Good news from Malawi!

Chawezi

"No hurry in Africa"

I saw this painted on a piece of wood attached to the back of a truck during one of my trips to Africa when I was with World Vision. And it's really true. Almost nothing moves quickly there. But in the last few months, there has been some really exciting progress with Chawezi.

The key thing: her surgery is complete and she's back at home!

Here's the full update I received via email from staff in Malawi:

Dear friends
We are glad to inform you that Chawezi's situation has improved so greatly
that the doctors certified that she could be discharged from the hospital.
Yes she is much better and the artificial legs were fixed temporarily so
more durable ones will still be needed. Right now she is back at Manyamula.
As advised by the doctors, she needs to be taking more nourishing food
stuffs in order to get the wounds completely healed. My prior request of a
GN was to help the family meet the special  food expenses. So sponsor can
be sending a GN of US$ 100 after every three months atleast for one year.
The ADP can also help in some situations, as it has been  doing currently.
But surely the GN will be  appreciated greatly.

As for the artificial legs, let sponsor continue fund-raising. The ones she
is using currently are indeed heavy and can wear out sooner. We will check
with the hospital how much better legs may cost. As soon as that is done,
we will let you know.
Warm regards

Joseph.
World Vision Malawi


(A 'GN', as referred to in this email, is a Gift Notification, and refers to a monetary donation for specific use in regards to a sposnored child above and beyond the monthly pledge. In this case, they're asking for us to send $100 every three months to pay for additional food supplies to help her continued healing and maximize the effectiveness of some of the meds she's on.)

This is all great news. Aimee and I will be sending a check soon for about six month's worth of the requested donation for extra food supplies. And we're continuing to wait and see what the cost of the new lighter, more durable artificial legs will be.

Thanks for walking this journey with us.

Update on Chawezi, and what's next

It's been a couple of months since I lasted update this blog with what's been happening with Chawezi. I thought it was time to lay out what's been going on, and what is next. (If you haven't read this blog up to this point, the best place is to start at the beginning.)

1. After returning from Africa, I started by waiting to hear back from World Vision Malwai on what the doctors were missing in order to do her surgery to repair the infected wounds on her backside. Finally they got back to me and told me they needed a 'vat drain', whatever that was.

2. I spent a couple of weeks researching what a 'vat drain' was, with no luck.

3. I went back to World Vision, and asked them to find out how much it would cost to move Chawezi to a private hospital, where I knew they not only had all the supplies they need, but she'd be a LOT more comfortable.

4. After several weeks, they got back to me and let me know that there was no need to move Chawei to a private hospital, as the doctors at her hospital had been able to perform the needed surgery, and that Chawezi was now recovering. (Amazing how they hadn't had the right supplies for nearly two years until a foreigner came along and showed interest in a patient, then all of the sudden they do? Sad, very sad.)
5. They also said that they could use about an additional $500 to help cover food and other necessary items for her care (and her aunt - don't forget that dear woman that's spent all these months there with her).

So, here are the next steps:
1. We plan to send the $500 to World Vision for Chawezi by the end of this week.
2. We'll ask how much it will cost to get Chawezi some real, durable prosthetic legs.
3. We'll plan another visit to check on her progress, probably some time in January or February.

And finally, if you reading this want to help, here's how you can: My wife and I can cover the $500 that's needed right now. But I'm anticipating the prosthetic legs costing at least $1000. The last pair was only $400, but they broke pretty quickly. We need to get a pair that will last her for years. And a trip to Malawi, including airfare, lodging, transportation, etc, will cost about $4000 (for one person). While the trip to check on her progress might seem outside the scope of nessecity, I know from experience that it's not. Take , for example, the fact that the hospital she's in suddenly got what they needed for her after I visited. She'd been there for nine months with no progress. After I was there, things moved within weeks. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, I guess.

We'll cover as much of these costs as we can, but if anyone wants to help, we welcome that.
Thanks for reading.
-Pat

Observations of Africa, some funny, some not

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Smoke from burning garbage hangs over a city market

 So for those who have never been to Africa before, some of these may be interesting to you.

