First day out in a village- Mobile Medical Clinic

Today I went on the first mobile medical clinic of the year. Mobile medical clinics are clinics that are sponsored by the Ministry of Hope. The Ministry of Hope is also the organization that runs Crisis Nursery, which I have written about before. (Maria, the baby that I wrote a blog on last year was from the Crisis Nursery). Mobile Clinics go out almost weekly (when there are funds for them) during the dry season. Basically, a group of people travel out to a remote village and set up a make shift clinic. There is a nurse practitioner as well as a pharmacy. Everyday ailments common to the area- pneumonia, malaria, worms-ya know, the type of stuff we encounter all the time in the States- are able to be treated at these clinics. For anything more severe the patient must go to a more developed clinic/ hospital.

After we arrived and I got over the stares of hundreds of people for being the only white person there, we had introductions. During the introductions (which were in Chichewa, so I had no idea what was being said) I made a point to look around and see exactly who we were treating today. There were lots of babies/ children and grandmothers/ grandfathers. Now whether the parents of the children were out in the fields working, or dead from HIV/AIDS or other illnesses, I do not know. But it broke my heart to look out at the faces of these grandmothers and grandfathers who were having trouble walking themselves, toting around three, four, five children of all ages. What broke my heart more was the older children- maybe 10 years old- caring for their younger brothers and sisters. When I was ten years old I barely knew how to tie my shoe, let alone take care of another human being.

As I was looking around I started to notice their feet. Many did not have shoes, and those who were fortunate enough to have them, had shoes on that were nowhere near their size. I can't imagine what it must be like to have to wear a pair of shoes day in and day out that is two or three sizes too small or big. And to consider yourself lucky for having the blessing of something to put on your feet. As I was looking around, my eyes fell on this one old man. His feet were so tough they looked like stone and they were caked white with dirt and grime from walking for years and years without anything to protect them. I kept looking at his feet and reminding myself how very blessed I am.

Later, when I had the privilege of visiting the long drop, (a version of a toilet that makes an outhouse look luxurious) I was reminded of this old man again. As I entered the tiny room and saw that the floor was covered in excrement, my first thought was 'my poor shoes'. I didn't want to get them dirty and covered in human waste. Oh the audacity I have. I was worried about getting my SHOES dirty, while there were hundreds of people right outside that didn't have the privilege to get their shoes dirty. They had to step in they filth and grime barefoot. How dare me. If that poor old man had to use the long drop, he wouldn't have a choice but to step in everyone else's waste. He may have never had that choice.

How different our worlds are. Me, being American, has to get used to using a long drop. I have to get used to not having the luxuries of running water and toilet paper. There are people all around me that have no idea what that kind of luxury is like. The people I was around today were more concerned with the luxuries of basic medicine, of not having worms and parasites ravishing their bodies. The people I was around today knew that having shoes was a blessing. Oh how much I take for granted. Oh how much I have to learn when it comes to living without. When it comes to living simply. When it comes to understanding the blessings that I have.

Take a second and look around. Thank God for all that you have. Thank God for your electricity, for your running water, for the medicine you have in your bathroom, for the availability of healthcare (even if it is expensive at times-its available), for more than one torn and tattered outfit, for shoes. Thank God for all of this and more, because we are so blessed.

Melting Hearts

First day in Malawi.

So I didn't quite bound off the plane as I had been anticipating. It was more of a sluggish walk, dead tired from not sleeping much (or well) on the plane and my body aching from sitting in the same position for two days straight. I was, however, totally and completely thrilled to be back in Malawi. As soon as the plane landed in the beautiful Warm Heart of Africa a foolish grin crossed my face. I couldn't shake it for the rest of the day. I felt oddly at home.

As soon as I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac of the runway I inhaled, taking a long, deep breath. What I smelled made my heart melt. I don't know how a land can have a smell, but Malawi has a smell. It's hard to describe. It's an earthly, rustic smell.. one that makes me think of open air and camp fires. It is the best smell in the world.

I made it to Lilongwe in one piece. Although I was anticipating a bit of trouble from the airlines, I had incredibly smooth travels. I was even lucky enough to have all of my bags arrive on time, and with nothing stolen from them.

