You can send donations for the clinic or toward a maternity ward by clicking on African Bible College which is under Donations on the right of this post. Then click on give now and mark your donations for :ABC Clinic, Michelle's Maternity Project.
If you want to send new baby blankets, and towels, cloth diapers, pins and baby clothes send them to ABC USA PO Box 103 Clinton MS 39060. Anything you would send to Malawi directly is hightly taxed so it is better to send it via container when they are sent out which is twice yearly and it is far better to send new items than used for this same reason.
Thankyou Charlene for asking about how to give, I'm sure others are thinking the same way.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
No room in the INN or Hospital.
The staff was all at the College Christmas banquet, and the program had started when our head Dr came to me and said:"We have a pregnant mother in the ward taking care of her 6 year old child malnurished child, who is now in labor her self. She has had two cecerians so she must have a third. And she is in labor. Please take her to the national hospital to have it done. We do not have a trained surgeon on staff and the risks are two high here. Go now."
I rushed to the ward with one of the men on staff who would do the driving. We picked her up and the nurse told us to take her to "Bottom Hospital" which we did. Apon arrival this young mother was given a black plastic bag and told to proceed to the ward. I went with her to see what the situation was like. As we walked down the halls I was struck by a smell that reminded me of a cattle milking stall. The futher we walked in the more women we saw and the more humid it became. The smell was more like a sweat box than anything else. Their were pregnant women lineing the halls, lieing on bentches and lying on the floor. Some facing the aisle and some toward the wall. Then we came apon a room that was packed solidly with pregant women. All the beds were full and under the beds were others lying like boards on a deck, with barely enough room to turn over. The floor was solid concreate. I began to panic. What is this, how can this be that people would be in such a place as this to bare their children. Has no one seen this situation, does no one care? My heart was torn in two. I finally reach the place where the babies were to be born and their was a nurse. The nurse told me she would take care of the ladie I had brought and perhaps the baby would be delivered in the morning. I turned and walked toward the car. As I got there I asked the driver if there wasn't a better hospital in town where this child could be delivered. He told me we could try central hospital. There was no way I could leave this lady here I would feel responsible for her death if she didnot make it and I felt it was likely she wouldn't make it in these conditions.
I walked back in to the delivery area past all the women in labor, and took the lady I had brought by the hand leading her out. The nurses asked me why and I told them there are to many people waiting for delivery. How could I tell her what I was really thinking. Mainly that this was no place for anyone to deliver a child.
Arriving at central. As we walked down the dark hall ways we came apon a couple men, with rain boots, masks plastic aprons and surgery caps on. They were moping the floor. The sight reminded me of the bird flu movie I saw on TV last year. Great I thought, I have brought her to an even more dangerous place. However as we moved along it was evident that this was a better place for this lady. The nurse wasn't very friendly, but she saw it it that my friend was taken care of and seen by a clinical officer/Doctor. He told me he would have her operated on in the morning and that she would be in a semi private room with two other ladies. I would have to pay about 50 USD for this but to me this was worth it. How could I in good concious leave anyone in the other place. I was so depressed yesterday that I went home to try to process all that I had seen. WE MUST DO SOMETHING. In America we treat our dogs better than these ladies are being treated. We need doctors and we need a hospital wing to take care of these women.
When I went back to the hospital to check if the delivery had taken place and If my friend survived she was coming out of surgery and they told me she had delivered a beautiful baby girl. As I walked down the halls of this hospital I could see that the moppers I had seen the previous night were simply moving mud arround. Please pray that something will be done on behalf of the Malawian people.
Merry Christ Mas. A child is born today!
