Work News at SOS Medical Centre

Work continues to be crazy at the children’s rehab programme, with around 500 children coming through our doors each week, it’s a privilege to be part of a leading disability service in the country!! With only a month before the opening of the second village and therefore medical centre, it wont be long before our numbers will have doubled, reaching major regions that have previously not been able to access disability services! So it’s exciting (and busy) times ahead!!

A crazy first Term has just finished and we are now in the second week of workshops which run each term break. Over 100 children along with their carers have been invited.
They nearly didn’t happen this term, as funding was pulled just the day before, loosing any money for transport to collect mums and babies or feed them during the workshops. The promise from head office is that the funding “will be in soon” but by Malawian standards it could happen well after workshops have finished!! So that didn’t stop us. Scraping money from all sorts of places, and calling on favors around town, each day we have managed…just a day at a time!!

Across the two weeks all sorts of workshops are run, from introduction to disability, activities of daily living, communication, hearing impairment, eating disorders, making toys, play and socialization, food security and nutrition, puberty, HIV/Aids manifestation in children, and school readiness. So it’s been exciting times. The styles of workshops are awesome, they are relaxed and heaps of fun, and we do dramas and practical activities, play games and have lots of laughs! Next week home visits will start, and I love them!! It’s an awesome time to get out in the rural villages and spend time with the women out in their homes. Often an overwhelming experience, but great to be a part of!

I’m continuing to work with Victor and Morgan (two fantastic Malawian guys who I am training to do my work). When I leave here, they will be responsible for the speech therapy services in Malawi, so they need a massive amount of support. On May 1st there will be big changes… our project head Kathy Bowler, who founded the medical centre and has been there for 12 years, is leaving, so there will be shaky times of change ahead. And on the same day Victor will leave to start work in the brand new Blantyre SOS village and medical centre. So our communication team will be spread across the country! It’s a challenging few weeks finalizing everything that he will need to take and reassuring him that he will be fine!! The start of this adventure will also mean more trips down south so I can be supporting both victor in Blantyre and Morgan in Lilongwe. Cloning myself would be a much easier approach I feel… but alas! We’ll survive!! There are three of us now working with nearly 300 children in communication & audiology… so soon there will be double the case load and less people on the ground. Eek!! Needless to say the guys don’t ever want me to leave!

I love the type of development work that I’m a part of, of course I still have heaps to learn, but I really believe in a capacity building approach. I have also been doing blocks of lecturing at the rehabilitation assistant’s college in the hope to improve the understanding of Communication in disability so that more staff working within disability can at least start identifying problems. This has also involved some student supervision and support to other organizations. Word seems to be spreading as well, we are getting more and more referrals especially from the hospitals malnourishment ward in pediatric feeding, so i'm on a pretty steep learning curve in pretty much every area!! Let’s just say, i’m rarely bored!!

So there’s a lot to be done, and of course, I have no idea how i’m going to do it all. But remarkably “stressed” and “worried” are words that don’t really exist in my vocab over here, so that’s making this adventure far more fun and challenging than anything else! I’m loving it, I love the way it challenges me to think, challenges me to act and inspires me to problem solve in areas that have no recipe!!

In between all of this, the relationships at work are very important to me, my colleagues are my good friends, as are the women of the children I’m working with, and I love the relationships. Now that I have been here a while, doors have opened to great conversations and great friendships. Therapy involves playing and chatting and singing and laughing with the most beautiful of children. I love being a part of there lives, even though small, it’s precious to me. I think I have the coolest job in the world, I get to play with adorable children all day! And meet marvelous loving, struggling, but joyful women who have enriched my life! I would not have had nearly as many opportunities to become a part of my community without my working role here. I’m so very pleased that I have this skill to share that opens a door to great relationships and many opportunities to bless people even in little ways.

If only she could smile

I’d like you to meet my little friend Rhoda. She is 10 years of age, has a calm, assured, friendly, strong character. She is a beautiful young girl who has suffered a great deal in her short little life.

Professionally I have struggled with her situation, functionally her disabilities limit her speech significantly, she is barely able to move her jaw to chew or open her mouth. It is affecting her swallowing, her nutrition, her oral hygiene, and is a constant cause of infection.

Personally I can see a ten year old girl with a terribly disfigured face. She cannot smile. and she looks remarkably different than her peers. She currently lives in a supported and loving environment, but it only makes me sad to think of her future as a young teenage girl.

Rhoda was orphaned as a baby and developed cancrum oris (wasting of skin and tissue) around her mouth from chronic malnutrition. After being admitted into the SOS village she underwent some surgeries that were less than ideal in correcting her troubles. I have decided to share her story with you as we progress through the journey of trying to help this young girl.

