There were lots of things going on today. The teachers of the team were holding a workshop with the teachers of the Adziwa school. Morgan and Betsy have told me how impressed they have been with the school and it was nothing like they expected. In fact, they said every time they had a suggestion or idea, before they could tell the teacher the idea, the teacher was already doing it. The workshop was really a time for the teachers to ask questions and also for the team to encourage them and let them know how great they were doing and how to handle certain situations.
Also going on today, was a pastors conference or workshop. Really I don’t know anything more than that, but Pete and Ken were attending that with T.K and James in the village. Might I add, that James was looking sharp in his suit. Totally looking the part :)
As for me, I was working with Lusungu, you could say we are like peas and carrots. We headed back in the village today, but before we left, I hung out with the nursery (pre-school class) for about an hour. I love watching them. They are by far my favorite age.
Today, i found a new favorite kid, his name is Boneface...but please look past the name, check out how adorable he is. During snack, I went with Hillary into the village to buy some bread. This is something that she has been doing everyday for the kids who come to school without snack. She is so sweet to do this for them. I thought I’d tag along with her and see what it was like to go into the village as just an azungu and no local with you. It really wasn’t that different. I never felt scared or threatened. Once we got back, Lusungu and Joy were ready to head out. We got to meet with 4 families in the village today and I was over joyed with one family. We walked into the gate, and I said to Lusungu and Joy, this looks familiar. I think I have been here before and out pops the guardian from around the corner. I say, “Lex’s mom”. Last year, we visited this family and during our visit, their son, Lex, prayed to receive Christ. I was so excited to get to see her again, but was saddened to hear that she has been ill since May with a heart condition. Her heart is failing to pump blood as it should and is on medication. Since she has heart problems, she hasn’t been able to walk to Adziwa for the weekly women’s bible study, so I pray that she gets better soon so she can fellowship with her friends. As we were walking back to Adziwa, a mini bus (aka taxi) passed by us. The driver leaned out the window and yelled something at me. I asked Lusungu what he said, and she said that he said, that he wanted to marry me. Sweet! Wedding Proposal....I am like walking kwacha here.
After eating lunch, I was sitting on the steps of the community center, looking out on Adziwa and getting comfortable. I guess I got too comfortable as I see this women a few houses down looking in my direction. Envision me sitting low on the ground with my knees partially up, and my elbows resting on my knees and my hand propping up my head. The lady out of the corner of my eye, is kind of mocking my upper body position and then throws her shoulders back and hands down to her side. Is she telling me how to sit? She does it yet again, so I throw my shoulders back, shake out my arms and drop them to my side. She smiles really big at me and nods. Great, now I have to sit all stiff but I so wanted to relax and soak it all in. Betsy, Morgan and Lori came down from the school for a break, and Betsy and Morgan joined me on the steps for a while. It was great to catch up with them as I feel like I really only get to see them at dinner since they are at school the majority of the day.
Once the break was over, I had the pleasure to sit in on Lusungu’s young women’s meeting. This is a weekly meeting for bible study and relationship related learning topics for women between the ages of 15 and 25. The girls started showing up. I was like the outcast of course. Everyone moved toward the benches, in which I did not occupy. Once those where full and I mean crammed, the only available seats where beside me. Hesitantly, 2 girls sat beside me. Later another girl came in with her newborn baby so I gave up my seat (seeing no one wanted to sit beside me anyway) and found a single chair. Lusungu offered to translate the meeting for me, but I asked her not to since I was the only one needing it. Maybe this would be an opportunity for me to learn chichewa more or maybe God would miraculously give me the gift of translation..yea, so maybe the former is more likely even though I kept praying for the latter. The first half of the session was the bible study portion, they read 2 Peter 3: 17-18 and discussed what the verse meant to them. I can’t give you any more details than that. The second half of the session, was spent discussing HIV/AIDS and what they call STIs (STDs). This was even a lesson with pictures that I could have done without seeing. As she showed the pictures, the girls would occasionally laugh at them. I can only assume these were the male pictures as I was not in the audience section of the room. At one point in the discussion, it got pretty heated. One girl stood up and was yelling, waving her finger and obviously getting mad at another girl. Then all the voices in the room came to a roar. At this point, I was really wanting some translation, but it was like I was at the United Nations without my headset. I did pick up on quite a bit of the conversation and I was proud of myself for that. I tried really hard to understand. Afterwards, I asked Lusungu what the heated debate was over and she informed me that the girls were discussing what would make one more vulnerable to contract HIV or a STI and one girl responded that not being a christian would make them more vulnerable. Lusungu ask her to talk about that more and she explained that when someone is a Christian and have the Spirit living within them that they are less likely to make bad choices. This obviously upset the girl that was in the room who was pregnant for the 3rd time and not married and claimed she was a Christian. She was not happy. This is what sparked the debate. After a long 90 minutes, the meeting ended. This marked the end of the day for me.
Dinner plans were different tonight, as we would be dining with T.K. - I heart T.K. He is the most cheerful man you will ever meet. You may remember him from a previous blog where he was our guest for 2 nights. He is originally from Nigeria but moved his family to Malawi 10 years ago. His wife, Florence, prepared a delicious meal and I throughly enjoyed the rice and chicken soup. We had great conversation and lots of fun with them and their children.
Oh, and T.K. informed us that we got Malawi names since this was her 2nd time to Malawi. He gave Hillary hers a few days earlier...Chifundo, and it means merciful. He gave Matt, Ellie and myself our names tonight. Matt’s name means generous. Ellie’s name is Chikondi which means love and my name is Tocazondi which means give thanks. He said that I got this name since I am pregnant and we are to give thanks for that. You can call me Toca for short.
The ride home was quite interesting TYG. The game had a rain delay earlier in the evening but we pulled the tarps off and were ready to play ball once we got in the car. I know this sounds crazy to you, but when I read this I will no exactly what this means :)
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