During the dedications we give someone in the village a chance to speak. It is usually the head man or woman who stands and speaks. They start with thanksgiving, thanks for our coming to install the pump, thanks for this chance of clean safe water, thanks for the love that has come from so far away to help them, thanks to God for the blessings of our lives. They tell us that they don't have enough words or time to thank us properly for what this means to them. We are asked over and over to take back their thanks to the US to the donors who have sent us in their places.
Sometimes this is followed with the explanation of before. Of how the women had to walk for long distances to get water that still wasn't always safe for drinking. Of sharing their drinking water places with animals and trash. Of even other organizations who tried to help but it wasn't sustainable.
One man said that they now feel like people...they no longer have to drink from the same watering hole as the animals, they now have clean safe water for themselves and their children.
The Malawian culture is a giving one. They don't like for visitors to leave empty handed. And we haven't! We have received (and you don't decline a gift) many, many chickens, maize, beans, soya, sweet potatoes, bananas, eggs, telele (dried okra leaves), ufa (maize flour), ground nuts. Such an outpouring of love.
Thank you for all of your support!!
Friday, October 17, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
one ceremony
We had been driving for at least 2 hours with all but 15 minutes being on dirt roads. We have driven through countless villages receiving stares and shouts of Azungu (white person). Then we turn off the main dirt path onto a trail that leads by a field. 2 more villages and then the third. Before we have even reached it we hear the high pitched shout of a woman that is usually done in celebration moving the tongue quickly from side to side to create the ululation sound. The sound is picked up by other women and we hear children's shouts, too. As soon as we stop the truck we are surrounded and the women are singing and clapping and dancing with joy.
The men and boys carry the parts to the well site as Jan and I get ourselves together (sip of water, sun protection, note cards, camera, and android). We do some dancing with the women and a little singing as the song is familiar from other villages. Then we make our way slowly to the site still singing and clapping. Agogo (grandmother) has my hand and isn't going to let go.
This installation went without a hitch and so we started the dedication. The headman offered a prayer, thanking God for the visitors, the day, the village, clean water and the answer to prayers. We introduce our team from Marion Medical Mission and tell them that Christians in the US heard of their need for clean water and made donations to help make that possible...to buy the pipes, cement, and pump that have now been added to the hole the village dug, layered with gravel, lined with bricks made by the villagers, and finished to create a beautiful closed well. That the well represents the love of Jesus Christ and that each time it is used glory should be given to God. Written on the top of each well is the date of construction, the depth, Glory to God (in English), and Ulemu kwa Mulungu (Glory to God in Chichewa). We ask whose well this is. Is it my well? MMM's well? Wilfred's well? No!! It belongs to the village and therefore they are responsible for it. They must use it correctly, keep it clean, keep animals away from it, and pay the maintenance fee to keep it up. If this happens the well will bring clean water for many generations to come. If it breaks, they contact their maintenance man who is a volunteer and so should be given a gift of thanksgiving for coming promptly to repair the well. When given the chance the headman stands and thanks us for coming to install the well, for giving them the opportunity of good health from safe water, for bringing the water source much closer to their village, and then asks that we continue our work of installing wells for those who still have need and could benefit from the program. Then we were given a chicken and bowls of dried maize in thanks for what we have done.
The demonstration of how to use the well is done and we take the picture of the happy village and then make our way back to the truck to go to the next village.
When the installation is easy this only takes about 25 minutes. How long does it take to change a life?
The men and boys carry the parts to the well site as Jan and I get ourselves together (sip of water, sun protection, note cards, camera, and android). We do some dancing with the women and a little singing as the song is familiar from other villages. Then we make our way slowly to the site still singing and clapping. Agogo (grandmother) has my hand and isn't going to let go.
This installation went without a hitch and so we started the dedication. The headman offered a prayer, thanking God for the visitors, the day, the village, clean water and the answer to prayers. We introduce our team from Marion Medical Mission and tell them that Christians in the US heard of their need for clean water and made donations to help make that possible...to buy the pipes, cement, and pump that have now been added to the hole the village dug, layered with gravel, lined with bricks made by the villagers, and finished to create a beautiful closed well. That the well represents the love of Jesus Christ and that each time it is used glory should be given to God. Written on the top of each well is the date of construction, the depth, Glory to God (in English), and Ulemu kwa Mulungu (Glory to God in Chichewa). We ask whose well this is. Is it my well? MMM's well? Wilfred's well? No!! It belongs to the village and therefore they are responsible for it. They must use it correctly, keep it clean, keep animals away from it, and pay the maintenance fee to keep it up. If this happens the well will bring clean water for many generations to come. If it breaks, they contact their maintenance man who is a volunteer and so should be given a gift of thanksgiving for coming promptly to repair the well. When given the chance the headman stands and thanks us for coming to install the well, for giving them the opportunity of good health from safe water, for bringing the water source much closer to their village, and then asks that we continue our work of installing wells for those who still have need and could benefit from the program. Then we were given a chicken and bowls of dried maize in thanks for what we have done.
