19th August 2015

A Wednesday

8:30 in the morning

The beginning of our day was the similar to the previous: breakfast followed by some hours of sports with the kids. The end of the session concluded with a soccer match between a few of the older kids and ourselves. Unfortunately, we were two players down and lost, but seeing their enthusiasm for the game made the defeat a little better. After lunch we walked through the Macha Research Trust's facilities and heard a bit about the studies being performed. Some of the projects include diagnosing young children for HIV/AIDS, developing a new test for antibody detection in children, and determining the strains of malaria infecting the Macha population. Due to their and the local hospital's hard work, the burden of malaria has dropped significantly in recent years: from 2003 to today, malaria prevalence has dropped 98% and mortality has fallen dramatically. In the afternoon we attended a local soccer game, and it was quite an experience seeing all the fans storm the field after a goal. The evening supper was spent with Dr. Phil Thuma (and his wife Elaine), a missionary doctor/scientist who has been in Macha for the majority of his life. 

Duncan