Last days in Blantyre

Hamilton took us one last time to Tidzalaranga, the club for children with disabilities. I met a girl named Shakira, we made Easter cards together and hung out and took pictures. I sang her Waka Waka Africa which cracked a smile (a Shakira song). She is a hemiplegic on the left, meaning paralyzed just on one side of her body. A sad reality of many children who suffer from the effects of cerebral malaria or pediatric meningitis. But her smile was full and her spirit strong. My friend from last time who has lost the use of his legs below the knee wanted to see my leg. He pointed from one to the other between my prosthetic and my natural leg. He was very interested, but unfortunately my Chichewa was not good enough to explain very well. He got the gist I think from pantomime and gestures. Loveless was there, with her older brother Spencer. He spoke good English and was patient and took good care of his sister. It is so nice to see the camaraderie of all the kids. They seemed so comfortable in their skin. It was inspiring for me, who often feels sorry for myself or has lost confidence since my own acquisition of a disability. If these poor children, some of whom are carried around by their mothers because they have no other means of ambulation, can be so pure and happy in their skin and the body they were dealt, then I have nothing to complain about or hold me back. It is truly inspiring and I hope I can continue to support Tidzalaranga from afar.

I had an MRI today. Dr. Taylor asked us to and then get one once back at MSU so that they can get their settings right. It brought back many memories of my challenges with tumors in the past and I was praying the whole time that they didn't discover some incidental finding because I have never gotten a brain scan before. The machine, although in Malawi, is very much the same with loud noises I can only equate to a mix somewhere between a machine gun and the driving synthy back beats of an 80s pop song. But in Malawi there are no ear plugs. I can imagine if you are from a small village and you get referred here for an MRI how you could think that bad spirits were in their or that it was doing something weird to you. They really need to figure out a way to play relaxing music during those intervals instead of banging noises, get on that GE!

Then I took a minibus to go to the metro (a grocery store) and the tropex gift shop. So...metro was closed, so then I walked the 100 meters or so to the shop (in the rain) and it was also closed!!! That is one thing about African business hours that I can't get used to...they have posted business hours, but whether or not they observe them on any given day, that is another story. I guess it's Karma saying I have purchased enough gifts or something. So I called a taxi so I didn't have to walk in the rain, and then the sun came out. What is up? That is okay though because the whole time there was a beautiful rainbow over Ndirande (one of Blantyre's mountains). It was a nice way to see Blantyre in my last days here.

Why not to walk on the gutters

A beautiful paper flower tree I thought my mom would like

Tiya and I, she's the pediatric surgery resident, sure nice