Hi everyone,
February started out with planning. Planning for visits to Southern province, the Copperbelt and Eastern province. Then planning meetings as we are going to develop a Child protection policy for our Synod.
Suddenly the focus changed when I had an opportunity to visit Malawi again. The Presbyterian Church of USA have a Regional Liason based in Lusaka who is responsible for their personnel and programmes in East and Central Africa. Nancy Collins has been that person and has been such a help to me before and after my arrival in Zambia. Now she is retiring and Rev Paula Cooper has come to succeed her! They are having a time of transition and orientation for Paula and part of that includes visiting the three synods of CCAP in Malawi. This is where I come in as I am helping with the driving on this trip, and also doing some research on ECD in Malawi!
So this morning I am writing from Mzuzu. We began our trip on 15th February by travelling from Lusaka to Lilongwe, arriving around dark. The next day we visited Nkhoma Synod where I had the pleasure of meeting some Pastors who had studied at Zomba Theological College when I worked there from 1995 – 2005, and who I have not seen since that time. I also visited some of the mission station and met an old friend and her family too! After Nkhoma, we travelled back to Lilongwe and on Sunday morning worshipped in M’buka CCAP church (Nkhoma Synod), where we were warmly welcomed and each of the visitors that morning received a rose flower!
After the service, we travelled South to Blantyre where we would spend a couple of days visiting Blantyre Synod. I had the opportunity to spend time with the education secretary about their plans for Early Childhood Development which we had discussed before I left Malawi in 2015. I also spent time with the Sunday school Director. Perhaps the most memorable moment was spending time with Lennie Kamwendo who I met in Northern Ireland when she was on a Government scholarship from Malawi doing a nursing degree! We have kept up our friendship over the years but have not seen each other for some time.
Next morning we travelled to Zomba Theological College where I began my ministry in Malawi. The students were on holidays but Rev Dr Takuze Chitsulo was gracious in showing us around and telling us about the college. I also met a lot of friends there including one of the teachers who I left at the preschool and who is now back working because the preschool has opened again! Great memories!
We left Zomba and spent a night in Dedza before proceeding the next morning to Lilongwe and then to Mzuzu.
Our first day in Mzuzu, I went to visit the ECD department at Synod and also CCAP International Pre-school. It was good to see old friends and to learn of what was happening in Livingstonia Synod. At the school I was delighted to find lots of children still using the materials that were there when I left, and most of the teachers still there too! Teachers were so surprised to see me that they came running and almost knocked me off my feet – we had a lot of fun!
ECD department was a bit of a disappointment as many of the activities I left are no longer in operation. But I had a good time with Nicolas and Gerrie all the same!
In the afternoon I joined Nancy and Rev Paula as they visited the new campus of the University of Livingstonia at Kaning’ina where Rev Matiya Nkhoma showed us around.
Its now day 8 of our trip and I spent it at Ekwendeni as Rev Paula was being oriented to the various departments of CCAP Synod of Livingstonia and I joined her. Of course, it gave me a chance to see old friends again too!
On day 9, Rev Paula and Nancy went to Livingstonia where Rev Paula would preach the following day in the church there. I stayed behind in Mzuzu to meet some old friends, including the head teacher of CCAP International Pre-school who was not there when I had visited a couple of days ago.
Mrs Nyasulu and I worked very well together and she is such a Godly woman. We spent a couple of hours catching up!
I also visited a couple of markets which I used to visit most Saturdays! The taifa market where I bought fabric to make some clothes, and the vegetable market to visit the vendors I used to buy from. It was such a lot of fun!
As I was walking along, I heard someone from a vehicle shout my name and say wait, we are parking! It was Rev Mwangonde, his wife and daughter. They were my first neighbours when I went to Zomba Theological College in 1995, and Mrs Mwangonde was my student. I don’t think I have seen her since they left Zomba. We had some catching up to do as you can imagine!!
Day 10 and Fidelis arrived from Chitipa so it was great hearing all about what he is doing there.
I spent time with my good friends the Ikwanga’s! Their kids used to play in my garden all the time and they have all grown up so much! Blessings, their eldest daughter is at Boarding School and so I was not able to see her.
I had fun when the kids found a rather fat chameleon and we chased it through the maize garden! In fact it was looking for a place to make a hole and lay its eggs! I look forward to a report from the kids when the eggs hatch!
In the evening, we had dinner with the CCAP Synod of Livingstonia Secretariat!
The next morning we headed off to Embangweni where Rev Paula was being introduced to some of the partnerships that PCUSA have. We visited the primary school for the hard of hearing who provided us with lunch of chicken and rice (which is the special dish for visitors in Malawi). The children here spend some years in preschool before they go to primary school, so some of them are quite old by the time they finish school. They offer vocational skills to the learners so that when they leave they can earn some money for themselves.
We visited two congregations in the late afternoon that are supported by PCUSA. The first one was Mabiri and the second Vibangala. Again, it was lovely for me to see ministers I knew from my time in Livingstonia Synod and also to hear about the nursery schools at these congregations! I was driving and on the way to visit a prayer house from Vibangala we got stuck in the mud! It was inevitable at some stage in our journey as it is mid rainy season and roads are very muddy and wet, but thankfully we had enough people to push us out! We had more chicken and rice at Mabiri, and yet more at Vibangala so we were definitely not hungry that day!! We had a lot of fun on this visit!
The following morning I was up and had a walk around Embangweni mission station. There are a lot of heron’s nesting in the trees near the guesthouse and I met one on my walk!
Before we left Embangweni to return to Zambia, we visited the secondary school for the hard of hearing – the only one of its kind in Malawi. The Headteacher and his deputy have a real passion for these children and are doing an amazing job. Many of the students are profoundly deaf with no hearing at all! Its amazing to watch them communicate with the teachers.
After this visit, we set off to Mchinji to the border with Zambia and crossed over late afternoon to reach Chipata where we spent a night before heading off to Lusaka the following morning.
We arrived back in Lusaka on the evening of 27th February tired! It was a good trip, I learnt a lot about what the three Synods in Malawi are doing in Early childhood Development. I did some research on Child protection as I am now beginning to develop a policy for Child protection for our Synod here in Zambia with Rev N Mkwayi our education secretary! We were very thankful to God for safe journey’s – we had a few hiccups on the way with political demonstrations, a motorbike accident which occured just in front of us, and a few police fines but other than that it was a safe and interesting journey!!
I hope you enjoy my blog and please do leave a comment. I aim to update it once a month, internet permitting! Thank you for your support, love and prayers!
Blessings,
Diane x
March 1, 2019
Comments
Post a Comment