Tuesday, June 26

...After lunch we drove to a school named Jacaranda. It was established by this really awesome woman, Marie Da Silva, to provide free schooling to orphans. It's a fairly large compound that includes the house that Marie was raised in when she was a child. It's now a house of classrooms for K-12th graders. Almost all of the kids that attend school here lost their parents to AIDS and a large number of them have HIV/AIDS themselves. Marie was nominated for CNN's Person of the Year because of her efforts.

Here's a video clip that introduces Marie...

We sat under a gazebo after the tour of the facilities with Marie and a few other people. Two girls were sitting there with us. Luke, the cofounder, explained that the girls had just found out that they will be going to London in two weeks to sing at the Opening Ceremonies. They sang us a song they had written - they had such powerful and beautiful voices.

We also met two boys who showed off their dancing skills...

One of the boys, John, lost both of his parents to HIV/AIDS and he has HIV/AIDS himself. Before he came to Jacaranda he would beg on the streets for food and would walk miles into the city each month for his HIV meds. Now he is living in a house near the school and is being taken care of. I am so glad that he is alive today and he had the chance to show off his dancing skills for us.

Some of the children at Jacaranda

Marie's old house

Children's book art

John and his pal mid-dance

The girls with Marie

Friday, June 15

Hello!

I am writing to you in the skies above Kenya. We'll be soaring past Mr. Kilimanjaro soon, but I am not sure if we'll be able to see it. It's pretty overcast here today, and I could immediately feel the change in humidity when we walked into Nairobi Airport.

Stop!

I just saw Mt. K. from my window. It is so exciting! It towers above the cloud line and it has snow on the peak. Can't believe I was - am able to see it! I am already impressed with Africa's beauty.

My view of Mt. K. from the airplane window

It's quite the culture shock already. People are staring and I had to cautiously brush my teeth in the bathroom - making sure I spit out all the water in my mouth. After this two-hour plane ride into Lilongwe we will take a five-hour bus ride to Blantyre to pick up some supplies and pay for the bus. Then it's another couple hours until we finally make it to Malamulo. I'm looking back at Mt. K. It is still so surreal to see it.

Well, I can't wait to get out of these clothes I've been wearing for the past two days! Especially after the previous flight into Kenya. A young girl sitting next to me coughed herself awake. She was choking so I hit her on the back (it's obvious that I have no skills when it comes to the performing the heimlich or CPR) until she hurled. Great! She later told me that she thinks it's because she took Malarone (the malaria medicine I was taking) on an empty stomach. I'm just hoping it wasn't a virus. That is the last thing I need to get right now.

..................................................................................

I have showered and I am lying underneath a mosquito netted canopy. I am here! We traveled a total of 43 hours to reach our destination, but it felt like weeks. We had a harsh landing at Lilongwe International. The pilot apologized over the intercom and promised that he would "try better next time." I exchanged dollars into kwacha, gathered my luggage and handed it over to the guys who were loading up the bus. We made a pit stop at a grocery store. Elisa went in with a few students to buy some bottled waters and Simba chips. Me and a few others stayed on the bus and were immediately bombarded by Malawians haggling their bags, fabrics and jewelry.

Then we made our way to Blantyre, the closest "city" to Malamulo. I was enjoying the beautify scenery of Lilongwe and was shocked to see what seemed like thousands of people hanging out, walking around, biking, selling, and carrying things all along the street. It was so overwhelming. Most of them stopped and stared as we drove by. My favorite sight to see were the women carrying huge bushels of straw on their heads. Almost all of them had a baby wrapped tightly with cloth around their back.

Malawi landscape is scattered with little villages, schools, hospitals, and marketplaces. One street was lined with furniture. Bed frames were on one side, chairs on the other. Even concrete slabs that are used for standing toilets. The most unique plant life I saw were poinsettias. They don't look anything like the perfect little arrangements sold in the States. They're tall, leafless stems with the flower sitting on top.

Poinsettia

After my initial observations of my surroundings, I got very tired and soon I was dozing my way through Malawi. I woke up when we arrived in Blantyre to pay for the bus and get some fuel. Erica brushed her teeth in the parking lot and John proclaimed that he was, "ready to be Jesus now" (he was referring to his future role as Jesus during the VBS program). We were all getting a little crazy. But it was another couple of hours until we would make it to Malamulo. I slept practically the whole way there too. The last thing I remember was Pastor Todd playing Cars on his iPad and holding it up for all of us to see. We finally made it to the guest house, which was built by Loma Linda students a few years ago. It's cold, but I finally got a hot shower and the beds are warm. Our meal (a duo of soups: tomato and, we think, potato) was waiting for us too. Tomorrow we're going to church, if we can all get up!

