In Malawi!

My travel to Malawi went smoothly.  Thank you for all the prayers!  I arrived Wednesday evening and stayed with the factory manager, Liyaka and his family.  On Thursday I went to the Project Peanut Butter factory.  It was amazing! I got to observe the factory workers making literally tons of the RUTF!  Liyaka took me on a tour and explained everything from how the factory runs to the delivery of the RUTF to the numerous project sites.  The factory, in addition to the RUTF with powdered milk, is now making a RUTF using soy as a substitute for the milk.  This food is being used for moderate malnutrition and achieving the same amazing results.  The soy is locally grown, so this makes the supplement a quarter of the price that it costs to use the milk.  

I am staying with two awesome girls that have been in charge of the project.  Danielle has been doing the project since July and has been a part of Project Peanut Butter since the beginning. She knows the project inside out.  I couldn't have asked for a better teacher and resource to train me and answer all my questions. Johanna came last month and will be here for two.  She is a MD, so she is able to contribute to the program enormously.  The three of us and the nurses went to two of the project sites on Friday.  Johanna, Chrissy (one of the nurses), and me went to Phanda in Mwanza.  The clinic site was set up under a tree!  Johanna taught me how to check for children with oedema using physical cues.  I couldn't believe how much I was able to learn on my first day on the field.

Saturday we hiked Machiru mountain.  It was beautiful!  It was a 1,478 meters high and had the most amazing view!  The bottom of the mountain was grasslands with the sun shining brightly, but by the time we made it to the top we were hiking along the heavily forested trail through clouds.  When we reached the peak, looking down into the valleys and out to the other mountains was an incredible site.  It was beautiful to see the mountain peaks cutting into the clouds and how the sun beams hit different areas of the valley below.  Malawi has such ascetic beauty!  After we hiked back down the mountain we were worn out!   We went and had fresh mango juice, yum! It was another great day.  

Beginning on Monday I will be going out in the field again with Danielle and Johanna.  I am so excited about all I will be able to learn from them!