Memories in Malawi

New Blog

2009-07-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. We are no longer in Malawi, so I have started a new blog. If you are interested in following the adventures of our family you can go to www.tacheny.blogspot.com.

Thanks for your interest and your prayers.

Leaving Malawi

2009-06-16T02:07:00.000-07:00

Our family at our last Ultimate frisbee game

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. We have been busy with good-byes, end of the school year activities, more good-byes, packing our lives up and yet again, more good-byes. It's been a sweet time to reflect on the many blessings we've had living and working in Malawi. We are especially thankful for all of the friends we have made here. God is good.

This will be the last Memories in Malawi blog. I haven't decided what will be next. I have joined facebook and might use that as a way to keep people posted on our activites. But we'll see, I haven't quite figured out all of the ins-and-outs of it.

Our upcoming schedule is the following: June 16--leave Malawi. June 17--arrive in London and visit the Sanchez family. June 19--fly to Minnesota. June 28--fly to Costa Rica. June 29--Start language school.

It will be a whirlwind. Thank you for your prayers.

Working with AIDS patients

2009-05-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

The beautiful ladies who care for patients and clients at PIH clinic

Do you sometimes get stuck in your routine and lose sight of how God is working in your life--in big and small ways? I sort of had a mini-revelation about that today. I was at Bible Study and Beth Moore was sharing in her study, Stepping Up, about her desire to work with HIV patients and how she had the opportunity to do just that in South Africa sometime back. I found myself thinking about what a wonderful and life-changing experience that must have been for her. And then it sort of hit me--every day I am at clinic I have the opportunity to minister to patients suffering from HIV and AIDS. It sort of boggled my mind, that each and every patient we care for in Moyo clinic has the HIV virus. When I stop to think of that it is staggering--and the Enemy can come in and make me start judging patients decisions that led to them contracting HIV or maybe I will get overwhelmed at the problem of HIV and the many barriers out there to stopping the spread of this deadly virus. But I forget that God is bigger than all of those obstacles, and that God loves each and every one of these patients enough to send his Son to die for them. And then the routine of my job becomes a divine calling--to demonstrate the love of Christ through caring for their medical needs. You might be thinking, "Isn't that obvious? Isn't that why you moved to Malawi?" It is true--but we, or at least I, too easily fall into routine and sometimes lose sight of God's greater purpose for my daily schedule. May you see God at work in your life today too.

The Azungu (foreign/white) staff at PIH: front row--Amanda Fielder, me, Mike. Back row--Jon Fielder (new doc), Jessica McMillan, Brenda Jansen, Perry Jansen, Becky Lengle(a visiting nurse). We were all celebrating Amanda's b-day

Presidential Elections

2009-05-19T22:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was election day in Malawi. This is only the 4th time Malawians have had the opportunity to vote for president. Isn't that amazing! Here is a picture of the queue of voters. It was thankfully a quiet day--no rallies or political unrest. But keep praying for peace as the results are released today or tomorrow. If you want to read more about the election, you can click on this link. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8046766.stm

Thanks for you prayers!

Mother's day

2009-05-14T22:10:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was Mother's day in the US. It would have been easy to forget in Malawi, because there are no advertisements from Hallmark reminding us of this important day. Mother's day is celebrated in October here--and even then, there are no commercials to remind you. But I have a sweet family and husband who celebrated with me last Sunday. As you can see, the kids put together a little spa, while Mike cooked breakfast. I received fingernail tattoos, a foot massage and a back rub, all in the comfort of my own back yard.

Happy Mothers Day to all of you moms. Hope you felt loved like I did.

Easter Break--Taipei Gardens

2009-04-28T22:22:00.000-07:00

Here's another Easter break Adventure.

There is a small garden area in town that the kids and I went to visit for the first time. It is called the Taipei gardens. As you can see it has a beautiful pagoda. And although the gardens are in a bit of disrepair, it really is quite a beautiful "park."

There are not a lot of areas in town with some wide open spaces to walk or ride bikes. So we enjoyed this outing. Dad was working, so we'll take him with us on our next visit.

It reminds us of the international flavor of Lilongwe--which still amazes me at times. We meet people from all over the world every day. It's been quite a wonderful experience for all of us.