I rushed to the ward with one of the men on staff who would do the driving. We picked her up and the nurse told us to take her to "Bottom Hospital" which we did. Apon arrival this young mother was given a black plastic bag and told to proceed to the ward. I went with her to see what the situation was like. As we walked down the halls I was struck by a smell that reminded me of a cattle milking stall. The futher we walked in the more women we saw and the more humid it became. The smell was more like a sweat box than anything else. Their were pregnant women lineing the halls, lieing on bentches and lying on the floor. Some facing the aisle and some toward the wall. Then we came apon a room that was packed solidly with pregant women. All the beds were full and under the beds were others lying like boards on a deck, with barely enough room to turn over. The floor was solid concreate. I began to panic. What is this, how can this be that people would be in such a place as this to bare their children. Has no one seen this situation, does no one care? My heart was torn in two. I finally reach the place where the babies were to be born and their was a nurse. The nurse told me she would take care of the ladie I had brought and perhaps the baby would be delivered in the morning. I turned and walked toward the car. As I got there I asked the driver if there wasn't a better hospital in town where this child could be delivered. He told me we could try central hospital. There was no way I could leave this lady here I would feel responsible for her death if she didnot make it and I felt it was likely she wouldn't make it in these conditions.
I walked back in to the delivery area past all the women in labor, and took the lady I had brought by the hand leading her out. The nurses asked me why and I told them there are to many people waiting for delivery. How could I tell her what I was really thinking. Mainly that this was no place for anyone to deliver a child.
Arriving at central. As we walked down the dark hall ways we came apon a couple men, with rain boots, masks plastic aprons and surgery caps on. They were moping the floor. The sight reminded me of the bird flu movie I saw on TV last year. Great I thought, I have brought her to an even more dangerous place. However as we moved along it was evident that this was a better place for this lady. The nurse wasn't very friendly, but she saw it it that my friend was taken care of and seen by a clinical officer/Doctor. He told me he would have her operated on in the morning and that she would be in a semi private room with two other ladies. I would have to pay about 50 USD for this but to me this was worth it. How could I in good concious leave anyone in the other place. I was so depressed yesterday that I went home to try to process all that I had seen. WE MUST DO SOMETHING. In America we treat our dogs better than these ladies are being treated. We need doctors and we need a hospital wing to take care of these women.
When I went back to the hospital to check if the delivery had taken place and If my friend survived she was coming out of surgery and they told me she had delivered a beautiful baby girl. As I walked down the halls of this hospital I could see that the moppers I had seen the previous night were simply moving mud arround. Please pray that something will be done on behalf of the Malawian people.
Merry Christ Mas. A child is born today!
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Pancakes with flying Ants or Without Ants
On Friday the College students put on a lovely Coral. It was a mixture of Jazz and Malawian Christmas songs. All in all it was beautifully done.
Sunday night as the church service came to a close, their were flying ants swarming all over the place. This usually happends after rains and praise the Lord rainy season has come.
How refreshing it is to sleep in cool of the night rather than in such heat. Anyway after the service on sunday nite the children ran to collect the ants because they are a favorite treat to eat. Free flying protein. Even the missionary children were collecting their ants for eating.
After church on sunday nites the staff generally have waffles and pancakes. A friend of my from toastmasters speaking club gave me a grill for Valentines day, so I have been putting that grill to good use frying pancakes on Sunday nites. As I was frying pancakes the children came in and asked me if I could grill some ants. Of course I said yes and so their on my grill were pancakes and gumi or ants. The strange thing was that it didn't bother anyone that I was frying ants on the grill and to tell you the truth it didn't bother me either. They seemed very compatible together there on my grill. One of the older missionaries suggested I fry some pancakes with Ants for Bob Stauffacher one of the newest missionaries. But I decided we better wait until he has at least ventured out to try a raw ant first. Besides poor Bob and his family has been sick for over a month now and they are just now on the mend, so I didn't want to take any chances.
By the way, my face is on the mend and slowly but surely it should recover. Blessings to all as Christmas draws near. Don't forget it's about Jesus.
Love, Michelle
Sunday night as the church service came to a close, their were flying ants swarming all over the place. This usually happends after rains and praise the Lord rainy season has come.
