Tuesday, May 28th
This morning’s breakfast was much
different than normal but such a good different. A couple, from Canada, whose
names are Peter and Elaine Zakreski are staying here at Annie’s Lodge and were
sitting a table down from us this morning. We all got talking over our
breakfast about our trip here. It turns out that they are the founders of an
organization called Hope for Malawi.
This couple is probably in their late 70’s and turned out to be two of the most
full-hearted individuals I have ever met. They own three schools here in Malawi
and have been such a huge support system for the country of Malawi for years
now. I asked them what was the turning point in their life where they felt they
were needed. Elaine got up from her table and joined us girls at ours and
warned us that this may take a while but in true Malawian tradition, we didn’t
mind. Elaine told us that her husband has been getting her plane tickets as a
Christmas gift every year and that she wouldn’t know where she would be going
until Christmas morning, which by the way is the most adorable thing ever. She
said that one time she was visiting this prestigious landmark in Capetown and
was on a train that had king size beds, flat screen TV’s, and constant food
& drink service when all of a sudden a train stopped parallel from them
that couldn’t be more opposite. She said where she had miles of room around her
the people in the other train were so packed in that there was nowhere to sit.
Elaine said she locked eyes with this one African woman who didn’t show
emotions of anger looking over at her train but she felt that even without
words they connected in such a spiritual and deep way.
After that Elaine said she felt
terrible the rest of the trip and was praying to God to help her find a way
that she could help. On her way back to London on the plane she said her
husband moved back a couple of rows to some seats that were more spacious. It ended
up leaving this empty gap between this African woman and herself. She knew
right then that God had answered her prayers because the lady introduced
herself and they talked the whole way back to London. The African lady, Jean,
told Elaine all about how she used to live in Washington but sold everything to
help out her family in Malawi but she felt she was failing God because she
couldn’t come up with the money for all of the orphaned children to help build
a shelter for them during the rainy season (in Malawi a child is considered an
orphan if their mother is dead, even if their father is still alive). Elaine
got her e-mail and contact info from Jean and knew she wanted to help somehow.
Later in the year when Peter was planning to get Elaine tickets for Christmas,
he asked her where she wanted to go and she told him that she just wanted to
help out Jean and her dreams of making this shelter. Elaine told us that when
Christmas came along Peter gave her a card that said there was not only a
shelter but also a clinic built for the orphaned children that Jane had dreamt
of helping, which Jean named after Elaine. Elaine was telling us that’s where
it all started. She stressed that it had nothing to do with Peter, Jean, or
herself but how fate brought all three of them together in that moment. Elaine
and Peter now own 3 schools for the children and come back every May to visit.
It was so heartwarming to meet a couple that, even at their age, are so eager
to help. I was so inspired by them both and it was truly a blessing to meet
them.
Today was actually our first
official day teaching. We all were dropped off to our assigned schools after
breakfast ended around 8:30am. Once us Hokies were taken to our schools we were
surrounded by all of the sweet children upon our arrival. If you have never had
about 800 young children run at your bus head on and shout “Welcome white
people” in their language, I suggest you get somewhere you can. It is a feeling
that I will never be able to explain because it goes so deep into my veins. The
children just crave to be right next to you so that your hands are touching.
Their hands are so little but I feel so much power when they touch mine; it’s
that connection. We were eventually pried away from the children and brought
into a classroom to meet all of the Standard 1-8 teachers. We were then
assigned our classes and Liz and I are the teachers of the wonderful Standard
3B classroom. After that we went to find our new home for the next 2 weeks and
it couldn’t be any more perfect. Ellen and Rana are the main teachers of the
Standard 3B classroom and are there to help us when we need clarification or
suggestions when making our lessons. From the moment we walked into the room I
felt a rush of happiness from the 97 angels that sat before my eyes. With so
many little faces and such big pearly white smiles, how could I not feel
overwhelmed with joy?
First, we introduced ourselves to
the class and they surprisingly were really great with our names. I was a
little worried with my name but they say it in the sweetest and most innocent
way possible. They say Liz’s name with such an accent that is comes out as
“Leese”, but I honestly may change the way I say her name from now on because
it sounds so much better the new way. Liz and I asked to observe for a little
bit of the time so we could get a feel of how the children best respond. I felt
a little bad because I sat down in the back next to a few boys and all eyes
were glued to Liz and I, poor Ellen had to call their names multiple times to
pay attention to the front of the room. When I look up and see 97 pairs of eyes
on me I get the giddiest feeling inside of me and I know if you asked Liz, she
would agree 500% with me. Liz and I just kept glancing at one another and I
could feel her smile speaking so joyfully as mine was back at her. At this
school, after the teachers do their lesson the children get a 20-minute break.
The kids all ran out of the class in a flash and as Liz and I followed I had
about 10 kids clung to me. They LOVE getting their picture taken, which is
wonderful because I love taking their pictures. Win-win. They run up to you in
packs and say, “What’s your name?” Honestly, these are the happiest individuals
I have ever met and they wear dresses they have had for years, go barefoot
everywhere, and sit on a cement floor everyday for school. I have learned more
about happiness from these 6 & 7 year olds than I ever could have learned
in my past 21 years of living.
After the break we went back into
the classroom and Liz and I decided that we wanted to give a little lesson. We
did a tiny lesson on shapes, colors, and some vocabulary in the 30 minutes that
we had left. There is this young girl, who doesn’t look older than 5 or 6, that
sits in the front who I couldn’t take my eyes off of. Every time I tried to
look away I was caught looking back into those beautiful, large brown eyes of
hers. When Elaine from breakfast described that connection with just a look, I understood
what she meant when I looked into this little girl’s eyes. After the sad
departure from our precious Standard 3B classroom, we all met as a group at the
MIE college nearby to see where we would be having class after all of our
teaching sessions. From there, we walked over to the A&T school for a
couple of minutes and then walked over to the Radford school to sort the
supplies for the three schools.
The children from the A&T
school were just getting out so they walked the mile with us to the Radford
school, many turning off the road to go home. These children just danced,
laughed, and shared their beautiful souls with us on that walk. What should
have been a long, hot and uncomfortable walk turned out to be a fast and fun
walk due to the little ones who walked with us. Once we got to the Radford
school we sorted boxes of supplies into three equal piles and ended up having
ample time left over before Willy, our bus driver, would arrive to pick us up.
So, when you’re outside in the sun, with about 200 little kids, what do you do?
Play duck, duck goose, of course! The kids LOVED this game. They all played so
fairly and were giggling endlessly. I sat on the side and took some pictures
when a couple of kids came right up to me and practically lay in my lap. They
wanted me to take their pictures and just talk with me. I had them write their
names in my journal so I could have a little piece of them forever and they
loved it. Labecca, Dumisan, Tiyane, and Eliza were just a couple of the kids
who took a little piece of my heart with them that day. After the bus came, the
kids all said their goodbyes and we headed back to Annie’s. We were all so
exhausted but it was a good exhaustion. One of the professors described it
perfectly when she said that the exhaustion comes from exchanging a constant
flow of excitement without even realizing it and when you actually stop for a
second, you feel it. That’s exactly how it felt. My face had been in the
smiling stance all day that when I finally took a second to rest, everything
was so tired. Liz, Amy, and I just stayed in the room and watched movies on my
computer. After Amy left, Liz and I started doing some school planning for
tomorrow. It was such a beautiful day.
Until then,
xoxo
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