Saying Goodbye

Blantyre, Malawi

Saying the final goodbyes was difficult. One of our research supervisors who is Malawian placed his head on my shoulder and said “I have no words”. I had no words either. I just hugged him and said “It’s alright; we will see each other again.” The friendships and collegial relationships that developed over the past 3 weeks are amazing. I worked very closely with the Malawi and US research team members just about every day since we arrived 3 weeks ago.

I am 33,000 feet in the air leaving the beautiful country of Malawi on the first leg of my journey home. It has been an amazing experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to conduct this research project on such an incredible health crisis tropic and to learn more about traditional healers—such an interesting group of health care providers in Africa.