Day Two of VBS

We had a very busy day but fantastic day with the children again and the bible school activities.  The power did come on during the night but still no water this morning….Jospeh who is the Guest House manager told us the well would begin pumping now that the power was back and that we should have water later in the day – which we did except still no hot or even warm water… but at this point we are SO glad to have any water and cold does not seem bad at all!  Both families requested a bucket of boiled water for the children to warm bucket baths before going to bed.

The children are absolutely amazing here!  This has been the most enjoyable teaching experience for all of us.  Our new friends, David and Toby helped today along with Helen in the morning session and Ellie and Lauren, from England, helped in the afternoon session.  David had previously been a camp director for children with disabilities so he taught us all two new camp songs that were great ice breakers.  We practiced “Amen” and “I Have Peace Like a River” with the children.  Our plan is to continue practicing each day so that we are ready to sing for the parents on Sunday at church.  We sang several of the beautiful and fun songs they taught us again today.  The teachers of the children shared a list of who came with me and the names are also as amazing as the children, we had Precious, Remnant, Praise, Trust, Wiseman, Charity, Precious as well as Ellen, John, Matthew, Sarah, Andrew, Victoria, and Jane just to name a few.  One person working in the hospital is named, Almighty.   The friendship bracelets packs made by our “It’s Elementary!” children during the year, were a BIG hit today.  We had enough to let them each make one and take a pack to share with a friend. 

We were invited for afternoon tea at Henry and Grace Mvula’s home, the Pastor’s Manse built in 1905.  Grace is an amazing cook!  She prepared not only tea and coffee, but freshly roasted popcorn, donuts, biscuits, scones, and homemade jams – what a treat!  David, and Helen joined us as well for tea.  As we talked and shared stories the sun set and thankfully Jack had a torch for us to see the way back to the Guest House. 

Trey and Kim were called back to the hospital for two different emergencies.  Kim was in the “theatre” or OR and Trey is trying hard to help a 14 year old girl suffering from a seizure.  Kim is on call again tonight and delivered a baby after dinner.  This morning they were saddened to learn at morning report today that due to the power outage yesterday, a premature twin baby died due to the lack of oxygen.  Again, resources are scarce; they did not have petrol to run the generator….the girl having the seizure needs to be transferred to a larger hospital, but they cannot drive her tonight….we are confronted by many emotions and pray for the patients, the staff, the doctors, and the families.

On a positive note, we met a most delightful friend again today of the Kellett’s and Easley’s, Catherine Nyrinda.  Having never met her I could quickly sense the mutual love between Catherine and the Kellett’s and Easley’s.  She told me, “I pray every day for Bill, Lydia, Hots, and Elliott, and I know they pray for me every day too, and that we will meet again in heaven someday.”  She is 72 now and rode a bike to come see us at the hospital chapel.  What amazing people we are meeting here with amazing faith!  We look forward to seeing her again at church on Sunday.

Jack turns 6 in Malawi!

Today was a special day in many ways.  Celebrating Jack turning six here in Embangweni was very special.  Ellis and I loved being a part of the Dubose celebration as well as the celebration of Jack’s birthday with everyone today.  I believe we lost count of how many times and ways he heard  the “Happy Birthday” song.   Jack got his wish of a pocket knife, Meer cat magnet, and matches.  We taught a new version of happy birthday to everyone here, dubbed the “South Carolina” version that includes the “cha cha cha!”  The matches and birthday candles stuck in the roasted potatoes for dinner were quite a hit since we were eating by candle light because the power has been out since lunch.  We have not had a “dessert” since arriving in Malawi outside of local fruit that can be peeled.  The last two days we have had amazing little bananas.  Chicken continues to be the biggest hit of all with the group.  The boys yell “I want chicken!” when the food arrives at the table and since I don’t eat meat, there is always one extra piece that they fight over.  Today Jack received the extra piece at lunch and dinner. J  We have not had water since early this morning and therefore each room received a bucket of sanitation water as the evening approached.  It was bucket baths by torches (known to us as flashlights) for all tonight!

