Mozambique and Malaria !

If anyone is following this you may have noticed I missed last week – this is due to being without internet whilst in Mozambique for a little break. The day before we left for the Seaside was indeed frustrating and aspects of being here as a missionary were challenged – being committed to a project, to a life in another country is a sacrifice and one that doesn’t ever become easy so although that may all sound gobbly gook, although I’d love to spill the beans on my frustrations I am not at liberty to do so but I’d appreciate your prayers big time in dealing with current situations that are opposing me at the moment in Bulembu. So Mozambique was an ideal opportunity to escape for a few days away from growing pressure..... in fact the main reason we went there was because a good friend was missing the sea (she’s from Cape town) so she kept pestering us to go, because we are quite fond of her and could see her frustration we decided to go; leaving Swaziland and entering Mozambique was horrendous, the reason being we needed papers proving the car was ours and unfortunately forgot that so we had to call people and get it faxed to us, we also required an entry visa and car insurance especially for Mozambique!! it was also the first time that our foster daughter would see the sea ever, she is 15 years old so it was pretty exciting for her too, she collected a million shells and then finally got into the water with us, it was funny to watch because she kept falling over as the waves were a little rough and she is pretty skinny!! Anyway she seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself as far as I could see!! The water was so warm, we happened upon a location with a reef which meant when the tide was out it left a nice calm serene area, like a big swimming pool! We enjoyed swimming over to the reef and back again! Hopefully it also meant we were safe from the sharks.....!!! No no we won’t think about that!!!
The accommodation was lush not in the luxury way but in the basic, on stilts by the sea way!! We spent 5 days away from Bulembu, 4 days on the beach and 1 day in Maputo visiting our two missionary friends from England who have been working with Iris ministries for many years, we went out to eat Sea food Saturday evening, Mozambique is famous for good seafood so really enjoyed that. We travelled back to Swaziland on Sunday.
Early Monday morning I set off to a workshop (course) on Malaria for 3 days. This was extremely interesting, the National Malaria control programme with the Ministry of Health in Swaziland are running the training courses and their aim is to eliminate Malaria from Swaziland, therefore they are training as many nurses and health clinic and centres to recognise and treat any malaria patients. In the South West only 6% of all cases in Swaziland are recorded, In the North West of Swaziland the number is 14%, where as in the South East it is 10% of all cases and the North East 70%. Our area up in Bulembu is the North West so we may come across it, but to be honest in the 3 years I have been here I have only heard of one case being referred to the hospital from Bulembu. Swazi nationals are an interesting bunch of people; I was the only foreigner with them so everyone knew my name! The morning started off with a song and a prayer and also ends like that.(Can you imagine that happening in the UK?) Here’s a list of the house rules and you were in big trouble if you didn’t adhere to them: -
1) No smoking 2) Keep to time 3) Cell phones on Silence 4) Active participation 5) Raise your hand if you want to talk 6) No sleeping /meditating 7) Respect one another 8) Have fun to the fullest
I guess for my benefit the lectures were in English but every now and again they’d slip into siSwati and I lose my way a bit, then they revert back and I don’t think I’ve missed too much of importance but who knows they could just be talking about me. Haha now I sound paranoid!! No, Swazi people are an interesting bunch and it’s quite an experience being part of a Malaria course. I have learnt so much and that’s the real goal!
Second day was quite fun too, a few team games to bring a point over – if we work together we beat Malaria that sort of thing! Then we had a practical session using ‘Rapid Diagnostic tests’ RDT for short, so we all pricking each other’s fingers and I was praying mine would be negative after visiting Mozambique last week you can never be too sure!! It was if you were wondering, Ha ha.
Then there was a tricky bit which the trainer explaining kept going from English into siSwati, then asked me if I understood, so I said ‘I think so’ just for a quiet life so then she asked me to explain it back to her! In front of 30 other people ! argh I fumbled around and it was obvious I didn’t have a clue so she then drew a diagram on the flipchart just for my benefit . I think I got it finally. Did feel a bit daft though in front of my fellow swazi colleagues...............
Anyway the end of the day came and another big surprise – every nurse there was given R300 just for attending!! They certainly have big budgets to get people trained, an American lady came in at the end and I reckon the National Malaria Control Programme has got to have big sponsors from the states?