Ronald and Ulema live in Dzuwa village, where we held the clinic. They graciously let us stay in their house (me) and Gloria and Elliot's house (Jose) Saturday night. The missionaries (the Chimzimus, Gloria, Elliot and a couple of other guys, including my clinic interpreter, McDonald) live in three houses, along with the outbuildings - storage sheds, toilets and bath houses. They have a generator that runs the inside lights and will charge their cell phones, etc. All cooking is done outside over charcoal cookers. The water is fetched from the nearby borehole. The toilets are squatty potties, and the bath houses are for African style baths. One store house is for tools (which also houses a big black snake on occasion, according to Ronald - he thinks it is a black mamba), the other store house is for maize, ground nuts, charcoal, etc (the maize = mice/rats = the big black snake hanging around!). They also have a storage silo for unshucked maize. I got to watch Ulema cook dinner (potatoes and chicken), and got a lot of pointers on how to use a charcoal cooker, plus some good tips on cooking potatoes and chicken. Jose took Ronald into town (Santhe, 44 km away) to buy gasoline for the generator. We had the generator on for about 3 hours, long enough to eat, charge Ron's phone, and for him to do some work with his computer. He occasionally has Internet - but only when he can afford it, as it is very expensive here to be connected. We were able to learn more about what they are doing in the community. Ronald is teaching pastors and deacons - Bible teaching. He is translating materials into their language (Chichewa). Although English is the official business language, in the villages it is not spoken or read often. Ulema teaches at the school and is starting a feeding program - whereby all the school children will get a meal of porridge (thin nsima) with additional protein (ground nuts or soy beans) every school day. She knows that starving children do not learn well. The school is 1st - 8th grade. There are about 500 students, but with the majority being in grades 1-4 - those classes often have 100 children for one teacher. Starting in grade 5, the students must learn English - everything is taught in English. At that point most of the girls drop out, along with many of the boys. The 8th grade this year has about 30 students. After 8th grade, they are eligible to go to secondary school if they pass the national exams and if they can afford the school fees. Most students do not go onward, especially the girls. They often marry between 5th and 8th grade. And they have babies and start the cycle over again. Gloria is doing the micro business with the women - loaning them money to start their own businesses, then watching the finances, etc. She has a little over 40 women in the program - they knit and sell their items, some have started little tea rooms (tiny restaurants), some fry meat to sell or make the local bread. A major problem here is that the men in a marriage control everything - so if they tire of a wife and 'divorce' her (basically drive her out of the hut), she has nothing except hungry children to feed. If she is married and her husband sells his tobacco (a major cash crop here), he can spend the money however he wants - often on beer or other women, leaving the wife and children destitute. So being empowered with a skill is truly life saving for many of these women. These guys (Joy to the World ministries) have also built a maize mill, and of course the clinic that they hope to get staffed and open soon. McDonald is not only a part time teacher, but he is working on an irrigation project to grow Irish potatoes - he says it is going well and the first crop will be harvested this September. These guys are doing quite a work under difficult circumstances! Please keep them and their work in your prayers. The pictures are of the maize silo, Ulema outside her house with some of the village kids that hang around, Ron and Ulema in their living area as we prepare to eat dinner - Ron has the generator going and is working on his laptop!
No comments:
Post a Comment