So much to write!

We have seen so many new things and met so many people and travelled all around--I have no idea where to start! Yesterday I typed up a review of the weekend:

Saturday:
We got a late start (this will be commonplace with the group I am sure), but headed out of Lilongwe at 9:30. We drove an hour or more and arrived at SASO (Salima AIDS Support Organisation), where were tons of kids running around.

Explanation: There are centers like this where kids come for "Children's Corner" one day a week. They get two meals, play games, sing songs, receive religious instruction, HIV/AIDS information, and sometimes receive clothing donations. The people who help manage these things are volunteers. Another service that these sort of organizations offer is Home Based Care (HBC), where people with HIV/AIDS are visited in their homes and given medicine such as antiretrovirals (ARVs). Another service is Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT), which is where an individual is able to go to the center, get an anonymous HIV test, and receive subsequent counseling. These volunteers are trained by the Malawian government to be VCT volunteers. Oh, another phenomenal service these people do is set up guardians (often a family relative) to take care of children if their parent dies.

Okay, so tons of kids. This particular center, SASO, has its children's corner on Saturday afternoons. We learned more about HBC (this was a little unclear to me on Friday) and then drove quite a distance to another children's corner. These children sang for us and told us what they enjoy about being there. Some answers included gathering with friends, having lessons, and eating. This was all spoken in Chichewa and translated to us. Then one child stood up and said "Shoes." Everyone chuckled, but if you looked down at his feet, he indeed had a nice pair of boots, whereas most of the other children were barefoot or wore deteriorating flip flops. Talk about heartbreak. The children sang another couple of songs for us (one about Zaccheus?), which was beautiful--they really sang out loud.

Next we drove to visit a HBC patient B. She is 28, has two kids (6 yrs and 2 yrs), and is HIV+. When she got sick from the virus, her husband left--he thought she would never get better. Thankfully, GAIA (Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance) is helping people like B through these HBC programs--she has a guardian who helps take care of her. There was a funeral in her village, so we met her on a path on the way to the village.

Then we drove to our hotel, which is right on Lake Malawi. It is beautiful here--you can see so many stars at night, and the lake is so big that there are waves crashing on the sand.


Sunday:
We went to mass at Our Lady of Fatima at 800. Some of the people in our group attend a Catholic church in Los Angeles that supports Our Lady of Fatima, so they were very excited to be there and see the church and worship with the parishioners. The whole service was in Chichewa, but we were able to enjoy the eucharist and offering (where people brought food for the priests for the week and laid it on the stage--wheat, some fruits and vegetables, bottles of Coke, a live chicken bundled up!, and more) and the singing was SO great. The harmonies are simply amazing, and they seem so natural--all the parts blend and none of them overpower any others. It was great. It made us think of Second Sunday Singers at Hopwood--Craig, you would have loved it!

After mass we met with Paul, who told us about the center there. We were given hot tea and popcorn popped from the maize piled up in the back yard! It was such a neat gesture and a good treat:) Then we met the people who attend VCT, some counselors, and a young man who receives financial aid from GAIA so he can attend school. As most of the people in attendance (in a group of 30 or 35) were there for counseling (theirs is set up like a support group & has been in place since May 2001), a majority of them are HIV+ or have AIDS. We exchanged information about ourselves and listened to their well-prepared and -read statement of their purpose and needs.

After meeting them, we talked for a bit and one of the volunteers said, "which one is Rachel?" He was interested in me because his wife is named Rachel. He was a pleasure to talk to--he speaks seven languages (most of them African languages that we have never heard of) and is trained in pastoral care. He got our address and wants to tell his wife about us and send us a drawing (he said picture, I think maybe he meant a photo?).

Next we went to a Baptist Clinic that is very organized and well-run. It included a pharmacy, delivery room, a counseling facility with HIV tests and rooms in which to receive counsel, and more. The clinic has brought down the incidence of cholera by providing clean water to the local residents. Fortunately it was a slow day--there were no women there:)

We are enjoying the hospitality of the Malawians. They are so friendly. Their custom is to say "Hi. How are you?" and it is expected for the other person to reciprocate. We are slowly practicing our Chichewa...today Rachel said "Zikomo (thank you)" and the lady said, "oh, you speak Chichewa?!" Well, maybe five words/phrases:) The other group members are enjoyable to be around and interesting. We are also glad that we get to spend this time with Don and Mary (Adam's great uncle and his wife).

Wow, that was nice to just copy that into the blog! Of course I spent a long time typing it last night. While I was typing, Adam read...and got bitten many, many times by mosquitos, despite the fact that we were under a net. One of our group members assured us that this is not the season for malaria-mosquitos, so we do not have to worry too much. Moms, don't worry, okay? We are taking our medicine!

A funny note: I am trying to multi-task, since the internet connection is not fast-fast here at the hotel, so I am checking my email as I work on this. Dad sent me an email and said something exactly like what Uncle Darryl wrote in a note to us! I thought that the Jones family would appreciate that:)

Today (Monday) we left the lake and tried to go to several child care centers to no avail--we could not find them. Actually, we did drive way away from the main road on a dirt hill to a Presbyterian feeding center for orphans, but it was not one we planned to go to, so we had to leave after a few minutes. After we got back to Lilongwe, we ate lunch, hung out downtown for a bit, then headed to an Infant Crisis Home.

This place keeps infants up to a year old. They are either found abandoned in a public place (thinking about Jing, that brought tears to my eyes...I had to avoid those thoughts the rest of the time or I would have broken down) or the home keeps the babies until their relatives can take care of them better than when they were tiny infants. These children are either returned to their relatives or placed in foster care or adopted. One baby there is on ARVs, which is great for that child! There are currently 17 babies, but they can have up to 30. There are 5 full-time workers at a time (15 total, doing 8 hour shifts of nights, days, or resting for three days before switching to another three-day rotation) who have up to 6 babies in their care. We all got to hold at least one baby, which I have wanted to do since Dr. Abner's Child Dev. class in the fall of 2001:) This might be a place a volunteer weekly or something.

We stayed at a fairly nice hotel our first two nights in Lilongwe, but tonight Adam, Stephanie (the other 20 something), and I are staying at a hostel--much more up our alley!

We love you and are thinking of you at home! Keep us in your prayers!
Rachel