Home Away from Home

This week has been a week of acclamation just like every week before it. But I feel that Lilongwe is becoming a little more a home away from home. First, I bought a cell phone, as unnecessary as it may be. Sharing a phone with a housemate is difficult and not having a way for others to leave messages on our phone even more so. At least someone can leave a message so I'm not always missing calls! Second, I am now driving others around instead of being driven around.

One older teacher, Joyce, is determined to spend every waking moment in her classroom to the point of being afraid to take time to go to the grocery! She invited me to have a lovely salad with her for lunch one day. I offered to take her to the store, and we ended up visiting 4 of the 6 stores in Lilongwe! I guess she really needed to be out for a while and made the most of her fourth or fifth trip off campus in five weeks. The store are just as frustrating as our groceries: you want a certain thing that only Publix carries but you also want something only Kroger carries. We usually visit at least 2 groceries per trip. But getting off campus is welcome break so the grocery store is a treat!

The third thing that makes me feel connected to these people more is what I came to realize visiting the Children of the Nation orphanage, Wednesday. Jenny Laboef, the first grade teacher and I drove 6 girls to the orphanage to read to the children. We watched them enjoy their company and cross barriers that most students across the world never learn to cross, especially at such a young age. But my perpective really changed when the children of the orphanage took me on a tour of the farm that they work to sustain themselves. There were so many beautiful fields-beautiful with a beauty that is dry and sunny and functioning. As we walked along rows of corn they call Maize, some of the older girls, the ones who are probably missing a mother for the reason of wanting an older woman to guide them through developing into a woman, would saunter in front and behind me in a kind of companionship. The younger children were ducking in and out of the corn rows to hide from me. They were so joyful even in their poverty, laughing at me looking sideways at them as they popped up above the corn every few feet. Memories of my childhood returned as they probably only can when you begin to reexperience childhood again by enjoying children. I thought about my cousin, Jane Boutwell, and I playing in the fields at my parents' farm in Juliette, Georgia. We named each little hill and drew maps of one area of the farm. I remember taking such pleasure in pretending and imagining while just walking around the farm. The children at the orphanage take enjoyment in the same things! Even though my life materially could not be more different, we all share in the human joys of exploring God's earth and in dreaming and imagining.

And finally, I have begun to truly feel a part of the community here by being incorporated into social life outside the missionary circles! One of my students, Luke Franz, is having a birthday party at the lake this weekend. I've been invited and another missionary family whose son is in my class will be driving me the hour or more it takes to get to Celema. I am thrilled! The lake is supposed to be amazing. Louise, my jogging partner, has also invited me to be a part of a Bible study/dinner group with two girls outside the campus circle. One of the women is Irish but from Lilongwe. The relationship with these girls is a blessing and answer to prayer for a Bible study group.

I hope all is well with you! I miss seeing so many of you, but I am so glad to have the temporary community God has given me here. Write often! To call my cell phone number, I think you dial 011-265-08-211-038.

Weekends are Wonderful

The weeks seem to fly by here, despite my occasional, overwhelming homesickness! This week seemed to begin at Thursday. Teaching children is so demanding that the five hours during which I am responsible for the children each day seem to disappear. Many teachers tried to explain to me how a well run classroom runs itself. A teacher who is organized has a schedule, and she/he is just as subject to it as the students, of course, with authority to be flexible. As the weeks progress, I find that my efforts at organizing the classroom pay off one hundred fold! The children expect certain things to happen in the day and even remind me when I forget something! I am much less stressed about teaching as I was in the first two weeks.

One aspect of the campus life I thoroughly enjoy are the pot luck dinners on Friday Night. Last night was no exception. I sometimes feel isolated in my little house on top of the hill, but the campus activities add such a lovely balance of social interaction. I relish my personal time to relax, organize, read and think, and I equally enjoy seeing all the missionaries involved on campus at the weekly functions. The only missing piece seems to be intimate group meetings and one-on-one sharing between the missionaries. I do have a jogging partner now-an Irish girl named Louise. She has thick red hair that makes me jealous, and a great personality. :) I am thankful for her, but pray that I find a small group of women with which to have a Bible study or weekly lunch. Also pray that I find transportation to one of my student's birthday parties! The party is on Lake Malawi in Selima (sp?), an hour east of Lilongwe. I had no idea how important it is to respond to invitations extended here. I didn't attend the first birthday party to which I was invited by an African family for their daughter, Jewel, in my class. They were offended and let me know on parent/teacher night! Anyway, the lake is a treat, and I would love to go! I have heard people say it is the cleanest body of fresh water in the world and has 800 species of aquatic life indiginous only to lake Malawi! The most popular fish of those 800 species is the Chombo, a white fish. I had a Chombo filet at a Korean restaurant, lightly breaded-oh! It was sooo good.

