I had a meeting planned for Monday in the youth office but I woke up not feeling all that well and really didn’t see myself getting into Lilongwe for a productive meeting…so I rescheduled for Tuesday which Abusa Juma said was fine. Then I got a text saying there was a training and could I be in town by 7 so we could leave and be in good time. As long as I was back in nkhoma for 630 because the women’s bible study was at my house (starting at 730 but still). So in with the school bus (leaves at 6) and picked up by Abusa at 7:15 to pick up two more ladies and off to Bowe (2 hours north of Lilongwe)…when we arrived I couldn’t get out of the car for all the kids crowded around staring at the azungu! We went a bit farther to the church and with teachers urging the kids back to class I was able to make it out…it was a follow-up meeting for the Behavior Change Program they did. So the people filled out a questionnaire about how they feel the program has impacted their communities and whether they have shared what they learned, etc. Then we took the girls aside and asked them what they thought they needed from the church—what we could do, what they saw as problems for girls, hoping for a starting place or some common ground that we can use—but it was all in Chichewa so I was still in the dark. After that we ate nsima with the abusa there and left around 330…there was no way I was back in time for BS…luckily I had the foresight to leave my key with someone. Back in Lilongwe to drop the 2 ladies around 615 and then Abusa Juma drove me to nkhoma and dropped me off at 725. I walked in just before most of the Bible study women…in time to make tea and welcome them…and all I wanted was a shower…
Friday I drove the kids to Lilongwe to school. Seems like everyone in nkhoma is sick…some flu is going around and taking out all of the families…one member at a time. I was free so was asked to drive the bus. I was a bit nervous—it is a pretty big vehicle but actually easy to drive…plus it came with country music cd which made the early morning as I could just turn it up to drown out the kids bickering in the back…Garth Brooks to the rescue. It was actually one of the most relaxed days in Lilongwe I’ve had as it was last minute that I was asked so I didn’t have time to come up with my endless list of things needed.
That evening Mirte had her farewell nsima party at the Guesthouse. Daniel came over to make the nsima and help with the relishes (greens, chicken, tomatos)…it was a good gathering—about 15 people and afterwards they broke out the musical instruments—drums of differing sizes, spoons and a banjo (that won’t really tune)…it was not well done but it was fun.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
gowo
the view from gowo prayerhouse. took at least 2 hours to go the 16km to ask questions about the youth and sunday school programs and to let abusa (rev) give some words of encouragement to the congregation.
wk 13
I got letters!! It does sometimes come through!! Thanks!
Went ot town on Sunday…visited the wood market “sister, sister, come see looking is free, come close, look here, sister sister” is the constant murmur…then had lunch and went to a Black Missionaries Concert. One of the most well known bands in Malawi—reggae music. It would be a nice afternoon concert as it was advertised to start at 130. We arrived around 230 and were the first ones to arrive! It was the strangest feeling to be an hour late and still be the only ones there…so we got drinks and sat down on the cricket field. We could see the speakers and instruments set up but no music as yet. Someone walked by and we asked what time things would be starting…well the music would probably start around 330 or 4…and they were right. They also said that there would be over 1000 people there which we also found hard to believe as yet there were maybe a handful…but in the end he was right on both counts (I think). We listened and danced and had a good time. We knew it was time to leave when guys were getting a little pushy and declaring their love for us due to their alcohol consumption.
I stayed in town that night with a woman who works for USAID who I met on the plane on the way here. Very nice house and food and guest room. I think I’ll have to take her up on it more often as the internet I had was very fast—too bad I was too tired to use it to advantage…at immigration the next morning I was able to put in my application for Temporary Employment and pay the processing fee and then I was told that I was still illegal…the TEP is supposed to be applied for while the applicant is out of the country and the employer is supposed to do it…so as my permit to be in the country has expired and I only have an application in…I could be arrested at anytime. The officer said he could arrest me now (but I could tell that he wasn’t planning on that one). he then offered to have me come live with him as I don’t have a husband…very nice offer I’m sure. Also said that I could be arrested as soon as I walk outside…but it isn’t written on my forehead so I don’t know how they would know…all they have to do is look at your passport (which I don’t normally carry)…so now I’m just waiting for what happens next…and keeping my receipt as that is what most of the doctors here have as very often the applications don’t get processed for ages or they get lost somewhere…
The epilepsy clinic was crazy busy on Tuesday. Well the whole clinic was. I think Dr. Morton saw easily 60 patients…30 of them epilepsy. It was very busy walking in and out with the patients. It is nice to see that some of them are doing very well at filling out their paperwork as to taking their medication and when they have seizures…it makes it much easier to see when or if they have seizures and what to do with their medicine doses.
