Yesterday we visited Chirombo village for the first time. It is one of the two new villages where COTN is beginning to be involved. It is about an hours drive from here with about half of the drive on a very bumpy dirt road (I remember that very well as my rear end is more than a little sore today). Chirombo is a nice change from the villages directly outside of Lilongwe that we have gotten used to. It is greener and has more shade trees, which you learn to appreciate greatly when there is no rain and no air conditioning in the African summer.

As is standard for us "azungus" we received a welcome fit for kings. I am always entertained when the little kids look up from casually playing in the dirt outside their home to see the azungus driving by. It is how kids in America would react if they saw Santa Clause on an average day- they jump up and scream with joy at the top of their lungs calling their friends to come see the white people and wave. Of course, we look at each one and try to wave to each individually, and they giggle with uncontainable excitement. This time as we drove into the center of the village, the children started running behind the truck- first three or four and then gradually it increased to twenty or so children running after our truck screaming and laughing.

Once we arrived in the village, some of the people from COTN went about the business they had come for, and Michael and I just hung around with the kids while waiting. It was then that my experience began to change. My first impressions of the village were wonderful- green and shady, happy and joyful just as I described. But upon closer observation of the individual children, I became sad and sickened by grief. Usually when you first go into a village, you (or at least I as an outsider) can’t get a good impression of how the people really are living. Are they sick, do they have enough food, are the babies healthy, do they get medical care…..these are all questions that come to my mind, but it takes time to answer them. It is not something you can figure out from one visit. But, on this particular visit, it became painfully obvious to me that these kids are sick. There is clearly a great deal of suffering, and the needs are great.

Let me also explain that over time, since the arrival of the new Country Director who received a copy of my CV and educational and professional experience, people have begun calling me Dr. Courtney. The Country Director began calling me by my title, and it has trickled down to everyone else. So, as we entered this village the COTN staff members introduced me to all of these people as their doctor. Not only are these children sick and suffering, but they are now looking to me to ease their pain. I noticed the sicker ones trying to ease their way into the front hoping to get closer to me, as if just being closer to me would somehow help them. Some may find that flattering, but at this point in time I have nothing to give them. It is heart-wrenching to think about these children who are malnourished, sick, infected, hungry, thirsty, and they are hoping beyond all hope that they may receive something from this new person who as come, but she offers nothing. They must be wondering why she won’t help them. Why doesn’t she care about me?

So, as we plan over the next few months for the programs that will be instituted in these villages, please pray for these children specifically. Please pray for wisdom for me medically as well as wisdom for our leadership to be able to offer the services that are desperately needed here. Please pray that the leadership understands the desperate need for medical care. Please pray that on the American side that there will be enough money raised that these children will receive the basic necessities that they need to survive childhood. Please pray for American doctors to come and offer their services in these places.

On behalf of all of these children, thank you for your prayers.