• Before my first trip to Africa, a colleague told me, "It smells like B.O., burning garbage, and shit." Well, that's often (mostly) true. People don't bathe nearly as often as we do (especially the men), and they don't use deodorant. Get in a larger group of people, and it definitely has a distinct aroma. Cities and villages also do smell like burning garbage, as there's not much in the way of garbage pickup. As for the last one, only in the villages where toilets only consist of outhouses.
• I had the pleasure of hearing the Ethiopian Airways safety announcement video four times in the space of 13 hours, and three times in the space of four hours. And because they said everything twice, once in Ethiopian (Amharic, I think) and once in English, it was twice as long as normal.
• Although there are a lot of cars on the roads, there are a lot more bicycles and pedestrians. And while we give pedestrians right of way (by law) here in the U.S., it's not really that way in Africa.
• There are typically two kinds of taxis (other than at the airports). Short distance taxis are bicycles where the person riding it takes a passenger on the back. Longer distance taxis are either a version of a minivan PACKED with people, or pickup trucks with passengers crammed in the back.
• I'm not sure what the cultural driver for this is, exactly, but I was never allowed to carry my own bags. Not even my laptop bag. No matter where I went, someone insisted on carrying all my stuff for me. I'm not typically prone to 'white guilt', but having Africans carrying all my stuff for me all the time was really uncomfortable.
• Malawi is one of a number of countries where they drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. Which nearly contributed to me getting run over because I wasn't aware enough of traffic on my side (was looking the wrong way).
• I saw hundreds of people in the hospital in Blantyre. But I only saw two other white people, and they were both doctors. That meant I got a lot of stares from the people in the hospital, since I clearly wasn't a doctor.
• Society as a whole is more formal there than here. People typically dress more formally and speak more formally.
• Street vendors probably learn one English phrase before any other: "I give you good price." Every single person selling something on the street said this to me while gesturing towards their wares as I passed.

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, but I thought I'd share a few of these observations with you.

Saying good-bye

It's Thursday afternoon in Malawi. Tomorrow I start the long journey home. It's hot and muggy, worse than any other day I've been here  so far (and remember, it's winter here). I am filled with mixed emotions.

I am glad to be heading home to Aimee and Rowan. I miss them. I am sad about leaving because it feels like my work here isn't done. I'm ready to sleep in my own bed and eat more normal food. I'm impatient about making progress towards my final goal as it relates to Chawezi: healing, new artificial legs, and the means to provide for herself.

Sigh.

Had a great third visit with her yesterday, plus had the added bonus of speaking with another doctor, this one actually directly in charge of treating her. Discovered that he wants/needs to do a skin graft, but can't because of a lack of supplies. And here's the kicker: the hospital has been out of these things for TWO YEARS. This hospital is government-run, and has very limited resources (remember how they have to provide their own food and wash their own clothes?), unlike a nearby private hospital. THEY have all the supplies needed, but won't share with the public hospital, not even if patients are willing to purchase the needed supplies from them. There's probably a very good reason for this, but in my biased state right now, I'm not seeing what it is.

So after the visit, we made the long drive back to Lilongwe, arriving here about 6 or 7 pm. (Side note, my body clock has never adjusted, and I've been falling asleep at about 4 or 5 every day, and waking up at about 2 or 3 in the morning. I've only eaten dinner once since I arrived. Of course, I fell asleep within minutes of arriving at the hotel last night. Let's see if I make it to dinner tonight.) Today was spent in a meeting with World Vision Malawi staff, and then a little sightseeing. I also bought an African drum with animals carved in the side for Rowan. She likes the one I bought in Uganda  a few years ago, so I got her one of her very own.

Back to Chawezi... So, in summary, here's the plan as we know it right now:

1. Try to get all needed supplies for a skin graft, which will help heal the pressure sores on her backside.
2. Obtain new, stronger and lighter artificial legs.
3. Upon her return to Manyamula (her home village), provide some type of adult literacy course so that she'll be able to use the tailoring skills she obtained, and will actually be able to provide her own income.

The first two items are sure to cost money, but I don't know how much yet. The third one may get provided through government services, but if those aren't available, we may have to hire a tutor.

Before I wrap this up for today, I need to mention a few other people. First, Chawezi has an elderly aunt staying with her, and she's been with Chweazi now for months. The hospital has very little room, so any 'guardians' or relatives staying with patients have to sleep on the floor. So basically, this woman has given up her life to sleep on an overcrowded concrete floor since some time last year, and with no known end in sight. Yeah, and sometimes I think my life is hard.

I also need to mention Alfred and Raymond, my drivers/interpreters from World Vision Malawi. They've both been GREAT (like Tony the Tiger would say... can you tell my sleep's all messed up?). Very helpful, very gracious, and very supportive. Alfred in particular has put in a lot of work and how pledged to continue to do so.

Well, that's it from Africa. By the time I post again, I should be home. But although my travels will be finished, helping Chawezi is really just getting started.

