An afterward...

We landed at RDU around 9:30 on Thursday morning. We’d been on planes or in airports for the preceding twenty four hour period, so I was extremely grateful to feel the wheels touch down below us. Julie was waiting for me, as close to the gate as homeland security would allow her. I’ve never been so happy to see her.

After collecting my bags, I said goodbye to my colleagues and headed home. We stopped at the Fresh Market and picked up sandwich components (rare roast beef, slices of luxurious provolone, fresh rolls) and got back to the townhouse. I decided it was close enough to lunch time to eschew Bojangles for later. Don’t worry - that Cajun Filet biscuit knows I’m coming for it sooner rather than later.

After a few days of recovery, I’ve had a little bit of time to reflect on the entire African experience. One of the reasons I wanted to go to Africa above some of the other outreach opportunities at UNC was its maximum exoticness. I didn’t want to just go to another country; I was hoping to see a whole other world. In this respect, I was naïve.

People are the same, whether they’re in Africa or America. They want to have the chance to live out their lives, raise their children, and find personal satisfaction. They like to go out, dance, and have a beer. They don’t like to go to the dentist. They don’t brush and floss as much as they should. They eat French fries at an alarming rate. The entire world delights in the culinary perfection which is fried chicken.

The differences are more superficial, and I felt like they were mostly economic. Malawians walk and ride bicycles, since they don’t have cars. They wash clothes in the river because they don’t have running water. They make their own charcoal from the surrounding bush because they can’t get it at the store. All-in-all, I felt like there were few, if any, significant cultural barriers to overcome.

They could certainly use a few dentists, however. The dentists we were with had a relentless schedule that was heavily weighted towards surgery. Dental therapists handled much of the more routine cases of restorative, periodontal, and extraction work. The dentists were relegated to jaw surgery, oncology cases, trauma work, and dealing with medically complex patients. It was eye-opening to see the scope of practice in Malawian dentistry.

I think we were able to help. By having a few extra hands on board, they were able to leave a skeleton crew of therapists and dentists behind at the Central Hospital while reaching out to meet the needs of more rural areas. I wanted to make sure that I was of use in Malawi, not a third wheel preventing the existing crew from doing its work. Our excellent preceptors, Dr. Mlotha in particular, created an environment where we could use our talents to maximum advantage without interfering with the operations of the local team members.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the project. I found out a few things about myself in the process. Prior to dental school, my academic history had been a series of decisions where I consistently went against my own interests. Despite a lifelong interest in animals and healthcare, I decided to major in math, never taking a biology class in undergrad. Despite a love for working with people, I decided to pursue a career in computers. Once I decided to become a dentist, it was like slipping into a comfortable pair of slippers. Of course I enjoyed it – it’s the kind of thing I’ve been interested in for my entire life. The Malawi Project reminded me of the importance in seeking out things which are a natural fit.

Specifically, I realized that the times which were the most rewarding to me were those where I worked with children. I’ve worked with kids whenever my life would allow it. I’ve taught high school, worked with the church youth group, and coached little league basketball. I think I realized I should try to continue this trend in dentistry. If I find work with children to be personally rewarding, then I should try to find a dental career where I work with children. Malawi helped convince me that I need to look long and hard at the two most relevant branches of dentistry, pediatric dentistry and orthodontics. I’m not sure if I’ll have the academic chops to end up in either one, but it’s nice to feel like I have a tangible direction in my career path. It’s still way too early to say for certain (particularly without board scores in hand), but I’m moving forward with the intention of learning as much as possible about these two specialties.

I think I’ll end the 2009 Malawi Project blog on that note. I’d like to thank all of the readers who were willing to put up with numerous superfluous commas and incomplete sentences. Thanks to our preceptors both at home and in Malawi that helped to make the trip such a success. I’m looking forward to choosing next year’s team. I can only hope that they find the experience as rewarding as I have.

I’ve enjoyed the blogging experience, and I may add to this in the unforeseeable future. If I happen to come upon any strokes of genius, I’ll be sure to let you know. Don’t hold your breath, though, since I’ve never had any before.

Days 14-17, I'll have the kudu pot pie

I’ve decided to lump the safari together into one entry for the sake of clarity. We spent a few days traveling through Kruger National Park, sometimes in the minibus, sometimes in an open-air four wheel drive, and sometimes on foot. At one of the numerous lunch stops in the park, I was able to enjoy a pot pie filled with delicious kudu. I doubt I’ll get the chance to taste it again.

