Muli Bwanji!!

Muli Bwanji?!?!

This means, “How are you?”

The typical response is, “Ndili bwino. Kaya inu?”  - which means, “I am fine. How are you?”

Malawians seem to love when azungu (white strangers) attempt to speak their native language of Chichewa. I never really know if I am saying it right, but I think I am a decent imitator of accents, so I keep on “speaking Chichewa as much as I can.

Today started with a sick Madison. Apparently, while I was fast asleep, around 3:00 this morning, Madison started throwing up and bit later, well, she was busy at both ends. By about 8 am the worst of it was past, but she was not feeling up to eating anything, much less traveling to the village. Thanks for all of your prayers. As of dinner time, around 7 pm, she was feeling much better, but not well enough to eat anything more than a few crackers.

Sally Fox, an awesome lady and friend from Fallbrook, who lives here at the Miqlat house, explained that when the last mission team, a group of 17 men and women, stayed here, there was a 24 hour bug that hit five people of their group, one at a time. As of about 9:00 this evening, Alexis was feeling a bit queazy, so if you are a person who prays, please say a prayer for her, and for all of us while you are at it.

Loaded up the truck and went visiting families of sponsored children.

Sickness aside, today was an excellent day at Kogoya Village. Shortly after arrival, we loaded into a pick-up truck for some home visits. We had arranged for Alexis, Annie and Madison to visit the homes of each of the children the girls sponsor through the Miqlat program. At each home, we met the guardians, siblings and several neighbors of each of the three children. We asked questions and tried to get to know more about them, their likes and dislikes, and encouraged them to stay in school and keep working hard at learning. We encouraged the guardians to keep allowing the child to be a part of the Miqlat program. We presented a new dress as a gift to each guardian (all female). Each family seemed very open and grateful that we took the time to visit their homes.

Alexis presented a new dress to the guardian of Efelo (Effie) Black.

Effie, front and center is surrounded by her brother, Ginger (L), 22 year old sister and guardian, uncle and two cousins.

A pretty large crowd gathered at Tawina's home.

Beaming, shiny and happy!

On the way to each home, we would see children walking to the Hope Center for their lunch and daily program. They had been given instructions to bathe with their new bars of soap and to wear their new clothes today. It was pretty dang cool to see so many children proudly sporting new outfits. This might sound weird, but it seemed as if they were actually shiny. Perhaps it had to do with their confident strut and beaming faces, but we agreed that the best way to describe these children was “shiny.”

If the clothes came with tags, they were
not removed. It is a status symbol
to own something new.

Back at the Hope Center, we once again ate lunch with the children. We, Leanne, the girls and I, had been planning to be in charge of most of the program today and with the blessing of Raymond and Mercy, two of the local Miqlat leaders in charge of the Kogoya Village project, we “took over.”

With Mercy translating, Leanne told a story while Sally Fox, Alexis, Annie, four older village children and I brought the story to life with Tony Award caliber acting skills. I wish we would have had the video running, not of us, but of the children watching, pointing, smiling and laughing. (The details of this story may show up later in the blog - it might take several paragraphs).

Confidence!! Modern translation: SWAGGER!

Happy to show off their new digs!

Had to laugh. See Facebook for more
comments on this shirt.

After that fun story with an important message, I shared a very short introduction to the famous Bible Story in which Jesus taught humility and the importance of serving others by washing his disciples' feet. Then Leanne read the story from scripture and I called several children up one-by-one and washed their feet. After the story was done, I did my best to share what we should learn from this passage and how it can apply to daily life in the village.

Then Alexis and Annie taught a simple song, complete with hand motions. The girls did great and the children did their best with pronouncing words like - “joy, faith, hope and love that makes the world go round.” It was quite a sight to see two young American teens lead 200+ Malawian children as the stood and attempted to follow the girls in song and hand motions.

A very captive audience.

The program went better than one might expect. Imagine trying to keep the attention for 30-40 minutes of 200+ American children, ages 7 - 17. There is more to tell about today, but this blog entry is already pretty long and I commend you if you are still reading. There is a prize, by the way, for reading all the way to the end. Ask me for it the next time you see me!

First Clothing Distribution

The Annie’s Closet project had it’s first clothing distribution was a huge success. The girls gave new clothes to 189 children in Kogoya Village. It was a joyous time. The Miqlat administrators sent the children about 10 at a time to line up outside the door where the clothes were. Meanwhile, the other children sat in the Hope Center and sang for hours. It was glorious. I hope the photos tell the story.

I was teaching them how to play music by thumping their cheeks.

Kogoya lunch with the children.

Effie put on her new clothes over her old clothes. 

Happy girl with new dress.

Each child received an outfit, flip-fops and a bar of soap.

Annie helps children find the right sizes. 

A little rest after a long days work.

