Widows and Orphans; Pneumonia and Malaria

So, I definitely had my most challenging day in Africa so far (but by FAR the most rewarding)yesterday. About eight of us went to a village north of Lilongwe called Khwamba to do the monthly "Mobile Medical Clinic" - the people in the village's sole source of medical care.

I've never done anything even remotely similar to this before in my life, so I really had no clue what to expect, which is probably best. I volunteered to help run the "pharmacy", thinking it would be lower-key and less high-stress and pressure - WRONG! It was one of the most intense jobs. Counting out tons of pills for people who were literally desperate for ADVIL. AD. VIL. It was insane. These folks were literally lining up for their doses of ibuprofen. Many of whom were old, old people with terrible arthritis. Their only pain relief is the 10 day supply of ibuprofen that they get once a month. It killed me. It absolutely broke my heart in ways I had never before imagined. Babies clinging to their mothers, who were breastfeeding them, waiting for their medication to treat their Malaria and HIV. A few people were coughing so much and so hard that they literally couldn't stop. There was no relief for them. And we ran out of effective medicine halfway through our patient load.

I'll post photos when I get back so that you can better envision what I'm about to tell you about.

What there was an abundance of:

• Eye infections. BAD eye infections.
• Mothers of three or more who were my age and younger.
• Very, very cute, shy little boys who would smile and blush every time I smiled at them.
• Little girls who could barely muster the courage to look at me, but then would shyly smile when I offered them a grin.
• Old people who could barely move.
• Nsima. (The white stuff in this photo - by the way, almost ALL of my meals look like this.)
• Crying infants.
• Exhausted-looking young women.
• Chichewa.
• Confused expressions when I tried to SPEAK Chichewa to the patients.
• Prescriptions for Amoxicillin, Bactrim, ADVIL (Yes! Ibuprofen!), and Malaria and HIV drugs.
• Torn clothing on little children.
• Chitenjis. (The skirts you see in this photo.)
• Sweet, beautiful people.

I'll leave you with the most striking image I got while doing the Mobile Medical Clinic. A young woman, maybe seventeen or eighteen, breastfeeding her child (maybe four to six months old) while having two fully-sealed (with infection) eyes AND Malaria. The girl literally was getting drugs for MALARIA for herself and her tiny baby who she was feeding, and could barely even see thanks to double eye infections. And what did she say when I handed her her tiny baggy of medication?

"Zikomo!", with a smile. She said thank you. And she smiled.

Moni from Malawi!

"Moni" is Chichewa (the local native language that is also the sole language of many in the local villages) for HELLO! So, Hello from Malawi!

Grady said at church before I sang that I may deal with language barriers - boy was he right! In ways I wasn't expecting! Even the Malawians who do speak English take advantage of you if they think you're completely dense to the area and speaking a little Chichewa says, "Hey, I know what I'm doing."

Sooo, I've finally learned how to say:

Hello! - Moni

How are you doing today? - Muli bwanji?

Fine, thank you. And you? - Ndiri bweno, kaya inu?

Thank you - Zikomo

I'm sorry - Pepani

Tionana - See you later, or We'll meet again

and...

Muzungu - White person (a not-so-nice term)

"Zikomo" is most definitely the most common word I hear. They say it here for "Please" and "Thank you" and to end conversations. When people in the market desperately tried to shove items in my face (think dirty, hole-filled used Wal-Mart shirts...literally), I would say, "Zikomo" and shake my head. (NOTE: When the same person kept bringing me things I didn't want, I would sometimes say, "No, pepani."

Malawi is so awesome. Yesterday we went to a village called Dedza that is famous for its beautiful and detailed pottery. I collect teapots, and was able to find a beautiful handmade Malawian teapot for about 14 dollars. A steal!

Today we went to the cloth market, where there was also a great deal of (not-so-gently) used clothing. I bought 4 mtrs (for about 5 dollars) of really beautiful fabric that I'm going to have made into a skirt here. I also spotted a used skirt that I really, really liked. Then...we asked the price.

Amy- "How much?"

Salesman- "Ohhh, for you, I give for...for just 3600 kwacha." (That's about 35 dollars...yeah right!)

Amy- *GAPES*

Rachel- No! That's too much! That's Muzungu prices!

Salesman- Ahhh...3400, I give you a great deal! This is handmade!

