Malawi July 2019 Day 1

We arrived finally in Blantyre, Malawi after a long journey. Denver-Chicago-Addis Ababa-Lilongwe-Blantyre. The CURE representative, Innocent, met us with some other helpers and loaded up our luggage in CURE’s ambulance and then followed in a van off to where we would stay. The ambulance driver turned on his lights and siren and we zoomed by. Driving here is more like India, rules don’t seem to always be applicable. At one point, the ambulance carrying our luggage turned on its sirens and helped us arrive to the guesthouses sooner. There were some instances where we drove through narrow gaps and tight squeezes. Malawians use their horn a lot, usually used as a “hey I’m here”. We met the hospital chef, Chris, who we heard from Amber that he was amazing and had beef stir fry that night with rice and salad. It was soo good. We talked for a bit during dinner, did highs and lows of the trip, and then went off to sleep. Right before bed, LeAndrea came over saying that the girls house had flooded and water was pouring through the ceiling. Apparently the water heater had been left on. The water poured through a light fixture and flooded the house. Luckily, the floor was concrete and nothing was damaged. We slept very well that night.

Lukas Baltzer

- Lukas Baltzer