Summing up the trip

What a wonderful trip to East Africa! It was interesting to see another african country on the other side of the continent. What I didn't expect were so many differences between the two countries. Many people, myself included, tend to categorize all of africa as the same. Since traveling through I have definitely seen how rich africa is in the variety of cultures, customs, and beliefs among the different countries. There is even a difference in the way mothers use lappas to hold babies on their backs! Each country is unique in the way the people dress, greet one another, the landscape, and climate. As far as weather is concerned, it was a shock to the system going to Malawi where the rainy season is ending and coming back to Sierra Leone in the midst of the dry season. I went from green and tropical to dry and dusty! Both countries have such unique beauty but it is good to be home.

The rest of my training and time spent in Malawi went great. We worked hard, getting up at 4:30am and sometimes screening up to 300 children in one day! I learned in more detail how the screening process needs to go in order for it to run best. I got training in all aspects of it. I had lots of practice in using the scale, measure mats, distributing the supplement, and checking for edema with the nurses. My last weekend in Malawi was spent at Lake Malawi! It was such a great trip! We had an adventure getting there... Put it this way,we were five girls packed in a car with a Lonely Planet book and verbal directions from Malawians along the road as our way of reaching the destination. We ended up traveling into the night along a dirt road with high elephant grass growing on both sides of it and absolutely no street lights in sight! One man described the way using hand gestures as he said, "Well you're going to go this way, that way, and then this way..." I still can't believe we made it! The first night, just as we were pulling up to the backpackers' lodge where we would spend the night our vehicle got stuck in some deep sand. That is how close we were to the lake though! You could hear the hippos! After that night everything went as smooth as silk. We got to go swimming, snorkeling, and for a boat ride where we saw eagles. The snorkeling was amazing. The lake has 600 different types of fish and they were a variety of colors and sizes.

I am so thankful to have had such great training from Danielle, Johanna, the nurses, and Liyacka during my time spent in Malawi. I am so excited about implementing what I have learned to the program in Sierra Leone. Thank you for your prayers for my safety during the travels. They are appreciated!