Medicine Clinic Pictures...

The most moving experiences in Malawi were during the medicine clinics. I have to tell you that not a single one of us was a doctor but we did have a nurse with us for the last session. We didn't give out powerful medicines...mostly mild antibiotics and cold/flu/cough stuff along with arthritis, open wounds, stomach acid issues and some eye infections as well. The patients would be sitting around when we would pull up to the building. The most we served in one day was about 500. These people wouldn't otherwise have been treated for their illnesses and it seemed good and right to be helping out with such an overwhelming task.

The times of the days were when you could visibly see a tumor or when they would complain of symptoms you knew were super serious. We would just tell them they must find a way to the hospital to seek attention. There are several government hospitals available for free but the care is not what you would expect here in the states.

If you are wondering what we are wearing....the ministry there is called Good Samaritan so they had skirt wraps and shirts made with green material with the Good Samaritan verse on it. We wore skirts and wraps most of the time while we were there. The Malawian culture is just beginning to open itself to women wearing pants. For a long time it has been promoted even by the government that pants for women was kind of scandalous. We saw a lot more women in the cities wearing pants this time than we saw two years ago. In the villages you see skirts and wraps though.