The big day is almost here— I’ll be flying out for Malawi on Thursday to begin my adventure as a Rice 360 Intern! My four fellow interns and I spent the first two weeks of May preparing technologies and duplicating prototypes, but I have been able to spend some time at home for the past few weeks.

Besides eating lots of tacos and mourning the Spurs’ loss in the NBA playoffs, I have been spending a lot of my time prepping and packing for my trip. My packing list has been as valuable for me as my online calendar is for me during the height of the school year. I’ve always been a fan of lists — growing up, I used to leave myself to-do lists or reminder lists on little sticky notes in random places around my house. In the same spirit, my first blog post of the summer is a compilation of lists. Please enjoy!

Cities I’m Traveling Through

1. San Antonio
2. Houston
3. London (12 hour layover!)
4. Johannesburg
5. Blantyre (home!)

Books I’m Bringing:

(All 5 of us interns are bringing several books to share)

1. The Giver
2. Kite Runner
3. The Witches
4. Autobiography of Malcom X
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey

Responsibilities While in Malawi

1. Introducing Rice devices — We will take healthcare technologies and devices that have been developed by Rice students and seek feedback from doctors and nurses.
2. Needs-finding — We will search for potential healthcare obstacles that could be solved by future Rice design projects.
3. Developing new technologies — We’ll choose a project and get to work!
4. Bonus: working alongside Malawian students and immersing ourselves in a beautiful new culture!

Devices We are Taking

(all developed by Rice students, #3 and #7 by yours truly)

1. “Breast Test” Breast Cancer Detection Training Model: A low cost model of cancerous and noncancerous breasts that present several different tumors and abnormalities.

2. Anti-Fog Surgery Eyeware: A tube of silica pellets that can be placed inside surgery eyeware to absorb moisture in humid operating rooms

3. Insulin Syringe Dosing Clips: A set of 3D printed clips that assist vision-impaired or innumerate diabetic patients in taking up the correct amount of insulin in a syringe.

4. PneumaShoe Pneumatic Compression Device: A low-cost, over-the-foot Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Device, constructed with widely accessible materials and utilizing minimal mechanization, to prevent venous thromboembolism in low-resource settings.

5. Ostomy Training Model: A model of a stoma that can be strapped to one’s abdomen to train patients due for ostomy surgery how to care for their stoma in the future.
6. Ostomy Bags: A low cost and partially reusable double bag system for ostomy patients in low resource settings to use if they do not have access to traditional ostomy bags.

7. Sterilization System for Kiwi Vacuum Assisted Delivery Device: A bucket-drainage system that prevents the Kiwi Vacuum Assisted Delivery Device from being submerged in sanitation chemicals for excessive amounts of time, preventing damage to the device and allowing it to be cleaned and reused.

   

A Common Greeting in Chichewa

1. Moni— Hello
2. Muli bwanji? —How are you?
3. Ndiri bwino, kaya inu? — I’m good, and you?
4. Kaya inu, zikomo. — I’m good, thank you.

I can’t wait to get in the air and on my way! More to come soon.

-S