Chawezi's aunt

Meeting Chawezi

Wow!

So yesterday (earlier today, Seattle time) I finally got to meet with Chawezi. This was after roughly 30 hours of flight travel (including layovers and connections), and a 5 hour drive from Lilongwe. My two World Vision escorts/interpretors and I got to spend a few hours with her at the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, I felt a mixture of nerves (why was I nervous?) and some degree of surprise at the condition of the hospital. I mean, I kind of expected it, but this was one of the two best hospitals in the country, but it definitely was not any where NEAR a standard that would be acceptable in an industrial country. The quality of the care is probably fine, but the condition of the building (and the number of people crammed into the wards) was, well, less than superior.

After abriefly checking in with the head nurse, we went to see Chawezi in the ward where her bed was located (with about 20-25 other people). She knew I was coming, so she met us at the door. First impressions? I had forgotten how SMALL she is. She also has a huge, sweet smile, and was very shy at first. So there would be room for all of us to talk, we went outside to a small grassy courtyard to chat with her and an aunt who had come to stay with her during her stay at the hospital. She kept covering her face with her hands, which was really endearing. I had puchased a backpack for her and put some stuff in it (I'd been asked that I bring lotion and soap, so I did, plus a hairbrush, washcloth, granola bars and some hard candy). She was overjoyed to receive it.

While I was there I also got to meet with two doctors who are helping with her care. Mostly they told me what I already knew, plus their plan for treating her. A skin graft to help some of her sores heal, and new artificial legs (the ones she received last year were too heavy for her, and one of the feet got broken anyway). Getting her upright and off of her backside is critial to keeping those wounds/sores healed.

I also learned that the tailoring classes she took a couple of years ago couldn't do her much good until she learned to read and write, so we began to explore options for her to learn. She told me that once she learned, she'd send me a letter to prove her new knowledge.

Finally, I learned to that at least some extent, patients had to provide their ow food (???). So we asked them what food items they needed, and during lunch, I went to the local supermarket and got them some groceries (enough to last them a couple of weeks, most likely). Also got them laundry soap and a washbin for them to wash their clothes. (Yep, they have to wash their own clothes, and by hand.) We went back and brought them their supplies,spent a little more time with them, and left for the day.

All in all, it was a fantastic visit. I'm getting ready to head to breakfast, and check out of the hotel. Then we'll go back for another visit before making the long drive back to Lilongwe. I wish I could stay longer. I mean, after taking from Friday night until Tuesday morning to get from my home in WA to the hospital in Blantyre, it'd be nice to spend more than 3-4 hours total visiting, but that's how it goes.

Now, let's see if this photo will load...

Expectations

Tomorrow morning I will finally get to visit Chawezi in the hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. Although we did meet in 2007, it wasn't really a formal introduction, and we've never actually spoken to each other. So I have to say I'm a bit nervous, and I'm not sure what to expect.

What is she doesn't even actually want to see me? What if she's not interested in any help?
What if she does want help, but asks for the impossible? What if I'll be forced to let her down?

I don’t know what to expect. But I feel like as long as I’m doing the right thing, as long as I’m doing what I feel God would want me to do, then that’s all I can do. And it’s good enough.

This morning I met with some of the staff at the World Vision Malawi National Office. Part of the meeting included a more complete history of Chawezi’s medical issues and history. Wow, it’s worse than I thought.

Below is a truncated version of the 2+ page document I received:

·         Chawezi was born May 8, 1983. She was born out of wedlock and has never met her father.

·         She was born with spinal bifida, and as a result did not learn to walk until age 7-8 (I had always assumed she’d been born without her legs, but that was not the case).

·         She was also born without an anus. A surgery to try and correct both problems happened within days of her birth.

·         An anal opening was created, but the surgery left her incontinent for both urine and feces.

·         Her mother died before her tenth birthday.

·         She developed epilepsy in her teen years. Although she takes medication for this, she still sometimes has violent seizures.

·         At the age of 15, she developed a blister on her left foot, which became infected to the point that the leg had to be amputated. A few years last the same thing happened to the other foot.

·         She was given a special tricycle to get around on (steered and pedaled with her hands). Between spending all her time on her rear end, and the fact that she’s completely incontinent, she developed pressure sores which became infected and which resulted in half of her buttocks being removed.

·         She was been in and out of the hospital trying to keep her wounds dressed and clean, but with little or no improvement in her condition.

