The past week and some

It has been a while since I have posted here, I guess because we have been busy.

So what has happened....

After the last post our week was filled with bringing orphans which we sponsor, home from school.  On Tuesday we picked up Teresa from her school and drove her back.  She passed with flying colors in her exams and the headmaster was impressed with her progress.  This made me happy to hear.  As we took her home I do not believe I have been shook by a road so much as this one.  It was quite bumpy.  Finally though we got to her village and her mom was there waiting for us and was excited to see her, especially Araceli.

Araceli with Teresa's mom

We took one more girl home on Thursday and we were surrounded by the village as they were happy to welcome her home.

That coming Saturday we had planned a different mountain to climb.  On our way out a man called to us and asked if he could join on our trip.  We were excited to have him and he turned out to know the area quite well.  so we became our somewhat tourguide. 

 

Walking through the burnt bush

Most of the mountain we climbed was burned and the purpose was to clear out the brush.  Not for planting but rather to expose the mice holes so the people could dig for mice, we happened to run into a couple doing that thing.

The journey was nice and the company was good, the man spoke good english and we had a nice talk about economics and business.

The next week rolled around and we are anticipating a group coming on August 6th.  We are excited to have visitors but we are also excited because soon we will move out of the guest house and into a house we can call our own.  So hopefully that will happen soon enough.

 

Cooking pancakes for breakfast

Along with the events this week we also went up north.  Well that sounds dramatic, it was an hour drive up north so not too far.  But the landscape changed enough, we drove through protected forests which was very nice.  We went with a man and he told us that this is what Malawi used to look like before all of the trees were chopped down.  It was sad to see and to know Malawi used to be full of trees.  When we got north we met with a man to discuss some business and he showed us around his village.  It was very nice.  On the way back they told us there was a shorter way to get home, which meant less shaking, so I was apt to take it.

 Visiting a school

The rest of the week we relaxed at home in Bowe. 

It is the weekend and we are waiting to do our programs for next week.  It has been nothing but busy here as we again try to answer the question of how to empower people.  I think we are starting to get an idea of how to do that but again I think it will take more time.

Araceli is looking forward to getting into the new house as so am I, so we can set up shop there.

Back in Africa

If anyone here has ever traveled at the speed of light.....that is what the last 2 months of my life was like.  I never knew I could travel that fast.

Well maybe a bit of an exaggeration but still there was quite a few things going on.

Since my last post as I was leaving Africa in April I had quite a few things to do when I got back to the States.  Mostly finish planning a wedding.

So the month of May was already all planned out and we did just that.  Araceli and I spent a bit of time together but the rest was just running around to meetings and all those sorts of things.

2 weeks before the wedding I fell sick with a strange sickness (every symptom I could think of) and happened to be sick for my bachelor party also.  Luckily this did not stop me from participating in it.

The week of the wedding came and the sickness was still lingering so I had to lay and rest and prayed to get better.  As the sickness was subsiding it was replaced by excitement for the wedding, and I think some anxiety also.  Of course who would not be anxious right before they are about to get married.


After the wedding we were off to the honeymoon where we did a bit of traveling around Europe.

Off in Italy

We had everything planned for the honeymoon so that we would arrive back in Malawi, 2 days before the next group came from America.  So after the adventures of the honeymoon we headed back to Malawi and Timeyo picked us from the airport.

We returned to Bowe and just hung out with Big E and Little E in preparation for the group.  Finally 2 days later the group came.  And I was so excited because my mom, dad and sister were coming along with all of my friends from St. Thomas Aquinas.

The first night, grabbing dinner

Oh how happy we were to receive them.  Araceli and I were waiting at the airport with Father Joe.  It was great to see all of them.  From there we took a bus out to Kalembe and had dinner out there.  Once we were finished the men left the women and we returned back to Bowe.  We ended the night with some beers and cigars, it was relaxing.

The next day we went back out to Kalembe to help support the women with their program.  We ended up making around 10,000 rosaries.  Well no, we did not, but it took a while.  I think it total is was just over 110.  Then we spent the rest of the day planning for the next.  That night we returned to Bowe.

 

 Making rosaries

The next morning we woke up and got our supplies and equipment together to go repair bore holes.  All the guys jumped im the trucks and away we went.  Along with us was Father Victor  from St. Mary's Church.  When we got there I suddenly realized these villages we were at.  Timeyo and I had been to these not too long ago.  It was actually 4 bore holes in the area feeding a bunch of people but all of them were broken.

So we got to work, we gathered the villagers and told them our plan and then we let them take over.  I guess if you really want to empower people and give them a sense of ownership, you need to let them do the work.  So we helped them along, not too much though but we had the villagers do most of the work.  Afterwards Father Victor sat them all down and talked to them about the significance and the symbolism of water in relation to the bible.  It was a compelling speech.

 

Ray directing traffic

 

Onto the next bore hole.  We went through the same routine at this one also and we got a couple chickens from it also.

 

Chris with his chicken

 

When we returned that night we were all beat from the shaky road and sat around and gazed at the stars.

The next day we repaired one bore hole in the morning and then we headed out to Kalembe for dinner.  There were two families that came on that trip but since the women were separated from the men, the families were not together.  So most of the work was done so we decided to do a family swap so the families could spend time together. So we ate dinner and were off.

The next morning was a rush.  We had to be out at Kalembe at 9 because mass started then and the Arch Bishop was going to be there and he was quite a punctual man.  So we got off a little late and I beat all of my speed records for driving from Bowe to Kalembe and still keeping my passengers happy.

 

Our groups section at the mass.  The boy and lady behind us were visiting her uncle who was a priest in Malawi

 

The mass started a little late but ended up going for about 4 1/2 hours.....it was long.  But everyone was dancing and having a good time.  After we had lunch with all the clergy and had a great time.  The rest of the night we spent hanging out and then headed back to Bowe.

The next day was a rest day so I went out early in the morning and picked up a goat and some charcoal.  The rest of the day was spend barbequing a goat which turned out to be delicious.  It was a great time to get to know others in the group and we had a lot of fun.

Monday was adventure day.  There were a few trails, hills and mountains I wanted to take everybody to.  So we got up and got going.  I was surprised the old-timers kept up with us young ones, but they did and we had a lot of fun.  The latter part of the day was spent walking around the river and the dam.

The following day was the goodbye day and we all got up and headed to the airport and sent everyone on their way.  It was sad to see the family go but at the same time I was going to get some peace and quiet.  Life finally decided to slow down since I had been back in the States in May.

 

Saying goodbye to Little E

Unfortunately I like to keep moving so I worked the next day and the next and lo-and-behold...I got sick.  And still am.

So I got in trouble by Araceli and she told me that I needed to rest.  So today has been a slowish day with only a handful of e-mails.

Being married now in Malawi has changed things.  There is a new component to my interactions here and it is a lot of fun to have her here.  Just yesterday after mass I came back and went to sleep because I was feeling bad but 4 Malawian girls came up and asked Araceli if she would sit down and chat with them.  Ecstatic to, they ended up talking for 2 hours.  I guess that is normal for girls.

We have a lot of projects in front of us and a lot more adventure.  Of course along with that is the adventure of marriage which is new for both of us too.  We thank everyone for their support and love along the way.