Where in the World is Malawi?

At the beginning of 2010, with the help of my family and friends, I went to Africa to volunteer at the Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi. I first heard of Malawi in 02/2006 while watching a Raising Malawi video about AIDS orphans. So where is Malawi anyway? As the child of a career military officer, I traveled often but frankly, had never heard of Malawi. It was easy to find out about Malawi. It is known as the "Warm Heart of Africa" and is the home of Lake Malawi, formerly known as Lake Nyasaland, which I first heard of after reading about the explorer, John Livingstone. Malawi is a sliver of a country surrounded by Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia. Look closer and you'll see Mchinji, a district in the western portion of central Malawi, about 7 km from the Zambian border.

To get to Home of Hope from Miami, I flew to Washington D.C. (2.5 hours) and then to Johannesburg, S.A. (18 hours with a 1 hour stop in Senegal). There aren't that many flights into Malawi and there was a forced lay-over in Jo-burg of 13 hours. The next day, I flew into Malawi's capitol city of Lilongwe (2.5 hours), and got a car ride to Mchinji District with a couple of volunteers who happened to be in town at a meeting. The Mchinji District Children's Home, known as Home of Hope, is about 50 km but takes a couple of hours because of the condition of the dirt roads during my visit which was during the rainy season.

The trip was a big effort, emotionally and financially, with lots of challenges to overcome. But boy, was it worth it! The children and people of Malawi helped me so much - with appreciation, counting my blessings, thanking God, being grateful for all of my friends, family and loved ones, for showing me that living without material goods is easy, that water is precious, life is short, to be thankful for my good health, to love your children and to love the parent-less children of others. Several people I met on the journey, both coming and going, made commitments to volunteer their time and talents to the kids at the orphanage, including a dentist going home to Senegal from Boston and an executive of a U.S. engineering firm that is constructing dams in Africa. You too can make a difference. The school at the orphanage has no maps...not of the world, Africa nor Malawi. Your donation can help the kids place themselves in the world, in their continent and in their country. Make an effort and receive blessings by making a tax deductible donation to http://www.raisingmalawi.org/ and designate the Home of Hope Orphanage as the recipient.

Toy Story

At the beginning of the year, I had the merit to live for three weeks with the kids of the Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa. After arriving, I visited the nursery and decided to bring the nursery toys back to the guest house and give them a good washing. The toys are pretty old and well-used but the "bebbies" seemed to like them just fine. I guess I was the toy snob and maybe you are too. Take a look at the "Chuckie Doll"...only one limb, a vacant, scary, scratched-out eye and dirty! My first thought was that I would be horrified if this doll is what my son played with when he was a little boy. Well, that's the issue isn't it...these "bebbies" are orphans. Their mothers may not have liked them playing with this doll either...not only is it gross and scary, but it's really really white! And the other toys were comparable. So the toys were washed and most were returned to the nursery (there was a toy raid one night by a few 7 year-olds but that is another story). My thoughts were mostly, "How can these nursery children get some new toys..."

A couple days later, I saw two little boys playing with what looked liked the metal bars from the back of a school chair. One boy was standing on the two parellel bars of the chair which were laying on the ground and the other boy was dragging him down the road by pulling on the two upper bars. They were going back and forth, making furrows in the red dirt, laughing, falling off the bars, trading places and having a good ol' time. The metal is ragged and rusty and dangerous but my thoughts were mostly, "That looks like fun! I would have liked to have been dragged around on scrap metal with my friends...".

One day, the tall grass was cut with scythes by some workers and left to dry. Some of the little ones raked the dried grass into mounds with their hands, burrowed inside the mound and lay still until some unsuspecting person, preferably me, walked by. When I was "least expecting it", the little ones jumped up from the grass with "fierce" expressions and some pretty good roars. Well of course I was scared silly and had to chase and tickle them for revenge! It was so much fun and those were my thoughts, "This is so much fun! I wish I had taken the time to play like this with my son...".