We LOVED the vacation bible school activities today and commented many times on the wonderful manners, beautiful singing, artistic abilities, and overall delight to sing, learn, and share the good news of Jesus with each other.  They taught us songs and we taught them songs.  The many years of singing at WPC “It’s Elementary!”  and choir was so well received today that our group has been asked to sing at both church services on Sunday - the English service at 8:00 a.m. and the Tembuka service at 10:00 a.m.  Trey, Kim, and I were proud of our children today as they led songs, acted out bible stories, and interacted with the children. 

The hospital was not too busy today, so Kim and Trey were able to join us for VBS activities and go back and forth to check on patients because we were in the chapel at the hospital.  We needed the help of everyone for our afternoon group of younger children because they doubled from when we started to when we ended.  The word is spreading that we are here!  Thankfully we came prepared with enough activities and extras that we have a game plan for VBS tomorrow.  Our friends from England, Lauren and Ellie, also want to help tomorrow as well as two new friends of Helen’s we met today that are staying at the Guest House.  Helen’s friends, Toby and David, from Dallas, TX are traveling the world and are half way into their one year journey.  Good news too that Toby is an IT guy and has helped us figure out the Malawi internet - which is still slow but now we can get it consistently and post pictures!!!

Trey taught a lesson to the hospital staff on heart failure as it related to the case of a boy at the hospital.  Kim was able to check on her C-section patient from yesterday and see the new little baby girl.  I had the opportunity to meet several special friends of the Easley’s and Kellett’s.  We have enjoyed children stopping by to see us at the Guest House and have shared bubbles with them which they absolutely LOVE!  Tomorrow we hope to see a Malawi sunset from a hill that is about 8 km away where we’ve been told you can see all the way to Zambia.  The stars are absolutely amazing tonight with the lack of power.  So even in the midst of no water and power, I’d have to say it’s a day I hope I never forget!

July 17

July 17

Today was another wonderful day in Embangweni but we have experienced some of what Lydia calls TIA – this is Africa!  The morning chapel at the hospital was an incredible way to begin our day.  The music, words, and prayers were familiar but new at the same time.  The music was moving and beautiful.   After the service, our group was welcomed by Ishmael and everyone there.   I think most of all the people enjoy seeing our children and really appreciate that we made the effort to come to Embangweni  when there are many other places where we could send a mission team.  We were all quite humbled with the words of thanks.

As Kim and Trey stayed for the morning meeting at the hospital, the children and I headed back to the guest house to prepare for our visit to the School for the Deaf.  While I worked on the preparations the children played in the grounds outside the guest house and met a sweet girl who just stared for a long time and finally our children invited her to play.  They were practicing with flying plastic airplanes sent by Donn James and those drew not just the interest of the children but the adults working at the guest house too.  Everyone enjoyed them a lot and we hope to see our new friend, Tako, at Bible School tomorrow.

Helen Zimba and her three sons came to go to the School for Deaf as well as Helen’s sister Mary and nephew, Martin.  We first met Mr. Macleod Hara, the Headmaster and the 12 of us sat down in his office.   It was great to see the smiling faces of our WPC member, Bill and Lydia Kellett, and Hots and Elliott Easley on the bookshelf in his office.  We presented a donation of behalf of the church to the school and the words of thanks were again very moving and humbling on behalf of Mr. Hara and the entire school.  The government cut the funds for the school this year from 6 million kwatcha to 2 million kwatcha – which meant all the food supplies were completely gone just before the winter break – the donation was very timely to help them prepare for the new school year which will begin in September.  We also brought some chalk as well as chalk board paint.  This is also needed as they cannot find chalk to buy here and boards have not been painted for many years.  We had a tour of the rooms we will help paint.  As the adults talked the children found other children from the community to play with and a game of soccer had started as well as more fun with the flying airplanes from Donn.

Kim had a good day at the hospital and helped deliver a healthy little girl via a C-section.  Trey moved from the hospital to the school with us and back to the hospital helping with morning and afternoon rounds and cases where his expertise as an Internist is needed. 