I got a new flatmate. The new eye doctor moved in on Tuesday. Ute is from Germany and will be here until the end of next year. She is very nice though we don’t know each other yet. And then on Friday she went home for 3 weeks. So I’m on my own again for a little while.
On Thursday I went to the clinic at Mlonda with the NC Presbytery group. They have been working on the house for the doctor who will be at that clinic. It is a huge house and we spent the day painting and sanding and varnishing and scraping (all the paint spots off the concrete floors—anyone heard of dropcloths?). There is still some work to be done but it looks very good and I believe that the doctor is looking forward to going now as before there wasn’t going to be anyone since there was nowhere to live.
Went to the lake for the weekend. Very nice. Cooler than it has been as it is getting on to winter but still beautiful during the day for swims and naps. And the fish dinners are excellent.
Went ot town on Sunday…visited the wood market “sister, sister, come see looking is free, come close, look here, sister sister” is the constant murmur…then had lunch and went to a Black Missionaries Concert. One of the most well known bands in Malawi—reggae music. It would be a nice afternoon concert as it was advertised to start at 130. We arrived around 230 and were the first ones to arrive! It was the strangest feeling to be an hour late and still be the only ones there…so we got drinks and sat down on the cricket field. We could see the speakers and instruments set up but no music as yet. Someone walked by and we asked what time things would be starting…well the music would probably start around 330 or 4…and they were right. They also said that there would be over 1000 people there which we also found hard to believe as yet there were maybe a handful…but in the end he was right on both counts (I think). We listened and danced and had a good time. We knew it was time to leave when guys were getting a little pushy and declaring their love for us due to their alcohol consumption.
I stayed in town that night with a woman who works for USAID who I met on the plane on the way here. Very nice house and food and guest room. I think I’ll have to take her up on it more often as the internet I had was very fast—too bad I was too tired to use it to advantage…at immigration the next morning I was able to put in my application for Temporary Employment and pay the processing fee and then I was told that I was still illegal…the TEP is supposed to be applied for while the applicant is out of the country and the employer is supposed to do it…so as my permit to be in the country has expired and I only have an application in…I could be arrested at anytime. The officer said he could arrest me now (but I could tell that he wasn’t planning on that one). he then offered to have me come live with him as I don’t have a husband…very nice offer I’m sure. Also said that I could be arrested as soon as I walk outside…but it isn’t written on my forehead so I don’t know how they would know…all they have to do is look at your passport (which I don’t normally carry)…so now I’m just waiting for what happens next…and keeping my receipt as that is what most of the doctors here have as very often the applications don’t get processed for ages or they get lost somewhere…
The epilepsy clinic was crazy busy on Tuesday. Well the whole clinic was. I think Dr. Morton saw easily 60 patients…30 of them epilepsy. It was very busy walking in and out with the patients. It is nice to see that some of them are doing very well at filling out their paperwork as to taking their medication and when they have seizures…it makes it much easier to see when or if they have seizures and what to do with their medicine doses.
I got a new flatmate. The new eye doctor moved in on Tuesday. Ute is from Germany and will be here until the end of next year. She is very nice though we don’t know each other yet. And then on Friday she went home for 3 weeks. So I’m on my own again for a little while.
On Thursday I went to the clinic at Mlonda with the NC Presbytery group. They have been working on the house for the doctor who will be at that clinic. It is a huge house and we spent the day painting and sanding and varnishing and scraping (all the paint spots off the concrete floors—anyone heard of dropcloths?). There is still some work to be done but it looks very good and I believe that the doctor is looking forward to going now as before there wasn’t going to be anyone since there was nowhere to live.
