Tuesday, April 7th, 2009
PEI

From Darren, Team Leader:

Well we made it home safe and sound and it was great to see our families and friends at the airport. It has been a wonderful experience for us all and I wish to thank everyone that helped make this trip possible. Thanks to everyone who donated to the Building Fund and all the volunteers who helped raise the funds, without whom this trip could not have been made possible. Thanks go to Lifeline Malawi for all the logistics and support that needed to be done to sponsor a group to Malawi. Thanks to our families, friends and Church families who supported our calling to Africa. I'd like to thank all the team members of Malawi team '09 for the great work you did and for making my job easy. Last but not least I'd like to thank God for calling us to Malawi and putting the African people on our hearts, for keeping us safe and for an experience few will ever forget. Until our next journey back to Africa, God Bless......Darren.

Monday, April 6th, 2009
Frankfurt

We made it to Frankfurt okay and have about 3 more hrs to go before taking the flight to Montreal. The flight from Johannesburg is one long haul, 10 and 1/2 hrs. We are all a little travel weary and are looking forward to sitting down in one place for awhile. We said good bye to Kees in Johannesburg where he will spend some time with family, sad to see our entertainment leave. All is going well and we shall see you all tonight.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

From Darren:

Only have a minute to write as we are on the way to the airport. Just finished church with Chris and his family. The weather is cool and it looks like a good for traveling. Had a wonderful meal with Chris's family and the Laforts. We are all good and looking forward to seeing our families. Sad to leave our Malawian friends and have many fond memories. We'll see you all on Monday (5:43 pm at Charlottetown Airport) !

From Chris & Heather Brooks:

The team has departed… a great team! They were an encouragement to me personally, especially seeing their faith in action here in Malawi and in the lives at home. Thanks so much for organizing them to come.

Thanks again… be blessed.. until next time,

April 3rd, 2009

Well our last day of construction has come and gone. Both our team and the Malawian workers are sad to see the end of the project. Friendships were formed and I’m sure we won’t forget each other over the years. We were able to get as far as the forms built for the ring beam, almost all the walls finished and the door frames put in. Andrew and Anita cooked up a special supper of two different fish dishes and various veggie dishes. Afterwards was spent packing by candlelight and flashlights as the power went out during a brief thundershower. Tomorrow we are off to Dedza and then on to Lilongwe for supper with the Brooks’ family. On Sunday we begin the long journey back to Canada.

April 2nd, 2009

Work continued on the inside walls and the door frames were all installed. It was a bit cooler today and some of the Malawian workers found it cold, to us Azungo’s (white people), we found it rather quit pleasant. This afternoon we took a trip to Mua and went through the Catholic Missions museum. The history of the Catholic missionaries start in Malawi was displayed on the walls plus the history of the different tribal traditions. Afterwards we took a walk about the beautiful grounds and gardens. A lovely waterfall lies at the base of the mission grounds, there children and adults swam. Along the shoreline tall bamboo trees stood majestically in the sunlight. On returning to the Lifeline Malawi complex, a rainbow sat over Lake Malawi with dark clouds all around and the fishing boats below. Pastor McDuff blessed us with his presence for supper. He is looking at ways to show the Jesus film in the surrounding villages.

April 1st, 2009

Violet from the Clinic came and collected Maria, Paul, Gertrude and Chris and took them to the Chilumbula School where they observed the classes overflowing with children. The children were wonderful and sang songs to them and they in turn sang to them. Mr Vincent told Paul that he is very gracious for the latrines that the ’07 Team funded. They look great at the back of the school. The gang then took a Chilumbula taxi (rode on the back of a bicycle) back to the Clinic. Work continues on the house and we were able to finish off 4 main inside walls. Late in the afternoon Nelson took us to a village where Lifeline Malawi was putting on a HIV/Aids Drama. This is one of the ways they get the word out on HIV/Aids prevention as there are very few TV’s and few radios in the area. Many people came from all over to see the drama which lasted for about 2 hrs. At the end of the drama Darren was asked to give a speech on how HIV/Aids affect all races and cultures.

March 31st, 2009

The heavens opened and it poured rain for about ½ an hour just before we got up this morning. The rain cooled things down but once again we worked in the mud. Everyone was in good spirits and it was easier going with the cooler temp, Kees found it too cool. Today we just built more of the inside walls and cleaned up the work site of broken bricks. Dr. Brooks gave us a tour of the maternity clinic which should be opening soon. It is a wonderful building and should help immensely with decreasing the child birth mortality rate here in the area. With the economic downturn in the world, the funding of starting the clinic has been greatly affected. More funds need to be raised to pay for the wages of the staff and material.

March 30th, 2009

Well there is no more mud as it has been some hot! We haven’t seen any rain since arriving which has been great for building but it can be stifling at the work site and trying to sleep at night. All went well today on the building site. The back and side outer walls are now ready for the ring beam (cement on the top layer of bricks to reinforce the walls and roof). The inside walls are coming along nicely and most are ¾ of the way competed. Some door frames were inserted and tomorrow they are planning on starting on the window frames. Needless to say it is starting to look like a fine duplex. Dr. Brooks arrived to bring out some supplies and will join us for the evening. Everyone here says hello and prays you are all doing well. The wind has just picked up as I am writing this and it has cooled things down some, I hope it keeps up.

