Pumpkin (leaves!) - the Malawian way

One of the strange things about living outside of your own country is how you find ways to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. In my many years overseas I have managed to celebrate each Thanksgiving despite the lack of festivities going on at the current residency. Today being no exception. The kids had school, Stefan had a meeting and it was about 90 degrees which is very unlike Wisconsin this time of year. There were no turkeys to be found that I could see, that is live or frozen and for that matter pumpkins are not in season. Good thing I bought an imported one ( for about $25) right around Halloween and froze some to save for Thanksgiving pumpkin pie ! Tomorrow afternoon while many Americans are out fighting the shopping crowds we will pick up the kids from school and then have a small celebration with two other families eating roast chicken and all the yummy Thanksgiving sides ! I am looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, I thought ,while everyone is getting into the season of some serious down home cooking, ( or opening of cans and pre-made crusts !! SORRY - had to throw that jab in ) that I would share the process of making a traditional Malawian meal - something that they actually eat EVERYDAY - 3 times a day but prepared in my favorite way. It's called:

Nkhwani Wotendere
(Pumpkin leaves prepared with ground nut flour) and served with Nsima (traditional maize paste eaten every day)
In the photo below you see some of the colorful ingredients. Pumpkin leaves chopped with the maizeflour in the bags and one onion and two tomoatoes are needed as well.




You BEGIN by de-stringing ? the pumpkin leaves and then chopping them ! I know we don't eat the leaves in the USA, by tradition, buy you ought to try them one day. Delicious and healthy !



Next I prepared my "stew" which is not always added into the daily meal, in fact, RARE for Malawians as meat is very expensive but we prepared a beef stew with tomatoes and onion/garlic to go alongside our meal.



Next comes my MOST FAVORITE photo - the steaming of the Nkhwani! A tiny bit of water goes into a pot to simmer - then you carefully place the pumpkin leaves into the pot with the tomatoes on top and then the ground peanuts over that. Put the lid on and then let it all steam.....(the aroma at this point is LOVELY)



While that's simmering it's time to begin preparing the NSIMA. This is the maize flour paste which is eaten EVERY DAY by malawians. I eat it about 3 to 5 times a year TOPS. This food fills their tummies and makes them happy ! The side dishes vary for dipping the maize paste into but usually some green leaf veggie stir fried with onions and tomatoes. ( that's where the nutrition comes in....)



To prepare NSIMA properly is a work of art that I have yet to figure out - it takes strong arm muscles for all that stirring to avoid getting it lumpy ! Our good friend Mirriam took much patience to walk me through the process. Apparently you are supposed to test the water temperature on your BARE hand. So while you can't see it in the photo.....I did it too.



After adding the right amount of maizeflour ( they just eyeball it ) you give it a stir and put on the lid until you see it making these little blubbing bubbles as seen in the photo above. NOW ITS TIME FOR THE ARM WORK !!



You STIR and PULL and STIR and PULL UP ( but don't let it fall over the sides) until it reaches the perfect thickness without any lumps ( maybe kinda like oatmeal but for some reason much more difficult for me)

THEN you form it into these perfect "loaf" portions - another artwork using a handmade wooden spoon.
The end result looks like this: A 3 loaf portion ( Stefan sized portion) with a side of stew and a side of "nkhwani wotendere" ( the pumpkin leaf with ground nut flour). The sides are referred to as " Ndiwo" in their chichewa language. TIME TO EAT......without silverware !




Here you can see one of our resident experts.....taking a portion of nsima with your fingers - rolling it around and dipping it into the ndiwo and then eating it ! It's actually VERY YUMMY ! Ben loves it !! He's a 2 loaf kinda boy.




To wash your hands before and after the meal a large pitcher is taken around to each person ( traditionally men first) and water poured over your hands to clean them. ( with a bowl catching the water underneath).

Anyone coming to visit us is certain to be served this dish - so come and visit the Warm Heart of Africa and we'll treat you to "Nkhwani Wotendere"

HAPPY THANKSGIVING ! .....as everyone sits down to their feasts I'm off to bed .....goodnite ! I'll be dreaming of my from-scratch imported pumpkin pie made in a springform pan ( couldn't find ANY pie plate type dish anywhere - springform worked great tho') :)

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Location:Blantyre, Malawi

Reunion....

