Our First Interview with a Traditional Healer

Limbe, Malawi


Today we scored - our first interview with a traditional healer! The interview was conducted by Andy in Chichewa, so I have to wait for the transcript to be translated into English. I knew going into this project that this group of interviews would not be straight forward. The reports of the interview were very positive in terms of the information gathered. I will learn a lot from this process with regard to proper protocol when interacting with the traditional healers. For example, all traditional healers are referred to as “Doctor” even though they do not have a medical degree or other professional degree.

Most of the day was spent accessing the internet. We went to an internet café at the airport and one in a very nice hotel called Ryals in downtown Blantyre. The connections are very slow and it is difficult if almost impossible to send large files like photos. It is encouraging that the use of technology is getting easier with each passing year.

Edgar and I plan to set up interviews with about four traditional healers for Monday afternoon. I am very excited and will have more to write on that on Monday.

Earlier this evening I had the opportunity to meet Sister Connelly who I met in Malawi 4 years ago. She is a Medical Missions Sister from the Philippines, and she’s been in Malawi for more than 20 years. Our special connection is that she is a pharmacist, and her area of expertise is herbal and traditional medicines. Seeing her again was a treat! See our picture at the first page of my blog. It was taken in 2004 when I first visited Malawi.

Tonight was my turn to lead the cooking for dinner. I made deconstructed chicken pot pie. The chickens are about ½ the size of chickens we buy at the local Safeway. All of the vegetables – peas, carrots, green beans, and potatoes were fresh and with the homemade chicken stock from the boiled chicken I made homemade chicken gravy. Yum! Yum! I was assisted in this creation by one our research team members Ellen Scarr (School of Nursing faculty) who is an excellent chef in her own right. It was like Food Network comes to Malawi.