Marion Medical Mission

 I volunteer with Marion Medical Mission. They operate in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia. They started in 1989 or so helping to supply hospitals in Africa with machines and medications and realized that if they could get people access to clean water there would be about 50% less sick people in the hospitals. Now they work with Africans (all but about 3 paid positions are in Africa) to help install protected water sources out in villages.

The organization trains people from the villages to take care of the well as well as how to build it and then fix it when it breaks.  They are hand dug, lined with bricks and covered with a concrete cap. When we (volunteers) arrive it is to 'help' with the final installation: driving the pumps and pipes to the well site and installing it. We have a dedication service and demo of how to use it correctly and then we take a picture and move on to the next village. 

I say 'help' because even during covid there were over 3000 wells installed each year. We aren't needed for the installation. But we build relationships with people as well as return home to tell the story of how God is working through us and raising money to fund more wells in more villages. The money for a well ($450) pays for the concrete, pipes and pumps - that which would be out of reach for the villagers. The villagers provide the land, labor, sand, gravel, and bricks as well as a small yearly payment (~$2) as guarantee of care and replacement parts when needed. 

I think it is an amazing organization and absolutely love seeing the immediate change that takes places when the clean water comes to the surface for the first time.

Sun City

Reinette and I headed to Sun City for a get away. The guys stayed for school and work but she was needing some time away from the ash and chaos. A conference center, hotel, casino, waterpark, time share community. This was different. (And lucky for us close to Pilanesburg National Park.)  Once checked in we went exploring and found the Valley of Waves water park themed on a lost city in Africa. The entrance bridge has a line of elephant statues and a monkey fountain and carvings in the rocks along with drumming and roaring piped in...

there is a maze that reminded me quite a bit of the beginning of Labyrinth and so we definitely did. 

Our first dead end

The wave pool. 20 minutes of each hour the pool flattens out for the chance to ride the waves. You know the big wave is coming when the seven lion fountains are all spitting water, follwed by a large thunderclap and the wave. The water is cold but we had lots of fun. (Pics aren't of us but we definitely rode the waves as well as went down the water slides) 

Sunset with piña coladas

Pilanesburg National Park

Reinette and I visited Pilanesburg and had an amazing time watching the animals! Sometimes they were far away but other times I felt like we could almost reach out the window and touch them!

They have taken off their horns as then the poachers don't come after them. 

We passed lots of cars pulled to the side of the road...we couldn't see anything when we looked out and so we started to pass and I asked what they were looking at. Somewhat confused sounding, the first 3 vehicles responded 'nothing'. ?!? The next driver explained that sometimes down on the field there is a leopard kill and they were waiting to see if tonight would be the same...we decided used not to wait in what was quickly be coming A traffic jam looking at nothing! And thus we found many other animals but no leopards or lions...I imagine they saw us but were well camouflaged. 

Family outing!

South Africa

Sunrise boarding from Johannesburg

Off to see the Veitch family in Bloemfontein. Always lovely to see them, having watched the boys grow up in Malawi and SA. At the beginning of August, they had a fire due to a solar inverter that torched the garage (lots of storage) and made the kitchen quite useless. Insurance still hasn’t come through and so they are making it work but haven’t been able to start any rebuilding and of course it’s a challenge. But they were gracious as ever. 

 The pack that greets you upon arrival to the house (4 Ridgebacks and one that doesn’t realize he isn’t)

Pets out back!

Couple of games of settlers in which my numbers weren’t rolled often enough!

Church’s 32nd birthday celebration dinner (I didn’t understand the service but think the party was postponed due to COVID)

Rwanda (2)

 

On Monday I spent the morning at the Kigali Genocide Memorial. With lots of information about the genocide of 1994 as well as what led up to it and followed it is a heavy but beautiful place. There are over 250,000 victims buried there. I had learned about it during college and this seemed a refresher and still shocking. It was also interesting to realize that I was meeting people who had lived through that time. It wasn't as far back in the past as I would like to believe. There is also space in the memorial showing of other genocides both past and current. There has been lots of work done in Rwanda with speaking truth and reconciliation and taking responsibility.  

The stained glass is done about the genocide and leading up into the light after the tragedy. There are flowers on the graves that seem to go on for quite a ways. 

I then walked to the memorial for the Belgian peacekeeping soldiers who were killed then. The bullet holes in the building where they took shelter and tried to survive have been left and stone pillars erected along with the information as to how they hunkered down and held out as long as possible. 

The next two days I got to relax and hang out with a 15 month old Czech girl while her mother drove and picked up her two sisters from school. Then a walk in the neighborhood surrounding the hospital with them as Isabelle was working at making glasses for patients. We would then have a late dinner when the hospital work was done for the day, play a game and go to bed. Then it was time to head to South Africa!

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Rwanda

I took off from the Asheville airport and flew (or hung out in airports) for the next 24 hours. (Asheville to Newark to Brussels to Kigali)

I arrived after dark and Isabelle was there to pick me up! Oh what a reunion after 3 years! We met in Nkhoma, Malawi 12 years ago and she moved to Rwanda 6 months ago. I got to be her first visitor. 

She introduced me to Paul who is a colleague at the Rwanda Charity Eye Hospital. We loaded my bag into the Land Rover and headed through town. The feel of Rwanda is both similar and totally different than Malawi. The architecture is similar. There are still many people in and on the streets, traffic seems only semi regulated as to who has the right of way. But then you notice fewer animals in the roads (ok we were in the city but even when we left) and the fact that there is little to no trash on the ground. Rwanda has made plastic bags illegal and it is obvious. Also the speed limit is 60 km/hr and have speed cameras set up along the way. The fines from the speed cameras go to the national healthcare fund not to police. 

Isabelle is an optometrist at the Rwanda Charity Eye Hospital and keeps very busy (as does everyone there!) She did take Saturday off (mostly) and after Umuganda (mandatory last Saturday of the month cleaning of public spaces) we headed to Lake Kivu and Rwiza Village. Beautiful place, great chalets, dock to jump into the water, and a view of sunset (though the clouds came in and blocked the end)

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My jet lag kept me up and I heard the rain and saw the lightning when it started at midnight. Sunday was cool, cloudy, and rainy. So we had breakfast and moved to have lunch and check out the higher end hotel (Cornoran Lodge) since we weren’t going to swim in the rain. Great afternoon of games and the rain stopped as we drove away and back to the hospital. 

I'm off!

I want to let you know that I'm going to Malawi once again with Marion Medical Mission, and will leave at the end of this month. For the past 2 years, because of Covid, the MMM African staff has continued to install wells without the 'help' of American volunteers – in fact they completed more than 6,000 wells! This year I get to go back to rekindle friendships and help bring clean water to villages where that has been just a dream.

I'm leaving on August 25th to visit friends in Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe before heading to Malawi on September 18th to volunteer with Marion Medical Mission. I'll help install wells (drive and greet) for 3 weeks, returning on October 10th.

I thank you for your past support and ask again and most importantly for your prayers while I am away. If you would like to help with my expenses, tax deductible contributions can be sent to Marion Medical Mission with "Jessi Stitt trip expenses" in the memo line (1412 Shawnee Dr. Marion, IL 62959), otherwise you can send a check to me at 203 Tomahawk Ave, Blk Mtn, NC 28711. (My banker-*thanks mom- will be able to deposit even after I'm gone.)

I will do my best to update this blog while I am there so that you can follow along.

Know that whatever form your support takes, I am very grateful. Peace, jessi