Happy Halloween!

Wow. I’ve been here almost 3 months. In some ways, it feels like I’ve been here longer, but mostly, I can’t believe that much time has passed. I said goodbye to another expat today, Rachel from the US. I have met a number of people from around the world, many of whom have gone in the last few weeks. There seems to be a rotating crew of people coming, either to research, to volunteer, or as part of their studies. There have been a number of medical students, mainly from Germany and the UK, and I’ve met researchers from Germany, the UK, the US, and Australia. There are also a number of Canadians here, working in fisheries, at other missions organizations, and in education. There was a group of us forming that often gathered for dinners and movies. A few of us that were left went up and spent another night at a lodge up in the mountains. A great sunset and some cool mountain air were a welcome end to the week. Some excellent food and some good times were had by all. The guitar was brought out, and it was amusing to find out which songs were known by whom, as we had Canadians, Germans and Americans. We usually would remember about 20% of the lyrics between us, but there were a few songs that we all managed to recognize, and the harmonies flowed.

It’s been pretty consistently hot here for the last little while. I suppose that means the rains are coming soon. At least it’s not snow. A few of us are planning to hike up Mount Mulange in a couple of weeks, so hopefully the rains hold off, or we’ll have to postpone since the hiking becomes impossible when the rocks are slippery.

Got to see another good football game last night. The Patriots look very shaky this year. Hopefully Indy will capitalize. I want to see Peyton Manning win a Super Bowl before he turns into another Marino, and it looks like this year may be his best shot. Good performance by the Leafs on Saturday. I don’t get to see hockey here except for the occasional highlight, but I still catch the news now and again.

So, I get to go to my first Malawian wedding this weekend. My day guard is getting married on Saturday. I guess I forgot to mention before, but I have guards that basically watch my house, one during the day, and one at night. They also keep the house and the yard clean, and do my dishes and laundry. It’s a pretty good deal, and a good thing too since I have a fairly big house for one person. And it makes it easier when I have dinner parties, since the cleanup is usually the worst part.

As for the title of my post, Halloween doesn’t actually mean anything here. I guess that’s appropriate in a country where there are so many starving people. The notion of buying mass amounts of food with negative nutritional value and having kids run around on sugar highs for a week doesn’t really seem to work in a place where most people have trouble affording basic necessities.

A few people have asked how they can help here, and I’ll have to get some more info on where you can help in Canada, but there are many organizations that are serving here in Malawi. We work with World Food Program (WFP), a number of projects funded by Tearfund, USAID, CARE International, among others. WFP is heading a large scale food initiative, and we are working with them to distribute food to those in greatest need in our areas. If you wish further information on how you can help, I will do my best to seek it out for you. Mainly, I ask that you pray for the wisdom and discernment of all the people who are trying to help here, and that we may be able to get help to those in greatest need.

Thanks for all of you who keep in touch. I love hearing reports from home. Even hearing the small details of your life through an email helps me feel not quite as far away from everyone. I love it here, and I love the people I am meeting, but I still miss you all from home. Hope everyone is doing well, and enjoying the cool fall breeze.