Another month has come and gone. It is still hard to believe it is already November. The weather here in Malawi certainly doesn’t feel like November to me; it feels more like July/August – so strange! Some of the people here are also surprised that it gets hot like this in America; they always ask us what the weather is like in America and if it ever gets hot like it is in Malawi. It is also strange to them that it is cold right now; which is understandable. As Christmas draws near, though, I think it’ll feel more like ‘Christmas in July’.
This past week was a fairly calm one, which was nice to have after our long weekend trip to Lilongwe. Tuesday evening, the Pastor & his wife invited us over for dinner to their house. It was so great to be able to spend some time with them! The weather had been cooling down and that helped the evening be even more enjoyable. We were able to share our pictures from Lilongwe with them and we heard the story of how they met (they’ve been married for 42 years!). I love hearing people share stories of their family; it helps me to better understand people and appreciate them.
We also learned a little bit more about some of the history of Malawi and how their political issues are worsening the fuel shortage instead of helping to resolve it. Chisomo told us some of the reasons for the riots that they had in July (20 people were killed); much of what happened was not what we had heard about in America, though. This just goes to show you that you really do have to be careful what you read, even if it is from a news source.
Wednesday was Dorothy’s birthday and we were able to get her a little something to celebrate. We didn’t have candles, but we did sing to her and make her a card. She was so sweet and actually made some samosas (these are delicious triangle wraps with veggies & meat in the middle & fried) for us to celebrate her birthday! J
Kayla and I have been doing a workout program to help us do 100 pushups in a row. It is 6 weeks long and we just completed it on Friday. Dorothy saw us do some pushups on Wednesday and tried to do them with us; then on Friday, she tried them again and did a little bit of our aerobic workout with us. It was entertaining for all of us. Dorothy kept saying, “My God! Those hurt here and here (pointing to her arms & legs), Eeeesh!” When we were about a third of the way into our workout she said, “I’m full up” (which meant she was done) and went to finish making dinner. As she watched us continue, she said we were strong enough to be beat 3 men at once. J
Saturday after church we enjoyed some visitors! Charity Nkosi (daughter to Pastor Nkosi, whom we visited in Lilongwe last week) came down to chat with us for a bit. We asked her how her week was and how work went (she works for a hotel) and she told us she has been waiting for a paycheck since September! Kayla and I couldn’t believe it! We asked her why and she said her employers say that there is no business so they don’t have money. However, she proceeded to tell us that the owners of the hotel (who have 3 hotels total in Malawi) seem to take care of their family first, before the employees. Even though Charity and her co-workers haven’t been paid, the owners have purchased a new car and are sending their children & grandchildren to private schools. Now, I realize we are only getting Charity’s side of the story, but she has been working for this company for 6 years and this year is the first year that they have had trouble with receiving a paycheck. We asked her if she was going to find another job and she said she is probably going to have to find something else part-time because she is running out of money (I’d say so!), but that right now, finding another full time job is hard because they are so scarce so she’ll stay with the hotel. Charity also told us that the managers don’t like to hire many educated people because they feel that an educated employee is clever and will try to take money from them. She said many of the other employees are just grateful to have a job, which is probably why it is easier for the owners to not pay them, but still expect them to work because they can’t a job anywhere else. As tough as this situation is for Charity, she seemed fairly upbeat and positive. She knows that she could find another job and she may do just that if she has to.
Soon after Charity left, Samuel (one of the young adult leaders) also stopped by. He is also a teacher, just in Secondary School, and lives in Zomba, about an hour from Blantyre. It is nice to talk with him and ask him questions about Malawi’s education system and curriculum. He also likes to talk about movies and TV shows. J
The rest of our Saturday was quiet & leisurely. We started the second season of 24 Friday night and we’re more than halfway through already. That show is definitely addicting! It is nice to have this small comfort of home to enjoy in our free time.
I hope your weekend an enjoyable one. As we draw nearer to Thanksgiving, may we remember to tell others just how much we appreciate and are thankful for them. God has given us much to be thankful and deserves our praise and thanksgiving!!
Prayers & Praises:
- One of the Standard 2 teachers has been moved up to teach Standard 6; this was a big change for her and Kayla as stepped into help her teach English and Expressive Arts (which is a combination of our music and physical education classes, sort of)
- Now that I am no longer helping with Standard 6, I have offered to help with Bible Knowledge and Life Skills in Standard 5
- In talking with Isaac, we are also going to try and split the class to teach English & Math in the morning; hopefully this will be beneficial to the students and to us as teachers in better assessing the students’ progress
- Even though we just had mid-term exams a couple weeks ago, we only have 3-4 weeks of teaching before their end of term exams! Not necessarily enough time to work on all the areas of improvement needed for some of these students.
- Parents were given opportunities for consultation with the teachers during the week last week; we were glad to see that they offered parent/teacher conferences, though we aren’t sure just how many parents were able to make it in to see the teachers. They were only given time at lunch or at the end of the day to come and see the teacher
- Kayla and I are both still waiting on some packages that our parents sent to us; it has been 6 weeks since mine was sent and 3 for Kayla’s. We had no idea it would take this long to receive some items, otherwise we wouldn’t have asked for them. As far as we know, Pastor Nihaka checks the mail at least once a week, but with the fuel shortage, they may not do it as much.
- Have a blessed week!! J
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