The little ones play with whatever is available - they use their imaginations and they think outside the box and they have a good time with their "toys". On the other hand, the "bebbies" could use a little help. In addition to the "Chuckie" dolls, they have broken and dirty Fisher-Price toys, dirty stuffed toys and toys donated that require batteries (folks - there are NO batteries here!). If you would like to help provide clean, educational and safe toys to the nursery children, please donate to http://www.raisingmalawi.com/ and designate the Home of Hope Orphange as the recipient.

Wash Day

You just KNOW what this story is going to be all about. You look at the title and the pictures and you know what is next - it's APPRECIATION! While at the Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa, I had a first hand look at just how hard it is to live in rural, sub-Saharan Africa.

Let's take for example washing clothes. First, you have to go to the water tap and if it is running that day, fill a bucket with water....and these are LARGE buckets ladies! You fill the container, hoist it to your head, and you walk, gracefully I might add, back to your house which may not be that close to the tap. You put some of the water in a couple other buckets, add soap powder, slosh it around, and begin work on a shirt. The shirt has been well worn by a little boy who plays hard in the dirt so you have to scrub it. What do you use? You use a board. Not a wash board like we see in antique stores with those grooved lines, but a plank carved from a stump. The work is back breaking and even more so if you are carrying one of the babies in your care on your back in a sling. Once clean, the clothes are rinsed and hung on a line to dry. Clothes lines are strung behind houses and across porches and in hallways and about anywhere where the clothes may dry, especially in the rainy season when your "almost dry" clothes can get soaked several times a day. Sometimes they are wet for a week.

The Mothers at the Home of Hope Orphanage are primarily widows from the surrounding villages who have no way to support themselves or their children. They are hired as "Mothers" for room, board and a small stipend. The Mothers care not only for their own children, but for five or six more infant and toddler orphans. In this arrangement, the Mothers can support themselves and their children and the very young orphans can be raised in a more traditional family setting.

Where do these women find the time and the energy to raise so many children? APPRECIATION. The Mothers at the orphanage appreciate their jobs, appreciate knowing they and their children will eat each day. The Mothers care for their own children and their orphaned children day in and day out and as all mothers know, laundry is only a very small part of raising a family! The Mothers were kind to me and patient with me during my visit and I saw the care they give to their children and to the orphans in their charge.

I did my wash today and for the first time in a long time, didn't complain about having to walk down a hall and (gasp) having to insert quarters into a washer and dryer to get my clothes clean! The Mothers have taught me APPRECIATION. If you would like to support the Mothers and their efforts, please donate to Raising Malawi at http://www.raisingmalawi.org/ and designate the Home of Hope Orphanage as the recipient.

Morning Devotions

The people in my life that I love the most believe in a higher power, including the founders, staff, and children of the Home of Hope Orphanage, Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa, where I had the merit to live for several weeks. The founder of the orphanage, the Reverend T. Chipeta, who is affectionately known as agogo amuna (revered grandfather), is in fact a Presbyterian minister who thought he was retired until he received a vision to start the orphanage. The orphanage began in 1996 with a donation of $6.00 U.S. and 18 children. Of course his wife, agogo akazi (revered grandmother), was behind him all the way!

The guest house at the orphanage is quiet at 5:00 a.m. Someone rings a gong in the tree in front of the meeting hall every morning at about 5:15 a.m. and all of the children head toward the hall for morning devotions. The dawn is a special time. A time to count your blessings; a time to look toward God and to ask for help for the upcoming day; a time to remember what is important in your life; a time to listen to, and strive to accomplish, what God has planned for you. In the pre-dawn mornings at the orphanage, you can hear the faint voices of the boys singing, encouraging the sun to rise through the trees by the hall.

The walk across the grass is wet with dew and a little treacherous on account of the holes, rocks and chickens. I didn't want to risk a fall but found it hard not to hurry - you can hear the boys singing and it's the kind of singing that speaks to your soul...it's not from a song book, there is no formal training, it's singing from the heart and from the hearts of their parents and from their grandparents...it is singing that truly is a gift from God and so is freely given back to God as their gift during morning devotions.

