Newsletter Four - And relax.... - 3rd October 2012

Hi all!

Hope everyone is ok?

I understand the weather in the UK has taken a turn for the worse over the last few days so I'll try not rub it in by telling you I've had to seek refuge under a palm tree this afternoon as the sun was just too hot!!  :)  I'll get on to that shortly......

Last Thursday we had another new arrival....a baby girl - Melanee- who was 8 hours old.  She weighed 4.5kgs so was a big baby, her Mother had died through loss of blood following her delivery.  The family didn't have the transport or the money to pay for transport to get her to a hospital, so a neighbour had delivered her at the home.  Clearly the neighbour/village didn't have the medical knowledge or equipment to be able to help her Mum which is all too common a reason for a child being bought to Open Arms.  Again, makes you think.  In the UK actually not being able to get to hospital is never a thought......the lack of that facility is the difference between life and death here.

So Melanee - seems a very healthy girl and all is fine, except she has 6 fingers on each hand!! Something I hadn't banked on seeing in real life ever, let alone here!  

Melanee - hours old

In the UK, I would imagine a Drs appointment would be made, surgery booked and the removal of the 6th finger would be sorted within a matter of weeks.  Not here.  Grace, the laundry lady who has delivered a couple of babies in her time (this apparently making her qualified in the removal of finger 6 on any child's hand) was instructed to deal with this issue.  Unbeknownst to me, I was happy feeding Melanee her milk when the Matron & Grace approached me with two lengths of cotton.  Mid feed, Grace took one of Melanee's hands and proceeded to tie a piece of cotton around each of the fingers to stop the blood supply, thus making the finger fall off in due course.  Well.  Those of you who know me, know I have an extremely over-active gag reflex which I have to say went into overdrive!  Here I am sat on a bench, feeding a baby when the laundry lady comes at her with the sole intention of making her fingers fall off!!! Not only was I gagging, but I saw stars, everything went a bit black I got the sweats......how on earth I managed to stay conscious I will never know.  I did remain conscious, thankfully, but am officially never, ever, ever going to be capable of being a nurse!  I will keep you posted with how fingers 6 & 12 are doing!

6th finger....with cotton administered

On a slightly different note, I actually went out on Friday night!  The first time I have left the orphanage walls on an evening since I arrived!!  Taryn, who is a girl who runs a local school was having a bbq and very kindly invited me along.  The school she runs is in Palm Beach where her Aunt also has a resort, so she very kindly said I could stay for the night.  So, I spent Friday evening with a great group of South Africans who were staying there, having a bbq and watching the sunset over Lake Malawi.....was just beautiful.  In fact, earlier on in the evening a flock of Flamingos were flying round (I have no idea whether a group of flamingos is a flock...but go with me on it!!)  Had a fab night....bought a round of drinks - 2 bottles of Carlsberg, a glass of white wine and a coke (for me!) cost me KW 1200 = £2.51!!!  Its a good job I don't drink or I'd not remember a thing about being here I'm quite sure!

On Saturday morning I went to Mangochi market to the "clothes" shop......I thought my head was going to blow up.  It was 10am and already about 30 degrees and there was an area , outside, about 50m square FULL of piles of clothes.  These clothes are the clothes you and I bag up for Oxfam or other such outfits...A "shop vendor" buys a pod of clothes - for between KW 50,000 and KW 100,000 then sells them on (KW 478 = £1)  Having no idea what is in the pod, its luck of the drawer!  The market made rummaging through Primark look organised!!  :)  If I lived here on a permanent basis I would NEVER buy new clothes - it was just horrendous.  To buy your clothes, you have to hunt through a pile/heap - if you are lucky they have been sorted into mens, womens, childrens.   If you're really lucky they have been sorted further to tops & bottoms.  Once you have found something, you then have to haggle....something that would be in my room 101....hate it.  To give you an idea, the girl I was with ended up buying a maxi dress for KW600 - KW 478 to £1......bargain!!  It was a nice dress too!  :)  So, clothes shopping in Mangochi is something if I never ever did again it would be too soon - even if I do love a bargain!!

The centre of Mangochi Market

Chickens for sale!

Mangochi Market

Shoe shop

So, at the moment I am officially "on leave", and I don't think I've ever needed a break as much as I needed this one!  I am staying at a beautiful place called Nkopola Lodge - right on the side of Lake Malawi, and as it is not currently holiday season I have been on the beach (well the sand by the lake) all on my own for the last 2 days!  Not a single person (or child under 2!!) in sight!!  I have a beautiful lodge with a Queen size bed with new bed linen every night, air conditioning, a television, tea and coffee on tap, breakfast and an evening meal prepared for me.....just lovely!  No kids running around, screaming, falling over, hanging off my leg, being sick down the back of my shoulder, leaving wet patches on my trousers from a rogue leaking nappy.....think it took me all of 2 hours to get used to it!

That is a total lie!  Get me back to Open Arms!!!  While Nkopola Lodge is truly lovely and has all the things a holiday resort should have, I am missing the children, the "Mothers", the power cuts, even dare I say it....the cockraoches, something terrible - so much so, I phoned Rashid (the Administrator) this afternoon to make sure everyone was ok!  I hadn't really given much thought to this week in terms of leaving Open Arms, as I knew I'll be back in the thick of it on Sunday, but I think leaving "temporarily" has been a good exercise as its made me realise leaving them all for good in a couple of weeks is going to be one of the toughest things I'll have to do.  Ridiculously, I'm welling up just thinking about it!

Some of the reasons I'm missing Open Arms.....

Mervis

Mervin & Tiwonge

R-L - Tiwonge, Mervin and Chisomo

This will no doubt sound melodramatic and its not intentional, but in just a month, a little Orphanage in the middle of a little town in Malawi has without doubt totally changed my life and more importantly my perception on life.  I guess these emails will make you all think for a little while about what happens in a little place in the middle of nowhere, and soon after you shut down your computer your phone will ring, the X Factor will come on the television, you'll have a meal out somewhere and all will return to "normal".  That is human nature and to be expected.  The advantage I have,  is I have lived and seen with my own eyes something so, so different & hope more than anything, once my life returns to my "normal" I will live it in a way that reflects everything I have seen.  From absolutely the most heartwarming to absolutely the most heartbreaking things I think anyone can see I have witnessed during my time here.  Kindness and love beyond anything I could have imagined.....people taking a baby a matter of hours old and instantly - with no question or condition-loving that baby as if it were their own.  Taking a stranger, like me, and embracing all my "alien" tendencies and instantly making me feel part of their little family.  The extent of the impact they have had on me being proven in just how much I miss them all after 3 days of not being there while sitting in the lap of comparative luxury.....  

A few more reasons I miss them so much......

Mariam - she arrived the same day I did

Shaibu.....content as they come!

Up to no good!  ;)

I know I'm never short of words in these emails (unfortunately-I hear you all say!) but I have to admit defeat in there ever being enough words to explain just how much this place has impacted on my life.  How much it has taught me about myself, and about what's important - really important in life.  I hope that, just a fraction of how special this place and these people are has come over to you, because on a selfish note, my life has been totally enriched on every single level by just being here. 

So.........you'll all be pleased to know there is not much that I'm going to need to report from the comfort of a sun lounger over the next few days, so I guess I'll be in touch again next week when I'm back in the throngs of Open Arms! You're not getting rid of me that easily!

Love you loads, take care!

Z xXx

For anyone wanting to give any money to help Open Arms Mangochi, please visit my Just Giving page.....any donations, no matter how small make a HUGE difference....

http://www.justgiving.com/Zoe-Morrison1