Embangwane Hospital

Mzimba Bug Homicide List
Squashed:
1. Gigantic Ant
2. Spider
3. Several unknown beetle-like creatures
4. Several small ants

One of the gentlemen, Mr. Roger Rogers, from the other group staying at the guest house was kind enough to give me a tour of the mission hospital tonight (Wednesday, May 27th). It was founded by the Presbyterians a while ago and is the only hospital in this region; people will walk for miles to come to this hospital. There is a women’s, men’s, maternity, and pediatric ward, as well as a dental, casualty (minor injury) ward and surgical theatre. The operating room is labeled the “theatre.” At first I thought it was strange that they would have a theatre right in the middle of a hospital, but it made more sense when Mr. Rogers explained that it is the operating room or surgical theatre.

Mr. Rogers is the “mr. fix-it” of the group and I think he may be a sort of electrical engineer, he fixes computers and made lamps (yes, made as in created) for the hospital that are battery-powered and rechargeable for the hospital during blackouts. He also has put together solar-powered lights in each of the wards and he and his son put in new water towers for the hospital just recently. He does a lot. Each person in that group are very specialized in one field, I know at least a couple are professors, doctors, I already mentioned this, etc. Anyways, tonight Mr. Rogers was checking the solar-powered lights and he offered to give me a tour, so we got to walk through all the wards and see some of the patients as we were passing through and he showed me some of the other rooms that were not in use for the evenings. One of his projects for the week is to fix an x-ray machine, the only one, that was made in 1972...and it’s German-made, so all of the manuals are in...you guessed it, German. Quite a task.

Not only will the patients have to walk for miles to get here, but they also have to bring someone to help them cook and take care of themselves. The hospital provides the beds (when they can) and the medical care. At first this may not seem right, and in extreme malnourishment cases or other special reasons, the hospital will provide food, but imagine if the hospital provided meals for all of its patients, how much extra money and staff that would cost with the little resources they already have. The hospital provides an outdoor cooking area and shelter for the “go-gos” as the patient caregivers are called. So that is one thing that is different, besides the x-ray machine from 1972.

In one room in the maternity ward, there are women literally back-to-back in a small space. These are expectant mothers who have come to stay at the hospital because they are having high-risk pregnancies and cannot make the long trek to the hospital when it gets closer to their due date. Back-to-back expecting women trying to sleep, literally no room, I can’t imagine falling asleep on the floor (no beds) surrounded by 30 other people (at least) so close together and with crying babies in the other room... In some hospitals in Malawi, the nurses are mean, they shout at the patients or expecting mothers, and do not allow any family to come near the mother while she is giving birth. It is a very unpleasant experience and in Malawian culture the family is always present at a baby’s birth, so many mothers choose not come to hospitals and instead stay home and give birth using untrained midwives and in unsanitary conditions. Usually having a baby is supposed to be a very joyous occasion, already painful enough, so why would you want to have someone shouting at you and keeping your family away? Not a very good way to encourage people to come to the hospital to get treatment...but it actually does happen in some hospitals.