I spent most of last week trying to collect data from different sources: the district hospital, MSF and the assembly. Finally today I have most of what I need, or at least all of what is available. Data is not collected here in Malawi with the same amount of vigor or vigilance as it is in the states. For some indicators I only have data for certain years because they only just started collecting the information or they stopped collecting it after a while. But hopefully I will have enough data to create the most accurate health profile possible for the district.

I had my first Chichewa lesson last week. It was pretty good: my instructor is really enthusiastic and patient, although he can go off on tangents at times. I did learn a little more, which is a positive sign. I just can't seem to keep any new Chichewa in my head, but I think it's because I'm not practicing. Hopefully he'll make me start practicing so that I can actually begin to speak the language.

I met up with a couple of Peace Corps Volunteers (the ones who are here for 2 years) on Saturday. One of the girls lives in a village where she can only get cell phone reception if she stands on a rock, she has to ride in a broken down bush taxi for 3 hours to get to the nearest big city, sometimes the only vegetables she can find in her market are tomatoes and onions and she doesn't have electricity or running water. I remember that life. It's interesting that we come here and "rough it" for 2 years without all of these comforts we just expected to have in the states, but we can leave. The people we leave behind have to continue living that exact same life long after we've gone back to hot showers and 24-hour supermarkets filled with every food you could imagine. So the dilemma is how to improve the lives of the people we leave behind.