Under the Milky Way

July 31, 2014 This has probably been the busiest week in my service thus far. I returned to my village from Lilongwe on Saturday evening. Sunday, I spent the day washing clothes, organizing my house, and meeting up with my counterpart to discuss what I’d learned at my malaria training. After that, a man in my village came to get me to go for a run. He was wearing converses. We jogged to the main road and back (about 6 miles) climbing up and down the rock laden dirt roads while people sat outside their homes and yelled greetings to us as we passed by. I think it was the first time I’ve gone all the way down and back up my road without walking—and man was I tired after! Monday, as I was on my way to the health center to help with the family planning clinic, I noticed that it was deserted. I walked to my counterparts house but was redirected to the guardian shelter (where pregnant mothers stay when they are close to popping out a baby). I found him helping to fix a water pipe