What a full day we've enjoyed! You would never believe that if you were driving through rural Africa you would find 12 Azungus (white people) having a swing dancing lesson on the side of the road...well yes, that's exactly what you would have seen today! What else does one do to escape a hot broken-down bus! Believe you me, we had quite an audience - photos to follow! We visited a rural village as we did last year...it's really hard to put this experience into words. Think...the story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin...literally kids crawling out from any which way running and shouting with absolute glee when they saw our bus. We were able to give every child a tiny amount of school stationery and present the men of the village with bags of sugar, and the women with bars of soap. The chiefs welcomed us and told us that this was a hard year as their primary crop, maize, has not fared well as their area has not received much rain. No rain = no crops = which here, means no food, a greater vulnerability to disease and of course, malnourished kids. We were taken on a brief tour of the village and were able to visit a compound of 2-3 houses made of mud and straw...with an outdoor kitchen which is literally a cooking area with 2-3 pots. Overall, the experience was amazing..an eye opener for our team and very humbling. I wonder how we as Americans would react to a group of strangers descending on us wanting to take photos of our homes. Hospitality and graciousness clearly are part of the fabric of Malawian culture.
Then it was off to MCM once again to see the kids. We sang, did our Bible story and skit, carried babies until they fell asleep in our arms, played some wild games which created oodles of laughter, and then enjoyed "free play" = netball, soccer, tag and of course we had several little girls brushing and smoothing out Kari Doyle and Heather's hair!
Driving home from MCM I was struck how noisy our bus is wherever we go...and with that realized how bonded our team is. What a fantastic group and they are all pulling their weight and serving with big and joyful hearts. Parents, you have done a great job in raising your kids. We'll try and post more photos tomorrow...until next time, we love you all.
Then it was off to MCM once again to see the kids. We sang, did our Bible story and skit, carried babies until they fell asleep in our arms, played some wild games which created oodles of laughter, and then enjoyed "free play" = netball, soccer, tag and of course we had several little girls brushing and smoothing out Kari Doyle and Heather's hair!
Driving home from MCM I was struck how noisy our bus is wherever we go...and with that realized how bonded our team is. What a fantastic group and they are all pulling their weight and serving with big and joyful hearts. Parents, you have done a great job in raising your kids. We'll try and post more photos tomorrow...until next time, we love you all.
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Aymie, Thanks for writing the update...I think we are hanging on every word! :) How thankful I am that we have a trustworthy God and a trustworthy team of adults to care for our trustworthy kids! Hugs to everyone...Mrs.Bucko for all of us
ReplyDeleteWow, two updates, (seemingly) all at once! So many fun stories! I can only imagine the swing dancing lesson on the side of the road...go Miss Doyle! Obviously there's not enough boys, so who were the girls willing to be a lead? :) Also I'm guessing it's not the same Squid Bus as last year (or you would've said so)...which makes sense, because the Squid Bus would never break down, right?
ReplyDeleteWe just had a strange sudden downpour of rain this morning between sunny skies, and it's so easy to take something like rain for granted. I don't know how the crop season works there, but we'll be praying for God to provide unexpectedly and to stretch out the food they do have.
Thanks for writing and giving us such vivid pictures of your experiences!!