New Year Update from Nigel and Michal
It is a little late to say Merry Christmas but we wish you all a healthy and Happy New Year. We arrived back in the UK on Christmas Eve in time to celebrate with Nigel’s family. It was a bit of a change after 3 months in Malawi, sudden c
old and Christmas bits and pieces everywhere. We said to each other days before we flew back that it was hard to believe it was going to be Christmas in a few days. I was still in flip flops, we had just visited Lake Malawi, which seemed like a tropical paradise and we were living in one of the poorest countries in the world which meant there were very little Christmas decorations. The main concern for the majority was having enough food and clothes for their children.
Malawi certainly lives up to its reputation as the ‘warm heart of Africa’. The people we met were very decent and honest. They would often stop you along the paths to say hello and have a chat. If it rained, they would hold their umbrella over you. In the markets, there was a whole range of fresh produc
e for sale and no one ever tried to sell their items at inflated prices. In fact, most would throw in a little extra with a big smile. We struggled with the wealthy lifestyles that many foreigners had in comparison and the lack of opportunity the Malawians had, however determined, to rise above their “fate”. As we left, Malawi was well into the wet season. It rained heavily each day. Consistent rain is promising for a good maize harvest, the staple food in an economy based on subsistence farming.
The country is beautiful. The red earth and green tea plantations are an amazing visual sight. Lake Malawi is a tropical paradise with its warm and clear green/blue water, home to five hundred different types of colourful cichlid fish (along wi
th hippos and crocodiles). We had a chance to explore outside of Blantyre, Malawi’s largest city, on weekends and visit the nearby mountains and safari parks. Without our own transport, we piled into the local mini buses along with 18 other people, babies, chickens, and enormous sacks of food. Near the end of our stay we hopped over to visit Nigel’s relatives in Johannesburg, South Africa. We were spoiled rotten!
As for work, Nigel has been working at the Beit Cure International Hospital teaching (and learning from) the anaesthetic clinical officers there. The hospital treats children from all over the country with limb deformities, burn contractures and cleft lips. The standards are good and to date the hospital has performed five thousand anaesthetics without serious complications. It was
really moving to be present as each patient was prayed over before their operation. Nigel occasionally worked at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a large public hospital over the road where conditions were extremely different. He admired their staff who worked in frustrating conditions. The equipment frequently malfunctioned and drugs were often out of date or in very short supply. It hit home very quickly, how much easier his working environment is in the UK. During his last few weeks Nigel helped teach on a Paediatric Anaesthesia Course co-run by a Sheffield colleague, Nigel Pereira.
I went to Malawi with the intention of painting. Our weekend adventures gave me an overload of material. I talked with several Malawian artists and discovered that all the art being produced was very similar. I began work on a series of paintings that depicted the various Malawian landscapes as I
saw them. It wasn’t difficult. The colours blew me away. I managed to find the only gallery in Blantyre (run by a Canadian woman with her Italian husband), book a solo show and sell out. I am still stunned that I had this outrageous and amazing opportunity in the midst of Malawi.
Now we are back in Manchester, England, enjoying Christmas and New Years with Nigel’s
family and regularly calling my family in Vancouver, Canada. We are here for 3 more weeks before heading off to the Canary Islands to join the Africa Mercy, a floating hospital, sailing to Liberia (no longer Sierra Leone) until next fall. Nigel will be one of 3 anaesthetists on board and I will be an assistant chef. Liberia has recently come out of a 14 year civil war and lacks the infrastructure to support a health care system. It is currently overrun with 15,000 UN Peacekeeping Troops. We are looking forward to another adventure and have been told to expect equatorial heat.
As always, keep in touch!
It is a little late to say Merry Christmas but we wish you all a healthy and Happy New Year. We arrived back in the UK on Christmas Eve in time to celebrate with Nigel’s family. It was a bit of a change after 3 months in Malawi, sudden c
old and Christmas bits and pieces everywhere. We said to each other days before we flew back that it was hard to believe it was going to be Christmas in a few days. I was still in flip flops, we had just visited Lake Malawi, which seemed like a tropical paradise and we were living in one of the poorest countries in the world which meant there were very little Christmas decorations. The main concern for the majority was having enough food and clothes for their children.
Malawi certainly lives up to its reputation as the ‘warm heart of Africa’. The people we met were very decent and honest. They would often stop you along the paths to say hello and have a chat. If it rained, they would hold their umbrella over you. In the markets, there was a whole range of fresh produc
e for sale and no one ever tried to sell their items at inflated prices. In fact, most would throw in a little extra with a big smile. We struggled with the wealthy lifestyles that many foreigners had in comparison and the lack of opportunity the Malawians had, however determined, to rise above their “fate”. As we left, Malawi was well into the wet season. It rained heavily each day. Consistent rain is promising for a good maize harvest, the staple food in an economy based on subsistence farming.
The country is beautiful. The red earth and green tea plantations are an amazing visual sight. Lake Malawi is a tropical paradise with its warm and clear green/blue water, home to five hundred different types of colourful cichlid fish (along wi
th hippos and crocodiles). We had a chance to explore outside of Blantyre, Malawi’s largest city, on weekends and visit the nearby mountains and safari parks. Without our own transport, we piled into the local mini buses along with 18 other people, babies, chickens, and enormous sacks of food. Near the end of our stay we hopped over to visit Nigel’s relatives in Johannesburg, South Africa. We were spoiled rotten!
As for work, Nigel has been working at the Beit Cure International Hospital teaching (and learning from) the anaesthetic clinical officers there. The hospital treats children from all over the country with limb deformities, burn contractures and cleft lips. The standards are good and to date the hospital has performed five thousand anaesthetics without serious complications. It was
really moving to be present as each patient was prayed over before their operation. Nigel occasionally worked at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a large public hospital over the road where conditions were extremely different. He admired their staff who worked in frustrating conditions. The equipment frequently malfunctioned and drugs were often out of date or in very short supply. It hit home very quickly, how much easier his working environment is in the UK. During his last few weeks Nigel helped teach on a Paediatric Anaesthesia Course co-run by a Sheffield colleague, Nigel Pereira.
I went to Malawi with the intention of painting. Our weekend adventures gave me an overload of material. I talked with several Malawian artists and discovered that all the art being produced was very similar. I began work on a series of paintings that depicted the various Malawian landscapes as I
saw them. It wasn’t difficult. The colours blew me away. I managed to find the only gallery in Blantyre (run by a Canadian woman with her Italian husband), book a solo show and sell out. I am still stunned that I had this outrageous and amazing opportunity in the midst of Malawi.
Now we are back in Manchester, England, enjoying Christmas and New Years with Nigel’s
family and regularly calling my family in Vancouver, Canada. We are here for 3 more weeks before heading off to the Canary Islands to join the Africa Mercy, a floating hospital, sailing to Liberia (no longer Sierra Leone) until next fall. Nigel will be one of 3 anaesthetists on board and I will be an assistant chef. Liberia has recently come out of a 14 year civil war and lacks the infrastructure to support a health care system. It is currently overrun with 15,000 UN Peacekeeping Troops. We are looking forward to another adventure and have been told to expect equatorial heat.
As always, keep in touch!
1 comment:
Excuse me but could you get yourself a bit more beautiful please! IMPOSSIBLE! That is me trying to say that you look lovely. I love to hear the update and love to see the pictures.
T
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