Trip to Chididi...

This is the biggest tree that I have ever seen!

I mean... don't get me wrong... driving around the African country side, you see trees like this everywhere. Some are almost this big... but, this one was just enormous! I spotted it on my way to a village called Chididi, down at the lower tip of Malawi. I went down there for just one night to tag along with the volunteers who are doing Home-Based Care visiting.

Although this trip was a pretty fast moving one, I experienced a lot of things!

One of them was...

Nsima and Chomba (fish)

After driving for hours in some of the hottest weather I have experienced, Thomas (the national that I was riding with) and I stopped in his home village to eat some lunch.

This was a very small village that was kinda in the middle of nowhere. I asked Thomas how often a white person comes to that village, and he guessed about once every two years or so. Well... when the kids saw the truck driving in the village, they all started screaming and chasing us. Then, to their amazement they saw none other than a real, live Azungu (white person)!!! Within about 5 minutes of arriving, I had about 40-50 kids surrounding me, mesmerized by my every move. You just think you know awkward till you get to a place where you can't communicate with anyone and everyone is just starring... not even starring from a distance, but withing 2-3 feet of you!


Anyway... lunch consisted of the highly acclaimed... Nsima!! I say highly acclaimed, because unless a Malawian has eaten nsima that day, they would say that they haven't eaten. Nsima is the doughy looking stuff you see in the picture above. And... it's just that... DOUGH. No seasonings... not salt or pepper... just maize flour and water. And they will prepare something to go along with it.

If there is one thing in the West that is just really different than most other places in the developing world it is food choice. People here literally eat the same thing every day of their lives... and they are content! I have been sharing the meals that I have been cooking for myself each night with my night guard. Granted, some aren't exactly culinary masterpieces, but there haven't been quite a few that I really thought to be home runs. I asked him just tonight what he thought of the meal... and I told him to be honest with me... and he still prefers Nsima over pretty much anything!

Anyway... by the end of this little excursion of mine, I was ready to hit the next person that said the word "Nsima"! Seriously... I was so tired of eating this stuff, I wanted to scream... and then gorge myself with peanut butter and jelly. But... I managed to make it. I think part of the reason why I ended up OK was the fact that the village I went to was nestled up in the mountains of southern Malawi... right on the border of Mozambique. It was absolutely beautiful!!

As we went out visiting people who were sick, we would walk up to a small hut that was situated at the top of a hill with a view that most Westerners would pay millions of dollars for.

I have a whole new respect for the volunteers (local church members) who are going out each week to bring basic necessities to the sick people involved in the program. It was really exciting for me to tag along and see things in action...


The volunteers visit with people in their own community and bring them food, take care of some needs around the house, have a short devotion with them, and just let them know that someone cares. It was really great!

We have Home-Based Care sites in 5 different villages in Malawi... I will have the opportunity to tag along with each one of these sites over the next month or so!


And lastly... what night would be complete without the great African game of Bao...

I desperately want to learn how to play this game. When you just try to watch people play, there is just no way to figure it out. I tried to get these guys to explain it to me... and none of them really knew how. But... soon I will be an expert! I promise.