Malawi Day 2: The Sewing Room in Mtunthama

We were so happy to sleep in beds after what felt like an eternity in the air. I woke now and then to dogs barking or chickens clucking but falling back to sleep was easy. I woke refreshed and ready for the day.

We spent quite a while going through our four fifty-pound bags sorting stuff. two bags were refilled with sewing supplies for our guilds and the other two contain art supplies and medical stuff. Those will be delivered as the days go by.  

I brought two sewing machines with us. We set them up, tested them to make sure they made the trip without mishap and ended up coding all the machines and foot pedals with matching letters to understand what goes with what. Olipa found some less expensive but nice fabric to use for our carrier. It comes in African prints but is a bit softer and more comfortable to wear. We cut a sample to be sure we were comfortable about the change.

Alice made lunch for the five of us - Charlotte, Olipa, Esme, Mary and me. Little James came to lunch too and entertained us while we ate. He’s just about to walk and can take about two steps before he sits down as he’s just not sure what’s happening. I think we will witness his first stroll across a room before we leave.

Charlotte was longing to visit the Orphanage so that she could see little Bernard, the baby she had fallen in love with in 2019, the last time we were here. Ends up not only was he not there but his name is Abenali. He had gone to live with his father because when the Covid pandemic hit but will come back to visit on Wednesday. We hung out instead, with the other children for a couple of hours watching them play hand slapping games with lots of rhyming and laughing. We took video of them and enjoyed their laughter when they saw themselves on our screens.

Mary and Esme, our tailors, live in the little settlement outside the walls of Mthuntama. We walked to Mary’s house, passed a man sewing in a tiny little hut, babies happy to be in our arms, children running up to us with hugs, women making nsima (the traditional food here made from maize), a barber shop, a young girl washing her grandmother’s hair out in front of their house and children playing games of all sorts (I especially loved the two lengths of string tied from one tree to another that provided a nice jump rope sort of activity). We never saw a phone, but we saw multitudes of running, jumping, laughing children outside in the red dirt streets playing. Our white skin always makes us a novelty in these communities. Children get up their courage to say hello and when we answer they run off laughing and feeling very brave.

Tonight, Alice made up potatoes and a veggie mixture to pour over them. A side of cucumbers and red peppers was yummy and Malawi bananas for desert were perfect.