Grace Like Rain

Grace—(n)—freely given, unmerited favor and love; moral strength

We are forever in debt for Malawi’s grace. Without it we would have fewer friends, duller dreams, and a lesser appreciation for the beauty of our lives.

*For Christmas this year, my grandmother bought us all dictionaries. Of course, we all laughed pointing out that www.dictionary.com was just a click away, bookmarked on all of our Mozilla Foxfire browsers. Ironically, I couldn’t write this post until I got home, because I couldn’t access the internet in order to find the definition of “grace”. It’s times like these that remind you to be thankful for the simple things in life: real books, loving grandparents, and the grace of Malawi.

The Joy of All Generations

This weekend was, again, full of adventures. We spent our last weekend in Malawi at the same place that we spent our first weekend—John’s Pentecostal church. Again, we were the guests of honor, and took our seats behind the pew. Only this time, Chase was asked to “preach”. We tried to explain to John that he was just going to be a guest speaker, but he insisted on Chase speaking for an hour. The service actually started off very pleasantly. There was some awesome singing and dancing, and we saw many of our friends there. Mom was introduced as John’s white mother. Josh and I were introduced as John’s siblings, and finally a joke was made about Chase falling head over heels for me. Even in Africa they recognize that he’s the one who fell for me. Just kidding. Kind of…;)

So, finally it was Chase’s turn to speak. I should mention that poor Chase was up sick all night, but found the strength to speak despite. The church was filled with maybe 50 people. They all sat on the edge of their chairs with their Bibles ready. Needless to say, Chase did an amazing job. He spoke about Biblical love, and of the importance of humility. I got it all on tape for anyone who wants to see it.

John followed with a contrasting evangelical message. What followed was interesting to say the least. Perhaps, though, this is something that should be discussed not simply shared.
Later on Sunday Sylvia (the other physical therapist in Central Malawi) came over for a Malawian meal (chicken, rice, and greens).

Mom delivered the Loudoun Road Runners shirts to the Hospital Soccer Team. They were happy to layer them on—tank top then t-shirt then long sleeve all at once.

On Monday we spent the day preparing for our trip to Kamangira, Matthew’s village. We expected a two hour journey at least, and were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the village after a quick half hour walk. Of course, Roderick, Youngone, Alec, Youngone, and a few others followed closely behind us the entire way.

We visited almost every house in the village and met all of Matthew’s family members. We met his two aunts (ages 76 and “I can’t remember”), and his 86 year old uncle. Even at age 76, his aunt greeted us as she was coming back from working in the fields with a gigantic bundle of sticks balanced on her head. She cracked up when she saw her gray hair in her picture. She told us with hand motions about how the rains were few this year, and about how the ground nuts were scarce. Then, she brought us a gigantic bowl of ground nuts to take home. We tried to refuse them, but she was too eager to sacrifice. Her wrinkles indicated where her smiles had been and where her tears had fallen.

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;
as young as your hope, as old as your despair.

Matthews also took us to his family’s garden. It was the most incredible garden that I’ve ever seen in Malawi. They were growing all sorts of things—beans, corn, lettuce, mustard seeds, tomatoes, onions, and even tobacco. I wish it hadn’t been such a rare sight.
Somehow, our journey home took an hour and a half. Oh well, it was nice just to pass the time with friends.

Today we invited Malifa, Grace, Alec, and Roderick over. We gave them each some clothes, and a soccer ball and Frisbee to share. We tried to get Grace to smile for her picture, but she just showed us her teeth. It was adorable none the less.

Tomorrow will be a day for good-byes. Rather, tomorrow will be a day for “see you laters”. As Dave Matthews would say, “the space between your heart and mine is a space filled with time”.

And They Set Off Together

All good weeks begin with a laugh. Mom provided this week’s smile. But, I should start with a proper explanation before I get to the good part. Mom has been translating all of Josh’s Frontline messages from Chichewa into English. Recently, she came across a message that said “please send the mother of Joshua for the arms and legs”. So, the next day mom set out on the back of a motorcycle with Alex towards the patient in a rural village. Before she got onto the bike, she quickly changed into jeans, tied up her hair, and put her helmet on… or at least what she thought was on. She was ready to go. Hopefully the pictures will explain the rest. But don’t laugh too hard, it was extremely cute.

Eventually, they got going. At that point, we were all a little worried for mom’s safety. But, we figured… if anything happens, she’s a physical therapist, she’ll figure it out. I was happy to see St. Gabriel’s makeshift medical diagnostic lab in a backpack strapped to the back of the bicycle courtesy of Chase. It was quite an event when the motorcycle showed up in the village. When they go there, the patient was waiting in her small house on a mat with her husband and a kettle on a fire in the middle of the room. My mom took about twenty minutes teaching the group (the patient, the guardian, and the community health worker- CHW) the necessary physical therapy exercises, and they spent about twenty minutes repeating every single step exactly as instructed, no urgency or impatience needed.

