Madonna comes to town!!

It's all over town and in any major newspaper... But , "the Material Girl" has hit Malawi and is staying in town. She is here on a humanitarian visit and if you didn't already know, she has adopted one or two children from Malawi.. Apparently she was stripped of her VIP status by the old president, but her status has been reinstated by the new president, who if you did not know, was a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

She has visited two hospitals and an orphanage.. She visited Michelle's hospital on Thursday, but Michelle was at lunch! Bummer. The other bad news was that Madonna committed to help build a pediatric ICU clinic or something but at the other hospital in Blantyre.. not here.. Of course we will  not see this come to fruition but it is needed badly here.

madonna showing malawians some moves  To my left is the newspaper article about her trip here... if you're interested in those sort of things..

The rest of us here in town enjoyed the sweltering heat and headed to the pool. Yesterday we went to our club and watched soccer and english rugby while the kids swam and hung out with friends.. We skipped the Ball last night as the kids really didn't want us to leave.. We took it as a sign that a family night was in order so we called it a family night, played cards, had a sing along and watched a movie.. Needless to say, it was needed and was a good time.. There's not much to do here and the kids are forced to have alot of time together.. I think with Michelle's schedule at work and us a large group of peers here for Thanksgiving, etc.. we needed to take a night off.

Time crawls during the weekend here and we've had a nice one so far.. We also went out to lunch with the kids here to a great little restaurant called "Lark" and enjoyed a hip little place that offered wonderful food.. I had a smoked salmon and cream cheese on rye sandwich.... The town is empty on sundays as everyone treats it as a day of rest. Grocery stores are only open from 10 am - 1 pm.. We hit the shops up early, grabbed what was left of fruit and vegetables .. I caused a long delay at the check out counter using my Visa card.. It didn't work the first two times , but the third is the charm!!. It takes forever because the have to put everything in manually which can take a very long time.  Photo below is of a woman carrying her child.. she was in front of us in line at the grocery store.. All women carry their children like this using a cloth wrapped around their waste.. Most of the time, they'll have something on top of their head as well... or on the back of a bicycle..

Nothing else to report.. kids are with Michelle right now.. she is taking a tennis lesson and the kids are swimming..  Happy sunday at home.. miss everyone.

waiting in line.. 

holiday season begins here....

Last night was a festive evening.. we pulled a late nighter here and I'm really glad we did. We took the kids and a blanket to a place called "Four Seasons" .. this is sort of like a high end shopping area with a restaurant, bar, cafe, a few shops and a garden area in the middle. There they had carolers and christmas music for a few hours... People came in droves, brought picnics and drinks and enjoyed the evening.  The kids met up with alot of their friends from school and really had a great time. There was a gentlemen walking around coaching people to sing along as well as a group of children who sang a few songs. The highlight of the night was when 4 Malawian gardeners came up to sing a song... really beautiful. This ended about 830 and kids in tow we headed to some a friends' house who lived nearby to finish off the evening. They are great people and we enjoyed talking and munching on real tortilla chips and Newman's Own salsa.. They are government employees and have access to all the comforts of home.. Kids had a Wii tennis tournament with their daughters and all was right with the world.. Plus, they are great people we really enjoy hanging out with.

Yesterday at school was international day.. Kids were dressed head to toe in either traditional outfits from their home countries or in tshirts and shorts (most americans)... Maura sported her Aroldis Chapman jersey.. I was pretty fond of that.  There was a parade, a talent show , a large picnic where you could taste various foods from each country... Below is a photo of Kate and her classmates funning a French Cafe as a fund raiser..   The highlight of the day was the Malawian dance routine... It was a mix of students, teachers, gardeners, housekeepers from campus.. It was a beautiful dance and as Maura so eloquently put it... "I've never seen the housekeepers so happy"... There is a wonderful sense of joy when watching a Malawian dance... and their singing is absolutely beautiful.. it was much better than watching some of the young american male teachers do a dance routine to "As Long As you Love me" by the Backstreet Boys... That is guts for a bunch of white guys to get in front of a gym full of Africans and try to dance.. IT was worth a laugh... See video below of some of the Malawian dance..



Today is hot... unbelievably hot.. We are headed to lunch then to the pool, watch some rugby .. then off to St. Andrew's Ball where I will get to sport my Malawian bow tie!!!...

Happy Saturday folks!

Thanksgiving was a hit… we planned on about 7 adults and 8 kids and it turned out to be about 30 people.. We had a lot of people who had no where to go for Thanksgiving so we had them over to our house. It was a really nice way to spend the holiday when away from home. Michelle did an unbelievable job getting everything prepared and I made the mashed potatoes and bought ice.. 

