Two posts in one day! It's unprecedented, I know, but my boss still isn't back from town and I realized that I've mentioned barely anything about my work. So I figured now is the perfect time to tell you.
Work starts at 7:30am. This generally means struggling to get out of bed around 7 and being at least 10 minutes late. I'm working on being on time though, and slowly improving everyday. Lunch is from 12-1:30 and we finish at 5. From there Sarah and I head home and make dinner...usually entertaining ourselves with conversation, books, or tv shows until around 10--then it's bed time. I never do the same thing days in a row (unless it's sit around and play on the internet because I have nothing to do). Not having a job description has been tough, but I'm slowly getting things to do.
Last Wednesday I went out with the hospital's palliative care team. We visited two bedridden, chronically ill patients. The first was a man with cancer in his legs that was slowly spreading to his lungs. All they can do is give him morphine for the pain and show his guardians (in this case, his mother) how to treat the wounds. Our second visit was to a 42 year old woman with 7 kids who was paralyzed from the waist down after a stroke last month. She has been on a mat on the floor of their house ever since, being shifted every two hours to prevent pressure sores. Her mother-in-law's sister has given up her life to come and take care of her. I was struck by the loyalty and sacrifice of the guardians and the patient, quiet suffering of the patients. Malawians are by far the strongest people I have ever met.
On Thursday Sarah and I were sent to represent LISAP at a meeting in Mzuzu Central Hospital (Our mode of transportation is pictured below).
The District Health Office was updating everyone involved on the new protocal for HIV testing and counseling. The country is switching from a parallel system (where clients are given two tests at the same time, and a third if the results are discordant) to a serial system, where they are tested once, then a second and maybe third time depending on the results. This system will mean less tests are wasted and more will actually be available at various testing centers. After the meeting was over Sarah and I walked into town and bought lunch (samosas and guava juice=delicious) at Tutlas, the local grocery store. From there we were picked up by the other LISAP staff who'd gone to hand out certificates at the lake to a group of students completing a month long training in bicycle repair (this training is part of the behavioral change initiative--giving young people a future/keeping them busy etc). We were joined in the back of the truck by some very green plantains, approx. 20 stacks of firewood and three catfish, on of which was still breathing. It was an adventure.Otherwise, I've mostly been entering data about microfinance groups into an excel spreadsheet. Now that's over I'll probably be working on the handbook my boss (Amy Segula) is trying to finish. She's back from town now so I should probably offer my services.
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