27 June 2016

Had another happy morning observing the lions, and an afternoon chopping up vegetables and then taking them around with Malawi staff to feed the animals. One of the main Malawi staff is currently off sick.  It seems to be normal here that a European employer will not just pay a staff member wages, but also cover his/her family for medical treatment.  The Lilongwe Sanctuary also has a scheme whereby they will pay towards education for any children of staff employees who wish to work in the area of conservation. So the employment package for employees is very substantial when compared to normal employment ‘contracts’ here in Malawi.

Chico has a pain in his shoulder and he is being taken to hospital by taxi through LWT. Most treatment is related to malaria, which is frequently a problem with volunteers and staff alike.  Malawi’s are not immune to malaria, and in fact it is a common cause of death.  It’s hard to know why as one might assume someone who have always lived in Malawi and been constantly exposed to the virus might become immune to it, but that doesn’t seem to happen.  In the past month I think we’ve had about 10 staff off with malaria, and sick leave tends to vary according to the individual case.  Many will get a relatively mild dose of malaria and will recover after a 3 day course of medication prescribed through the GP, A&E or 24 hour clinic. The cost of such treatment is usually about 3,000 Malawi kwacha, which is about £3.  This is of course far above the means of many Malawi’s, so most of the treatment is given to other nationals working here for whatever reason.  Ayinka, who is a vet from Jamaica doing work experience here for a few months, had a nasty bout about a month ago and had to be given 2 doses of medication, and recovered much more slowly. The main vet here who is African born and bred has a nasty bout of it recently.  And several volunteers from abroad have had it too. The key to recovery is very swift treatment, the problem with this being that the symptoms are so wide ranging it’s not necessarily easy to spot.  On principal, though, if anyone feels unwell or has a temperature they are automatically taken to the clinic straight away and tested.  It can be a real problem.

Happily for us, Yanni and I are healthy and well, and have avoided any significant tummy problems or anything like malaria.  Fingers crossed this continues!