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Rob McNamara and Jim Weiss are members of a wonderful church in the Philadelphia area that supports our work. They traveled to Malawi and later reported to the congregation on their experiences. I was present. The reference to Gertrude is to one of our staffers. I print a portion of Rob’s account, below.
Rev. Dr. William Rankin
President & Founder of GAIA
This was the day Jim and I went with Sister Gertrude Chipungu for the first time to visit Mtengowanthenga, where GAIA is working.
The minute we stepped out of the car onto the dusty ground, I saw a little girl swinging a pick in the field. I headed toward her with my camera. Francis, our Translator, came with me. I wanted to find out if the girl was working or playing, but we couldn't get a straight answer because the kids became giddy when they saw the camera. Their clothes were filthy and full of holes.
About 10 meters to my left, Jim was involved in more serious business. He was meeting with Sister Gertrude, the village priest, and a very, very sick woman, and the woman's care giver. The woman and the care giver were sitting on a straw mat. At some point Jim asked, Why is this woman not in a hospital? The answer was that they did not have enough money. Jim asked how much it would cost and they said 985 Kwachas. Jim did the quick math and said that's seven dollars. Jim said, I would like to give you this money so you can take her to the hospital.
Now here I am today, standing in the Parish House of St Thomas Church, Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania and God forbid that you or your sister or your mother or your daughter were ever this sick and had to be taken to the hospital in the back of a pick up truck. But this is Africa, this is Malawi and that's how it's done.
As the women were loading the sick woman into the back of Sister Gertrude's truck, Jim was not filming and I lowered my camera. We were thinking of the woman's dignity. Gertrude turned right to me and said, Please take pictures. I felt very uncomfortable about it, but I took a couple quick shots. Now that I have had time to think about it, I believe she was right. I was sent by St Thomas Church to witness and report back to you what is happening in Malawi, Africa. I believe what Gertrude was saying to us was, Look at this, look at this sick woman. This is an ugly scene, but it is real. This is AIDS, this is what it looks like, right here in the back of this pick up truck and it is happening every day in villages like Mtengowanthenga.
Gertrude, the care giver, and a few women from the village drove off to the hospital. I dropped my head and walked a few meters down the road to my left. There was a very shy young girl standing in a door way. I asked her, Can I take your picture? But she just looked down at her feet. I motioned with the camera, can I take your picture, but again she did not respond. I felt someone walk up to my right. It was the priest. I asked him to ask the girl if I could take her picture. He said in that very quiet African way, You can take her pickcha. So I lifted my camera and took the shot. I asked the priest to ask the girl what her name was, but he didn't have to, he knew the girl. He said, Her name is Mary, she is in the third grade. That was her mother you just sent to the hospital.
On Sunday night, our last night in Malawi, we had dinner at Sister Gertrude's humble little house. She told Jim and me that indeed the woman did get into the hospital, but she died 2 days later. That made Mary the newest orphan in Mtengowanthenga.
Why am I telling you this story? Because this happens far too often in Africa, it happens far too often in Malawi and it happens far too often in Mtengowanthenga. We picked the right cause, we certainly picked the right partners [I pointed to Bill Rankin] and we picked the right village, and they desperately, desperately need our help.
Rob McNamara
St Thomas Church
Whitemarsh, Pennsylvania
Email GAIA info@thegaia.org • Tel 415-461-7196 • Visit our website: http://www.thegaia.org
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