An American’s CRASH Course in the Malawian Healthcare System
12 June 2015. It was 9:00am and I sat there exhausted in the lobby of Beit Cure International (BCI) Hospital – supposedly one of the best hospitals in Malawi. I arrived late the previous night after traveling five hours on a pot-holed and accident-ridden highway from Lilongwe, the capital city to Blantyre. This trip was an […]
GAY in the Warm <3 of Africa
Tonight was special because a controversial film on a topic that is considered by many to be too taboo to even utter, “homosexuality,” was to be screened right here in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi. The documentary film entitled “Umunthu” was contentious because it was setting in-motion a different kind of conversation on sexuality […]
“I think she is hot for a black girl…Oh, that’s sooo gay…Stop acting like a girl” – Let’s have an adult conversation about “micro-aggressions”
Everyday, we overlook the little manifestations of our own prejudices that leave us oblivious to committing little, white transgressions or “micro-aggressions.” It may sound harmless when we say, “I think she is hot for a black girl…Oh, that’s so gay…Stop acting like a girl.” Or when you are a foreigner living and/or traveling abroad and […]
#health2me – The Unconventional Definition of Health
In 1946, it was revolutionary when the World Health Organization declared health as a “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” No longer was health an independent ideology, coming from conventional thinking of health as “sick or not sick,” but instead, a novel view of […]
The Threat of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs): Walking to Raise Awareness for Breast Cancer in Malawi
When public health enthusiasts talk about Africa, the first thing that comes to their minds is AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. Admittedly so, these communicable diseases are real threats, but lurking in the midst is another threat that is often overlooked: non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These classic NCDs include heart disease, diabetes and cancer; but in tribute […]