I have made it to Malawi safe and sound. I’ve been spending
my first weeks in country at Maji Zuwa, which is the place where I stayed when
I visited two years ago. Matt was nice enough to let us stay here to become
acclimated to the culture and to learn a few skills before we moved to the
house at Khwawa Secondary School where Sami and I will be living and working;
me for the next year, her for the next five months.
While at Maji Zuwa we have been learning a few key phrases
in Tumbuka from the boys who work and live here. We’ve also been learning how
to cook Malawian dishes over a fire from the women who work in the kitchen as
well as from a few girls that live in the village.
The first Sunday we were here, Matt asked two of the girls
who live in Sangilo Village to take us on a tour to meet their families, see
their homes, the primary school, and the hospital. The walk around the village
was also an opportunity for us to get out of Maji Zuwa for a while. Although
this place is gorgeous and amazing, we were going a little stir crazy. We
walked for an hour and a half and had a great time. While we were walking with
Alice and Patricia (the two girls) asked for our surnames. After I told them
mine Alice started smiling and I asked why. She replied that that was the name
of her sponsor. This was huge news. My mom and dad are her sponsors! As her
sponsors, they pay for her education in Secondary School including school fees,
uniform and shoes, books, and a bicycle among other things. How often is it
that you are able to meet the person that is benefiting directly from a
donation or sponsorship? Another cool thing is that Alice will be one of my
students at Khwawa CDSS (Community Day Secondary School). School fees for a
CDSS come to about $15 and it’s more than most families can even think about
saving for the children and in most to all cases, if there is a choice between
education a son or a daughter, the son will be chosen as top priority.
Meeting Alice and learning that my parents sponsor her education
was a great start to my journey in Malawi. A lot has happened since then but I
plan to break up my posts into a few shorter stories instead of having one
large one. Internet will be sparse so posting and checking emails will happen
infrequently. I did get a cell phone and I am able to text a few times a week
but calling out is really expensive.
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