·         In mid 2010, she was given artificial legs. The hope was that her standing up would relieve the pressure and allow wounds and sores to finally heal. However, she quit using them because they caused pain in her hips due to their weight. (One of the purposes of her current hospital stay is to try and find lighter artificial legs for her.)

The document goes on to say, “Chawezi has lived most of her life in pain and suffering.” Wow. Twenty eight years of mostly pain and suffering. The document ends with the sentence, “All these issues are affecting her psychologically.” Um, you think???

I don’t know what I can do to help her. But I’ll do whatever I can, that’s for sure.

Bon voyage

So I leave tonight for Malawi, the culmination of a lot of hard work, planning, and money. I'm excited, and a little nervous. But I feel good about this trip.

I went shopping yesterday, and bought Chawezi some stuff I hope she'll like.

• A backpack (always handy), which I then filled with-
• bars of soap (requested by her)
• a HUGE bottle of skin lotion (also requested)
• a hairbrush
• granola bars, mixed nuts, and other snacks

I don't know how long she'll remain in the hospital (hopefully not much longer), but I thought these things might all come in handy in one way or another.

As for me, I'm almost ready to START packing (I still don't leave for another several hours, so here's no rush, right?). I've got my camera batteries charged, my iPod charged, two books of sudoku puzzles, and two books to read all set out and ready to be packed.

Next up, I need to make a "Countdown Calendar" for Rowan, who is going to have the hardest time by far with me being gone for eight days. We've tried to prepare her for it, but she's already expressed some sadness about my leaving, so Aimee and I decided to come up with this calendar to help her count down the days until I get back.

So I guess that's about it for now. I catch a red-eye flight to DC tonight, then a flight from there to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) tomorrow, and from there to Lilongwe on Sunday. The flight back is WORSE. Same itinerary in reverse, except that this time the first two legs also include stopovers. Not layovers, where you can get off the plane and stretch your legs, but stopovers where some people get off, others get on, and you resume your trip. If the plane's on the ground, I want to get off of it, at least for a few minutes! =)

I hope to be able to continue this blog while I'm there, and keep people up-to-date. If not, I'll post as soon as I get back.

THANKS!

Anticipation, and good news

In all the hustle of getting ready for this trip, one important key piece of good news got set aside. I want to share it before I leave:

Chawezi has prosthetic legs!

Now in some ways this creates more questions than it answers, for several reasons:
1. We paid for those about a year ago.
2. We just got the photos and report that she got them about 2-3 weeks ago.
3. When did she actually get them?
4. If she has prosthetics, why is she (still, for months) in the hospital for sores and infections created from moving around on the ground?

There may be some good answers to these, like they didn't fit her that well, she got nervous and quit using them, or others. I hope to find out more once I get there. In any case, I tried for three days to upload the photos (thanks mom for scanning them), and to no avail. Oh well. I'll bring back photos of my own to post when I get back.

BREAKTHROUGH!

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Most of us probably heard this a ton of times as kids, and it's really very true (though too few people actually live this). But for many years I always felt the obvious corollary should be taught:

"If you DO have something nice to say, then for Heaven's sakes, say it!"

So, a few days ago I got fed up at all the problems plaguing the planning of this trip and vented that frustration here. Lo and behold, things started moving, and quickly. Coincidence? Probably, but I don't care about the why. And so I share with you today that World Vision came through rapidly day before yesterday, and things are much clearer today than they have been all along.

• I spoke with a contact person in the Malawi offices for World Vision.
• I learned that Chawezi IS still in the hospital.
• The hospital  she's in is pretty much in the opposite direction of the capital city from where her village is located.
• Now I have to alter my hotel reservation in Lilongwe, and get a hotel in the city she's in (Blantyre) for part of the trip.

At least things are moving in a direction now. I hated not knowing what to do. And we're getting down to the wire. Aimee just leaned over my shoulder and noted that one week from now I'll be in the air, probably over the Atlantic ocean or over northern Africa. Yep, that's true.

And at least now I have an idea what I'll be doing once I get there.

Getting fed up... and worried

This is starting to get really frustrating...

I leave for Malawi next Friday, meaning I have just eight full days left. And the following problem, which I've known about for more than a month, still isn't solved:

I don't know where Chawezi is, which means I don't know where to stay.

The root of this problem, I'm very sorry to say, is with World Vision. Now I love the organization, and not just because I worked there for almost eight years. But my experience as a child sponsor visiting the field has been lousy. Here's what I've been through so far.

