03 June 2012
Muli bwanji!
This is the Chichewa greeting for “How are you”.
When I arrived in the Blantyre airport, the first sign I saw read “To make friends, say ‘Muli bwanji’.” Once I retrieved my check bag full of BTB medical devices and my other full of clothes medicines (not for the patients…for me), Kathleen and I met up with Jocelyn and caught a ride back with one of Jocelyn’s choice taxi drivers, Lawrence.
Right now the three of us are staying in Kabula Lodge and it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL here! Right outside of my window I see my balcony that has leaves covering the bars with orange-pinkish flowers that I’ve never seen before, other rooms of the Kabula Lodge lay a little further out below me, and many huts and houses are scattered about in the distance where the mountains are. The best part is that the weather is like mid-Fall in Houston minus the humidity.
Over the past two days we’ve gone to market to get phones, did some grocery shopping, and ate at an Indian restaurant, Baba’s Dehli Karbar (my first time at an Indian restaurant was in MalawiJ!). I must say this is the most walking I’ve ever done, but after sitting in a plane for 2 days where you get legit meals (not the insufficient choices of pretzels, peanuts, or cookies for a 5 hour flight) you don’t mind so much.
Tomorrow will be my first day at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and I’m anxious to meet the doctors and nurses I’ll be working with for the next 8 weeks! I’ve brought the Babalung: neonatal apnea monitor, SAPHE Pad: postpartum hemorrhaging measurement tool, 2 versions of morphine dosing cups (one being InvertaBottle), and IV Drip: intravenous volume regulator. Kathleen brought the NeoSyp(she brought a modified version that looks even more professional): neonatal syringe pump. Over the next 8 weeks we plan to show and demonstrate the use of each device to the nurses and doctors; we will record their feedback so improvements can be made on each one when we return home. On top of that we will assist the doctors and nurses in any way we are qualified to, create our own project to do, and aid Jocelyn with the CPAP study.
SOOOOO READY FOR TOMORROW!!!
With love,
Bridget
Things that were new to me:
Bargaining for a cell phone
Designated litter areas
Being without napkins and hand soap (though you can buy them at some stores when in stock)
Using a bed net
Things I wish I had:
My debit card instead of my credit card! WHOOPS!!!
A thicker sweater and long tights
FRESH MEAT TO COOK!!!
For my parents…I promise I’m eating:
For breakfast these days – Toast, jam, and eggs / flavored oatmeal (that I brought)
For lunch these days – Chicken Kiryani (Baba’s Dehli Karbar)
For dinner these days – Chicken-flavored veggie pasta with garlic toast (cooked by me!)