I have enjoyed working with and
helping Diana to have a good experience here, but have been very
concerned about one of my co-workers whose daughter is dying of
AIDS. She has been in the hospital with some sort of AIDS-related
meningitis. My friend, D.C. (short for Dorothy C.), has been by
her side day and night bathing her, trying to feed her and keeping
an eye on the IV. I have visited them many times and have been
very concerned for D.C., as she is completely exhausted. She doesn’t
have as much family as some to help with the care. I feel quite
close to D.C. as we have worked together daily for several months
now and this daughter is her first born and is exactly the same
age as my first born, Annie. In the clinic that leaves just two
nurses so we have been a bit short again.
We are so enjoying Martha Sommers who has turned out to be a
good friend as well as doctor. She has had to see about me on
two occasions as my doctor as well. I am impressed with her knowledge
of this culture as well as her medical knowledge, and we are so
grateful that she was willing to leave her home at Ekwendeni to
come here to fill in after Dr. Maclean left. Now that the young
teachers from the United Kingdom have gone home, we are the only
expatriates here at Embangweni.
The weather is quite cold. Warm coats are in order, but I find
that my Malawian friends seem to adjust to the change without
so many layers as we need. They do wear sweaters and sometimes
coats, but I see the patients caregivers with just a cotton jitenge
wrapped around their shoulders. They must be quite cold, but are
very busy and seem unconcerned about the cold. The patients themselves
have warm wool blankets on their beds. I was surprised by the
cold and was very grateful to my daughter for sending some turtlenecks
and sweaters with the Bennetts.
Last week as we were packing the ambulance to go to a mobile
clinic at Mharaunda, a woman and her little girl climbed into
the ambulance. I asked why she needed to go to Mharaunda and wanted
to see her health record. She did not have it and I discovered
that she was a patient in maternity waiting for hospital delivery.
The conclusion from this discussion was that she had a complication
and that is why she had to wait at the hospital instead of delivering
in the village and that she was tired of waiting. The driver told
me that “we Africans have our own ways for medicine in the
villages.” She was going to the traditional healer for a
potion to induce her labor. This happens a lot and causes ruptured
uteruses and other problems, so I refused to take her. We took
the little girl back to her village, but hoped that the woman
would stay until she went into labor naturally or until she was
scheduled for a C-section. The traditional healers and the elderly
women in the villages who tell these women what to do are a constant
problem. Our education has not reached them or is disregarded
by them. We can only hope that some of the mothers listen and
take our messages seriously. The power of the traditional ways
is very strong.
We are well and happy here. God has blessed us with a wonderful
work and a supportive community at Embangweni. But we miss all
of you very much and look forward to your emails and messages.
The Bennetts brought us many messages and goodies for which we
are so grateful. Such things as instant oatmeal, warm clothes,
letters from friends, a card from my former patients, medicine,
Equal, batteries and another fetal dopler. We also received an
envelope by mail from Bill’s sister Charlotte that contained
Time magazines! We have read them over and over. Thank you all.
God Bless.
Beth and Bill |
