Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Goodbyes and Hellos!

Dear Friends and Family,
The past few days have been filled with times of saying goodbye to old friends and saying hello to new ones. First the goodbyes:
The long term missionaries Ralph and Bonnie Marron left Malawi after serving two years here at the village. Bonnie was the Standard One teacher (first grade) and she did amazing, amazing things in the lives of these children. Some of her students came to her a year ago, unable to speak a word of English. Now they are nearly fluent English speakers and can read and write at a first grade level or higher - and they love school! Ralph was the village director, and although his job was mainly administrative, he also deeply affected the lives of the children, taking them on walks outside of the walls of Rafiki to experience their culture, playing games and sports with them, and giving them a positive male role model to look up to for 2 years. As the Marrons walked to the gate early on Saturday morning almost the entire village followed them up the winding path that leads of out the Rafiki property. At the end they led a tearful farewell song and posed for some pictures.


On the road to the gate to say goodbye to Ralph and Bonnie


A village pose at the gate.


Paul holding Innocent while saying goodbye.
After they drove off for Lilongwe airport, we went into town for some shopping and wandering around the market and surrounding area. On our way the hotel we came across a very rural village situated on a steep hill. We decided to wander in, and did we ever have an incredible cultural experience!!!
A Malawian phone booth.

Part of the village we explored together on Saturday.
Like everywhere else we have been in Mzuzu, the people were poor, often dirty and hungry, but filled with joy! Everyone greeted us with smiles and laughter. One man chased after us and asked Nick to fix his camera - he probably figured that Mazungus are rich and understand cameras. Turns out the camera was not broken, the man just didn't know how to use it. Nick "fixed" the camera (loaded the film and taught the man how to use it) and the man left, grateful. After Rebecca stopped to take a picture of a small girl peering from behind her mud hut (see picture below) several other kids and adults ran up to us and asked us to see take their pictures! They love to see the picture on the digital camera screen. For many of them it was probably the first time they saw a photograph of themselves.

A little girl peers at the Mazungas from behind her mud hut.

And old "Gogo" (grandma) who wanted her picture taken. This poor women is skin and bones, but still working hard to prepare her corn flour.


A family in the village that also wanted their picture taken.
We slowly gained a small crowd of children following us, and eventually met a mother. We proceeded down a steep red dirt road, and at the bottom by the stream we came to a stop. We had been talking to the mother, who had pretty good English. She knew that we were music teachers at Rafiki, and so she challenged us to sing a song for her and the several children and a grandmother who was with her. So we sang a Malawian song we had learned. They thought this was just a hoot, and in return, they sang us a Malawian song. When they had finished, the mother said, "now we have sung, so it is your turn." This sing off continued until both parties were satisfied. We took pictures of them and said goodbye as we headed up a steep red dirt road to explore the rest of the village. The children waved to us as we went away, and the mother told us that she has 8 children. She asked us to take one with us. We said no. She didn't seem too hurt.


Maize mill.


Video of the children, Mama, and Gogo singing to us during the "sing off."
As we continued up the hill we were met with typical scenes of rural Malawi - little boys carrying unbelievable loads of wood on their heads, women with babies on their backs, or breastfeeding on the side of the road with no cover, lots of men riding bikes, laundry drying in the sun, and people eating sugar cane while singing and laughing. We also saw women washing clothes in a small stream, the source of water for this village. We were so happy and overwhelmed to be experiencing culture first hand like this. Miraculously no one asked us for money, and everyone was warm and welcoming. Many of them laughed at the sight of white people. Some babies were afraid of us and started to cry - many babies are afraid of white skin. I guess if I was a black baby who had only ever seen black faces, a white face would freak me out, too!

Drying clothes in the Malawian winter sun. Those that do not have money for a rope clothes line dry their clothes by laying them on the ground or on the roof.

A Poinsettia tree!
We continued on our way back into the "city," and we bought cassava from a woman selling it in a basket on her head. (By the way, cassava is an excellent starchy vegetable that only grows in tropical climates. It is the staple food in many cultures. When fried it resembles potato.) By the grace of God we ran into another Rafiki missionary at the grocery store and she gave us a ride back to Rafiki.


In the city of Mzuzu. What a priceless shot!

On the road to Rafiki... how men can balance their bikes with this incredible burden is a mystery!
In other news, Monday was our first wedding anniversary! We took a night off and walked around town for about an hour, then we ate dinner at the fancy hotel on the edge of town. Our dinner was... exotic... you must see the pictures!!!
Umm... yeah...


Later that night we opened some small presents that we had brought from the U.S. (Nick got two books and Rebecca got some earrings) and ate a fake wedding topper cake that Rebecca made with a missionary's cake decorating equipment. It was nowhere near as good as Mom Frye's cake, but it did the trick for the night. Who knew that we would spend our first anniversary in Africa!?!?! Serving God as a married couple, however, is exactly what we'd want to be doing.


So now we have less than a week left in Africa. This week is a sort of school vacation in which the kids spend only half days at school and do fun activities like art projects and music rather than regular school. On Friday we are performing a Noah's ark pageant. Here are some pictures of us rehearsing today:




"Now in come the animals two by two, hippopotamus and a kangaroo!"
So we'll keep you updated with how our week goes. We have loved our time here, and a huge part of our hearts are now in the shape of Africa, but we are also looking forward to getting back home and seeing you all again. Pray that our last few days in Africa will be safe and glorifying to God.
Love,
Mr. and Mrs. DelVillano :-)
Baby Mercy asleep in her Mama's chitenji after lunch one day.

2 comments:

Chris said...

Holler at me when you get back!!
da da da da da, I'm lovin it!

Chris Ump

Anonymous said...

Great post, Nick and Reb!

I'm glad you guys were able to get away and celebrate your anniversary:)

I have a question - why is Reb always wearing sweatshirts? I thought it is very hot in Africa. Isn't she roasting??

I've spent the weekend completely redoing the guest room - maybe you guys can swing by at some point this summer. Miss you!

~Sara