The Fisherman's Net Malawi Journal
The Makapwa School in the picture taught all but one class in Chichewa. In order for our children to continue their education we bought a Renault minivan station wagon to drive them to Thyolo so they could attend Green Acres English School.
After our oldest son first semester at Green Acres he was too old to attend school so my wife began to "homeschool" him. We joined the Thyolo Athletic Club and the days when she drove our youngest son to Green Acres she stayed at the Athletic Club and taught oldest one. The days I drove I stayed at the Club and worked on my accounting or on a sermon or I drove on into Blantyre to shop for supplies. One sermon I really enjoyed preparing was all in Chichewa. It was entitled, Ndife, Kodi?" which meant "Is it I?" It was about Jesus telling the disciples one of them would betray him. I didn't use a translator that Sabbath. We hired Dr. Burdick's houseworker whose name was Bambo Guleti.
Someone also sent us a shipment of marshmallows. Another strange thing happened. Shortly after we heard that kool-aid made with cyclamate sweetening was banned in the United States, it showed up on Blantyre store shelves. We bought all that was available. We didn't think we would die of cancer just because some rats in a laboratory died.
This is a picture of the office complex at Makapwa. Mail call was a busy time. My accounting office was on the end on the right. An accountant was sorely needed in Malawi. The Malawi government decided to change the monetary system from the British pounds, shillings and pence to a new decimal system with one hundred "tambala" (roosters) to each "kwacha" (new day, or sunrise). With Malawi Independence, they felt it was a new day for the people and a rooster crowingin the morning at sunrise was a fitting symbol for it. Going to a decimal system was like our American dollars and cents.
The "H. A." or Hospital Assistant, checks all new patients into the clinic. After the Registered Nurse returns to the United States, the H. A. will be in complete charge of the hospital at Makapwa, an important step in independence.
A well baby clinic is held for those mothers who gave birth to their babies at the Makapwa Hospital. This is the noisiest area of the hospital. It may just be because the metal scales used to weigh the babies are so very, very cold. I'd cry, too, if I was made to sit on such a cold surface.
The Station Manangment Committee met regularly in my living room. When Sarah, the R. N., and I leave to return home the Committee will be all Malawian, again another step toward independence for Makapwa Station school and hospital.
Sarah, the Head Nurse gets a phone call on our internal mission phone. The phone system is battery operated and not connected to the "outside world." The nearest public phone is around 15 miles away at a tea estate. A trip just to make a phone call would have to be a real emergency! The local station phone system was a real help even if it was just local and only served the various Makapwa Station buildings.
Fedson Makatanje's wife prepares cornmeal flour (ufa) by drying it outside on mats. The sun also bleaches the flour. The Malawians prefer that it be as white as possible. In Chichewa the words for "to be white" also mean "to be righteous."
Makatanje's little girl helps her mother by pounding maize (corn) in a morter made just for her. Although she doing a fabulous job for her size, the flour she is making
probably wont be fine enough for making a pancake-like patty called "nsima." Her flour will make a good breakfast porridge called "nguywo." She is really is a little "Mother's Helper." I might add here that we as a family ate nguywo every morning for breakfast. We found it very delicious.
Training Central African Conference of Seventh Day Baptists in financial independence was a priority. The new Executive of the Missionary Society came to Malawi to see how independent the Malawians were becoming. At a board meeting an item he didn't understand because it was written in Chichewa was used to balance the budget. I translated the "budget" item for him- "Answers to prayer."
When another Pastor and wife came for a later visit to represent the Seventh Day Baptist World Federation we still had the same trouble. The Chichewa word for budget was "tumba" which means "bag." I explained to the Malawians that people can't take something out of a "tumba" (bag) until they first put something into the "tumba" (bag). It made a very good illustration. Pastors Mataka and Manani also made a trip to the United States to attend the World Federation meetings.
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