Went to the lake for the weekend. Very nice. Cooler than it has been as it is getting on to winter but still beautiful during the day for swims and naps. And the fish dinners are excellent.
Friday, June 10, 2011
views of nkhoma-mar
from the top of the mountain
entry to nkhoma (the road is a loop--though bigger than it looks here)
from will's
entry to nkhoma (the road is a loop--though bigger than it looks here)
from will's
end of wk 12
So I got back Thursday night and the group from the Presbytery of Western NC was already installed in the Guesthouse and working at a clinic and the hostpital and the school…so that evening I went up to say hello—see the familiar faces and meet the new members of the team. (I also got the things my mom sent for me—pens, taco seasoning, music (from my sister), my diploma (important for immigration), chocolate chips and more)…
Then it was time for immigration again…and here we go…I went to the synod office to ask for a letter and they told me that the permit I needed to apply for was a temporary employment permit…um, ok, but I’m a volunteer…but whatever they say. So try to get that paperwork but don’t get it until the day I got dropped at malingunde for language training…turns out most of it is to be filled out by the employer so I sent it home with james but by the time I came back (9 days later) nothing had been done so Friday morning was in the synod office to get the signatures and stamps needed…then to a training for the morning and then into town where traffic was so bad that we would have made it to immigration just in time for lunch—not helpful for getting the paperwork in…so we picked the kids up from school and stopped back by but it was so busy and we had 8 kids waiting that we asked if I could come back on Monday (but my current permit expires Sunday)…ok but I’ll have problems (nothing new there).
Saturday was back at the training (Friday for teachers, Saturday for kids)…similar timetable…everyone together for a message and then breaking into discussion groups or smaller groups for more teaching—this one on leading through meekness. Having power but keeping it in control, being patient—it is not laidback or lazy but an active holding back. God showed this through David who deserved to be punished…think about how you use the power and influence that you have…is it with love and understanding? After that I went with the primary school kids (other classes were secondary and out of school)…there were 70 in our room! I didn’t really do anything but we talked (again but a different crowd) about drug and alcohol abuse and how it leads to bad behavior and hard consequences. The kids ranged in age from what looked like 6/7 to 16…after what felt like ages of me not understanding anything it was time for lunch…it is a great group of people who come together to help teach the young people…full of enthusiasm and very friendly and I see them at lots of these so it is nice to get to know them. Then it was time to give out sports balls to each of the schools that were represented as in august or September there will be a sports tournament…it was decided that I was to hand over the equipment and had to photographed each time…got to be a little much but what else could I do?
Then it was time for immigration again…and here we go…I went to the synod office to ask for a letter and they told me that the permit I needed to apply for was a temporary employment permit…um, ok, but I’m a volunteer…but whatever they say. So try to get that paperwork but don’t get it until the day I got dropped at malingunde for language training…turns out most of it is to be filled out by the employer so I sent it home with james but by the time I came back (9 days later) nothing had been done so Friday morning was in the synod office to get the signatures and stamps needed…then to a training for the morning and then into town where traffic was so bad that we would have made it to immigration just in time for lunch—not helpful for getting the paperwork in…so we picked the kids up from school and stopped back by but it was so busy and we had 8 kids waiting that we asked if I could come back on Monday (but my current permit expires Sunday)…ok but I’ll have problems (nothing new there).
Saturday was back at the training (Friday for teachers, Saturday for kids)…similar timetable…everyone together for a message and then breaking into discussion groups or smaller groups for more teaching—this one on leading through meekness. Having power but keeping it in control, being patient—it is not laidback or lazy but an active holding back. God showed this through David who deserved to be punished…think about how you use the power and influence that you have…is it with love and understanding? After that I went with the primary school kids (other classes were secondary and out of school)…there were 70 in our room! I didn’t really do anything but we talked (again but a different crowd) about drug and alcohol abuse and how it leads to bad behavior and hard consequences. The kids ranged in age from what looked like 6/7 to 16…after what felt like ages of me not understanding anything it was time for lunch…it is a great group of people who come together to help teach the young people…full of enthusiasm and very friendly and I see them at lots of these so it is nice to get to know them. Then it was time to give out sports balls to each of the schools that were represented as in august or September there will be a sports tournament…it was decided that I was to hand over the equipment and had to photographed each time…got to be a little much but what else could I do?
