week 1

sorry this is so late. i'm not getting online often or for very long when i get there. i'll see if i can't do better!

I arrived back in Malawi on a Sunday—so maybe a weekly thing will be possible…though I can’t promise timely uploadings so we’ll see. Jet lag is a 7 hour change and I think I did pretty well though it seems to get harder each time I travel—or maybe I just block out the memory of the last bout…met a woman on the plane who works for USAID and lives in Lilongwe who offered to wait and make sure I had a ride from the airport but I knew that I would because my friends here had been counting down the days…the 3 planes that come into Lilongwe all arrived at the same time so the baggage carousel was a nightmare but both of my bags arrived safely though it took at least 3 trip on the belt before I could get to them. Isabelle had come through security to find me and get the first hug. It is good to be back.

I moved back into the cottage where isabelle, rhona and I lived and isa’s been since we left. She is only here for this week and her plane ticket expires next Monday and she should be home before that. Not a pleasant thought of her leaving…dreading it all week.

Monday was easy…Tuesday I couldn’t get out of bed—to dizzy each time I tried so I slept until noon…then of course I couldn’t sleep that night. Wednesday was better—definitely back in Africa with power cuts (ours lasted from Tuesday evening to Wednesday night but then ESCOM fixed it).

Jumped in Thursday and went to a training on Sunday School teaching. There were about 80 people there interested in learning. It was mostly in Chichewa but was all about different things you could do to keep kids attention and how important children’s ministry is—when you grow maize you start with seeds not mostly grown plants… and interspersed with games and songs and lunch…ah nsima again (maize porridge that you eat with your hands with no taste of its own).

Friday was back in town to see the youth department offices and remeet all the people there. It is rainy season here—all is green and lush and everyday the heavens open and everything becomes muddy and flowing. So far I haven’t gotten caught out in it but I did realize that I didn’t bring anything to combat the water (rain coat or umbrella) and every time I go to the market it is sunny and I forget to buy an umbrella…one of these days

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Dear Friends,
I just spent eleven and a half months in Nkhoma, Malawi, Africa at the Ebenezer Institute of Learning teaching kindergarten and second grade. During my time there (through no action of my own) the school completed a new addition, started the third building, added a second grade class and hired Malawian staff to teach all the classes. Now I’m home and realize I really can’t get Africa out of my blood. While in Malawi, I met so many people who have been involved in mission work who have been a real inspiration to me, and I would like to return and try my hand at something different. I’ve been offered another volunteer post -- this time as a Youth Worker for the Presbyterian Synod with an emphasis on reaching out to teenage girls and young adult women.
The official languages are Chichewa (which I still don't know) and English (which I do). The plan for the year is to start with a 3 month intensive (probably immersive) Chichewa course. After that I will meet with the 16 different Presbyteries that the Synod covers and then get to know some of the congregations. I will help with Trainings which teach many different courses emphasizing AIDS/HIV (how not to contract and spread it), making good decisions, growing up in a Christian way, being effective communicators, etc. I will also help plan camps and retreats.
I'm writing again to ask for your support. The Synod is able to provide me with housing so I once again have to raise money for my travel, food, incidentals, and work funds to run the Trainings that I will be doing next year. My estimated costs are:
Flight $2000
Food $100/month = $1200
Utilities/Incidentals $100/month = $1200
Programming for Synod $300/month = $3600
Malaria pills $300
Total $8600
This averages out to about $24 per day, $165 a week, or $715 a month. Support for even one day would be a great help. I will be posting to a blog (travelcontinued.blogspot.com) to keep everyone updated when I can get the internet to connect—which I discovered last year was never a sure thing. When I return I would be glad to share pictures and stories, and answer questions.
I greatly appreciate your support—financial or spiritual. Last year I donated my “extra” funds to the school for scholarships and building costs. Any funds that I raise above my needs this year will be donated to the Synod Youth Program for its ministry. Checks can be made out to Black Mountain Presbyterian Church (and are tax deductible) with "Jessi Stitt-Malawi" in memo line and sent to either:

Jessi Stitt
203 Tomahawk Ave
Black Mountain, NC 28711

or

Black Mountain Presbyterian Church
117 Montreat Rd
Black Mountain, NC 28711

Thank you in advance for your time and prayerful consideration of this request. Please call or email me at 828-669-9492 or jessi.stitt@gmail.com with any questions or comments.

Peace and grace,
Jessi Stitt

reflection

I arrived home 2 weeks before Christmas and as far as I could tell my reverse culture shock wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. Other than coming off the plane in flip-flops in Charlotte where it had been snowing (shock to the system coming straight from summer). A couple of days later I was in the grocery store looking at the produce selection and I was overwhelmed with the size of the onions and bananas. Yes there was lots more choice but I was used to that (most other countries in the world don’t have the amount of selection we do) but I’d never before noticed that the food was just bigger…the bananas are at least 2 if not 3 times as big as the ones found in Malawi and the onions are triple the size as well.
How do you reflect on an entire year? I guess you don’t really. You take it in scenes or episodes. One of the biggest things that keeps coming back to me is the forgiveness of children. Dorothy would read a devotion each morning with the teachers before we would pray and then go to assembly. One was how every day was a new day, we need to let go of what happened yesterday and even what we’ve heard from other teachers and let the kids have the clean slate that we get from them each day. There were a couple of days (probably more than that but I’m keeping this positive) when I felt like all morning was just spent yelling and shouting at the kids to get their attention or keep them on task or whatever. I was the big ogre and I couldn’t imagine the kids wanting to come back the next day. But I would get them lined up at the door to go home and they would all wave to me and say “see you tomorrow” with the biggest smiles—even the ones who had been sulky or in tears just before. And the next morning they would be there with smiles on their faces, ready for another day—whatever may come.
Another thing I noticed about teaching was that every day I would go in with an idea of how it would go—and I was almost always wrong. It would be a Monday so I was expecting chaos and headaches because they’d been out all weekend but contrary to expectation it would be a great day. Then comes Tuesday and I would think that since Monday was so good, it must mean that Tuesday is going to be similar, but it would be a hurricane day. Horrendous and I would be surprised to have any hair left at the end of the morning. Friday would be forecast (in my head) as chaos again because it is almost the weekend and it would be fine and we would get through more than I could have possibly imagined. So I learned that preconceived notions are usually wrong—I don’t think I was successful in breaking the habit of predicting the tone of the day but I became less surprised when I had been so wrong.I find that it is similar to me going into new situations. I find that I do not usually set expectations when I have no idea what I’m getting into. I had no idea what going to Africa would be like or my first day of teaching and so I just let it come and figured I could and would deal with whatever came my way. Though I’ll admit that after day one in kindergarten I was ready to pack up and come home. And so going to the new and unknown possibilities scare me less than going into a place where I feel that I should know what to expect.

Thank you for the opportunity to experience and grow and learn as much as I did in Africa. It was an amazing time of discovery and adventure. Love, Jessi

home again

Long flights and lots of tears as we flew away. Dorothy and I couldn’t sit next to each other on either flight (Lilongwe-jo’burg, jo’burg-dc) as they were full and somehow people prebooked seats. She was close to the middle of the plane and I was all the way in the back—no reclining for the long flight. Watched 5 movies (none of which had I heard of after a year in Africa)…think I slept a little in between but not too much. Had to say goodbye to Dorothy on the plane before we landed in DC and it was good we did because we didn’t see each other after. Seemed strange and unreal. Then my last flight to charlotte where my parents were to pick me up…they were right at the security exit and they didn’t recognize me…guess braids and glasses are a pretty good disguise…I think my face lighting up and the flipflops were a giveaway…I’m so not ready for winter…