The demonstration of how to use the well is done and we take the picture of the happy village and then make our way back to the truck to go to the next village.
When the installation is easy this only takes about 25 minutes. How long does it take to change a life?
Monday, October 13, 2014
first day
Tuesday was our first day in the field...and I do mean in the field. Jan and I didn't have far to go (technically) since we would be based in Mponela but as it turned out we went about 150km. Our Field Officer, Wilfred, directs is on all the little dirt roads and paths we take. About 15 minutes on our first road we realize that we've lost a strap and the pipes are waving around, all because our back pipe rack had bent and was trying to fall off the truck.
So we had to back track to the nearest trading center village to find a welder. Once that was done we decided to go a different direction to a different set of villages (as though I had any idea where the difference was). Up into the hills of Dowa area on tracks that would not be passable in the rainy season. On the way in we came to a creek bed that was scary as the two sides formed a v (steep tho not quite the letter) and on the way out was impassable as the upward slope was wet and there was no traction. Took the long way out.
But that is skipping most of the day! We installed 4 wells at 4 different villages. When we arrive in a village we unload the parts needed for the well: pipes-big and small, tool bag and wrenches, metal t handle, etc. While we greet the people our Field Officer gathers information about how many people will use the well and helps the installer to install. We type info into the android about the construction and what we see around the well (buildings, other water sources). Then we dedicate. Open with a prayer led Ny one of the villagers, then explain that Christians in the US donated money to help their brothers and sisters in Africa to get clean, safe water. We go over the maintenance plan and make sure they know who to contact should something go wrong. Then there is a demo on correct usage: not yanking on the handle, not washing clothes or bodies at the well, keeping the area clean, etc. Often someone (headman or woman) in the village then speaks and says thank you. They want us to take their thanks back to the US and those who helped to make this possible. They can hardly believe that they now have clean water right near the village. And they ask that we continue to help other villages. Then we take a picture with the well and the villagers. It is lots of fun. Often they give us gifts as well: chickens, maize, peanuts, bananas, and so much more that we then send home with the guys who help us.
When we got back that night I was exhausted (not having slept much the night before-wide awake from midnight to 430 when I made myself lie down) but I've slept well ever since!
So we had to back track to the nearest trading center village to find a welder. Once that was done we decided to go a different direction to a different set of villages (as though I had any idea where the difference was). Up into the hills of Dowa area on tracks that would not be passable in the rainy season. On the way in we came to a creek bed that was scary as the two sides formed a v (steep tho not quite the letter) and on the way out was impassable as the upward slope was wet and there was no traction. Took the long way out.
But that is skipping most of the day! We installed 4 wells at 4 different villages. When we arrive in a village we unload the parts needed for the well: pipes-big and small, tool bag and wrenches, metal t handle, etc. While we greet the people our Field Officer gathers information about how many people will use the well and helps the installer to install. We type info into the android about the construction and what we see around the well (buildings, other water sources). Then we dedicate. Open with a prayer led Ny one of the villagers, then explain that Christians in the US donated money to help their brothers and sisters in Africa to get clean, safe water. We go over the maintenance plan and make sure they know who to contact should something go wrong. Then there is a demo on correct usage: not yanking on the handle, not washing clothes or bodies at the well, keeping the area clean, etc. Often someone (headman or woman) in the village then speaks and says thank you. They want us to take their thanks back to the US and those who helped to make this possible. They can hardly believe that they now have clean water right near the village. And they ask that we continue to help other villages. Then we take a picture with the well and the villagers. It is lots of fun. Often they give us gifts as well: chickens, maize, peanuts, bananas, and so much more that we then send home with the guys who help us.
When we got back that night I was exhausted (not having slept much the night before-wide awake from midnight to 430 when I made myself lie down) but I've slept well ever since!
Sunday, October 12, 2014
first impressions
The drive to our first night's stay was not long (thank goodness after those flights). It was familiar even though I've not ever stayed in Mponela. Talking with Moses who was driving and is MMM's accountant, looking out the open window, pausing at a police block...it felt like I haven't really been gone (almost 2.5 yrs!!) I had to smile when I saw the tomatoes in their stacks with the bundles of red onions nearby. I really wanted to stop and buy some.
Training/orientation was Monday with lots of hands on training...we use androids to record data at each well that is installed (and then have to back them up to a laptop each night), got cell phones which are hard to use because they are so simple, issued our toolboxes, and went over driving and truck maintenance before heading out to drive on some dirt roads.
