It’s been so hard to stay in touch with everyone since we got back, as one of my friends said “we did a better job staying connected while you were in Africa!” Because of that I decided to do another post on my blog with the update since we’ve been back.
Readjusting has been eerily easy, with us largely stepping back into our former lives after our return. It would be hard to find 2 places more different than our lives in Minneapolis, and our lives in Livingstonia – yet I feel so comfortable in both. I guess I’m more flexible than I think I am. It’s been wonderful to be back and to reconnect with friends and family – in person with hugs! It’s also been challenging to see everyone we’d like to see and catch up with. Some of you are far away, and our schedules have been pretty jam packed trying to see everyone and get things done.
While the adjustment has been pretty easy, there has been so much to catch up on. Our house was well cared for by our friend who stayed there, but there is still so much that needs to be with any 80 year old house, with large gardens and that had a leaky roof before we left. John went back to work just days after we returned and I started a part time temporary job just a week or so after we got back that was supposed to be for 6 weeks and lasted for over 12 so far. I thought with a part time job, I’d have lots of time for other things – projects around the house etc – forgetting what a full time job it is to look for a job in the "spare time" I had after finishing work each day.
We’ve been using our OneSuite 12 cent a minute calling plan(and now I’ve found another – total call that is only 10 cents a minute) to stay in touch with people back in Malawi, and I have included the most recent photos I have of my namesake Baby Susan and her family taken about a month ago by another volunteer who has returned home. Some of you may know that she got Whooping Cough just a few days after we returned to the US and it was so hard to be so far away with her so sick – they weren’t sure she was going to make it for a couple of days, but she pulled through and as you can see looks healthy and hardy. She was too young to be vaccinated yet when it happened, just 6 weeks old and vaccinations are done at 8 – Malawi does vaccinate at clinics, but of course mothers have to bring their babies some very long distances oftentimes.
Baby Susan was just diagnosed a week or so ago with Asthma, but her cough doesn’t seem too bad – just at night – and very healthy otherwise fortunately. They got some medicine, but it hasn't helped and they were told there was no other medicine that could be given until she is older – she’s just 4 ½ months old.
Her father David Mhango had to "gut his way through" a bout of Malaria that had him so weak he could hardly hold his head up or walk more than 100 meters – this from the man that walked for 6 hours to and from his job interview for the Census – in order to take his entrance exams for the Natural Resources College. He had to walk 18 miles up and down a 1500 foot hill, and take buses for about 10 hours to get there in that condition. We are still waiting to hear results, and told him before we left that would support him and his family if he is accepted. If not there, we’ll look at other places where he could continue his education.
Our other student friend Atusaye, who some friends have helped with school fees, is back for his 3rd year of school and received a tearful sendoff from the clinic he had worked at as a volunteer during his term break. We helped support his family and made the introductions so he could do that, as we know how much he wants to be a Dr. This was the same Dr. that treated me when I had Malaria, and we knew he'd be a wonderful help and mentor, which he has been. He's hoping to go back during the next term break and is saving money so that he can do that. When we offered to help again, he said he wanted to be independent and do it himself. He has such spirit and drive.
So back to the job news for me. Just this morning I accepted a sales-marketing job with Global Volunteers, a non-profit based in the Twin Cities that was the first organization of it's kind when it started in 1984. They arrange 1, 2, or 3 week trips for about 2,500 people annually to do volunteer work in 20 countries around the world. I've known about them for years as they picked up the volunteer project that I worked on at the orphanage in Romania in the early 1990's. I am very excited about this job, as I will have the opportunity to talk to people who are considering this work that I has had so much meaning for me. Their web site is http://www.globalvolunteers.org if you want to learn more about them, and I'll give you my new phone number as soon as I have it in case you or someone you know would like to talk to someone about these projects. Have them ask for me and I'll be happy to help.
It's hard for me to believe that I could find a job that fits so well with my values and interests, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I'm also excited about the fact that they try annually to send employees to "sample" these trips and learn more. Talk about getting paid to do something you love. I'm feeling so fortunate to be able to do work that I love at this point in my life.
