Malawi Day 10: Erika and Annika

Today we went to the last school we’ll be visiting in Malawi. It was very close by and easy to get to with Olipa’s car. School is just back in session after the Easter break and we’ve been told that attendance is usually somewhat low the first few days back. Instead of the 90 girls we had been expecting there were 53.

We taught in an open pavilion which protected us from the sun but allowed a nice breeze to keep us cool. Charlotte and Olipa taught the class and Mary, Esme and I acted as support doing things like drawing a calendar on the portable chalkboard and collecting all the names of the students.

We took photos of everyone after the kits were given out and watched the girls and teachers dance and sing. We still can’t understand how they move like that. Truly fabulous!

After a meeting with Peter (the K2Taso director) about MoonCatcher updates we had lunch and headed out to visit the mother and little girl I had met 5 years ago. While staying with Andy and Alice, Chrissy, Alice’s sister was here waiting to give birth. Sure enough she delivered during our stay that year and I’ve been wanting to meet up with them again. Erika, that baby, was one week old when I last saw her.  She is now five and in school. Not only was I amazed by this but Chrissy now has another little girl named Annika who is one month old. It was fun to pass the baby around and blow bubbles with Erika. I brought her a doll that she immediately named Tomy. Thank you to Denise who gave me several dolls to bring to Africa. The little girls, in Kenya, Uganda and Malawi, who have gotten these treasures have loved them.

Andy handed me the car keys as we were leaving and said “you drive”. So I did!  I was a little nervous but other than the crazy potholes and remembering to stay in the left lane when turning it really wasn’t bad. I did manage to turn the windshield wipers on almost every time I meant to use the turn signal. Oh well! Charlotte drove from Kasungu to Mthuntama so we split the fun.

Yesterday was Alice and Andy’s 25th wedding anniversary so we invited our tailors, ordered a cake and helped make the nsima. We ate (with our hands) a delicious meal of fish, pumpkin, nsima, beans, okra and leftover veggie meatballs. Pieces of cake were passed around (with forks). Andy spoke elegantly with praise for the meal, friends and family and thanked us profusely. He said he was on cloud nine. I loved that.

Tomorrow we leave for Lilongwe but now off to bed.