I have officially lived in Malawi Africa for one full month. The first month was spent in a tiny village nestled between mountains and the lake; called Chintheche. When I signed up for the race, specifically Africa, I knew that I would be roughing it. Well, Chintheche met and exceeded all my expectations. We slept three girls to one bed, all stuck together one because it was so hot that our bodies actually melted together and two because we broke the beam underneath our bed the second night so the two people sleeping on the ends rolled into the person in the middle. Our conjoined bodies all fit under one single flimsy mosquito net that was more efficient catching cockroaches falling from the ceiling than the mosquitos who decided we were great midnight snacks. We waddled up the hill in our wrapa skirts to carry a bucket of water back down to the house for our bucket showers. We kicked the squatty outside our house before we used it to get all the flys out, and felt such relief when we didn't have to go into the squatty after sundown (after sundown the freaks came out-aka cockroaches and scorpions). Whenever one us was the slightest bit sick our host was convinced it was malaria. Due to the lack of contact with the outside world and insanity starting to kick in, we began to think that this was the funniest joke ever (especially since we all are on malaria medicine). We were convinced that life on the race consisted of bugs, squatties, and the possibility of malaria.
I would say our team roughed it. The thing is though I wouldn't have it any other way. The daily necessities were no longer necessities. Wifi, snacks, running water, electricity, and western toilets no longer felt like things I couldn't live with out. My idea of normal shifted. Cockroaches greeting me every night in the shower became normal. Waking up and walking outside to the three walled squatty was just as normal as waking to a western toilet. Constant swarms of children waiting for us when we came home was expected. The amount of mangos consumed was unnatural. My team and I got to say that we lived in Africa, we lived in actual Malawi in a real village the same way a Malawian family would.
Our ministry this month consisted of door to door evangelism. We walk to houses and either have great conversations or a lot of ackward silence and staring. The amount of villages visited and people I have been given the opportunity to meet has been astounding. I have also had my fair share of new experiences. I have had children convulse I'm my arms as demons are casted out of them. The amount of rooms that I have entered to place hands on someone bed ridden and every time they hang their head in shame. I have held the limp hands of children plagued with various diseases and illnesses. I have clung to the arms of adults who have no sense of hope. I have started into the eyes of the elderly who believe they have no chance for joy to overtake their life. I have laid hands on stomachs so bloated from malnutrition that it not longer feels like a body belonging to a human. I have watched children eat dirt because that's all they have. I have seen parents chase after us to bring us to someone that needs prayer.
Here in Malawi many people believe so strongly that azungos, what they call white people, hold all the power. They believe we have all the money. They believe that if we do something then everything will change. Even when I try to explain that the blood that runs through their veins is the same blood that runs through my veins; they shake their head in disagreement. When I try to tell the women that they are so beautiful, they say no- you are beautiful. When I tell the children that they are smart they say no you are smart. They believe that since I am from America then I am perfect and therefore they are not. The truth is that their blood is the same as mine-blood bought by the price. The truth is that we all are beautiful because we are beautifully created. The truth is that we are all gifted with intelligence. The truth is that none of us are perfect nor are we called to be.
So as I enter into month two in Malawi Africa I am ready to continue life on the race. I am ready for more malaria jokes, nights spent reminiscing about American food, and lizards crawling on my face as an alarm clock. More importantly though I am excited to keep letting people know how much they are loved and treasured. I am excited to keep loving on the people of Malawi.
Forever and always
Jazlyn Gonzalez
