July 2, 2018
Today, I woke up early and went to Mesesa to help with the children’s breakfast program. I helped to cook the pouriage that they served by getting water from the borehole and stirring it into the water. Then we went into each classroom and met everyone. We met the Chiefs of the village. Eventually we got to watch the lady serve the pouriage after we went and ate our own. We first served at standard one (first grade). They were so cute and loved having their picture taken. They all ate their pouriage of cups, some used spoons and others use their fingers. One spilled porridge on her dress and had to wash off. Then a little boy had pouriage spilled on him. The poor kids, they were okay though. We went again from class to class. I interacted a lot with the kids. I made them laugh and asked them questions. I also talked to the teachers. They teach the kids who sit on the dirt floor with one blackboard and little to no school supplies while running to another classroom to teach it at the same time. They are in need of writing utensils, paper, shelves, or four, books, desks, etc. We visited the teachers houses on campus and saw that they have no beds. Why can’t we send them beds in a box? They are not expensive. The school is a primary school. It is grades 1 to 6. They have five teachers. There are a lot of projects that I want to begin when I get home. Grade 5 had kids ages 8 to 16 and grade 6 had kids who were 18. It’s crazy because if you don’t pass your exam you must stay in your same grade for another year. Most kids keep going until they get tired of repeating the same grade over and over again. They will most likely then go get married and start a family. Then we attended a Bible study. All the kids sat under a tree and learned about God. They sang hallelujah songs and some kids had a solo.We clapped with them and had a lot of fun. We even got to play soccer with the kids before then. When we left we went to the Zowe school and caught the end of their Bible study. We sang some songs with them and then walked home to get lunch. We then went to the woman’s literacy group. We visited two groups. One had so many women. They were introduced and some people had speeches. I used a pit latrine for the first time at the second group. It was not bad at all. The second group was small, but they had their own bank. They learned to read and learned financial skills. They can buy shares and take out loans. The book they use teaches them skills that they need to know in Malawi, like how to fight a snake. We then went home. I took a walk with Temwa and played ball with some local children. I took pictures with them and taught them the starlight, starbright song. I had them repeat after me, but because of the language barrier, that was hard. Me and Bethany demonstrated what repeating was to get them to understand and they finally did. Then we ate dinner, A bat flew into the hall. I hid under the table. Then I went outside to look at the stars. You can see 1 trillion stars out there, and the Milky Way, and a red planet. So beautiful! It’s nothing like the United States. I felt very humble today. I can’t completely describe it, but I felt in my heart.
-Anna Rago