawi, a Canada Day I will never forget!

I hope you've enjoyed this blog, and could handle my enthusiasm, it was just so surreal (I wish I could think of a better adjective) ... I recommend Kiboko Safaris to absolutely anyone (old or young) that comes to Africa - it is something I will hold close to me the rest of my life, and hopefully, it won't be the last safari i'll be on.

xo sending all my love from Malawi

Michelle