Mitundu village (...while listening to Ken Mode)

Monday Sept 7, 2009

After driving south along one of Lilongwe’s many disconnected roads passing dozens of degraded buildings, dodging cyclists with packs of wood on their rears and honking donkeys and goats off the road, myself and three other newly arrived WUSC volunteers pilled out of the WUSC land rover and stepped into our first surreal experience with poverty in Malawi—Mitundu Village.

We were brought here by Moses Njobvu, the founder of Fountain of Hope, and who’d studied at the Coady Institute in Nova Scotia. He gained a vision for helping the people of this village and started an organization that’s being funded by a church group in Albert, Canada. Its programming consists of primary education for dozens of orphaned children, a food program once a day, community economic development initiatives and a community garden for feeding at the school and selling excess produce to locals. Currently, the major project the community is eager to have completed is electricity. Once all the lines are set up villagers will have an inside view of news in the global community. I can’t help but wonder what positive or negative change it will bring to the people who are living there....

We were introduced and received in typical Malawian/African fashion: singing, dancing, formal handshakes, and presentations on who we are, where we come from and why we’re here. Language barriers left many lost in translation but the overall feel from the community was ‘welcome.’

We were introduced to the various organization programs, but the most overwhelming was the primary school children. 160 children (3/4 of which are orphans), impressed us with their confidence, smiling faces, their energy, and seeming love for learning. We taught them a few songs and we participated in many they introduced to us. Apparently we need to brush up on children’s songs and games to entertain longer than we did today.

When the lunch hour hit we assisted the women with getting the food program meals plated and out to the children. This program is the newest; it has only been running for one week. A few local women volunteer to cook large portions of various relishes and disperse it to the children on plastic plates. The menu today: kapenta and nshima –small portions of dried mini fish with cooked maize flour. One by one the children timidly approached the small thatched “kitchen,” each one taking a plate in their two small hands.

This experience left one face in particular etched in my mind. A boy, looking no older than 4 years old, approached me with his eyes glued to mine and his hands stretched out to receive. He grasped the plate but didn’t take it away, he just stood there staring deep into my eyes. I gently encouraged him to ‘take it’ but he stood there staring blankly. The village leader was watching this interaction. He let out a laugh of amazement and told the boy to take it and eat. I released the plate and he walked away reactionless, maybe stunned, maybe curious, afraid or alone. Whatever this looks was on his face, it left an impression. I hope I remember this boy if I see him again.