Senga Bay, Malawi … “Madam, please come quickly. Little Maria from down the road is in bad trouble. Come. Come.”
“I rush to the gate and there is little Maria being held in her mother’s arms. She looks very brave, though a bit pensive. Her father explains in broken English that she has been burned on her back and leg with hot porridge. His asks for help, explaining that she is neither crying nor is she eating 
food or doing anything. Then they turn her around. The skin is bubbled up where she has been burned, and peeling off. Under what had been brown is now pink white and peeling. This can be very serious, as these people do not have the resources to get their daughter to another health care facility.”
Describing the situation is Samantha Ludick, the owner of the Cool Runnings Lake Resort in Senga Bay. She has been called to the gate of the resort, as this is the place village people come for basic health care during times of emergency. It is called Clinic at the Gate, sponsored by the Malawi Project and it is the hope for healthcare in an emergency for many people. For little Maria this is a serious emergency. Ludick continues her narrative.
“I don’t know what we would do without the medical supplies we received. It is the same over and over. There is almost always a shortage but, even when the medical facilities have supplies, the poor people in our area have no way to get to the hospital. Children like Maria get infections and die, when it would have been so easy to put burn ointment on it, bandage it, and it would heal in a few days. This little girl is very fortunate.”
“As I give Maria a pain killer, before attending to her burns, I explain to her father and mother that she will have to come every day so I can change the dressings. Maria will be fine in a week or so as long as they follow our instructions, and keep the bandages dry and clean. They must not carry her on mums back as this will make the bandage on her knee move and it will cause her pain. During the entire procedure Maria was brave and did not cry out, not even one peep. Then when we were finished her eyes light up when we gave her a lollypop for being such a brave girl. Dad, a Gogo (grandmother) and her mum couldn’t stop saying THANK YOU & promising they will take care to give her the medicine as instructed, keep her dry, and will bring her back tomorrow morning.”