Miqlat House

This place is huge - over 7,000 sq ft on 4+ acres.

Extra large kitchen and walkin pantry the biggest I have ever seen. Dining hall seats 10. Big office. 5 bedrooms + 3.5 bath. Laundry room. This is an amazing place for mission teams to stay. The outdoor area has gardens and plenty of places for people to get some quiet time for prayer and scripture reading. Considering that the lodging costs in the past have been the second biggest line item for mission teams, the Miqlat house is an excellent answer to many challenges.

Today was the first day of clothes distribution for Annie's Closet. Big success. 200+ photos to edit and crop, so it will be probably be a few hours before the next blog entry.

Miqlat House Photos

Back door of the Miqlat House

Back yard

Dining Hall

Nice sitting/meeting area.

Office

Girls bedroom w/attached bath sleeps five or more.

My bedroom sleeps three.

Not a lot of bubble baths happening here, but if someone really needed one ... 

This guy has a tip to tip span of about 6 inches. I photo this for my neighbor, Tom.

Sunday 7/29, Part 2.2

Don, the girls and I walked to the service in Eesso Village. Leanne drove the RAV4 because she picked up some villagers who she had invited the previous day. After church, Leanne drove the guests home while the five of us who walked sat in the church with the Chief Eesso and drank sodas. Apparently, this is a tradition of sorts.

When we were done, Leanne was back so we rode back to the house dropping off other villagers on the way. This time, there were 13 in RAV 4. Leanne said their record so far is 17 people at once. BUT that included a few infants, so I guess it is not such a big accomplishment ;)

Lunch was leftovers and then we packed the clothes and shoes in the car. I am thinking that this RAV 4 has is more of a workhorse than most.

The drive up the hill to Blantyre from Chikwawa is beautiful. Not sure if I should say this, but I kinda yelled at the girls on the drive - I know, quite out of character for me. 20 minutes up the mountain, admiring God’s creation and the interesting sites of local people on the side of the road, I jumped down the girls throats for all three completely ignoring the amazing environment while playing games on their phones. The girls quickly complied and Leanne was super proud of me.

We made it safely to the Miqlat house. This place is fabulous compared to the accommodations we endured on my last two visits. I will post some photos soon.

Tomorrow -- Annie's Closet first official distribution begins!

Sunday, Part 2.1 - Village Church Videos

Video #1 - Example of praise team music.

Video # 2 - three different songs - maybe you can recognize two of them (if you have been to Malawi).

Video # 3 - Youth Choir

Sunday Part 2 - Village Church

I almost did not share the previous post. It really has nothing to do with Annie’s Closet and is not very uplifting. Well, that depends on perspective doesn’t it. 

By sharing that story, there are dozens, maybe hundreds more people who can pray for this unnamed sister, and the mother who is dealing with two extremely difficult emotional issues. We can be grateful that there was someone like Don within minutes of the scene of the accident. Even though the local hospital does not have all the modern equipment and medicine available, it was close and there are people there that we trust will do their best for the patients in their care.

Is it too cliche to say, “It could have been worse?” We can all imagine far more tragic scenarios, can’t we? We can dwell on the seemingly negative aspects past, albeit this was not far in the past, or we can learn, praise God in all things, and look for the next opportunity to serve, worship, bless others and bless God.

This morning, I almost finished the book mentioned two blog entries ago. Since I know the fascinating, quick witted, deep thinking, compassionate and somewhat quirky, man that is Jerry Maurer, his book makes total sense to me. It is entertaining and thought-provoking. If you know Jerry, it is a MUST READ. If you do not know Jerry, I am thinking you will still be very entertained so get the book. I don’t even know how a non-Fallbrook-local might even get a copy -- should I? -- well, I think Jerry will appreciate the free publicity -- JerryRMaurer@gmail.com Reminder: It is Called From Jer to Eternity.

Three beautiful ladies, dressed in
colorful Sunday dresses.

View on the walk to church.
Q: How can you tell this is an
"affluent" area compared to other areas?

A: Paved road, metal roof, power lines.

We walked about 20 minutes to Eesso Village Church. This church would be considered "upscale" compared to some Malawian Village Churches I have attended. There was a cemet floor, instead of dirt, as I had seen before. There was a metal roof, not thatch. Most of the people wore clothes that were clean, and the offering included actual government issued currency, not just tomatoes, corn, onions, chickens, and other genuine “first fruits.” Oh and the pastor had a guitar -- a real one that he played very well. It was a moving experience, nonetheless. The video and audio included in the next blog entry, do not give justice to the actual experience.

L to R: Youth Choir Leader, Victor (Abusa son)
Praise team member, Mya (Abusa son)

The music, with all the wonderful melodies, clapping, whistles, and movement/dancing is still the highlight for me. I am not sure if it happens every week, but in every village church service I have attended (three so far - 2006, 2008, 2012), there has been a praise team/music leaders, a youth choir, and a women’s choir. And there are a couple of the same songs that have been sung each time.

