Malawi - Day 2

We were all scheduled to arrive in Johannesburg on Friday night and fly to Lilongwe on Saturday. Unfortunately, only Al & Susan, and Amy & Colin made it by Saturday. They were able to enjoy church on Sunday and staff a “mini-clinic” after church. They saw at least 20 patients but had to turn more away.

On Monday, while awaiting the arrival of the rest of us, the four of them toured Mercy’s hospital and were also able to see firsthand what Hugo was doing with his Opulence Ministry.

For those of us doing planes, (no trains) and Ubers, we split into two groups on Friday in an effort to get everyone to Johannesburg. Nancy, Alan and I (the other Nancy) boarded a flight to Atlanta, which then offered a direct connection to Johannesburg. A few hours later, the other six (Bill and Susan, Kevin and Sue, Mary Beth and Jean) boarded a flight to Amsterdam, which then connected to Johannesburg.

We all arrived within a few hours of each other on Saturday night… but out luggage didn’t. Nancy got hers, but the 14 bags packed by the group of six and Alan’s and my personal bags didn’t make it. Happily, they all arrived by Sunday afternoon and early evening.

We took advantage of a “day of rest” on Sunday and the 9 of us still in Johannesburg toured the Apartheid Museum. It was a very enlightening tour. Our guide, although often a bit difficult to understand, made up for his accent by his enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject. We viewed replicas of the tiny, tiny cells where Mandela and other prisoners were housed for decades. Our tour guide shared with us that his own uncle had died in one of those cells.

After our museum tour, we had about 30 minutes to peruse a craft mall. We enjoyed dinner back at the hotel and prepared to get going on Monday morning for our final flight to Lilongwe.

We are happy that we are finally all here and we look forward to operating our clinic tomorrow. Before dinner, we unloaded and organized a massive amount of medication and medical supplies. Dinner was a wonderful buffet and we were all more than ready to enjoy it.

Stay tuned for an update of our first fully-staffed clinic and more photos to follow.