Over the next month or so I hope to share with you some results of data I have been collecting on trends in disabilities and the medical centre, and rather than boring you with statistics I wanted to share a story as well. Although only one story, Rhoda’s is sadly like many others. Firstly in a developed country she would have had access to professionals who could help her… but even more devastating.. in most countries around the world, she would never have suffered this disfigured condition in the first place.

Stay tuned…

I learnt how to cook a cake!!!

The greatest thing I have learned so far in malawi, and one of the things I hope to take away with me forever… Is how to cook a cake… now I know its not a terribly profound discovery on the surface, but I can’t tell you how much it really has symbolized my time here so far!!

It started out as just a few cakes. And now I think I have a thriving bakery happening in my little house in area 22! Right back in the beginning my first cake experience was rather significant for me. It was the day I freaked out a little when I made a cake and didn’t know who to share it with, right back then I had to make a choice about how I would live in Malawi, and I chose to put my self out there by taking my cake to Weka’s house. Not only has that formed a great friendship, but it has taught me how to become a part of this community here in Malawi. And I don’t want to ever forget what I have learned.

In the early days baking cakes saved me! Back then it was all about me… it was comfort food, it was fun, it filled in time, it helped me bring a part of my life at home here into Malawi. Having coffee and cake with friends at home has always been important to me, and I needed to make that a part of Malawi life.
I did actually know how to cook a cake at home in Australia…but I rarely did it, and when I did, it was not in the same way, not for the same reason and certainly not with the same outcome!
Now, I make a stack of cakes. I have made nearly 20 in the past 2 weeks!! Sometimes for my neighbours, sometimes for friends, sometimes for birthdays, sometimes for the youth girls, sometimes for work meetings, sometimes when I go to a house for dinner, and when I have people over for visits… and sometimes for no reason at all.
I have taught people how to make cakes, we have modified the recipe so it can be cooked in open fires, stove top and coal cookers.
Next week I’m meeting with the village mums for a cake making party!
My friend Weka and I are thinking we should teach some of the youth girls from our group how to bake as a business for them.
I’m starting to have to buy ingredients in bulk. And its getting rather costly… butter and cocoa & icing sugar are not very cheap!! Some weeks I run out of food to eat for me… but I make sure never to run out of cake making ingredients!
My appointment diary at work now doubles as the birthday book for cakes. Everyone loves it! I love it! the joy it brings is astounding!

It really isn’t so much about the cakes though. But instead they symbolize so much of what I am learning:

The meaning of life here is food (many people have told me this) its often the thing people worry the most about, it’s the things that people celebrate much about, it’s the thing that brings families together, its central in celebrations and in mourning. I have learnt a lot about food and community. So to be a part of the community I have learnt that inviting people over for meals, or bringing food when you are invited to someones house is special!
Although I would normally have used a recipe, I no longer need to. A recipe doesn’t work here, because a recipe limits your flexibility here, it limits your creativity, it also means you have to have those ingredients…and what happens if you don’t? No recipe is far far better!! I could come to malawi…or anywhere… and think I know what is needed, or think I know what might work, or think I should do things a certain way. But instead of bringing a recipe from home, I needed to learn without one. It was hard at first, but now I can make one in my sleep! I can make one with generally whatever mix of ingredients I have, and if I don’t have, I learn how to find!
Simple is good. Although at times I have wondered if I should try a more complicated cake, with fancy ingredients and fancy trimmings, its always the chocolate and banana cake that are loved the most. Simple strategies can often be the most effective!!!
Making a cake is learning how to serve someone. It breaks down barriers. It blesses people in a way that almost surprises them! I had to learn to invite myself to people’s houses. And I learnt how to slowly give and serve others rather than be given TO and served BY the locals who initially thought that was what had to be done for the new white girl. It broke down barriers that were amazing! Of course its not all about the cake. But it can be a great excuse. I remember fondly helping Mary move house. she wouldn’t let me offer to help clean and pack… so instead I just turned up with a cake for the hungry workers…and that was ok…and instantly that was my door in to help pack and clean. She thanked me for months!! I had so many barriers to break here as a white person. There have been others who have come before me with very different attitudes, it took a lot of time to show I REALLY did want to be a part of peoples lives. As a friend, not just as a visitor.
Sometimes I have questioned if a chocolate cake is really what people need when they sometimes only have rice, or they’re never really sure if they will have enough food. I cannot provide meals for everyone to sustain them. But I can sure love them. Can you imagine the joy that a cake can bring to someones life who has only ever eaten rice. This has been a constant concern of mine in so many ways. Do they really need speech therapy when they don’t have health care, education or FOOD! I can’t save the world. I don’t intend on doing that. I can just love people like I know how to. And lately that has been a lot of cake making and eating together!
When you eat a cake what do you do? You talk, you share and you enjoy life together.
It’s a part of me that I’m bringing into the equation. I could try and cook the local food, but I’m terrible at it, they all know that, and they all laugh at me. its lovely to have lessons from them and be able to share something in return. It wouldn’t be right for me to turn up at someone elses house with their food…that would offend them,,,. BUT I can bring mine! I am not and never will be Malawian. I need to stay true to who I am. I wasn’t meant to come here to be someone else. Just as I am I can make a difference and be a blessing to people. it has been remarkably freeing to discover this again!!
It identifies much of what I miss, I miss being in aplace where you take what food you cn buy for granted, It reminds me of how much we have, and how easy it is to find, I miss the variety in food, because food is important to me, it symbolizes a lot of what community is for me, you go out for coffee and cake, or you go out for a meal, or if you have people over, it is always awesome to have good food to share with people. good food affects your health so much more significantly than you realize.
Sometimes if you practice something enough it becomes such a habit that its easy to do! Just like baking a cake, I want that to happen with lots of different things I’m learning.
Its not just about the cake, but the cake is a good start!
This is my response to how blessed I am!

