I'm back on the little lava rock island I call home after 4 weeks away. It's been a wild and busy month away, filled with family, some rest, and new adventures in Africa.
It was so sweet to be able to visit Denver on an extended layover before heading to Malawi. It allowed me to stay in my childhood home for the first time in many, many years, and gave me precious and much needed time to spend with my sister, brother, mama, nieces and nephews, and my in-laws. Although I intended for this time to be one of rest and respite, as I was ending a emotional and mentally taxing year of missions, travel, and midwifery school, the 10 + days turned into a really busy time with back to back plans( which gave my extroverted heart joy but also didn't allow much time for stillness and sleep). The sleepless schedule was worth it though, because I was able to catch up with so many!
After my time back in Colorado, I started the long solo journey to Blantyre, Malawi. I made my way slowly from Denver to Washington D.C., D.C. to Addis Ababa, and Addis to Blantyre. I landed in what is appropriately named "the warm heart of Africa" with so much expectation and excitement. The primary plan was to be there to do birth photography and videography for an amazing missionary midwife, Whitney, (who was a student in the very first GoMidwife school!) and her husband as they were expecting twin babes to be born at home. I was so honored to be invited into such a special season! The second part of why I came to Malawi was to help scout out possible outreach opportunities for the next midwifery school and Genesis DTS (the new discipleship training school I helped pioneer with a special focus on community development and midwifery). The birth team and I all anticipated an early arrival of babes, as twins tend to be born a few weeks early compared to singleton babes, and then to use the rem
ainder of my time networking for future projects and plans, and explore Malawi some. But God clearly had other plans.
My time in Malawi turned quickly into a season of waiting. A time of being still. A time of trusting. A time of abandoning plans and comforts and instead, embracing the unexpected.
Everything about this trip was unexpected, from the first days of arriving all the way until I landed
back in Denver! We didn't know when to expect to have running water or electricity (these are the main problems that occur in Malawi - power and water supply are cut almost daily for hours at a time or even days at a time). We did not know when we would likely have WiFi for com
munications back home, or even when the little twinnies would decide to make their arrival.
Team roles changed upon my arrival, with me becoming a birth assistant instead of photographer, eek! And then another crazy thing happened - a television film crew from TLC arrived to follow the family (and us as we lived with them) around for the last few days (or weeks) of pregnancy and birth as they are producing a new show about cross cultural marriage and raising families in other places. Kossi is a man from West Africa (Togo), and Whitney is a missionary kid, raised in Taiwan, but with an American passport. Their story is amazing (I'm not sure how much I can share or how much of the show I can share, but as it develops I will send a link!). The show also documented a lot about midwifery and home birth, which is so special. It was such a cool opportunity to live alongside the film crew, and love on them, hopefully showing how life with Jesus can be.
Days and days flew by, (well if I'm honest, some of the days without WiFi, water, and power dragged on by), and I spent so much time walking, reading, listening to worship, and waiting. As we were waiting for the babies to be born, I was able to travel to Ntcheu, Malawi, a village 2 hours away from the city. GoMidwife is partnering with the Extending Hope Organization in Ntcheu, who is running a local clinic, implementing education plans, and starting many community development projects as well. It was exactly what my heart has been looking for - a perfect blend of healthcare and midwifery and community wellness. If we are working so hard to save mamas and their babes, but haven't helped with agriculture for food, what are we saving them for? We need to help mamas, babes, and their families, help better a community from the inside out, and eventually have church planting and opportunities for Christian community. This is a picture of health - whole health, and Extending Hope is working so hard to provide this to the village and extending areas.
The clinic itself is extremely rugged and basic. It has been up and running for 3 years now, serving primarily the 500 residents of the village, but as it develops further, it will serve the neighboring communities, who desperately need healthcare options. There are 38,000 surrounding peoples who are currently walking miles upon miles for care in the hospitals, where they may not even be seen due to finances, or not even making it the distance walking. The clinic is able to see people with less resources, and still provide excellent care. Injections, general health and wellness appointments, prenatal, postpartum, and birth services are all provided for there.
The hope is to continue to utilize this clinic, and also expand to have a birthing house, where women and their families could come to stay in the last bit of pregnancy. The house would be equipped with a kitchen, rooms, and a shared living room, so that the women's mothers, sisters, or friends could cook and care for the pregnant woman, calling for the midwife to come assist in the birth whenever she is needed. There is hope to separate birth from the clinic and medicalized system currently used where women birth in one small room, then are transferred to another small room for the postpartum day. Ideally, birth will occur both in the clinic and in the birthing house. There will be a staff house nearby where nurses and midwives will reside and be able to come to help the mamas when they are rung for on a bell (More on this as it starts to unfold).
