Azungu Aunt Jemima!

At our morning devotional this morning with the staff of Somebody Cares, Teresa said we should be clapping louder and shaking what our mama's gave us a little bit more! She said that she was going to make us Africans before we leave. So, we thought if we had the traditional head wrap and chitenje (skirt wrap) we could possibly be on our way to becoming wanna be Africans and it would improve our praise and worship! Well, that was not to be! Clapping, singing and shuffling the feet while shaking our bottoms is not something we Azungus can achieve all at once. And for that we are glad that God has a sense of humour!

So, what do you think of our team uniform? And take note it is even in the Manitoba colours - brown and gold! We just needed the bison emblem on our backs to be real provincial representatives. What was really fun is that wherever we went today the people of Malawi acknowledged us and were excited to see that we were dressed as one of them. Of course not all the women in Malawi go about their day dressed like this but in the communities in the slums and villages they all wear the chitenje and most have the head wrap. If you don't wear the chitenje you certainly must wear a skirt. In the city of Lilongwe women dress more like the western world.

We made layettes last night - not sure if we talked about layettes in a previous blog so I apologize for the repetition but here is what consists of the layettes we made now: a receiving blanket, 2 tuques, 1 onsie and a baby sleeper or outfit. We hauled all these supplies from home! With 50+ layettes in tow this morning we headed to the Bwaila Hospital. Something to remember next time we might have to wait at the walk in clinic or for our doctor because he/she is running late be thankful we have medicare and that we don't have to sit outside with 100's of other people to be seen by a doctor. At the hospital we were met by the matron and she brought us to the premature nursery. They have a sign on their doorway that says, Kangaroo Care. Our first nursery had 4 mothers and their tiny little babies. Oh, my it was like holding a Barbie doll. I held a little boy named Isaac that was 1.6 kgs = 3.5 lbs. He was incredibly precious. These 4 babies were kept in this room because they were more shall we say fragile than the other 45 premature babies that were all lined up in bassinet's in a big room. The 4 mothers had their babies snuggled between their breasts - skin on skin - and wrapped with blankets to hold the baby in snug against their mother. This mimics the kangaroo and their joey hence the name Kangaroo Care. There are no incubators in this hospital so this is there creative incubator.

After our visit there we went to the bigger nursery where the babies were sometimes 3 to a bassinet and their mothers were in the middle of the room sitting either on the floor or low lying benches. It was a peaceful moment to my heart to see the mothers there waiting to help care for their child. The mothers were asked to go stand by the bassinets that held their child for the gifting of the layettes. We were handing the layettes out and when it was my turn to give a layette to a mother my heart melted - she had twins! For those of you who don't know my family, we are the proud parents of bouncing twin boys too! Well they still bounce but they were babies 27 years ago and they were not premature and they did not weigh 2 lbs! I asked the nurse that was beside this mother to explain to her that I too was a mother of twins and what a smile she had for me! You know it is those moments that make the heartaches seem bearable.

So after many photos and thank yous we said farewell. As we drove away one couldn't help but have a feeling of thankfulness for our medical system, thankfulness that even in a developing country there are many who are in the profession of nursing and caring and thankfulness for all that we have and can have.

Our afternoon was spent working on the memory books for the 6 individuals we visited yesterday. After much grumbling about our printer and giggling we are almost done that project. Will report tomorrow on the reaction of the recipients.

Thank you again for all your prayers. We feel your presence in our hearts and know that without you to carry us through these 2 weeks we would be puddles on the floor. For that we are thankful too.

Here is a thought I leave you with....Teresa Malila today said to me - it is now time for all the churches across the world to get involved in the HIV/AIDS crisis....think about that......

A Momma of twins that cannot shake her booty very well, Simone