A Helping Hand

The house is now really starting to take shape. Today, the girls tried their hand at the fine art of brick laying, and some of the guys separated, moved and stacked bricks. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of the workers as we worked side-by-side. Although there is a language barrier, we are still managing to learn more about the culture and way of life here in Malawi.

This afternoon we visited some more villages. Visiting these villages is an amazing experience. At first sight, a group of mud huts with straw roofing gives you a solemn feeling. But when the people come out to greet you with huge smiles and great enthusiasm, you are overcome with an incredible variety of emotions.

Our first stop we visited a child named James that JR, our host, hopes to be one of the first children to come and live at the Village of Hope. James, his brother, and his sister are orphans who have lost both of their parents to AIDS. JR brought them some Maize, which is a staple here.

We arrived at another village that seemed empty, there wasn't a big group of people to greet us as there has been at the other villages. JR commented that there must have been a funeral, because there were no adults. We got out of the truck and entered an empty building that serves as the church for the village. A few children followed us in and began to sing, within a few minutes the church was filled with over 70 children singing, clapping and dancing. It was amazing how fast people came to participate in the impromptu choir. We had such an inspiring experience that we all were just moved to share our thoughts. In our minds, with the candy, balls and gifts that we are bringing to them we think that we are bringing joy to their life, but in reality, they are giving us so much more.

On our way back home, we came across a man with six kids pushing a jalopy trying to get back to his village with a load of corn. His vehicle had broken down and they were pushing it uphill. JR had a chain in his truck and offered to tow him back to his village. The sun was beginning to set and he couldn't leave his truck overnight, or by morning the truck would be stripped. As we arrived at his village just over 2.5 km away countless people came out to see the unusual scene. It was like the circus was coming to town, people were laughing, giggling and pointing.