Much of the local chat this week has been about Madonna and the possible adoption. I do think that the media in the UK has probably been making much more of this than Malawi. There will always be different opinions and sides to the story including the rights and the wrongs of removing a child from its own environment.

We have had lots of rain this week, more than is normal for this time of year. I heard it was the result of a cyclone somewhere. My sister, daughter and niece arrive tomorrow which will be wonderful having our ‘ain folk’ here over Easter.

I went out with the two nuns to Likuni area of Lilongwe. This was their fortnightly visit to the 100 or so women and babies in this very deprived district. I gave over 70 children 10mls of multivitamin syrup. Each woman receives 2 scoops of maize and one or two packets of powdered milk, depending on whether the mother had one or two babies. Once a month they get clothes distributed if there is any and a bar of soap.

In a couple of weeks we will start the feeding station here which in turn will allow the nuns to take there service to another much needed area. They will continue to over see this feeding station and the children.

Because of the rain the roads if you could call them that, have been atrocious and dangerous. Beatrice and I have struggled to do the village visits, taking much longer to get there. Also interesting enough it has been quieter than normal in Bwaila and after chatting with Rachel we thought it was a possibility that many women are not able to reach the hospital or clinic because of the muddy and often impassable roads. As a result more women were dying because of complications. Beatrice and I are always hearing about a mother dying in a village or on the way to a clinic. We also hear of children dying of malaria and malnutrition associated illnesses. I am sure there are many deaths that we will never get to hear about.

It is a week since we saw the new twins whose mother had died on the back of a cart. We were not very happy. Both babies had lost weight, one only weighed 1.9kilos! While watching the grandmother we discovered she was putting only 4 scoops of milk powder instead of 8 scoops for the appropriate amount of water. These babies were starving and one had green discharge seeping from both eyes- they were only a week old. I always carry swabs and ointment or drops so explained how to clean and apply the ointment.
Beatrice and I had lots to explain to the father and extended family. We also discovered the babies had no mosquito net which is free to the under fives. The mother’s mosquito net had gone in the coffin with her as it was a bad omen to use it again.

We told the father and grandmother that they should take the twins to the clinic on Monday. They SHOULD be weighed and a mosquito net given and the BCG vaccine given and then we would be back at the end of the week. The clinic would take him about 2 hours to walk there and 2 hours back. It was explained the importance of all the information and treatment we were giving as the babies could die if these instructions were not carried out. It is hard to explain and know how much is taken in by these very, very poor people who have nothing and no education. You can only try.

A few friends have asked why so many twins in Malawi?

Twins are hereditary and some women can have 2 or 3 sets of twins. This is when the women releases two eggs each month and two are fertilised, they are non identical.

Because having twins is a greater health risk to the mother and baby this could be a contributory factor as to why so many twins become orphans and are premature or small.

I also had a meeting in Kauma with the 9 volunteers for the second feeding station. I was given a list of the names of all 100 needy children who will be fed.

The volunteers were a mixture of grandmothers who themselves were feeding up to 15 orphans, because family members had died, also women who had children and were HIV positive. They were a great bunch and extremely grateful.
The build up to the first meals is getting very exciting and I know will be so worthwhile. They are both being carefully monitored and controlled with a small committee comprising of a secretary, treasurer, president and deputy.

There is an account book and receipts kept and the children are weighed monthly. It will be good to see it up and running for two months before I come home.
Next week I will be buying the pots, mats, scales etc and looking at getting T shirts printed for all the volunteers, with coloured chitenges. I know they will enjoy the ‘uniform’ and feeling of being empowered.

I have thought a lot about all the other organisations like UNICEFF and World Food Aid and Marys Meals (which is a wonderful concept) and wondered where they were in these areas where I could see a need . I do have a meeting in a week or so with UNICEFF to tell them what I have done. The difference, I think between them and what MUMs is doing is that these feeding programmes are attached to schools and ours are for preschool.

The more I learn the more I will share with you.