Bible Study ladies

2009-05-03T11:58:00.000-07:00

One of the things I will miss most when we leave Malawi is my weekly Bible study. Before I go on, most of you reading this blog have heard that we are leaving Lilongwe in June of this year en route to Ecuador. When we were back in the states last fall, we became aware of the need for doctors at the Shell hospital in rural Ecuador. God provided us the opportunity, as did my parents for watching the kids, to go visit the hospital--and we have decided to make the move. It will be a good fit for us--a chance to use all of our family practice skills and training.

We have enjoyed our time in Malawi and have learned so much about HIV medicine working at Partners in Hope, but we feel that it is time for us to move on. And God has confirmed this decision in our hearts.

So back to the dear ladies in the above picture. We meet every Wednesday morning and these ladies have become such wonderful friends and encouragers. We have a variety of nations represented--Canada, US, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya--but despite our varying backgrounds we are all sisters in Christ. We just finished an amazing study on the Love of God--and it was really life-changing and challenging for all of us. I am so grateful for this group. And I hope that all of you reading have a group like this where you can pray together, laugh together, study the word and encourage one another. What a blessing--especially when troubles come.

Easter Break--Nkhoma mountain

2009-04-24T22:15:00.000-07:00

The kids just finished a 2-week Easter holiday. Have we complained at all about how much vacation the kids get here? Amazingly despite a week in the fall, a month at Christmas, 2 weeks at Easter and a full Summer break--not to mention the other national holidays, etc--the kids seem to be learning a lot and doing well academically. But we do have to get creative for entertainment. This is the first spring break that my parents were not here and Mike and I were needed in the office so we decided to have a vacation at home. So instead of going to the lake or on Safari as in previous years, we explored a bit closer to home.

One of our adventures was a hike of Mt Nkhoma. We have tried this before with the kids, but had never made it to the summit as a family. This time with the support and encouragement of another family and their kids--we all made it to the top of Mt. Nkhoma. It was a difficult hike and for 5 days afterwards, I (Heather) still had trouble getting up and down the stairs in our house. But somehow Syd and Sam with their short legs--did just fine. =)

Is it McDonalds?

2009-04-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

No, it is MacDauds!!

Maybe you have to live here to appreciate this, but we think it's quite funny. There are almost no fast-food chains in Lilongwe. There is Nando's and Steers--both South African chains. But no McDonalds, KFC, etc. And, there is no shortage of American "knock-offs"--using slogans, such as "Just do it","Coke" bottles that are red with the same writing but say something like "Koke".

So here's an example that combines the knock-off with a fast food chain. Around the corner to our house last week we noticed a transformation of this building--it was painted in bright red and yellow. And if you can see in the picture looks quite similar to a McDonalds franchise. Yet, to our dismay it is not McDonalds, it is Mac Dauds. And the slogan (in very small letters below) instead of "I'm loving it", is "You're loving it" It makes us smile =) The restaurant is not yet open--but there are pictures of burgers and fries on the windows that make us expect all of the grease and goodness of McDonalds.

Crisis nursery

2009-04-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

Here is our family at the Ministry of Hope's Crisis Nursery. We have found that visiting the nursery and playing with the babies is something our whole family can do together. Of course, Sydney enjoys the role of mommy to all of the kids and she often is holding 2 babies at a time. Sam gets creative and reads book and throws balls to the babies, but he's less inclined to hold the babies.
We had started visiting the nursery as a family last summer and it's been fun to return after our 4 months in the states and see how the kids have grown and changed. We have a few of our favorites and of course, some of our not-so-favorites too. But we are glad to share God's love in this tangible way.