The power and water went out in the morning.  Then the power came back midafternoon but no water…. We thought this was strange but apparently you can have water and no power or power and no water.  The water came back some tonight but not enough pressure for a shower, so we all had bucket baths.  I must say I was  VERY thankful for a little trickle of water since we had been all day with no water.  Thankfully the guest house has bottled water as well as boiled water for cooking and drinking, so our lunch was cooked again over the fire.

Our afternoon was filled with trying to use the internet which is the hardest thing of all to do here, as well as a visit with the Head of Station’s wife, Grace Mvula and her nephew (a grown young man), “Little Ben.”  We named Ben Dubose (4 years), “Big Ben” to know which one we were referring to while visiting.  They have a stunning two story brick home that was built in 1905. The children enjoyed the visit and liked the back part of the home the best where the chickens, ducks, cat, and dog live and where the cooking and food preparation takes place.  I had a visit with Henry Mvula at his office and met one of the teachers working with him to prepare for bible school.

We are ready for bible school tomorrow and Kim is “on call” tonight for the hospital.  We are thankful for another good day.

Ellis’ friend Holly sent her a note we read tonight and I wanted to share the two quotes she added:

To handle yourself use your head; to handle others, use your heart. Thomas A. Kempis

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else. Charles Dickens

July 16

Our first day in Embangweni was wonderful.  The morning started with the crowing of the rooster and music.  The sun was up early and it was warm by the time we ate our breakfast.  I wish we could send pictures with the blog but look like those will have to come later.  The most challenging part so far has been the internet connection.  The people have been extremely warm and welcoming.   We met many people today of all ages.  We practiced our Tambuka and said “Monire” many times as well as “Yewo, Muli Uli, and Nili Makola.”  Thank you Lydia Kellett for giving us Tambuka cheat sheet to be able to say, “hello, thank you, how are you, and I am fine.” 

First we met the Head of Station and Pastor, Henry Mvula and we discussed the plans for Vacation Bible School this week.  Helen Zimba came to greet us and we all walked to the hospital to find Ishmael Nyienda, Chief Clinical Officer at Embangweni Hospital.  Henry introduced the office staff and we presented a donation from Westminster Church to the hospital which Henry graciously accepted and thanked not only us but everyone who made a contribution from Westminster.  He also assured us that the money was very much needed and would be used to buy medicine.  From there we had a tour of the hospital.  The children were so patient and mostly waited outside all of the areas while we went inside.  They did come in to see some tiny babies who were all premature and in the incubators.  This time of year is slower for the number of deliveries, so the beds were not all full.  They said during the busy time of the year all the beds are full as well as the floor.  We discussed the need for more incubators because it is not uncommon for babies to come early and they do not have the space for many preemies.  I have talked with a PCUSA mission team from Virginia coming in September who hopes to bring parts to fix some of the items in the hospital that are not working such as additional incubators.  It is virtually impossible to find the needed parts in Malawi, so we hope we can bring back information to help this team find parts to bring with them.  Westminster also supports the Medical Benevolence Foundation which is connected to the Presbyterian Church.  MBF sends containers on a regular basis of donated items from the United States.  This could be a way for the hospital in Greenville to donate working incubators to Malawi when they are no longer needed in Greenville.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Guest House that everyone loved.  It consisted of nsiema which is sort of like think grits, cooked greens, cooked vegetables, roasted chicken, fried eggs, a tomato sauce for the nsiema, chips (a.k.a. French fries) and papaya fruit.  Look out Regina, because Ellis said the chicken was the BEST she had ever tasted!  The ironic part was the lunch was little late because the power went out and they had to cook it all over the fire.  We decided that was the secret ingredient for the chicken!  After lunch Kim and Trey went back to the hospital and spent the afternoon there.  They discussed several challenging cases they saw in a boy who is 14 and a woman who is 72. 

