Justin's Blog

We have been staying in a guest lodge while we look for a home. It’s been a little challenging, but we are okay with it. We’ve had few opportunities for housing, and when we do, someone has usually already placed a deposit on it. We are trusting God for this one. That’s all we can do at this point!

While staying at the guest lodge we’ve enjoyed many things. The first team, consisting of mostly US Ministry of Hope board members, has stayed here along with the second group from Tulsa. It’s been really nice having other English speaking foreigners around. We don’t see them that much while we are at the lodge, but it’s nice hearing voices outside in plain English, and not just in shouting Chichewa.

The other day, actually it’s been about a week ago, I started scratching my lower back. I had been bitten by a mosquito and couldn’t resist the urge to scratch. The next day, that area of my body had a much larger rash-like spot on it. I didn’t think much of it other than to stop using the towel they put in the bathroom. We also switched the sheets back to the ones we brought, thinking that somewhere in their laundry process they had placed the sheets over a bush for drying. I thought this because I’m not usually allergic to chemicals, or many plants for that matter, but Joni is allergic to many of both and she hadn’t gotten it. It was about a day later, maybe two, when she realized she had it too. We didn’t think much of it, during the day it was easy to ignore, and we just thought it would slowly go away. It wasn’t anything we had seen or had gotten before, so we kept researching it as much as we could. When the itching had gotten so badly by Sunday night that Joni was loosing sleep over it, we decided to go to the clinic. We went to African Bible College Clinic, and waited only ten minutes or so before they started our process. It didn’t take long before we saw the doctor and he said, “Yep, it looks like you’ve got some bug bites.” So, he wrote a few prescriptions for us, “body paint”, itch cream and antihistamines. We made it out of there in less than 45 minutes with a total bill including prescriptions of under $40US. We now are the proud owners of two new Malawi Health Passports! They use these instead of keeping files on everyone. You take it with you when you need to see the doctor, he writes in it your diagnosis, prescriptions and instructions on taking meds. They even stamp it “Paid” when you’re done, provided you paid. Anyway, we are on the road to recovery, though it’s a bit slow and has a strong medicine smell.

Justin

Today marks our third week in Malawi this year. It’s been quite busy lately with a couple of groups and individuals in country. Our time as of late has consisted of many trips to the Crisis Nursery, a few trips to the village and one trip to the doctor.

During the first week I spent my time mostly planning the events of the first few groups to arrive. Whenever we had the time we would go to the Crisis Nursery. We couldn’t help but stop by during the day, in the afternoon and on our way back to the lodge, which is another portion of this story. I was very happy to hear some of the stories about the infants from last year. Several of the babies that I grew to love, have found homes! One infant who was very sick last year was adopted by one of the Crisis Nursery staff members and is doing very well! With the countless infants that have come through the Crisis Nursery, the faces I’ve seen, and the number of unknown, or rather untold stories, it’s really nice to know the beginning to her new life. What was once a discouraging story is now a life with a promising future!

Two Girls in Matapila Heading Home to Cook.

We made our first trip out to the village about a week ago. It was like we were returning home! We went to Matapila, where I have stayed for weeks on end and where our relationship started almost a year ago. It was still early in the day when we arrived to Matapila, and the route we took had us pass by the primary school. Besides hearing a couple hundred Malawian children yelling, “Azungu” a few small voices stated more. “Justin” was on the lips of my friends, and though some didn’t believe I was there, they soon found out I was really back. We waited by the most recently constructed feeding center, taking a few pictures, watching the slow trickle of children come to investigate why we were there. I was greeted by some of the elderly friends from years past. Mr. Gwetsani was there, who still has the shoes I gave him two years ago. Annette, Ernest & Kalilani’s grandmother quickly recognized me and told me, “Ernest abwela kusukulu.” If I spelled it right it means he’s coming from school. Both Gwetsani and Annette help with Ministry of Hope programs in Matapila.

Children in Matapila playing "Duck, Duck, Chicken".

