On the second Tuesday of each month, about 6km beyond the village of Mpemba, where the narrow road hugs a hillside over rocks and streams, there is a clinic. The clinic isn’t a flashy building with bright hallways and fancy equipment, although there is a lot of natural light. There isn’t even a building at all.
At the mobile outreach clinic, organized monthly from the Mpemba Healthy Center.
The Children’s Ward at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe. The closest beds are in the “Red Zone,” with the sickest children and getting the highest attention from staff.
Just outside the main room of the Pediatric Ward, two mothers wait with their children.
Nurse Kunkeyani, outside the maternity unit where she works, at Kamuzu Central Hospital.
A father waits with his son in the Emergency Department of Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe.
One of many roadside produce markets seen in Malawi, this one in Ntcheu, along the road between Blantyre and Lilongwe.
Beyond the central hospitals and district facilities of Malawi, there are “Healthy Centers.” These rural outposts serve thousands in extraordinarily resource-challenged settings. Yesterday’s visit to Migowi was to a Healthy Center, where just a handful of nurses and staff are the only healthcare providers available for a catchment area of hundreds of square kilometers.
One of the many children eager to be photographed, at the Migowi Healthy Center in the Phalombe District of Malawi.
Biking through the center of Migowi, just a few hundred meters from the Healthy Center.
I take pictures. The Eiffel Tower. A Baltimore snowstorm. A mountain in Morocco. A glacier in Argentina. But two hours off the main road through the Phalombe District, around the base of Mount Mulanje, in the southeastern corner of Malawi, it’s a different feeling.
Seen from the passenger window of my taxi, on the way to the offices of UNICEF Malawi.
The woman behind the front desk, Olivetta, said there is violence in the city today. Police are clearing out the hawkers and touts from the main road toward the Capital City neighborhood, and people on the streets are reacting by throwing stones and resisting the police. “Don’t go there.”
Roadside meat for sale, between the city and Lilongwe International Airport. I didn’t stop, but wished I could have.
Preparing to travel to sub-Saharan Africa brings a host of health requirements and recommendations. Western clinics respond by offering us vaccines and pills and sprays and solutions and nets. Three sets of vials are on the counter in this photo: Meningitis, Polio and Yellow Fever. A few dollars, a few needles and a few minutes later, I’m protected from diseases – more than 10 in all – that continue to take massive toll around the globe. It’s all so easy for us. Yet for millions on the continent where I’m headed, getting such protection is anything but easy. These are some of the things we take for granted.
Torquil Campbell, Amy Millan and Evan Cranley, of Stars, perform live in Baltimore. Taken on March 8, 2013.
Taken on my amazing Mediterranean trip in 2004, I’ve reprocessed this one to have more contrast and detail from inside the train. I’ve missed the photography of European trains and stations, but hopefully that drought will soon end.
In the sweltering heat of Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church, Stars gave another fantastic performance. With the show split into two sets, they first played their entire upcoming record, The Five Ghosts, then eight familiar tracks from previous albums.
After a night of incredible performances, getting to meet some of the musicians was an extra bonus. Heading to the subway, I walked around to the front of Carnegie Hall. Standing on the sidewalk was Larry Mullen Jr.
Amy Millan of Stars. Live at the Trocadero, Philadelphia, September 19, 2008.