Final week

This is Chisadziwa Kamsuli. He didn't make it down to the well but he is so excited to have clean water in his village. He came to the path that we took back to the truck and shook my hand with such a big smile.

Team 2 is ending. We've done 3 weeks of well installations and have been blessed so many times over! Mary and I helped to dedicate 130 wells in northern Malawi. We have sung and danced with many women (some men too)! Shaken hands with men women and children, scared many children and babies (inadvertently of course), and shared so many smiles and prayers.

The prayers have been beautiful. Thanks to God for the gift of water, clean water. For the donors in America, as well as us volunteers who represent them and have travelled so far. Prayers that God continue to guide us as we travel on to help those neighbors who still need that gift of clean water.

Thank you all for making this possible. Blessings and peace.

(I'm planning a few more updates as I rest up and continue to process this experience)

A typical day

At training in the first day, the powers that be try to keep people involved and keep from having only one person talking all day by breaking it into pieces. This year I was asked to talk about a typical day. with more experience (this is my 6th trip), I'm not sure there really is such a thing, but I agreed to try...(And thus far this year, I suppose this has been the typical day)

Up early (6 for me, though my partner gets up at 530)

Breakfast at 630 at the hotel restaurant: eggs, chips (potato wedges), white bread, and tea (or coffee)
*if you want to choose your dinner you should order it now, otherwise you eat what they have when you get back

Get your Field Officer or Installation Supervisor and go load the truck with pipes, pumps, and pieces for well installations

Stop at a shop to pick up lunch supplies (bread, peanut butter, biscuits (cookies), drinks)

Drive, drive, drive (we on Team 2 are known as the cleanup crew and often the wells are some distance apart)

Get to first well or first parking spot to start the hike to the first well (greet, install, dedicate, dance)

Drive, drive, Drive to second well (repeat throughout the day)

Stop for lunch under a tree so that you have shade and continue on

@4 start your way back toward where you stay so that you return before dark (6pm)

Shower, do the backups for the well info, plug things up to charge

Eat dinner

Prep for the next day (get water ready, climb under mosquito net)

SLEEP!!

At the well

Mary and I were based in Nkata Bay. On Thursday of week 2 we are moving down the lake to stay and work in Dwangwa. There are many different languages in Malawi, the main two are Chichewa and Chitimbuka. Of course the area we worked in speaks Chitonga. So I've learned yet another greeting that is similar and not to what I know. Of course when I get confused I revert back to Chichewa and that works too as it is the national language.

When we park the truck there are often many villagers (or at least children) around as we pull from the back the pieces needed to install the well. They help us carry the parts sometimes singing, sometimes chatting along the way. I nod and pretend to understand or song along. At the well we greet everyone. 'Mwe uli?' (Pronounced mway) (it is a phonetic language) responding 'te o mampa. Kwal imwe?' (how are you? I'm fine and you?) Lots of smiles and misunderstandings and me getting my words confused. The laughter is contagious and fabulous.

The greetings go on as the installation supervisors and builders work on measuring the depth of the well and assembling the parts. One of us volunteers puts information into an Android for office purposes and the other will lead the dedication.

The dedication is an official handing over of the well. It has belonged to the village the whole time but this reinforces the idea. we begin with a prayer often lead by a villager. (They pray for the water and the night of God. They pray for us the visitors who have come so far as well as those who support from America. They pray that God continues to guide us as We continue our work for their neighbors.) We emphasize our partnership between Christians in the US and Marion Medical Mission, the synod that we work with here, and the village and water committee. We explain the maintenance plan and who to call for repairs if the well breaks. There is a demonstration and we ask if there are comments. (They talk about the problem they had of unsafe water and how far they had to go to get water-pointing up and over and emphasizing way far away. How now they won't get sick, that God has provided them life now with this clean water.)

Then we head back to the truck where more handshakes and hugs are exchanged. Gifts are given and we take off for the next village.

When we left Nkhata Bay, we had helped dedicate 73 wells. We are still working for another full week and while I'm tired, I'm definitely not done!

Week 1

40 wells were dedicated by Mary and me. We are based on Nkhata Bay which is northern Malawi on the lake. We are staying in a hotel in town and right on the lake. It is a bit noisy but has a great view.

We've been out each day driving and dedicating new wells, shaking hands and sharing smiles, and hiking up and down some steep mountains and hills, changing lives. At the end of the dedication we give the opening for comments from the villagers. Over and over we hear that we need to send (bring) thanks back to those who have helped them, that now we are free because we have clean water and will not be sick. Thank you for coming, we had no idea that we could have this. Please continue to help our neighbors.

During one dedication, I watched an older man go to the old open well and get a drink of water as we were only 15 feet away. It was heart wrenching. And yet I knew that soon he would have clean water, safe to drink.

We have received gifts of bananas, cassava, beans, bananas, ground nuts, maize, more bananas, chickens, bananas, 3 bowls and 2 books. (There are many different types of bananas and we've gotten lots of them.) It is so humbling to receive when we know that we have all that we need and that they give from full hearts.