We were like the Island of Misfit Toys.. Everyone was displace but was really cool to come together for an evening.. Who knew you could pulled off a classic Thanksgiving meal in the middle of Africa? 

Kids were exhausted today going to school, but it was an easy day.. International day was just a big celebration of the different cultures/ countries that are represented at the school. There was  a parade, talent show and picnic that consisted on cuisine from every different country.. 

Kate had to run a French cafe’ for her French class and was required to do it in French the whole morning.. kind of cool. I’ll send pictures of the parade, etc in the next few days.. 

We have a nice weekend ahead of us.. Tonight there is an event called ‘Carols by Candlelight” at the local nursery.. Everyone comes together to welcome in the christmas season.. Since there’s no place to shop here, might as well sing instead.. Tomorrow night Michelle and I are going to the St. Andrews Ball…. As you may or may not know St. Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland.. Sort of like a St. Patrick’s day party for Scotland.. It is a dress up event, so I am planning to sport my bow tie I had made by a local tailor. 

Other than that, not much to say.. It was nice to celebrate the holiday with others… now to Christmas.. 

I should explain one of the photos… I am sporting a “crown” as they called it and a handmade purse.. These were gifts to Michelle from mothers at the hospital. As a token of appreciation, the mothers made Michelle gifts.. I think the crown looks pretty good on me… 

The other photos are from last night and a picture of our spacious kitchen during or after production.. 

Happy Friday everyone!

 ready for shopping

Happy Thanksgiving

After working all day long and on average about 12 hours a day since hitting the ground here September 6th, last night Michelle began cooking for about 20 people for Thanksgiving.. my contribution was cutting up a few onions, having a beer at the Chinese restaurant waiting to collect our “take away” order and doing the dishes.. 

We have received some canned pumpkin from our friend Carol , who is overseer of the Peace Corps here in Malawi… being a government employee she receives all the perks that comes with … well, a government job.. They can get just about anything.. in this case, canned pumpkin. Jude helped with the crust by the way..

We are setting up shop today in our home and hosting some doctor friends and our good friends and their kids who have never celebrated a Thanksgiving.. Their kids are pretty excited about trying turkey..  We have mashed potatoes, two types of dressing, turkey, pumpkin pie , and apple pie.. Bottled coke to accompany. 

It feels nothing like Thanksgiving here and quite honestly, it’s a little sad. I feel like a fish out of water. It’s hot, I’m working and I don’t feel bloated..  But I am thankful… and probably more than most years. Thanksgiving and the holidays makes appreciate my wonderful family, friends and makes me miss my parents as well. 

Living here you can’t help but be thankful for being from a place that has opportunity , health and freedom. Which we appreciate , but maybe take for granted. Being here makes me realize how plentiful life is back home. We miss everyone and hope your Thanksgiving is a good one. 

I can’t write too much today as I am getting ready to teach a class and then bust out of here to buy a few more things.. 

A few photos… notice the turkey.. the stamp reads “slaughtered by hand per Islamic Rites”.. you don’t get that everyday.. Has something to do with Halal standards.. 

Yesterday after school a giant storm hit the campus.. This was the scene at swim practice.. needless to say, kids got out of the pool shortly after the photo was taken

Ill post photos of our meal and party.. keep your fingers crossed that the power doesn’t go out this afternoon.. We need it today as we have no Plan B.

Happy Thanksgiving from about 9000 miles away.. We miss you all and will raise a glass this evening to toast our loved ones and our dear friends.. Hopefully the drinks will be cold, because there are only a select few stores that sell bags of ice.. I have to find one today after school ..  

I am hoping to catch Arlo Guthries “Alice’s Restaurant” sometime today.. If someone could let me know what time they play that at home, that would be greatly appreciated.  

Cheers.  

watchdog security

Received an awesome slip of paper yesterday from a company called "Watchdog Security".. they are this amazing security company that carts their workers around in full riot gear in the back of pickup trucks... They offer basic security as well as "added" security.. Yesterday we received this paper.. On it , one of the services they offer is they will "Door to Door Patrol and wake up your security guards at different times"... Only in Malawi... You can pay 50$ a month to wake up the guards you already pay...  

Michelle was on call yesterday and worked at the hospital until about 10 30 last night. Sad stories abound..  In her absence I caught up on my MASH season 2, while the kids were able to catch the American Music Awards 24 hours later... I don't miss the ridiculousness of these shows... My father would curse at the television if he witnessed the level of inappropriateness on these shows.... He would flip to another show immediately, but usually always ended up back to the thing that he found inappropriate .. As long as he vocalized his disgust, it was ok. 

