Poverty

Queen Elizabeth Hospital generally serves the poor people of the Blantyre. There are 2 internal medicine "paying" wards (that are not filled) and the rest of the internal medicine wards are nonpaying and very over crowded. People with money generally go to private hospitals in the area. I was talking to Terrie about the distribution of wealth in Malawi and she said that while the middle class has grown since she has been here, it is still very small and the largest class here is the poor.

Terrie said that the general attitude toward poor people is a lot different in Malawi than it is in US. According to Terrie, in Malawi it is generally considered a blessing to have money, and being poor is more the norm. Wealthy people do not look down their noses at poor people and being poor it is not considered the fault of the people. The attitude here is not that poor people do not work hard, or are lazy or do not deserve better, all opinions that you often hear voiced in the US. Walking down the street you can sense the feeling that wealthy people do not resent the poor and are not bothered by their presence. I find it remarkable.

Another interesting thing is the clothes that people wear here. I will write more about the clothes tomorrow, Terrie just got home and it is dinner time!