So you're back! My last blog didn't bore you too much, evidently?
A couple of inspirational bible verses, first:
“ 'I am God, the God of your father,' he said. 'Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.' “ Genesis 46:3-4
“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:10
This week has passed in a flurry of mosquito bites and power cuts. Both of which are generous in supply! My legs are so bitten right now (over 30) that I look like I've got some kind of disease. Dad has a system going where Dom (and I if I push it) get 1 Kwatcha (about 4p) for every mosquito we kill – we're doing quite well out of it! I can probably catch about 20 in a day. Power cuts are pretty regular – approximately 6pm-7pm alternate nights. At least we pretty much know when they'll be so we can plan meals around them, but candles are not actually that bright we've discovered!
So this week feels less eventful than last, but that may well always be the case, as I don't think much will live up to my reggae clubbing experience! I started the week quite unproductively – living in a foreign country with very few belongings aside from the clothes in which I travelled and my Bible can make one feel quite unsettled. But, with maybe a little bit of a push from the parents, I got on with contacting various people about voluntary work. Unfortunately, most of my contacts chose this week to go away to Lilongwe so I didn't get to see as many of the projects as I had hoped. I did see three very different places though.
The first was an (unregistered) primary school in a very poor area of the city. It is a Christian school, with what seemed to me to be very important visions. They wanted the children to be able to go to school – which isn't so easy. There aren't that many government schools , and those that do exist seem to be very full. The one the headteacher mentioned to me had up to 70 children in a class, and someone else told me about a primary school that had over 4000 pupils!! The school system over here is a bit different. Government primary schools are free, but there seems to be a fee you are expected to pay to the school anyway. Government secondary schools aren't free, they cost around K3000 per term (£12) but if you fail the year you have to repeat it – you can't progress until you pass the year. So, in theory, you could spend your whole life just trying to graduate from high school. Although I suspect most people would have given up before they reached that point! Anyway, back to the school I visited. They want to be a secondary school, too, as many children can't afford the fees but they don't have enough teachers yet even for the primary. They can't register as the teachers aren't qualified (they're trying to get them trained, but they can't afford to lose them for the year that would be required for training as they have nobody to fill their post). Basically they need all the help they can get, financially and physically, but I'm not sure that I'm ready yet for teaching.
The second project I visited was in a township outside Blantyre. A guy called Mac is working with the children there. Basically he wants to make sure that the children manage to go to school (they must have the uniform, which most of the can't afford) and that they gain the skills they need so that they don't end up on the streets. Most of the work he does, as I understand it, is in organising sport for them after school. There are about 110 children with whom he works and they play a mixture of football and netball after school. He also works with a group of 55 women from the area who have formed a group. They all have AIDS, and are working together to support each other and give each other help with food and childcare etc especially for when they are really ill. They want to make sure that the children for whom they are responsible will be provided for in the eventuality of their passing away. So they have rabbits and chickens which they breed for eggs and meat, and they have a vegetable patch, all of which means that they have food and an income. I met the woman who set up this group. She's called Lucy and she's a widow to AIDS. I'm not sure if she has children, but if she does they have grown up and left home. She is looking after her nephew's daughter (her nephew died a while back) along with two other children who I think are distant relatives. Her mother died of AIDS, leaving her the sole carer for these three children. She is quite ill with her AIDS, but remains upbeat and concerned about the other women in her group. She is also worried about the children in the group, as some of them need to repeat a year of school, which means more money for school. Mac is also trying to raise the money to pay for a building (they have been given a patch of land) which can be used to house the children he works with who are already living on the streets. Again, this seems like a really important project, but I'm not sure how much help I would be here? I'm not sporty in the slightest, but I might be able to help the kids with their homework (Mac says) and teach them English.
The third project was an orphanage which you can google as this is on the internet. It's called Open Arms and is based near the city centre. It is mainly for 0-2 year olds, but they do have some older children. They really want to rehabilitate the children, as it were. So they want them to live with proper families as soon as possible. Most get sent to their parents or other relatives, but some of them have none. These stay in the orphanage until they reach about 4 years old at which point they really want to see them adopted or fostered. This appears to be very well run, but a little low on volunteers at the moment. So if I went there, there would definitely be work for me. I just feel that maybe the fact that it is so well known means that they have other ways of finding volunteers? Also, it is not a Christian orphanage which may be an influencing factor when deciding where to go.
On Sunday afternoon we went to the local hotel to use the pool there (well Dom and Dad did, Mum chickened out as the water was cold and unfortunately all my swimming stuff is in my air freight) which was nice and relaxing. Dom and Dad were playing frisbee in the (fairly small) pool, but unfortunately managed to lose the frisbee IN the pool as the water was that cloudy that you couldn't see where it had landed! Niiiice, not quite so disappointed now that my swimming stuff hadn't yet arrived...
The big thing, for me, that happened this week is that my luggage arrived on Friday!!! I now have lots of clean clothes, but I never want to see those jeans ever again! I have nice shampoo and conditioner, my retainer (less excited about this as it was so tight the first night that I struggled to sleep, and my teeth massively ached in the morning) and those all important Winnie The Pooh shaped cookie-cutters (courtesy of the wonderful Mimi!). We're now just waiting for our air freight to arrive, which has got a few more luxuries in it – like a torch, which will come in very handy during the power cuts. We now have a dongle (more modern than what we have back in England which I find slightly ironic) so we have internet at the house, but you have to top up the internet, and you have to buy it in mbytes, which expire after 30 days so we're not sure how quickly we'll use it up – so if you stop hearing anything from any of us, then we've probably used it all up!
This coming week for us involves: another week at Queens for Mum and Dad, another week at school for Dom, and another week job hunting for me.
If you are that way inclined, then prayers for me would be very gratefully appreciated - that I will look at these projects with an open mind, and listen to where God wants me to go, and not just choose the place with the cutest kids! I'd also like to praise God for the safe arrival of my luggage, a nice, safe place to live, a car on loan, and many people viewing our house back home with a view to renting it.
God Bless,
Baggageful in Blantyre ;)
xxxx
P.S. As ever, if there's anything you want to hear about that I'm not mentioning, do let me know so I can include it.
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