Ending an Adventure

So in some two hours I will be in a vehicle headed to Lilongwe. I have said good bye to the children here with out regrets. I will miss then greatly but I feel I have completed what I came here to do. We have had some fun time working on crafts and reading and hanging out for devotions and conversation. I have seen their lives and no they are being well cared for and will continue to be so.
I have completed the recording and inventory of the school libraries and left well labeled and repaired books with and excel database that is searchable. These are good things.

I have never been in a place where there is such enjoyable weather for so many days. I have never seen the quantity of beautiful sunsets that I see here on a daily basis anywhere else. I have rarely had so much enjoyment of the humor, foibles and random quirks of personality that I have experienced here.

Last night I shared devotions with the girls in Isaiah cottage. They are all mid teens and have a little adolescent attitude and sass.  However it is mild and not jaded with much worldliness and they have such good hearts. They are at the age where they like boys, probably too much for their own good as they are in a pretty closed environment and more then casual "looking" is not appropriate. If their dark faces showed a blush they would frequently. I am generally drawn most to the younger ones in the village but these girls are special.

I spent much time in class and out with the kids in standard 5. They are as a whole delightful. As a group they are smart and avid readers, individually they are just fun. The girls are quieter then many and seem content to do a craft or read a book and work hard at school. The boys are smiley, mischievous and while they no their boundaries in school and out they push them to the limit and are gracious and sheepish when they are pulled back.

Over all the children here are refreshingly unworldly and enjoy their life. Without access to internet and electronics they play with energy and imagination. They read books to explore new worlds. They are appreciative of small things. This is true across Rafiki villages and is a big reason why I enjoy my time here to much.

It is time to head home and I am dreading the travel but so ready to be in my own home again.

Gecko's and Books

So I have been reading a book out loud to the form 1 aka grade 9 students. It is titled "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself. Vol 1. I." It is quite and amazing story with a horrendous vocabulary. I have been trying to inspire students to use more colorful words in their writing. This guy needed no inspiration, lots of 5 dollar words. Normally I say quarter words but these are beyond that.
I am quite inspired that this mostly self taught man at least to the point we have covered in class could come to write such a grammatically involved and vocabulary rich work. 
Yesterday when I got home from bible study I turned on the light in my bathroom and there was my resident gecko darting toward the top of my shower. I screamed quite impressively if I do say so myself. Repeated the scream again an hour later when he dashed about again when I turned on the light. I have now named him Gustavus Vassa, or Gus for short. He seems to like it here and while I am not in love with the idea of having a house gecko, I do realize that they eat mosquitos, therefore I put up with him. I am thankful that he is a soft orange in color and only about 4 inches long. 
There are a variety of lizards and geckos around. Some are striped and move very very fast. Some have blue heads and like to sun themselves.
I am glad I haven't seen as many spiders as geckos. I read some paragraphs in a book today about spiders and it said that all spiders bite and are venomous to a degree. Most are not venomous enough to harm a person but with the size of the spiders around here I don't want to take any chances.
The books in this village are getting close to being completely inventoried. After the better part of 6 hours of entering data in excel I digressed to read about the spiders.
I have been hear a full month now and I actually know most of the kids by name and have an idea of what to expect from many of them. They are delightful and a piece or two of my heart will stay here when I leave.

Some things about technology and difficulties it creates

I am reading a very advanced book "Olaudah Equinus or Gustavus Vassa the African" aloud in form one or ninth grade. Would love to be able to bring in some power point images to explain what warships in the 1700's were like, Pics of actual slave quarters, and maps to enrich the class room experience. However that is not available in Malawi.
I was told before coming that electricity was often sporadic but today was only the 3rd day since I have been here that we have had power outages. So no light in form one today. I was glad it was sunny outside so not to dark in the classroom.
The internet seems to work on it's own plan here. It goes on and off quite regularly in the middle of page loads. Some days it will upload photos other days I get repeated errors. I am truly thankful that it is available at all. It allows my to have audio skype dates with my husband. Generally they are interrupted several times as the wireless connection resets but so much better then only email or without internet there wouldn't even be that.
At home everything in my library is automated. Nothing is automated here. I am attempting to create an accurate data base of the collection here mostly by hand. There is an isbn barcode scanner and my husband out of his great kindness is running the scans I can acquire through a program at home and sending them back to me! However about 1/3 of the books either have no isbn barcode or it has been obliterated in some way so there are still many many books to enter by hand.
Books are precious here. Many volumes are in poor condition but continue to be used. Many are old cast off books from libraries in the states that have seen extended service here in the village school libraries. Reality is everyone in the village is greatful to have books. The children do not have access to television or video entertainment. They do not have phones or computers. Books are truly their passage to other places. They also play outside a lot more then anyone in the states. This seems very positive!!!
 