We have our turkeys for Thursday, now we just hope for snow!!!  Thanksgiving isn't really celebrated here, so it's business as usual.. We plan on having several people over for dinner that night... so preparations will begin tonight..  The turkeys are normal size.. so no giant turkeys stuffed with steroids here.. Nor do we have a deep fryer.. Too bad.. I've never been a big fan of the thanksgiving holiday, but knowing I will miss out on the huge amounts of food and delicious drinks and family(in that order of course) .. We are missing home.. We are debating whether or not to take off for the lake on Saturday.. 

Many thanks to those people who have shared their well wishes and donations to the cause here and the hospital.. It's amazing, greatly appreciated and greatly needed.. We are so fortunate back home.. 

Below are a few photos.. The frog was found outside my classroom yesterday.. Many have told me it is poisonous. 

The video is of the giant fruit bats that come out above the Catholic Cathedral.. We were leaving church and were greeted with thousands of bats.. The video doesn't do the scene justice.. the bats were huge and there were plenty of them..  Not much else to report. Hope everyone is doing well back home. It's incredibly hot here... feels nothing like thanksgiving. 

Apparently a poisonous tree frog

A security company that will wake up your security Guards!!! Only in Malawi

Taking in the AMA's 24 hours later

weekend wrap up..

Thanks very much to my lovely wife for writing about her work here in Malawi.. It is hectic. I know she enjoyed it, but I think it is way more than she expected and it can pretty overwhelming at times.. I know she does a wonderful job at the hospital.. but probably not as good of a job as I would do.. if I were a doctor..

There are certain areas around town that as soon as you get out of your car, you will be approached  by various vendors wanting to sell you all kinds of fruits, vegetables, etc.. Yesterday Michelle and I did a little shopping to prepare for the week and the vending experience was extreme.. Every stop from the gas station, to the grocery store, to another grocery store, to the stop light... there were people gathered around your car waiting for you to get out of your vehicle. It can upsetting, depressing, funny , etc.. ... as we'd pull up to a spot, we 'd look at each other, prepare ourselves and say ... "you ready??" then we'd step out of the truck and kindly say no thank you..  But we did have some weak moments.. I somehow was talked into buying a laundry basket with a lid, and of course a "Desperate men of Country " Cd.. which included Dolly Parton. Not sure where she fits into the "men" aspect of the CD, nor do I really know the significance of the title. It is basically a mixed CD with Kenny Rogers, Don Williams(the two favorite here, as well as Charlie Pride and a few others..

A nice weekend was had here in Lilongwe.. Michelle had some much needed time off this weekend. We had several friends over friday night for a dinner.. Maura and Frances had a birthday party Saturday afternoon, then we headed to some our other friends home for  dinner. They have a beautiful home outside of town with plenty of space for the kids.... plus a pool.  It seems like our kids get along very well and had a nice time playing while being totally and completely bombarded by mosquitos..They cooked up some wonderful food and our kids were able to try some chicken hearts..  Matt had also heard me talking about Kentucky Bourbon one day, and was kind enough to pick up a bottle of Knob Creek on his trip back home to the UK. We had a tasting after dinner.. delicious.

 Sunday brought tennis lessons for Michelle in the morning and we hit the pool since in the afternoon as it was 90+ degrees outside.. I woke up at 6 am thinking it was about 10 in the morning as the sun was just beating through the window.  Time slows down to snails pace here during the weekend..
Missing home during this holiday week, even more so since we won't have a break on Thursday. We still plan on having a thanksgiving day meal (I have ordered 2 turkeys from a specialty shop), but we go right back to school on Friday. Friday is a big day at the school as it is dubbed "International Day".. This is a big deal and kids show off outfits, dances and foods from their home country... It is quite amazing and the food tasting should be great.. Food from Malawi, England, South Africa, Lebanon, India, Italy, Greece.... just to name a few.. There's an American food table as well, just not sure what will be available to taste.. When we lived in Botswana they had an international day and the food was amazing.. but i think the American table consisted of brownies, hot dogs and popcorn.. what a beautiful culture... We may make pigs in a blanket , skyline dip and buffalo wings just to really give everyone a taste of home.. The kids are now picking out the patriotic outfits.. so far Maura is wearing an Aroldis Chapman jersey, Kate is wearing a Louisville Cardinals t-shirt and Frances is wearing a Pancreatic Cancer walkathon tshirt, because it says Cincinnati on it..  Jude might just wear a batman shirt, since American is the home to DC comics..