Syd and Jeremiah

2009-04-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

As you may remember, our househelper, Joyce, had a baby last June. Jeremiah is growing quickly and we enjoy having him in our house. Sydney seems to enjoy him the most--as soon as she gets home from school she rushes in the door to find him and until Joyce leaves, she is constantly holding him. We joke that Sydney is our nanny's nanny. And she loves it. I don't blame her--he is

pretty cute--don't you agree =)

Sydney feeding Jeremiah ice cream for the first time

Berean Baptist visit

2009-04-11T05:12:00.000-07:00

We were blessed to have a medical team from Berean Baptist come to Malawi the first week of April. This is the 3rd year we have had the opportunity to minister alongside this group as they meet medical needs, train pastors, and provide individual and couple counseling in a district north of Lilongwe, called Ntchisi. We have become friends with the individuals who have come back to Malawi multiple times, and we will miss them as we prepare to leave Malawi in June. For those of you who haven't heard, we will be moving with our mission organization, HCJB Global, to work at a rural hospital in Ecuador. This transition will first take us to Costa Rica for language school and then on to Ecuador. I will write more about these changes as we get closer to the move, but for now we are focusing on our last few months in Malawi.

Here are a few pictures from the day I helped with the clinic in Ntchisi. We took over the local church building and myself and 2 other doctors from the states, alongside 2 Malawian clinical officers--helped care for the people in this village. We saw a variety of things from musculoskelatal pain and upper respiratory infections to a few children quite sick with malaria. We also offered HIV testing to patients and individual and couple counseling. It was a good day--and for me, it is always fun to get out of the city and see life in rural Malawi. It truly is a beautiful country.

Triathlon

2009-03-19T07:41:00.000-07:00

Sydney participated in a triathlon at school last Friday and she won her age-group for the girls! She did great! Sam started the race, but the swim was too long and he stopped. But hopefully in a few weeks they will have a shorter race for the smaller kids. It was a great day--except that our sunscreen was expired and we all ended up with a good sunburn. So Sydney has the award for being the first person in our family to complete a triathlon. Mike and I will have to think about participating in the Open event--although I'm pretty sure I would sink to the bottom of the pool trying to swim 11 laps. Maybe if I could do the under-8-year-old distances instead (3 laps). I doubt you will see pictures of this event even if it happens. But certainly there will be more pics of the kids should they participate again. Hope you enjoy.

Sam and his buddy Andrea before the race

Early morning walks

2009-03-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

I am so fortunate to have a group of ladies to walk with 3 times a week. Never mind that we have to leave our house in the dark at 5:30 in order to get back in time for work, school, etc. It is still something I look forward to every time.
This morning my walking partners decided to sleep so I got to walk by myself. I used to be a bit apprehensive about this, but now I feel very comfortable. As I was making my way home I wanted to share some of the sights, sounds and smells of my morning walks that have become so special and unique.

I leave my house in the early morning light. The sun is not yet up, but the sky is just becoming light. I let myself out of our gate as the night guards are always sleeping somewhere and are never awake in the morning to open the gate for me.
It's just dark enough that the Malawians that are out and about, blend in a bit to the darkness--so as I get closer to them on the road I will see men in uniforms heading to their security jobs, men on bikes riding home from their night duty, women with big bundles on their heads--most likely carrying things to market to sell that day. Even in the dark, there are a few men outside their gates, sweeping the dirt driveways and picking up the leaves around the outside wall. There is the smell of fires burning and of dust. Although this morning, it was a bit more wet as it had rained heavily the night before.
I enjoy walking in the early hours because there are very few cars on the road, and although there are people out, much fewer than later in the day when I fear for my life as I walk on the same roads because of the narrow roads and congestion.
As it gets lighter, the people I pass greet me. "Hello, madam". I feel very special being called 'Madam".
I usually walk the same route each day so I often see some of the same people. It's nice to greet the familiar faces and wish them a good day. One couple I look forward to seeing is this darling older Asian couple that always walks together. She walks with a cane and is very hunched over and almost shuffling--with beautifully silver-black hair. Her husband stands tall and walks beside her. And everytime we pass them they greet us with "God bless you".
As it gets lighter I start to see the Malawian children heading off to school. They wear their uniforms--most commonly a bright blue dress for the girls and a white shirt and shorts for the boys. They look so young walking along the road in small groups. I imagine some of them are only 5 or 6 years old, walking 1/2-1 mile to school each day.

As we live at the bottom of the hill, my walk takes me up the hill around the upper neighborhoods and the last part of the walk is heading downhill towards home. At the top of the hill I always have to pause and appreciate the view. Usually the sun has just come up, the clouds are often just losing their pink color and I can see the city center laid out in front of me. The minnarets of the Mosque stand up above the rest of the buildings and in the distance I can see the rocky "mountains" that lie just south of town. They are big rocks that jut out of the ground. It truly is beautiful in the quiet of the morning.

