And this is the LISAP main office. There are also three "zone" offices in various parts of the region.
And this is the beautiful road in front of my house.
I never realized the power I have on this site. I'm pretty much forcing you to read whatever I want to put in front of you (not really, but I'd like to pretend I have that power). In that case, my Dad shared this with me while he was procrastinating on a report (see, my procrastination skills are genetic) and I thought that I would share it with you. Do with it what you may...
ANYWAY by Mother Teresa
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Be good anyway.
Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People need help but will attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.
- Mother Teresa
p.s. I promise the pictures will come soon.
I have just finished entering class ranks for a few high school students on scholarship thanks to LISAP. (I have an Avalon song stuck in my head). I remember when my report cards from Vipya and Wukani used to have class rank on them. I drove past Wukani on Tuesday last week. It brought back memories of the sky and royal blue uniforms, the wooden temporary classrooms, fingernail inspections, fishtailing on the dirt road if it had been raining hard, Mrs. Mwase, and the Xmas field trip to the Lake. I had forgotten how good 1st and 2nd grade were.
I’m about to start entering in data from the 176 microfinance groups that LISAP is monitoring. They have to have all the information for their quarterly meeting with donors on Wednesday. This means that I’ll probably have something to keep me busy for the next two days.
Last week there were only five people in the office. Everyone else was at two different meetings—one in Karonga and one in Nkhotakota (I’m sure you don’t know where these places are, but they’re fun to type and to try to say). I arrived Tuesday morning in Ekwendeni and sat in the office playing on the internet and occasionally helping when asked from 7:30-5 on Tuesday and Wednesday. The four girls that I’m sharing a house with (One from England, one from Northern Ireland, and two from Canada) drove down to Lilongwe on Wednesday afternoon and I went to stay with the McGills in Mzuzu rather than stay at the house alone. Wednesday night was the Champions League finals between Manchester United and Chelsea. I went over to the Steele’s house (Irish missionaries working in Mzuzu) to watch because they have DSTV and projected it onto the wall. It was quite a game with 8 yellow cards, one red card, and a 1-1 draw after two overtimes. Man. Utd. won on the second round of penalty kicks. The room was extremely divided and occasionally very loud. I was cheering against Man U because they beat Liverpool, but not necessarily for Chelsea because they beat Barcelona. After the game ended at 11:30 we could see all the Man U fans celebrating at the bars as we drove home. Selina (one of their daughters who lived at my house before she was adopted) was sick and stayed home from school the next day. I stayed with her and we watched Barbie: The Twelve Dancing Princesses. It was epic. The kids kept dropping like flies and by Saturday the four youngest were in bed with 102 F temps. I went to the Lake with the oldest two and they had a horse riding lesson and then we went swimming. It was so good to be at Lake Malawi! On Sunday we had a picnic out by the dam (it was spaghetti…I’m not sure why) and then they drove me back to Ekwendeni.
The girls were back from Lilongwe and one of them, Lauren, has three friends from Canada visiting so it’s a fairly full house right now. I’m hoping to go out with the Hospital staff on Wednesday for their Palliative care visits (that’s in between volunteer-trained home-based care and hospice care). Until then, I think I will be entering data into excel spreadsheets. Should be good fun.
I am experiencing a bit of culture shock. I’m sitting in the LISAP office in Ekwendeni. Took dirt paths/”roads” to get here, the walls are plywood nailed together, it’s basic, rural Malawi…and there’s wireless internet. It doesn’t seem to fit. It’s even faster than we had at my house in Lilongwe. Also, I’m sorry that this post is wicked long, but this is the first time I’ve had internet since I left the States. I’m off to figure out what my work will be. Maybe I’ll have some pics to upload next time—of the Lake! (I’m going there this weekend).
9:08 pm Malawi time/3:08pm EST, Monday 19th May 2008.
