HAVE I ALREADY mentioned that I love Sundays? Although our pet rooster still crows at 5:30am, it’s a lazy morning and I don’t roll out of bed until around 7:30. When we open the back door, we can hear the singing from the church and it’s a lovely cadence of Chechewa hymns. This Sunday I went up Chiradzulu Mountain with Supergirl and Wonder Woman, aka our hospital doctor from Santa Monica and our mobile nurse from Montana, respectively. Needless to say, I was always the last one trudging along. It wasn’t easy. This climb had me crawling on my hands and knees in the dirt on the way up, and sliding down the mud on my behind on the way down. Halfway up I stopped on an ant hill – not smart – and ended up having to pull my pants down to tear the ants away from crawling up my legs and sinking their pincers into my skin. My hands were black from the dirt and my butt was caked with mud. But when we had gotten high enough and saw the view, the hills of Chiradzulu had melted into the scenery – we were above them and the view of expanse of land stopped me from thinking about any dirt, mud or ants.

WE COULD STILL hear the singing from the churches floating up to us, (and as I type this up this evening while waiting for dinner, we can still hear singing). We continued to hike through the jungle, sometimes where there was no clear path. We were three American women enjoying the afternoon and sharing it with one another. Some monkeys heard us and paused to see what the commotion was. Apparently we weren’t too interesting and they swung out of the trees and left us to do their own thing. As I mentioned, I was perpetually behind, calling up that I was coming, and though I didn’t have speed, I had stamina. Our doc called back to me, “All you need is stamina in these parts.” That’s so true.

BEFORE I LEFT for Malawi, I packed my essentials based on a list that MSF had circulated from previous missions on what to bring. I think I’d like to make my own list: In addition to the stamina, bring as much patience as you can. You can find it on the field, but it may be difficult, so it’s always good to have extra stock of it. Anyway, you can never have too much.
LEAVE BEHIND ANY and all presumptions – you won’t have space and there’s no need for it. Bring enough kindness and humor to share. There will always be people who didn’t bring enough, or had lost it or misplaced it during the mission, so you’ll have to share yours. If you bring control with you, just remember that it becomes slippery in the field, and very difficult to hold onto. If you continue to grasp it, you will find that you are spending most of your energy just trying to hold on. My advice is to just let it go. Curiosity can be very helpful, not just with your field assignment, but also getting acclimated to your new setting. But you have to be careful because it can’t be applied universally. You’ll have to use your own judgment on when to use it, as it can sometimes create discomfort, so handle with care. It is difficult to bring both generosity and an ego, especially if you apply them to what you think or know. I have found these two to be at odds when applied to knowledge. As one gets bigger, the other gets smaller. It’s a personal preference, but I recommend generosity, as it’s much nicer. 
 FINALLY, EVERYONE ALWAYS brings intentions, but they don’t realize when they’ve gone bad or spoiled. In that regard, intentions are kind of like the smell of your breath – it’s much easier to tell when someone else’s has gone bad than it is to sense when your own has. And similarly, no one likes to be told they have bad breath. Therefore it’s best to keep track of your own intentions, and make sure they don’t spoil. And though I’ve only been on a mission for a month now, I can already tell that I will be leaving with more than I brought. Fortunately, these things don’t weigh much. 
Sandy A. (Photos by Pat Carrick)