Our week in Embangweni!

Hey friends!

Happy Fourth of July! I'm sorry its taken so long to post- we are in a really remote area of Malawi and just to give you a picture- I'm using the only Internet connection in the village right now, through a cell phone!

We got here on Sunday and have really loved our time here. Embangweni is a mission station here in Malawi- meaning it was founded by Presbyterian missionaries. There is a hospital, a church, a school, and also a school for the deaf. The "head of station" is the pastor of the church- Reverend Gondwe. We have really enjoyed meeting him and his precious 2 daughters. He actually talked Luke into preaching to English service tomorrow morning! What an honor and quite an experience!

Luke has spent the week at the hospital shadowing Martha Sommers, an American doctor sponsored by the Presby church. He has also spent lots of time observing surgery (saw his first C sections!) and with Joyce, a nurse who runs the family planning and prenatal care clinic. One Friday he went out with the Mobil Clinic team into the villages to give vaccinations, educate people about HIV, and do check us for babies. He has especially enjoyed the pediatric ward where he has seen many cases of malaria, malnutrition, and other things we don't really see in the US. I'm not really doing his experience justice. He has found this week eye opening, interesting, and completely challenging. He has made friends with 2 "surgeons" (who actually have less training than our doctors- maybe only 2 years) who have been so impressive. Everyone at the hospital does such a great job- even with tragedy right around the corner. We actually went hiking with them this morning.

I have spent my week teaching in the primary school. The students start having all their subjects in English starting in Standard 5 (grade 5) so I taught there all week. Because I cannot teach Agriculture (yes, that's a subject. The teacher asked me how farmers in the US learned how to farm is we don't have Agriculture in schools?), I have been teaching math and English. It has been a blast, but SO different. There are almost 100 children in the class, and the rooms are just concrete blocks. Not chairs, desks, teacher table. Just a chalk board (when was the last time you saw one of those?) and rows of children sitting on the dusty floor. When I say, "Good morning!" All 100 stand up and say, "Good morning teacher! How are you?" Its quite a change... I have just been soaking up everything. One of their subjects is Life Skills where they learn about HIV and Malaria- almost every lesson is packed with lessons about contracting disease. Nothing US children have much to worry about. The other Standard 5 teacher is really great. She asks so many questions- Do you have AIDS in the US? DO children walk to school or ride buses? How many children are in your classes? In the US I hear they have machine for everything, even washing the plates and cups- is it true? On Tuesday I played my first game of Net Ball with the teachers after school- really fun. Overall its been a great week, but I don't how the teachers do anything without ANY materials. I taught my class how to "kiss your brain" when they did well during the lesson. They loved it. Actually everywhere we go children seem to follow us. They shot out "Mr. Luke! Mrs Farmer!" Luke is quite popular. :)

I also observed the nursery school. Pictures 40 children, ages 2 to 5 packed in to a 10 by 10 room, sitting on the concrete floor, shouting out their ABC's. It was hilarious. The teachers are all volunteer and do a pretty good job, again with no materials. They play duck, duck, goose. They kids are so full of joy- just like children everywhere. I taught this class the "Tooty Ta" song we do in my Pre K class. They were all laughing- such joy.

I think JOY is the one word we can use the describe the people here. We discover everyday why people call Malawi the warm heart of Africa. And for that we are thankful.

Please continue to pray for us- the culture shock is a daily thing- even though our trip is almost half way over! Oh and one more thing- we have enjoyed getting to know a group of Scottish students who are staying here. Last night they had a Scottish Caleigh (like a square dance) at the high school that we went to. And today we went hiking with some friends fro the hospital. So even though we are missing being in Montreat for the Fourth of July, we still got our square dancing and hiking in- Malawi style!

Love to everyone!
JS and Luke

ps- Happy late birthday to Cecil and early birthday to Blair! xoxo