Ruth's Shawl Medical Outreach

Ruth's Shawl is a widow and orphan community organized by Calvary Chapel, Malawi, located on the outskirts of Lilongwe. The community is composed of 19 widows and about 70 orphans. Information about Ruth's Shawl can be found online at: www.ruthsshawl.org.

Patients were already lining up when we arrived. Our clinic was held in a widow's house. We held a general medicine clinic.

I noticed this little girl on the way into the clinic. She has a huge hemangioma on her neck and face. As long as it does not compromise her ability to breath and eat it should eventually regress and go away late childhood. If it progresses will need to have a tracheostomy and feeding tube placed. The workers at Ruth's Shawl are monitoring her progress.

A nurse is bandaging a sprained knee of one of the widows.

One of the orphans waiting while his grandmother was treated.

This girl had a open wound on her toe.

The orphans enjoyed looking at themselves in the chrome of our car.

Kids were taught choruses and played games outside while we worked inside.

Some of the orphans posed for a group picture with one of the nurses before we left.

This was my favorite medical outreach clinics so far. We plan on going back every month to follow up on chronic diseases and screen for malnutrition. Many of the women and children meet criteria for malnutrition and will benefit from a high calorie and protein supplement made from peanuts and soybeans.