Water Filters

So many of you already know that Jack's 4th grade class chose to make our trip to Malawi the focus of their spring service project.  Ms. Uthe and her class decided to sell flower pots to raise money for water filters.  As a class they developed a business plan, pot designs, and set a goal of selling enough flower pots to buy 3 water filters.  The class really got excited about this project and sold over 100 flower pots, raising enough $$ for 10 water filters!  Truly a blessing!

The day the class painted the pots we arranged for Lou Haveman, the Sawyer Filter salesman, to give a clean water demonstration.  The kids walked from school over to Hughes Park to find the dirty water we "planted."  With Mr. Haveman's water filter the kids were able to drink our neighbors green pool water right there on the spot.

It's now August and 4 of those filters have been given to the Tsandule Early Childhood Center in Dowa, Malawi.  This center services 5 villages, and has about 120 preschool students in attendance every morning.  The water filters will allow the children and the surrounding villages to have clean water.  No longer will diarrhea be a way of life for them.  They will enjoy health and clean water all because 4th graders in Hudsonville Michigan took the time to care about others; friends they may never meet.

THANK YOU MS. UTHE'S CLASS!  AND THE PARK ELEMENTARY FAMILY! 

The rest of the water filters will be distributed to 3 other early childhood centers in the Dowa District.

Last Day

I can't hardly believe today is our last day here in Malawi.  Seven weeks have flown by so quickly.  We're not ready to come home yet. (Jack just wants to get on the plane and go, no more of this packing and living in anticipation of leaving....if we have to leave, let's just go...)

Yesterday Steve was able to go to the building site and check on progress.  He was also able to say his "good byes" to the workers and Patron.  Dad and the boys continued to work on hanging the drywall in the office.

Today Dad and Steve hope to complete the drywall and trim work at the office, and still have time for one last trip to the Crisis Nursery.

This has been an amazing adventure.  Thank you to all of you who have supported us both financially and through prayer. We are so blessed!

Grandpa arrives in Malawi

Saturday we welcomed my dad to Malawi.  The kids could hardly contain themselves on the ride to the airport.  What we didn't realize was that on Saturdays groups of people use M1 to promote their causes.  So what we thought was going to be a 15 minute drive to the airport turned into a 30 minute drive.  I started to get nervous about missing Dad's plane landing when we saw all the traffic.  Then we discovered the traffic back up was due to a group of Muslim youth asking for money in the middle of M1.  Then, not 5 minutes later a Catholic choir was also asking for money.  Really, do you need an entire lane of the highway to beg for money on a Saturday?  Really?  I want to see my Dad...  We saw his plane land while we were driving, and we made it to the airport before he made it through customs. 

Arriving in Lilongwe
 



Dad's birthday was Friday while he was flying.  We made a cake and bought ice cream to celebrate.  Happy 65th Dad!
 

 

Grandpa and the girls working hard at the conference center.

CBO Visit

 


The children are practicing their alphabet and numbers.




The first room of the two room library.  There were books in both English and Chichewa.

Yesterday's CBO visit went very well.  It is amazing the difference between the first CBO and the second.  The first had just a tiny building with a grass roof, this one has a large 3 room building, metal roof, and a library.  Both CBO's service 5 surrounding villages.  This one also works with orphans and those with HIV. 

This time we taught them the song "Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes", and played lots of games.  The kids had already showed us that they knew the parts of the body, so it was fun to teach them a song to help them remember.  They caught on very quickly.

 

Jump the River



Before leaving we presented one of the Village Chiefs with

two soccer balls, and promised to return with water filters from Ms. Uthe's class.  Then as we left the teachers sang to us as we drove away.  What a great day!  Looking forward to bringing the water filters next week!

                                             

In Africa there is always room for one more

Something we notice very early on in our trip is that there is ALWAYS room for one more.  In Malawi there is always time for someone, there is always room for someone.  Mini-buses are actually like Volkswagen Vans, used as public transportation.  Designed to seat 7 or 8 comfortably, these vans are often packed with 12 or 15 people, their suitcases, brooms, firewood, chickens, etc....And they will gladly stop to pick up one more person.  We have not ventured into a mini-bus.  I wonder if Steve would even fit.  But you get the idea, there is always room for one more. 

We drive around in our van, all comfortably buckled in with ample wiggle room, even if the kids don't think so.  We've been asked for rides by police officers, nannies at the crisis nursery, and complete strangers.  We are pretty stingy with our "rides".  When the nannies ask for a ride we are happy to help out, but only as our space allows.  I am beginning to feel torn between safety and the idea "there is always room for one more." 

Yesterday as we left the nursery a nanny hollered from the window for a ride.  I said sure, not knowing where she was going or who was coming with her.  I had all the kids in the back seat double buckled so we would have plenty of room for "one more."  Steve told her we only had room for one.  So there she and Jen sat, just the two of them in the middle row.  Room for at least one more, but in Africa probably two or three.

Sunday worship in the camp is another example of "room for one more."  Benches and chairs are crammed together with just enough room to walk pass, but not really to have sit without your knees in someone else's back.  This week at St. Stephen's Catholic Church we were allowed to sit in the benches in the back.  This was a rare treat, and most appreciated.  All the other weeks we have been ushered right to the front, where everyone can watch us.

We sat down a couple of minutes before the service began.  Steve, Charlie and I in one bench; Jen, Casey and Jessie in the next; and Jack by himself in the next.  Every time there was break in the "action" more people would spill into the church from every door.  They would carefully look for any sliver of wood on a bench and then claim it as their seat.  By the end of the service Jessie was on my lap, Jen and Casey were sharing their bench with a mother and her two children, and Jack was swished between 3 ladies.  (These benches are maybe 4 feet long, and between 4 and 6 inches wide.)