How refreshing it is to sleep in cool of the night rather than in such heat. Anyway after the service on sunday nite the children ran to collect the ants because they are a favorite treat to eat. Free flying protein. Even the missionary children were collecting their ants for eating.
After church on sunday nites the staff generally have waffles and pancakes. A friend of my from toastmasters speaking club gave me a grill for Valentines day, so I have been putting that grill to good use frying pancakes on Sunday nites. As I was frying pancakes the children came in and asked me if I could grill some ants. Of course I said yes and so their on my grill were pancakes and gumi or ants. The strange thing was that it didn't bother anyone that I was frying ants on the grill and to tell you the truth it didn't bother me either. They seemed very compatible together there on my grill. One of the older missionaries suggested I fry some pancakes with Ants for Bob Stauffacher one of the newest missionaries. But I decided we better wait until he has at least ventured out to try a raw ant first. Besides poor Bob and his family has been sick for over a month now and they are just now on the mend, so I didn't want to take any chances.
By the way, my face is on the mend and slowly but surely it should recover. Blessings to all as Christmas draws near. Don't forget it's about Jesus.
Love, Michelle
Monday, December 3, 2007
Mission Accomplished
Praise the Lord I have done it. You know the project I have been working on for the past month that should have taken a day. It would be easy to be discouraged but I decided that I should be happy because at least one thing got done and who knows maybe it will only take me a few months to get the staff to follow the work schedule two days in a row. Perhaps we are progressing, but at a snails pace. Sometimes I wish I could just forget the projects and enjoy relating to the people without trying to get them to get some work done. Life would be so much more pleasant.
We had a lovely little music program the other night done by the students at ABC College. They are new students so the songs are elementary, but never the less thay are trying to play music on these strange new instraments. They also did a stomp which was quite good. The music teacher had shown them a video of one in the states and they made their own up with broom sticks,pots, cans and other things. The president of the college had refreshments served afterwards so we had quite a turnout. Food will do it every time. My friends and I didn't quite make it to the table in time to join in on the tackeling of the refreshment person in order to get out drinks and donut,so we decided to go to a place where there was to be a jazz concert. However the players of the concert didn't show up so there was no concert. This is life in Africa. No use getting up set or you'd be mad all the time.
My Friend Maggy came by today to see the Dr so I had her come in and use my computer, the network was down all last week so we are catching up. Any way she was encouraging. She is a Malawian, but she says the people seem to have some serious mental or spiritual blocks. I think we need to be praying for the ability to think clearly.
Sure hope you are enjoying your cool wheather, cuz we are being steam cooked around here. Blessings to all. Michelle
We had a lovely little music program the other night done by the students at ABC College. They are new students so the songs are elementary, but never the less thay are trying to play music on these strange new instraments. They also did a stomp which was quite good. The music teacher had shown them a video of one in the states and they made their own up with broom sticks,pots, cans and other things. The president of the college had refreshments served afterwards so we had quite a turnout. Food will do it every time. My friends and I didn't quite make it to the table in time to join in on the tackeling of the refreshment person in order to get out drinks and donut,so we decided to go to a place where there was to be a jazz concert. However the players of the concert didn't show up so there was no concert. This is life in Africa. No use getting up set or you'd be mad all the time.
My Friend Maggy came by today to see the Dr so I had her come in and use my computer, the network was down all last week so we are catching up. Any way she was encouraging. She is a Malawian, but she says the people seem to have some serious mental or spiritual blocks. I think we need to be praying for the ability to think clearly.
Sure hope you are enjoying your cool wheather, cuz we are being steam cooked around here. Blessings to all. Michelle
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hot Nights in Malawi
It's Wednesday and the week is flying by without my being able to catch up to it. Sunday it was 104 we suffered as we sat in church and the sun felt like it was beeting down on our heads. It was a though we weren't even under cover. The heat waves crashed down on us again and again. Malawi needs so fans to suck out the hot air in buildings.