I have unpacked in my adorable new apartment. I live in a studio like apartment this year and love it. I have pretty much recovered from my jet-lag and travels. I am now just gearing up to start work on Monday. Being back in Malawi and this culture has filled my heart to the brim with joy. I am so excited that I have one more year here. I can't wait to see what adventures await me.

Back to Malawi

On the plane back to Malawi.

Last year, right about this time, I was completely and totally freaked out. I was terrified of what was to come. I was terrified of what I was leaving behind, and how it would change. I was terrified of all the unknowns and questions I still had unanswered. Last year, right about this time, the absolute last thing that I wanted to do was be on a plane headed to the far away, unknown land of Malawi. This year, there is no terror. This year there are no longer unknowns. Well, that's not completely true, I still don't know what I am leaving behind and how it will change when I am gone. But, this year I know that I am completely trusting God... with everything.

Last year I sluggishly sulked off the plane in Malawi. With my eyes wide with tears I was trying to take in my new surroundings and home while holding myself together. It took everything in me to not completely and totally fall apart. All I wanted to do was turn around and head back to the comforts of America.

This year things are a little different. I plan on bounding off the plane, exhilarated by this new opportunity to help the amazing people of Malawi. (Well as much bounding as my jet-lagged, over tired body will be able to do.) I am full to the brim with excitement of the things I can do- the opportunities that I am positive God is going to bring into my life. I can't wait to see what this next year brings. I can't wait to continue to have my eyes opened and my heart broken. I can't wait to grow closer to God. I can't wait to love and serve others.

I am so blessed to be able to call this my life. I had the chance to live in a foreign country for 10 months. Now I get to go back to the land I have fallen in love with, and live there for longer. How amazing is my life.

My prayer for this next year is that I am able to affect others as much as others effected me last year. My prayer is that each and every day my eyes are opened by the amazing-ness of God's grace and love. My prayer is that I have the strength and the courage to love those around me more than I love myself. That I can show everyone what God's love really is. My prayer is that everywhere I turn I can impact the lives around me. My prayer for this next year is that I have the courage and the strength to completely and totally follow God with every step that I take.

Malawi year two. Here we go. :-)

One Day Without Shoes

A day without shoes. That's the challenge. Stepping out of your comfort zone for one day to bring awareness to the millions around the world that aren't able to afford wearing shoes on a daily basis. I see it all the time here. Driving down the road I see countless people walking with nothing on their feet. I was walking home from work a couple weeks ago and I saw a man working construction with no shoes on. His coworkers had flip flops on. A construction worker with no shoes? This should not be; but it is. It is a reality to so many people around the world. A reality I witness daily. When you go out of the city a little into the villages most people aren't wearing shoes. If they are they are tattered and torn and normally a form of sandals. This, however, is better than nothing. Its better than all the children who swarm around you in frayed clothing with nothing on their feet.

Although in poorer communities shoes can be considered a luxury, they are and should be essential. Shoes not only protect you from having sore feet, but they protect you from countless diseases. In the villages here there is a worm that can burrow into the skin on the bottom of you feet, crawl up your leg, and give you elephantiasis. It is disturbing to think about, but it is a reality that so many have to live with on a consistent basis.

Think about how much we take this "luxury" for granted. I know I am the biggest culprit of all. I came to Africa with a box full of shoes. A box- full. Why do I need that many shoes? Why did I need to spend that much money on shoes that I wear maybe once a month. And the sad thing- I have at least as many shoes at home. There are people going to work construction with no shoes, and I have more pairs than I know what to do with. And the worst part about it? I took it all for granted. Until I came here I always heard about the little kids who could not afford shoes, but I never saw it first hand. I never really thought about it. I am not saying by any means that if you have a lot of shoes you are a bad person, I am just saying don't take that for granted. Think about all the little luxuries that you and I have that so many others don't. Shoes. Food. Clean water. Running water. Electricity. A flushing toilet. Being here has taught me that so many things that I thought of as commonplace are a luxury to so many people in this world. And I took all of it for granted.