overnight
Saturday night I stayed in another village with the family of Annamarie’s housekeeper AFletcher. Annamarie dropped me just before dark so I didn’t really see my surroundings. Fletcher has 3 children-Joana (14), Jonathani (9) and Josephina (5). Very cute and not much English. The evening was very quiet for a while and then we start vocabulary lessons—anything we can see or act out, household items, body parts, simple actions…and I write it all down because I’ve found that is the best way for me to remember it. Sunday morning woke up to chores—we swept and mopped the house, swept the yard, collected water (from the well just out front). Then it was time to go to church…it was harvest Sunday at the prayer house so we brought maize and groundnuts as an offering. As we sat through the service (annamarie wrote a translation for me—Acts 7:54-60 where do we turn when we are in trouble or danger? Kids go to their parents…we try to fix ours ourselves most often…we should turn to God) we noticed that only children were giving the harvest but we brought ours up as well…and then I was given gifts! They were so happy that I was there and that I was learning and that I wanted to understand—a chicken (live), more groundnuts than I know what to do with, and 2 stalks of sugarcane! To give is to receive (not usually so tangibly) and I was so humbled at the unexpected outpouring of appreciation and gifts.
village life
Each day was something different. Day 2 the Abusa (reverend) was coming to the village for prayers so we stayed to pray. He had a short teaching and then took the “spiritual temperature” of the village…asked each if they owned a Bible, hymnbook, if they go to Wednesday services, if they tithe and if they are a part of the appropriate church group (women’s guild or mens)…he demonstrated the temperature by putting a pen under his arm as a thermometer but then shook it before he took the “reading”…odd way to read a thermometer I thought…then Amai Chigaga and I went out to the maize field to harvest maize—chop it down, take it off the stalk, carry it back to the house, and put it in the storage bin (kusenga, kukolola, kusenza ku nyumba, kuthira chimanga munkhokwe). Then next day was gathering the black dirt that they use for their floors and remudding the step outside…kind of a cement.
Carrying things on your head takes amazing balance. They also will make nkhata which are the round mats made of grasses to give padding and more of a flat surface (I think). It works pretty well and is definitely helpful as padding…but I’ve notice that my hair comes loose very quickly from its ponytail and causes more slip on my head…maybe this is why we don’t carry things on our heads…
I got to cook nsima for the first time…I’d watched many times but this was the first time I was an active part of the making…and it was over the fire. Malawians have hands of asbestos or something beause they just seem to pick up the pots off the fire very easily…so I left that to Amai most of the time. To go with the nsima (really needs a relish) we had gone to the field to pick pumpkin leaves…sauteed up with onion and tomato…pretty good if I do say so myself. The next day we “baked” a cake (chakonda moyo) done in one of the pots with coals on the top like a dutch oven. Not enough sugar in the recipe for my liking but with tea it is pretty good.
And then it was time to thank the mfumu (chief) and take my leave! Time passed so quickly! I had to learn a thank you speech about how helpful it was in her village and that I learned a lot…then when we went by she wasn’t home! All my preparation for nothing…but then walking home that evening I passed her coming back from the market (msika) so I tried part of the speech and flubbed it but then corrected myself…and they are a very forgiving people—especially knowing that I was trying.
Carrying things on your head takes amazing balance. They also will make nkhata which are the round mats made of grasses to give padding and more of a flat surface (I think). It works pretty well and is definitely helpful as padding…but I’ve notice that my hair comes loose very quickly from its ponytail and causes more slip on my head…maybe this is why we don’t carry things on our heads…
I got to cook nsima for the first time…I’d watched many times but this was the first time I was an active part of the making…and it was over the fire. Malawians have hands of asbestos or something beause they just seem to pick up the pots off the fire very easily…so I left that to Amai most of the time. To go with the nsima (really needs a relish) we had gone to the field to pick pumpkin leaves…sauteed up with onion and tomato…pretty good if I do say so myself. The next day we “baked” a cake (chakonda moyo) done in one of the pots with coals on the top like a dutch oven. Not enough sugar in the recipe for my liking but with tea it is pretty good.
