An Aubergine with Wheels

This week was super busy—we spent most of it rushing to get our project submitted through the online portal by Thursday for local ethical approval. It took a team to get the several outstanding pieces needed for the submission by the deadline. Innocent and Patricia were able to translate our updated consent forms. Innocent received the official letter of support from the Zomba District Health Office which they verbally provided in December. Our mentor Dr. Karl Seydel edited the protocol and advised on last-minute pieces of the application, including paying processing fees and navigating getting the right kind of receipt to submit. Thanks to everyone’s hard work it is now in the system, and we wait. Estimates for feedback range from two to four weeks.

Earlier in the week we worked on validating the use of malaria rapid diagnostic tests as a source of parasite DNA which we can then use for our molecular biology studies. It worked, but not as well as we had hoped so we are still troubleshooting. The validation process requires parasites grown in the lab which takes two weeks so next week we aim to have more data and hopefully some answers. I was also able to spend some time on the Pediatric Research Ward (PRW) at the hospital observing clinical care this week which was very exciting for me. The PRW is where many observational and some interventional trials have taken place over the last few decades, advancing our understanding of cerebral malaria, the deadliest form of clinical malaria. The PRW was co-founded by Dr. Terrie Taylor of Michigan State University and Dr. Malcolm Molyneux of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The organization which operates many of these trials is called the Blantyre Malaria Project which has been led by Dr. Taylor since the 1980s. A central member of the team for many years, this year Dr. Seydel has officially taken over leadership of the project. 

This weekend I started tennis lessons with a Malawian coach, Julius. It is hard! Julius means business. I run all over the court for an hour while he gives me feedback on every swing and position. After the first lesson I liked it so much I decided I would try and play as often as possible and had another lesson on Sunday. The combination of the exercise and the heat turned my face so red that Julius asked if I forgot to wear sunscreen! (I did not forget).

After tennis I joined some friends at the Blantyre Farmers Market. The farmers market is kind of like Eastern Market in DC—lots of artisans and food vendors. There was an abundance of choice and I ‘paused’ my vegetarianism to have some delicious Korean chicken and pork Bao. I bought a great little plant for my room and met the director of a local charity project which teaches women to sew. I offered to help if they need any assistance—I hope to work with them at some point while I’m here.

I’ve also been able to spend more time with my housemate, Maria, which has been lovely. We went to a friend’s house for movie night on Wednesday and joined a large group of people at Maria’s friend’s house on Saturday for a BBQ. It has been fun to meet people from all over the world who are working and/or living in Blantyre, to hear how they express themselves and learn about how they see and understand the world.

The other big news this week is that I’ve started driving! I’ve rented a car from Nicole’s landlord. As my friend Camille said, “it looks like an aubergine with wheels.” It is a super cute, rather round little purple car. It has been an adventure navigating traffic in Blantyre. I accidentally drove down a one-way street after tennis on Saturday. And Sara and Fran have had to quickly remind me that they drive on the left side of the road here…But all in all it has been great so far and I think I’m adapting.