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.
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”
Malawi has a well-deserved reputation as the “Warm Heart of Africa.” Just yesterday I was looking for a shop in town, and asked someone who was sitting at the side of the road for help. As it turns out, I was only a block away, and he pointed me in the right direction. I thanked him and started to head off, then he got up and walked with me, to show me exactly where it was. When it was in sight, I thanked him again, but he kept walking with me. He took me all of the way into the store and showed me where the manager was, in case I needed to talk to him. Continue reading “The Warm Heart of Africa”
The Stockers' Stories 