With the rainy season officially started, there has been noticeable change in the amount of birds that are present in our yard.. It is amazing the amount of different types of birds you can see on a day to day basis.. Ill try to get some photos.. Ok, all for now.. Have a good start to the week. Hope all is well.

Franny in the yard

old city center

This is Michelle today, giving Andy a break from blogging. He asked me to write about work, so here goes....

My day starts at 8 am when I go into the pediatric ward at the hospital. Right now we are in the slow season, so we get about 50 admissions per day. When the rains come and malaria season starts, it can go up to 150/day. This will be around February and last for a few months.

At home, if kids are acutely ill, they go to the ER for any emergency, whether a medical illness or trauma. Here it works a bit differently. The ER is called the "Casualty" department, so it receives trauma cases, burns, broken bones, but not the medical emergencies. All sick kids, regardless of how sick, come the outpatient clinic and are then triaged and seen. So it happens that several times a day, a mother comes to the clinic with her very ill child, who is then rushed from clinic down the hall to the pediatric ward and they are resuscitated or treated on the ward. The main room where this is done is  a large open room with about 20 beds, most of which have 2-4 kids on each bed and a guardian/mom with each. The other day I looked over and saw a baby on the floor underneath the bed. It turns out it was the twin of the patient and the mom didn't have anywhere else to put the well child. Needless to say, this room, which we call the "emergency zone," isn't a popular place to be with the families, as they are constantly watching crazy stuff go down in the front of the room, its always noisy and crowded. We try to keep all the sickest kids there so that they can be monitored as well as possible.

The very sick children tend to have one of a few stories. Malaria is a big player. Among other things, malaria can cause very severe anemia requiring an emergent transfusion as well as seizures and altered mental status. My own kids probably have a hemoglobin (red blood cell) level around 13 or so. The average healthy kid here is probably at around 8-10, and malaria can take it down to 3 or 4. For these kids, securing a rapid blood transfusion is critical, so we spend a lot of time chasing down blood at the blood bank. They can also have seizures, and this is where access to care becomes an issue. There is no EMS service, so you have to get yourself to the nearest health facility in whatever way possible. That usually involves tying your baby on your back and walking. Unfortunately some of the kids don't make it, and that is always a really sad event, especially if the child looks healthy. We have plenty of kids who have illnesses that can't be cured, but when you lose a child who was probably playing the day before, it seems to hit a little closer to home. It brings to the forefront all of the other determinants of health outside of the things which happen in the hospital.

As sad as it is sometimes, things have really improved here since I first came in 2011. Despite the challenges of working in this setting, doing some simple things well makes a big difference, and that is being done here more often then not. It is really a lot of fun to work with the medical students, clinicians and nurses. The chaos is wonderful for developing a zen approach to life - getting flustered is completely counterproductive and culturally is not well received, so it's best to try and find some humor in things and stay calm. I'm working on it.

I guess I should use this opportunity to appeal for help as well. We rely quite a bit on donations for equipment and supplies. If anyone is compelled to donate, I can assure you that your money will go directly to buying needed supplies. Two things come to mind. A big ticket item is an oxygen concentrator - this machine condenses oxygen from room air and frees us from the need to drag oxygen cylinders around and from me having the call the oxygen delivery guy if I find we're out of cylinders going into a call night or weekend. We can also use the machine to provide CPAP, which is a higher level of respiratory support and has been hugely helpful since it was introduced here a few years ago, truly lifesaving. We have several of these machines already but we would love to get at least 4-6 more. We have a supplier for these concentrators and the cost is about $1500 USD. For smaller donations, we have a small machine that checks hemoglobin levels. This helps us to be more accurate in our assessment of whether a kids needs a transfusion and use the blood judiciously. The machine requires plastic cartridges to check each kid which are fairly expensive - about $40 for a container of 50. We always love to buy extras of these and they are extremely handy and can be lifesaving.

Anyway, this is the nature of working here that after telling a sad story, there is an "ask" that comes shortly after. I figured I'd better do it now in case Andy doesn't give me another opportunity on the blog. Otherwise, all is well and we are enjoying our time here, but miss everyone at home a lot. We aren't wanting for much (except hot yoga) and the kids are doing great, so I don't think we can ask of much more. We'll be cooking Thanksgiving dinner Thursday for some friends, so we'll let you know what a Malawian turkey tastes like. Enjoy the holiday this week!!