I hesitate to write this blogpost because words cannot convey the experience or emotion of our day on Saturday.  A unique and blessed day !
We set out at "8 Koloko" ( 8 o'clock) all 9 of us in the Landcruiser.  Our family and our extended family which live on our propery and are also hired to work for us.  Maxwell, our garden and yard worker and his wife Esther, who helps us out in the house and their two boys William and Wilson!  "Tikupita ku Ulendo !"  We are going on a journey......we said together.  Squeals of excitement were heard by 4 year old Wilson who drives VERY seldom if ever before in a car.  As we drove over a bridge his eyes were filled with excitement and he chanted  " madzi" ""madzi" .......( water, water).  We all clapped and cheered !  Where were we going?  To visit Esther's parents in her home village and then onward to see some very special people in our life from our previous time in Malawi 4 years ago.
As we neared a police stop we slowed the car and while Wilson chanted quietly " polisi"  "polisi" Stefan got out his drivers license to show the policeman who then told us he was thirsty and in need of a Fanta.  A polite bribe to let us on our way.......and much to the amazement of Maxwell and Esther who laughed and laughed.  We said " Ahhhh, now you see how it is to travel when you are an " azungu" ( "white person").  Our journey continued.......
The landscape is all quite similar this time of year - brown and dusty......very little green.  Suddenly Esther said " TURN just there".  No clearly marked road before us Stefan asked " HERE?"" yes here......just here."  So offroad we went - bumping through the dust and dirt and between some trees and pass some goats until we came to a small and simple brick home which looked to me unfinished and in the middle of nowhere.  As we got out of the car we saw Esther's parents coming to greet us.  OH! they were happy to see us.  They clapped and shook our hands and Esther's mother hugged our own children tightly much to their awkward amazement ! I didn't take photos so it's impossible for you to imagine the house we entered. Just cement and bricks.......and some furniture all closely arranged in a very small space.  We happily sat down and exchanged greetings in Chichewa and English and after a short visit we left Esther and her boys to visit her family before we went onward to our day's journey.  To our joy Wilson Sr. asked to pray for our journey and I marveled again to experience the Christian Church on Earth !
Moving on we were headed to the township/village of Mwanza.  The home village of Martha and her 3 children:  Fresda, Filmon and Philip.  This is the family who lived with us  4 years ago and whom we cared for and knew very well for many years- even giving Philip his name at birth. And bringing Filmon to a private hospital which saved his life when he was near death with dehydration. Upon our arrival this July to Malawi it was our great hope to have this family live with us again only we discovered that Martha's husband, Elias, had divorced her and was now nowhere to be found. In our 4 years absence we had sent several packages of support to them only to find out that they never received them.......had never heard from us all this while when we were led to believe that they had.  So we were eager to visit them........as we arrived at their village we discovered a row of branches blocking the road.  A sign that a funeral was happening ahead.   Maxwell got out and said he needed to walk ahead to see if it was okay for us to enter the village during this mourning process.  Because we were expected visitors they allowed us to come.  Just as I got out of the car a much taller than I remember girl came running to me and held onto me tightly ! Then a much taller Filmon came running and a shy but growing up Philip peeked behind a tree!  Tears filled my eyes to the brim.......how good to see these children. Fresda, the oldest of all our children, stood by the car door and said in such a familiar voice " LOUISA, come" and held her hand walking her through the village. Ben and Filmon, only 4 weeks apart in age, walked together......now 8 years old, I remember them playing day after day when only still 3 and 4.  Then Martha arrived and hugged me tightly!  How good to see her.  A reunion I wasn't sure would ever be and here it was.  AND THEN.....we entered the house of her father where they stay.  A typical very small brick home but different.  This one was filled with animals skins and charms! and goats and chicken in the space so small you can't imagine.  We greeted the father and saw his necklace. Stefan and I exchanged knowing looks.  The local " medicine man".     Without going into much description.....I'll say that these men do not practice western medicine by any means and are not christians. We spoke to Martha and shared our gifts for her and the children with many village kids crowding the doorways and windows to watch.  Because of the funeral which was their relative, we were able to excuse ourselves and be on our way.  I had to have a few quick photos and we promised to be in contact..........waving as we drove off. 
We had a long discussion with Maxwell in the car about the conditions for the children and what if anything to do about it.  We seek the Lord's wisdom.....if there were a way. 

