July 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

The months since I wrote in January have been intense. At that time, I was in the States with my Dad, who has liver cancer. Now, I am again back in Wisconsin as my Dad is most likely in his final weeks, and am myself recovering from malaria. The events in between have been many.

Early February, my Dad was doing remarkably well, and had a repeat CAT-scan showing minimal tumor growth. I decided to return to work in Malawi. The next week, my Dad’s brother, my Uncle Frank, died from a hemorrhagic stroke. He was always supportive of my working in Africa and working ecumenically, outside of my denomination. Most of my family traveled to Michigan for the funeral and my Dad gave the eulogy. I returned in time to fly out of Chicago. In transit through London on the way back to Malawi, I found
myself writhing in pain on the floor in Heathrow, and was taken to a local London hospital by ambulance. The working diagnosis was a kidney infection. Thanks to the grapevine of phone lines and computers, Denise Lytle, a midwife who had volunteered at Ekwendeni Hospital the previous year, called me at the hospital, and cared for me with her extended family until the next flight to Malawi the following week.

I arrived in Malawi amidst the worst famine anyone there could remember. Maize, the staple food, had quadrupled in price in the Ekwendeni area. There was no food to buy in much of the central and southern regions, even when money was available. Our nutritional rehabilitation unit, where we expect to have the most vulnerable moms and children under five years, was packed. Their six-times-a-day regimen was reduced to only daily feeding until more
donations came in. Our adult wards included many patients found collapsed from hunger along the road. Many villages had people lying about too weak to exert energy, and some dead. On everyone’s mind every hour was food. Desperate folks tried to eat weeds or mud, to harvest unripe corn, or to steal food. Eighty folks were killed by mob violence over crop theft throughout the country, with many more tortured. There were also inspiring stories, as so
many daily emptied all they had to share with neighbors, and staff and students brought their meals to share with patients. One poor man who stole all the maize of another household. He realized this would leave them without food, so went back with part of it. On his return he was caught with the bag of maize and hacked up some with an axe. He made his way to the hospital some days later. His open knee joint wound and elbow wound were too infected to do more than daily wash out, so he will only have partial long-term use of those limbs. We were able to feed him and his wife who came to
care for him and their child.

Like most tragedies, the causes of the famine are many: Too many people on too small plots of poor soil requiring fertilizer. Dependence on one growing season. Poor rains the previous year. The government selling two years’ stock of stored maize. International pressure to sell off the stored maize in light of huge debts.

President Muluzi declared the country in a state of disaster, and many promised aid. Its delivery was complicated in the south and central regions, as it was to come up from South Africa through Zimbabwe, but Zimbabwe was in turmoil. Trucks had to pass over Mozambique’s treacherous roads through another land of famine. By this time, PC(USA) was already responding to Malawi’s cries through it’s partnerships with the Synods of Livingstonia, Nkhoma, and Blantyre. The disaster relief from PC(USA) and numerous charities started in villages, and expanded to cover our hospital deeds described above. PC(USA) with PC-Canada have already given
more than $600,000 and plan to continue to assist until there is food security, which might take up to two years given that this year’s harvest was mainly wasted in the desperate attempt to harvest early. Please check their reports on the Web for details. We seem to be following the example of the early church in Acts 11:27-30.

" While they were there some prophets came down to Antioch from Jerusalem, and one of them whose name was Agabus, seized by the Spirit, stood up and predicted that a famine would spread over the whole empire. This in fact happened before the reign of Claudius came to an end. The disciples decided to send relief, each to contribute what he could afford, to the
brothers living in Judea. They did this and delivered their contributions to the elders in the care of Barnabas and Saul."

Back in Wisconsin, my Mom suffered a heart attack in March that was complicated by bleeding and inability to maintain a blood pressure for a few days. The inactivity increased the toll of her Parkinson’s disease. She recovered with great care. Family members and good friends worked in shifts. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and a home-care aide came into the home. She had great appliances, including a chair that tilts her from sitting to almost standing with a push of a button. And she works very very hard. Her first outing was to my youngest sister’s wedding. Her second was a baptism for a new grandchild namesake, Joan. By late May, my Dad’s tumor had taken up most of his liver and I returned to Wisconsin. He gets more fragile with each complication (bleeds, infections, blocked tubes), but keeps bouncing back. It is a privileged difficult time to be with my family.

Please pray for them. Please pray for the people of Malawi. Please pray for the Ekwendeni hospital staff, especially Dr. Phiri, and clinical officers Robertson Gondwe and Albert Nyrongo, who take more call nights when I am away. Pray for their health and spirit of camaraderie. Starting this month, July, Ekwendeni will have its first Malawian female doctor, Mrs. Chihana. Pray in thanksgiving as she will ease the immediate work burden, and her working with us is a great step forward for women in the region and for decreasing the
dependence on doctors from outside of Malawi.

Thanks to all of you who pray for me regularly. It’s been quite a comfort during this string of crises.

Love,

Martha