Sharp mind, soft heart

Every morning, I ask God to give me a sharp mind and a soft heart. The poverty is overwhelming here, so much so that it seems "normal". I must keep reminding this that this may be "normal" here, but that is what global health is all about...making poverty-induced diseases "abnormal".

Life here is certainly different than Canada! I have not had to face the full brunt of it as of yet, as the Eggert house has a refrigerator, a washing machine, and running water. But I am thankful for all those things, so many other things are different. The first time I went to the market, I didn't ever want to go back. Malawians are big into greetings, so even some person has just heard you say, "I am fine, how are you?" (in Chichewa of course) four times already, you must do it over again. There were so many people. It was exhausting. But now I'm quicker with Chichewa greetings and more confident, so I'm going to go back tomorrow!

Of course, if you don't go to the market, the market can come to you. A rather funny thing happened last weekend. There was a knock at the gate. Sarah came back into the kitchen and said I had visitors. "For me?" Who on earth would be knocking at the gate for me? "Oh, they came at 7 am but we told them you were still sleeping. They want you to come and buy paintings from them." I walked out and greeted the three men, and looking at the paintings spread all over the grass along the side of the road said, "Wow, this just doesn't happen in Canada!" I have another seller coming to track me (specifically) down this afternoon at the office. They all know I'm here and where I live. Oh dear oh dear!

This week I went out to the villages 3 days out of 5. I used my first pit latrine (a hole in the ground with an elephant-grass/bamboo structure built around." I met lots of excited, curious, endearing children, and gracious women. One little girl in particular stood out. Her name was Devi. She was two years old. I went to the International AIDS Candelight Ceremony in Bwananyambi. She started out about 15 feet away. By the time the celebration started, she was on my lap. She held my hand and walked with me afterwards, and even pushed through a circle of nearly 50 kids who had surrounded me - to gaze, to listen to me say "Zikomo, zikomo!" (thank you, thank you), and to laugh! It's strange - being an azungu (white/European foreigner) here is like being an instant celebrity. I had to remind myself that Jesus is the Saviour of these kids...not me!

There are so many more stories to tell from the past week, but I'll leave it at that. It's lunch time, which means the office shuts down for 1 1/2 hours and everyone goes home and eats with their family. The Eggerts left for Lilongwe for the weekend today, so it'll just be me by my lonesome. Tsalani bwino! (Stay well!)