What a wonderful place. This sprawling campus is home to 100 orphans. These children are taken care of 24/7 by a staff of 70. That’s right, 70 people work at Rafiki Village Malawi. The key people, of course, are their “mamas.” They are Malawian nationals and live with up to ten children in a cottage and treat them as their own. The entire village has common meals in the dining hall (see photos).

Last night they all sang a welcome song to me. Everyone calls me Uncle Steve.  Tonight, I ate dinner with one group of 5th grade girls. Their “mama” has been with them for over ten years. The children in her charge have known no other mother. Other workers are the village administrator, children’s program administrator, teachers, cooks, security guards (for both day and night), cleaning staff, construction workers, etc.

The results from this effort are evident when you speak with the children. They are polite, kind, healthy, funny, and seem to know and love the Lord. Living here they are pretty much isolated from much of the corruption of modern culture. When I ask them what their favorite movies are they say Star Wars, the Princess Bride, Polycarp, and the Blind Side. They only know the movies shown here some evenings on dvd. They don’t have tv and don’t use the internet. (sidenote: the government regulates and taxes the internet severely, so service is both slow and expensive)

There is a wonderful innocence in these children. For instance, today at lunch one asked me how many airplane rides did it take to get here (3). I told him it was very cramped on the airplane. He then asked if it was the same kind of seat as Luke Skywalker used in his ship when he destroyed the Deathstar. Funny.

For the last two weeks and this week the village is doing what they call G.A.M.E.S. This is their version of Christmas, Spring, and Summer Breaks. It’s wonderful that they have these activities, but it reminds you that they have no families to go home to. They live at the orphanage year-round. They do GAMES three times a year.

What does that mean for me and my teaching work here? Well, that doesn’t start ’till next week. This week I am helping with Lego construction projects (see photo of the contest to build the Great Malawian Bridge between two chairs),

spread Nutella on cookies for snack, and helping out for the other GAMES “passport activities” like running the good race and growing gardens (see photos), all based on Bible lessons. (here’s a photo of “Auntie” Jenny leading a discussion about running the good race of faith in Christ.

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The students have lots of spare time as it is their school break. They love to play basketball, ride bikes, and sit around reading.

The weather is spectacular. Just like a San Diego winter- cool in the 60s. Of course, it’s July in the southern Hemisphere.

The food is very traditional. The staple here is Nsima, a white corn (maize) and water loaf (pronounced “en-zema”). They love it! We’ve had it at two meals and they scarf it down. It looks like mashed potatoes, but tastes like bland corn. Frankly, I find it a little flavorless, but it’s sustenance. Along with Nsima, they have beans, chicken, lentils, and beef broth (so far in my few meals here). The blue tray was filled with Nsima and consumed by ten little girls and their “mama!”

  

That’s it for now. More updates soon.