The hall is rather dingy. When there is electricity there is light but it's not very bright. The girls are on one side of the hall and the boys are on the other. The pastor, head teacher and several others are in the front of the room which is also where the residents of the guest house sit during devotions. I greet the pastor and take my seat in a green plastic chair amidst a small swarm of mosquitoes and other random critters, thankful for remembering to apply my morning dose of 80% Deet repellent.

The little children stumble in while rubbing sleep from their eyes and find seats in the arms of the older girls and boys in the front rows. They are so sweet. They sit on benches, on plastic chairs and on woven cane mats in front of the benches. Agogo akazi sits in a green chair by the side door and every morning I love to watch her watch all of her children - she has over 400 orphans in her care now and several hundred more needy children that come to the Home of Hope for food and education.

I listen to the boys sing their songs. I see agogo akazi with her hands folded serenely in her lap. I see the pastor and the head teacher and the man who leads the prayers. I see the dingy hall with a banner made by school children in a priveleged country and during that most personal time, I wonder. How would I have answered the call to come out of retirement in my 70's and start an orphanage? I'm thinking I would have pretended I didn't hear the call and I give thanks to God who has honored me to be among these people.

If you are inspired by the Chipetas and would like to donate to further the advancement of their vision and orphanage, donate to http://www.raisingmalawi.org/ and designate the Home of Hope Orphanage as the recipient.

"What's for Dinner?" versus "Will I Eat?"

"In Malawi, a child doesn't ask, "what's for dinner? The question is, "Will I eat?" I spent three weeks recently living at The Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa, where 670 children are fortunate to be fed three meals a day! For breakfast, they have a bowl of porridge fortified with Vitameal on account of protein deficiency is a problem in Malawi. For lunch and dinner, they have the Malawi staple food, nsima, which is a thick porridge made from ufa (maize meal). With nsima, there is usually a relish of nyemba (pinto beans) or maybe a variety of cichlids which are little silver fish (sometimes used in aquariums here in the U.S.). On occasion, there may be a little bit of vegetable in the form of pumpkin leaves or a piece of sweet potato and...That's All, Folks.

I never heard one complaint about the food! Nsima is hearty but could really use a little salt, pepper and butter. But hey, it is what it is and it's eaten twice a day just like that, corn maize and water. I've always liked pinto beans but I usually have them with a little piece of seasoning meat . The little silver fish....no thanks! Pumpkin leaves are pretty good but you can only use the young, soft ones so there really aren't that many when you're looking at feeding almost 700 children of all ages. Every child was so appreciative to have food!

The children ate breakfast at 6:30, lunch at noon, and dinner at about 5:30. There was a gong in a tree that someone rang at meal times and the kids grabbed their bowls and headed for their respective lines: the older boys have a nsima fire and line, the older girls have one and the little kids have one. The girls loved when I ate with them! Nsima is eaten by rolling it into a sort of lumpy ball and then dipping the lump into whatever "relish" was being served with that meal. They copied me when I went to a tap and rinsed my fingers before I ate but I don't know if they washed when I wasn't there. Their fingers are tough and the girls laughed when I squealed after burning my fingers in the hot nsima! After eating, we wiped our hands on our skirts. There are no parents to remind them to use their napkins and anyway, there are no napkins. Our bowls were rinsed under the tap and wiped dry with our skirts to be used for the next meal.

So it all sounds so nice and fun to be eating with the girls and everyone was happy but guess what. One morning I went a little late after the breakfast gong and there wasn't any porridge left. I had to think if by eating with them, had I been taking food away from someone? The Malawians are extremely hospitable and would never had said anything to me nor would they have given me any indication that I may have been taking something that belonged to them - that's because they share what little they have with each other and I'm not sure they even think that anything DOES exclusively belong to them. It was a very sobering thought and a reminder that everything we do has a consequence and everything must be done with consciousness!

In Malawi, there are one million orphan children in a population of just 13 million. Now that you know, what will you do? If you or your business or a contact can contribute to the nutrition of these children, please go to http://www.raisingmalawi.org/ and designate Home of Hope Orphanage as the recipient.

Play Ball

There are really three groups of kids at Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa, and maybe everywhere else, too. There are the big kids, the little kids, and that group in the middle that doesn't seem to have a name.

