Our next few days in Lilongwe

The story continues Saturday night as 4 of the women went to the "Bottoms Hospital", a Labor and delivery site. It is a hospital in name only as the conditions are only the very basic and many women from the villages come here as soon as they think they might be in labor too get here because of the great distances.

Sunday 7/20
Well Kari and Emilio got a touch of the flu or something last night so they missed our trip to church. They did recover in a couple of days, but the length of the trip may have something to do with it. We left for Amos' church and were warmly welcome there. As has been the norm on this trip, it was a special Sunday because 14 congregations had been meeting all weeking for their annual conference. Since the church was packed, we were seated on the stage, right behind all of the pastors and the church elders. The first service at the Kafita church was in English and the pastor challneged the congregants to leave our comfort zones (sofa set as he called it) and go wherever God leads, which was also an appropriate message for our group. Between services, we saw Betty, one the nurses from the Crisis Nursery. We were also introduced to Mabel, who runs the widows ministry, who had made some of the small purses we sold at the World Vision experience at WACC. This group has purchased a large plot of land outside of town and is building training and eventually residence buildings for the widows, so they can work towards financial indepence, almost impossible for most of them now. They teach them sewing, candle making and other skilss. The second service was identical to the first, with one minor exception- It was in Chichewa, and we are not too fluent in it (or as Verna accidentally called it one day,"in Chihuahua". Because of the many introductions, including us both times, the services lasted 4 hours. Afterwards we were invited by Pastor Kachipanda to join him and the leaders for lunch. We were treated to the now familiar Nsima, rice and the mustard greens we'd become accustomed to when out in Nkhoma.
Another "short" drive took us out to a youth camp that Pastor vasco helps run. We were pleasently surprised when after driving on a lond dirtroad alond some fairly desolate area, suddenly there were trees and a beautiful river at the edge of the camp. They are also in the process of adding more buildings to expand their outreach capabilities.
One of the greta things we've done is get together each night to debrief, and prepare for the next day. We close each time in prayer and this has allowed us to share what was memorable that day for whatever reason.

Monday 7/21
Today we headed out to the Liwonde national park, specifically what's called the Mvuu camp. You will have to ask team members for their pictures from here. Of course, we had gotten the bargaining bug at the wood market so we made a "quick" stop. Luckily the vendor who was selling to kelsi saw our mini-bus leaving and let her know. That would have been hard to explain to John and Sharon how we left their daughter in a market in Lilongwe. We had made it a habit to always count before leaving but forgot this time in our hurry.
We've seen that in Malawi pedestrians and bicyclists have no road rights. They are aware and always look over their (right-they drive on the left here)shoulder when a vehicle is heard approaching. We've been amazed at the amount and variety of things carried on bicycles and by the women as they balance large and heavy loads on their heads. Bike repair is a thriving business here, as we saw dozens of them, many just under a tree or by the side of the road.
So the plan was to getto Mvuu as quickly as possible, because it was a "4hr" trip. As we've learned, their time and our clocks don't always match. The trip took 5 1/2 hours, including the last 10 on another narrow single-track dirt road. Enroute, we stopped at the Liwonde woodcarver's market (because it's closer to the source, I think). Kari busily negotiated several necessities with help from Fred and Lamar at the same time on different items. The Kramers out in force. The only question after leaving is how are we getting this stuff homebecause a couple of......well, you'll see when we get back.
As we actually entered the park, the scenery suddenly changed, as we saw palm trees, some monkeys, birds and evidence of elephants. We aslo saw a lot of Fish Eagles, a beautiful bird similar to our American eagle, that is Malawi's national bird.We took a short boat ride across the Shire river to the lodge, where our cabins were. They were very nice with cement floors, but the walls are screen fabric only so you can see and hear the wildlife all a round you. One of the fun things is hearing the grunts of the hippos. Although they are 1/2 - 3/4 mile away, you think they are within 20-30 feet. the sound really carries across the water. As soon as we stowed our gear, we were off in a Land Rover and out into the park for 3 1/2 hour tour. We encountered dozens of Impalas (not Chevy's Ron!) water buck and Warthogs along the river. Numerous pods of hippos in the water and a young elephant feeding along the reeds. Some of the 400 bird varieties were also pointed out to us as we drove. We kept our camers busy and we'll be sharing them later with you, maybe more than you want. A highlight was a group of 6-7 elephants feeding in the trees, including a calf. The 2nd half of this trip was in the dark as the search was on for night predators. Several White-tailed Mongoose and an African Civet cat were seen on the prowl. This day ended with a late dinner which included some African dancers. We went to bed early because tomorrow, our day would start with a 0530 drive into the Rhino enclosure.