My eyes are closing+ It’s barely 9pm=JET LAG( therefore this post may not make much sense). Woohoo. I am in Malawi. Mzuzu, Malawi to be more specific. Tomorrow morning between 6:30 and 6:35 (yes, I laughed when I was told that also) I will be picked up and taken to the LISAP headquarters in Ekwendeni and settled into my home for the next two months. It is a full moon and I can still see more stars here than I’ve ever seen at Davidson. I was reunited with my favorite constellation (yes, I have a favorite constellation—the Southern Cross). I left the de la Torres’ house at 5:45 this morning to stand in line for 2 hours at the airport before flight KQ424 to Lilongwe via Lusaka took off. The "Davidson in Kenya" team was at their house, which meant that I slept on the couch, but I saw two people I knew so that was cool. Arriving in Lilongwe was bittersweet. I was so excited to be there, but I had imagined it as being more of a homecoming than it was. The whole family wasn’t on the balcony waiting to wave at me as I got off the plane…or waiting downstairs to run and jump on me when I came through with my luggage. I waited on the curb for a few minutes until Uncle Jim pulled up in a minivan full of people and baggage. I sat in the very back in between John and Joseph’s car seats. (Uncle Jim is not really my uncle. He’s my “missionary uncle.” John and Joe are identical adopted twins who are 3 years old). We had a great time driving up to Mzuzu singing Baa Baa Black Sheep, Frere Jacque, Twinkle Twinkle, ABC, Mary had a little lamb etc. They are both extremely ticklish and cute. On Friday I’m babysitting them and their four older siblings (two other sets of twins, also adopted). Now dinner’s over and everyone thinks I’m getting sick because my eyes are red and watery and I’m sneezing every 7.2 seconds (yes, I counted…no, not really) when in fact I’m simply allergic to the two cats that they have. . Everything that happened today is best summed up in a list—things I didn’t realize I missed about Malawi:
6:07pm Kenya Time/ 11:07am EST, Sunday 18th May 2008. T+ many hours.
I am 6.5 hours through my second 8 hour flight of the day somewhere over Lake Turkana. Darkness is approaching, and I’m excited because sunsets from airplanes are always pretty. Already I can see the full moon. I cannot wait to land in Nairobi. I am spending the night with my former guardians (from RVA days), the de la Torres, and hope Aunt Irma makes some awesome Mexican food for dinner tonight. Random Fact: the Davidson in Kenya program stays with the de la Torres also, so I may see Davidson people there. Can’t get away from them even on the other side of the ocean…
Side Note: I HATE Continental and Continental hates me. My flight which was delayed from Charlotte actually got there on time. And boarded at 3:00, and called my name for half an hour…I didn’t hear because I wasn’t at my gate, I was out in a rocking chair being a creepy people-watcher. When I arrived at my gate at 3:45, the plane was just leaving the gate. They pulled it back for me to get on and waited for a new spot in line to take off. There were lots of angry people on the flight whose eyes I tried not to meet as I got on my flight. Even though we left 40 minutes late, we landed in Newark 10 minutes early. I’d never been to Newark, but the parts I saw whizzing past as I sprinted from gate A70 to C125 looked nice. The exercise was good for me and I made it onto the plane in time (almost accidentally went to Belgium, but figured that out before it was too late). I was in seat 45 D—the middle seat of the very last row (I told you Continental hates me), between two Dutch men. My TV initially didn’t work, but that didn’t matter cause I read until they finally gave us dinner then slept the rest of the way. I have never slept so much on airplanes…I’ve probably been awake for 4 out of 17 hours. I guess the last couple of weeks have worn me out/the two hours of sleep I got on Friday night. When we got to Amsterdam it took me about half an hour to figure out that I had to go through immigration to get to the Burger King where I was supposed to meet Jojo. We missed each other. I waited until 9:15 (my flight started boarding at 9:25) then went through the check-in and found my gate just in time for my row to be called to board. I was stressed to the point of tears about missing Jojo, getting on the flight, and super confused about where to check in etc. This is why I decided I don’t travel well alone. It’s such a pain to have to carry your bags around with you everywhere and not have anyone to really talk to etc. I guess that explains the “E” part of my Myers Briggs test.