Before they left, the CHW wanted to give them some ground nuts for the journey. They entered his house to find three gigantic bushels of tobacco, ten piles of window pains, and enough room for three or four people to stand. Sometimes I wonder about Malawians and their ideas about space. Who knows, maybe Americans are the ones with the warped sense of space.

My mom has been a jack of many trades during her visit this summer. One second she is on the back of a motorbike, and the next second she is visiting an elderly nun in the convent. The other day I went with her to visit one of the Carmelite Sisters. This woman was incredible. She arrived in Malawi with her nursing license in 1959 from Zambia. All she really wanted was someone to talk to. I can’t blame her; she has quite a lot to talk about. I am so thankful for hidden gems like this woman. Unless you happened to venture to St. Gabriel’s Hospital in Namitondo, Malawi and were somehow able to sneak into the nun’s convent, you would never know that this incredible woman, this incredible story, this incredible virtue, even existed. Well, here’s a tribute to incredible things that come and go unnoticed, except to the lucky few.

On Friday Josh and I traveled to the Baylor Clinic again and shadowed Chris Buck in the Kamuzu Wards as he worked as the HIV Counselor/MD. The Kamuzu Wards give you an interesting perspective of the real gaps in Malawian health care. There are two kids to a bed (one with diarrhea the other with pneumonia—each giving their own diagnosis to the other). Clinical officers are discharging patients without consulting a doctor or reason. Translators are scarcer than Chichewa-speaking doctors, and communication between Baylor and Kamuzu is non-existent. After a mini-bus breakdown, Josh and I arrived at the hospital by 10. By noon three of Dr. Buck’s patients had been discharged and two had died. Out of discouragement, he took us out to lunch at a local Malawian joint. He still claims that he misses Mexican food more than his family.

We visited Deus's house. It has a gigantic common room and four smaller rooms. Thanks to Kevin (aka Kelvin), and 5000 bricks made by hand, Prince will have a beautiful house to grow up in.

This week we decided to make pizza. We invited Shida, Alex, and his twins to join us for a taste of real Western food. Ten years from now, I will still remember that pizza; not because it was the best pizza that I’ve ever had, but because of the way that we had it, together.

We all did a sprint workout this week. When I say we all, I mean we all… as in every kid in the entire village. They think that every sprint is a race, and they don’t like to have recovery time in between races. The little ones (like Grace and Corrie) mark the “finish line” for us and give us high fives as we turn around. One-twenties will be a different experience for me this pre-season. Every time I cross the line I will be giving Grace a high five, and I will be remembering her strength, her endurance, her tiny hands, and her beautiful smile. Every time I cross the line, Malifa will be running right next to me and Alec will be dancing behind. Roderick will be keeping time, and twenty other kids will be waiting at the finish line ready to give me high-fives. This year, we will do it together.

“A part of you has grown in me. And so you see, it's you and me- together forever and never apart, maybe in distance, but never in heart.”

For They Were Fishermen

5am-Three people, one bike

6am- Twenty-four people, one bus

7am- Twenty two people, one bus

9am- Fifteen people, one pick-up truck

10am- Five people, one paradise

After a complete day of traveling, we arrived at Senga Bay. The pictures don’t do Lake Malawi justice, but at the least they’ll speak louder than words. Even after our long day of traveling, we decided to make the boat trip to Lizard Island. We all went swimming, although I hesitate to call Peter’s attempt swimming. It was more like drowning. I know I’m not one to talk, but Josh literally had to rescue him. When we got to the island, Josh and Chase immediately took of their life jackets and dove in. Peter did the same, insisting that he knew how to swim. We quickly found out otherwise. The lake was a majesty of fish. They were delighted to have us intrude on their paradise.

After the swim, we hiked all around the island and took a boat back to the lodge. Next, we decided to hike up the mountain to what is arguably the most beautiful sight in all of Malawi. It’s incredible that so much fresh water exists in Malawi, untouched in a beautiful oasis. By five o’clock we were all hungry, exhausted, and trying desperately to stay awake until dinner. It was all worth it. We had Malawi’s signature fish, chambo, out on the lodge porch with all of the lodge visitors for one gigantic barbeque dinner. Again, we all tried desperately to stay awake at least until nine. The next thing we knew, we were all waking up to the sound of curious monkeys and the endless bliss of the lake. After an incredible breakfast we were ready to head back to Namitete. The weekend was a reminder of the luxuries we sometimes take for granted.

When we got to Lilongwe, mom and Chase were ready to show us their surprise. They took us to the mall. As we sat in an Italian restaurant and ate chicken sandwiches with French fries, we could have sworn we were back in the US. After dinner came the surprise- hot chocolate. I know what you’re thinking... hot chocolate?—so what! But it was literally... hot... chocolate. It was as if someone had taken a chocolate bar and melted it in a cup. It was the best dessert on the planet—a hidden gem to the rest of the world.

There is really no way to describe the lake, so I have included tons of pictures.