5 Days in the Bush

I just returned to Lilongwe from spending 5 days in a village called Matapila (also known as the bush), teaching high school English and Agriculture. It was an absolute inspiring, life changing 5 days. I’ll spend 5 or 6 more days there next week!

While in Matapila, I stayed with the Matandikas (Mat-uhn-deek-ahs). They are a family with 5 kids, 3 who are orphans that they have taken in. The parents and the 2 biological kids share a room and the 3 orphaned children typically share the other room. But when I came to stay with them, I slept in the orphans’ room and they slept on the kitchen floor! I was blown away at their humble willingness to sleep on the floor in order to accomodate me. Believe it or not, this is just one small example of their hospitality.

A DAY IN MATAPILA
I wake up around 6:00 am.-6:15am. No help from my alarm, but from the LOUD roosters outside that roam freely in the village. I ask Mphatso to warm up some bath water for me. I do this by saying “matz” and motion my hands so that it looks like I’m splashing myself. Haha.

I wash myself out of a pale of water and then get dressed for work. I wear a dress and then wrap a Kitinge around my waist. Besides covering their legs, women use Kitinges to fasten their babies to their backs and to cushion the tops of their heads when carrying really heavy things. For breakfast the family always prepares tea and bread with butter. So I eat and then leave the house to teach.

I get to school by taking a thin path through the woods. The school has no road that actually leads to it! School is supposed to start at 7:30am. It doesn’t actually start until 9-9:15ish! I asked the teachers once why this happens and they said they like to wait until all the students show up!

Teaching is both great and frustrating. I teach English and Agriculture to about 50-60 Sophomores. I like teaching when the students understand the topic and we make progress in the classroom. I don’t like teaching when they don’t understand what I’m teaching. This is partially my fault, and partially situational... I get frustrated with both reasons!

Maybe someone can tell me how a student is supposed to learn when:
-They can’t afford a pen or paper to take notes
-None of the students have text books
-The library consists of 1 bookshelf with random texts from the 90’s
-The class has 50-60 students in it
-There are 6 teachers (who only have high school degrees) for 4 grade levels
-Their teachers don’t show up to teach 30% of the time.

I actually became so frustrated with everything on Wednesday that I ended class early and left with the students still sitting in the desks. Hey, at least they have something to sit on.

I return home after class and help Esnet the rest of the day. I’ll help her prepare meals, go to the market, watch the children, get water from the well, peel earth nuts, etc. If I’m not helping Esnet, I go to the feeding center and help to feed the orphans. More to come on feeding centers later!

In conclusion, I enjoy being a villager. It is neat to see the way God reaches the furthest places on Earth like Matapila, where theres no mail system and the streets don’t have names! From afar, you would think, why isn’t He providing for them? But its not until you step inside that you see God at work and how He truly does provide. It may not be what we would typically expect, but He certainly does.