Oct 07

Will The Critical Care Unit Beat the Critical Care Need?

Malawi Healthcare, People of Malawi, Medical, Be The Change

Dr. Clayhon Salim - 1

Highway M-1 snakes across the level surface of the Lilongwe Plateau. A little way south of the capital city of Lilongwe it begins a slight roll as the road surface moves closer to the southern end of the Great Rift Valley. As it crosses the river that divides the Lilongwe District from the Dedza District, the highway begins the climb into the mountains that surround the Dedza Trading Center. Curves caution the driver to the slow down, and mountain crevices beckon the careless driver to serious injury or possible death. Guard rails are seldom seen and remembrance of those who have died along this stretch of road remain in the hearts of those who loved them.

Deadly Stretch of Road
    The seriousness of this stretch of road and its high accident rate is not lost on the doctor sitting across the desk. The concern seems to etch itself deeper into his forehead as Dr. Thomas Clayhon Salim responds to a question about the preparedness of this heath care facility in the case of a critical road accident or emergency. "We are the Read the rest of this entry »

Oct 04

Ode to a Plain, White, 5-Gallon Bucket

MalawiCulture, People of Malawi

The Important Things in Life

    Paying a bundle for Christmas presents for the grandchildren only to discover on Christmas morning that they are playing with the wrapping boxes instead of what is inside.

    Shipping thousand and thousands of dollars in medical equipment and supplies to a medically starved nation only to observe the workers getting the most excited when they see a stack of plain, white, five-gallon, empty pickle buckets.

    A plain, white, empty, five-gallon bucket. Why on earth are you so important? Why do you capture the imagination of the common workers? What can you possibly offer that an anesthesia machine for a surgery center cannot give in value? What secrets do you hold that cannot be unearthed by two giant farm tractors that hid you from view deep in the interior of the trailer? What pull do you have for the village people who excitedly bring you from the darkness and into the light? What safely can you offer that thousands of pairs of sterile gloves cannot extend to a surgery staff?  What words can you offer the staff at Culver’s Restaurant in Noblesville, Indiana who donated you to the people of Malawi? And finally, what made you the star performer in the presentation of a great contribution?

    It comes in the simplicity of need. A simple bucket, a bucket such as you, is needed in the village life of every Malawian. Needed to carry water, wash clothes, and transport maize. You, with your metal handle, are needed to clean the dishes and clean the body. You are as common a view on the head of a passing Malawi woman as is the small child seen clinging to her back. You are most common but most needed, and it is still a fact that some of the most ordinary things are the most important. At least that is true of you on this day, you a plain, white, five-gallon bucket.

 

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