Saturday seems to be passing as quickly as the weekdays! Thank you to those of you who continually email me. I love hearing from you and look forward to your letters more than you can know!

Contentment

As the title says, I am learning contentment here. This weekend, my house mate, Charisa Chenchin, went to Lake Malawi, leaving me with the house to myself. She has grown up in Africa and is so independent here that she tends to do things for me. I have felt a bit dependent, but this weekend gave me freedom to learn to do things on my own. For instance, instead of attending the Baptist church in town called CCBC for Center City Baptist Church, I attended the chapel on campus. The sermon was straight from scripture and we sang at least one familiar hymn. Also, the service doesn't begin until 10am rather than 8. But the church I would really like to visit, the Presbyterian church close to campus, meets at 7am for the English service!!! You have to be really dedicated to want to go to that service! Maybe next week.

I also had to prepare my own food. Charisa is a wonderful cook and she tends to be more organized than I am, which means I end up eating what she's prepared rather than what I normally eat! And several people invited me to see THE Market, which I probably wouldn't have done, since I usually tag along with my roomie. The market was an experience, that's for sure. People water the ground around their booth to keep the dust from choking them. Each vendor sells the funniest things-one will have stacks of underware sitting on a towel on the ground, another will have cheap metal bowls the women make cakes with, or toys, or clothes that are second hand even for the salvation army in the U.S.! I did buy two chetingies (sp?) which are colorful pieces of cloth the women wrap around their dresses to keep protected from the dust. I also bought a cake tin to attempt an angel food cake here. We'll see how that goes. At least Charisa has American measuring tools in the kitchen!

An update from the last post-I really had my hopes set on changing from kindergarten to literature in the upper levels. Wednesday night I found out through someone's prayer at the large group, that I wouldn't be the teacher and the search for another literature teacher is ongoing. I have to say that was the worst night here for me so far. Even though I came to teach kindergarten, I am amazed at how much one needs to be trained for that sort of position. My education seems so much more aligned with the upper level position, but it isn't going to happen. After a rough night and encouragement from my mother, God has helped me relinquish my disappointment and frustration with the administrative decision. As far as I know, I'll be with my little ones all year, but nothing is certain yet. At least you can pray they will find someone else to help the poor woman handling all those upper level literature classes! She is overwhelmed.

Another exciting development-I've learned to drive a standard on the wrong side of the road! In fact, I drove myself to the internet cafe-less than a 5 minute drive from campus. It's in the main shopping center where everyone knows the ABC staff. I feel very safe here, and don't worry, I will not be travelling further than this. Driving here is crazy! There are all kinds of pedestrians and bikers on the sides of the ridiculously small road, not to mention, people just driving a bit crazy anyway. Most Malawians and people familiar with Africa love the roundabouts that keep traffic moving, but I'm not yet convinced.

There is so much to explain! I feel that I learn so much every day! The climate has already changed. When they say two seasons, they really mean it! Summer and Rainy-that's it. In two days it became blistering hot and it hasn't even finished really warming up!

Many of you have requested my information here:
001-01-761-488

African Bible College
P.O. Box 1028
Lilongwe, Malawi
South East Africa

Job Change

This week has been exciting! Today was our first P.E. lesson. The P.E. teacher might have been a bit miffed at me though, because I forgot to tell the students to bring their sports clothes. Apparently, the school has a specific outfit in the uniform the children wear for P.E.-Oops.

Each week the classroom seems to run more smoothly. The children had a great free time of playing with puzzles, blocks and books at the end of the day. I think things generally run more smoothly because of my better understanding of how to organize the class rather than the children's improved behavior! I learn so much every day!!!

This week has also been exciting and a bit tumultuous because of events at the staff meeting on Monday. The upper level (8-10 grade) literature teacher, Laura Lee McClean, is overwhelmed with work. She teaches 5 classes and has 72 students with 6 papers to grade for each student over the course of the semester. And she seemed really frustrated that the administration placed me in kindergarten, knowing my education and her inability to handle that workload. In fact, she only took the job on condition that they find another teacher to help. Well, she thinks I'm it. In fact, we spoke yesterday, and after receiving my blessing, she is talking to administration to rearrange the classes so I split her class load as well as help other upper level teachers who are also overwhelmed. The school added on one grade this year and lost one upper level teacher, so everyone is very stretched. I'm so excited about teaching literature as it is my love academically, but I have already grown to love my children. Please pray that the administration will make the right decision and that if I have to move classes, I will adjust quickly as will the children!

