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Aubrey & driver
(with the dzalanyama mountain range in the background) I guess Aubrey wasn't as there were quite a few comments made about his hair before we set off this morning. I felt bad because at first it was just the two of us waiting for our truck and he asked me if his hair was ok as he hadn't had time to comb it. To me it looked absolutely fine. There's hardly any of it after all. Hilda (matron) appeared and the first thing she said was "Aubrey - you didn't comb your hair this morning!!". Everyone found it highly amusing that I couldn't tell the difference between combed and un-combed, almost shaved, african hair. They told me I will learn.
I just got back from a long day out in the field, visiting some of the health centers that will be taking part in our project. Initially there will be 8 of them (and we will also visit 6 other villages which don't have health centers....we'll set up under a tree or something like that!). We travelled for 8 hours to visit 7 health centers. The roads were long and bumpy to say the least! It wasn't the bumps but the Westlife and Celine Dion that started to
make me feel sick. It was a great, really interesting day. I met a lot of people who I will be working with on a regular basis, looked at what facilities/rooms were available for our use and got a bit of an idea about the number of patients in the various catchment areas. We will be visiting Chileka, the biggest health center, and the only one that currently offers HIV rapid testing, every Wednesday. They have over 70 patients waiting for us! It's going to be a busy first day in Chileka! They also usually have around 20 newly diagnosed HIV patients every week. Most of the health centers looked exactly the same from the outside but inside they varied extremely in the quality and quantity of equipment, number of staff & quality of service. The nicest center actually had electricity (thanks to solar panels donated by a Japanese NGO), was very clean and well kept, and offered a lot of different services. It also had the staff to provide these services.
However, at the other end of the spectrum, there was a center with just one nurse present. She often works day and night. Actually, several centers we
Having a laugh with a family we met on our journey
They were in the fields, harvesting ground nuts. They found it absolutely hilarious that I didn't know how to crack them open. They then sent me away with a bucket of them to practise with. visited had almost no staff present. Many people just hadn't shown up to work. I asked why there were such differences between the different facilities. St Gabriel's hospital (where I am based) receives a lot of funding from an NGO based in Luxemburg. As far as Malawian hospitals go, it is in very good condition and very well equipped (it still very much pales in comparison with hospitals in the western world though). The health centers that we visited today are almost all funded solely by the government. I was told that many problems are caused by insufficient staffing and/or lack of motivation amongst the staff members. Wages are similar but they can be unmotivated to perform to their best due to lack of access to equipment that they really need to provide a good standard of care for the patients. This unmotivation is not helped by the fact that it can take several years for government employees to be fired! A letter has to be written to the government (which often gets lost) and there starts the beginning of a lengthy process. In comparison, employees of the better funded, private clinics and hospitals have access to better facilities to
provide a good standard of care, and can be fired on the spot!
This information was just from a 5 minute conversation, I'm sure there is a lot more to it than that but it is interesting none-the-less.
It was so nice to get out into the country. The scenery here really is beautiful. We were driving along (bump bump) when we suddenly had amazing views of the Dzalanyama mountain range, which separates Malawi from Mozambique. I jumped out of the car to take a few pictures and a group of kids ran over. Many of them had never seen a car before so they were very excited! We also met a family who were in the field by us, harvesting ground nuts. Hilda has now invited me over to her house next week for a meal of pumpkin leaves and ground nuts. I'm sure nsima (that tasty flour/water mix i've raved about before) might come with that also. I've asked her if she can show me how she cooks it. Always handy to know how to cook pumpkin leaves and ground nuts I reckon. You never know when you're going to need that skill.
I'm also
going for dinner at a Belgian couples' house next week. They have been living here for the past 2 years, working for different NGOs. I am helping Magali improve her English (though it's pretty good already) and worked through a powerpoint presentation with her the other day. She is going to be giving the presentation to Unicef and the Malawi Ministry of Education to tell them all about the project that she has been working on, and to make a case for their support with upscaling it. The project aim was basically to improve hygiene education in schools, covering everything from training the teachers to providing initial facilities needed, to teaching children how to construct latrines etc etc. It has been really successful and grown a lot since it started. I think I got a lot from her presentation also as at some point, I will be presenting to the Ministry of Health here, to pretty much request the same thing! It's so interesting the different people you can meet out here!
That's it for another time. I'm not sure if I told you or not but we have now bought our vehicle and we'll be getting it up
Mingongo health center
Most of the centers look pretty nice from the outside, it's the inside of them that varies greatly. from South Africa the first week in July. Myself I've been driving around a bit here, getting used to the local roads. Driving in Africa is all about learning the best way to avoid bumps/holes (at least the biggest ones) and learning what to do if a couple of cows pulling a cart are blocking your way. It's easy (until rainy season I'm sure)!
Still loving it 😊
Take care and I'll be in touch soon,
Joanna x
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Anne McGinty
non-member comment
hello
Wow Joanna! It looks as though you re havng a really great time. Your pictures are amazing - Keep 'em coming. Colette says hi! Keep in touch Anne :-)