Malawi Video

Our group was lucky enough to have Todd, videographer extraordinaire, accompany us to Malawi. He was able to capture amazing moments on film that he gladly shared with us this past Thursday at our Malawi Reunion party. The raw footage is just under an hour long, an awesome summary of our mission trip. I took some of my favorite clips and put them together in iMovie. I felt it appropriate to pair it with the song "Love" by Chris Tomlin. If you go to Loma Linda University you will get to see the professionally edited version of the video, complete with student blogs, during the second chapel of the school year. But for now, enjoy this sneak peak.

Zi como!

Monday, June 25

JCho checking my BP before the kids came.

Today has been another long day. I'm journaling now, before the sun goes down, because the power has been out all afternoon and I'm not sure when it will come back on. We went to morning worship at the hospital and then set up for health screenings at the primary school.

Steve, Dr. Pierce, Sheila, JCho, Jen, and me set up our different stations in a small classroom. Sheila greeted the kids and got their basic information. Then Jen would measure their height and weight. JCho would take their blood pressure and I would take their pulse and check their spine for scoliosis. Steve and Dr. Pierce would check their eyes, ears, throat, and heart. They also would council them on sex and HIV. I really enjoyed being a part of the clinical side. It almost makes me want to go into medicine - almost.

Checking their backs.

Some of the cool kids.

Playing frisbee.

We screened over 90 kids in 3 hours. After that we packed up our things and went home. A gang of children followed not long after. The boys, Edgar and Wilson, wanted to show me the card trick I taught them the other day. I had to help Wilson out, but he eventually got it.

We played a few rounds of Go Fish then went outside to play frisbee. The girls wanted to have a photo shot with me so we took a bunch of pictures sitting on the wall outside the house.
One girl was very fond of my sunglasses so I gave them to her.

After we got the kids out of the house I noticed the coffee table was covered in ink from the girls' drawings. So Sheila, JCho, and me grabbed lysol wipes and scrubbed frantically to remove them. Our arms were moving so fast we burst into laughter. I'm pretty sure we looked ridiculous, but we successfully removed the pen marks. Now the sun is setting and it's getting dark. Hope the power comes on soon!

What a pretty face!

Wilson in blue and his little brother to the left in red.

The girls and I.

Greetings from Africa

I'm sitting in a cold room in a little chalet in Lilongwe, Malawi. It's about 7 am here - 10 pm at home. My flight to Kenya leaves in 6 hours and then it's off to Rwanda for 10 days. The first part of my trip was amazing! Malawi really is the Warm Heart of Africa. Everyone we met was so nice and happy to talk to us mizungas (white people). So far in the last two weeks I have observed a surgery, given health lectures, performed health screenings for children, helped with VBS at the church, seen nyalas, giraffes, fishing eagles, zebras, and baboons, carried a bucket on top of my head (not as well as the women here), ate my first sugar cane and papaya, snorkeled with beautiful fishes, and a lot more. I have been journaling every day, so I'll post excerpts when I get home.

The Itinerary

I can't believe June 13 is almost here. Up until a couple of days ago I was cramming for my exams and had almost forgotten about the fact that I would soon be leaving the country. We met with Dr. Hart, the President of LLU, to talk about our business leg of the trip. Hearing the details about Rwanda, the genocide and all the politics involved, made it feel very real. Our involvement over there is still to be decided, but at least I have my itinerary for Malawi. Here's what I'll be up to over there:

Leave Wednesday, June 13 - Arrive in Lilongwe Friday, June 15

Saturday, June 16 - Church and rest

Sunday, June 17 - Hospital tour at Malamulo, prep for VBS, Health Fair and Hospital Projects

Monday, June 18 - Malamulo Health Fair and VBS

Tuesday, June 19 - Hospital improvement projects and VBS

Wednesday, June 20 - Health Fair and lectures at Ngabo Clinic, and Nyala Park visit

Thursday, June 21 - Community Health Dept. lectures, VBS, and Community Health supplement distribution

Friday, June 22 - Hospital improvement projects, Makwasa Market, and VBS

Saturday, June 23 - Church, rest, hike

Sunday, June 24 - Visit to Mt. Mulanje, hiking and swimming

Monday, June 25 - Health screenings at Malamulo community and the school

Tuesday, June 26 - Health lectures and tour at Blantyre hospital, orphanage visit, health lectures and cooking demonstrations

Wednesday, June 27 - Health Fair at BAH in Blantyre

Thursday, June 28 - Leave for Lake Malawi, possible supplement distribution

Friday, June 29 - Rest and reflection at Lake Malawi

Saturday, June 30 - Leave for Rwanda...

