Caring for the Little Ones

A letter from Barbara Nagy serving in Malawi

June 2015

Dear Friends,

Greetings again from Malawi and Nkhoma Hospital.  We have passed through another harvest season and into the cold time of the year for Malawi, when even this snow-loving American shivered under two blankets last night and turned on the oven to heat up the kitchen before waking her kid for breakfast.  This means that many of our smallest patients—children out in the villages with no kitchens or ovens—will suffer severely from the cold and some will die because they don’t have the nutritional reserves or body mass to maintain their body temperatures.  Yesterday we admitted two newborn twins with very low body temperatures and blood sugars; their  mother gave birth on the way to the hospital.  Thanks to the rapid actions of the nursing staff, both little girls were warmed, dried, and given glucose, and are doing well in the nursery.

Premature twins and their mom, now doing well

In my last letter I referred to a lady who delivered her baby in a field and kept it in a bucket to keep animals from harming it, because her religion did not allow her to seek medical care.  I am happy to report that that small child is doing well. As a result, the parents brought all of his brothers and sisters for health screening and vaccinations shortly after his discharge.  We pray that this family, having been treated with love and diligence and having returned home with a healthy newborn, will continue to utilize the health services available to them through Nkhoma Hospital and outreach clinics.

This morning every baby in the sick care area had a temperature too low to record; unfortunately, the windows are kept open for ventilation because the nursery space is shared with the delivery room.  We are working to carve out a heated space for sick newborn care in a very crowded hospital.  We also hope to create a new department of nursing focused exclusively on caring for newborns, and to acquire technologically appropriate specialized newborn equipment, but the challenges are extreme.  We have the knowledge to care for these children well, but lack human and material resources.  The hospital has purchased and is waiting to install safe heaters that will run on our intermittent power, and ward space has been identified.  Our biggest need is nursing staff to care for these tiny lives, but because there is a government hiring freeze in effect for mission hospitals and a critical lack of housing at Nkhoma, these nurses will be difficult to employ. Please pray with us for wisdom to know how to help these vulnerable little ones, because every decision we make is costly and takes away resources that could be used in other critical areas.

Children’s ward mural painted by members of a Presbytery of Western North Carolina mission team

Presbyterian World Mission continues to focus on addressing the root causes of poverty.  Poor nutrition is one of the ways that poverty manifests itself in Malawi.  We were blessed recently to have a mission team from the Presbytery of Western North Carolina make its annual trek to Nkhoma Hospital.  These mission partners restored a damaged area of the pediatric ward and painted beautiful murals on the walls. One depicts a healthy boy and girl playing football (soccer in the U.S.).  Another includes a pie chart illustrating Malawi’s six food groups.  One mural, yet to be finished, shows young children eating out of individual bowls instead of a common family pot.  Using individual bowls allows mothers to see how much children are eating.  Individual bowls also allow small or ill children the time they need, even if they eat slowly or have poor appetites.

We will refer to these teaching murals many times while caring for malnourished patients. It is usual for families to eat nsima, a starchy corn paste with little nutritional value, to the exclusion of other foods.  Green leafy vegetables, fruits and tomatoes often are viewed as cash crops to be sold for clothing and school fees.  When I go to church on Sunday, I can sit in the back row and easily see over the heads of the whole congregation because most Malawians have stunted growth due to the effects of chronic malnutrition.  These same dietary patterns have direct consequences on maternal and child mortality and on a child’s success at primary school.  So the gift we have received from our beloved visitors will have a long-term impact in our ongoing fight against chronic disease.  These simple murals will contribute to creating true health and, I feel, to bringing the Kingdom of God into these children’s lives.

Our friends from Western North Carolina also brought with them equipment that will save lives, like blood pressure cuffs and eight new oxygen concentrators (hallelujah, cries of joy!).   We continue to pray for funds for a vehicle that can boost our outreach clinics to reach all the remote parts of our hospital service area with health messages, vaccinations, HIV testing, prenatal care and family planning, as well as to carry our chaplain staff, who sing, teach and pray with community members during outreach visits.

Thank you very sincerely for all the ways you love and support us and stand with us as partners in ministry.  We could not do what we do without your help.  Please continue to support us and these programs as God makes you able.  Please email me at  banagy00@gmail.com for any questions or concerns.  We love to hear from you.

Blessings and love from the entire Nkhoma community,
Barbara Nagy

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 156