I think we enjoyed this service more than the others for a couple of reasons.  The kids liked it because it wasn't as loud, and it was only 2 1/2 hours long instead of 4 hours.  I liked it because the people worshiped in pure joy.  Their faces shined with joy.  They danced and sang unto the Lord, not in a showy way like we have seen at other churches.  These brothers and sisters were worshiping the Lord.

Jen has been working with the youth pastor at St. Stephen's helping him with a letter exchange program.  The school aged children of the church work together to write letters in English, and send them to a school in the UK.  Sunday following the service we met with some of the students for a letter exchange activity.  We played Simon Says to practice simple English commands.  They also played their favorite game, Sword Drills. Three teams were formed, a passage was given, and a member from each team raced to see who could find it first and read it in English.  Our kids participated, and were even eager to help.  They have been shy and reluctant in past activities like this.  It was great to see them interacting with kids more comfortably.

Anyways....I am hoping when we return home we will take with us the idea that there is always time for conversation, and there is always room for one more.

Casey leading a round of Simon Says

       Jack, Casey and Charlie with Francis, the youth minister at St. Stephen's Catholic Church

ABC campus

African Bible College also has a Primary and Secondary School on their campus, as well as a very nice medical clinic.  While the kids played on the playground I took some pictures of their beautiful campus. The pictures below are of the primary school buildings.

Building update

Steve received word this morning that the villages have come to an agreement and that building will be able to resume.  We now need to wait for the District Commissioner to give an official document.  Hopefully we will have proper documentation in hand today or Monday, but we are planning for it to more likely be the end of next week.  Steve is really itching to get back to work.  It would be great to have things rolling again before Dad gets here next Saturday.

This week Steve was invited to play volleyball at African Bible College (ABC).   ABC has a prison ministry and they organized a game between students and youth inmates.  Steve played for an hour or so while the kids and I played on the playground.

Safari

Last Thursday we set out from Lilongwe with Kiboko Safari Company and headed to Zambia for a 3 night 4 day safari.  Thursday was a day of travel and getting familiar with the camp.  Our campsite was right on the Luangwa River.  We could see hippos and plenty of beautiful birds right out our front door.  Monkeys and Baboons ran freely through the camp as well.  Our accommodations were tents with cots.  Each tent slept two people, but Jake and Jen were each willing to bunk with one of the kids. 

Thank you Auntie Jen for sharing your tent with Jessie.

Thursday night, just after going to bed a huge bull elephant wandered right into our camp.  It choose to snack on the tree right behind Jen and Jessie's tent.  Even with all the noise Jessie slept right through the visit.  Jen on the other hand was a bit worried the elephant was going to sit on the tent as he kept backing up.  He was literally close enough for Jen to reach out and touch if she wanted to.  The elephants stopped in every night.  Wow!  And who knew how loud hippos were.  Every night they would "bark" and "howl"  all night long. (Camping at Cran Hill has nothing on this experience, sorry guys :)  hope you're having fun though)

Friday morning's wake up call came at 5 am.  Breakfast at 5:30 as the sun rose.  Our first game drive started at 6 am.  Right away, before we even make it to the park we were greeted with giraffes.  We saw so many beautiful animals.  Impalas, Kudo, Kuku, Bushbuck, Zebra, Crocodiles, a Leopard, Vultures on a giraffe kill, and a pair of Lions.  Our first game drive was a total success!

 

 

We had the afternoon to relax and gear up for our first evening game drive.  After tea and coffee at 3:30 we loaded up in the Land Rover and got ready to see more.  We enjoyed a beautiful sunset on the river.  While we stopped for a snack we watched a group of fishermen get ready for a night of fishing.  Gondwe, our guide, told us that the river is teeming with crocodiles and that if you fell in and lasted 10 minutes that would be quite something.  So Steve and I decided kayaking was probably out of the question.  We were really hoping that we would see more lions and spot our first hyena once the sun set, but our night drive was less fruitful than our morning.

Saturday morning was another early start.  More amazing and wonderful animals, but no lions.  We were hot on the trail of another leopard, but never got an eye on him.  The kids all enjoyed taking turns riding shotgun.

 

Our last game drive was probably the best.  We were able to see a huge Baobab tree.  These are my most favorite trees in the world, simply amazing.  If you look really closely you'll see Steve standing in the lower left hand corner.  We also saw two 3 leopards, hundreds of Cape Buffalo, and a couple of Hyenas. 

Seeing all of these animals so closely was beyond amazing.  Truly God is a creative, loving and awesome God!

 

But for me, the best part of the entire safari was the people.  We set our from Lilongwe with 7 other tourists.  Carolyn is from Maryland, and artist by trade and a fellow Christian.  Ella and Thomas were from Norway, and very kind.  The MacFarland family is from New Zeeland.  Mr. and Mrs. MacFarland are grandparents.  They have 2 adopted twin daughters who are married with children and living in the states.  The MacFarlands lived in Malawi for several years, and while they were here they adopted Moses and Miriam, now 6 years old, from the Crisis Nursery. 

 

The staff of Kiboko were also very special people.  They treated us like family, answered all of our questions and looked after the kids.  Geertje, a 27 year old art therapist from the Netherlands, is working at Kiboko as the camp manager.  She took the job in June, and is the only European working in the camp.  I really enjoyed talking with her. Her life has been difficult, but her attitude is positive.  She is  thoughtful and caring.  Friday afternoon she took the time to paint the kids faces.  Saturday afternoon Geertje and Carolyn were painting and drawing wildlife, but both women welcomed our watchful eyes.  They both shared their "real" supplies with the kids without hesitation.

 

Throughout our entire stay here in Malawi, meeting the people, sharing life stories; This has been my most favorite experience of all.