hey all sorry this blog is werid...it is a little choppy because i wrote it at night over 3 days. sorry but i hope you get the drift of it.
much love,
kate
Wow time is flying by. Jarrod and I have been so very busy here in Malawi. We get up early and go to bed late and exhausted. Being very busy in Malawi is a little different then in the states, in the states being very busy means you work work work and don’t stop to eat or talk with anyone but in Malawi being busy is waking up making breakfast, washing some clothing, working from 9-12, then lunch break from 12-2 then back to work from 2-4 then home for dinner and then it is dark by 6. Although we have been working hard it is done in such a relaxing way that is makes this american very exhausted.
Well what have we been busy doing you ask…?Jenny (a scottish volunteer) and I have been working on a mural at the Safe Haven House. The Safe Haven House is an extension off of the Sumani family Home. It was father and mother Sumani’s dream to make a place for children to come and learn and be with other children. Some of the older children are learning a craft. Sumani has a wood shop where the boys learn how and make benches for the local CCAP (community church of african presbyterians) as well as lanterns and beds. The older girls learn proper farming from Amai Sumani (mother Sumani) and her sister. They are both fantastic farmers and take great pride in their crops.
The paintings we did were of a clean village and a dirty village. Through the weeks of painting it was great to see the kids understanding and pointing at the animals and identifying with some of the things in the painting. We also re-painted the alphabet that was along one wall and made it a little brighter, then we added alphabet words and pictures. The kids just seem to love it. They used to come into a bare walled class room and run around and be crazy now when they come in they go to the wall and read words or point at the animals and giggle at the boy taking a poo.
Jarrod has been busy as well, he painted the new bathroom (that’s right an indoor bathroom has been built for the kids with a shower and everything), he also painted a blackboard on the wall in the classroom and he has been working with the kids on a very large composting pit. Jarrod along with Thomas (an orphan who now lives with the Sumanis) collected the things that belong in the pit and they have the children lay each layer down. Last week Amai Sumani taught the kids about manure and other decomposits that can go in the pit. Jarrod and I have been collecting our orange and banana peel plus our coffee grinds and tea bags and showed them to the kids as we placed them in the pit. Jarrod then explained and showed things that can not go in the pit (plastic and tin etc.). Then the kids had fun laying down dried manure and then watering the pit. Amai Sumani asked all the kids to fill a bag with other things that can go in the pit and to bring their bag when it is all filled.
Even though we have done a lot of work at the Safe Haven there is nothing better then just being there with the kids. Some of the back ground stories are just amazing. David is one boy that is in the older class at the Haven. He is a true orphan, both of his parents died and his uncle only wanted to take David’s sister so he was left with no home or any family. The Sumanis took him in and he now lives with them and is continuing school here in our village. I got a good two days to just talk with David (he painted the door with the little girl on it) He has big dreams and a strong mind, he wants to be a hospital doctor here and he would love to travel. He loves to learn and he asks a lot of questions.
There is also a girl there learning Chichewa. She moved here with her family as Zimbabwe Refugees and being a teenage girl moving to a new school and not speaking the common language of the other girls can be really hard. She mostly just keeps to herself except a young boy that comes to the Haven that speaks beautiful english and can talk with her. These are just a couple, I don’t want to go on forever.
Well what have we been busy doing you ask…?Jenny (a scottish volunteer) and I have been working on a mural at the Safe Haven House. The Safe Haven House is an extension off of the Sumani family Home. It was father and mother Sumani’s dream to make a place for children to come and learn and be with other children. Some of the older children are learning a craft. Sumani has a wood shop where the boys learn how and make benches for the local CCAP (community church of african presbyterians) as well as lanterns and beds. The older girls learn proper farming from Amai Sumani (mother Sumani) and her sister. They are both fantastic farmers and take great pride in their crops.
The paintings we did were of a clean village and a dirty village. Through the weeks of painting it was great to see the kids understanding and pointing at the animals and identifying with some of the things in the painting. We also re-painted the alphabet that was along one wall and made it a little brighter, then we added alphabet words and pictures. The kids just seem to love it. They used to come into a bare walled class room and run around and be crazy now when they come in they go to the wall and read words or point at the animals and giggle at the boy taking a poo.
Jarrod has been busy as well, he painted the new bathroom (that’s right an indoor bathroom has been built for the kids with a shower and everything), he also painted a blackboard on the wall in the classroom and he has been working with the kids on a very large composting pit. Jarrod along with Thomas (an orphan who now lives with the Sumanis) collected the things that belong in the pit and they have the children lay each layer down. Last week Amai Sumani taught the kids about manure and other decomposits that can go in the pit. Jarrod and I have been collecting our orange and banana peel plus our coffee grinds and tea bags and showed them to the kids as we placed them in the pit. Jarrod then explained and showed things that can not go in the pit (plastic and tin etc.). Then the kids had fun laying down dried manure and then watering the pit. Amai Sumani asked all the kids to fill a bag with other things that can go in the pit and to bring their bag when it is all filled.
Even though we have done a lot of work at the Safe Haven there is nothing better then just being there with the kids. Some of the back ground stories are just amazing. David is one boy that is in the older class at the Haven. He is a true orphan, both of his parents died and his uncle only wanted to take David’s sister so he was left with no home or any family. The Sumanis took him in and he now lives with them and is continuing school here in our village. I got a good two days to just talk with David (he painted the door with the little girl on it) He has big dreams and a strong mind, he wants to be a hospital doctor here and he would love to travel. He loves to learn and he asks a lot of questions.
There is also a girl there learning Chichewa. She moved here with her family as Zimbabwe Refugees and being a teenage girl moving to a new school and not speaking the common language of the other girls can be really hard. She mostly just keeps to herself except a young boy that comes to the Haven that speaks beautiful english and can talk with her. These are just a couple, I don’t want to go on forever.
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