5. Tag Donnerstag

Co-living

Currently, only 8 people are living in the guesthouse.

6 from our team and 1 retired surgeon (Ludwig) and a young pediatrician (Katrin).

In the morning, we meet at the breakfast table on the terrace for coffee and cereal - some go for a run.

During lunch break, we usually eat toast and lots of tomatoes (that's the only thing you can always get fresh in the village) and sit on the terrace.

In the evening, 2-3 people cook with the groceries we bought locally (Namitondo) or still have from Lilongwe in the fridge.

In the village, there are good tomatoes, eggs, peanuts, corn, the onions and carrots, and potatoes are usually slightly dried out but still okay.

So far, we've only been cooking vegetarian, as we don't trust the meat or fish that are available in a few places.

(unrefrigerated) So far, our food has always tasted good!!

After dinner, we usually play games and sit together. In such a small space, you get to know each other very well, we talk a lot. We all get along great 😊.

The conditions here in the house are good by African standards.

But despite the solar system, there is no hot water in many rooms.

(So I've only taken cold showers for 6 days)

The cleanliness and hygiene are tolerable. The day before yesterday, there was a large cockroach in the kitchen, yesterday I encountered a small one in the cutlery drawer, and in the neighboring room there was one in the closet. 😬

I'm glad I can sleep under my mosquito net and feel safe there. It's really cozy, like a four-poster bed, and I sleep quite well.

Today, only 15 patients came for treatment. Although their dental condition is terrible, most patients only want pain treatment and want to have only the teeth extracted that are causing pain. This morning, we used our homemade posters for the first time. Before treatment, we explained tooth brushing to the patients with the help of a nurse (often also men) as a translator.

This afternoon, suddenly many cattle came onto the hospital grounds. s photos until they were chased away by an employee.

When we went to the village for a small shopping trip this evening, we were surprised to see how many people were there all at once. It was market day.

Now we knew why so many large packages of clothes were distributed yesterday evening. See day 4.

The market was full of stands with clothes, shoes, laundry, pots, as well as the usual vegetable stands. There were lots of people of all ages. Some of them played deafening music. It was wonderfully interesting in this hustle and bustle. Hair salon, tailor, bike repairman, fish seller, playing children, dogs, fried chicken stall, etc... And we were right in the middle of it.

Everyone was friendly, although children frequently approached us and asked for money, but we always felt safe. Unfortunately, you can't post videos that can convey the atmosphere. Unfortunately, my phone also ran out of battery, so I couldn't take pictures of everything.

One negative aspect is that Africans have no sense of their trash. There are no trash cans. They simply throw their garbage, especially plastic bags, into nature. See photos.

Tomorrow afternoon, we will then take a minibus with nine people to Lake Malawi for the weekend. I'm looking forward to it 😊.