Sunday afternoons are free days for the children and these three groups tend to play ball. While strolling through the grounds on the way to check the fattening progress of the soon-to-be barbequed goat, T-Bone (another story!), I noticed the big kids playing soccer with this brown sphere and upon closer inspection, saw that it was a soccer ball that had turned brown from being well-played with on the dirt field. The next group were the middle-aged kids, also kicking around a ball, but it wasn't really rolling well. I went to check it out and found they had gathered cut grass and packed it so tightly into a plastic grocery bag that when they tied it up, it made a pretty good ball. The next group, the little kids, had something similar to a ball but it was made with a core of I-don't-know-what and then wrapped tightly with tape. I have no idea where they would have gotten the tape....

So I'm thinking, "These kids are really bright and resourceful! They take what is available and make the best of it...including balls....they are ingenious. And they're even pretty happy with their home-made balls." I was sharing this observation with Mark, another volunteer who reminded me that at the end of the day, they would probably like to play with REAL balls.

If you or your business or a contact would like to send some REAL balls to these children, please go to www.raisingmalawi.org to make a donation and mark it for Home of Hope Orphanage.

SFK Trip

In January 2010, I had the merit to volunteer for three weeks at the Home of Hope Orphanage in the Mchinji District of Malawi, Africa. While I was there, Success For Kids teacher, Ellestina Chimimba, invited me on a graduation field trip to the capital of Lilongwe for 60 students from the orphanage who had completed all three SFK levels. Since I have been an SFK facilitator for the past four years, I was very excited to accompany Ms. Chimimba and the children on this outing.

The bus arrived at the orphanage at 7:00 in the morning and the children turned out to see the bus (photo) and to see their companions off on their trip. Lucy Chipeta, Director of Home of Hope, said some of the children have never been out of the orphanage gates! After several songs and group photos, the kids boarded the bus and hit the road while the remaining children threw leaves as we drove by, sort of like tossing rice at a wedding (photo).

Soon after leaving, the bus broke down and do you know that there were no groans or comments from the bus passengers? After about an hour, while waiting for another bus, Ms. Chimimba reminded them of the Level 3 SFK lesson, under Chaos there is Order, and got a laugh from the students! The break-down was part of their exciting journey and they took the 2+ hour delay in stride.

We arrived in Lilongwe at noon and went to a local, outdoor restaurant. At the orphanage, the children eat porridge supplemented with Vitameal for breakfast and for lunch and dinner, they eat beans and nsima, which is the Malawi staple food made from maize flour and water. The restaurant lunch was a real treat for the students who ate rice, greens and chicken along with a soft drink. We then went to a nature center and saw several rescued animals, including a hyena, baboons, lion and a boa constricter. Afterward, the children went to the memorial of Malawi's first president, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, and to a monument erected in his honor.

By the end of the trip, it was around 5:00 with a long ride home. More sodas and bakery rolls made the return more enjoyable. The kids sang most of the way home and I don't mean the bus songs I usually hear, I mean four-part harmony with a pulsing African beat! It was impossible to stay still and I seat-danced for most of the way home. The villagers were on the sides of the road waving and singing as we neared the orphanage gates and when we entered the Home of Hope, all of the children who did not go were on both sides of the bus, waving, singing and yelling greetings. Such a nice "welcome-home"!

The children later made thank-you cards for Ms. Chimimba which were presented by four students, including Flora, Hannah and Francis. The children kneel to show respect (photo).

I feel priveleged to have been on the trip with these kids. They had many opportunities to use the lessons learned in their SFK classes and it was a pleasure to see them in action! The children's behavior also reminded me to use the SFK Rules to the Game of Life. The kids have so very little, some of them have no possessions at all, and yet they share EVERYTHING with each other. They are inspiring and it was a blessing to share their special day.

Success For Kids teaches children they have a voice, and a responsibility, in their lives. Raising Malawi brings awareness and aid to the (too) many orphans of Malawi. Make a difference in the World! Make a donatation at http://www.sfk.org/ and/or http://www.raisingmalawi.org/ and designate Home of Hope as the recipient.