So yesterday was 'one day without shoes' day. I tried my best to go without shoes, but I do work in a health care facility, so due to sanitation reasons I couldn't go to work without shoes. A good friend and I did however paint our feet in support of the day. In honor of the day, I didn't wear shoes on our daily run. Let me tell you, running four miles barefoot through the African rains is an amazing experience. I woke up this morning with blisters on my toes, and I thought to myself- this is nothing, people do this daily. They have to deal with this day in and day out. Every time I took a step I thought about those that don't get to wear shoes, those that feel like this all the time. But the more and more that I thought about this, the more I realized I was wrong. Those that walk barefoot every day don't feel the pain I am feeling. This, too, is a privilege that I have. My feet don't have callouses a centimeter thick from walking around on them day in and day out. My feet are able to feel pain. My feet are able to feel the contours of a rock and the different feels of the tarmac that cuts through campus. My feet are able to get blisters from running barefoot. I have not walked around without shoes on since birth. My feet are soft. Even the pain of blisters on your feet is a privilege that not everyone gets to face. Realizing this was yet another amazingly humbling experience that I have had in Malawi. I am so privileged to have the life that I had, and the awful thing is that I didn't even realize it.

Don't take what God has so graciously given you for granted. Even the "little things" in life are so often big things to so many people. Regardless of how awful our life may seem at the moment, we all have things to be thankful for. We all have been given more than we even realize. Let's open our eyes and thank God for what we see. I know I will be. Will you?


Wealth and honor come from You;
You are the ruler of all things.
In Your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.
Now, our God, we give You thanks,
and praise Your glorious name.
- 1 Chronicles 29:12-13

A couple of crazy weeks in Malawi

AH! So the last few weeks have been very crazy.

Last weekend I traveled to Lusaka, the capitol of Zambia with my
swimmers for a competition. This was the first time traveling into a
different country in Africa since I have been in Malawi. Zambia is a
beautiful country! The 12 hour drive was almost worth it because of
the scenery. There were trees EVERYWHERE (and I LOVE trees!). Lusaka
itself is a much bigger city than anything that we have here in
Malawi. It made me feel like I was at home a little bit. I didn't
realize how much I missed the hustle and bustle of a city until I went
to Lusaka. I miss the sounds of cars zooming past and the smells of
a city. Some of us stayed at a farm, which turned out to be really
cool because there were zebra and impala walking around the property.
There were three zebra that walked around the camp like they owned the
place. It was a great experience to see them up close... I finally got
to see some "African" animals!

Driving in Africa is NOTHING like driving in the states. The distance
between Lilongwe and Lusaka is only abut 450 miles or so, but it took
us 12 hours. While driving you constantly have to be on the look out
for the people that constantly line the roads walking to and from
villages. Women with big buckets of water on their head and a baby on
their backs. Men on bicycles carrying a five foot pile of sticks on
the back of the bike. There are so many potholes in the road that you
feel like you are on some sort of amusement park ride more than you
are in a car. You are constantly swerving all over the road to avoid
blowing out a tire and getting stuck in the middle of nowhere. If
that weren't enough, you constantly have to be on the lookout for the
herds of goats and cattle that graze on the sides of (and sometimes in
the middle) of the road, and the lone pigs and dogs that always seem
to be scurrying about. Needless to say, it is quite the experience!
Thank goodness I wasn't the one driving!

I have officially been Malawi-ed. On the journey home, I felt awful.
I knew that I was getting pretty sick. When I got home I took a
malaria test, and it turned out that I did in fact have malaria. I
only had one plus, which is the lowest case that you can get of it, so
thankfully it was not serious. Malaria, however, is not something
that you want to get. You feel awful- fever, headache, body aches,
dizziness, bits of nausea... They say that if you have malaria you
know it, and on the drive back from Zambia I was 99% sure that I had
malaria... it was not fun. I do have to say though... being an
athlete for so many years made my experience with malaria much more
tolerable. The body aches that you get with it don't feel much
different than how you feel everyday of the season when you practice
at least three hours daily. At least those hard hours of training paid
off in a way that I can apply to life after diving. :-).

As soon as I was better from the malaria we were off again to Blantyre
for swimming nationals. I have to say, it is very different being on
the coaching side of things than it is being on the competing side of
things. I have yet to decide which one I like better...

Anyway, hopefully life will slow down a little and get back to normal.
I only have a few more months here, and I would love to be able to
take some time and enjoy them!

What do you live for??