Some new things I have learned about Malawi

Lake Malawi is a big lake. I knew that but it really is huge and beautiful when you see it in person. I was surprised to see people in the lake stand up paddle boarding, riding the ferry, canoeing in dugouts, and snorkeling as it is winter here. A few questions and a short bit of research told me that lake Malawi is the 9th biggest freshwater lake in the world. It is known for being deep and temperature stratified and having a diverse fish population. Most notable of the fish are many varieties of cichlids which are very colorful. Because of these plentiful fish Malawi is a very popular fresh water snorkeling sight.
Today I attended church at St. Andrew's a large CCAP church, meaning it is African Presbyterian. I am told what I heard today is common but when the congregation was in full agreement with the pastor's preaching they made a moderately high pitched KKKKK sound that seemed quite like a bird. Jane my companion for the morning said this is common across Africa but I have not heard this where I have been and I have been at churches with more dancing and loud worship then was the case in this church.
We met Delisa at the gate. I am not sure of her position here in the village. We visited momentarily. I expressed my impression of how beautiful Malawi is and how friendly I have found the people I have met. Her response was yes and it is very poor. The Malawian currency is the Kwatcha and the exchange rate is 700 Kwatcha to one U. S. dollar. Most things I buy here are similar in price to what I would pay at home considering the exchange and weight difference. 5500 kawatch bought me a full English breakfast, toast, sausage, bacon, a nice sized omelet, beans of some sort, grilled tomatoes and tea. That was under $8 including a tip in what would be considered a better then average restaurant for the area.
Enjoying my time here and keeping very busy. Tried to upload a couple photos of the area but the internet here is not supporting that.

Rafiki Village Malawi, thoughts

So after over a week I am getting tuned in to the rhythm of  life here. Friday was a half school day and Saturday 30+ children played in a lawn and table tennis tournament. For the rest the half day and Saturday are a play day. They all have chores on Saturday but division of labor with 8-10 in the cottage makes short work of that.
Like other Rafiki villages the gazebos and the front porches of the cottage are a center of activity.
I went to share string for friendship bracelets Saturday afternoon. It's amazing to me that I have 70 or so bundles of thread and 30 or so kids around me and they wait patiently while I explain what to do to make a bracelet to each child and let them pick a color. No pushing or shoving and no whining. A few would like to make many many rather then just one but they are polite about it and I can trust them to tell me if they have already made one or not.
Also read and played some hand clapping games. These times of informal activity are a treat.

Meals here are served family style but myself and the other mini missionaries are served by the kitchen. The children mostly as me the same questions each night. I have not made it around to every table yet so . . . I was surprised because tonight Linda asked me my favorite musician. I of course said Toby Mac which I was not surprised to learn is unknown here in the village. She said her favorite is Handel because she loves Handel's Messaih. I gather a large contingent of the residents preformed this acapella over the Christmas break and that it was wonderful. I ammended my musician choice and explained contemporary Christian radio and why I like the song "Tonight"

The rhythm here is to rise early and retire early. I am now tuned in to bedtime at 9 and rising around 6. It's nice to be past jet lag and moving toward a routine. Still not in love with nsima.

 This is a beautiful sunset from the Rafiki Village Malawi. We have gorgeous sunsets nearly every night here.

This picture is one of the teachers. The young children have shaved heads or at least very closely cut.
Once they reach standard 7 or 7th grade they are allowed to grow their hair and most have it braided similar to this as soon as it is long enough. They braid one anothers hair and do a fine job.

Days here are busy, but a lot is being accomplished in the libraries and I am getting to know the children here. On Saturday I will spend some extended time with the kids doing some crafty things.
Likely we will make some friendship bracelets.
Today it rained in the morning this has been typical and then it is sunny and warmer in the afternoon and cools rapidly in the evening.
I have made a decision that when I come to the guest house after school that is when I will shower as it is the warmest time of the day. I generally work well into the evening.
I would have to say I do love Malawi

Malawian Insights

So I saw a couple of things today that I found unique.
We went to church in Mzuzu.
The service was in a combination of the native language and English.
No one was at the front of the church but hymnals were passed out and someone would call a number for the hymn and then we would sing it.Chechiwa which is the main native language here. I could follow the progress in the hymal but I can't begin to pronounce the words correctly. The words are long on consonants and short on vowels.
After singing for a while there was a short break and communion was served and then we sang hymns in English, Then another short break and we had a sermon delivered in English and translated to Chechiwa line by line. Very simple teaching on obedience.
I have not been to a church where no one leads anything before and no one is in front until the sermon is given.

