Good News!

Hello Everyone,(this was supposed to be sent last Friday, but the internet was down. we haven't been by a computer since! we'll write our last email here in a few minutes.) This is just a quick note to update everyone on our status. We woke-up this morning with bad stomach cramps and so on, but this afternoon we are feeling better - not perfect. We think that we are on the upswing, and to be honest with you, we are feeling pretty positive that we did not have malaria. We will explain more as to why we feel this way later. We had lunch at Chet Burns' house (the missionary from Action International) with him, his wife Leanne, and his family. His family consists of his two biological sons and five adopted children (two of which are living in the United States). You may have read what I wrote earlier about him in one of my emails, and I should say that his ministry is not quite what Naomi made it out to be. It seems that instead of only wanting to work with the CCAP church he actually only wants to work with churches in general. The CCAP church won't work with him that much, actually, because they are focused on doing their own projects. He works with the area evangelical churches. The catch there is that Save Orphans Ministries does not necessarily work through churches. They work through communities. Now I will not be the one to judge whose philosophy is correct, but I will say that each in their own right seems to be doing positive things. Chet's house was luxurious by any Malawian standard. He had four bedrooms, one and a half baths, an almost typical American style kitchen, a living room, dining room, and an amazing view. He is renting this house for only about $130 a month, so can I say that I blame him for wanting to find a comfortable space for his family? No. They were very hospitable to us and served us "sloppy joes," chips, and oranges. We were thankful for a little American style food after many meals of nsima and rice, and we were thankful for a little debriefing time with people who come from our same culture. I think that both Nate and I needed to have the opportunity to ask our "dumb American" questions to people who would both know the answer and not think we were ridiculous for asking them. With all of that said, though, Nate and I both said as we walked away that we were happy that we were forced (in a way) to interact only with Malawians for most of our trip. If we had met Chet and Leanne earlier, it probably would have been too easy for us to try to escape to something more familiar. However, because we surrounded ourselves in the Malawian culture, we feel we have been given a fuller perspective (not the entire perspective by any stretch of the imagination). One interesting conversation that we had with Chet and Leanne had to do with our illness. We explained our symptoms to Leanne who immediately got a smile on her face. She said that malaria is very over-diagnosed in Africa by doctors. She said even when tests come back negative (which ours did) they still prescribe the malaria treatment (which Dr. William did). She then asked us what malaria preventative medication we had been on, and we said Lerium. She said that she thought maybe our illness had to do more with the Lerium than with malaria. She explained that Lerium can be very harsh on our bodies, stripping them of even the good bacteria that we need. She then suggested that we try eating yogurt to help introduce new bacteria into our system. She said that may help. She also gave us each two probiotic pills which are like a mini-shot of the good bacteria. She also said that my heartburn could be caused by the Lerium as well. Now, of course, she is not a doctor, but I think that I am going to listen to her advice at this point. Little unknown fact about malaria (according to Leanne)... the mosquitoes that carry malaria are only in very warm areas - meaning when it dips into the 40s here at night the mosquito would die - and they only feed from midnight to 6am - hence why you need to use the mosquito nets. Also, a distinct symptom of malaria is that your eyes ache, like they are going to fall out. We did not have this symptom! More than likely, our illness has been caused by the stripping of our immune systems by our antibiotics, leaving us vulnerable to some common bacteria that is creating havoc in our systems. We are hoping that we will feel completely better before tomorrow when we travel to Salima and Lake Malawi. Once again, thank you for your encouragement and support. We are so thankful for all of you. Many blessings,Nate and Bekah