Not sure if we will be attending another service next Sunday, but I hope we do.

Sunday 7/29 Part 1 - Shoes. Keys. Door. Car. Gone.

Today was a long day. I got out of bed just before 6 am. When I see the sun is up here, I just feel like I should be up, too. As I walked back from the kitchen where I had made a cup of coffee, Don’s mobile phone rang near the front door. I looked at the screen and the caller ID showed a number, but did not show a name. 30 seconds after it stopped ringing, it rang again. Once again, I did not answer. The ringing stopped and Don emerged from his bedroom, just as the phone started ringing for the third time.

From down the hall and around the corner I could hear a male voice yelling through the tiny phone speaker (Not speaker-phone). Don said, “Wait, what?!” ... “OK, OK!” ... “I will be there in a minute!”

As he quickly stepped down the hall, I asked hopefully, “Everything okay?”

“No. There was an accident at the intersection. Truck hit a pedestrian or something.” Don replied as he prepared to leave.

Shoes. Keys. Door. Car. Gone.

My head was working much more slowly than Don’s well trained San Diego County Fire Department trained head was working. By the time, I determined I should go with him, he was out the door. When my jeans were on and shoes in hand, he was gone.

About 90 minutes later, after the girls had showered and Leanne and I had made scrambled egg, hamburger and cheese sandwiches, Don returned and told the story of what had happened. I will shorten the story only slightly.

A woman was riding her bicycle home from the Chikwawa hospital (think civil war era medicine and equipment) with her dead baby in her arms. Yes, dead baby. We do not know why the baby had died, only that the mother was riding back to her village to bury the baby. Her sister and brother-in-law were riding with her on a separate bicycle. A white Toyota pick-up truck had somehow hit both bikes. I do not know how fast the truck was going. The mother was shaken up with some scrapes and bruises. The brother-in-law was in about the same condition as the mother. The baby had been thrown from the arms of the mother and was run over by the truck. The detailed description will be kept from this blog. The sister-in-law was in bad shape - much of the skin torn away from her skull and hanging to the side.

Don rushed her to, government run, Chikwawa hospital and was appalled at the lack of resources - no blood pressure monitor, no this, no that, etc. His gloved hands covered in blood, he did what he could before leaving the woman in the hands of the hospital staff. His final words to us as he related this jaw dropping description of the past 90 minutes: “I hope she makes it.”

It was pretty quiet most of the rest of the morning as we finished getting ready for Sunday morning services at the Eesso Village Church.

It is probably a good thing I have no photos to add.

Bug Zapping, Clothes Sorting, Animal Watching

Highlights of today:

6:30a - 9:00ish am: Got up, drank coffee, ate a homemade lemon scone (thanks Leanne) with homemade lemon custard (thanks Tracy), cleared new emails, zapped mosquitoes with totally cool hand-held bug zapper, checked Facebook, made scrambled eggs for the girls.

9:01ish am - 3:30ish pm: Hung around the house, sorted clothes for Annie's Closet, looked online for Olympic highlights and results, ate traditional Malawi meal of nsima, boiled egg, greens and relish, took a nap, zapped mosquitoes with totally cool hand-held bug zapper, read 60 pages of Jerry Maurer's book - From Jer to Eternity.

3:31ish pm - 6:15ish pm: Nyala Game Park (see photos)

6:16ish pm - 10:45ish pm: Visited with Greens and Paul Gill by candlelight (two hrs without electricity is not uncommon), zapped mosquitoes with totally cool hand-held bug zapper, had amazing dinner including roast chicken with stuffing, huge homemade rolls (thanks Leanne), cabbage and tomato salad, mashed potatoes and gravy, and fizzies (soda) to drink, downloaded photos, talked with Paulette on FaceTime (after electricity was restored, checked email, uploaded more photos from yesterday to Facebook, wrote (writing) this blog, will upload photos with captions, and get to bed by 11ish pm.

Alexis can hardly contain
her enthusiasm!!

The girls had at work preparing for the first
ever Annie's Closet distribution.

Lots of clothes,  ready to pack for Monday distribution.

We got out often, to see how close we could get.

Lots of funny monkeys.

We only saw one zebra. She kept her backside
to us but was kind enough to look my way for a photo.

These guys were just chillin' until we disturbed them. 

This Giraffe was so close and so big,  I could not fit
his whole self into a photo! 

He bent down and looked into the window of the RAV 4.

Cooking by candlelight.

Playing cards by candlelight. The boy is neighbor, Benjamin, 10 year old son of Paul and Tracy Gill.

Tomorrow: totally excited to be back in a village church, will pack up clothes for Mon and Tue distribution, and drive two hours to the Miqlat house in Limbe.