Speaking of chicken… they are all around here.  The boys, Jack and Ben, really like the chickens.  Jack keeps talking to the roosters and they seem to answer him back most of the time.  The Guest House manager noticed how much the children enjoyed the chickens and invited the children and me over to his home to see his baby chicks as well as meet his four children.  It was a short walk to his house and on the way we were able to see the church, the Deaf School in the distance, and some of the community.  Joseph pointed out the area where the family of patients stay while the family member is in the hospital.  As we approached Joseph’s home,   the children were so excited to see us coming.  They yelled “Musungu!”  Which mean white man or white person.  They smiled and waved while yelling “musungu” over and over.  We met LOTS of children.  Our children LOVED seeing the chickens and asked to come back tomorrow as soon as we had to leave.  They also enjoyed meeting Joseph’s children and Ellis played a round of chess with the oldest son, Wiseman followed by a round of checkers, which they call “Draft.”  Joseph treated us to little bags of roasted popcorn that his oldest daughter, Vanessa, makes and sells.  He also treated us to Fanta and Coke.  After our snack, drinks and games, we walked back to the Guest House.  

Macleod Hara who is in charge of the School for Deaf Children came and greeted us at the Guest House.  We will go see him in the morning.  We also met two medical students who are here from England.  Kim and Trey enjoyed working with them at the hospital and they are also staying at the Guest House. 

A delicious dinner was served which was spaghetti, tomato sauce, cooked greens, beans, papaya and a fruit we named “yellows.”  Trey told Jack we have a fruit which is orange that we call oranges, so why not call this one yellows.  It was much like a grapefruit.  After trying the internet again without success and a couple of rounds of crazy 8’s, we went to our rooms for the night.  We reflected on what a peaceful place this is, how accepting and welcoming everyone is, and how we hope we can reflect God’s love back as warmly as we feel it here.  Tomorrow we begin our day with chapel at 7:00 a.m. at the hospital.  Everyone is excited to worship with our new friends.

We are in Embangweni

Today was a long day of travel but everyone in our group did great. We were greeted at the airport by Kho Zimba. We were connected to Kho by a PCUSA pastor in Dallas Texas who has a member of their church named Helen Zimba, Kho's brother. I must say it was a leap of faith to arrive in Malawi and be transported by someone we've never met. The weather is warm, sunny, breezy and wonderful compared to what we left in Joburg.

Kho helped us load our six action packers and four large luggage pieces onto the top of the 4 wheel drive vehicle. The four oldest children were thrilled to sit in the back on two facing bench seats, Kim, Trey and Ben in the middle row and the driver, James, and me in the front. The ride from Lilongwe was beautiful and we drove as the big red sun set to show us amazing stars. We had heard from Frank Dimmock that it would be very common to see cooked field mice on sticks for sale by the side of the road and sure enough we did see the mice as well as cooked bats for sale on sticks too. Since it is winter here the fields have been harvested and it is a good time to find the mice holes. We did not learn from James about how the bats are caught this time of the year. We saw lots of people walking and riding bikes - but not many cars. We also saw a number of trucks hauling tobacco leaves and maize. Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, sugar cane, bags of maize, and tomatoes were for sale on the side of the road as we drove. The last hour of the four hour drive was on a dirt road and in the dark. Our second vehicle carrying Helen and her sister Mary followed on the dirt road to make sure our luggage did not bounce off the top.

The children were so excited to arrive at the guest house and exclaimed how wonderful and inviting it was to our tired travelers. A great place to call home for about two weeks. We are thankful to be here and look forward to meeting more new friends tomorrow and seeing Embangweni in the daylight.

Packed!

We are packed and ready to depart tomorrow.  While time seems to by flying it is hard to believe tomorrow is actually the day we leave.  We have felt extremely supported.  It was wonderful to be at church this past Sunday and have so many wish us well, safe travels, thank us for going and most of all pray for us while we are away.  As we packed items Monday night we reflected on how comforting this was and how humbled and surprised we were by the many "thank you for going" comments. 