Sleeping in it is no picnic either. I have a new form of Air Conditioning. Before going to bed you soak your PJs in water and then put them on soaking wet. Afterwards you climb into bed and and cover yourself with a sheet. Without a sheet it is too cool and you feel a bit damp, but with a sheet the water warms up just enough so you don't notice you are wet and as it evaporates it keeps you perfectly cool. Not something I's do in the winter in Colorado or Washington, but it's great for the hot climates. By morning your PJ's are dry and you can hang them up for the next nights drenching.
Christmas is coming and I must confess I don't even feel like this is the right time of year.
My Clinic work continues. At times I feel like I"m chasing my tail. That is if I have one.
I'm working on a schedule of work. It has only taken 3 weeks to get it typed on a word document and now we are haveing it traslated into the the local language. I thought it was a day project, silly me. There is no such thing as consistancy I'll let you know why when I find that out for myself. I might get a grip on things if there were four of me to station around the clinic to remind people what they are to do.
On the bright side, we had a visit from the ministry of Health and our parent medical
association. They had two comments, one was that the Clinic was very clean and the other was that we had a great selection of Medications. I was thankful I had spent three weeks pushing my cleaning crew to get the place up to par. Blessings, Michelle
Sleeping in it is no picnic either. I have a new form of Air Conditioning. Before going to bed you soak your PJs in water and then put them on soaking wet. Afterwards you climb into bed and and cover yourself with a sheet. Without a sheet it is too cool and you feel a bit damp, but with a sheet the water warms up just enough so you don't notice you are wet and as it evaporates it keeps you perfectly cool. Not something I's do in the winter in Colorado or Washington, but it's great for the hot climates. By morning your PJ's are dry and you can hang them up for the next nights drenching.
Christmas is coming and I must confess I don't even feel like this is the right time of year.
My Clinic work continues. At times I feel like I"m chasing my tail. That is if I have one.
I'm working on a schedule of work. It has only taken 3 weeks to get it typed on a word document and now we are haveing it traslated into the the local language. I thought it was a day project, silly me. There is no such thing as consistancy I'll let you know why when I find that out for myself. I might get a grip on things if there were four of me to station around the clinic to remind people what they are to do.
On the bright side, we had a visit from the ministry of Health and our parent medical
association. They had two comments, one was that the Clinic was very clean and the other was that we had a great selection of Medications. I was thankful I had spent three weeks pushing my cleaning crew to get the place up to par. Blessings, Michelle
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Sunny Days
I recently hear from my mother who told me to be more positive. So I won't tell you about driving out to visit the Children of the Nations farm and children's home, it was dusk, but by the time I got to the main headquarters it was so dark I could hardly see it. I knew the farm was further out, but wasn't sure how far out it was. After driving for some time I decided I must have missed it and turned around. I drove to the COTN office and found a guard who was willing to take me out the farm. We started out, for the farm and drove for some time and before I knew it there was a large reflector in front of me. I knew we were in trouble, so I hit the brakes. We slide for quite a distance and then hit the reflector and a large dirt mound in the middle of the road. The reflector was made of tin, so it made a loud crashing sound. Then every thing was quiet for a couple of seconds and then I could hear men yelling and screaming. We have been told not to stop on the road and that people get mugged or robbed at night on the roads so I knew we needed to get out of there real quickly. I wasn't sure if the car would run, but it started up easily and I thru it into reverse. We fled like a couple of robbers from a bank hold up. A few minutes later we were at the COTN farm and they were happy to have me there. They served a traditional Malawian dinner and then the kids sang and enjoyed devotions. It was a blessing to hear the children singing. It really lifted my spirit. The next day I took a good look at the truck and it wasn't damaged. But I recalled a conversation my older brother Bill had had with my mom about my driving at night on the african roads. He had said that I should have a rule for myself not to drive at night on the dark roads. I have decided he was right so the rule is now in place.
