Malawi Arrival Excitement

July 27, 2009

I arrived in Malawi on the 25^th. I flew into Lilongwe and was delayed for hours at the tiny airport there. Apparently we had to wait for the flight from Johannesburg to arrive and for all of the passengers to go through immigration and customs before we could embark on our 30-minute flight to Blantyre. It was pretty boring but I made friends with a Scottish guy and passed the time sitting on the upper deck and waiting for flights to arrive. Finally, the flight came in and we boarded. When we landed in Blantyre, I got off of the plane and collected my bags. I walked from the baggage claim down to a hall of people waiting. I looked around for the driver for the Centre for Reproductive Health, Mr. Asidi. As I did, a man walked up to me and took my bag from me. I asked, “Mr. Asidi?” thinking that it would have been plausible for those at the College of Medicine to have offered him a description of me. He responded affirmatively and we walked down the hall. When we got outside, he asked where we were going and I responded, “to Jeanne’s house- the same place that you took Andrea and Matt.” It then dawned on me that this man was just a taxi driver and was NOT the man I was expecting. I went back inside and tried to find Mr. Asidi but he was not there. I was really confused and this guy, Sello, asked me what was going on. I explained my situation and he told me that he also worked at the College of Medicine and that we could share a taxi to the school where we could pick up his car. He was really nice but I decided against it. Instead, we used the internet connection to look up Faustin’s phone number (a friend who had gone to Hopkins with me and is from Blantyre). At that point, I called Faustin (who I think was on a date) and told him that I was stranded. Both he and his girlfriend immediately came to rescue me. As I was waiting for them, I began to notice that the airport was closing. The flight from Lilongwe had been the last flight for the day and everyone was leaving- taxi drivers, airline staff, passengers etc. A South African woman and her British friend asked if I wanted them to wait with me. I said yes and then they suggested that they bring me into town so that it would be easier for Faustin to find me. Since they were both women (and it was getting so dark!) I decided to go with them. We met up with Faustin and him and his girlfriend very kindly took me to where I was staying. Sheesh. The whole situation was unnerving but the airport was less overwhelming than the one in Accra so it didn’t bring me to tears. Plus, everyone had been so kind- from the College of Medicine employee to the taxi drivers to the women that helped me out. After I got in, we went to dinner and I went to sleep!

The next day, we got up and walked ALL AROUND Blantyre. Andrea and Matt had already explored a lot and have a fantastic understanding of the city. We went to the Shoprite complex (not the same as in New Jersey) and I got a phone and some other things that we needed. We went home and took a break before going back into town to the downtown area. Blantyre is pretty adorable and would be a good mix for me in terms of an African city with all of my favorite amenities. There are some enormous houses in the neighborhood where we are staying as well as more disadvantaged areas elsewhere. As often happens in Africa, the disparities are severe. Andrea had been filling me in on the fistula project and it appears to have gotten far beyond our control. She indicated that the interviews were almost complete and discussed her frustration at being only able to understand English. A lot of times, she was not included because all conversations were simply conducted in Chichewa. I was feeling pretty disheartened about the project. I had put a lot of time into planning the project and getting IRB approval and it seemed like the project had been hijacked and was no longer under my control (nor did it include my participation).

This morning at work, we talked to Effie and Davie (two coordinators at the Centre for Reproductive Health) and suggested that Andrea, Matt and I relocate to Mangochi (closer to the villages where the fieldwork is being done). Mangochi is on Lake Malawi and Andrea and Matt have said that it is really beautiful. I am excited because it will help us to be more involved in our work. More to come later…