Yesterday’s funeral was quite an affair! Even our local Member of Parliament came to pay respects to the chief. There were hundreds of people in attendance. There is so much that I could say about it that I’m not sure where to start. Continue reading “At the Chief’s Funeral”
For the past few weeks, we have been seeing many zirombo (wild animals) running and dancing. But they’re not real wild animals. They are men dressed in rags and crazy clothing, often with their bodies smeared with mud and paint. This is part of Gule Wamkulu, the traditional religion of the Chewa people.
We started learning about Gule Wamkulu more than a year ago, but now that we are living in the village, this is the first time that we’ve seen it actually being practiced. Continue reading ““Wild Animals””
It was like a gangster movie. First I cased the possible locations for the transaction, stepping into small rooms manned by security, asking to speak to the boss. “What kind of rate can you give me?” “271.” “No, that’s not good enough.” “How much money are we talking about?” “A lot.”
In the end, I chose a place based less on the rate than on the ease of the getaway. Continue reading “Millionaire for a Day”
While walking home one day, I noticed the girls on the farm collecting large stalks of grass. I asked them what they were doing. According to them, the headmaster of their school required the students to bring bundles of grass so they could build another latrine (the grass is used to make the walls). I thought to myself, “How wonderful, they are doing this on their own.” So many times in Malawi things are not done because “the projects need donors to provide money” so that Western-type building materials can be used. However, this schoolmaster took the initiative to use home-grown materials to build the latrine. We hope to do the same thing in Kindle–to use the resources the people have to achieve the things that will benefit themselves and their communities.
I am a city girl. I like to have things neat and clean. I hate bugs, mice, and crawling things. I have learned to hike and camp only because Dean likes to do these things. Continue reading “A City Girl”
A tennis racquet, a hiking boot, and a machete lashed to a piece of bamboo. What critters are these three items particularly useful in dealing with? Continue reading “Weapons of Choice”
Last week at Partners in Hope I received word that a woman wanted to meet with me for “personal reasons.” As I was walking to meet with her, I was thinking about what problems she might have or what I might have missed. But her purpose was simple: she just came to give me a bag of dowe (fresh maize) to say “thank you” for the program to prevent cervical cancer. She had been tested about a month before, had received a good report and was so relieved! I was humbled by her making a special trip to show her appreciation.
I received a text message on one of my bus journeys from Lilongwe to Salima—the brother of a friend of ours had just died in Lilongwe. I immediately knew that I should return to Lilongwe to pay respects to the family, but I had a lot of work to do in Salima. Going back to Lilongwe would mean more time spent away from my family, more money spent on transport, and most of a day wasted in a couple of crowded buses. Continue reading “Twisted”
The Stockers' Stories 