Blantyre

Last minute decision: we decide to go to Blantyre with Philip. We may not have another occasion and we hope to have the opportunity to see the places he’s planning to visit. Philip is the managing director of Raising Malawi. He’s here to oversee all the projects. He had a meeting with some people from the Ministry of Hope this morning. Things are about to change at the nursery...

Ah la la!!! That was a very noisy flight… on a bi-plane… our seats are the ones closed to the propellers. We arrive at Blanthyre around 5.30. After Lilongwe, it’s like arriving to NY… Lights and shops everywhere… We stay at Pedros’s Lodge. The owner, Jean-Pierre is French. He came on holiday to Blanthyre with his wife 8 years ago and heard about a restaurant which was on sale... They went to have a look and decided to stay. He tells me about how easy it is to start a business in Malawi... but also how hard it is to keep it healthy...
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Theresa

We pick up 7 children at the hospital. They all needed injections. Madalitso is very serious in the car. It’s his first time outside the nursery… His eyes are big opened. A group is already there when we arrive. 15 teenagers coming from Nottingham, UK. They’re nice but they don’t really know what to do. Johanna and I are busy helping them to change the babies. The team of the day is very nice. We work well together. A nice day.

Mambo brings a new baby. Theresa is 1 month old. Her mum died 2 days after she was born. The father is nowhere to be seen. Anna, the nurse, does a check routine on her. She seems okay; her stomach seems to be swallowed though… She might have been fed with porridge instead of milk.

Twisted ankle

The car is late… it becomes a habit. There is nothing special to say about that day except that I twisted my ankle… Well I was not trying to save a baby’s life, it happened at the step’s class… I’m so upset.

Christopher

The car picks us up at 8.00AM. We’re going to Kasunku to return Christopher to his family. 2 young students are in the car with us. Davison drives too fast. We are a little bit apprehensive. What is Christopher’s reaction going to be ? He stayed almost 5 months at the nursery. He was brought there because he has lost both his mum and dad. And here he is, about to be handed to his uncle. But everything goes fine and all parties are happy. Baby’s Christopher has a new family. It is an happy end.


On our way back, we pick up twins. Their story is similar to most of the babies at the nursery. Their mum passed away after giving birth. She had an hemorragia and lost too much blood. The father has already 4 other children ; He left the twins to the grand-mother who had to leave her village and seek for help/milk as the babies stop crying (for not being fed properly). We eventually find them. The hand-over is very quick. It looks like no emotions must be shown. We wrapp the babies Moise and Myriam and off we go to the nursery. Johanna and I get one each… They are so tiny but beautiful babies… Another emotional day in Malawi.

And… our car has to go to the hospital for an emergency. We walk from the nursery to Kumbali’s… 20km…

Phillipe's arrival

Strange day. The car is not here when we arrive at our meeting point. We decide to walk instead of waiting. After a few kilometres, we call Davison… He’s on his way. Something was wrong with the tyres. Well… it would have been nice to let us know ! There is a group of 20 people at the nursery when we arrive. Each of them carries a baby…

Fiuni is the only one left. Fiuni is almost 2 years old. He can’t walk not because his legs don’t work but because he doesn’t know how to use them. Fiuni only asks to be picked up. He cries quite often and no one really cares since he’s not a tiny baby… I think Fiuni is depressed… We decide to talk to Philip about him. Maybe we could find him a better place to stay with appropriate help. Cathy shows us the exercises that Fiuni has to do everyday. She’s a physiotherapist.

We have dinner with Philip. It’s good to see him. Vikki joins us. We talk about these past 2 weeks… By the end of the evening, Philip has 3 priorities. To do whatener it’s needed to be properly introduced to the nursery’s team, find a place for Fiuni, arrange a training program for the staff…

Dimanche 15

Quiet day at Kumbali’s. We go for a long walk.