Thursday and Friday - Amusement Results at Times

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  Balaka, Malawi
Saturday, June 9, 2007

It was a fairly active day on Thursday. A total of 9 patients came through the office. Since a large number of patients suffer from malaria, we are beginning to see these same patients for their post-treatment check-ups. A final chloroquine/quianine injection is given as the final component of their treatment. Next week especially, we will see many return patients.
 
The main reason Thursdays are exciting is because the local orphans visit the clinic. This clinic provides these children with food, clothing, and blankets among others. Each Thursday 20-30 orphans come to the clinic. The orphans have an entire building devoted to them within the clinic grounds complete with kitchen and classroom. The orphans were at the clinic when we arrived. They were waiting for the kitchen and classroom to be unlocked. The orphans began their day by learning how to prepare a meal. I am not sure what meal they prepared, but the orphans they did everything themselves. They cooked and cleaned up. The dishes were washed properly and dried. The children then gathered for their lesson in the classroom. Instead of a lecture, today a Q&A session took place. The orphans were asked how they should react in various health risk situations. Dr. C and Mrs. C posed the questions to all. Different children took turns answering the questions. They answered quite well according to Dr. C.
 
A sample question: What should you do if your arm starts itching when you haven't received an insect bite?
 
The Q&A session was adjourned and the orphans and their caretakers made their way home. There is to be a blanket distribution day with the orphans, but that won't take place until after Jennifer (A LifeNets grant writer) is here.  
 
At lunch time we traveled 10 minutes down the road to the Area's home. The Areas are longtime friends of the Chilopora's. The Areas are Muslims. They first met Dr. Chilopora when he treated the Areas children. The lunch served was lovely. We enjoyed goat, chicken, rice, salad, and various vegetables. They also had 3 different flavors of hot sauce and I tried them all. One was made with mangos, the other with lemons, and the third with birds eye chilies. They were all delicious. I have developed a keen appreciation for the spicy condiments here. The rest of the day was rather uneventful. The evening was just as the previous four. Tea at 6:00. Dinner at 9:00. Reading. Shower. Reading. Bed.  
 
Friday was a day unlike the past 4 days. The day began by stopping along the highway at the largest market in Malawi. People come from all over the country to buy and sell goods. To our luck, this market is located about 20km from the Chilopora household.
 
Mrs. C needed to pick up a few large sacks of ground nuts. By large sacks I mean 30-gallon trash bag sized sacks and by ground nuts I mean peanuts. She also needed so pick up several kilograms of uncooked rice. This food was for the orphans. They buy in bulk and save a substantial amount of money.
While Mrs. C was shopping for these items, Aaron and I decided to meander around the market. They were selling anything you could imagine. In a market full of black Africans, the only two white people, a.k.a. Aaron and I, we were the target for inflated prices and relentless nagging. Aaron decided to shop for a belt. The vendor he stopped to see at had 50+ belts wrapped around various parts of his body. Aaron spotted one he liked and asked for the cost. The gentleman said the price was 800 kwacha ($5.33). Aaron became frantic and flustered when trying to make a counter offer. "No... that's too expensive," he said with as much grace as a stuttering 3rd grader. "I'll give you sev...I mean three...six hundred kwacha." Aaron had every intention of offering around 300 kwacha (which is a handsome price to receive for a belt of this quality), but his brain and mouth did not function simultaneously. The man gladly accepted the 600 kwacha ($4.00). Aaron felt victimized and abused. It probably didn't help that I was harassing him the while time. Even the guy that sold the belt to him was laughing.  HAHA. And I caught it on tape! Priceless.
 
Shortly after Aaron got hosed, we made for the clinic. Today was a bit different than the previous four. Instead of observing all of Dr. C's consultations, Aaron and I were asked to work envelop construction. All medications here are distributed in tiny envelopes instead of bottles. These small envelopes are made from one quarter of an 8.5X11 sheet of paper. We constructed these envelopes from 10:00am to 4:30pm. Aaron cut and folded the papers and I glued them. Yes, we did this for 6.5 hours. During the last few hours of 'arts and crafts' time we decided to compile a list of BORING things we would rather be doing than constructing small envelopes in eastern Africa. Here are a few of them:
 
1.Watching someone read a book.
2. Taking a road trip to Branson, Missouri (who does that?)
3. Filming a documentary on concrete
4. Announcing bingo numbers at a nursing home
5. Giving a walking tour of Des Moines, Iowa
6. Staring at the corner (Like you did when you were a little kid in timeout)
7. Doing the inventory of the world largest gumball machine
8. Separating plastics at a recycling plant
9. Watching a Mary Tyler Moore Show marathon 10.
Calculating statistics for an amateur golf tournament    

The list goes on but you get the idea...
 
Tomorrow we will travel to Blantyre for church. It is a 2+ hour drive depending on the traffic. It's time to stop for now. The journey is still unfolding. More to come.

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