Widows and Orphans; Pneumonia and Malaria

So, I definitely had my most challenging day in Africa so far (but by FAR the most rewarding)yesterday. About eight of us went to a village north of Lilongwe called Khwamba to do the monthly "Mobile Medical Clinic" - the people in the village's sole source of medical care.

I've never done anything even remotely similar to this before in my life, so I really had no clue what to expect, which is probably best. I volunteered to help run the "pharmacy", thinking it would be lower-key and less high-stress and pressure - WRONG! It was one of the most intense jobs. Counting out tons of pills for people who were literally desperate for ADVIL. AD. VIL. It was insane. These folks were literally lining up for their doses of ibuprofen. Many of whom were old, old people with terrible arthritis. Their only pain relief is the 10 day supply of ibuprofen that they get once a month. It killed me. It absolutely broke my heart in ways I had never before imagined. Babies clinging to their mothers, who were breastfeeding them, waiting for their medication to treat their Malaria and HIV. A few people were coughing so much and so hard that they literally couldn't stop. There was no relief for them. And we ran out of effective medicine halfway through our patient load.

I'll post photos when I get back so that you can better envision what I'm about to tell you about.

What there was an abundance of:

• Eye infections. BAD eye infections.
• Mothers of three or more who were my age and younger.
• Very, very cute, shy little boys who would smile and blush every time I smiled at them.
• Little girls who could barely muster the courage to look at me, but then would shyly smile when I offered them a grin.
• Old people who could barely move.
• Nsima. (The white stuff in this photo - by the way, almost ALL of my meals look like this.)
• Crying infants.
• Exhausted-looking young women.
• Chichewa.
• Confused expressions when I tried to SPEAK Chichewa to the patients.
• Prescriptions for Amoxicillin, Bactrim, ADVIL (Yes! Ibuprofen!), and Malaria and HIV drugs.
• Torn clothing on little children.
• Chitenjis. (The skirts you see in this photo.)
• Sweet, beautiful people.

I'll leave you with the most striking image I got while doing the Mobile Medical Clinic. A young woman, maybe seventeen or eighteen, breastfeeding her child (maybe four to six months old) while having two fully-sealed (with infection) eyes AND Malaria. The girl literally was getting drugs for MALARIA for herself and her tiny baby who she was feeding, and could barely even see thanks to double eye infections. And what did she say when I handed her her tiny baggy of medication?

"Zikomo!", with a smile. She said thank you. And she smiled.