In the midst of all that I learner more about what I'm actually expected to do and how it all fits together :
MMM is a hand-in-hand organization. It is community based. The village asks for a well, and so the conversation starts. Assurances are made for well maintenance-both by the village in paying a yearly fee to be used for spare parts and by MMM to train local people to do the repairs. Once that is accepted the village gets its materials together: unskilled labor for digging the hole, they make the bricks to line the well, they get the gravel for the bottom. Cement is then provided and instructions (and trained builder) to construct the top of the well and drainage channel. When MMM teams arrive we travel in pairs to the villages bringing the field officer, installation supervisor, pipes, and the pump to finish it off. Then we have a dedication ceremony followed by a demonstration on how to use and not abuse the well. Our part can be done in 30 minutes. Though the driving takes time! Small dirt roads that sometimes aren't more than bicycle paths...
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm headed out with a veteran volunteer (she was here last year) named Jan and we are going to have a great time! We are going to start in this district so we don't have to travel too far yet...and yet these villages can be way out...
Training/orientation was Monday with lots of hands on training...we use androids to record data at each well that is installed (and then have to back them up to a laptop each night), got cell phones which are hard to use because they are so simple, issued our toolboxes, and went over driving and truck maintenance before heading out to drive on some dirt roads.
In the midst of all that I learner more about what I'm actually expected to do and how it all fits together :
MMM is a hand-in-hand organization. It is community based. The village asks for a well, and so the conversation starts. Assurances are made for well maintenance-both by the village in paying a yearly fee to be used for spare parts and by MMM to train local people to do the repairs. Once that is accepted the village gets its materials together: unskilled labor for digging the hole, they make the bricks to line the well, they get the gravel for the bottom. Cement is then provided and instructions (and trained builder) to construct the top of the well and drainage channel. When MMM teams arrive we travel in pairs to the villages bringing the field officer, installation supervisor, pipes, and the pump to finish it off. Then we have a dedication ceremony followed by a demonstration on how to use and not abuse the well. Our part can be done in 30 minutes. Though the driving takes time! Small dirt roads that sometimes aren't more than bicycle paths...
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I'm headed out with a veteran volunteer (she was here last year) named Jan and we are going to have a great time! We are going to start in this district so we don't have to travel too far yet...and yet these villages can be way out...
Monday, October 6, 2014
arrival in Malawi
Arrival!
I made it to Malawi! (Of course) and it was a long trip (again of course).
So far :
Left home at 4am to go to Charlotte...checked in with no baggage fee (as advertised tho they tried to charge me) . From there to JFK (2hours). Then the next flight to Joburg was 14 hours and 40 minutes in which I watched 4.5 movies and didn't feel like sleeping until they started to serve breakfast.
From Joburg to Lilongwe was another short trip (2 hours) which passed quickly with a nap, lunch, and catching io with Will who was the eye surgeon in Nkhoma when I first came over and is back for 2 weeks.
MMM was here and waiting for me (the rest of the team arrived about 20 minutes earlier on Ethiopian Air). We hopped in our vehicles and drove to Mponela about an hour away where we'll be until Tuesday training before we head out for the well installations!
Reflection on flying...
The two shorter flights were run by US Air and South African air and there was such a difference. On the first we got a drink but no snack and on the second we got a full meal. It put me in mind of the visiting that I've done in third world countries where the best comes out for the visitor, whether that is the with seating, food, rooms. In the first world I notice more of what can I get by with giving away that still won't inconvenience me. Much more of a me mentality vs a community mentality.
I made it to Malawi! (Of course) and it was a long trip (again of course).
So far :
Left home at 4am to go to Charlotte...checked in with no baggage fee (as advertised tho they tried to charge me) . From there to JFK (2hours). Then the next flight to Joburg was 14 hours and 40 minutes in which I watched 4.5 movies and didn't feel like sleeping until they started to serve breakfast.
From Joburg to Lilongwe was another short trip (2 hours) which passed quickly with a nap, lunch, and catching io with Will who was the eye surgeon in Nkhoma when I first came over and is back for 2 weeks.
MMM was here and waiting for me (the rest of the team arrived about 20 minutes earlier on Ethiopian Air). We hopped in our vehicles and drove to Mponela about an hour away where we'll be until Tuesday training before we head out for the well installations!
Reflection on flying...
The two shorter flights were run by US Air and South African air and there was such a difference. On the first we got a drink but no snack and on the second we got a full meal. It put me in mind of the visiting that I've done in third world countries where the best comes out for the visitor, whether that is the with seating, food, rooms. In the first world I notice more of what can I get by with giving away that still won't inconvenience me. Much more of a me mentality vs a community mentality.
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