For the second consecutive year, a group of local citizens from Arvada and surrounding communities went to Malawi, Africa, with the hope of bringing relief to a nation ravaged by HIV/AIDS and Malaria. This group of nine, which included a physician from Denver Health Medical Center and his wife, Dr
. Vince and Kay Collins; a registered nurse,
Nancy Mikesell; a pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Arvada,
John Anderson; and church youth director
Phylis Ritscher; a college student studying nonprofit organizations,
Brian Bushaw; two high school students,
Allie Watt and Meggie Anderson; and myself,
Mike Finnefrock, an assistant principal at Ralston Valley High School, traveled with an organization called Community Treks.
Community Treks' purpose is to connect the educational, medical and faith communities of the Arvada and its surrounding neighbors to the people of Malawi, Africa, in order to serve and be a part of the solution to their significant needs. Malawi is the fourth poorest country in the world, and in 2005, 34% of the country was without adequate food supplies. It is estimated that by the year 2010,one infour Malawian children15 years and younger will be orphaned.
Day 1: We arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi, after two full days of travel. After getting settled in our residence (Simila Village) for the next several days and a having a non-airplane supper, we were off to Chitipi. Chitipi is an orphanage, which is run by Children of the Nations, a U.S. national group whose mission is to provide responsible care to orphan and destitute children. There were approximately 25 orphans in this home, which has a Malawian "Mom" and "Dad," and some Malawian "Aunties" and "Uncles" who help raise these children. Knowing that most of these children had horrific stories of parents who more than likely died of AIDS made it even more unbelievable to see the joy, contentment and peace flow from them as they sang songs and interacted with strangers who had traveled a long way from America.
Day 2: We were up early and off to our second encounter with children who were orphaned. This time we went to The Ministry of Hope Crisis Nursery, where we spent a couple of hours holding babies who were recently orphaned and left to die in their villages. Many of these babies had experienced severe malnutrition and some had other health ailments as well. The purpose of this center, which was founded by a 20 year-old Malawian college student who decided to make a difference in his country, is to nurse orphan babies, who are left to die, back to health and to find suitable Malawian parents to adopt these children.
After holding these precious and beautiful babies, we were off to an incredibly poor village called Mtslitza. Immediately upon our arrival, we were mobbed by village children as we exited the bus. These children were incredibly dirty; there is no landscape other than fine red dirt, and this dirt was covering all of the children. We also noticed the clothing they were wearing, which was covered with the red dirt, well worn and full of holes. Then we noticed their snotty noses, realizing that it was the dead of winter in the southern hemisphere and that the only rags they had, they were wearing.
As fast as the mind could wrap itself around the extreme poverty, we experienced once again, children who were incredibly full of joy, contentment and peace. We were able to have numerous conversations with children of all ages and continually we heard stories of how thankful they were for life, how blessed they were to live such a great life and how God had been so good to them. How could it be? American children are blessed with so much and so many things and yet the joy we observed in these children has never been observed before to this degree.
Day 3: Back to Mtslitza to spend time observing the feeding program. We had the opportunity to experience and observe the feeding program sponsored by Children of the Nations. This organization uses a sponsorship program where people in the United States sponsor a specific child in Malawi to ensure that that child receives two meals a day, medical care and a proper education through the sponsorship.
What a difference it makes to sponsor a child! We had the unfortunate opportunity to witness the haves and the have-nots as children began to line up with bowls in hand to receive their portion of food for the day. Each child received a portion of nsima (ground corn flour mixed with water and then cooked, looking like mashed potatoes and tasting much like cardboard), while those not in the feeding program watched on the periphery not being able to partake in the meal. Those not sponsored have to rely on themselves, or on what family members are living to eat on a daily basis. How can anyone chose who gets to eat and who doesn't? We observed many difficult things while in Africa; this was among the most difficult.
Day 4: A third day in Mtslitza and it's starting to feel like home. There is not much in the way of beauty as we examine the landscape, mainly because winter brings extreme dry conditions and the land is barren and brown. However, the beauty in the people is becoming more evident as we continue to spend time with them. Our task today is to split up into smaller groups and then venture deep into the village, spending time with a local villager, and participate in their daily activities.