And then it was time to thank the mfumu (chief) and take my leave! Time passed so quickly! I had to learn a thank you speech about how helpful it was in her village and that I learned a lot…then when we went by she wasn’t home! All my preparation for nothing…but then walking home that evening I passed her coming back from the market (msika) so I tried part of the speech and flubbed it but then corrected myself…and they are a very forgiving people—especially knowing that I was trying.
grammar
4 hours each morning and we covered a lot of ground! Noun classes (the book I’d been looking at divided nouns into 6 classes…the teaching Annamarie follows divides them into 18…luckily it wasn’t too bad to meld the two as 1,2=1 3,4=2 etc. just takes some getting used to. And then there were the extra ones. But these 18 classes takes out more of the exceptions that you’d have to remember with only 6…we covered 10 different tenses. How to make adjectives, possessive adjectives, this, that, these those how to form commands, passive and causative forms…it was so much information. The first two days were kind of review from what I’d been learning in nkhoma so they went pretty quickly and I’ll admit to feeling pretty smart…then it became all new and wow I felt over my head…trying to remember and apply it all. It is just going to take time and practice…for a long time. I took a practice test in which I had to write a short essay about what I’d been doing in the village…then when we went over it she corrected it using proper Chichewa—not just what I already knew. So that seemed a bit disheartening as everything changed and it was things I knew nothing about but when I learn it, it will be good. The last morning I also had an exam that I didn’t find out my results until after I left…and it will only spur me on to work harder to master it because I’ve never been content with not doing well.
language
So I finally made it to Malingunde and my intensive language course. It kept getting shorter—before I left I thought it would be the first 3 months. Then one month and then 2 weeks and we’d see how it went and if I needed to return for another stint I could…I arrived at Annamarie’s and she had a program for 10 days…but the last day wouldn’t work for James to pick me up again so 9 days of intensive training…and it was intense. 4 hours of grammar lessons each morning then each afternoon to the village down the road to practice with an amai (mother/wife) there. So now I’ve got a basis to put it all together but I find that they still talk way too fast—well I was told that I listen too slowly so that is something that I have to work on. I can often take the sentences apart if I can hear it but it seems to take so long to get the meaning and then to respond…guess I’m just not used to learning from scratch or in a crash course.
The first day we arrived about lunchtime and Annamarie had scheduled me from 9am so I was already late! But we ate and then she took me to meet Amai Chigaga who would be my guide into Malawian culture and village life. The first thing to do was to meet the village chief (female mfumu!) and thank her for letting me learn in her village. Then off to the fields! We harvested groundnuts (peanuts—mtedza). Using the small hoe (khasu) to dig (kukumba), take them off the plants (kutotola), carry them back to the house on my head—well supported with my hands as I need more practice to balance (kusenza), get water from the pump to wash them (kusuka), make a fire (kusankha moto) to cook them (kuphika). They were pretty good boiled groundnuts. Back at the house after dinner we had the grammar catch up on the fact that it is a very tonal language which she said I mimicked well but I still find it very hard to actually hear the difference…
The first day we arrived about lunchtime and Annamarie had scheduled me from 9am so I was already late! But we ate and then she took me to meet Amai Chigaga who would be my guide into Malawian culture and village life. The first thing to do was to meet the village chief (female mfumu!) and thank her for letting me learn in her village. Then off to the fields! We harvested groundnuts (peanuts—mtedza). Using the small hoe (khasu) to dig (kukumba), take them off the plants (kutotola), carry them back to the house on my head—well supported with my hands as I need more practice to balance (kusenza), get water from the pump to wash them (kusuka), make a fire (kusankha moto) to cook them (kuphika). They were pretty good boiled groundnuts. Back at the house after dinner we had the grammar catch up on the fact that it is a very tonal language which she said I mimicked well but I still find it very hard to actually hear the difference…
Thursday, June 2, 2011
week 11
Monday morning I wasn’t feeling the greatest but had the opportunity to go with marieke and klaasje (the dutch girls I’m living with) as they were going out to a village to deliver a chair they had made for a little boy with cystic fibrosis who couldn’t sit on his own. It wasn’t very far down the road to the dirt road turnoff and about 5 minutes more. The little boy was having his bath and then he got to try the new chair. It has a foot rest to help stretch his feet muscles to put them flat, it has a desk area in front so that things can sit within reach and guard for his head to hold it upright. His shoulders are scrunched up so we actually had to take the chair back with us to adjust the head guard so his shoulders would fit under it. He seemed very happy.