More visitor experiences

2009-03-05T21:30:00.000-08:00

Pat Jacquin and I helping wash hand before the meal at COTN feeding program

While our visitors were here, we took the time to break our normal routine and do a few things we hadn't done in awhile. Before we went to the States last fall, we were going as a family to the Ministry of Hope's Crisis Nursery about twice a month. This Nursery cares for orphaned infants through about 2 year olds. We would come as a family and hold babies and play for an hour or so. Sydney always loved it, but Sam wasn't so enthused about entertaining the babies. But since we've been back to Malawi, we havent' taken the time to get back there. So Miriam, Pat and I went last week to visit. It was so fun to see the kids--they had all grown and changed so much in the 6 months since I had visited the nursery. The older kids had moved on--some back to extended family members, now that they were older and could eat regular food, some to foster homes. It's a sweet ministry and it's a good way to get my baby fix every once in awhile. There's always one child I want to take home with me.

Pictures of the "graduates" of the widows training program

The three of us then accompanied Brenda Jansen to Children of the Nations feeding program in Mtsiliza. Mtsiliza is an urban village tucked into the center of Lilongwe--just across from ABC Christian Academy, where the kids go to school. It is a very poor area and the COTN feeding program provides 2 meals a day to orphans and children whose parents cannot provide for them. Before the meal we were treated to a beautiful time of singing by the kids. I have a video of it, but it doesn't seem to want to upload. Then the kids come for their meals, and Pat and I helped by washing hands.

The program also reaches out to widows in the community. Miriam was especially interested in this ministry. They are in the midst of a second round of training for local widows. This training involves teaching trades such as sewing, baking, and knitting in an effort to provide skills for these women to make a living. The first "class" of trainees numbered about 40 and currently there are that same number involved in the training as well. The two women in charge of this current class, were graduates of the first class and you could sense the pride they had in their own accomplishments and in the women they were training currently.

It was so good to break from my routine and see some of the other ministries that are happening around me every day. God is working through many different avenues to bring light and hope and meet needs in Lilongwe.

Visitors

2009-03-03T05:18:00.000-08:00

Enya, a patient attendant at PIH, showing off her cross necklace

Jessica (patient intake) and Miriam (accounts) are very happy about their gifts!

For the last week we have had the privilege of hosting two HCJB Global visitors, Pat Jacquin (HR director) and Miriam Neff, whose husband served on the board of HCJB for many years. Miriam worked as a school counselour for many years and has written many books. She shared her wisdom (and a gift of a cross necklace) with the women at Partners in Hope as she shared on "Women and their Emotions". She also helped lead a "Soul Care Day" for a number of missionaries over the weekend.

Her ministry has changed dramatically after the death of her husband 3 years ago. And now she has a ministry called "Widows Connection". She writes and speaks to widows around the world and she has helped come alongside a widows ministry in rural Mozambique through a partnership with World Relief. She is in Mozambique right now visiting the project.

It's good to host visitors from time-to-time because it gives us the opportunity to change our routine and visit some other ministries happening here in Malawi. More about that in the next blog...

Miriam sharing at "Soul Care Day"

Friday tea time with the moms

2009-03-01T04:16:00.001-08:00

Sydney and Sam and some of their friends

Since school finishes at 12:30, we always have to plan events for the entire afternoon with the kids. Usually the time gets filled with homework, lunch, driving to and from school, swimming lessons or playdates. The other Friday, one of the moms invited a group of us over for tea and a big play afternoon with the kids.

As many of you know, I am a coffee drinker through and through, and tea is not my favorite. I am trying to adjust to the tea-drinking, British-influenced culture, but it's difficult. =) So thankfully, coffee was also served. (Although, I think it was actually unbearably hot that day and I chose to drink a cold glass of water instead. )

I am thankful for these moms who have become my friends over the few years we have been here. They are a wonderful bunch of people with interesting stories of either growing up in Malawi, or being transplanted here like us. There is a common bond among moms whose kids are in the same school and the same classes. And I am thankful for all I have learned from them about life: from tips about parenting, to living in Malawi, to cooking . God has been so good.