Our group was privileged to be able to spend the day with
Patomai and her three small children. Patomai lost her husband a few years back and has been left to take care of her family by herself, without any steady income. While not sure of the incident surrounding her husband's death --most Malawians were reluctant to discuss the tragic events of their lives, rather wanting to focus on their triumphs --it is assumed that he passed because of AIDS. He left her with a small two-room hut approximately 100 square feet. Patomai makes cookies (not the chocolate chip version we all are accustomed to) and sells them in the local market in order to provide for her family, which is sporadic at best. Thankfully, her three children are all part of the sponsorship program and are able to eat twice a day.
We spent the day making a new floor in her hut, which simply put was to make paste with the red dirt and water and spread it on her floor to create a new layer. We went to a well to fill four buckets of water, which was about a quarter mile from her home, a trip that she makes at least eight times a day, so we could wash her families clothes and clean the families dishes. Finally, we helped her rinse and dry corn that was to be ground into cornflower to make nsima. She processed the corn only because we promised to pay the 120 kwatcha (75 cents) to have the corn processed into flour. She wouldn't have had dinner that night and possible many other nights simply because she didn't have the 75 cents. How we take for granted whatthree quarters can do!
Day 5: Off on a two-hour bus ride to Chewengo village, which was the site of four Children of the Nations orphanages. On the way, we kept seeing boys run to the side of the road holding up sticks that contained black objects on them. In asking our bus driver what they were doing, we found out that the boys were holding up sticks full of cooked mice that they were selling to cars that might stop for a quick snack. What an industrious way to make some much-needed money, however this time we chose not to support the local economy.
Chewengo village was unique in that former President
Kamuzu Banda built the entire village for all of his relatives. After he was run out of power, the homes in this village were abandoned and some of the residences were purchased by Children of the Nations for use as orphanages.
Once again as we entered these homes full of children who had been abandoned through the death of their parents and families, we witnessed dedicated Malawian adults helping to raise these children who have absolutely no place to go. Becuase of the love and dedication of these loving house parents, these children will someday help bring this country out of its incredible poverty and will forge a way for many Malawians to have hope for a brighter future.
Day 6: Off to church in Chewengo to hear Pastor John Anderson deliver a sermon 9,366 miles from his church Trinity Presbyterian in Arvada. What a difficult task it was to deliver a cross-cultural message that would be meaningful to these people. His sermon was delivered beautifully and poignantly as he described to the congregation how we see Jesus from our side of the world. His message, combined with traditional African tribal music was a moving experience for all, regardless which side of the globe they lived on.
After church, we visited the local clinic, which is run by
Nurse Edda. She has staffed this clinic for the past29 years by herself; that's24 hours a day for over 10,585 days straight. There is no yearly three-week vacation in her employment agreement. We were able to bring thousands of dollars worth of medical supplies and drugs to help stock her clinic and further enable to her to meet the health needs of the local villagers. Much of the supplies were purchased because of the incredible effort of Pomona High School senior
Allie Watt, who raisedmore than$3,000 for relief supplies by selling bracelets at her school and other area high schools. Allie is a tremendous example of what an incredible difference ONE STUDENT can make!
Day 7: Our last day in Malawi and we spent it back at our favorite home-away-from-home, Mtslitza Village. Our physician Vince Collins and nurse Nancy Mikesell set up a clinic in the middle of the village and saw patients for half a day. Knowing that there is one doctor for every 50, 000 Malawians, they couldhave stayed there for months and not even not even come close to meeting all the health needs of the village.
While the medical team was meeting the needs of sick villagers, the rest were delivering nearly1,000 pounds of educational supplies to the local school. Again, a large portion of the supplies were purchased using the money Allie raised, with the rest being supplies donated by the students at Ralston Valley High School and West Woods Elementary. Knowing that a pencil is a cherished gift given to students who display exemplary work, the giving of several bags of pencils, reams of paper, dozens of children's books and numerous other supplies was welcomed with tears.
Also, knowing that education would be the ticket to a better life for all of the kids we were fortunate to have met, we were able to scholarship two Malawian students with $1,876 for them to attend college. Most of this money was donated by Ralston Valley High School National Honor Society with the proceeds from last spring's "Mr. Mustang" contest. What great stories I get to share with this group this school year and how we can now show them that community service is not just the accumulation of hours for a college application, but rather a chance to change a life!
"Please don't forget us in Malawi when you get home," was a statement that we heard from more than one person during our time in Africa. We left America thinking about all of the ways we could change Malawi and make their lives better. Yes, in a small way we did that, but Malawi changed us much more than we changed Malawi! We will never forget Malawi!