Did I tell you about the family that lives next door? They own the house that I live in and have been like having my own family. In fact they invite me to come over often, some days Mrs Mittel sends and indian breakfast over for me and they have had me over for dinner as well. Today I decided to do something nice for them, so I made a big pot of soup and sent half of it over to them for lunch with some freshly baked rolls. I had been cooking for the whole week so decided once it was all done to go and take a nap. About 15 minutes into my nap Mrs Mittel came over and thanked me for the lovely rolls, then she said you know Michelle, Poojah and I are vegetarians and w e do not eat meat. I knew that but somehow it had slipped my mind. Then she said what kind of meat did you use for the the soup? I said Beef. Oh Michelle, we do not eat beef, but we shouldn't waste anything so we will send the soup back to you. She was so gracious, I just felt bad that I hadn't thought of those things.
The winds are blowing this afternoon, which was a fantastic change, in that it has been rather uncomfortably hot. Even the Africans are complaining. I can hear the thunder in the distance so perhaps that means we are in for a cooling down. I'm praying for rain. I went swimming this afternoon which was a lovely refreshment of both body and spirit. The pool is not far from the clinic but it is closed when I have time to use it. I've heard that there are requests for a lane or two to be left open for staff to use during the day. That would really be a blessing if that happened perhaps you can pray for that for me. I need some way to cool down and relax after chasing employees down all day. There seems to be a bit of acceptance about the new administrator and her expectations that work must take place during work hours. However some feel they are simply being paid for being present. HMMM The time clock seems to be causing some inconviences as employees have been sighted down town when in fact they are on the clock. This will be my next challenge. To round up the offenders.
There are many more stories this week, in an effort to keep this possitive i will wait till later. Thanks for tuning in and mostly thanks for your prayers. God is faithful and Truely He is at work in our lives. My Love to all, Michelle
Did I tell you about the family that lives next door? They own the house that I live in and have been like having my own family. In fact they invite me to come over often, some days Mrs Mittel sends and indian breakfast over for me and they have had me over for dinner as well. Today I decided to do something nice for them, so I made a big pot of soup and sent half of it over to them for lunch with some freshly baked rolls. I had been cooking for the whole week so decided once it was all done to go and take a nap. About 15 minutes into my nap Mrs Mittel came over and thanked me for the lovely rolls, then she said you know Michelle, Poojah and I are vegetarians and w e do not eat meat. I knew that but somehow it had slipped my mind. Then she said what kind of meat did you use for the the soup? I said Beef. Oh Michelle, we do not eat beef, but we shouldn't waste anything so we will send the soup back to you. She was so gracious, I just felt bad that I hadn't thought of those things.
The winds are blowing this afternoon, which was a fantastic change, in that it has been rather uncomfortably hot. Even the Africans are complaining. I can hear the thunder in the distance so perhaps that means we are in for a cooling down. I'm praying for rain. I went swimming this afternoon which was a lovely refreshment of both body and spirit. The pool is not far from the clinic but it is closed when I have time to use it. I've heard that there are requests for a lane or two to be left open for staff to use during the day. That would really be a blessing if that happened perhaps you can pray for that for me. I need some way to cool down and relax after chasing employees down all day. There seems to be a bit of acceptance about the new administrator and her expectations that work must take place during work hours. However some feel they are simply being paid for being present. HMMM The time clock seems to be causing some inconviences as employees have been sighted down town when in fact they are on the clock. This will be my next challenge. To round up the offenders.
There are many more stories this week, in an effort to keep this possitive i will wait till later. Thanks for tuning in and mostly thanks for your prayers. God is faithful and Truely He is at work in our lives. My Love to all, Michelle
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Welcome New Viewers.
A joyfilled welcome to all my viewers in Iraq. As you know each and every day we take two steps forward and one step back. On sunday I thought I had killed all the cockroaches in my house but on Monday morning I found one large one crawling across my pillow. I tryed to knock him to the floor but he jumped on the curtains and managed to escape my foot. They are clever little creatures.
