Planting Malawi - January Newsletter

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NL:: Nederlandse vertaling ::NL

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January 2009 Emmanuel International Planting Malawi Isaiah 61.3 an update from the VanWoerdens in Malawi Prayer & Praise: • that Christ would be known, even through mosquito net and fruit tree distributions Advocacy for Change [meeting with the big shots] A three-day workshop on disaster contingency planning for the Zomba District, attended by sector heads like the District Agriculture Officer, Forestry Officer, Water Officer, Health Officer, Director of Planning and Development, Chief of Police, etc., and facilitated by… Mr. Andre VanWoerden from Emmanuel International. I have hard time trying to transpose this scenario to the Canadian context. Can you imagine me facilitating a workshop for the provincial government with various ministers in attendance? But, this is Malawi! And this is the second such workshop that I have facilitated now, which is a good thing too, because I only received two days’ notice of my role. On Friday we received an invitation to the 5-day wo r k s h o p, s tar tin g o n Wednesday. Because we’ve found out before that an invitation can mean you’re actually playing a crucial role, and because we’ve been pushing the government to develop this contingency plan, we asked on Monday if they had any expectations from us for this workshop. As it turns out, they did want us to help facilitate. When I asked about the agenda for the workshop and what aspects the other facilitators were covering, I gathered from the hums and hahs that followed that there really was no plan. I agreed to help facilitate the workshop. I would see what I could contribute. I was not surprised when on Wednesday morning, after some opening comments and a prayer, I heard, “And now we will it turn it over to Emmanuel International.” I knew then I would be facilitating the entire workshop for the next three days (I talked it down from five days). [see Advocacy, p. 2] • health for our family as we’ve had quite a bit of sickness this month • for Talia, that she and Lara will continue to enjoy going to school and make friends • our continued witness with our staff at our home “village” • clear direction for Alex’s ministry here in Malawi • January/February is hunger season in Malawi • good rains for Malawi so people will have a good harvest Village Ambulance [health care in Malawi] We had just finished reading the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10.30-36) and we were talking about the Samaritan’s compassion that led him to give whatever he could to help the man that was attacked by bandits when the phone rings. It’s Edger, Andre’s colleague, “Can you come? It’s the girl. She’s sick again. Can you transport her to the hospital?” I race out to Edger’s village along the extremely dark roads, glad that most people seem to have moved off the roads and into their homes by now. Just five days earlier, I had made the same trip. The urgency is just a little less this time. I’ve done this before. She came through alright that time. But it can’t be malaria again. I pick Edger up at this house and follow the narrow foot path through the tall grass. This path doesn’t see trucks very often, never mind a little Toyota Corolla. Edger tells me that just an hour ago the girl was fine. She was washing dishes when she passed out. After arriving at the house, some men carry her lifeless body to the car. They lay her in the back seat, shirt ripped open, her breasts exposed – her temperature is high. In the dim light of the interior of the car, I see she’s just as lifeless as before. Last time I wasn’t so sure she was even alive. Making our way back to the highway, we race off in the darkness to the Malosa hospital, a private mission hospital. We brought her there last time because her mother was already there to take care of another one of her daughters [see Ambulance, p. 2] fruit tree distribution: reforestation, nutrition, and income generation more stories & photos on vw-mw.blogspot.com (more than 300 photos so far!) P lant in g Malaw i | Januar y 20 09 Advocacy for Change [continued] It was exhausting but we had some fruitful discussions and we made good progress in promoting