The fact that this italicized “side note” is longer than the rest probably makes it not a side note anymore…so disregard that label. I LOVE Kenya Airways and Kenya Airways loves me. I am in seat 17 A with an empty seat next to me. Stretching out has been wonderful and I have gotten lots of sleep. I especially love the fact that they serve tea and coffee with every meal. End side note that isn't really a side note.
I have finished my book (Jurassic Park—it was good but now I know why my mommy didn’t let me watch the movie when I was 8). My iPod battery has miraculously held up really well. I have been listening to Jason Mraz’s new album on repeat. My song of the week is apparently “Details in the Fabric” feat. James Morrison. C’est tres bonne. “ Calm down, deep breaths…if it’s a broken part replace it, if it’s a broken arm then brace it, if it’s a broken heart just face it then hold your own, know your name, go your own way and everything will be fine. Hang on, help is on the way. Stay strong, I’m doing everything.” It’s all serious and then the last line is “You’re an island of reality in an ocean of diarrhea.” Interpret that as you may… Oh, we’re landing soon. Must shut down.
Spotted in the Charlotte Airport, 2:55 pm, Saturday, 17th May 2008:
Also, my flight has been delayed 45 minutes cutting my first connecting time to 10 minutes—let’s hope I make it!
2:25 pm, Friday, 16th May 2008. (Happy 10th Birthday Alifa!) T-25 hours.
I’m sitting in the back seat of a red F250. Jean and her Dad are in the front. He’s talking to me about the history of the Boeing 777 airplane. Did you know that the hijackers on 9/11 used 767s because they carry the most fuel? Neither did I. Since finishing my last exam Tuesday afternoon, I have packed up my entire room at Davidson, said goodbye to lots of people, driven my car for the last time this year (from Davidson to Marion), sorted out lots of financial stuff, completely rearranged my room at home, unpacked all my stuff, fixed my phone plan for the next few months (said goodbye to my sweet phone number that I’ll probably never have again—that was sad), bought a webcam for my laptop (so those of you with Skype can see me when we talk), Sidenote: skype is automatically capitalized by my computer. I don’t know why I think that’s so strange. Also, the wildflowers on the side of I-40 are really pretty right now. I don’t know why I’m leaving during the summer, it’s my favorite time to be in America, and packed all my stuff for the next seven months into a backpack that is hopefully not overweight.
Jean’s sleeping now, but earlier was asking me why I was leaving her for 7 months. Here are my answers, for those of you who may have asked the same question (Hannah):
Because I miss my little brothers and sisters, because I haven’t been back to Malawi in 2 years, because I haven’t seen Jojo in 2 years, because my sister is graduating from high school, because Bonner and the community service office are paying for my plane ticket, because I want to go scuba diving (and chances of that happening are greater there than here), because my high school class is having a reunion, because it’s home, because I don’t know when I’ll get the chance again, and because I can’t answer the question “why not?”
The only possible answer I could come up with for not going would be not having a passport—which almost happened this morning. I was packing up my stuff for Malawi and couldn’t find my folder of “important papers” that had my passport in it. Nathan and I proceeded to go back through all the bags and pieces of furniture that my stuff had been in, scour my room and the entire house, look in both cars, call Heidi to get to look in the room at school (thanks for doing that), and then freak out for a bit. After a few unsuccessful hours spent searching, my grandparents drove down from Black Mountain and found it after about 10 minutes in one of the drawers I forgot to look in. Hopefully they won’t hold that over my head for too long.
I think I’m gonna get some sleep now…or read Jurassic Park before we get back to school and I try to sort out some loose ends/say goodbye to people/help others pack to leave (tomorrow!)/probably not get much sleep.
p.s. I’m so tired of saying goodbye. And going 65 mph. On the bright side though, I GET TO SEE JOJO SUNDAY MORNING! Even though it’s only for an hour I’m super psyched.
