Upon arriving at the Feeding Center, we were a little surprised to see only a few children. Probably, no more than twenty were there whereas in the other two centers there were literally hundreds. The likely explanation is that there was no lunch being served there today and most of the kids didn't know we were coming.
That said, there were still the usually, although fewer smiling faces to greet us upon stepping out of the van.
Our first order of business at the Center was to check out their vegetable garden and to inspect the drip irrigation system that was installed a couple of years ago. Paul took leadership on this work based on his personal familiarity with the system having supervised its original installation.
While Paul did this work with some of the local volunteers, others were inside the center, meeting with local maize growers looking to sell the center their crop to be used to feed the children. Although each grower brought their product in 50kg bags, the real weight of their product varied from bag to bag, so each had to be weighed and verified.
This center is also unique in so far as it has a full-fledged chicken coop that the LCPC helped fund and build a couple of years ago. The coop has almost 200 healthy chickens laying eggs that serve both as food and profit for the Center and the MOH team. In addition, the center also breeds pigs with three big ones in their pens as well as a bunch of bunny rabbits.
For most of us, the highlight of the day today was our final home visit of our trip. This one was to the home of a little girl, Valentina who Lisa has been visiting over the past six years, since she was barely a newborn baby in the crisis nursery. We drove out to a very remote village, over rivers and through small rickety bridges to reach her village and then through it, to the back edge where little Valentina lived with her grandmother.
We were graciously invited into her grandmother's home where we sat on a mat and spoke with the family, getting reacquainted and caught up.
We brought special gifts for Valentina and her grandmother, including a supply of Maize, toys for Valentina, and even two large supplies of fish for much needed protein.
Valentia was still afraid of us and spent most of our visit safe in her grandmother's arms, but even with that, we loved seeing how much she's grown and were excited for her current health.
She even got a brand new soccer ball!
When we returned to the center from the visit, Lisa ran an impromptu VBS class for about 100 kids who were eager to learn.
And then, the kids sang wonderful songs. They have such a great singing voice, alternating songs in English and their own local language. It was really terrific!
Finally, just before we headed out for the evening, David presented the MOH staff at the center and the kids there a bunch of donated soccer gear. Balls, uniforms, and even shoes. Enough for multiple teams to play fully outfitted. The kids couldn't believe their eyes as they saw David carry out all the equipment and clothing!
It was such a fantastic, reward, and exhausting (but, in a good way!) day.
Tomorrow we'll be off to the lake for three days of relaxation and reflection before we head home. I am not sure if we'll be able to blog there as internet access is uncertain. I hope to be able to share more stories with you from there but if not, we'll just have to do it when we're home early next week.
The past couple of weeks here in Malawi has been a life-changing experience for me and one I'll never forgot. I hope to make coming here a regular part of my life and look forward to coming back as often as possible.
Until next time, with love,
Marc
Marc, thanks so much for your excellent accounts throughout your stay in Malawi. Many prayers for you all and praises for what the Lord is doing through you all. Can't wait to hear about it first hand when you return.
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