VBS, Painting and Underwear Distribution

Monday morning we walked to Mgwai village (our second trip to Mgwai) where we were met with the normal warm Malawi greeting (shouts of Azungu, smiling children, etc.). While at Mgwai we worked with our translators and helped fill out a number of COTN children profiles. Jake was the workhorse of our group filling out the most profiles while Jason “Butcher” Mak showed off his business acumen and efficiency skills completing the most profiles per hour. Monday afternoon we started our VBS activities at Chirombo. Through our translator Emily and using a children’s bible story book we read the Good Samaritan story to approximately 200 children. While reading the story we also acted it out to the great enjoyment of the children. After reading and acting out the Good Samaritan we organized three legged races with the kids which was a big hit! By far the best part of the day and potentially our entire trip, was distributing underwear that Kirsten was able to get donated by the students at Mira Mesa Christian School where she teaches. During our 2+ weeks in Malawi we never saw the children as excited as they were to receive the much needed underwear; their smiles, cheering, grateful reaction and even dancing ;) was a big blessing to us. Seeing the children so excited to receive something so basic was a good reminder of how much we take for granted in America. Tuesday morning we started our painting project at Njewa, painting the large meeting hall and two classrooms. The afternoon we spent at Chirombo with VBS activities; again using the children’s bible story book and a great Chichewa interpretation by Henry, we read and acted out Noah’s Ark and Jonah and the whale. The approximately 300 children in attendance really enjoyed the stories and were able to tell the group a number of lessons from the bible stories. We finished the afternoon with games, playing sharks and minnows (a favorite Malawian children’s game, but of course they have a different name for it) with the kids. Wednesday was a full day of painting, finishing the hall and two classrooms. With our translators help we finished our painting project one day ahead of schedule. The staff at Njewa greatly appreciated our work expressing their gratitude for our work over and over.