December 12, 2006

Dear Family and Friends,

This week Embangweni said goodbye to my colleague, Dr. Petros Kayange. On Monday he starts as the first trainee in a four-year program to become an ophthalmologist through the College of Medicine in Blanyre and a German aid agency. It’s disappointing that the Malawi College of Medicine actively recruited one of their few graduates who was living and working with the rural masses. Yet Petros is blessed with an unassuming, gentle spirit and a gift for details that should make ophthalmology a good fit. Please pray for him. Pray also for me. I am the only long-term doctor at Embangweni, and there are no new recruits on the horizon. I am relying on increased amounts of caffeine and sugar to stay awake during most days and too many nights, and increasing amounts of naproxen to treat the increasing headaches triggered by sleep deprivation. We are hiring a local locum doctor and clinical officer for November and December to ease the strain in the short term. Please pray that by January, when I turn 44, there will be a workable plan in place.

Last week Embangweni celebrated the wedding of Wadana Mkandawire, our pediatric nurse, to Lezina Mughogho, our accounting clerk. She is the youngest sister of Hebron Mughogho, our accountant. They both are loved and loving employees, and almost everyone in the hospital attended. The celebration felt even more special since it followed a series of deaths and funerals.

I am still doing the work of mourning for two of the deaths. Patricia Shaba came to us as a widow with three adolescent boys some three years ago. She was fighting illness and embracing life. She worked as a pediatric nurse until she could no longer walk. She loved her patients and willingly worked on children’s ward during the busy months, often the only nurse looking after 50 critically ill children. She loved to hear and read stories and would borrow books from my house. She was partly through Little Women when she died. She loved her sons and was building a house for them. When there was a party, she would put on fancy dresses and lead the dancing. I missed her presence at the wedding and at the farewell party for Petros. Please pray for her boys, in thanksgiving for her life, and in thanksgiving for the assurance that we will meet again in heaven.

Over the years here I have come to count George Chirwa, the manager of the Chinteche Inn on Lake Malawi, as a close friend. He was diagnosed with inoperable gastric cancer in Johannesburg in June and died in the City Center Clinic in Lilongwe in September. I was able to get to Lilongwe a few times during his illness. Although sad, the visits were inspiring. This previously fit young man learned quickly to adjust to needing full care and to be turned every two hours. He was the only son and breadwinner for the family, and graciously received the around-the-clock care of his loving family, especially his mother, who lived in his hospital room. He used to talk for hours about history, nature, and football. During his final months, he was only able to say a word or short phrase between labored breaths and often pared his speech down to “thank you.” When I went to offer condolences, his father, who is blind, took me to the house George was building for his father. Others had taken up the task, and were molding bricks to finish it. Please pray for George’s family, in thanksgiving for his life, and in thanksgiving for the assurance that we will meet again in heaven.

During those trips to Lilongwe, I joined in the joy of two families who were welcoming their first-born sons. Our former nurse, Rosalene Ngwira, and her husband Bosco Ngoma welcomed little Mzati. Another former nurse, Madalitso, also had a first-born boy. I’ve known both women since they were young students. Both were supporting younger sisters. It’s wonderful to see that they have grown into loving wives and mothers, successfully and joyfully juggling work and home.

In September, Mwabi Nyrongo and I spent nine wonderful days with Lillian Godwe and her husband Reggie Chunda. We had planned to spend only three days, but a major car breakdown 10 miles out of Mulanje changed the plan. The car has a new head cylinder and various other repairs. They are expecting.

Thanks to the breakdown, I got in touch with other old friends, Phoebe Chirwa, and her husband Ignatius Phiri, who is a mechanical engineer. He and a friend fixed my car at her uncle’s in Blantyre after they took us home to the sugar estates of Nchalo where they work. The visiting time with these friends was precious, and gave me greater understanding of Corrie Ten Boom’s quote, “Happiness is not dependent on happenings, but on relationships in the happenings.” Phoebe and Ignatius have beautifully incorporated five AIDS orphans as part of their family of nine.

These days, and sometimes nights, are hot and humid as we approach the rainy season. People still have food, and nature seems to be offering a few additional tasty morsels. In between my house and the hospital young boys are collecting cicadas. The Malawi Cookbook advises that one “remove the wings and fry with a little oil and salt. Serve as a relish.” Men in the bush near the seasonal river today were collecting wild honey. All the children seem to be enjoying the mangoes, even though they should taste much better when they ripen in a couple of weeks.

This late in the dry season, many of the wells and boreholes have run dry. People have been using less and unprotected water. There was an outbreak of diarrhea at the boarding secondary school in which many girls had to be hospitalized. The boarding part of the primary school closed early to avoid a similar problem. Many have been admitted to the hospital with bloody dysentery. Three have died. The rest have been cured, thanks to adequate lactated ringers for the dehydrated and ciprofloxacin for the dysentery. Rotary International is looking at a proposal to improve the situation before next year. Meanwhile, soon it will rain, and we will have different challenges.

Have a holy Advent and a merry Christmas!

Love,

Martha

The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 337