UCLA and Partners in Hope

2009-02-10T04:58:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-07T04:46:00.000-08:00

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!

Arrived and Settled

2009-01-22T19:08:00.001-08:00

Yes, we are finally settled and rested from our travels back to Malawi. We traveled without incident and arrived with all 8 suitcases! A small miracle for which we are very grateful. The kids travelled quite well and we all were happy to find a McDonalds in the Amsterdam airport for one last greasy burger and fries. The kids happy meal had a small Monopoly game in it--which is quite funny as they had been playing a lot of Monopoly since our Florida trip.

We arrived on a Friday and the kids went back to school on Monday. It was so helpful that they were returning to a familiar setting and both of the kids were so excited to see their friends and their teachers.

We went back to work mid-week and it's been good to start practicing medicine again. We were a bit rusty on the HIV protocols and the paperwork, etc.,--but it's all come back quickly. We are lucky to be working in a place where the patients are almost always very gracious and thankful for your care.

We've mentioned before that Lilongwe has a very transient population, especially in the ex-patriate circles. Much has changed in the 4 months we have been in the states--quite a few people have left for different reasons, and more families have arrived. One family, the Fielders, has arrived to work at Partners in Hope. Jon had set up an HIV program in Kenya and now he, his wife, and 2 small boys have come to Malawi to assist in the expansion of the PIH programs.

Boards and Prayer Request

2008-12-05T11:31:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much to everyone who was praying for our board exams. They seemed to go better than expected, although we won't know our results for 4-6 weeks. We are so glad to have them finished--although it seems to mark the beginning of the end, as far as our time in the States goes.
In my last blog I was talking about being thankful. In the last line I joked about remembering to be thankful when the kids are fighting. For me, my biggest challenges have just been keeping an attitude of gratefulness during the day-to-day struggles I have as a wife, mother, doctor, etc. But as I wrote that line, I thought about all of the people who have to choose to thank God, praise Him and trust Him when circumstances are much tougher--loss of job, loss of health, etc.
I was reminded of this again when we returned home from our test and had received a very sad email from Malawi. The husband of one of my Bible study friends there was killed instantly in a head-on car crash on Tuesday afternoon. Please pray for Katie, his wife, and her 3 girls during this difficult time. Thank you.

I want to be thankful..

2008-12-02T04:56:00.000-08:00

Our small group at Feed my Starving Children, 10/31

"I want to be thankful, I want to be grateful, I want to remember everything that the Lord has done..."

These are the words to one of the songs we listen to in the car with the kids. When we arrived in the states, my mom gave us a tape of all of the songs from the Vacation Bible School she worked at this summer. The kids love the upbeat songs and it's so great to hear them belting out the words in the car--God must be pleased when He hears them. =)

But I am touched by the words, too. How simple, yet profound, to always be thankful for what the Lord has done.

We just spent a weekend celebrating Thanksgiving with friends and family and we certainly have much to be thankful for. But there are the days when I'm in a bad mood, or things don't seem to be going my way and I'd rather feel sorry for myself. But even in those times, God calls us to be thankful, too. I'm glad this song gets stuck in my head from time to time, because it's a good reminder of all I have to be thankful for in Christ.

Some of the highlights of November that we are thankful for was:

A chance to help out at Feed my Starving Children with our small group (ok, this was actually Oct. 31)

A trip to visit Mike's sister Lori and her family and her church in AZ.

Sydney's 7th birthday!

The chance to connect with so many supporters and get updates on what's happening in people's lives.

Of course, Thanksgiving and its many celebrations with family and friends.

We are thankful, and we are grateful. Now, if I could just remember this when the kids are fighting... =)

Back in the States

2008-11-12T22:02:00.000-08:00

Loving the autumn colors!

Hi friends. I haven't been updating the blog recently. I sort of thought we'd either be seeing those of you who actually read this, or that you might not be so interested in our activities in MN compared to our life in Malawi. But, in the last week 3 people mentioned the blog and the lack of entries--so here goes....

We have been so blessed by our time in the states. It's been a wonderful time of reconnecting with family and friends, refreshment, and fun.

