by LaurelC-19, 18 August 2009

Laurel took a year off before heading to university. Read about her here

For the "past 6 weeks" I've been living in a village called Kachumbe, which is beyond a larger village called Nancholi, which is on the outskirts of Blantyre, which is a city in Malawi, which is somewhere in Central/Southern Africa. I'm guessing most of you haven't heard of Malawi, let alone Blantyre, but it's okay because most people from Blantyre haven't even heard of Nancholi, let alone Kachumbe. In other words, I am most definitely in the middle of nowhere.

The houses are scattered among the green rolling hills, like a fleet of sailboats riding the soft undulating waves. The land is lush, and the weather wavers between unapologetic downpours or a heat that bakes the ground and allowing the biting ants to roam in armies.

We've been building an orphan care and community center - it's where the local kids (not just orphans) get basic lessons and one extremely simple, small meal. For many kids it's their only meal every day. Currently the rustic church doubles as a feeding center. The kids seem to have fun.

Two of us help out there every day, and quite a few of us would chant along with the teachers and children and not realize for a while that we were actually speaking English... "EYE-LAN EYE-LAN EYE-LAN!" we would all cheerfully shout. Little did we know that it was meant to be "I RUN I RUN I RUN!" Funnily enough we all really do pick up on the local accent; "Jan-new-arr, Feb-rew-arr, Mar-chee, Ape-reel!" for teaching the months. Or when we sing with the local youth group. I thought it was "a-lan da goba" and I was pretty smug about being able to sing in the local language. Until I realized we were supposed to be singing "around the corner, (Jesus [is] coming!)". Oops.

We also volunteer at one of the local schools. A 45 minute walk (or hike, depending on who you ask) away, we venture even further out into the wild. When you get there you look out onto the sprawling landscape, there is more or less is nothing else in that direction. Maybe a speck of a house here and there, a few crops. We teach English, maths and science and I actually quite enjoyed it! Everything they learn is so practically orientated. They learn how to build houses in creative arts. Though the quality of the books is pretty horrendous, with questions that don't make sense and terrible English.

By week two I was carrying my laundry in a bucket on my head down to the local water pump (donated by Islamic Relief Malawi), patiently waiting my turn while the women got their share. Though the landscape is green, clean and safe freshwater is scarce. Every time we come and leave the the villagers wave with a huge smile. We recognize the various colorful characters of the village, each playing a small but vital role. We know most of the locals and kids by name and after every time we leave for a small trip, it really does feel like coming home...