Don's Work

In the 17 years I’ve known Don, working in Malawi is the happiest I’ve seen him at work.

Spending hours, days, weeks and now months to get Madalitso (a severely malnourished toddler) back to health may be "work", but Don treats it like a gift.

Well, maybe “happy” is an inaccurate adjective. After all, he’s been brought to tears many a day here already. And brought to anger … and disappointment … and despair in what he sees in this third-world country, rated in the Top 10 poorest countries in the world.  So, let me say that Malawi is where he seems to be most comfortable. He is in is element. His light is on high beam! His hands are getting dirty. I watch his God-given wisdom grow daily and am amazed how God is molding him, using him, directing him.  I will encourage Don to share his thoughts at some point in this blog or elsewhere, because his Malawi experience each day is … “raw”, “unfiltered”, “urgent,” “life-changing”, “real”…if that makes any sense. I actually "interview" him while we sit around the dinner table, just to hear the amazing human survival stories that drop into his lap every day.

Don in the village with Steven whose right leg is 6 inches shorter than his left.  Don grimaced when he saw him try to walk because he was so bent over to compensate for the stunted leg. After a few visits to Blantyre's Beit Cure Hospital, Don's mission was accomplished when Steven was fitted with a brace to extend the reach of his leg. Now he is walking with a near-straight body and has finally learned to run too! 

Don and the Hope Village Medical Clinic

It’s obvious that God has been quietly preparing Don for this journey. His poverty-stricken childhood in the Hispanic ghettos of San Diego's South Bay with a single mom on welfare, and a father who deserted him at 4 years old was the first step in preparing him for compassion in working with the poor, the fatherless.  And his 30 years of experience as a firefighter/medic has climaxed in daily use here in Malawi.

He may have retired from a busy San Diego fire department just last year, 

but Don seems to be back in the saddle as he serves in the "emergency medical provider" 

role here in the remote villages of Chikwawa quite often.  

(Apologies to Don for posting this picture ... but I just love it).

Don treats a boy's leg out in a remote village with the translation help from Godwins. 

The villagers are lined up for help with a variety of ailments - back pain, skin wounds, fever, ring worm, headaches, stomach aches, malaria, bilharzia, etc.

Don now works at the Hope Village clinic, leaving the house at 8:25 a.m. to diligently open the clinic doors every day at 8:30. He has a Malawian assistant (and friend) named Godwins Mayere who works closely with him throughout the day, to help with translation as needed, and many other projects that I’ll write about later.

Don and Godwins standing outside the clinic.

Hope Village has a very sophisticated clinic: a waiting room, an exam room, a storeroom that is well-stocked with medicines, antibiotics, test kits for Malaria, HIV and other diseases; and a 3^rd room housing baby furniture, wheelchairs and other equipment to be used as needed.  Don sees anywhere from 10 to 15 patients daily – Malaria being the most common ailment he tests and treats. He also regularly treats wounds, skin conditions, infections, malnutrition and infirmities due to HIV.

Don in the Hope Village clinic.  He has been treating 15-year old Horace's deep leg wound 

for a few months. As I write this, we're waiting for a biopsy result to find out if there's a bigger problem at work in his shin. Pray for good news.

Many stories to tell from this clinic work … coming in later blogs!