A few moments later I heard my name again, but this time it was a familiar voice. I turned to see Chikondi, my “thirteen year old translator’ running towards me. We hugged as though we hadn’t seen each other in a year, and he quickly explained to me, “I was told you were here, but I said, I don’t think Justin is here. So I came to see if you were, and then I saw you and thought, wow, Justin is here!” Unfortunately, the “Malawian tone” in his voice cannot be recreated in text well enough. We waited a little longer and more children started showing up for the program. One of the MOH drivers, John, started teaching the children a Bible lesson while they waited for food. Finally, I saw Ernest. It took him a while to be comfortable with me again, but then he quickly started holding my hand and using my forearm as a chin-up bar. The children are fascinated by the color of our skin, and love how when you use you hand to squeeze our arms, it leaves a fading white mark behind.

Justin and Ernest in Matapila.

We left that day feeling as though we were finally home! It was tough to leave so soon, but we knew that was only the beginning to an amazing time here!

Justin

This is the second part of “Journey to Malawi Part 1”. Please find that one below, and read first. Otherwise it’s a story ending spoiler. Enjoy!

A British Ariways Boeing 747 Landing in Johannesburg, South Africa.

When we got back to Heathrow Airport and made our way through security. We went to Giraffe, a world cuisine restaurant with high quality food! I had a 100% Scottish Angus burger with a coke, and Joni had Lemon Chicken and a coke, though sparkling water was her usual that day.
We both were tired, but I didn’t want to rest. Joni napped, and worried I would sleep right through our boarding time I took a walk. I freshened up, as much as you can in an airport bathroom, and walked around the duty free shops. I kept looking at the departures screens, waiting for our gate to be posted. At last, some information! It said I should see a British Airways representative. I stepped up to ask what was going on. “Well, your flight has been canceled.” the fine young chap exclaimed. I asked what happened, and he said, “Well, you see, we don’t have enough flight crew for your flight. But make your way to Gate A19, then the BAA (British Airport Authorities) will assist you back through to the Luggage Reclaim area. Collect your luggage and make your way to the ticket counter and try to rebook your flight there. There’s one more flight this evening to Johannesburg, if you hurry you might make it.” “Thanks!” I said as I started to run to where Joni had passed out. I grabbed her hand and pulled her off the seat, tossed her backpack to her and said, “run!” I explained everything to her as we rushed to the gate.

The BAA didn’t know what to do yet, so they were going to have us wait until everyone else got there. I told them I know I had to be at Luggage Reclaim belt number 9, so they let us through! We were at least 15 minutes ahead of everyone else. I thought we had it in the bag. Then we waited another hour for our luggage to finally arrive on the belt. We made our way upstairs, still ahead of most everyone else. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make any of the next flights out that evening. British Airways rebooked our flights for the next day and, because South African Airways didn’t have a Wednesday flight to Malawi, we had to reroute through Zimbabwe. They booked us a nice hotel, gave us some meals and even let us make several international calls to inform family and friends of what was happening, the least they could do.

It was a bit tough having to haul 8 total pieces of luggage around, on and off busses, into and out of the hotel and back to the airport. We were back at it the next day! We got to the airport with a little extra time, made it safely to our gate, and finally boarded the 11-hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. We were seated next to a wonderful British man who we were engaged in conversation with for a couple of hours, both at the beginning and the end of our flight. Though it was an overnight flight, Joni didn’t sleep, and I only slept for an hour or two. We arrived in Johannesburg, and had about a 3-hour layover. Wanting to sleep, hungry for no reason, we struggled to convert Dollars to Rand, and pay the right price for our food. Finally, they started boarding our flight to Harare, Zimbabwe.
I don’t know how well versed you all are in African History, or current African events, but there are better places to be than Harare, Zimbabwe. On the edge the possible end to Robert Mugabe’s 28-year dictatorship presidency and the nations economy on the verge of collapse (pretty much is collapsed, $1USD=$50million Zim) it was the last choice on the list of places to pass through. A recent article in the Malawian Newspaper said that, in the past 28 years, Zimbabwe has seen an inflation of 165,000%. But we only had to wait in the airport…and wait…and wait. In what is called the second nicest airport in all of Africa, in a place that was once first in education and was acclaimed for its form of government as the model for other African nations, we waited 6 hours for our next flight. At 8:30pm, our departure time, they started hauling our aircraft around, then putting the luggage on, then the meals and service carts, and then fueling it up. I think we finally started boarding about 9:30, and left shortly after. When we stepped on board, it looked as though it were a refurbished Russian airliner. Trying to put my stomach at ease, I told myself, “It’s only an hour long flight, and then they’re flying to London, it has to be in good shape!”

