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

Villages in Partnership

Poverty in Malawi

DONATE
  • About VIP
    • Our Story
    • Our Mission
    • Our Board
    • Our Partners
    • Annual Report & Form 990
    • Employment Opportunities
  • VIP Voices
    • Blog & Stories
    • VIP Videos
  • Mission Trips
    • Why We Go
    • Trip Information
    • Medical Trip Interest Form
    • Friendship Trip Interest Form
    • Trip Payment
  • 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
    • Khanda Clinic Campaign
    • Donate
    • Water Walk
    • Amazon Smile
    • Matching Gifts
    • Fundraise
    • Become A Church Partner
    • Volunteer
    • VIP Dental Initiative

Landing on my feet in Liti – by Scott Batterson

July 29, 2018 by Jordan Heinzel-Nelson 1 Comment

I was barely aware that she had a baby with her, much less that she was breast feeding while she quietly handed over her medical passport. She spoke to my translator and described her reasons for seeking care for her baby and he turned and carefully chose the English words to translate her Chichewa (the local language) into terms that I would understand. I could use this description for dozens of the patients that I’ve seen over the past two days at a small medical clinic in the village of Liti in rural Malawi. Today was the second of three clinic days. Our team saw just over 280 villagers over the course of 6 hours. They come to us with fevers and wounds and a variety of conditions that would warrant admission to most U.S. hospitals, and they patiently and quietly wait to be seen. There is no visible frustration on their faces, no sense of entitlement or voices of impatience, a subdued yet determined demeanor permeates their culture.

I chose to come on this trip with Villages in Partnership with very little persuasion from my clinical instructor at Xavier University. I have worked in a busy U.S emergency department for nearly 6 years and I saw this as an opportunity to regain the perspective that made me want to be a nurse in the first place. Too often I leave work with frustrations of the American bureaucracy that healthcare has become with more thoughts about whether I had diligently documented than the care that I provided. Nursing schools emphasize the concepts of beneficence and non-maleficence (do good things for your patients, don’t hurt them) and this experience has allowed me to get back to the root of those tenets and that has been more refreshing than I could have imagined.

The baby was done breast-feeding and stared at me with giant brown eyes and a full head of matted kinky hair that stood at least three inches off her little head. I asked my translator, “Tell her that her baby is beautiful and has more hair than I have ever had”, he quickly complied. She let out a soft laugh (I’m completely bald and likely to be the first white person she has ever interacted with). Her nine month old had a cough and a fever, symptoms that many American parents would simply treat with over the counter children’s Tylenol and rest. Things get a little more high-stakes in a place where there is no counter, and Malaria is a very real threat when these symptoms appear. We tested 122 patients for it our first day, 59 came back positive, and still they wait patiently to be seen by a provider to receive their prescriptions and plan of care.

Filed Under: Friendship and Medical Trips, Journal, news

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jinny Batterson says

    August 11, 2018 at 7:50 am

    Proud of our caring, resourceful son. Glad human dignity exists even where material conditions can be dire.

    Reply

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
Mission Trips
Contact

Newsletter

Copyright © 2019 · Infinity Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • Khanda Clinic Campaign
  • Donate
  • Poverty in Malawi
    ▼
    • Poverty Overview
    • Our Catchment Area
    • Climate Change
  • Our Response
    ▼
    • The Six Critical Needs of Human Development
      ▼
      • Water
      • Education
      • Health Care
      • Infrastructure
      • Economic Development
      • Food Security
  • How You Can Help
    ▼
    • Donate
    • Fundraise
    • Become A Church Partner
    • Volunteer
    • VIP Dental Initiative
    • Water Walk
  • About VIP
    ▼
    • Our Story
    • Our Mission
    • Our Board
    • Our Partners
    • Annual Report & IRS Form 990
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Employment Opportunities
  • VIP Voices
    ▼
    • Blog & Stories
    • VIP Videos
  • Mission Trips
    ▼
    • Why We Go
    • Trip Information
    • Medical Trip Interest Form
    • Friendship Trip Interest Form
    • Trip Payment
  • Contact Us