Malawian friends

Having been living at St. Gabriel's in Namitete for about a week now, I would like to share about some of the friends we have met.

Shida
Shida is the hospital secretary that Tracy corresponded with to set up our stay here. She is basically the person responsible for us while we are here. She is the one who got us situated in our guest house and also got us set up on the internet (very key). She definitely keeps very busy as she is the only secretary at this sizable hospital, but she is always extremely sweet and kind. It also turns out that she is studying computer engineering. Since my profession is software engineering, she has asked me to help her out. "Computer Engineering" sounds like a rather broad topic, so I'm not sure exactly how much I will be able to help her, but we are going to sit down and chat when she can make some time in her schedule.

Gladys and Mr. Pili
I'm not really sure if I say Mr. Pili's name correctly, so I am definitely not sure of the spelling, but in any case, he and Gladys are the housekeepers for the guest house we stay in. They arrive at the start of the work day and mop the floors, clean any dishes may need cleaning, launder towels and various things, and in general keep everything ship-shape. We are lucky to have them as they go about their work so very graciously and are quite friendly to us. For example, on one of the first days, we had heard there was a market nearby where we could buy fruits and vegetables, but we had not found this place yet. While the ladies were working, I asked Gladys and Mr Pili where it was. Having difficulty describing to me where it was, Mr. Pili stopped what he was doing and walked with me to the nearby village, showing me the small alley way off of the main road which connected to the market. (It was in a nice open space, but quite well hidden if you didn't know where it was.) He hung around with me, helping me out, while I bought some tomatoes, onions, and bananas. As we walked back, he very cheerfully taught me some Chichewa phrases. Sadly for us, starting today Mr. Pili is now on break, or vacation (he used the word 'holiday') until Feb 8. But Gladys will be holding down the fort for the rest of our stay.

Alex
I met Alex this morning. He is in charge of the main computer the hospital uses to receive text messages from its community health workers (CHWs). (A brief description: the hospital has dozens of volunteers, the CHWs, that live in the various nearby communities served by the hospital. These folks are the main communication link between patients and caretakers. About two years ago, they implemented the Frontline SMS program in which each volunteer is equipped with a cell phone they can use to send up-to-date info on every patient to the hospital - things such as drug adherence, concerns for upcoming appointments, current symptoms and patient condition, etc.). Alex used to be one of the CHWs, but now he works at the hospital operating the computer which serves as the central hub for all messages that are sent. I got the impression he had essentially no computer experience prior to working in this position, but he has learned everything he needs to know for operating the software they have for tracking everything. (As a software developer myself, I was fairly impressed with the product they are using--has a good set of features, nice and intuitive to use.) He also shared with me some ideas he had for some simple enhancements he hopes could be implemented in the future to streamline their processing. Alex impressed me the way he has taken to his task and was extremely welcoming especially as he had no advanced warning of my dropping in, but immediately sat down with me to get me acquainted with their system. I am looking forward to working more with him as I will be helping out with projects for the Frontline SMS program.

Isaac
The ever-elusive Isaac. I actually have not officially met him yet, and I am pretty sure he is American, not Malawian. I mention Isaac because he is the person I emailed with about volunteering my time working on the Frontline SMS program. He is the one with the technical knowledge necessary to assign me to a project, but he has been away from St. Gabriel's (I believe working on a similar program elsewhere in the country) since we arrived. I finally reached him on his cell phone yesterday, and we arranged to chat online (cheaper than a cell phone conversation) later today. So I'm hoping by the end of today I will have more information on how I will be helping out.

Willis
A very personable, outgoing young man, Willis knocked on the guest house door the first night of our stay asking for his friend Isaac (between me, much of the hospital staff, and Willis, it seems virtually everyone is looking for Isaac). Isaac obviously was not around, but Willis was delighted to meet all of us and wanted to know all about us (where we were from, our ages, whether we played basketball or knew Taekwondo). The next night, he stopped by again. Isaac, of course, was again not around, and the ladies being naturally more wary, sent me out onto the porch to socialize with Willis. I discovered he really enjoys learning phrases in various languages (he could ask and reply to "how are you" in about half a dozen or so). I don't remember all we talked about, but he invited me to see his place the following evening. Eager to meet and interact with locals, I accepted. The following evening I went to his home, which was where he lived with his oldest brother's family (he has 3 older brothers). I learned that Willis is studying biology and aspires to become a doctor. I also learned his oldest brother is a pastor and started a pentecostal church nearby (he is sometimes referred to as a bishop since they have also started other branches) and for income, he is a cook at the hospital. Over the weekend, I also joined Willis in his exercise and Taekwondo routine and Sunday morning, he took Marideth, Tracy, and I to his church.

I will publish another post soon relaying the details of our experience at a rural Malawian pentecostal church. Stay tuned...