Penny planned a training on VIA–Visual Inspection with Acetic acid (cervical cancer screening) at Partners in Hope (PIH) for this week. The gynecologist who first taught her about VIA during Penny’s visit to Malawi in 2009 is here in the country again, so Penny invited her to come and train more nurses in the procedure.

This is the room where VIA is done: The bed with stirrups, a sink, a lamp, a giant bottle of vinegar, and a cryo gun connected to a CO2 cylinder in case they need to do cryotherapy.
This is the room where VIA is done: The bed with stirrups, a sink, a lamp, a giant bottle of vinegar, and a cryo gun connected to a CO2 cylinder in case they need to do cryotherapy.

Three nurses from Partners in Hope and four nurses from hospitals in Northern Malawi are being trained this week. Penny hopes to select one of the PIH nurses to head up the program at the clinic, with Penny assuming the role of technical advisor. Then Penny would be freed up to do some more clinical work outside of VIA.