March 29th, 2009

Today was the day we got to worship in “our church”, or as Pastor McDuff has begun to call it, “PEI #2”. As we entered the church we were greeted by a much healthier looking Pastor McDuff. He is feeling better and passes on his blessings to the churches in PEI. We were blessed with beautiful music, dancing and praising. Darren gave the greetings, Kees and Chris the message. It was good to be back home for some of us and to introduce the new members of our team to our Chilumbula brothers and sisters. After service we loaded up and headed to Livingstonia where we had lunch and a dip in the pool. When we got back to the mission house we celebrated a wonderful day and Maria’s birthday. Andrew and Anita had baked a cake for the occasion. Now that the team is well rested, we are ready for another week of construction.

March 28th, 2009

This morning we had a bit of variety in activities. Chris and Gertrude went on a 6 am walk and saw one baboon and numerous impalas and monkeys. While I (Maria) slept in an extra half hour until 6 am, Darren, Kees and Paul went for an early morning dip in the pool. We had a wonderful breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, fruit salad, muffins and toast. While I had gotten up to go get some ketchup for my potatoes, one cheeky little monkey thought that it was a good idea to zip across the table and steal my toast. Another monkey was used as a diversion to keep the others from seeing the theft. I was just happy that he didn’t steal my bacon. After breakfast, we went on a boat tour up the river where we saw multiple hippos, lots of different birds, an iguana and a few crocs. One croc was sun bathing up on a bank and we were able to get some nice pictures of that one. After the tour we went back to catch our ride back down the river to meet up with Maurice and we then drove back to Ngodzi. Tonight we had an authentic Malawian meal of Sima, relish and goat. We ate it the traditional way, with our fingers. It was very delicious and quite a different eating experience.

March 27th, 2009

This morning we started the trip to Mvuu camp in the Liwonde National Game Park. After driving to Liwonde, we were treated to a lovely boat trip up the Shire River. During the trip up the river we saw numerous hippopotamus, crocodiles and various birds. Once settled into our chalets and a quick dip in the pool, we set off on Safari! Along the route we were never at a loss of things to see. We saw antelope, wart hogs, baboons, various birds, a mongoose and a herd of elephants. Lots of photos and video were taken. After a wonderful meal everyone was feeling the effects of a long week and it was time to turn in.

March 26th, 2009

After breakfast and another beautiful Malawian sunrise it was off to the job site. The work began building the back wall higher and getting the corners put in so we could begin work on raising the level on the side walls. As we started work we were blessed by a visit by a much improved Pastor McDuff! He is still weak but looking and feeling better. He felt well enough to go with Chris and the LLM Clinic staff to an outreach clinic in Matowe. There Chris got to listen to a lot of chests and see many cases of Malaria. While working away back at the job site, Daniel passed me (Darren) a cell phone and told me to answer it when it rang. I did as he asked and was shocked to hear the voice of Wiseman the man who taught us to lay bricks the time we built the church. He is now up in a village to the North about 120 km’s away. It was good to hear the voice of a dear friend. Everyone is looking forward to going to the Liwonde National Game Park tomorrow.

March 25th, 2009

This morning Chris and Kees went to the clinic. Eric discovered that Chris is a RT and has asked him to teach a lesson about neo natal resuscitation. A good day was had by all carrying and laying bricks. Maria has decided to change vocations and become a professional brick layer. Kees thinks since she is an art student she should combine the two and design and build fireplaces. The afternoon heat was difficult to work in and trips from the brick pile were slow and steady with many breaks under a small tree. The inside walls are now the same height as the outside ones at about 3’. We have started the staging and building of the back wall higher. There was a bit of excitement just before quitting time as a Black Mamba snake was discovered by one of the Malawian workers. Pat Laforte dropped by for a visit and brought out Darren’s luggage, eureka clean clothes! Gertrude, Maria and Chris headed into the village in search of sugar cane. They looked like the Pied Piper as they returned to the compound with all the children following.

March 24th, 2009

We woke to another beautiful day in Malawi. The winds were light and the sun shone brightly. In the morning Maria and Gertrude went to the clinic and were able to see the morning HIV and Malaria Prevention lessons given to the patients. The mid day was extremely hot and the shade was a welcome place to be in between hauling loads of bricks or laying bricks. The building is coming along nicely and we have about 3’ of walls up all around. The workers are from a local construction company called Dumbo Construction and we are learning lots. There is only one fellow working with us who we recognize from the time we built the church. His name is Daniel. Other old colleges who we see here are Cedric and Gift. They are working on another project here in the compound. Today we walked up to the church and as we went through the village we looked for familiar faces and hoped to see the kids we shared with in ’07. Today I found Malcolm one of the young children who helped us at the church. Darren and Chris are getting quite handy at mixing cement by shovel. Kees, Gertude, Maria and Paul are becoming very good at laying bricks and mortar.

March 23rd, 2009

Today was our first day of work, we got up early and Darren lead us through devotions. After breakfast we headed out to the pad that was all ready for us to start building on. During the morning we loaded and transferred bricks down to the work site. While the men kept working, one of the nurses, Violet, came and took Gertrude and myself (Maria) to the Orphanage where we met the teachers and the kids. The kids demonstrated what they have been learning, and I got to teach them how to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider. In the afternoon, after the crew laid down the first few rows of bricks, we were able to try it for ourselves. After a few pointers, we started to get the hang of it. Darren and Dr. Chris went to see Pastor McDuff today. He’s very ill and has tested positive for Malaria. They had prayed over him and ask that you could please keep him in your prayers as well. It was a long day, but a good one. We’re hoping for a good night’s rest tonight so we can get up and start working early in the morning again.