Hello everyone
We got back from London just as it was starting to turn cold there bang into the hot season proper in Malawi and straight back to work. Joshi turned 18 months over the mother’s day bank holiday weekend, and we went back to the self catering cottage in our favourite tea plantation, Satemwa for a long weekend of relaxation and catching up on much needed sleep after our hectic whirlwind around the UK from where I published last month's update. We enjoyed high tea with the MacPherson’s at Huntingdon House and a lovely lunch with new friends Georgie and Micky with their two girls Saskia and Emilia with the best view from any friend’s house to date. We have been hanging out with old and new friends in Blantyre as everyone continues to arrive and leave in true expat lifestyle style. We have been here for 2 years now, how that has happened so quickly I am not quite sure.
We got back from London just as it was starting to turn cold there bang into the hot season proper in Malawi and straight back to work. Joshi turned 18 months over the mother’s day bank holiday weekend, and we went back to the self catering cottage in our favourite tea plantation, Satemwa for a long weekend of relaxation and catching up on much needed sleep after our hectic whirlwind around the UK from where I published last month's update. We enjoyed high tea with the MacPherson’s at Huntingdon House and a lovely lunch with new friends Georgie and Micky with their two girls Saskia and Emilia with the best view from any friend’s house to date. We have been hanging out with old and new friends in Blantyre as everyone continues to arrive and leave in true expat lifestyle style. We have been here for 2 years now, how that has happened so quickly I am not quite sure.
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| Joshi fabric shopping and loving all the colours |
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| Mr cool |
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| New favourite hobby |
Towards the end of the month I went to Uganda to teach for a
week on the East African Diploma of Tropical Medicine and had a wonderful time
visiting old haunts and making new friends, as well as enjoying up market
living and fabulous food. KLA has changed so much since I was last there, the
only thing the same is the infectious friendliness and enthusiasm of the
Ugandans and the traffic. Sadly I didn’t have time to get back to Mbarara, but
managed to see speak on the phone to some old friends. Next year………………………
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| Chilling at the Sheraton with new friends in Kamapla |
Gav has just left for his teaching week there and I hope he
will have as much fun as me.
My study has come to the end of phase 1, and we are starting
to move into phase 2, which is very exciting. I can’t believe the study I spent
years plotting and planning to do is already half way through. I took my team
out for lunch to thank them for all their hard work, even they didn’t manage to
eat all their food. Gav has also been celebrating a work milestone, the
dialysis unit has been up and operational for a year now, which is an
incredible achievement. To top this he has
persuaded the minister for health to sign a contract with a South
African dialysis supplier to sort all the machines and equipment he needs,
which is fantastic. He topped this by going on MBC (Malawian national
broadcaster) with his senior nurse as the lead item on the news, shaking set not
withstanding he did a brilliant job. Click on http://youtu.be/tm6GWW6O7To to watch the video.
The hospital is currently in dire straights with severe drug shortages, even TB drugs which are free and paid for by the global fund are out of stock, and insulin on world diabetes day is also out of stock. The poor patients are the ones that suffer and we feel totally helpless making diagnoses but not having access to any treatments. We also hear rumours that the fuel crisis is going to make a return, we are all hoping not before Christmas as we have trips planned.........
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| Malawian lunch with my study team to celebrate end of Phase 1 - even they couldn't manage to finish their plates |
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| Desperate situation at the hospital makes the front page |
Joshi has managed to grow an inch in a month, must be down
to all the delicious fresh eggs he is eating. He is so chatty now, trying to
learn to sing and continues to be relaxed sweet and adorable, he can say thank
you in two languages and recognise the numbers 1-8 and has started to draw on
everything in sight.
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| First day at nursery in the sandpit |
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| Joshi loves the sort of start to the rains |
November means mad azungu trying to recreate UK festivals
here, so we had the fireworks at Thyolo sports club (which Joshi totally loved - "more mummy bang bang more!" and the St Andrew’s ball to come. We hosted the first deckchair cinema in Blantyre - a projector, Gav's guitar amplifier and a sheet strung between two trees. First showing was star wars which was a great success, hopefully the first of many.
At work we have an international team of scientific advisors coming next week to appraise all our work, fortunately I am not presenting this year, and the team is being joined by David this year, who is Stephen’s cousin and so nice to see him. The rains still have not started properly and it is roastingly hot - 30 degrees most nights in Joshi's bedroom, and we are spending most of the weekends in friend's pools, thanks so much all!
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| Fireworks at Thyolo |
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| Checking out preparations for the deckchair cinema |
At work we have an international team of scientific advisors coming next week to appraise all our work, fortunately I am not presenting this year, and the team is being joined by David this year, who is Stephen’s cousin and so nice to see him. The rains still have not started properly and it is roastingly hot - 30 degrees most nights in Joshi's bedroom, and we are spending most of the weekends in friend's pools, thanks so much all!
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| How to cool down at babygroup - Lisa and Ruth |
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| our new outdoor day bed - cost: £80, copied from one from John Lewis price £2700! |
Much love and rain dances to all
Emma Gav and Joshi
