At our very early start we went to Lighthouse Trust at Kamuzu Central Hospital and got a tour where I could take pictures because it wasn't officially open and therefore no patients (patient confidentiality is very important).
We then got to sit in of the Home Base Care department meeting and heard all the updates about the various groups. We learned about a group in Kawale that makes beads from paper and turns them into jewelry, we are hoping to meet the group to see their work before we leave. After the meeting we traveled to see the Mphatso group, Mphatso means gift in Chichewa. They are doing some really amazing things and we learned all about the hard work they have been up to in the past couple of months. They sang and danced for us when they were excited about the new materials that we brought in addition to new pattern ideas for both the US market and the local market. When we left Mphatso my cheeks were hurting a lot from all of the smiling I was doing. It is great to see your dreams become reality and this group is exceeding my wildest dreams.
After meeting with the Mphatso group we went back to the house we are staying at to relax for a while but I was so energized that I went for a walk at the curio market down the street. I was incredibly surprised at what happened next.....it started to rain. Unlike in the United States, Malawi has a specific rainy season where it rains everyday and doesn't rain in the other seasons. We are just leaving the rainy season and entering winter but still, the rain was unexpected. It wasn't a bad rain, it was very light but I was one of the few people not selling items in the curio market. I got to see a lot of new items and browse uninterrupted. Although I promised myself that I wasn't going to buy anything, I caved and bought a bowl that the workers were able to turn into a yarn bowl. While they were making the changes I got a chance to watch them work and ask them questions about their daily lives. They state that they replant trees from which they use the wood to make items. I also suggested they might want to try to make Christmas ornaments, which would probably sell well with the tourists. After that exciting sojourn, I came back to the house to prepare for today.
This morning we once again got up early to go to Lighthouse Trust to sit in on their entire staff meeting to hear each department's updates. After the meeting we drove to Area 50 support group where everyone was excited to see us. We again spoke with the group about what they had been up to in the past few months and the progress they have made. They have been able to pay wages to a few members of the group so far and are gearing up for the winter season with more items. It was thrilling to give them more materials and ideas of items to knit, they immediately took the ideas and started running with them and even more items they could make. I'm really looking forward to the next 2 weeks to see what will come of these ideas. Lastly, before we left Jane was able to dance and sing with the group!
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