Day 6 - Saturday, June 14

Today we saw a great example of the physical beauty of Malawi. Ralph and Bonnie took the five of us mini-missionaries to Lake Malawi on the eastern border between Malawi and Mozambique. We drove through beautiful hills and forests on our descent of ~1500 ft. from Mzuzu to the Lake, including a forest of rubber trees. It’s against the law here to ‘harvest’ the rubber, but that doesn’t stop the local boys from stripping the bark away and winding thin strips into rubber balls that they sell on the side of the road. It was kind of entertaining to see these boys appear from seemingly nowhere as we drove through the forest, running to the side of the road and holding up their wares.

Also on the way to the lake, we stopped at one of the biggest wood carvers market in Malawi. The Marrons warned us beforehand that these vendors were very skilled in the art of haggling, but nothing could have prepared me for what I experienced there. I decided first to look very briefly at what each stand had to offer, say “thank you” and move on. Then I went back to one of the stands selling some things that I liked and bought a couple items for what I thought were reasonable prices. Up until that point, the vendors were kind but not overly so. Once I made a purchase, however, the word went out that they had a BUYER in their midst! Every person I visited thereafter was now my best friend. I must have told someone my name at some point, because all of the men called out to me, “Andy, my friend! I will give you a good price!” The merchandise was really cool, though, so I kept shopping. In the end, I bought several items, but they had completely cleaned me out of money. Still, looking back on it, I got quite a few nice pieces for roughly a total of $60, and they definitely needed the money more than I do.

At the lake, we went to the Chinteche Inn, a posh establishment for foreigners to enjoy the beauty of the lake with a nice glass of wine in a little bungalow. The seven of us sat at a table on a lawn about 20 feet from the beach and dined on chombo (essentially tilapia) caught fresh that morning. We then spent a few hours enjoying the beach and each other’s company and conversation. It was absolutely beautiful—kind of a combination of my experiences with the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the coast of California.

All of the experiences today showed me just how much this land has to offer. I see industrious, skilled people and a gorgeous countryside, and I wonder how this could be one of the poorest nations in the world. I’ve heard that there has been significant corruption in the government, so that could explain a lot of it. I’ll have to ask some of the ROS about that.

Tonight, the five of us from TCBC had a little meeting to talk about our experiences so far—the good, the bad, and what we’ve been learning. I praise God for how he put this team together. We all have different skills and strengths, and I think we compliment each other very well. It was interesting to hear about some of our expectations and hopes before we came and our actual experiences here. For example, I hoped to be involved in the clinic in some way, even though I knew that they wouldn’t be holding one of their quarterly open clinics for the surrounding people. (Actually, the clinics are nowhere near that regular and depend greatly on the availability of physicians to come in and run it. There hasn’t been one here since January or February, I believe.) To this day I haven’t done a single thing involving medicine, except for the first night when I pointed out to the nurse a child who appeared to have pinkeye. I hope that aspect of my time here will change, but even if it doesn’t I know that I’m meeting some real needs in the village through what I’m doing.

One thing we all agreed on as a group was that these children here are amazing. Their joy and excitement in life is unrivaled, and the educators among us have commented that they rarely see such a combination of joy, togetherness, manners, and love in children in the States. The most profound thing to me is that these children are a very clear picture of the potential of every child in Malawi. Rafiki children are given almost everything: a family, food, clothing, shoes, education, health care, and biblical training. The fruit of all that is evident, especially when seen in contrast with the children just down the road. I haven’t spent any significant time with non-Rafiki children, but my limited exposure has painted a picture of poverty, hunger, and a severe lack in education—both in terms of access to and resources of Malawian schools. The mission of Rafiki is to change that, even if it’s for a relatively small number of children. Part of their philosophy is that you can’t do everything, but what you do you should do well. In that regard they are succeeding. Only time will tell how their approach will pan out, but I have to believe their positive influence will be dramatic, both here and across Africa.