Greetings everyone!
The team has been so busy since we last wrote! On Sunday we were invited to join church service at the community hall which was built last year. We were so warmly welcomed by the Unificationists of Malawi, who sang us songs in their native languages and allowed the locals to share about their gratitude towards having NGA back in Malawi. In turn, the three of us expressed our appreciation and gratitude towards their warm hearts and hospitality. We sang them a very well known song on NGA, One Day, which talks about a vision of total peace on Earth and uniting people in the world as one. They knew the words better than we did! Past years of NGA teams taught them the song. It was a beautiful moment, to sing together as one. It felt like it was meant to be, united simply by the fact we are all human, we are all together and gathered in peace and love.
After the service, we met with the youth of the village, who have started a soccer team for the boys and a netball team for the girls. They expressed to us a variety of things which could use our help, like putting together a first-aid kit for the teams, getting proper nets and equipment for the field, among other things. We also took a look at the community hall itself, and how we could build upon it. They want to add two more rooms, but with our current budget, we aren’t sure if we can add both rooms this year. As well as that, there is only one room which is totally complete, with cement floors and walls. The other room is constructed, but it has dirt floors still and has only bare, brick walls. It seems that at most, we could buy more bricks and build another room, and if we have enough money, then add cement floors and walls. It’s a big task, but we’re determined to do the most we can.
After our meeting, we wanted to also see the field to see what is to be finished there. We had a gorgeous walk there, through fields of maize and soy. (Check out our last entry of photos!) We arrived to the field, which literally has a central location to about 7 villages. Half of it has about two or three large trees which need to be removed and that same half also has to be leveled. It is another huge task, but if we organize the young people of the surrounding villages, it would not take too long. We are just extremely short on supplies like shovels and saws for the trees. Again, it is a large task but we’re still working on the details of whether we can do it. We’ve made a schedule of which projects we will be focusing on and when. First we will be doing presentations for local schools then focusing on our hard labor projects.
Speaking of presentations, yesterday we had our first one! On Monday we went to Universe High School and gave a presentation on setting goals to achieve your dreams and how obstacles are natural and to not give up on yourself. The students were very happy to have us and they showed us so much love and greeted us with another warm welcome. It’s true that Malawi is the warm heart of Africa! Everywhere we go we are always told that we are welcomed and that we are at home. We were able to get pictures with the students after our main program.
Austin was giving his talk about the importance and power of having goals. He is standing with our guide, Foster, who helped by translating during each talk.
Amy, Austin and I with some of the students
Universe High School’s music club took a picture with us. They’re a talented young group with some singers, rappers and a guitar player.
It’s only been a short time of us being here but already we are so welcomed with much love and warmth from the Malawian people. I feel like I say that a lot but it is very true! It’s a very welcoming country and it makes it easy to be here, to serve here. Later this week we will be beginning to work out how to build the community hall. Very excited to get things rolling!
-Christina
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