March 12, 2003
Embangweni #3
Dear Friends and Family,
Shirley and Carl Pearson arrived safely on Sunday with four action
packers of “goodies” and computer supplies. It was
like Christmas in March! I was particularly pleased to have the
barber set from Louise, as Bill’s hair is getting to look
like a lion’s mane. Now I just have to figure out how to
cut it decently. I think Carolyn Maclean will have to teach me.
Bill and Carl have all the computers set up with only a few things
left to do for them. Today Carl was at the secondary school (Robert
Laws) to set up the computers that were sent to them from Ireland.
We were told that they would have 50 and so did not send any for
them. Our 50 went to the primary school and the school for deaf
children. As it turns out, they only received about a dozen and
really need them for their lab more than the other schools. It
is fortunate that all of the computers donated by Loudoun County
Schools were of the same brand, size, and had the same equipment
on them as they will be easier to maintain. We will be able to
use parts from some to repair others. We would now like to see
if we can get a similar donation for Robert Laws. Many of those
students will have an opportunity to go on to college and other
programs and will need to learn to use computers. We have found
that they need used pentiums, as the few 486s that they have are
really not adequate for what needs to be loaded onto them. The
building they have started for the computer lab is not finished
as they have run out of money. Another need for help from the
U.S.
Shirley has been busy at both the primary and deaf schools teaching
the teachers. They are very interested and some are jumping ahead
of the group wanting to go on faster. They will need lots of practice
and work to stay ahead of the children who seem to take to this
new way of learning very quickly.
I have had another encounter with Malawian governmental regulating
bodies. This time it was the Nursing Council, which was hesitant
to recognize my transcript from Emory as the titles of the classes
were different from theirs. They will not register me as a community
health nurse because my course at Emory was not as long as theirs
and did not include midwifery. In order to be an RN in Malawi,
I will need Emory to write them and describe the courses and clinical
work more completely, including hours and locations of clinical
experience—numbers of beds in the hospitals etc. for 35
years ago! The years of experience that I have had do not seem
to make a difference. Fortunately, Charlotte has been in touch
with Emory for me and is working on the problem.
Meanwhile, I have been working in the antenatal clinics learning
their routine and can now ask quite a few questions in Tumbuka.
But if the answers are very complicated, I am lost! The clinics
are a bit chaotic—no established clinic flow. Today we had
a meeting and the group came up with a clinic flow and a number
system. Because of the confusion during clinics, a lot of the
records have not been kept well. Especially the MTCT records (prevention
of maternal to child transmission of AIDS) are not done well.
George, we are working hard to correct the situation, but I don’t
know that we can go back and reconstruct all of it for the UNICEF
report. Staffing is not adequate for the work in the villages.
It is difficult to get the babies to be retested at 15 months.
Mr. Smith Beza has worked hard on the network in the villages,
but needs more help and more volunteers. I think this all has
serious implications for MTCT plus and our ability to accomplish
all that this new grant would entail.
Thursday March 13th
We just received news that there were two deaths overnight and
today. One was Mr. Mbeya who worked in the children’s ward
and the other was the hospital administrator. A large open truck
just went by the house full of people singing hymns on their way
to Mr. Mbeya’s village. I suspect there will be two funerals
this weekend and we will need to go to at least one of them. Earlier
this week Geoffery Simazuwo’s brother died, and he has not
been at the school all week. Mr. Simazuwo is the person who has
been coordinating the work with the computers. It seems that when
a person becomes ill here, they die quickly. There is not a lot
that can be done for them, especially if they have AIDS. |