We arrived safely in Lilongwe, Malawi at 10:30pm, collected ALL of our luggage and were greeted by Daniel, Kelvin, and Brandon. What a joy to see our ride already waiting, after all that! We got to our guest lodge where our heads hit the pillow before we even knew it!

Joni and Justin in Texas.

On April 23 we departed Chicago for a wonderful trip to Texas to visit with family and friends, and returned to Chicago on April 26. The next day, April 27, we boarded the first flight on our journey to Malawi. The following morning we arrived in London, our first stop. We had an 11-hour layover, so we decided that, with my previous experience in London, we should see the town! Our landing was very, unique. Because of all the Monday morning flights into Heathrow, we were put in a holding pattern for several minutes. We circled very tightly a couple times and then came in for our landing. As we came down through the clouds and headed for the tarmac, the large Boeing 777 swiftly tilted to the right for a jostled and bouncy, very nerve-racking landing. We were given a royal gate to enter, with not-so-royal service. When the seatbelt light went off, Joni had to make a mad dash for the rear lavatory. The last few bumps didn’t go over well with her. We waited for a set of stairs and the busses waited to take us to the airport. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the stairs finally arrived. A bus ride to the terminal, another stop to the toilets, and my assisting a Hungarian woman who couldn’t speak English, we were now headed for immigration. After getting through immigration we took yet another trip to the toilets and then rested on a bench in the airport and about an hour we boarded London’s Underground.

Joni in front of Buckingham Palace, London.

Our first stop was at Green Park. We hurried through the surprisingly cool breeze at the park to the other side. There we saw Buckingham Palace, took a few pictures, laughed as we walked through about twenty other people’s photos, and continued on the “Princess Dianna Memorial Walk.” Not that we were trying, but we stumbled upon the Royal Guard Museum, where there were some formation being performed. We watch the English yell to each other in their straight lines, then decided to venture into the museum to see what it was all about. For £3 ($6) each, it wasn’t much to see. It was fun and entertaining, but mostly just a tourist trap. Score: Justin & Joni 0 - Museum 1. We even entered the Royal Guard Museum Gift Shop – “The Place for Toy Soldiers”, it was free. Score: Justin & Joni 0 – Museum 1½. Our deliberate pathway took us to Westminster Cathedral, which made for some beautiful pictures! At £10 ($20) each, we opted for the view from the outside.

Justin near the Clock Tower (Big Ben), London.

After taking some pictures of Big Ben, the Westminster Underground Station and the "Eye of London”, we followed the river Thames to a pizza parlor. We were actually trying to make it to London Bridge, but got hungry on the way. We finished our “average Joe”/overpriced pizza and booked it down stream. When we thought we couldn’t go any further, we had arrived at London Bridge! (I’m not an engineer, but that bridge is not falling down!) It had a wonderful view of Tower Bridge, more pictures! With a couple of Underground train jumps, we were heading back to continue our journey to Malawi… or so we thought…(plot thickens...Theatrical Music Here!)

I just wanted to let everyone know, since this will also post to Facebook, that I have been in the process of updating our website and weblog.

Check it all out when you have the time!

We are also working on our newsletter for April!

Justin