My Chichewa is going forward slowly. But I’m starting to push a little more as I know that I’m headed to my intensive course soon and don’t want it to all be new…at least if I’ve seen it once before maybe it will stick a little better.
Tuesday the hospital goes on family planning outreach. They go to a different clinic each week and the women come from the area with their small children. At the outreach under 5s are given vaccinations, sicknesses are assessed and pain meds and malaria medication are given out, women are given contraceptive shots, mothers and children are weighed and recorded in their health passports. When we arrived the women were under the trees listening to the Health Service Assistant giving a health lesson (don’t know on what)—when he finished the women rushed for the one room shelter we were in…all of a sudden there were so many people and we had been given no instructions as to where to be or how to help. Klaasje got started right away with the mothers’ weights which meant recording them in the books but also taking the children they have on their backs so you get the correct weight and the children come in all states (clean, dirty, wet, dry)and some of them really don’t like being held by an azungu! I almost started helping with vaccinations but decided that wasn’t really good since I have no training or background…and that is where all of the children were screaming after getting their shots…I didn’t want to stick around there. So I went out to where they were weighing the children…they are hung from a scale in the chitenje…very innovative and I got the job of trying to record the weights on this very confusing chart…klaasje and marieke got the chance to carry babies on their backs—they had twins and it was really cute with the matching knit hats sticking out of the chitenje.
Went up the mountain again (this is getting to be a habit—but I like it) as guide for marieke and klaasje and another dutch girl wende. It was a beautiful day. Made it to the top for some nice views…I can already see the change—things are turning gold instead of green since we haven’t had any rain.
Training on Choosing Freedom (2011 youth theme). After a group gathering they divide into age groups—primary school, secondary school and out of school. I went with Ethel and the secondary school students. The discussion was on drug and alcohol abuse—how it is fruitless and leads nowhere. That God wants and can give you better…even if it causes you to feel better for a while, God can give you everlasting joy.
My Chichewa is going forward slowly. But I’m starting to push a little more as I know that I’m headed to my intensive course soon and don’t want it to all be new…at least if I’ve seen it once before maybe it will stick a little better.
Tuesday the hospital goes on family planning outreach. They go to a different clinic each week and the women come from the area with their small children. At the outreach under 5s are given vaccinations, sicknesses are assessed and pain meds and malaria medication are given out, women are given contraceptive shots, mothers and children are weighed and recorded in their health passports. When we arrived the women were under the trees listening to the Health Service Assistant giving a health lesson (don’t know on what)—when he finished the women rushed for the one room shelter we were in…all of a sudden there were so many people and we had been given no instructions as to where to be or how to help. Klaasje got started right away with the mothers’ weights which meant recording them in the books but also taking the children they have on their backs so you get the correct weight and the children come in all states (clean, dirty, wet, dry)and some of them really don’t like being held by an azungu! I almost started helping with vaccinations but decided that wasn’t really good since I have no training or background…and that is where all of the children were screaming after getting their shots…I didn’t want to stick around there. So I went out to where they were weighing the children…they are hung from a scale in the chitenje…very innovative and I got the job of trying to record the weights on this very confusing chart…klaasje and marieke got the chance to carry babies on their backs—they had twins and it was really cute with the matching knit hats sticking out of the chitenje.
Went up the mountain again (this is getting to be a habit—but I like it) as guide for marieke and klaasje and another dutch girl wende. It was a beautiful day. Made it to the top for some nice views…I can already see the change—things are turning gold instead of green since we haven’t had any rain.
Training on Choosing Freedom (2011 youth theme). After a group gathering they divide into age groups—primary school, secondary school and out of school. I went with Ethel and the secondary school students. The discussion was on drug and alcohol abuse—how it is fruitless and leads nowhere. That God wants and can give you better…even if it causes you to feel better for a while, God can give you everlasting joy.
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