Wednesday, May 20th

Yesterday was voting day in Malawi. Everyone was off work and school, so while the adults went to vote, I was at home with Freda, Jeremy, and Michael, just hanging out and relaxing. The anticipation and excitement about voting and the election in Malawi is great. Everyone was very excited to vote and sees it as very important in the future of their country. They are also very proud to vote. The prayer is that as the results are released there is no violence, that the winners can accept the results with humility, and that the losers can accept the results with tolerance and grace. The prayer is to avoid the violence that has been in seen in Kenya and other African countries, that Malawi will remain a peaceful country. So if you pray, pray for peace in Malawi during this time, and that the leader elected will do well for the Malawi people :)

In the afternoon, we took a walk around the area, through a couple of neighborhoods. The area I am staying in Lilongwe seems pretty nice, though I would not want to be out after dark, because as in any city, it is not the most safe. All houses here are surrounded by a wall, and all of the gardens look very well maintained, lots of flowers and bushes, as one would see in any nice US neighborhood. While we (Freda and I) walked, two women approached and shook hands. They apparently asked (they asked in Chichewa) if I was married or looking for a husband... not married yet, and probably not while I am in Malawi...

Last night for dinner we had spaghetti :) They asked my favorite food and prepared spaghetti after I listed it, which was extremely nice of them. My host family has been so kind, going out of their way to be hospitable, for which I am very thankful.

This morning (Wednesday) to start off at WR, we had bible study. After singing, they went around the circle of staff and shared about voting yesterday. It was fun hearing the different stories. Some people got up at 4am to get to the que (sp?) before the crowd came. Some people waited as long as 3 hours in line to vote, others it took only 15 minutes, depending on when and what voting station you went to. They vote by dipping their fingers in ink and then choose their presidential candidate as well as a member for parliament, so today many people have slightly stained fingers. They said that they were happy that so many people voted, the huge turnout was a surprise, and for many it was their first time voting, even if they had been able to before. The atmosphere here during the election time feels a lot like it did in the US last fall, with people voting who had never voted before and being excited about the future of their country. The choices are between the incumbent president and the opposition, which as seven candidates. The term for presidency is 5 years in Malawi, and I think the general feeling is that the incumbent president will win, but there is no way of knowing until the results come out in a couple of days.
Still no internet in the office; my wireless connection isn’t working for some reason. If you have noticed, I am writing most of these posts at an earlier date, and then posting them as soon as I have access. Right now, I am using my supervisor's ethernet cord, meaning she has no internet while I am using it :(

I am excited to get started in Mzimba. At times I am not sure whether I have the experience or the ability to work successfully and do well for World Relief, but now I feel equipped and ready to work, even if I may not be as prepared as if I was an education major. Nothing has changed except for my outlook. My hesitation has left, which is not to say it won’t come back, but that attitude and one’s perspective about any activity or objective plays a major role in one’s future success and ability to accomplish any action.