The Great Toy Raid

The top pic is the guest house, the middle is the nursery, and the picture above is two of the nursery kids...."Where are our toys!" The pics were taken by a fellow volunteer, Kate Merritt, who is from Canada.




In January 2010, I had the merit to volunteer at the Home of Hope Orphanage in Mchinji District, Malawi, Africa. It is a wonderful place with lots of kids but not that many toys. The orphanage nursery has several shelves of donated toys...some of them are inappropriate on account of they require batteries, some were broken and unsafe, some were down right creepy! (see Toy Story pic of the doll....that will give you nightmares!) and they were all dirty - when I picked them up, moths flew out and spiders scurried off. Anyway, there are lots of kids and not that many adults to watch over them and to take care of their toys so I took it upon myself to take the toys from the nursery up to the guest house, to clean them in the guest house bath tub, and return them to the nursery. (I'm laughing thinking of this story.)



So what happens is that I go to the nursery, pick up a couple bags of toys, take them to the guest house tub and when there is water, fill the tub and soak the toys in a little bleach for a few hours. Then rinse, rewash with a little detergent, rinse again and now what? I have a tub full of soft and stuffed toys and no dryer! The toys come out of the tub and I'm thinking the front porch of the guest house will be a good place to dry them. I string a line across the porch and hang some of the toys on the line. Toys are placed all along the ledge of porch. Toys are set up on the edge of the stairs and on the porch floor - all in the sun to dry. Toys are everywhere! They are bright and clean and of course, totally irresistible to kids who don't have any toys.



The process sounds fairly easy but it's not. It's hard. Water isn't easy to come by, bleach had to be borrowed from the clinic of Dolly, the nurse, and bending over the tub washing, rinsing and scrubbing was something I certainly wasn't used to doing. The toys had to be washed and rinsed three times until they were clean but at the end of the day, they were looking pretty good. By night fall, they hadn't totally dried so I decided to leave them out on the porch until bedtime. (You've GOT to know what's coming...).



It was near 9:00 (bedtime) and I was sitting at the table with fellow volunteers Phil, Gaby and Mark when Gaby said, "Did you hear something?" She turned on the porch light and looked out the window and spotted two or three boys running off the porch. They had taken all of the soft toys that were hanging on the bungee cord clothes line, all of the toys drying on a towel on the floor, and most of the toys that were drying on the walls of the porch! My first thought was selfish, poor me, all that work to clean the nursery toys and see what happened? I'm ashamed of that first thought but feel I should be honest with myself and my readers. My second thought was for the nursery kids....they lost about a quarter of their toys but really folks, they weren't that great to begin with. My third thought was that I had to tell Lucy, the orphanage director, about the boys and what they did....they aren't supposed to be on the guest house porch without permission and for sure they aren't supposed to steal! And the last and most important thought, Well what did you expect, Kathy? All of these colorful toys are hanging on a line and on the wall of the guest house and they are just BEGGING to be stolen!



I told Lucy the next day....I thank God I was unable to identify the boys!....she wished that they had been caught and taken to her for discipline. She is very loving and tolerant but I think the boys may have been slapped up side the head for their actions that night! One of the soft blocks were returned to the guest house the next day - a worker found it in the yard. I can imagine a little boy running through the corn in the dark, holding toys in his shirt and losing one and I chuckle thinking of his dilemma!



The nursery babies will never miss those lost toys...they are too young. At first, I felt bad the boys stole the toys - it's not good to steal, right? But when Mark said laughingly, "Kathy, I think there has been a raid!", I realized the situation was too tempting to the little boys and really, what was I thinking? It is not good to steal but for sure it is not good to set up a situation to tempt them to that extent! I hope the little boys have lots of fun playing with those toys! I wish that there were enough toys for the nursery and for the little boys, too, but there are not. If you can help make their lives a little more fun, please contact http://www.raisingmalawi.org/ to make a tax deductible donation and designate the Home of Hope Orphanage as the recipient.

AIDS

This is the story that is hardest to tell...it is the story about the kids and AIDS. I had the merit to volunteer at the Home of Hope orphanage in Mchinje District, Malawi, at the beginning of 2010. The kids are all smiley and silly but many of them are sick. Can you tell which of these kids have AIDS? Well, I can tell you it is more than one. The children in the orphanage do not know who has AIDS on account of it's a big stigma. It is a terrible, life-threatening, debilitating affliction and if I had it, I wouldn't want anyone to know either.

The average life expectancy in Malawi is 39 years old disease-free and 44 years total. From 39 to 44, you may live but you will live with disease and let's just call it like it is...you will "live" with AIDS. One of the volunteers I worked with, Gaby, is a medical doctor. She said if a baby is born to a mother with AIDS, the baby has a 20% chance of having AIDS. If the baby is breast-fed by the mother with AIDS, the chances of contracting the disease increases. Let's say you are a mother with AIDS in a village and you are told that you are increasing the chance that your baby will contract AIDS and die if you breast-feed your baby. What can you do? Your baby is hungry and your baby is crying. You feed your baby is what the mother will do! Gaby isn't optimistic about the life-span of the sick little ones.

There MUST be an alternative to seeing your baby starve or seeing your baby contract AIDS! There must be.......................

Please, if you can make a difference, make a donation to www.raisingmalawi.org and designate the Home of Hope as the recipient.

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.