I have arrived in Malawi and begun settling in. It seems that this journey felt much longer than in years past. Maybe it was my anticipation, maybe it was that I traveled alone or maybe I am getting older and these long flights just aren’t as easy anymore! It has taken me two nights to start getting my body clock right. I’ve been up throughout the night and haven’t been sleeping well at all. I did finally feel rested when I got up this morning, but that was after being awake most of the night and then falling asleep in the early hours of the morning and sleeping until almost 8:30!! This is not like me at all and when I got up I was so worried that I had slept much to long. I looked for the sun behind my hut because I know where it rises and I know where in the sky it sits when I get up at my normal 6am time. The sun looked so high in the sky and it was already warm outside so I knew I had slept much longer than normal.
Yesterday was my first full day here and it was in fact full! I was up before the sun on Monday and was wandering waiting on a cup of coffee. Lucky for me all of luggage arrived with me this year and I was able to do some organizing in my little hut before breakfast. Packing up my daypack and preparing for the day. My plan was to eat breakfast and then walk to Adziwa to meet with James and Tovia and see how things have been going there. I don’t usually walk alone to the site, but that is only because I usually have my group with me. The walk is only about 2 miles and I’ve walked it many many times. Setting off after breakfast it was nice to have the time alone to walk and enjoy the village and see the children who I have missed all year. As I weaved through the village I noticed that some new walls have been built and some new homes put up. My usual path was no longer there. I was in the middle of all of the huts when I realized I couldn’t find my way to the river where I cross. Lucky for me I had collected a following of 4 young boys. All of them weren’t more than 5 or 6 years old and they had been walking behind me and chattering to me for a while. I finally turned and asked them where the bridge across the river was. I was hoping they would understand me and could guide me in the right direction. Quickly one boy said “Kauma?”…”YES!” I answered, and he began leading me down the dirt path. Kauma is where Adziwa is and clearly this boy knew where I was trying to go. In my broken Chichewa I was able to ask him his name and he told me it was David. He quickly became the leader of our little “pack” and was showing me with firm hand gestures exactly which way to go at each fork or break in the path. All the boys were talking and arguing about where I was going and the fact that “David” was now in charge of this mission. David’s face had looked familiar to me and it wasn’t until later that I realized it was because I have known his father Frank for several years. I made it to the bridge and thanked my little friends for their help. I was sad that I hadn’t thought to put some sweets in my backpack that morning so I could properly reward their good deed. They seemed to be so happy and feeling proud that they had helped me though so sweets or no sweets we parted friends and I went on my way across the wobbly bridge up the hill toward Adziwa.
Arriving at Adziwa I was greeted by Tovia and her new baby boy Long. We went into James office and sat for a short briefing of where things at the project were at and what needed to be sorted out before the groups arrive. There were some issues with the garden that needed to be worked out as well as some issue with the place we had planned to build the community learning center and playground. We decided it would be best to walk the grounds and discuss things things outside where I could see exactly what we were talking about.
After sorting out the building site and learning about the garden issues we headed back into the office to wrap up our meeting. I got to hold Long as we finished up and I began peeling off his heavy clothes. It’s “winter” here in Malawi so all of the children are dressed in warm clothes and even wool hats. It was close to 80 degrees by this time so I felt that the baby must be hot! He is only 3 months old and as I began peeling off the layers of warm clothes I got to see just how tiny and cute he really is 🙂 what a good baby he is! He didn’t fuss at all and I was able to see him smile a little as he watched me talk to his mother. When our meeting was done we passed through the daycare area and all of the children were busy playing and jumping around together. Some were in the corner singing and they all looked very happy. Our group of daycare children as grown to 55 so seeing them all there together was wonderful!
Now it was time for me to head back to the village for lunch. I headed out of Adziwa and as I was almost to the road I rounded the corner of one of the homes to find a small boy about 2 years old standing there alone. Now this isn’t a strange sight at Adziwa or anywhere in Malawi actually. Small children run around without supervision all the time. What I found that was strange was the fact that this little one had a large knife in his hand and was holding it by the blade. His small hand wrapped around the top of the blade and his eyes wide as I stopped and looked at him. Both of us looking as if we weren’t quite sure what to do. Knowing whatever I was going to do was going to frighten him I stood calmly smiling and the crept down to his level reaching out for his knife. I said quietly (knowing he wouldn’t understand a word) ” can I have that …please…” All of a sudden he let out a scream, threw the knife and took off running and crying down the path. I was startled and kept out of the way letting the knife bounce into the dirt. I picked up the knife and walked back toward the homes where the boy had ran hoping to find his caregiver so I could return the knife and let her know that I was sorry I had scared the boy. It was also important that I let her know knives shouldn’t be in the hands of the little ones. I managed to find a caregiver and asked who that boy belonged to. She hollered for the woman and I tried to explain the issue. Eventually I had to find Tovia to translate for me so that she would fully understand why the boy was now screaming and afraid of me. It all ended well and I was glad he had not been hurt (and I had not been hurt). Just another day here in Malawi 🙂
I headed back down the road and met a friend along the way. We walked together to the bridge and home I went. I was greeted near the village by another gaggle of children who wanted to walk with me the last bit. By the time I reacher the property I had at least 15 children tugging at me and asking for hugs before I hooked off the road onto the path that leaders back to my hut. Lunch was served right away when I got back and after that I walked up to Jessica’s house for a meeting.
Jessica and I had coffee and talked for several hours about business and the groups. It’s always nice to catch up with my sister when I’m here 🙂
By the time Jessica and I were finished it was dark. I hadn’t brought my flashlight so she called someone to come and get me in their car and drove me back down the road. It’s a short walk but not one that’s any fun in the dark alone. It was getting close to dinner time so when I arrived back in the village I sat and ate with two Danish volunteers who have been here for the past week. Both sweet girls who are in the middle of a second gap year. They have been to Malawi once before and enjoyed it so much they came again to work at our project site and do some sightseeing. We have been having meals together the past few days and it’s been nice to have some company. I was feeling so tired so at 8:30 or so I headed off to bed. I was very sleepy but once I was tucked in I couldn’t fall asleep. I struggled to fall asleep and instead stayed up listening to the sounds of the night. The dogs barking and the occasional hyena yipping in the distance. I did eventually get some sleep and I said in the beginning woke up much late than normal. I’m up at the lodge now waiting for the car to take me to the airport to collect the first of 5 volunteers we are arriving today and tomorrow.
A note to everyone that is following our blogs- the Internet is slow and isn’t working as well as in the past. As it is right now I don’t even know if I can post this update, but I figured I should write it so I don’t get behind 🙂 hopefully I can get it posted and in the days to come the Internet will cooperate better with me. Love to all and more soon!
Erin
P.S? Apologies for errors in typing. This was not an easy blog to post! Internet is awful today and has been since yesterday! Hope it gets better soon!