We are thankful to be part of a church committed to mission and outreach as well as being thankful for the many members who have led us and set positive examples of how to live out your faith in the world.  We are also thankful for the prayers and support from our friends and family along with many Presbyterians we have met in the planning process through the Malawi Network who are all across the globe.

Did you know 2012 is the year that the PC(USA) church celebrates 175 years in world mission?  Where we are going is similar to what has happened in many parts of the world where mission has planted churches, started schools and built hospitals.  Embangweni is a great example of how the seeds were planted by missionaries and now are sustained by the people there.  We go to work in partnership.  Jodi McGill and the Chief Medical Officer of the Embangweni Hospital have helped us coordinate getting Kim and Trey Dubose registered to practice medicine in Malawi, the Head of Station has helped coordinate the children who will come to bible school, the Headmaster of the Deaf School has coordinated the chalk boards we will paint, and we will stay at the Guest Station which Jim McGill helped build.  We also will visit one of the health centers that Westminster helped build in the outlying area around Embangweni, called Kalikumbi.

We look forward to arriving and sharing updates from our trip.  So while it feels new to us, we go knowing that so many have already gone before following Christ's Great Commission to make disciples of all nations and His Great Commandment to love God and neighbor.

How did we get here?

We are just about one week away from our departure date and thankfully so many pieces are falling into place.  When I look back at the many months of planning and countless emails, phone calls and conversations it is clearly evident to see and sense God's presence with us throughout this planning process.  For myself and probably many reading this we don't really hear much if any news about the country of Malawi here in the United States.  Working here in the church has exposed me to some news about the country but I have learned volumes since our church decided to send a mission team and I became the main planner of the trip.  I will try and share some of what I have learned in an attempt to share with you the many amazing people that we have already met along the planning journey.  I feel certain that we will meet many additional amazing people in Malawi.

Malawi is a land locked country surrounded by Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.  From Greenville, to Washington, D.C., to Johannesburg, South Africa, we will fly into the capital, Lilongwe, and then travel by road to the town of Embangweni.  The town of Embangweni is located in the Mzimba district in the Northern Region of Malawi. It's population is approximately 5,000 people.


Martha Sommers, a PC(USA) missionary, that our church as known since she came to Africa was the first person that really challenged us to consider our involvement with Embangweni.  She came in September 2010 to visit our church for the weekend.  Below is a picture of Martha the weekend that she visited Westminster with Hots and Elliott Easley, Bill Kellett and Will Edwards.  For those of you who don't know Hots and Elliott Easley, Hots is the reason that Westminster became involved in Africa.  After retiring as an OBGYN in 1989, Hots went in 1990 to Lesotho, Africa to see PC(USA) missionary couple, Frank and Nancy Dimmock.  Hots recalls that his first trip to Lesotho occurred soon after Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa.  He received a call from the South African Embassy in Washington asking him what he would be doing in Lesotho.  He had been told to say that he was going as "a visitor."  Hots made the trip to Africa eleven times since he started and estimates that the total amount of time spent there equals about two years.  Once the Dimmock's moved to Embangweni, Malawi Westminster started mission trips to that area.

Will Edwards is an elder here at WPC who is our missionary liaison. Will does an amazing job with communicating with our ten missionaries and always helps when they visit the church.

Bill Kellett is also a retired OBGYN.  He and his wife Lydia have made three trips to Malawi.  When we met with this group of WPC Malawi veterans in the fall of 2011, I remember Lydia telling Trey and Kimmie Dubose as we discussed the mission trip for 2012, "This is the best thing you will ever do for yourself!"  At that time we had not decided to join them and I also remember thinking this was something I would like to do and a little pang of what we call in our house, "the green eyed monster."  I really wanted to see Africa.  As a parent it is interesting to me that sometimes it is the voice of a child that convinces you of what might be possible.  Without talking directly to our daughter, Ellis, about the trip, she began expressing an interest and possibility of could our family also travel with the Dubose's to Africa.  Ellis had been talking to Ellie Dubose at church about their family making the trip and the wheels began to turn as I tried to determine how and if we could make the trip.