Hello all! Sorry these posts may be somewhat after-the-fact, but I’ll do my best to keep this blog updated whenever we can get to Lilongwe and use the internet!
ARRIVAL
After 36 hours of travel we were thrilled to arrive in the Lilongwe airport. Just before deplaning we met a woman from Seattle, who came with a group of nurses traveling to different areas training community health outreach workers. I couldn’t believe that the first person I met upon landing in Lilongwe was actually from my hometown. It was crazy to meet someone from so Seattle so far away from home. And it also made me realize that there were plenty of people who had been traveling much longer than us!
Even more amazing than meeting someone from Seattle, was the ease with which we were able to pass through passport control and customs. I had been so worried about not being able to enter the country for one reason or another or having trouble getting the health technologies through customs. We were greeted by Jason, a nice Malawian man, who held up a sign with our names and escorted us through the long passport control line. He then helped us get our bags and proceeded to escort us through the customs line, where we met up with Jeff Rogers’ son, Jeremy. It was a huge relief and a welcomed surprise to have such an easy time during the final leg of our journey.
After stopping briefly at the Rogers’ home in Lilongwe, we loaded up our luggage and some necessary supplies and made our way to the Child Legacy International (CLI) site about 45 minutes to an hour away. The road that we drove along in Lilongwe reminded somewhat of the main road in Cape Coast, Ghana but seemed to have more businesses and government buildings because it is the capital city. Unfortunately I will have to make better observations if we make the drive again because I was so exhausted that I couldn’t help but fall asleep for a portion of the drive. After exiting what must have been the “city limits” we drove along a somewhat rougher road and passed through several small villages in the Msundwe area (note this could be a complete misspelling of the name). The children all waved and smiled and some of them chased after us for a bit. It reminded me somewhat of my experience in Ghana last summer. I am extremely excited for the opportunity to really get to know the people and the area to a much greater extent than was possible during the 3 short weeks I spent in Ghana.
When we arrived at the CLI site around 3 pm, I was surprised to see just how many Malawians and local people the organization employs. There were carpenters working on cabinets for the new guest kitchen, painters, plumbers, gardeners, men paving, women washing and moving dirt, men making and moving bricks, and every other sort of job you could imagine. They got us set up in one of the guest houses – with a nice closet, bathroom and beds for each of us. We then got to help out with a few things right from the start – setting up chairs and tables for the new visitor kitchen.
The entire project is run by Mr. Jeff Rogers and his wife Karen. Their two sons, Jeremy and Caleb, spend their summers helping out and working at the site as well. It is easy to see that this is very much a family affair – by which I mean, every member of the family is invested in seeing the project grow and develop. Sabha and I have felt nothing but welcome in the few short hours that we’ve been in Malawi.