I am approaching the end of my first full week in Blantyre! Though slightly overwhelmed with everything, going to clinic has been so special. To elaborate on being overwhelmed, I have to learn how to navigate busy Blantyre on my own, driving manual (which I currently have never done) and on the left side of the road. And of course I am the only person who did not know how to drive manual before getting to Malawi, as the other girls drive manual (and usually on the left side) at home, so point deductions for the Americans 😦 Add a terrible sense of direction to that and sounds like a recipe for success, we shall see!
In case anyone was wondering, the U.S. still seems to be a desired country to some…The girl in the yellow polka dots wanted so badly to be “adopted by an American”, so that became the running joke for the group at clinic. Maybe one day…
A bit about the study we are helping with: It has to do with identifying Polyunstaurated Fatty Acids (PUFAs) in the blood. In general, mothers bring their children (>6 months, <5 years old) to the clinic “near” them (some mothers walk for several hours) and we measure the child to see if they are malnourished. We take the weight, mid-arm circumference, check for edema, and height and compare them all to gauge the child’s level of malnutrition. If they fall into the Severe Acute Malnutrition category, and they do not show signs of neurological problems, they can be eligible for the PUFA study, where the usual RUTF (ready to use therapeutic food) that we would give out contains different levels of PUFAs. We do a blood draw at week 4 to be analyzed. Basically we want to see how children’s neurological function differ with the PUFA fortified RUTF. I learned how to assist with the blood draw today, and for those of you who really know me, know that that is typically a struggle for me, and today was no different 🙂 I blame the heat and dehydration, but it’ll get better I am sure! Something mind-blowing: Another organization was doing similar blood draws to ours in different villages. The villagers did not understand why foreigners were taking blood from children, and they were in all seriousness deemed Vampires. Three individuals from the organization were then killed. In order to prevent this from happening again, we now choose to meet with the chiefs of each village and explain our study and purpose in person. My second day at clinic I was able to meet with 8 Chiefs, just observing while the person conducting the study was speaking. Minor anxiety when suddenly all the eyes turned on me, the “mizungo” or “white person” in the room. I was then asked why I wasn’t adding to the conversation that was happening in Chichewa, the native language. Thankfully the translator explained to them that I arrived in Malawi only two days beforehand, so I was off the hook! Talk about getting out on the spot…….We end our chief meetings by giving them all gifts, often times plastic basins, sugar, oil, etc. The mothers also get similar gifts for completing the study. Drives to clinic have been a real life Indiana Jones ride to say the least! We have seemingly indestructible land cruisers, and driving is more like off-roading 🙂 The little girl in the picture showed me the striking beauty of the Malawian culture. I was kneeling next to her and reached out for her, and her, a child who was most likely malnourished and from a very poor family, looked at me and then broke the piece of bread she was holding in half and offered it out to me. It spoke volumes to say the least.
I have been able to experience the Blantyre Market several times now, which is an experience on its own. Bartering for produce and other items allows for some sassy grocery shopping! Ignoring the shouts and calls of others trying to get you to buy THEIR green beans instead of the green beans in front of you gets to be quite fun. On every street corner, gas station, and plot of dirt there are people selling their produce and random items (there are also normal grocery stores).
Other than that, I visited Lilongwe (Malawi’s capital) with fellow volunteers Iona and Claire, which I will save for a separate blog post!
Zikomo kuwelenga! Thanks for reading 🙂
P.S. If you have any questions about what I am doing/the study or if you would like to donate to Project Peanut Butter please let me know! It is hard to include everything in a blog post, so if you are curious about any facet of this adventure don’t hesitate to reach out!
Project Postgrad 