Saturday was set to be our day off from work. We were planning to go into Lilongwe for a town tour and to do some shopping. We all woke up to have breakfast and coffee. I had to have a medical session with out nurse Sherry 🙂 because of the dry weather and all of the dirt I had a split in my toe. Sherry being the sweet lady she is offered to clean me up and get a bandage on it. I felt bad having her deal with my dirty feet, but she didn’t mind at all. I’m lucky to have her as a part of the group!
Once I was all fixed up we walked over to eat breakfast.
I hesitate to write about what happened next. The reality of where we are and what is common is hard to translate here in a blog post. I can’t leave out the bad though and make this all seem amazing and happy.
As we walked I got a message on my phone from Tovia. She told me that over night one of our employees from Adziwa (Richard) had lost his daughter. Apparently she had died sometime in the early morning hours. After reading the text I went right away to Sai to find out if he knew. The group went on eating, but now I had to deal with this tragedy. Since WCIM pays the salaries for the employees at Adziwa it is my responsibility to decide if we will handle the cost for a funeral. Shortly after the first text Tovia called back to tell me that Richard needed to know if I could pay the cost of the casket and transport for the funeral. His daughter was only twelve years old and I still don’t know what she died from. I couldn’t say no to the cost and felt honored to be able to help his family during this awful time. I gave the money to Sai and asked him to make sure Richard got it as soon as possible. I had to leave with the group for town.
Brushing off what had just happened wasn’t easy, but I didn’t want to bring the group down. I put on a smile and went on with the day.
We toured the late Banda’s tomb and then went to the market for shopping. As I have said in past posts sometimes the market can be overwhelming. This group was prepared and briefed prior and once we got to the market they all scattered. Everyone stayed with a buddy and from what I saw everyone did great. The energy in the market was great and the entire team seemed to be having fun. There was no stress and we all spent about an hour and a half there. Once we were done we collected all of our goodies and walked back to the bus. We were headed to lunch at a local restaurant.
Over the course of the day I had been in communication with Tovia and Sai. The funeral would be Sunday and I would attend with Sai. I had some tears, but had to stay in the moment with the group and with the tasks at hand.
Lunch was great and the group enjoyed getting out of the village and seeing new places and having new experiences. As we arrived back to our home we all decided to get dropped off at the lodge for a little internet time. We checked email and I posted yesterday’s blog. We all sat on the porch at the lodge and felt relaxed and happy enjoying the sun. We had a relaxed schedule for the rest of the day so people were free to do what they wanted.
Another group would be in the village for the next three days so when we all went down the village it was full and busy. We all split up to take showers, play volleyball and just sit chatting.
Dinner was amazing! Bacon burgers and fries 🙂 yummy!
We all gathered around a fire after dinner and listened to music. Of course there was lots of laughing and lots of joking. We all stayed up late and then slowly one by one trucked off to bed. Sunday would be church for for a few of the group and then we would all meet at the job site for 1/2 days work. Sai and I will attend the funeral and then meet back up with everyone at Adziwa. A big day ahead.