Bwaila Hospital

This morning was another beautiful walk to the CBF office as well as a very productive morning going over past data with the CBF analyst, Thwango. I met Thwango last December in Utah when she came to the States for the NuSkin CSR conference. Thus far she has been one of Andrew and I’s greatest resources at CBF.

We were dropped off at the Bwaila Hospital near Old Town Market after lunch. I had an errand to run for one of my research assignments (an article I am writing for one of my Oxford professors on HIV and AIDS). We were amazed with what we saw at the hospital. The buildings that make up the hospital are just a series of rooms that are small, dirty, and often do not have doors. The patients far outnumbered the staff and the wait to get in the door looked far too long to ever be worth it…

Our visit lasted about 30 minutes, I got the information I needed, and then we were on to the Old Town Markets. We bargained hard. After 2 hours of shopping we had purchased loads of tomatoes, onions, peppers, carrots, greens, sweet potatoes, rice, flour, and beans for less than $9 USD. We would have purchased more, but when you have to carry everything 2 miles home you tend to rethink the amount of things you purchase.

We could take the bus, but what we have found is that is usually faster to walk, and it is much less claustrophobic. We save 2-4 dollars a day just by walking, and hopefully the same amount in inches around our waists. Most people who visit Africa leave heavier than when they arrive. We refuse to let that be us.

Remember that Malawian cookbook I rented from the library? Well, I got to use it for the first time today. For dinner we made a delicious vegetable curry with our vegetables we purchased from the market and the spices we picked up while we were in Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Once again we were in bed by 9:00pm. When the cock crows (literally) at 5:00am tomorrow we will be up and preparing for another day!

(Below: Andrew’s post)

Without a ride into the office this morning Kylie and I set out on foot! The walk was very enjoyable as we got to see the morning commuters in Malawi. Kylie and I chatted as we walked by numerous shops opening their doors for the day. 

The entire walk took a little over 50 minutes. Not bad considering it was our first attempt! When we arrived at the office our coworkers were amazed that we walked so long to get to work. Most of them have cars so it makes sense they would assume most people would get a lift in or catch public transport.

They also could’ve been amazed that a couple of mzungu would walk anywhere, but hey, breaking expectations is what we’re about!

We spent about half the day at the office working and gathering research for Kylie’s report, and the second half of the day shopping in the local market since we were going to cook for ourselves for the first time! Thanks to Kylie we had a delicious spiced pepper, carrot, and yam curry with chapati. 

It’s been a while since we’ve eaten something with spice and I can tell you, it was sorely missed!