Well the start of 2015 has been nothing but eventful. I returned back to Malawi
at the beginning of January after spending time back in Brisbane for Christmas and family
events.
I have definitely hit the ground running and it looks to be
an exciting year ahead. My experience in
Malawi ,
if nothing else, will teach me patience.
Nothing is done at a fast pace
except for crazy driving which in tuk tuks in wet weather over pot holes can
get the heart racing. Combine that with the largest snail/slug suction cupped
to your foot and you are in for an entertaining trip!
The earthquake hoax has to be one of the funnier events that
have occurred in the last few weeks. I
was staying at friend’s house and we received not one but two phone calls
warning us to prepare for the earthquake that is about to hit. What does one do in this event? Do you actually get earthquake warnings i.e.
can they predict it? We decided that
sleeping in one room with things off the walls that couldn’t fall on us was our
best option. When I asked if any more
news had been provided on the quake I was told yes between 10 and 11. WHAT?? On the richter scale?! No Beth it will occur between 10 and
11pm. Needless to say these types of
predications are impossible and no tremors were felt. Another entertaining Malawi gossip story
to add to the collection!
I have had some entertaining conversations the last few
weeks with cultural differences and misunderstandings being the main culprit.
One particular conversation that springs to mind is the need for the clinic to
order soft and hard leather in order to make certain devices. I asked my assistant manager to provide me
with the dimensions of the sheets of leather we have used in the past to determine
our order. His reply was “Beth how can I
possibly tell you that information I don’t know the size of the animals!! I don’t know how fat or skinny they are!!” So true my friend – what was I thinking?!
In speaking about animals a friend and I went to inspect a
building office block that his family is having built. We were met however by a tribe of goats who
was led by their infamous male goat.
Hiding from him was entertaining and between the 2 of us we weren’t
quite sure who was going to defend who.
A large stick was found to assist in our plight from Mr Goat should we
have needed.
I am also getting to know the various tools of many trades.
I can now for instance buy certain tools and equipment to weld bars for hand
rails, purchase POP powder for plastering and now understand an engineer square
(which by the way is not a square).
I have to say though that my highlight is still seeing the
smiles of the clients that come through the door and the achievements they make
(big and small) with their new devices.
A gorgeous 2 year old was recently fitted for a below calcaneous prosthetic. In just 1 month her gait, hip alignment etc has
improved immensely and I can’t wait to see her at her review in 2 months
time.
Yesterday a gorgeous 9 year old boy with cerebral palsy came
in to the clinic. He had various devices
but had grown too big and staff decided they wanted to send him the surgeon for
a calf release. On further investigation
and cuing of his gait he could with concentration obtain heel strike. Deeper discussion with the staff they
admitted that the child had KAFOs (knee ankle foot orthoses) and had progressed
to AFOs (ankle foot orthoses) and there had been a significant
improvement. Suggesting we hold off on
the surgery and see with better fitting AFOs and more structured gait exercises
over the next few months before resorting to surgery maybe more
beneficial. We will see the outcome!
From a 500 miles perspective please have a look at our Big
Dinner campaign www.bigdinner.co.uk . It will be aired at 7pm on the 7th
of March UK
time. Any contribution you can make will assist us in helping the disabled of Malawi walk
more than 500 miles.
