April 2008

Dear Family and Friends:

These last weeks have been sad ones for the Embangweni community. Four weeks ago, sleep was fractured two nights by gun shots. The students at Robert Laws secondary boarding school were rioting, and the drug-crazed mobs were broken up by police firing in the air. The students planned acts of violence and vandalism while sober, and smoked chamba beforehand to remove inhibitions. No violence was carried out, but the vandalism destroyed equipment, windows, and even sinks. The school has been closed, some students went to jail, and charges are being sorted out in the courts. My house is at the edge of the Robert Laws school grounds.

Last night brought an even worse problem. A 10 year-old child ran to his house. He is motherless and being raised by an older sibling who is a staff member at the hospital. He said that two adults had gathered him and other children together. They were asked who they loved the most. When he told them, he was told to kill this person. When he refused, he was told he would be killed.

Within hours, the other children were narrating their stories. Adults that they trusted had gathered them together and made them drink blood, after first taking them on fantasy trips to places they never had been. Yesterday, they were each asked the same questions. It’s heart-wrenching to hear children 4 to 10 year old tell of being told either to kill their acting fathers, sisters, baby brothers or other loved ones, or be killed. The adult parents and guardians of these children, obviously overwhelmed and enraged, had to be calmed down. No mob justice occurred. The district police and local chief are involved. The accused need a fair trial. Witchcraft is common, and so is accusing innocent people of witchcraft. It’s sad to remember that those guilty of indoctrinating children into witchcraft were once innocent children who were indoctrinated. Guidance is being sought to how best minister to these children and their families, and special prayers are being said.

Malawian school children in happier times.

Please pray for all involved, and for the other families in crisis. Children are always vulnerable, and so many more at risk in this land of orphans. So many adults and intact families are stretching to care for those without homes. Pray for protection of children against predators and temptations.

We continue to struggle at the hospital because there are only a few formally trained staff and many very sick patients. It is barely working. People have remarked how I and the two general clinical officers show up “drunk” to work—from sleeplessness, not alcohol. Today we discussed limiting inpatient services to emergencies and stabilizing patients, and using the ambulances in the day to ferry stable patients to the closest hospital, over an hour away on a bumpy road. Officials have been notified of the pending crisis, and hopefully will be able to send a clinician to help us and avoid this drastic measure.

Malawi has changed from being allied to Taiwan to being allied to mainland China. Mzuzu Central, Embangweni’s referral hospital, was supported by Taiwan. With their departure went specialists, equipment, and supplies. The government has announced that Genda road to Embangweni will be paved with assistance from China this year. This road would link us to the main M1 two-lane highway that runs down the spine of the country. If this happens, we should have more success with recruiting and retaining staff, transporting supplies to the hospital, and the Embangweni area would have a chance to develop economically. Of course, it will also bring some problems, but at least these will be new problems.

Thanks for your continued prayers and encouragement.

Martha

P.S.  I should be back to visit and speak with as many of you as possible, from October through December, 2008. Please contact me if you'd like to invite me to speak at your church.

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 23