The title of this story is misleading. No two days have been alike on our sojourn through Malawi. However, most of our experiences today were similar to what we had done and experienced at some time before. So far we have not done a travelogue. This is it.
We knew this was going to be a long day so Sue fixed a bag full of peanut butter sandwiches, cookies and granola bars, with the plan to stop for bananas along the way. We left Annie’s Guest House about 8:00 a.m. to head north on the M1 (this is the main highway north and south, a two lane tarmac with its share of potholes) to Madisi. We picked up the pastor, Elijah Phiri, at the parsonage. He led us on a short walk to a plot of ground that the church hopes to buy in order to build a church. There are 10 acres available at K70,000 per acre (about $500 per acre). They have no money and realize that the purchase of more than an acre or two is far beyond their reality. It looked like a great site which leads down to a dambo where they could have a church garden.
Leaving Madisi we headed north a short distance before turning off the tarmac onto a dirt road. The road was rough but we were not on it long before we turned off again onto two dirt tracks that were much smoother. Since it had rained two days ago there was not as much dust as we had experienced previously on roads of this nature.
We arrived at the village where the pastor’s mother lives. We visited the small church but the main attractions were the pig farming project and the preparation for a goat raising project. They have four young pigs that looked very healthy but are several weeks away from market. Elevated goat pens have been erected. The droppings of the goats will fall to the ground, be picked up, and used to fertilize the garden. That is possible if they can find $30 apiece for two goats. We also walked down to the dambo area to the church garden, passing a large tobacco seedling farm humming with workers and their watering cans. This operation had a diesel powered pump bringing water closer to their tobacco beds – a pretty amazing set-up. We learned about the adult literacy project held in the church building. We asked what the materials cost. They don’t have any except a sheet of paper for each woman in the class. Lack of money did not hold them back from doing something.
After getting back in the car and more travel on dirt roads/paths, our next stop was at a tiny temporary church building next to a dirt football (soccer) field. Several members of the church met us. We had brief time in the church for the required formal greetings. One of the soccer balls Charlie brought with him from Virginia was presented to the church leaders. Several women presented Sue with a large sack of cassava roots as a gift. We saw the property where they will soon start molding bricks for a church building. After the formalities in the temporary church building we walked to the location of a shallow hand dug open well. It was dry. A few feet away from it was another dug well – a bit deeper. It also was dry and will remain dry until enough rain has come to raise the water table. The women now have to walk a long distance to get water. If any place needs a borehole, this Katayeni village is it. There is a borehole about two kilometers away but it is privately owned. The owner charges K20 (about 14˘) per pail. That is more than they can afford.
At the third stop we did not find a church building but were taken on a long walk to a dambo (flood plain area) to see the church’s garden. It was great to be out of the car after so much bumpy riding, but the sun was hot beating down on us. They rent a treadle pump to irrigate the land and the garden was lush. We saw maize, pumpkin, and beans thriving wonderfully. Amazing what water can do in this parched land!
The fourth stop was at a village where the chief was a woman. That was a first for us. She is a member of the church. Technically it is a “preaching point” and not an organized church yet but it is thriving. They also need a borehole. They draw water with a rope and a bucket from a fairly deep hand dug well.
Our last stop of the day was in Carmel, up the tarmac road quite a distance but near the town of Kasungu. A school classroom was nearly filled with people. As we drove up we heard singing. The people sang their way out of the school toward the car. The singing was the best we have heard in Malawi and we have heard a lot of good singing. They were at a new level of excellence. The sound was indescribably beautiful. We did brief sound movies with our digital cameras. Inside the building the “choir” did more singing before we moved into the teaching time. Herb did a presentation on local church organization. He turned the explanation of how to develop a church budget over to his interpreter, Pastor Steve Mbewe. Steve has honed this segment well by now. He has done it several times.
Sue followed with a time of interactive conversation and action with the children before turning to the women with a message of encouragement. This was followed by a few more songs by the choir. When the choir sang its final songs we put Mickey Mouse stickers on all the children and gave each child a banana. The leaders verbally presented their “wish list” – a church building and a generator for their electronic keyboard so they can take it to rural villages to do evangelism.
About 4:30 we headed back toward Madisi. We made a brief stop to pay a pastoral call on a young teacher who had just moved into the area. We took Pastor Phiri back to his rented parsonage and headed down the M1 for Lilongwe.
About 30 minutes away from Annie’s we got a phone call from Claude who had been our driver in Blantyre. He was waiting for us at Annie’s. He had a birthday card for Herb and transformer, also for Herb. We brought one to Malawi with us but it burned out. Sue has been doing without a hairdryer fairly well, but Herb’s razor ran out of power several days ago and he is getting very shaggy. The superintendent discovered that Claude was coming up and sent the converter so Herb would not embarrass the church… or whatever.
We got back to Annie’s around 7:00 p.m., waited 30 minutes until a delicious spaghetti supper was brought to us. We are tired but that has been common. Tomorrow is a day of rest. Hallelujah. The big event tomorrow is to welcome Sue’s brother Charlie back from his three-day safari in Zambia. So, it was another “typical” day in the life of the visitors to Malawi from Belmont UMC in Nashville, Tennessee.
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