After 40 hours of travelling and layovers (and 6 hours sleep), I arrived yesterday in Malawi.
Yesterday the temperature was approximately 33C a little cooler in the shade and evening. At breakfast this morning Jude Elliman reminded the team that it was still wicked hot (7:30 am) somewhere in the 20’s. Our day started at “WUSC” World University Service of Canada headquarters in Lilongwe. There we delivered the medical supplies which were supplied by “Health Partners International of Canada” and the Canadian Medical Foundation to Jacob Mapemba the WUSC’s Country Director.
After the formal introductions of our Team to the WUSC personal, we conducted our first orientation session. This session was very informative as the expectations and accountabilities of the individuals on the team were presented. As it turns out, I will be doing the most traveling in the group, visiting three specific member organization or hospitals. My assignment as the Project Development Advisor is to help address the needs of Palliative Care within the members of “Palliative Care Association of Malawi”. PACAM has 600 members made up of hospitals, health centres and clinics that provide services such as general in and out patent treatment HIV/AIDS services including education and awareness.
The plan is to leave Lilongwe tomorrow morning around 7 AM for Salima where we will drop off Jude to start her assignment. She will be developing a marketing plan to assist local local farmers to promote a co-op. This is where the farmers form a group and sell there produce to large food chains in bulk and at a higher negotiated price. Then I travel on to Nkhotakota where I will be spending two nights conducting my first needs assessment at St. Anne Hospital. I’ll talk more about the hospital needs in future updates.
I have a travel day Friday and will be returning to Lilongwe for the next leg of my assignment. In Lilongwe I will be working with Dr. Mala Arasu at the Likuni Hospital. Mala is a pediatric physician who currently works at the Children’s Hospital in Calgary. In addition to Mala, I will be working with other physicians and administrators to help me in completing their hospitals palliative care needs assessment. These assessments cover areas in medical needs, human resources, financial resources and fund raising.
The third leg of the assignment is in the former capital city of Malawi called “Blantyre”. There I will be working again with local physicains, administrators and Dr. Susan Gick. Susan is a palliative care physician working in Ottawa and is returning to Malawi after her first volunteer assignment 1n 1974.
Check in later today for a look at a few pictures of our first day in Malawi.
http://picasaweb.google.com/morris3211/Malawi#
Yesterday the temperature was approximately 33C a little cooler in the shade and evening. At breakfast this morning Jude Elliman reminded the team that it was still wicked hot (7:30 am) somewhere in the 20’s. Our day started at “WUSC” World University Service of Canada headquarters in Lilongwe. There we delivered the medical supplies which were supplied by “Health Partners International of Canada” and the Canadian Medical Foundation to Jacob Mapemba the WUSC’s Country Director.
After the formal introductions of our Team to the WUSC personal, we conducted our first orientation session. This session was very informative as the expectations and accountabilities of the individuals on the team were presented. As it turns out, I will be doing the most traveling in the group, visiting three specific member organization or hospitals. My assignment as the Project Development Advisor is to help address the needs of Palliative Care within the members of “Palliative Care Association of Malawi”. PACAM has 600 members made up of hospitals, health centres and clinics that provide services such as general in and out patent treatment HIV/AIDS services including education and awareness.
The plan is to leave Lilongwe tomorrow morning around 7 AM for Salima where we will drop off Jude to start her assignment. She will be developing a marketing plan to assist local local farmers to promote a co-op. This is where the farmers form a group and sell there produce to large food chains in bulk and at a higher negotiated price. Then I travel on to Nkhotakota where I will be spending two nights conducting my first needs assessment at St. Anne Hospital. I’ll talk more about the hospital needs in future updates.
I have a travel day Friday and will be returning to Lilongwe for the next leg of my assignment. In Lilongwe I will be working with Dr. Mala Arasu at the Likuni Hospital. Mala is a pediatric physician who currently works at the Children’s Hospital in Calgary. In addition to Mala, I will be working with other physicians and administrators to help me in completing their hospitals palliative care needs assessment. These assessments cover areas in medical needs, human resources, financial resources and fund raising.
The third leg of the assignment is in the former capital city of Malawi called “Blantyre”. There I will be working again with local physicains, administrators and Dr. Susan Gick. Susan is a palliative care physician working in Ottawa and is returning to Malawi after her first volunteer assignment 1n 1974.
Check in later today for a look at a few pictures of our first day in Malawi.
http://picasaweb.google.com/morris3211/Malawi#
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