Followed by illness after illness and weight loss, weakness, lethargy, a constant cough and a continuous fever, which is why he was not surprised when aii A1DS test came back positive. But even a year of sickness did not prepare him for how ill he was to become. Late one night when he could not stop shaking, he went to the emergency room at the government- run hospital. Like all public hospitals in Malawi, it is severely overcrowded. Patients not only fill every bed, they sleep on the floor.
Nurses are scarce.
Only the most basic drugs are in stock. And on this night no doctor was available, so Yasaya, still shaking, went home. And the following morning came to Mwaiwathu Private Hospital. Where there are flowers in the foyer. Where the hallways always smell of pine spray.