What was the Purpose of Coming? Part 2
Dave Schmidgall
Nov 10, 2008 · 12:50 PMOn Friday afternoon the team visited Chilota village in Lilongwe. The people of the village greeted warmly, with songs and rushed to shake hands. After a gracious and accommodating introduction by the village elders, everyone sat down in chairs as honored guests. Meanwhile, the village men sat on mats to the left, and the women and children on the dirt in front of us. The children sat separate from their parents but behaved for the entire meeting, which lasted several hours. Our team was amazed by how patient and well-behaved the kids were and by how the parents were not overbearing toward small interruptions they may have caused. Only towards the end of the meeting did one of the younger men come over to sit with the children and help calm them down.
Several village elders spoke first. They spoke in Chechua, the common language of Malawi, and though lacking understanding, it was clear that they were sharing the village’s needs with James and the team. One man spoke of the need for a school in their village. Though there was a school some distance away, the young children could not attend for fear of abduction by witch doctors, who kill the children to harvest body parts for sacrificial purposes, can easily capture children who are not tall enough to see above the land’s maize stalks and not quick enough to run away.
This message, a chilling and horrifying introduction to Malawian culture, highlighted that there are both basic needs and complex problems for their people.
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