So, my challenge for you..… learn how to make a cake.…whatever this means for you!! and don't forget to enjoy it!!

The opposite of love

The opposite of love is not hate... it is indifference!

My awesome friend Dawn!

Dawn arrived in Malawi about two months ago, she lives down in Mangochi working as an OT with AVI in Total Life Care with Global Interaction Australia! She is one awesome awesome girl, we have heaps of fun, catch up regulalry and i'm blessed to have her as such a great friend here in malawi!! I spent easter with her, and we had an awesome time!! She's a star!!

This was Dawn helping me practice my lectures down in Blantyre at the Rehab college, what great moral support!! Ahhh... we have alot of fun!!

When I grow up...

...... I'm going to cure AIDS (John Paul, 12 year old boy)


(John Paul & Jarrod)

The other kids were playing twister on my front porch with chalk and giggles, while we sat under the paw paw tree and discussed life. He asked me a number of sensational questions. How many children on average do families have in Australia? what is the age girls get married and have babies? what is the main food in Australia? how many people live in a house? how many cars do people have? how many computers do people have? what jobs do most people do? what do most people do at college? do you have markets? how much money do people earn? do you have dirt roads? How many people have aids? how many funerals would you go to in a year? how many times have you had malaria at home? how many aeroplanes do you catch to get to Australia? how much money do you need to buy a bunch of banana’s or a goat? are houses made from bricks or wood? Why aren’t you married yet? are there not enough guys in Australia? (I just laughed at that one!!) How many children are there in Australia? Is there war in your countries history? Do you have black people like us who were in the country before the white people arrived?

I was rather exhausted but enthralled by all of his questions, I decided to return the question firing but I never got past the first....

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Im going to be a scientist. Or a doctor. Im not sure. BUT if im a scentist, I’ve decided im going to cure aids. It can’t be that hard.

Why not? I asked I little curiously.

Well they keep telling us how its spread… over and over again… enough already… I knoew its sex. i think its cos lots of adults try and say that it must be something else

Oh yeah like what?

Like maybe because someone was bad, or because the cuahgt it from condoms, or from food, or mosquitos or medicine or something. That’s just cos they don’t want to stop having sex though. Some people are really stupid you know. I hope I never become stupid when im older.

John for president I say!

SO anyway, I’ve been thinking about the mosquitos one. And you know how they don’t have a cure for aids. Well they were saying that mosquitos can’t carry the disease because it dies inside fo them so that it can’t be passed on to another person right. So if we take all of the juices out of mosquitos and inject them into humans, maybe it will kill the aids. Obviously there is something inside of the mozzies that kills the virus. Well its worth a try don’t you think?

I wasn't really sure how to respond, so I just asked….but everyone would get malaria???

Yeah, so what!!… I think that’s ok, atleast we can treet malaria. I’d choose malaria over aids wouldn’t you? (he said this looking at me like I was a bit stupid!)

Then he proceeded to say, it may not work, but all the best scientists stuffed up a few times before they got it right didn’t they? Im willing to give it a go! Im pretty sure I’d like being famous!

I really like John Paul... he's cool!