Stories from Team 1

I got to see Team 1 on their last night in Malawi. I showed up at the hotel and got lots of good hugs and got to catch up with friends and meet new ones and hear some of the adventures. Here are some that I gathered during worship when we were asked to share where we saw love and God:

Team 1 installed 1,324 wells! (That's up from last year of 1,203.) And that is in the midst of some rain that stopped work and some demonstrations around Malawi in protest of this year's elections. This year's goal is 3,000 so that leaves us on Team 2 1,676...let's get to work!!

Translated from the villagers prayers at the dedication is the certainty that God has brought us all together.

Two of the partner teams agreed that here in Malawi we don't have AAA but we do have MMM. They called in truck issues (one was broken down in a field)...got to their hotels for the night and by the next morning they either had a different truck or the mechanic had come and the truck was ready for more installations!

Comments of how we are saving our children with this clean water at the dedications. That we are bringing dignity. That we share Christ's love by giving the human dignity of clean water.

A young man at the airport ran after one of the Malawian staff and said that many years ago, MMM had put a well in his village. He said life changed and now he was working at the airport! Glory to God!

Blessed are the hands that give, for they are the hands of God.

Ending and beginning

Sunday was Team 1's departure day. Steve led worship.

He talked about the beginning of McDonalds. That it's mission was to provide predictable, affordable fast food. And it was a meteoric success. Then they branched off marketing to children and stock prices fell. It is called mission drift. (If you notice none of the new McD's have play areas or Ronald hanging around, they look like Starbucks-and prices for again.)

Marion Medical Mission's mission is not about water. It is not about digging. MMM is about sharing the love of Christ by providing clean water. MMM is about love. The wells are just the vehicle.

And at the wells, I see the love. I see the joy. And I see the clean water. It is a sight to behold.

Then we went around the circle sharing moments or thoughts or feelings from the last 3 weeks.

I talked about feeling like I've been running late. I wanted to be in both teams but couldn't make the work. Got here two weeks earlier but a week late for Team 1. I was ready to jump in but that wasn't what happened, I wasn't called into service. And then I realized that I was right where I needed to be. Catching up with friends, being at and with Ebenezer school around the accident, and holding Thamar (adorable baby). And then meeting up on Saturday. To a beautiful reception- such welcome and excitement even with the exhaustion and closing.

I was asked by some if I was ready for wells, for Team 2. And my answer had been: No, I'm not, but I will be and I'm getting there. Getting to hear their moments and experiences - bringing back the reminders of what we do - not that you ever really forget - I'm excited!

Cultural differences

Similarities in joy of birth and grief at death. Joy of clean water and sorrow at loss. Love and celebration. Sorrow and hunger. Family and community.

Some differences:
Americans go go go and we live by a clock but we need to remember that we are guests and we need to be humble. We are not in charge!!

Greet everyone! Greet first. Shake hands, learn the words. (Yewo, zikomo, nzuri)

Here is people centered. Not time centered. All about relationships, greeting and chatting.

Keep your knees covered. Villages are formal. ('pants' are British for underwear- use the word trousers)

Women hug. Men shake hands with both hands (arms in a four) as a sign of respect. If hands are dirty they will bump forearms. Not much other touching between sexes, lots of hand holding between same sex.

Men and women sit separately. At the wells and at church. (often)

No negative comments- watch your words. The words stupid, silly, foolish will be taken out of context and be insulting.

Before and after meals hands are washed. Food is often eaten with hands though you might be offered utensils. You don't have to finish-someone will eat the leftovers.

Don't make promises that you can't keep. There have been too many broken promises. Even 'I'll think about it' is a promise to help.

Next adventure (from Nkhoma to MMM)

On Saturday, Isabelle and Sigrid and I headed into Lilongwe. First stop: immigration office. Traffic was crazy on the way in (and for the rest of the day in town), but there was no line at immigration! It was so easy to get my visa extended--I wasn't expecting that (in 2010, it was always a very long wait to get visas). Next some shopping and money exchange. 

Isabelle's favorite restaurant now in Lilongwe is Lark. We went for lunch and I totally understand it. Very good food and a nice garden setting. Then they drove me up to Mponela (another 40 minutes North of Lilongwe) where Team 1 from Marion Medical Mission was spending their last night. What a reception! Many of them didn't know that I was coming plus they were gathering from the far flung areas they'd been working for the last 3 weeks. Stories to come...

Nkhoma

I had another week in Nkhoma as Marion Medical didn't call me in for the last week of Team 2. I was able to visit with friends and see Ebenezer school (where I taught in 2010-2012).

On Monday I substituted for one of the Grade 2 classes. I think I did alright but was no real replacement for their teacher.

Tuesday, Lizzy and I conquered the mountain again. It was a hot day but there was a pretty good breeze for most of the climb. (I'm trying to stay active and ready for the hikes to wells)

Wednesday, I had a nice visit with Maralise. She was a surgical nurse when I was here in 2010 and now she is doing many diverse things like running the synod guest house, prison visits, and teaching classes with the pastors' wives.

Thursday, I got to see the computer class in action with laptops. usually David used a projector to teach but there was no power and so there was a bit more chaos than usual.

Friday, I helped with some computer input at Ebenezer having to do with scholarships and sponsors. (If you'd like to become a sponsor, check out www.ebenezernkhoma.com )

And then got ready to meet up with Marion Medical Mission.