disaster risk reduction. We hope that soon Zomba District will have a Disaster Contingency Plan that will translate to better disaster preparedness for the government and greater disaster resilience for local communities. Although I had never imagined leading government workshops or writing 100+ page government documents when we signed up for ministry in Malawi, it is exactly what God has called us to do – advocating for the poor, instilling changes from the top down. Village Ambulance [continued] who was ill will malaria. She has already lost her husband and two daughters to disease – I can only imagine her fear of losing yet another daughter, a teenager, in the prime of her life. Last time when we arrived at the hospital, we asked a custodian sweeping the sidewalk for a stretcher. He calmly sauntered off and came casually strolling back with a wheelchair. Afraid of how long it would take him to find a stretcher, we propped the girl up in the wheelchair and wheeled her in. Arriving at the hospital this time, we find it’s in complete darkness – the power is out. After making our way through the dark corridors, we arrive at the admission desk. They have a single candle, precariously balanced on the counter. They can’t seem to find the forms to admit her but continue their search by candlelight without any sign of urgency. Can’t we do the paperwork later? Finally we can move her to a bed, but it’s utter darkness – it’s difficult to share a single candle. And it won’t make the doctor’s job a new well and fruit trees any easier. So Edger and I decide to go find a shop that might still be open and have some candles. After checking a few candlelit shops, we finally find one that has some candles in stock. Finally there’s light to check her vitals. Last time her vitals were fine. They put her on glucose IV and treated her for malaria, to which she responded quickly. It can’t be malaria again. I hope they can figure out the cause. [People in the village mostly depend on the minibuses for transport to the hospital but in a case like this it’s difficult to carry the sick person to the highway to wait for a minibus and most drivers will refuse to transport someone who is this sick for fear that she may die in transport and they will have to file police reports. Ambulances only operate within the city because they can’t meet the demand for rural areas; they only transport bodies back if they have more bodies from one area. So for the most part, people in the village depend on knowing someone who has a vehicle.] Work for the peace and prosperity of [Malawi]… for if [Malawi] has peace, so will you… “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29.7,11 What Did You Eat? This is a scene at the workshop, as we were coming back together after lunch. Andre: How was your lunch? DAO: It was good, what about yours? Andre: Mine was good too. Thank you. What did you have for lunch? DAO: Nsima and matemba. What about you? Did you eat nsima? Andre: No, I did not have [ if you haven’t e ate n ns im a , you haven’t e ate n] nsima, you haven’t eaten. Someone shared a story about another government officer. She had her two sisters come to visit her from the village. She had treated them to a nice meal with rice, but after the meal, the sisters were just loitering, apparently waiting for something. Finally one of them spoke up and asked, “Are we not eating today?” She had to go back to the kitchen and cook nsima for her sisters. If you haven’t eaten nsima, you haven’t eaten. In our project villages, we train households to utilize other foods like cassava and sweet potato to reduce their dependence on maize. You can imagine the challenge. If it’s not nsima... nsima today. I just had some bread. DAO: Bread!? For lunch?!? Was your wife not home to cook? DPD: Is your house affected by floods or something? Disbelief filled the room. As others arrived from lunch, they were told, “Ask him what he had for lunch!” Here in Malawi, if you haven’t eaten Thank you for your continued support! Andre & Alexandra VanWoerden [Lara, Talia, Ezera] Private Bag 12 Zomba Malawi 265.8.169.380 (Andre) or 265.8.169.382 (Alex) alexandre.vanwoerden@gmail.com vw-mw.blogspot.com Emmanuel International Canada PO Box 4050 Stouffville ON L4A 8B6 905.640.2111 info@eicanada.org www.eicanada.org 

