Africa.
A place that calls to me in unusual ways. I have tried to call it my home but also know that its hardships are not the most desired. But here I am again, after only 1.5 years, back to the motherland. I remember my first sight of Africa I was in tears of disbelief that I was finally here. But yesterday was different as a calm fell over my body feeling almost at peace with my arrival back to the land I had dreamed of so often as a child.
As I write the trees are alive with the songs from different birds and the sounds of people speaking chichewa as they walk past. I am in Lilongwe, malawi. The last time I was here was with my father trampling past his memories of the peace corps at a catholic school. It was such a gift to watch him retrace those memories. We walked through old rugby fields, stood on the basketball court that he built, listened to stories of where he created the marching band,and finally walked into the bar that would tie my mother and father together. It was a gift to be there with him.
But today I am here walking another path. I arrived here with Chris buck and Jeff Pierce, both ex-Baylor docs who are here now for new reasons. Kabadula. A forgotten town. A lost hospital. One with one mid level provider caring for over one hundred patients 24/7. No doctors. And only 9 nurses. It was discovered by a few other Baylor docs in 2006 and there was a desire to help. So formed World Altering Medicine, WAM. They have slowly pieced together needs and support and are slowly finding ways to support this forgotten child. I invited myself hoping to find a place but uncertain still what I am quite getting myself into. I know even with my insecure self and feeling of inadequacy that I still would have something to offer, but what is still a mystery.
This morning I looked at my watch as the sweet sounds of singing echoed from the mosque. It was only 4:45am but it sounded so mesmerizing. So calming. So beautiful to me. I was happy to have chosen to come on this journey and for one week to hopefully sort out what it is exactly I want to do with here, and maybe with my life.
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