During the majority of the health lectures, I'll give presentations on the benefits of rest and sleep as well as lead out in the chair massages. All those massages my mom used to make me give her have totally prepared me for this!

Your prayers and messages have meant a lot to me so far. Continue to pray for me and the other students.

au revoir!

One Large Order of Fries, Please!

I was standing in line at the hot food counter in the Medical Center's cafeteria waiting to order a sandwich. The guy ahead of me was looking over the food options and complaining that, yet again, they had switched the menu. He began to talk out loud to himself. "Veggie burgers... where are those veggie burgers? Do they have a new name or something? Is it $2.95 or $1.75? Can't they make up their minds?" After all his grumbles, he finally turned to me and said, "You know Ellen White would turn over in her grave if she knew all this stuff we were eating. Burgers and chili fries and all that..." I laughed and nodded politely. Finally he was asked what he would like to order.

"Yeah, uh, I'll take two veggie burgers and fries... Actually, make it a large order of fries."

He turned to me again, as if to make sure I understood his point. "Yeah, Ms. White would not be happy with us."

He then broke out in laughter over the irony of the situation. But it really got me thinking about our health on a larger scale. I am constantly studying the messed up health care system that we have created, as well as the ever growing health concerns that our country faces. When it comes down to it, we are spending more and more on health care: 18% of our GDP - and if you don't know what that looks like in numbers, that's a couple TRILLION dollars. But do you want to know what's sad? We aren't getting any healthier.

We are paying for the latest and greatest in this country because that is what we always strive for. But at what cost? Chronic disease is the number one killer in this country: heart disease, to be more specific. Is increased spending going to solve our problem? How about Obamacare? I may just be an MBA student, but I can already tell you that those two "answers" are not what this country needs.

The focus needs to shift to prevention and education. We are rewarding physicians by going into specialized fields, but what about our primary care doctors? The changes in how people receive health care will greatly affect these physicians. They will have less time to see their patients because a greater number of people will be in their waiting rooms. But these physicians won't see more income as a result. Furthermore, med students today are more likely going to specialize because their checks are going to be significantly larger. No wonder they disregard a primary care position all together.

The problem doesn't end there either. Obesity is growing at an alarming rate. Something like 40% of Americans are considered to be obese. What's worse, the children I have will statistically have a shorter life expectancy than me, and 1 in 3 kids will develop type II Diabetes in their life. These are outrageous and horrible stats. Of course we can say that it's the individuals choice to eat healthier and maintain an exercise plan, but it isn't that easy. It's ironic that the place I live in now is a Blue Zone and is in the unhealthiest county in California. San Bernardino's population is poor and crime-ridden. The chance of one finding a grocery store is small. Liquor stores and fast food businesses run the city. Is a poor family able to shop for fruits and vegetables every week? Probably not. Instead they run through the McDonalds drive thru to grab burgers and fries.

Why does the healthy food have to be so much more expensive? I would not consider myself poor, but when I go grocery shopping it hurts my wallet to buy vegetables and fruits over frozen burritos and crackers. So not only is our healthcare system completely backwards, so is our agriculture and food industry. The cheap food is cheap for a reason - they are made with unnatural, unhealthy, inexpensive ingredients (most of that being corn - seriously, corn is in everything). But what can our nation do to solve this problem? Not a lot actually. Come to find out the USDA (the government agency that is supposed to regulate our food) is being run by former leaders of PepsiCo, Frito Lay, and Kraft - essentially the companies that manufacture this food. There is barely any support for farmers and what support is offered is highly regulated.

Let's not even get into the fact that these foods are now considered to be addictive. Or the fact that we are serving it to kids in school. We know that the food is unhealthy, we know that it is affecting our quality of life, but why aren't we doing anything about it? We are just like the man I met in line today. Fully knowing that what we are ordering is bad for us - and ordering a great big helping of it. These giant corporations are a huge part of our problem and still we keep giving them our service. Isn't it about time America steps up and doesn't just patch a problem with a temporary solution, but instead shifts the focus to the real problem at hand? Like I said before, we are spending more and more to keep us healthier and to live longer, but we are dying much sooner than we expected. It isn't just the individual's choice to maintain a healthy lifestyle - sometimes they don't have that option. Who is going to change things?