Traveling both to and from church we encountered accidents.  There were no police or official vehicles and the disabled vehicles were not cleared from the road.
They had however set leafy branches on the road before and after the disabled vehicles. I guess this is what you do when there are no cones or traffic flares.

I also have been sad that there is no salt available at meals here in the village. I learned today that most people here run high blood pressure so it is not allowed in the dining hall.

Tomorrow will be the first day of the new school term. The children are excited. I can tell they are becoming more comfortable with me as they are asking more insightful questions and the little boys Praise and Emmanuel wanted hugs tonight. Mwowy is the youngest in the village and is much doted upon he is not in need of attention so has not made friends with me at this point. It will come.

I heard it is 95 today in ND. I doubt it warmed to 60 here today. A bit chilly.

3 Days in Africa

So I have been in Rafiki Village Malawi for three days and a few hours.
Some first impressions have formed.
The climate in the village is pretty relaxed.
The country side is pretty beautiful.
The children are delightful.

The journey to get here was daunting. I was on airplanes for for twenty + hours and in airports another 7, then there was a four hour car ride out to the village which was hard to embrace after so long already in transit.

I feel like Malawi is similar in several ways to other African countries I have visited. Many brick houses without much more then 4 walls and a tin roof. Much of the soil is very red some rocks remind me vaguely of the badlands. Some are very much reminiscent of a volcanic past. Some areas are rain forest like and I did see a monkey some areas are much more open and barren.

We eat with the children and meals are simple and feature a large serving of either rice or Nsima, which is a corn based starch similar to bland tasteless mashed potatoes. Small flavorful sides are served with it, beans, meat in sauce, scrambled egg with vegetable and sauce. I am also eating lots of greens, cabbage is common here.

I have met all but one of the children, there is one very ill girl here who I haven't seen. I don't know many of them to match face to name as all but the oldest girls have very close clipped hair. I think I can recognize Shadrach, John, Frankson, Patrick, Harriet, and the little ones Praise, Emmanuel, Mwawy, Patricia and Janet. That leaves me with a lot more to learn.

Thursday was kind of a day to settle in and we did tour the whole village and meet a few people. We ate with the children noon and supper and watched a netball match. I don't fully understand netball. It's kind of like ultimate basketball. I also visited Proverbs cottage to share stories and devotions.
beaded
Friday was the last day of GAMES for this break and we, two other mini missionaries and I shared crafts and activities with the children most of the day. We made beaded name necklaces and that helped me become more familiar with the names, doesn't mean I can match them with faces very often.

Today I started working harder on books. There are many that need to be processed into use. I had talked to Paul Klouke and he said it was fine to let them take the new books I brought and a few others from the boxes I am processing to read with an informal checkout system. Most every child has a book to read this weekend that is new to them. They seem to be voracious readers.

We had dinner with the full time staff in town tonight at an Italian Restaurant run by Italians that is open air and includes a campground. They had live music by a group from Kenya which was the big attraction tonight. The food was good. I had a chicken samosa and a chicken and rice main dish with eggplant, cole slaw and green beans. It was a nice evening.

Church is at 9:20 tomorrow and I am planning to sleep in and try to complete my recovery from jet lag. cannot load photos tonight.

On the road again

Not at my cleverest in writing titles tonight. However I am resurrecting this blog to add thoughts and experiences from my upcoming trip to Rafiki Village Malawi, near Mzuzu Malawi.
Tomorrow is July 4 and there will be no visit to a local fireworks display instead I will drive from Bismarck to Minneapolis, St. Paul by way of Staples MN. My daughter Emily will take me to the airport around 4 am Tuesday. I will arrive in Mzuzu about 7 PM local time there on July 6th having spent about 46 hours in and around airplanes, airport and in a transit vehicle.
Right now that is about what my adventuresome spirit can absorb about the next several days.

I will be on the ground in Malawi about 6 weeks and hope to accomplish much in that time span.
There are 100 resident orphaned children in the Rafiki village and they also provide education and 2 meals a day to some 130 area students on weekdays.

Hopefully I will organize and stream line some libraries and do some tutoring and teaching of all subjects and crafts and drama as well.

Looking forward to seeing new country and meeting some special children and hopefully leaving good things behind when I depart for home.

Lori