The Little Things

Having been in Africa for 11 days now, I have been apart from the ease of American life enough to begin to appreciate the littlest things and apart from the humid Georgian climate enough to feel covered in a fine layer of dust. Each afternoon, I take a slow walk up the long, sloping hill from my classroom to my house for lunch and a rest before afternoon preparation/planning. I usually eat my lunch outside on the little porch. Each day I am amazed at how much I enjoy watching little birds and butterflies or just staring at the ferns on the left of the house. Maybe that's classroom shock or maybe it's the lack of access to television or to anything fast and technological. And I keep thinking I'm going to start feeling restless and trapped, as if life in the States is outside the window of Africa and I see it, but the door is locked from the outside. Yet, every afternoon the porch holds the same fascination as does the sunset each night and hearing the forlorn sounds of the Muslim call to worship and seeing a people totally foreign to me carry out their daily routines. Even though I sometimes wish I could visit Macon for the weekend, I haven't felt a desperate homesickness. Praise God!

Pray for the school while our headmaster is in the States. We just received news that he would be returning in October, but the woman who fills in for him has a small child. The load of work is heavy on her shoulders. Also, the teachers, including myself, seem to be having frutrations about making sure each student is in his/her proper class. There are usually a couple of students who could handle the workload of the class above them, but are kept back to be with children their age for various reasons. Apparently, this is a problem every teacher that ever existed has had. But we need discretion as to how to challenge these students, keeping them interested, while helping the slower ones along.

We have seen God answer a huge prayer request just recently. Last year, Nate Loeboff, a middle school teacher, contracted Malaria and incurred an enormous medical bill that he and his wife are completely unable to pay despite the hospital forgiving 80% of it. His wife, Jenny, has been praying that God would take care of their debt so they can continue their service here. Yesterday, she received an email from the hospital saying the bill was completely forgiven! They're debt free! I can't imagine what a freedom they must feel. God is working here!

First Week Finished

Wow! The first week flew! If each week passes as quickly as this one has, I will be home before I can even comprehend that I'm here.

This morning, my first Saturday in Lilongwe, was lovely. I slept until about 7:30am which seems like sleeping until 1pm in my former life. Waking up early, being productive and going to bed early leaves me with little time to ponder being homesick. I don't necessarily miss being in Georgia as much as I miss the ease with which we accomplish things at home: getting a mirror, rug, and trash can for my room would probably take all of one hour whereas it will take me about two or three weeks-maybe longer here.

Shopping in Lilongwe is interesting. There is no categorization and marketing strategy as in the States. You can never know what a store carries unless you walk in the store-and even then, it's extremely difficult to tell if there may be the very thing you need tucked around some corner or hidden under some dusty, dirty pile of cloths or bags or products. I remember discussing product management in a business class at Vandy. The rule is that consumers associate labels with certain products/cost/class. One must find a niche for your brand or product. Americans and first world country citizens don't buy things in general if the thing doesn't have a categorization they understand. Companies/Stores that sell men's shoes may be able to successfully expand into men's clothes and even into all sort of men's necessities or even as far as clothing in general. For example, Lacoste sells polo shirts. But they've also successfully expanded into selling clothes and shoes in general. However, they would probably have a hard time selling cars or keys or cokes. But stores here just sell whatever they happen to come across, it seems! The unfortunate thing is, they often don't seem to come accross the things I want!

Thursday, I had an exciting development at school. Two gardeners came in to my class to ask me if I would like plants in my classroom. I can't tell you how thrilled I am! They even asked me if I wanted tall or short, table or floor plants. I have a short table sitting beside my desk for which I requested a plant as well as several floor plants.

The children seemed tired Friday but full of energy for disobedience and chaos. Ahhh! I wanted to pull out my hair! I haven't rearranged the students in order to foster familiarity/stability in the classroom and schedule. But one week is plenty of time to leave together certain trouble students. I think I will rearrange their desks this weekend and probably leave them like that for September, setting a pattern to change them around each month.

Keep the emails coming. Pray that I can find a church here with less of a charasmatic structure. I miss singing from a hymnal. Pray also that God will give me great patience and control with my students and that I can foster a structured atmosphere in my classroom. If you want pray for my students by name here is the list (their last names baffle me so I haven't learned them yet-one is something like Changhananga):
Luke
Zizwa
Tayamika
Rose
Jewel
Rachel
Andie
Mzati
Keith
Hannah
Shammy
Mecha
Tawile
Tamia
Paula
Connor
Caleb
Tarole
Sally
Nineteen bright children in total!!!