UCLA and Partners in Hope

The view as you pull into the PIH parking lot---ladies taking good to sell at market

We have shared in the past that UCLA has partnered with Partners in Hope in a number of ways. One has been via an HIV project done at University of Malawi's Chancellor College. You can read more about it at http://www.thisismystory.info/. This project took shape last summer but involved 3 of our employees at PIH who are living with HIV. One of which is Subira, our receptionist.

She always greets us with such a wonderful smile. While we were away she became very sick with TB meniningitis--Tuberculosis is very common here in Malawi whether or not one has HIV, but those whose immune systems are surpressed by the HIV virus are more susceptible to it and often get more severe forms of TB, such as meningitis. We are so thankful that she responded to treatment, because many people die of meningitis. She is just getting back to work and building up her strength after an almost 3 month absence due to her illness. Please continue to pray for her and our other staff members who are living with HIV.

Fun in Malawi

The kids have loved being back in Malawi. Mostly, they were excited to get back to school at ABCCA. But we have had some other fun event and surprised since we've returned. We were happy to find in this transient community in Lilongwe, that while we were gone a new family moved in across the complex from us. They have 2 kids--Josiah-age 7 and Tasheni(sounds a lot like Tacheny with accents on different syllables)-age 5. Our kids have loved being able to just run outside and play with friends. We are very thankful.

As you can tell from the pictures, Sam has become quite a builder/architect. He and Mike worked together to make this K'nex roller coaster. I was proud of how well Sam did putting all the small parts together, but even more proud of Mike's patience in "supervising" the project.

Sydney's second favorite thing in Malawi is getting to play with Joyce's son, Jeremiah. You may remember he was born in June 2008--so needless to say he changed a lot in the 4 months we were gone. As soon as Sydney gets home from school, she finds Jeremiah and holds him and plays with him until he goes home. He is a beautiful baby!