First Day, Tour of Hospital, Trip to Lilongwe

Today we had a tour of the whole entire hospital including the antiretroviral clinic. We saw all of the wards, the pharmacy and the laboratory. The day starts with ~30min morning report, where the medical team gathers to talk about patients currently in their wards. Once that was over, we were given a tour by the director which lasted until lunch time. For lunch, we walked over to a near by village and had some local bananas and fried potatoes. The food was really good and very fresh.

The plan after lunch as to travel via public transit to Lilongwe to exchange some money and buy some groceries. Public transit here in the "mini-bus' is quite an adventure i must say. A mini-van, designed for for 5-7 people, has about 10-12 people crammed in, not too mention a few 50kg bags of corn, some wild animals, puppies and bicycle tires. Actually, on our ride home, we waited over 45 minutes in the mini-bus while the operators struggled to smash in more bags of stuff, and also tie some stuff to the back of the van. All in all, we made it back in pretty good time, but needless to say, local public transit is quite an adventure. Dinner consisted of fish, rice, and some local mushrooms, that we were told were not poisonous, with the rest of the gang here in our dorm.

Tomorrow is our first day in the antiretroviral clinic. Will have a full report tomorrow.

Below are some photos I took today...


The 4.5km dirt (more like mud) road that takes you to the hospital from the main road. There are bicycle taxis that take you to and from the hospital.

A young girl outside of the hospital on her way to a nearby village.

Some mothers and their babies making their way into the hospital.
Namitete proper and the entrance to the dirt road which leads to the hospital. In the foreground, left side, are the mini-bus's used for public transit.