Changing lives by changing hearts

A missionary letter from Malawi

by Charlotte Gott
PC(USA) health mission worker

MULANJE, Malawi — Unless Malawians are willing to accept the fact that women have been badly neglected and often abused in this country, unless they are willing to make radical changes, I do not believe Malawi will overcome the HIV epidemic that is theirs.

      There will be survivors, and those survivors who are adults will be guardians for millions of orphans. Already 50 percent of the population is under the age of 15. Since women have traditionally been the caretakers, they will carry most of the burden of the fatherless.

      We can approach this dilemma from many perspectives. There are legal, cultural, political, religious, and health-care implications related to the devaluation of women. We could call it gender inequality. We could discuss the "dispossession of the widow." We could argue the fact that women should have laws protecting their right to own property, their right not to be beaten or abused, their right to legal support for themselves and their children when they are abandoned by their husbands. All of these topics are worthy of discussion.

        Meanwhile this country, like much of Africa, is dying and leaving its children behind. It is important to have antiretroviral medicines. Billions of dollars and multiple NGOs can help.

      But to really change a person, you must change their heart. With a heart-change, the brain needs little coercion, and the hands follow suit. No medicine and no amount of money will do that. 

      Why is it that the Bible speaks so often to God's defense of widows and the "fatherless?" James 1:27 points out to us that this is also our responsibility. The Bible teaches how men are to love their wives. It shows how Christ modeled respect for women who were second-class creatures 2,000 years ago. It speaks to wisdom brought forth as the first of God's works (Proverbs 8:25).

      Wisdom is not man-made; it is not found in the traditions of men (Mark 7:1-13).

      I have pondered these things in my heart as I have heard women's stories. Their stories are often those of violence and abandonment by men. Often it is the grandmothers who take care of the orphans if the mother dies. Even if the father is living in the same village, he may refuse to take any responsibility for his children.

      When we offered to help some 25 elderly who were starving in a village, nine were men and 16 were women. None of the men and all of the women were caring for children.

      From a practical standpoint, I believe there are three areas that need to be improved for women:

      (1) Education;
      (2) appropriate health care; and
      (3) food security.

      Recently, the local secondary school students took their national exam. Fifty percent of

them passed; 44 were male and 10 were female. Since women are not well educated and have little means to personal property, their access to food is also limited, especially if they have children and no husband to help support them.

      We see that here, as in the United States, women seek health care more than men. It seems obvious that they worry that if they are ill, they will not be able to care for their children. However, women's health-care needs are frequently overlooked. 

      With this in mind, I have hoped to create a women's clinic to model how to address the health-care needs of women. I hope that if health-care providers are properly trained we will slowly change how women are cared for here in Malawi.

      I also believe that the women health-care providers, nurses or otherwise, will more easily empathize with the value of this effort. I hope to change how people think.

      Sue (Makin, another PCUSA missionary in Malawi) and I found a room that was not being used and with some money graciously donated to us, we bought a gynecologic couch, some furniture for the room, and benches for the women to sit on outside the room. Because of the shortage of nurses, it is difficult to designate a nurse to this task who is also needed to help with translation.

      Officially, the clinic started when Sue brought a patient over, and a nurse was already standing in the room. I had taken the nurse, Miss Misomali, into the room to show it to her and tell her what we hoped to do there. We stood there for many minutes, commiserating over the plight of women in Malawi. We both had tears in our eyes.

      A few days before, I had found myself walking into the empty room, shutting the door behind me, and circling the room, touching the walls, the curtains, the sink, the chairs, the floor  and praying for God's will to be done there.

      Please pray for Africa and remember that, with God, nothing is impossible.

      Information about and letters from Presbyterian mission personnel around the world are available by visiting the Web site www.pcusa.org/missionconnections.