At various points, I had the opportunity to see the following animals in their natural habitats:

Impala

Common Duiker

Kudu

Waterbuck

Zebra

Elephant

Blue Wildebeest

Cheetah

Baboon

Vervet Monkey

Warthog

Ground Hornbill

Martial Eagle

Steenbok

Cape Buffalo

Nile Crocodile

Sideneck Turtle

Civet

Lion

African Wild Dog

White Rhinoceros

Hippopotamus

Large Spotted Ginnet

White Tailed Mongoose

Leopard

Multiple unidentified geckos and other lizards

Our early morning walking tour got me within a stones throw of a mother white rhinoceros and her calf. On multiple occasions, we could have reached out and touched elephants. In short, the entire process was a memorable and moving experience.

I’ll include one more entry on this blog after I get home with reflections and thoughts. Then, it’s back to dental school, prepping for board exams, and trying to make up for being an absent husband for the past three weeks.

Thanks to all who looked after my wife while I was gone. We are truly blessed to have such excellent friends and family.

Day 13, En route to Kruger

We awoke at 6:15 to the sound of cold rain falling from a gunmetal sky. After the arid conditions of Malawi, it took a few minutes to identify the sounds as raindrops. I poked my head out of our door to see guinea fowl chirping and scratching in the field outside the door, as well as a few small antelope being farmed on the premises. We met our guide, a native South African man named Dawn, at 7:15. A quick breakfast at the game lodge was followed by a condensation of our luggage into smaller units that would fit into our minibus.

We discovered that we had been at the least misled regarding the nature of our safari.

The safari we’d paid for included a scenic ride to the Blythe River Canyon (and the associated areas) en route to Kruger National Park. We were under the impression we’d then go into the heart of the park in open-air four-wheel drive vehicles. Upon Dawn’s arrival, he explained that the tour only included his driving us through the park on the park’s paved roads, and that excursions (walking, four-wheel drive, or night drives) would be available for additional fees. Despite our initial expense, we decided that it was worth the extra for the optional tours. We’ll aggressively pursue some sort of recompense for our travel agents upon our return.

The drive to Kruger takes nearly eleven hours. It was mostly across rolling plains, heading due eastward from Johannesburg. The area produces the majority of the coal (and coal-based power) in southern Africa, so most of the time at least one collection of smokestacks was visible. Periodically, springbok could be seen grazing in the unfenced grasslands.

Here’s the list of animals I saw today:

Springbok

Secretary Birds

Blesbok

Vervet Monkey Troupe

Baboon Troupe

Scorpion (not further identified)

Enough of my yappin. Here’s a tiny sample of the pictures I took. I saw more beautiful things today than I’ve seen in my life.

Day 12, Leaving Las Lilongwe

Our last day in Lilongwe was a bit more hurried than expected. We spent the morning making our final arrangements: delivering any leftover supplies to the storeroom of KCH’s dental clinic, paying for our meals and lodging at the guest house, and gathering our belongings for our trip to Johannesburg. Joyce spent most of the morning with us, and our preceptors and faculty from the preceding weeks popped in to wish us safe travel. The Malawians are a model of friendly people. They were uniformly warm and giving, and our enjoyment of the trip was largely due to their uncompromising sense of hospitality.

The bus picked us up at noon, and we needed to make one more run through the curio market on the way out of town. A few items we’d had personalized were being completed, and we couldn’t leave without them. Lilongwe traffic did its best to make us miss our plane, but our driver prevailed.

The Kamuzu International Airport is different than any other airport I’ve visited. Each carry-on bag is hand searched, and each traveler is subject to patting down. Thankfully, none of us attempted to smuggle out any suspicious cargo. The plane ride itself was delightfully uneventful. I had a chance to finish my second book, A Clockwork Orange. I’ve never seen Kubricks’ film version and came into the read with limited knowledge. I found the book compelling, particularly the last chapter (which, according to the author, Kubrick left out of his film). I won’t spoil it, but it certainly provides a very different finish than it would if it were omitted.

We arrived in Johannesburg around 5:30 PM and quickly passed through “customs” (read as “a long hallway”). The Airport Game Lodge, where we spent tonight and where we’ll stay after the safari, has a free airport shuttle. It’s a bit secluded, so we had to have dinner delivered. We ended up eating dinner at 9:30. Better than Malawi, but still grossly unhealthy fast food. We were told to avoid salads at the start of our travel, and I am starving for one of Pepper’s salads, piled high with some fresh mozz.

For the first time since our travel began, we all stayed in. Without the clubbing to keep us up, we clambered into bed. Our safari ride would begin around 7:15 the next morning. No pictures today – my camera didn’t get much work as I shuffled around.