Some awesome electrical storms pass over Nkhoma.  I was in the house during one two nights ago, and the thunder and lightning happened simultaneously as bright flashes surrounded the house.  Poor Ellie ran for cover under the bed.  I found out the next day that two cows were struck by lightning in neighbouring Dzuwa village.  The owner of the cows fainted at the time, but is absolutely fine now.  She still has six more cows, and villagers have been coming around to buy beef.

After less than two months of rain

I had to drive to Blantyre yesterday to spend the day with Dr Tamara, helping her with her retinopathy of prematurity thesis.  We spent the day at the Kangaroo mothercare and Chitanka neonatal unit seeing premature babies, and chatting with their mothers.  It’s quite hard looking at these babies eyes, some were so small.. less than 3 lbs when born a few days or weeks ago.

I also met with the Registrar General, and although it is pretty rare for a British and an American citizen to marry in Malawi, there should be no problem legally or registering!

A South Africa missionary couple got married at Nkhoma 15 years ago, and were carried from the church in a traditional ox cart.  Sadly the groom was sick with malaria and was carried in a litter up to the mountain hut for their honeymoon.

I was very glad to see Esther, Kambewa and all the staff at Nkhoma.  We are planning together for the year ahead.  We continue to pray for Nick’s recovery; and for rains to continue, especially in the south of the country where the crops are starting to fail.

I’ll enjoy the weekend walking around the village and market with Ellie and friends, and then tee up for the Africa Cup of Nations final at Kambewa’s house tomorrow night.

It takes me 7-10 minutes to do a cataract op.  It costs, in the general scheme of things, £20 for each op.  It doesn’t cost Mr Efuloni or Mrs Limon a penny.  Wow, they don’t work and have less than 50p to pay for the surgery!  It costs me nothing, it’s just my job, mime and the teams work.  The costs are for the staff salaries, medicines, surgical supplies.

I think the point of my ramblings are that for Mr Efuloni or Mrs Limon, that 10 minutes or that £20 will utterly have changed their lives.  Make no mistake.  Sitting here in the Western World for the next week before I return to Africa has kinda highlighted what we, all of us, do together at Nkhoma.  We send teams to reach out to far villages.  We screen the blind villagers who have been holed up in their huts for years, unable to function in their communities, as they once did.  We treat them with the respect and dignity that they deserve, and ultimately we restore their sight.

Yes, this is what we do.  Over 4,000 cataract operations, each year.  The staff at Nkhoma are amazing, an amazing team dedicated to their fellow people in helping them regain vision.

I am incredibly lucky to be a part of this.  But I will be very sad when I return to Malawi.  To have to tell the staff that we have to slow down.  We have to go in to fewer villages, and see fewer people, and do fewer operation; because the money is not there.  It kinda breaks my heart.

Finally, I can’t express my gratitude more strongly, than saying a huge thanks to all CBM donors for making it possible to do near 27,000 cataract operations in the past 10 years at Nkhoma.  We hope this year to push it to 30,000.  30,000 people who were blind, but now can see.  Village life with no electricity or water is hard enough; but if you cannot see the well, or your grandchildren; my guess is it’s a lot harder.

Thank you all, and all the very best for 2010

We’ll keep in touch

Will

In the afternoon I went on another ward round, visiting 22 patients in preparation for tomorrow’s theatre list of about 35 cataract operations. We screen around 20,000 people each year. It’s absolutely staggering how many people across Africa are needlessly blind, and Malawi is no exception.

By 6pm I’d completed meetings with builders and management, as well as unpacking a huge order of supplies that had just come in from CBM.

It’s 11pm now and I’ve just finished for the day – I’ve been working on our accounts and 3-year plan, as well as catching up with a few emails as and when the internet connection lets me.