Just across the dirt path, the organization is currently building a school. Both primary and secondary schools are extremely far away from the village. Currently, young students walk for miles barefoot to get an education, so there is a high need for a local school. The school has been built from local brick and adobe, and is worked on solely by people in the community. It has been in progress for only about one month so far, and will likely be completed in 4 more months, ready to be utilized in September for the very first time! The school consists of 4 classrooms that can room 40 students each. This school will transform and equip up to 160 young people each year!
It doesn't end there...the possibilities for development in Ntcheu are extensive. There are wells to be dug, and agricultural plans underway. Part of the future hope is to educate students about farming and interest kids in gardening in their own plots. Then a program could be implemented to teach science in a hands on manner, and then use the products of the garden to teach children how to create nutritious meals as well.
I'm sure there will be many, many more ideas coming forth for this land, and I'm excited to say that I will most likely be returning, and leading a team here next April or May for a 3 -month outreach here. We hope to bring students who will work in the community development, and a team of midwives to serve the clinic and birthing house!
Our organization GoMidwife (in partnership with YWAM), also met with the Malawian government and nursing counsel in order to request approval to run a midwifery school there. We are in the process of having our curriculum reviewed, as well as the syllabus in order to meet the legal requirements to train up local midwives who will be able to serve their own communities and likely receive payment from the government in return. Our hopes are high, that the curriculum will be approved, and that we can move forward in plans to build a midwifery school in the village.
After my time in Ntcheu, I went back to Blantyre, and back to waiting. The twins were still content in their mama's womb even though our birth team was running out of time in the country. But midwifery care is all about trusting the birth process, and the perfect design of pregnancy, and is not about induction or manipulating or making babes and mamas to fit our schedules or plans. Midwifery care is being with women. Its about waiting. Its about surrender. Mamas surrender to birth, and midwives surrender control and expectations. Both give in to the unexpected. We stand prepared, and ready for whatever may occur, forcing nothing to happen, because ultimately we are not in charge of this pregnancy or birth. God is. He is the giver of life, and determines when it occurs. In the end, Amy my preceptor, and her husband left for the island on Tuesday, May 8th, and myself, the other birth photographer, and pediatric nurse left on Thursday. Whitney, Kossi, and her babes were left in the care of Beth, the other midwife on our birth team. She had her previous boy and girl on Friday afternoon, and as much as I am bummed that I was not able to attend her birth, I am honored that I was able to be with her in the waiting season. Her birth story was also an unexpected one (but I will wait for her to share that story and share it with you all when she is ready). Our team was able to love on her, serve her, throw a blessingway, and have many sweet moments of fellowship and dreaming for this next season.
I don't quite know how to sum up this trip to Malawi, and conclude this update in a lovely, neat, packaged way. I very much feel like I am just now realizing the impact that this trip has made on my life, and the future opportunities that are constantly developing. This was my first trip fully in midwifery, and yet at the same time tapping into my Anthropology and Global Health education background. My worlds have collided. Maybe there is no lovely, neat way to wrap this all up, because it is all still in progress. All I know, is that amazing adventures like this only happen because of Jesus and I am so grateful that He chooses to include me in what is on his heart and mind, that He is able to use me to implement his plans in nations, and share his name and love with people of all languages, places, and cultures. What an incredible privilege this is.
As for the impending future, I will be in Kona, Hawaii in my midwifery apprenticeship. I am wrapping up Phase One and moving quickly into Phase Two, where I will be assisting more hands on in birth, and moving towards primary midwifery - I'll be catching babies so soon!! I will also be continuing to plan and prepare for the midwifery DTS where I will be staff. My schedule will be really rich and full. I am doing prenatal examinations at least 2 days a week, working, and staffing with YWAM full-time.
In this next season, I am in need of monthly financial support. Until this point, I have been able to serve and volunteer full-time with funds from my own personal savings and various odd jobs I always accept. In this coming time, I will be unable to continue on in this way, and am looking for people who want to join with my heart and vision to bring midwifery education to developing nations in order to empower and educate women to serve their own communities as safe, well educated birth attendants and midwives. Through midwifery, and these relationships, women will be able to spread the truth, freedom, and love of God. Scripture states, " if no one tells them, how will they know?" but if women and babies continue to die unnecessarily in pregnancy and childbirth, how will we ever have an opportunity to share with them the good news of the Word?
If lowering the infant and maternal mortality rate in the developing world through education and sharing the love of God sounds like something you would want to partner with, please consider joining my financial support team. Any donation amount from $10-$100 a month makes a huge impact in my own education and life, and will impact hundreds of women to come through missions midwifery.
Until next time,
Dani Murri