• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Villages in Partnership

Fighting Poverty in Malawi

DONATE
  • About VIP
    • Our Story
    • Our Mission & Values
    • Our Leadership
    • Our Staff
    • Our Partners
    • 2021 Annual Report
  • VIP Voices
    • Blog & Stories
    • VIP Videos
  • Friendship Trips
    • Why We Go
    • Trip Information
    • Trip Interest Form
  • Contact Us
  • Poverty in Malawi
    • Poverty Overview
    • Our Catchment Area
    • Climate Change
  • Our
    Response
    • The Six Critical Needs of Human Development
      • Water
      • Food Security
      • Education
      • Health Care
      • Infrastructure
      • Economic Development
  • How You Can Help
    • Water Walk 2023
    • Give Today
    • ❤ Give Monthly
    • Matching Gifts
    • Fundraise
    • Become A Church Partner
    • Amazon Smile
    • Volunteer

A Day of Impact – By Devin Murray

August 1, 2019 by Carissa Rea Leave a Comment

I can only describe today as terrifying and honoring. After lunch, one of the providers named Sarah, whom I had formed a close relationship with the day before, came up to me saying we were being called away to see a patient. So, I grabbed a blood pressure cuff, my stethoscope, and a thermometer. We hopped in the back of the land cruiser and we were on our way. Finally, Sarah told me what was going on. The chief’s husband was sick and was unable to walk to our clinic so we were coming to him. As we drove, we went over the correct greeting with Sarah’s translator and when to kneel and when to stand. We arrived and our moment of truth was upon us. Sarah and I looked at each other, gave a terrified excited smile, and went to the chief’s door.

The chief and her husband were extremely kind and welcoming. Sarah asked what his complaints were and to see his medical passport. The chief went off in search of the passport and we continued to get information from the husband. Using our translator Emma, we were able to get all of his major symptoms. We went through the passport looking at his medical history. We really collaborated together about what diagnosis we were thinking and how to best handle them. Knowing that he had a history of hypertension I went in thinking the blood pressure was going to be high. I took it once and got a low reading. I turned to Sarah and told her my findings and said I wanted to take it again. Diving deeper into the history Sarah found he was taking medicine for his hypertension and the reading I got was similar to the ones that they were getting while he was taking his meds. Knowing that my second reading was almost exactly like my first, I moved on to the easy stuff, temperature and pulse. He thanked me and gave me a toothy smile.

Knowing my hard part was done I returned to Sarah’s side to figure out what medicine treatment would best take care of his ailments. We explained to the chief and her husband what our plan of action was and that we would be back in 15 minutes with medicine and instructions. After many thanks were exchanged in both English and Chichewa, we calmly walked back to the land cruiser. Once we were safely behind closed car doors Emma, Sarah and I all let out a huge deep breath and burst in to laughter. As the car drove, we went to work on our med plan. When we reached the clinic, Sarah asked to wait in the car for a few minutes to finalize the plan and celebrate. After a group-hug/high-five situation and some good old women empowerment encouragement, we went into the clinic in search of our meds to bring to the chief.

This experience in Malawi has been incredibly impactful. I am out of my comfort zone completely, eating new things, taking manual blood pressures, standing or rather kneeling in front of village chiefs. I am so thankful to my nursing instructor Lucy who encouraged me to go on this trip on Thursday morning in early September at 7am (when I should have been studying for my test). I am so grateful to the VIP staff and medical and dental team for this big community of love and service. I can’t wait to see what the final day of clinic holds.

Filed Under: Friendship and Medical Trips, Journal, Medical Blog, news

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

DONATE
Poverty in Malawi
Our Response
How You Can Help
About VIP
Blog & Stories
Friendship Trips
Contact
Privacy Policy

Villages In Partnership is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Tax ID # 45-2442802

GuideStar
Villages In Partnership Nonprofit Overview and Reviews on GreatNonprofits

Villages In Partnership supports the
United Nations'
Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainable Development Goals

Newsletter

  • Hidden
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

© 2023 Villages In Partnership, Inc

  • About VIP
  • VIP Voices
  • Friendship Trips
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2023 · Infinity Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Your spot is saved!

Watch your email for the link to join. Use that link to join the call using Zoom just before the event begins.

See you then!

You can test your Zoom settings at any time by visiting zoom.us/test on the device you plan to use for this event.

  • Donate
  • Water Walk 2023
  • Friendship Trips
    ▼
    • Why We Go
    • Trip Info
    • Trip Interest Form
    • Pay Trip Fees
  • Poverty in Malawi
    ▼
    • Poverty Overview
    • Our Catchment Area
    • Climate Change
  • Our Response
    ▼
    • 6 Needs of Human Development
  • How You Can Help
    ▼
    • Give Today
    • ❤ Give Monthly
    • Give Supplies
    • Fundraise
    • Volunteer
    • Become A Church Partner
  • About VIP
    ▼
    • Our Story
    • Our Mission & Values
    • Our Leadership
    • Our Staff
    • Our Partners
    • 2021 Annual Report
  • VIP Voices
    ▼
    • Blog & Stories
    • VIP Videos
  • Contact Us