• Contacted them in January about visiting. Took a week or two to get back to me about the process.
• They require a background check for all visitors - no problem there. But they never notified me when the results came back I waited for almost a month, and finally called someone 'on the inside' that I know, who told me that the results came back within a week, and that I was approved.
• This resulted in me delaying my trip to June, which cost me more in higher airfare.
• I was expecting an email from the field staff in March or April. Never got it. Called in early May. Was told I would get it the next day, and if I didn't to call back.
• I didn't get it the next day.
• Called back the day after, and was told the request to resend it to me had just gone out to field staff, and I'd get it in another day or so (Friday).
• I didn't.
• I got the email the following Tuesday. It did not tell me if Chawezi was still in the hospital or not, or even what city she was in. It did contain the cell  numbers of two contact people in Malawi.
• Due to the 9 hour time difference, I stayed up until midnight Sunday night (wanted to catch them first thing Monday morning, their time) to call them, only to find that neither number would work.
• I emailed local World Vision staff immediately, asking them to help me contact the field staff as the numbers provided didn't work. That was Sunday night.
• As of Wednesday (today), still no response.
• I called the office and begged them to call me back.
• They didn't.
• But they DID finally reply to my email from Sunday night.

Now they've requested the that the field staff respond with correct contact info, and that'll probably take another couple of days. Then I have to try reaching them again. That means probably next Monday, only four days before I leave. Meanwhile I have a hotel booked in the capital city of Lilongwe (pronounced li-LONG-way) for the whole trip, but if she's home or near her home, that won't work (4-5 hour drive each way).

Ugh.

I've started reminding myself that in the worst care scenario, I'll be able to get it all straightened out once I get there. That'll be a lot harder for all concerned, but if that's what happens, so be it. But I'd much prefer things get done the easy way. Is that so wrong?

I can only imagine what a 'normal' child sponsor (who didn't work there or years) might be feeling right about now?

Where do I stay?

The trip is getting closer. I got a tetnus/whooping cough immunization, and perscriptions for Cipro (antibiotics) and Malerone (anti-malaria). Tonight's challenge was to book a hotel.

There are two reasons why this is challenging. First, hotels in smaller African capital cities are not all on the internet, so my options are pretty few. Secondly, I don't know were Chawezi is. Or at least where she will be in early June.

Malawi is not a very big country, but it is big enough that if Chawezi is at home when I arrive, I can't stay in a hotel in the capital the whole trip. It's about a five hour drive each way from Lilongwe (li-LONG-way) to Mzimba, the nearest town of any size to her village. And her village is another 45 minutes or so (on dirt roads) from there. Too far to go back and forth every day.

What if she's still in the hospital? Well, there's another rub. I don't even know what city her hospital is located in, so I still don't know where to stay.

I just went ahead and booked five nights in a hotel in Lilongwe. I hope I can change it far enough in advance if I get more info.

Bad news

Actually, I'm going to start this off with some GOOD news. I received a call from World Vision yesterday, confirming that my trip to Malawi has been approved for the dates planned. That's where the good news ended.

The BAD news is that Chawezi is in the hospital. Although this in itself is not TOO terrible, the part that hit me was that the last time I got an update on her condition (last fall), she was in the hospital. What is unknown at this time is whether or not she's been in the hospital THIS ENTIRE TIME or not.

When a child sponsor (which is what I'm considered, even though Chawezi is not actually a child) plans a visit, the World Vision field staff ask the family/child if there's anything they'd like their sponsor to bring, as this is a common question from sponsors. I had in fact wanted to know what she might want. Since they'd already asked, they had the answer ready for me, and that answer surprised me. She wanted soap.

She's in a hospital, and what she thought to ask me for was soap???

I don't know where in Malawi she's at right now, or how modern of a hospital she's been admitted to. But if she needs soap, that's a concern. Rural African hospitals are know to be typically under-resourced, but for her to need soap... wow. She also asked for lotion and clothes. (A note on clothes, I have NO idea what size she wears, so this ought to be interesting. But Aimee is going to handle that shopping trip.) Anyway, finding out that she is in the hospital, has possibly been there since late last summer, and that she needs soap... well, not very good news, all things considered.

Helps me put the problems I face in life into a very different perspective.

