ROAD TRIP!

End of Week 14 – definitely one of the best weeks yet.

Where to start?

At Nama Simba, our role seems to have shifted from ‘teachers’ to ‘First Aiders’ – a progression I am definitely in favour of. First, it was Andrew cutting the underside of his little toe, which Louise tells me is a very common dancing injury. However, it was usual to be losing such a crazy amount of blood. Two weeks later, we were eating our nsima when one boy fell by the swings and hit his head. Again, they was more blood leaving the wound than I thought his little body could contain and we began to worry about a concussion. This was confirmed when he had trouble walking straight and began to throw up. It made my Chichewa seem pretty pathetic when we were running inside for the dictionary in order to ask him if he was feeling dizzy. I worried about him that night, knowing his mother wouldn’t be able to afford to take him to hospital. I was comforted when we saw him going into nursery the next day – Mary told us that his mother was extremely grateful for all we did, which was lovely to hear. This is the difference I came out here to make.

TST has been fairly common place – mostly getting to know the children better and hassling them about going to school. Millie organised a TST Nativity which the children loved getting involved in. It’s all part of the fundraising Millie’s doing to get a collection together for the children’s Christmas presents. Here it is - http://youtu.be/dmTfeypgbik  It’s a good view, I recommend it. Millie’s asking for donations of as little as £5 to help us buy Christmas presents for all the children. They want for so little, it’s hard to find children more deserving. But then I am very biased. Please click the Samaritan Trust link above for more details about donating.

However, it feels like I haven’t been to work in ages – due to having to repeatedly go to into town for visa extensions and this week’s Lake trip. Ever since arriving in Malawi, everyone has been asking us ‘Have you been to the Lake, yet?’. Well, now I can say I have. And it was an absolutely awesome experience. We were lucky enough to be invited by our friend Walter’s family to spend the week at their holiday cottage, right on the Lake’s edge. We were literally a 30 second walk from the beach, as well as having hot showers and electricity all day! Our crew was made up of the Ridderhofs – Walter's parents Isette, Janneman and himself – the lovely Sung and the volunteers – Matilda, Steph, Georgia, Louise and myself. From delicious meals to bonfires on the beach to boat rides and swims in the beautifully warm Lake… I am definitely suffering from Lake Malawi withdrawal. The visit was bittersweet, however; as the boys are off to university in South Africa in January and Janneman is being transferred to Zambia next year. It felt the same as saying goodbye to my friends when I left home, but without any guarantee of seeing them again.

It’s my own fault, really. I would be able to see them over Christmas and New Year, but I am spending the holiday with my family in Dubai. When it became ambiguous whether my sister or Dad would be able to come out to see me in Malawi, I decided that I would take an early holiday and go out to see them. It’s going to be really odd being away from the children for so long – or away from the other volunteers for that matter. So expect another two weeks of silence as I’ll have nothing to report.

So a million thanks to the wonderful Isette, not only for putting up with us for the past 2 months, but also for her extremely generous hospitality and tremendous cooking of the past week. You could not have doted on more grateful subjects.

Might have unearthed more pictures before January, but otherwise, see you in the New Year!

TTFN