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In less than three days I will be congregating with a team of fourteen eager excursionists in a church parking lot at 2:15 a.m. With twenty-eight suitcases among us and with a mental suitcase filled with the unknown and heavy with anticipation of a new adventure, we will launch ourselves willingly into an unforgettable experience. Our destination: Malawi, Africa. I’ve heard it said that Malawi is considered the Warm Heart of Africa. I’m ready to experience that warm heart first hand. At the same time, I am not naïve to the reality that creeps its way into the lives of Malawians. Life is not exactly easy going for many who live there. The life expectancy for males is estimated around the age of thirty-five and for the females it’s roughly thirty-nine years old.  While in Malawi, my team will be working with Ministry of Hope (MOH) and World Vision. In the middle of our time in Malawi, sandwiched between visits to a feeding center and a crisis nursery, we will be holding a camp for about one hundred fifty teenagers who are under the care of MOH. Every child attending the camp has been affected by disease and death; some may currently carry Malaria or the HIV/Aids virus. I hope to be able to send back updates on where we are and what we are up to while in Malawi. I hope to be able to communicate back to you the stories God is writing in the lives of the teenagers I will meet. I hope that I can articulate my learning’s from my soon to be Malawian friends and from my God as a result of my time as a visitor in their culture; their home. Praise God he is the Father of a multi-ethnic, borderless, vibrantly colorful family filled with attributes of who he is. May God’s happy song be heard in every people group for eternity to come. Stay tuned for updates on this quickly approaching Malawi bound train… |
Comments
Thanks for keeping us updated. I look forward to your posts from Africa.
Doc
Yes, I can't wait for more updates as well. I've read the ones you have so far.
Hi Lola,
Thank you for you comment. Lets get together soon!
Hi Carrie. What is the primary cause and spread of HIV/Aids there and what preventative measures as well as reactionary measures are being done there?
You ask some great questions. I appreciate your interest in the subject and in Malawi.
As for the history of the cause of HIV/Aids, I'm afraid I'm not skilled enough to know much on that.
As for the spread of HIV/Aids currently, I do know that this can happen because of a number of reasons. Some of these include a lack of preventative knowledge. It wasn't until recently that the government approved HIV/Aids education as part of school curriculum. This is now being taught in classrooms of children as young as 6 years old. (School is no longer free for students beyond the 8th grade. Therefore, unless a child has the support from family to continue on to secondary school, their education is cut off after the 8th grade. This is also a factor).
Aside from preventing the spread simply by incorporating the matter into the school system, it is also spread due to the number of very young women who are left to care for their younger siblings when their parents pass due to disease. Far too often, these young girls resort to prostitution out of a survival mode to have means to feed their siblings.
Malawi is also a Matriarchal society. When a husband and father dies, the children are sent to live with their uncles, while their mother is sent back to the village she grew up in. Often times, the uncles are resentful and can be very abusive to the children. This may increase rape among the women and increase anger in many of the young men who will then turn to the streets.
These are general examples based on the little knowledge I received on the issue while in Malawi for a short time.
As for reactionary measures, the church in Malawi could use the prayers of all who will pray. The church has a huge task in front of them. As you may or may not know, Malawi is the poorest country in the world per capita. As you can imagine, this means that the church lacks many resources that could be beneficial to the care of the widowed and the orphaned.
You can also check out Ministry of Hope, the organization my team worked with there. On their site you can read about the different ministries they have to assist the church with this issue of HIV/Aids and Malaria.
Although this appears to be a long answer to your questions, it is a short answer and very general for the purpose of a response. However, if you are wanting to read up more on the history of Africa (which will help make present day Africa more understandable), check out the book King Leopold's Ghost.
http://www.avert.org/ is also a great informational guide on the global issue of HIV/Aids.
Thanks again for your questions and concern for Malawi.
I appreciate the depth of your answer, and I was unaware of their social morays that make prevention and education more difficult. I will check out your links for more information. Thank you.
By the way..I made a mistake in saying Malawi is Matriarchal. What I meant was just the opposite. It's a Patriarchal society.
Sorry for the confusion if I caused any.