Aimee's point of view

After starting this blog yesterday, I asked Aimee (my wife) if she'd write a post explaining how SHE felt about all of this. Afterall, she's not the one who went to Africa or met Chawezi, but she's as much a part of this as I am. I mean, it's partly her money that paid for the trip and that'll help pay for whatever we do for Chawezi. And she's the one who'll be alone at home watching Rowan while I'm gone. So this is very much hers too. Here are her thoughts:

   As Pat mentioned, in her native tongue, "Chawezi" means "gift".  And what a gift she is to our family! This beautiful young woman who bears the limitations of bowels she can't control and legs that won't even allow her the dignity to run away for privacy or protection is working powerfully in our lives.  I've known vulnerability but nothing like the powerlessness that Chawezi experiences everyday.  I had the privilege of caring for my father at the very end of his battle with cancer.  It was a rare and sacred journey to be allowed the intimacy that occurs in human relationships when we can truly be present to the needs of another.  I count myself blessed to have had the opportunity to do for my dad what he could not have done for himself.  In those beautiful moments, I witnessed dignity within indignity, strength within weakness.  I had a front row seat to his daily date with surrender. 
   God has graced our family with Chawezi, a girl a world away who has the same feelings as my little girl sleeping peacefully in the next room.  She has the same hunger for love, acceptance and protection as the precious one I hold & pray over every night.  Only there's no one holding Chawezi.  No father to protect her.  No mother to comfort her.  Our hope is to go the distance with this girl.  We want to extend ourselves just as if she was ours.  We want to be the ones to reach for her in love, to show her she is beautiful just as she is and to protect her from that which would threaten her. 
   The weeks march on toward the date of Pat's departure.  Aware of the oddity it will be for her to have a white guy from a distant land pay her a visit, we are hoping that barriers of culture, language and sheer"weirdness" will be removed so that Pat can glean solid information about her current needs.  Our hope is that the visit will allow Pat to convey our love while giving us a much clearer understanding of how to express our love for her in tangible ways.

A new journey

I'm going back to Africa.

I've been there four times, all of them as the leader of World Vision's 30 Hour Famine Study Tour (2006-2009). But this time I'm not going as a World Vision employee or as the leader of a group. I'm going to visit someone I met on an earlier trip. Someone who I haven't been able to get out of my head since I met her in July 2007.

Her name is Chawezi, she's now 27 years old, and she's a mess. Well, at least to our standards in America, she is, but she sure seems to be a mess even by rural African standards as well. She has no legs below the knees. Her father has never been in her life, and her mother died when Chawezi was nine years old. But that's the good stuff. The really bad stuff is even harder to handle. (Warning, don't read the next paragraph unless you've got a bit of a strong stomach.)

Chawezi was born without an anus, which means that whoever oversaw her birth (probably a midwife from the village) had to cut an opening to allow her to pass waste. The result is that Chawezi has no control at all over passing of ANY waste from her body.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she suffers from epileptic siezures. There are other medical issues as well, which at this time I can't recall.

In many African cultures, women are second class citizens. Disabled persons are as well. To be female, disabled, and constantly soil yourself is to be an outcast from society, to be sure. How many young girls dream of growing up, meeting Mr. Perfect, getting married, having children, living a happy, fulfilled life? I'm guessing almost all little girls do. For Chawezi, that dream will never happen. Just figuring out how to survive is all she has time for.

Luckily for her when I met her, there was an elderly woman in the village who was caring for about half a dozen orphans, including Chawezi. The others were all sponsored by World Vision donors, and were going to school (the oldest of the group other than Chawezi was about 17). Due to Chawezi's infirmities, she had not been able to go to school, and had no skills with which to care for herself. Once her caretaker passed away, Chawezi would be on her own, with no marketable skills.

So this is where we started. Some of the members of the group I was leading raised some money to send her to a trade school (although in reality very few group members chipped in, and Aimee and I covered almost all of the cost), where she learned how to tailor. But over the next couple of years, her medical issues started getting worse, and by last year, Aimee and I knew we'd have to take further action to her Chawezi. Namely, how can we stablize her medical issues and allow her a way to support herself and live as happy a life as someone in her condition can.

Let me be frank here. If I had the resources, I'd offer to bring her here to the US, get her doctors who could do the necessary reconstructive surgeries to allow her 'functions' to function, fit her for prosthetics, etc. But I don't have those kinds of resources. So we're going to do what we can.

For now that means I am going to Malawi to visit her, encourage her, let her know we want to help her, and find out through her and World Vision staff in the area what she needs and what can be provided. I don't yet know how we'll pay for it, but we'll worry about that once we know what 'it' is. And several members of my family have already offered to chip in, so that's an encouragement.

I leave on June 3, arriving in Malawi June 5. I'll board a plane to return home on the tenth, and arrive home the eleventh. I'm excited to go back to Africa, yes, but I'm more excited to see Chawezi, to talk to her, and to let her know that she is not alone.