August 3, 2003
Embangweni #12
Greetings to all you well wishers, correspondents and general
camp followers!
Once again time has slipped by and we are overdue for sending
you the latest report on our Malawi meanderings. When last we
wrote, Bill was off to a Synod Health Board meeting in Livingstonia.
The site is truly a mountaintop, with a long breathtaking view
out over Lake Malawi, some 15 kilometers away. One stands at the
brink of the Great Rift escarpment and looks down on the storm
clouds sweeping across the lake from Tanzania in the far distance.
The board meeting was not such a mountaintop experience. Post
colonial Africa is laden with bureaucratic impedimenta and the
church is no exception. But they managed to struggle through all
the necessary reporting and referring of decisional matters to
committees, etc. and finally wound their way back down the mountain
and thence to Embangweni, long after dark. Driving on Malawi highways
at night is an adventure—the big trucks tend to want their
half of the highway down the center line and there are frequently
throngs of pedestrians and sharp pavement drop-offs along the
edge that prevent one from steering too far that direction either!
But the Lord was watching and they made it safely home.
The next week we hosted the visit of a young architectural student,
James Hill. James is assisting our physical plant director, Mr.
Szgambo, in developing the plans for a new/expanded hospital laboratory,
for which we have received a special grant of $17,000 from Medical
Benevolence Foundation. Some may wonder what kind of a lab can
be built for that small sum, but remember, this is a place where
staff houses are built for $8,000 apiece and bridges for...but
read on for that story below. The following Monday, Bill received
an urgent radio call from the health center at Kalikumbi. It seems
he had put off the invitation to visit there one too many times
and now they were ready and waiting for him—no more delays!
Nothing would do but for him to drop everything and drive immediately
to Kalikumbi, where he was treated for the rest of the day with
a tour of nine prayer houses that had been visited by John Lown
and Toya O'Hora from Leesburg Presbyterian Church (LPC) in 2000.
Since then, LPC has funded permanent metal roofs for five of those
prayer houses and it was immensely gratifying to get photographs
that compare the dramatic changes from before to after the building
of the new roofs (and in several cases, entirely new structures).
A detailed Kalikumbi report with these pictures has been sent
to John and Toya and to LPC. Great job, folks. Keep up the good
work!
Since then, a team of people led by Sam Warner, pastor of the
First Presbyterian Church of Lumberton, North Carolina, arrived
to participate in the dedication of the bridge over the Mharaunda
river, for which they provided the funding. This gives the only
reasonable access we have between Embangweni and our health center
at Mharaunda. It is a wonderful little bridge, built for less
than $10,000 on six large stone-and-concrete pillars planted on
large boulders and rock outcroppings that some ancient geologic
process thoughtfully placed at strategic points across the entire
flood stage width of the river bed.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the bridge was followed by a ceremonial
crossing, tours of the Mharaunda health center and school, traditional
dances, music, food, and the usual parade of speeches. It was
an all day affair—tiring perhaps, but rewarding, as well.
You have done a truly wonderful thing, Lumberton!
A few days after the bridge ceremony, the long-awaited container
from Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas arrived.
This was a remarkable thing, done by one church. It was a full
40-foot container filled with medicines, medical supplies and
equipment, computers and computer parts, networking equipment,
books, school supplies, tires, nursery equipment, linens, pillows...you
name it! We got the call that it was in Mzuzu this past Wednesday
morning. Immediately, Bill set out on the two-hour drive, to arrive
just as they finished unloading. For the rest of the day, he and
others sorted through the largess, dividing it between the Embangweni,
Ekwendeni, and Livingstonia hospitals. Instructions were left
for the Embangweni truck to follow and they arrived by Wednesday
night. Thursday morning they found some malfunctioning turning
signals that delayed their return until late Thursday night. Since
Friday, we have been having a jubilee of unloading, unpacking,
inventorying, shelving and generally reveling in all the new supplies
and equipment. Embangweni received lots of much-needed gauze and
suture material, a new microscope and enough computers so that
we can now put one each in accounting, pharmacy, medical statistics
and in the general stores for keeping inventory. Thank you, Preston
Hollow!
During this period, we have seen the return of two of our three
school headmasters here at Embangweni. Mr. Godwin Jere, headmaster
of the Loudon Full Primary School and Mr. E. Mtonga, headmaster
of the Loudon School for Deaf Children, had both been studying
at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom for the past year.
It will be interesting to see what new ideas and programs they
bring back with them from this educational experience.
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