Here's a few answers to commonly asked questions:

Why are you home and when do you return to Malawi?

Our main reason for returning this fall was for Mike and Heather to prepare for and take our Family Practice Board Exams in December. We have a lot of refreshing to do regarding American medicine. We are also using the time to reconnect with family, friends, and supporters as much as possible. We will return to Malawi on January 7th.

How are the kids adjusting?

Amazingly well. They are attending school in Woodbury where we are staying with Mike's parents. Although they miss ABC Christian Academy in Malawi--they have enjoyed the new experiences like riding the bus, having chinese class and chess club

Syd and Sam in a McDonalds playland--one of their favorite American experiences

Did you experience culture shock?

Surprisingly, not much. I think we returned to a very familiar place and situation and in many ways, it felt like nothing had changed in the two years we had been in Malawi. Of course, the kids are all much bigger =) We also live in a bigger city in Malawi and have many of the conveniences--electricity, water, grocery stores, cars---so the US, although different in many ways, has many similarities which make it easier for us to cross cultures

The kids dressed up for Halloween with friends--Syd is Pocahontas, and Sam is the scary Spiderman =)

Please pray for us as we prepare for these Board Exams on December 3rd. Pray that we would not be anxious and that we would be diligent in our studies. Thank you so much for your support!

Working

2008-08-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

With all of the talk of visits from my parents, birthdays for my kids and a imminent trip home, I'm sure you are wondering what's happening at work. Yes, we are still working at Partners in Hope. In fact, Perry Jansen (the founder of PIH) and his family, just returned in June from a one-year furlough. It's been great to have Perry back in the directors seat. Although the clinic has continued serving patients well over the last year, Perry brings vision of the future of PIH, which gets us excited.
One of the current and future projects is a growing relationship with UCLA. Our clinic director, John Hamilton, is actually employed by UCLA and helps maintain a relationship with the school. Currently that means opening PIH to rotating UCLA residents to experience medicine in a developing country. In return, they bring their medical expertise and teaching to our staff, and to a local clinical officer student who joins them in the rotation as well. We had our first two resident doctors come in May--and it was a great experience. Here is a picture of all of us meeting for a journal club--a meeting where we review a few articles of study that might impact our practice of medicine here in Malawi. Mike was there too, but he was taking the picture.

I have a few more pictures of our clinic staff as well. This is some of our lab staff. The lab has been busy expanding, thanks to UCLA. There are plans to use PIH as a center for UCLA's research and because of that we are blessed to receive more equipment in our lab--including a CD4 machine. This is a test we use in HIV patients to see how suppressed their immune system is, and we use it monitor their response to medicine. Currently we are able to do the test by sending samples to another lab in Malawi at some cost to us, so it will be nice to keep the tests "in-house" for convenience and financial reasons.

From L to R: Irene, Maxwell and Steven

Our pharmacy has expanded as the clinic has grown as well. We currently employ two pharmacists--one for the Dalitso pharmacy and one for the Moyo (the free clinic) pharmacy. Howard (shown below) has the task of keeping our stocks supplied--which can sometimes be difficult as we order our ARV's (antiretrovirals--the medicines to treat HIV) through the government in 3 month intervals. So Howard has to figure out, about 6 months in advance, how much of each drug we will need, based on our current population and rate of growth. He does a good job and we are happy to have him. We are also blessed with a well-stocked pharmacy as compared to the government clinics and hospitals. That translates into better overall care for our patients.

Sam's 5!

2008-08-05T03:47:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Sam's birthday last month. It's hard to believe my baby is 5 years old already! We had a low-key party with my Bible study friends and their kids. Of course we had to play a few games--thus the picture of the spoons in the mouth. Last year was a dinosaur cake, but this year Sam saw a picture in a Good Housekeeping magazine of a 2 layer cake that he wanted. So we tried it, and thankfully it was edible. I always make our back-up, no-fail chocolate cake just in case. =)

Sam will get another birthday celebration later this month in MN! We are looking forward to celebrating all of our birthdays with our family this year. Mine will be first, the day we arrive in the US. My birthday gift will be a cafe mocha at Starbucks--mmmm good.