Amy- *in her head* Pff..it's probably from Wal-Mart.

Rachel- No.

(much more bartering takes place)

Salesman- 1200, final offer.

Amy- No. *Walks out*

Salesman- *Runs after her* I give...I give you for 1000! A STEAL!

Amy- 900.

Salesman- *Grumbles in Chichewa* Okay.

Bam.

Oh, and the skirt wasn't from Wal-Mart.

It was from Target.

Mr. Tumnus, the goat

Sigh.

We bought a goat. We named him Mr. Tumnus.

Then we brought him to the MOH office where we live.

Then John cut Mr. Tumnus's head off.

Now he is roasting outside, smelling quite delicious. I'm making mashed potatoes.

I ate a rather unmentionable part of him. He was a boy goat - there's your clue.

I love Malawi. Even eating goat unmentionables on a goat I once pet and comforted. And rode in a Road Ranger with.

Malawi!

I'm in love. With Malawi.

"The Warm Heart of Africa", as it is aptly named, makes Southerners look like a bunch of rude jerks. (In other words, Malawians are extremely kind, hospitable, and loving - from the moment you meet them.) I made it through the scariest airport ever (no, not JFK, Jo'burg!), and arrived in Malawi and within minutes was introduced to a local...delicacy.

Sydney, one of the sweet MOH (Ministry of Hope) volunteers as well as two local employees of MOH, John (the driver) and Fessick (honestly, I'm not quite sure what he does, but he has a very kind smile) were at the airport to pick me up upon my arrival. Quickly, Fessick and John took all of my bags from me and happily carried them to the car. With quick introductions and longer hugs out of the way, we hopped in the car and began the drive to the MOH office. Moments later, John swerved to the side of the road, and Sydney looked at me warily...

"Amy, you do NOT have to eat this..."

"Uhh...what IS it?" was my nervous reply...

"*Sigh* You're about to be introduced to a Malawian delicacy..."

Mice. Roasted WHOLE mice on a stick. Literally. They still have all the bones, hair, teeth, EYES, TAILS, etc. They looked hilariously. And pitiful. And absolutely disgusting.

Needless to say, I did NOT eat the mice, but I did look at them, video them (yeah, that's DEFINITELY going on youtube when I get back to the states...) and pity their short existences. John thinks they're delicious, by the way. Fessick is not as big of a fan. Amy chose to forego them.

Anyway, I had a really good night's sleep and jet lag hasn't been terrible, but now I'm going to get to the part I know everyone wants to hear about.

Babies. Ohmygosh. Babies. The babies...are so incredibly adorable. Yes, I want to take them home. Here's an excerpt from an email I sent to my parents about it...

"I spent hours yesterday at the baby nursery caring for babies who are HIV+. It was amazing, heartbreaking, and made me so aware of how blessed we all are in America. One baby I held and fed looked about three weeks old, but I found out that she was born in JANUARY! It broke my heart, but I also know that that little life is so precious! It was a humbling experience. There were a pair of twins named Shown and Fiyfi who have been in the MOH Crisis Nursery for over a year, because no one will adopt them together. They're very cute and precious though.

All the babies are very behind developmentally, but they're so very social and loving. The second I sat down on the mat, three crawled to me and were wanting me to hold and love on them. They're hungry for love, and I gave it to them the best I could."

I love you all! I'll post more later!

Five days!

Woohoo! Can you believe it?! After months and months of waiting, the time for me to leave for Malawi is drawing very near. I'm super excited!

Things I've done:

• Raised (almost) enough money for the trip, thanks to God's faithfulness and the generosity of so many at LCC, Montreat Pres., iSight, and family members, etc.
  
