I am finally home and feeling relatively normal. The last week in Malawi I got a bladder infection, which was not fun, especially while on a 10 hour flight. I am not enjoying this heat and humidity though. I also have jet lag like I’ve never had before.

Because of a workers’ strike at Kenya Air my original return flight was cancelled. I decided not to risk flying through Kenya the following day knowing it would be chaos and fearing I might miss the connecting flight to Amsterdam. Being stranded in Kenya was not something I looked forward to. I got a new ticket home, which was operated by Air France and flew through Johannesburg and Paris. I was happy since the wait times in the airport were much shorter and I’d be able to experience something different. The journey home was actually comfortable and enjoyable. I was very glad to see my parents at the airport. It’s always nice to be welcomed home instead of coming home alone.

I left the Day Care Centre in good hands. As of now we have purchased 150kg of rice, which will feed the kids for about 9 months. We paid about 85 cents per kg. It is always better to buy in bulk.

I’m a bit nervous because we are now feeding the children a more varied diet and the budget my exceed that which I had originally anticipated. I hope to generate some donations again to help subsidize this project. Unlike last year, I am very confident about the project being successful and possibly even growing. I will soon look into getting charitable status.

I am thinking of getting a laptop for the Day Care. It would be used occasionally by the kids to read letters my students write, look at photos and type letters. Of course, Azikiwe would also use it to send financial reports, updates and correspondence. I am hoping that someone out there is willing to sell a used laptop for a cheap price so that I can donate it to the Day Care. It would definitely help with communication between the Board in Malawi and myself.

Anyway, things are feeling very exciting and positive. The children and cooks are happy and hopeful once again. I am finally allowing myself to feel proud of what I have accomplished. I know the Day Care will now be stronger and better than it could ever have been in the past.

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There is one television station in Malawi. Most of the programming on the channel is in Chichewa but some is in English. For one hour a day they get BBC World Service. Their national news is reported in English with the usual headlines, sports and weather. It comes on at 8:00 pm. A few weeks ago there were two big stories on the news

One story that was widely reported was about a woman who “gave birth to a stone.” This story was in newspapers and on television news for at least a week. The woman apparently went to hospital and delivered a stone wrapped in a black cloth. Everyone speculated that it was witchcraft at work because they were certain she had been pregnant. Geologists performed tests on the stone and confirmed it was in fact a stone and nothing else. Doctors later reported that the woman had never been pregnant and this was all a farce. This was a big news story and even now as I ask people what happened thy feel it was likely spirits at work.

Another story that was on the news and in the papers at that time was about a man who had been struck by lightning in February. This man had died. A funeral was held and he was buried. In July a man fitting the description of the dead man and wearing the same clothes he had been wearing appeared. This man apparently went to his home and knew everyone. He didn’t speak but seemed aware of his surroundings.

The headline read, “Dead Man Visits His Own Grave.”

Two pages of the newspaper were taken up by this story. Again, witchcraft was cited as the reason for this behaviour. It was later reported that the buried man and the walking man were not infact the same man.

This man has been criminally charged.

One night on the news it was reported that there had been a bus accident. The belief again was that this was an act of witch craft. I forget the specific details but apparently the police were telling everyone to be aware of these witch craft practices. People should be very cautious when interacting with others and be very aware of their surroundings until this ring of witches was dealt with.

No one here seems to find these news stories strange. They actually want to hear more details. The police and media take this practice of witch craft very seriously.

This is a strange place. People often watch parliament on television at night. I’m not sure if it’s because they care or because there is nothing else to watch. The MPs laugh and ramble on and on. There is little arguing in the house and the rules seem only to be enforced periodically. The speaker often gives time limits but rarely adheres to these limits. It’s all very strange.

It certainlly is a different way of life.

Tags: itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi, malawi news, orphan care

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I started to call Mabvuto a banana several weeks ago because he made me so angry that I thought he must be crazy. Somehow calling him a banana made me laugh and feel somewhat better about his crazy behaviour.

I have just returned from another trip to Ntcheu. This time, I met with Mabvuto and several others including the cooks and the CBO chair. In front of these people I explained why Mabvuto was no longer welcome to b a part of the day care. Of course he showed no shame or remorse. He read his letter while I explained it’s contents to the others. He suggested that it was “not proper” for me to read the letter aloud to them in his presence. I guess he must feel some shame at his behaviour.

Each time I go to Ntcheu I learn something more disgusting about this man. This time I learned that the land he purchased for me at a cost of approximately k170 000 was actually only purchased for k40 000.

This means that he took almost $1000as his finder’s fee. He did show us the land and it is in fact mine. It is close to the current day care and is agood enough size for a garden and possibly a house if ever I want to do that.

One of the children, Maggie is HIV positive. She is in grade 4 and failed her end of term exams this time. I was not happy to hear this because she is a bright girl and speaks English quite well. When I found out the reason for her failure tears came to my eyes. The A.R.V.’s are not working as they should. This is because her diet is not nutritious. Mabvuto’s with-holding of food has caused Maggie to be ill and miss a great deal of school.

He was rarely giving the children proper food. Often he gave them a small amount of beans and nsima (maize) and nothing else. When he gave them meat it was bones with the meat removed. When he gave them vegetables it was barely enough for one person let alone 9.

He is now completely out of the project. He has beeninstructed to remove phone numbers from his phone and never to visit the place again. When we told the children of his dismissal they applauded.

We spoke to the officials at the Social Welfare Office. They suggested we start fresh by going through the CBO. This CBO is a group of villagers whose goal is to help those in need. They are a voluntary organization and have already established bank accounts and a constitution. We will meet with them next week to discuss details.

I want Azikiwe to be part of the project and he should be the one distributing the money. I will not filter money through strangers. I will also have online access to the bank account so that I can monitor the money being taken out.

We have established a new menu for the children which includes a variety of food. Hopefully this will improve their health and energy levels. They will still come twice a day for meals but these meals will be more balanced than in the past.

The cooks have received the resources they need to make their jobs easier. They now have a new charcoal burner, basins, pots and plates.

They had these things before but everything here is of such poor quality that they were in very bad shape.

I think everyone is now happy and hopeful about the future of the Day Care. Everyone is happy and relieved that the banana has now been peeled and mashed.

Around the community the word is out about his behaviour. He is embarrassed that people are speaking of him but he seems not to be ashamed of what he did to those kids. I’m glad to see tha last of him.

Now we move forward into a better future full of plans and hopes. It will work this time.

Tags: ita, itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi, orphan care

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