mosquito nets and fruit trees

We've been distributing mosquito nets and fruit trees recently. It's mosquito season and there have been many cases of malaria this year. We're targeting the most vulnerable people -- pregnant women and children under 5 living near Lake Chilwa, a mosquito breeding ground. Fruit trees are part of afforestation -- they are less likely to get cut down for firewood because they will provide a source of income as well as improve nutrition.

"Africa needs God"

A British journalist and atheist traveling to Malawi recently made some profound discoveries of what God is doing in Africa. After visiting a charity that provides water pumps to rural communities, Matthew Parris noticed the transformation brought about by their "private" Christian devotion. Although their charity was entirely secular, he realized that "missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa's biggest problem."

It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God. READ MORE ON TIMES ONLINE...

Chuck Colson on BreakPoint comments,

Here is an atheist who gets it: Worldview matters! How you see the world, what you believe about where we come from and where we are going, will affect how you live.

When you understand that every human being is made in God’s image, and that God Himself died on a cross for sinners, people will see you ministering to prisoners. They will see you feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.

Or, like Matthew Parris, they may even witness you bringing water pumps to rural villages in Africa. They will see Christ before their eyes. READ MORE ON BREAKPOINT...

phonics, maize, etc.

Lara is learning to read and write. She does quite well at writing phonetically, which would work great for Chichewa. Her latest art work displaying her writing skills was this sentence taped to the wall:

"I wil lisn to mi mom ad my dad."

Not bad for one semester of school! (and no, she was not forced to write those words, it was a complete surprise; she said it was to help her remember to listen, which sounds like a great idea, and well intentioned...)

Some other pictures from around the house too...

happy new year

Happy New Year! We wish you all the best for the new year.

Our Christmas may have been quiet, but our new year's was relaxing. We spent some time at an estate house on a large tea plantation with another missionary family. The place was magnificent. It seemed a world apart from Malawi and the kids had plenty of room to run around and explore the property. Here are a few pictures of our little 3-day getaway.

Christmas dinner: A story from our Christmas here in Malawi. Just before Christmas, Isaac (our gardener) had made a comment that just because it’s Christmas he could not just splurge and buy rice and meat, his family would just an ordinary meal just like any other day – nsima and ndiwo. We had already talked about inviting our workers and their families over for a Christmas dinner so this made it an easy decision. We had nine guests over for dinner; Anastanzia was not there because she had left a week early to visit her family up north. Alex made rice with chicken and meatballs, beans, carrots, coleslaw, etc. – nothing real fancy, but a feast by their standards. Oh, and juice, chocolate cake, and tea as well. We asked Isaac to pray in Chichewa and we thought everyone would just dig in after. But Bambo Musa decided to pile food on all the plates, dividing up all the rice, meat, and vegetables – all piled together in a large heap.

Village culture: We had forgotten about village customs. In the village, a family makes just enough food for everyone so nothing goes to waste. Usually they eat from the same plate till it’s all gone. Well, there was too much food to divide up so when all the plates were piled high, Musa gave up and started passing plates around. After taking ¾ of the food off our kids’ plates and adding some meat balls to our plates, we could dig in. There wasn’t much for conversation, not in English or even amongst themselves. There were lots of leftovers, both on the table and the plates. Leftovers, but no waste. As the table was being cleared, all the leftovers started disappearing into plastic bags. Everything – plate scrapings, half eaten meatballs, everything mixed together in bags. The chocolate cake almost made into the same bags but Alex stopped them in just in time to give them another bag. At least they had food for the next day too.

Azungu price: Earlier that day Andre went to the market to buy a bag of maize for each of our workers. It’s hunger season, maize is becoming scarce, and prices are going up fast. So we thought maize would make a great gift at this time of year. Andre asked Isaac if he knew where to get maize for a decent price so they went together. Andre sent Isaac into the market with enough money to buy 3 bags of maize at K3700 (up from the government rate of K2600). Turns out the price had already gone up to K4200 but Isaac heard of someone still selling for K3700. After confirming the price, Andre went with him to pick up the maize, but when the seller saw the ‘azungu,’ the price suddenly changed to K4200 – exactly why Andre sent Isaac into the market alone. As they started walking away, the price quickly came back down and they got their maize.

King of the village: “Your house is close by, let’s go drop of a bag of maize to your house,” Andre told Isaac. His jaw dropped, he couldn’t believe his ears. He thought that his rich ‘bwana’ was buying 3 bags of maize for himself when he couldn’t even afford to buy 1 bag for his own family (nearly half his paycheque). Isaac told Andre, “Someone who has maize in his home [this time of year] is king of his village.” So with a bag of maize, Isaac was crowned king. I’d say that was a pretty good Christmas gift. They others got their maize that evening at the dinner. Musa’s bag will last his family of 4 children maybe a month. In April everyone should be harvesting maize. Hopefully we’ll have a plentiful harvest in our garden to share with our workers. Our fruit trees have also been producing enough avocadoes and mangoes to share around. This property really has been a blessing to us. We hope to be a blessing to our Malawian friends we share life with here in “Azungu/VanWoerden Village.”