Sunday night I stopped by to see my friends who's small dog had run away after hearing the neighbors fire crackers. They were feeling pretty bad because it had been several days and the dog had not returned. So I told them I wanted to pray with them. After all, I God cares about even the little sparrow that falls, why wouldn't he care about the dog that was lost. So we prayed and asked the Lord to protcct the little dog. That night they made an anouncement on the radio that the dog was missing and that they would pay a reward to anyone who found him. The next afternoon some men notice an animal in the distant fields. Thinking it might be a monkey or baboon but also knowing there was a reward out for this strange little dog. The africans are afraid of dogs so they found a band of 20 people to round him up. After trying for sometime to catch him. They decided to hurd the dog through the field. accross the road and through the college gate. Apparently it was quite a commotion but Little MollY- the dogs name, was finally home with his family. I was thankful that the Lord had answered my prayer with a yes.
Speaking of chasing, I still continue to chase my cleaning people around the clinic. They were having hearing problems this morning but after talking with the head of personel, there ears were healed and they were willing to do what I was asking them to do. They had gone to the head of personel and asked her if they could do something else, so she not knowing what I had told them to do gave them permission to do what they had requested. When we all talked I let them know that they were not to be running way from what was requested of them.
I had asked them to clean up at our baby ward, and on the way walking up there one of the ladies pulled the mop out of her bucket and dropped it in the middle of the side walk. She didn't stop to pick it up so I asked her if whe was planing on leaving it there. Yes she replied with a look that said" why not" at times I'm shocked at the things they do. This was one of those times. I was seriously wondering what on earth could have been going through her head. I'm wondering if I should find a protein drink for them and see if that helps a bit. That will be my project for today.
I must get back to my chasing as yesterday I found three of my cleaning ladies sitting on the Ward couch chatting. They said they couldn't work all day, so I said Ok I will just pay you for half a day and get others to do the work the rest of the day. Oh no they replied. We need the money for the whole day but could you please let us rest for half a day. Hmmmm
Thankyou for tuning in and have a great day.
Sunday night I stopped by to see my friends who's small dog had run away after hearing the neighbors fire crackers. They were feeling pretty bad because it had been several days and the dog had not returned. So I told them I wanted to pray with them. After all, I God cares about even the little sparrow that falls, why wouldn't he care about the dog that was lost. So we prayed and asked the Lord to protcct the little dog. That night they made an anouncement on the radio that the dog was missing and that they would pay a reward to anyone who found him. The next afternoon some men notice an animal in the distant fields. Thinking it might be a monkey or baboon but also knowing there was a reward out for this strange little dog. The africans are afraid of dogs so they found a band of 20 people to round him up. After trying for sometime to catch him. They decided to hurd the dog through the field. accross the road and through the college gate. Apparently it was quite a commotion but Little MollY- the dogs name, was finally home with his family. I was thankful that the Lord had answered my prayer with a yes.
Speaking of chasing, I still continue to chase my cleaning people around the clinic. They were having hearing problems this morning but after talking with the head of personel, there ears were healed and they were willing to do what I was asking them to do. They had gone to the head of personel and asked her if they could do something else, so she not knowing what I had told them to do gave them permission to do what they had requested. When we all talked I let them know that they were not to be running way from what was requested of them.
I had asked them to clean up at our baby ward, and on the way walking up there one of the ladies pulled the mop out of her bucket and dropped it in the middle of the side walk. She didn't stop to pick it up so I asked her if whe was planing on leaving it there. Yes she replied with a look that said" why not" at times I'm shocked at the things they do. This was one of those times. I was seriously wondering what on earth could have been going through her head. I'm wondering if I should find a protein drink for them and see if that helps a bit. That will be my project for today.
I must get back to my chasing as yesterday I found three of my cleaning ladies sitting on the Ward couch chatting. They said they couldn't work all day, so I said Ok I will just pay you for half a day and get others to do the work the rest of the day. Oh no they replied. We need the money for the whole day but could you please let us rest for half a day. Hmmmm
Thankyou for tuning in and have a great day.
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