• Packed my huge backpacking-backpack to the rim
• Read about Malaria...a lot
  
• Bought lots of tiny soaps, shampoos, etc.
• Made plans to sing at church Sunday (6/28) at LCC
• Talked to my sweet friends and prayed for each of them
• Hugged my mother and daddy spontaneously, sometimes with teary-eyes

Things I need to do:

• Begin my Malaria-prevention pill regimen
• Charge my iPod TO THE MAX
• Stop worrying that I'm going to get some horrible stomach-ailment that haunts me through my entire trip (if you know what I'm saying)
• Charge my video camera TO THE MAX
• Buy some stationary so that I can write to my darling family and friends
• CALL SARA KENDALL TROUT AND HAVE A PHONE DATE WITH HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Watch all of my mom and my favorite chick flicks together with entirely too much chocolate
• Pray, but that's a given

Things I refuse to do:

• Get discouraged by the people who constantly say, "Malawi, is that near Mexico?" or "Why don't you minister to people IN AMURRKA?!" or "Oh my gosh...wear a mask or you'll get AIDS" (I'm not kidding. I mean, seriously...air-borne AIDS?)
• Plot Madonna's karate-chopping, should I encounter her (this one's a toughie, it's going to take some Jesus-intervention)
  
• Scream about bugs
• Forget to take my pills
• Freak out about my pills
• FORGET TO CALL SARA KENDALL TROUT!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
• Get angry about trivial things
• Drink the local water
  
• Forget why I'm doing this.

As always, your prayers are appreciated, my dear friends.

Malawi - More than the place where Madonna gets her kids

For those of you reading this, you may or may not already know that this summer, a week from today (6/22/09) in fact, I'll be flying (by myself) to the southern African country of Malawi.

Malawi is a very small, landlocked country in southern Africa. While it has a high population of Christians, Islam and Jehovah's Witness are also relatively prevalent, Islam especially.


Malawi is a primarily English-speaking country, but the native language of Chichewa is also common. There are also other tribal languages and dialects.

Malawi has a very high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, one of the highest in the world, in fact. It is also one of the most underdeveloped countries in the entire world.




While there are large cities in Malawi that are more developed, many people live in village settings, such as the one pictured below.



Lake Malawi is a huge and very beautiful lake that encompasses much of the country. It is the biggest lake in Africa. It is pictured below.



The organization I'm going to be working with is called "Ministry of Hope". It is based out of Black Mountain, NC and is centered in Lilongwe, Malawi.


Here are some of the kids who are or have been in the Crisis Nurseries and other orphan-holding facilities maintained by MOH.

Going Modest - And Beautiful

There's a lot of talk these days about various doctrinal and theological issues, but something I feel is horribly under-discussed is the issue of modesty.

Webster defines "Modesty" as being decent, good, wholesome, and "observing the proprieties of dress and behavior". As a young Christian woman living in a very sexually-saturated world, modesty to me isn't just an issue of applying the Biblical principle of keeping my Christian brothers from stumbling upon the site of me, but also so that I can honor and respect my future husband by guarding my heart and my body and keeping myself pure.

Now, all of this said, have I always been successful in doing this?

NO!!!

In fact, it causes me great shame to think of the way I have, in the past, presented myself through action, speech, and dress. Despite God's constant conviction on my heart, and my suppressed desire to attract attention from the opposite gender no matter what it took, it took my (AWESOME!!) mother to pull me aside and lovingly correct my ways.

My mom sat me down on her bed one afternoon and told me a few things:

• You are my beautiful daughter who I love
• You are God's beautiful daughter whom He loves, and created with love
• You are dishonoring God's creation by dishonoring your temple, your body, through revealing too much of it (through the display of cleavage, etc.)
  
• You are better than that!! And God wants more for you!

My mom also shared the following scriptures with me, which had a real and lasting impact on me:

1 Peter 2:12 - "Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world."

1 Timothy 2:9 - "And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes."

and

1 Peter 3:3-4 - "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

This was such an awesome talk my Mom and I had! It completely turned me around, and I prayed that God would forgive my disobedience and guide me in His ways to what I should wear, say, and act like so that I could live to the fullest, and honor Him to the fullest.

It's been a long journey, and will continue to be, but God (and awesome women like my Mom!) are teaching me so much about myself and about Him and what He wants for my life, my heart, and my purity. :)

If you've been struggling with this too, please share with me your journey to purity and modesty! If you have a specific set of guidelines you follow, I'd love to know them, and why you follow those particular guidelines.

I've got a few sources that my fellow Sisters-in-Christ might be interested in taking a look at, and if you have any to share, I'd love to read them!

Christa Taylor - Modern, fashionable, MODEST clothes! I love this one!
Modbe Clothing - More great, modest fashions. Some really pretty tops and sweater options here.
ModestThreadz - This company offers a TON of options, including camisoles and other items for layering.



God bless, ladies!