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.
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.
It's so fun to read your first impressions and thoughts, Lori! I knew you would love the kids. Puzzled by one thing, though... we do not have a "Harriet..." 8-)
ReplyDeleteThat was a mistake, her name is Arriet
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