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07122 March 5, 2007
Tender beauty
A PC(USA) mission worker letter from Malawi
by Dr. Martha Sommers Embangweni Hospital in Malawi
EMBANGWENI, Malawi - Work at Embangweni Hospital hospital continues. As the only long-term doctor these last months, much of my job is advising on the patients with the most complications on each of the wards and in the operating room.
We can do very little for many of these patients, so I sometimes feel I am going from one tragedy to another. There is so much suffering, with tender beauty breaking through the sadness.
One example that comes to mind is a 2-year-old the clinical officer intern and nurse on children's ward asked me to see. This little one has AIDS, sepsis, and widespread candida. By now, he is improving a bit, able to swallow the specialized milk. His ngogo (grandmother) is acting as guardian.
She is elderly, struggles to understand the instructions from the nurses and homecraft workers, yet cheerfully perseveres.
The patient's mother was admitted to a bed on children's ward last night because she too has full-blown AIDS, and now is bedridden. This same grandmother is also her guardian.
The ward staff was trying to figure out whether the mother should be moved to female ward where she can rest more. As this was being discussed, the grandmother brought the crying child to the mother, who although very weak, was able to so tenderly tuck the baby in next to her. The sobs were soothed, and both were soon sleeping peacefully.
Clearly, the mother and baby need to be with each other. As the child is sicker than the mother, they will stay as a unit on children's ward. We are hopeful they will stabilize so they can be started on anti-retroviral medicines.
This is the first year in the last ten that we have had any spare room on children's ward from December through March. The census has usually been 50 to 60, instead of this year's 15 to 30. We guardedly believe this is due to a milder than usual malaria and malnutrition season and the success of ongoing preventive efforts, especially the increased availability of mosquito nets for people who get severe malaria most: pregnant mothers, children under five years, and AIDS patients.
Last year's very good harvest has improved the nutrition in most households. During the last two years, the government has subsidized fertilizer coupon programs designed to reach the poor villagers. Though many of the coupons failed to reach the target population, just having more fertilizer available overall has meant there's more access to food than the years when the prices were high because of the overall scarcity.
So, this year few patients are coming in with severe malnutrition; and those who do always have extenuating circumstances. With fewer patients, the staff can better address these circumstances!
We continue our efforts to decrease the number of mothers and children who present with full-blown AIDS. We're expanding our programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission and to follow-up with children born to mothers who are HIV positive. We also have a two-room AIDS clinic, named the FULU clinic.
FULU means "tortoise," and the name was given because initially patients slowly trickled in. Since then, more than 800 patients have been registered there, including those on anti-retroviral treatment and those not yet eligible. Thanks to recent donations, we now have enough funds to finish our integrated health building, and the FULU clinic will move into part of that structure.
As I left children's ward this morning I was greeted by a cheerful mother, husband, and child leaving the FULU clinic. My memory took me back to when they were as sick as the mother and child I had just left.
Soon I will be in the United States for four months. During the first two months, I will be talking at churches. The second two I will be taking a review course and then studying for my recertification family practice boards exam, scheduled for July 25. Please pray for traveling mercies.
Information about and letters from Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) mission workers throughout the world are available from the Mission Connections Web Site.
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