Katie Hulit’s Med Team Experience

Katie Hulit was one of 26 participants on the 2017 VIP Medical Trip to Malawi. Our team made up of Doctors, Nurses, Nursing students and other medical professionals, along with support staff, treated nearly 6,000 patients in 4 rural clinics last month. Katie, a Registered Nurse, treated hundreds of patients suffering from malaria, respiratory infections, burns and dozens of other ailments, who would not have been able to receive medical care otherwise. While practicing medicine in Malawi was disorienting and at times distressing for some of the first time participants, for Katie it reminded her of a similar trip she took to Guatemala years ago where she had decided to become a nurse in the first place.
But although the lack of documentation and electronic records, and the mud walls and dirt floors were all familiar to Katie, Malawi also stands out as incredibly unique. A few people and stories stood out to Katie as she reflected on her trip. One special patient was Jackie, who Katie met when the team made home visits to especially vulnerable families. Jackie is an 18 year old boy with an ever present smile on his face. When Jackie was a baby he had hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid around his brain. In the U.S. he would have immediately gotten a shunt to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure, but growing up in Malawi he didn’t have the fluid drained until he was 5 years old. As a result he received extensive brain damage and is non-verbal and doesn’t have the full use of his legs. Three years ago the Medical team visited Jackie and fixed his wheelchair, this year our medical team brought him a brand new wheelchair to replace the old one. He beamed with happiness as he showed off his new wheelchair and the new clothes that Katie and the rest of the team had brought him.
There is no doubt that every year our medical team and people like Katie save and improve lives through our clinics and home visits. But Katie knows that the medical team only goes to Malawi once a year, and though VIP is opening a new weekly medical clinic to complement our existing medical clinics, the situation is more difficult when the VIP team is not on the ground. While the medical team was there the Zomba Central Hospital, located in the nearest large city, was sending patients from the hospital to our rural clinics because the hospital had run out of medication. Katie also worries about follow up on infections and a general lack of medical knowledge. One boy had cut his foot open on a large piece of glass and was given antibiotics at the local hospital. Not familiar with western medication, the boy put the pills into the wound rather than swallowing them. The wound quickly became infected and though he had the wound treated by our medical team and was taught how to take antibiotics, there is a real chance he could lose his leg, or worse. Sometimes even a simple cut in Malawi can be a death sentence. 
Katie plans to return to Malawi next year with the medical team to save more lives. We at VIP are incredibly grateful and humbled that we are able to partner with such talented and compassionate people who are working towards the day when people in Malawi and the United States can expect the same degree of medical care. Thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for the people of Malawi Katie!