More Duke in Malawi

When Jing and I were going through orientations at Duke and at Family Health International's offices in Research Triangle Park, our program director from the Hubert-Yeargan Center kept hinting at the fact that she would love to come visit us while we were working in Malawi.

I didn't think the chances were too good that she would actually come out to see us. But I was wrong. Cynthia showed up on Tuesday to observe our work and learn about what FHI is doing in Malawi. During our meeting with Cynthia and the country office administration, both sides—Duke and FHI-Malawi—seemed genuinely enthusiastic about continuing their partnership. This has been the first time that Duke and FHI have partnered to send undergraduates to work in country offices. Part of the reason Cynthia came here was to determine whether or not this pilot program will turn into a regular partnership. Personally, I hope that it will.

Cynthia was here for a short time—only about 48 hours—but we managed to introduce her to the county office staff, have several long conversations about our thoughts on the program and take her out to the field to see a home-based care visit, an orphan visit and an FHI-funded nutrition garden.



Cynthia and Margaret, the FHI-Malawi country director.


Our meeting with Cynthia and Margaret and Alick from FHI.


Cynthia on a clinical home-based care visit.