I just finished reading the book Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. This book has rocked my world a little bit. It has made me re-evaluate the way I approach life. I encourage all of you to read it, if you haven’t already. The section of the book that stood out most to me was a section on belief. It says:

Dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something is the hard thing. Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition. We live for what we believe.
-Donald Miller

This quote made me really look at my life. What do I believe? I know I believe in God. I know I believe in loving others more than myself. I know that I believe that you should help others at every opportunity that you get. This is what I believe, but is it how I live? If you were to look at my day-to-day life, I don’t think this is what you would see. You would see that I believe in myself. I believe in working out. I believe in most of the time doing what I want to do first, before doing things for others. How different would my every day life be if I were to live for what I believed? How different would the world be if we all lived for what we believe? It is a lot harder, a lot less accepted to live for the things that I believe. The world understands living for yourself, living for working out, living for putting food on the table and a roof over your head, living for your future and your dreams. It is much less accepted to live for God, to live for others before yourself, to live for loving others- truly, genuinely loving others- even those that harm you. From here on out I need to start living for what I believe. I need to make a conscious effort to each and every day live my life not for myself, but for God, and for others. I have less than four months left in Malawi. Now would be the perfect time to make a change and show the world what I believe. To show God what I believe. To show you what I believe.

What do you believe? Is it the same as what you live for?



“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance” 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Talk about being humbled...

So I just got back from visiting an orphanage that a coworkers family runs.  It was an absolutely amazing and humbling experience.  I think about the trials that I have gone through so far in my 23 years of life, and they are nothing compared to what any of the amazing people I met this weekend have gone through.  I am thoroughly blown away by the amazing grace and love for God that these people have.

To start with, the orphanage has 44 orphans living in it, and another 20 that are living in the surrounding community. The orphanage cares for children of all ages.  There are children there that have just been born and are fighting for their life, and there are children there that are in high school.  It has become a home of life and love, and it is an incredible place. People from around the community help out during the day, but the majority of the time there are only two people running it.  Florence and Boisen are the couple that manage the orphanage.  They must be in their 70s, and they are the only two people that get up with the babies and all the children in the middle of the night.  Talk about living a life for God and His children.  I watched one baby last weekend, for two nights... I can't imagine being in charge of 44 all the time, 365 days of the year. 

The couple (Frank and Eunice) that started the orphanage are some of the most amazing people I have ever met.  They have gone through so many trials and tribulations in their life.  I would not blame them if they just gave up being positive and loving life.  They have been dealt some serious losses, but have come out strong none the less.  Frank seems to have a passion for helping people which surpasses any that I have ever seen.  He is a man who loves God and His people... He not only had the dream to start up the orphanage, but he built up the area around it.  He started a clinic, he helped put in schools, he built a nutritional rehabilitation unit, he built a church.  He has done so much, and he just keeps on giving and doing.  They are currently trying to build a new church, but the building of it has stalled because they don't have the funds to finish it.  They are constantly looking for ways to improve the area and make it more accessible to help others. 

This family has the biggest heart.  They welcome you with open arms.  The power was out last night when we arrived.  They spent hours cooking for all six of us on a small grill so we would have a warm dinner.  They have already given so much to this world, and they keep giving every day.  They live a life of love.  They live a life I strive to live.  I wish I could open my heart to those around me as easily as this family does.  They love everyone, no matter what.

My eyes have been completely opened this weekend.  My heart broke for all the children that I saw, orphans or otherwise.  When we were visiting the nutritional rehabilitation unit and I saw the babies that looked like they were six months and were really almost two years, I had to hold back tears.  There is so much pain and suffering in Malawi, but the people  never cease to amaze me.  As we were walking through the wards of the hospital, the guardians of the patients were there called out to us and asked us to come join them in eating nsima (their dinner).  They were at the hospital watching over their sick family members, and still they opened their hearts to us.  How many of us would do that in the States? I would think not too many.

I challenge you in this- take a lesson from these people.  Open your hearts to others.  Love a stranger like you would your brother.  Do something for others before you do something for yourself.  Look past all the difficulties you have encountered in life, and see how you can use them to help others.  Give to others.  Give love, give time, give money.  Use the gifts that God has given you to better those around you.  Most of us have never experience half of the sadness and troubles that so many of the people in Malawi have experienced. Take a lesson from the people that have experienced so much and still have a heart to give all they have and more.  Love those around you.  If everyone gave half as much to those around them as the family I met this weekend, the world would be such a better place. 


Feel called to help out this orphanage or hospital or church that they are trying to build?? Email me. danielle.niculescu@gmail.com

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you"  John 15-12

Danie