We returned to Esther's home village and were invited in for the traditional lunch of " nsima with ndiwo" ( maize paste with vegetable relish to dip it in).  Stefan eagerly dug in and I ate a respectful portion :).  Then we journeyed home again.........over the " madzi" bridge and back to our house.  So different......but our home.  Maxwell said " Today you have seen, this is the village life" and we nodded knowingly.  "Tatokosa"   (we are grateful) , he said, that you shared it with us today. 

WE DID IT ! day by day....

We've managed to reach some major milestones ! I can't even begin to tell you how monumental this is for my MIND. It helps looking back - only for a moment.
Last year at this time the IDEA of our family returning to Malawi was already in the works. A year ago, however, I knew it would take TIME for all of the details to sort out and in the Lord's Hands we let it be because A YEAR AGO we dropped off our children for their second year in a row of school at St. Marks in Watertown, WI. A lovely two block walk up the road from our newly rented house. It was the first year for Anna to go to school at all ( which sent me crying in the girls bathroom stall as I released my baby into a new phase of life). And a year ago, we were still the owners of a very small health food store on Main Street. I remember walking I stopped off at Latte Donatte for a coffee as a treat to myself and then back to our little shop to man the cash register.
Over the course of a year our lives changed....and changed some more. Another year of blessings and challenges as is true of everyone ! And THEN we knew we were definitely Malawi bound. So while life went about its busy and exciting way -- so many thoughts continued to swirl around in my mind. What to pack - when will we go - where will we live - new school for the kids (again!) - how will it be....WAIT ! maybe I don't want to go....I like our life here.....but it will be okay and the Lord is directing us......swirling and swirling thoughts.....waiting and waiting. And I realized that I needed to find a way to live with all this swirling around. So through prayer I decided it was enough to take it DAY by DAY - hour by hour.....even minute by minute at times ! And so our lives continued. And I focused on each day at a time and we ENJOYED each day at a time. And suddenly it was time to leave the life we were living and move on ! THAT DAY came.....and went.





When we left Germany two years ago we had no idea when we might see our newfound friends and church family again. But the Lord knows and here we were - a NEW day - visiting so many loved ones in Germany and enjoying the sights and delights that this country offers.






Now our days seemed to really be moving and the swirling thoughts of Malawi were growing closer! And then THAT day came.....we arrived - or returned. We were here. WOW!


Still - there were some goals before us. Start connecting and creating opportunities for volunteers! Day by day we talked and visited and connected and now we are waiting for 3 opportunities to be filled - the DAY will come to welcome the eager volunteers - coming soon !


More goals - Remembering our promise to Anna that HER birthday would be celebrated in our new home in Blantyre. So we set off to find a house and moved in just 4 days before Anna's special day. we did it !





And then a few days left before that first DAY of the new school. Before that a promise fulfilled to see some African animals - after all we did tell the kids they WOULD see giraffe's and zebras if we did move to Africa.











And then the DAY arrived. Our alarms woke us up at 5:30 am - roosters crowing outside our windows. The kids all timidly put on their stiff uniforms and posed for first day pics. We talk about our friends in the USA preparing for their first day of school at St. Marks and how at that time they were still fast asleep. We remembered the very short walk we had to school last year and how now we have to drive 20 minutes through busy traffic. And then We arrived. A few tears were shed out of nervousness - Mom held hers back as we squeezed them one more time and released them into this NEW LIFE. A NEW DAY..... All that looking back......so often I wondered about this day and how it would be. Here we are.


At times, I don't feel in control of my life and the days keep coming and going and coming again and I remember no matter what comes,

"BE STILL and KNOW THAT I AM GOD" Psalm 46:10

This is an awesome school with a sound curriculum which will be a blessing to our children. We will supplement Christlight at home and have discussed how with our kids the great variety of people in the world as they get used to being in the high minority of children with European descent! I am on high alert as I see their reactions when we pass by mothers bringing their children to this same school with full Muslim dress and only a small slit open for their eyes and we told them " Even though you can't see that Mom's face she might be smiling underneath and so if you look at her you can smile at her too". She's a Mommy too !

And I remain thankful for the amazing experiences our God has placed before me and my family. This is the day that the Lord has made, TODAY I will be STILL and rejoice in it !

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Location:Blantyre, Malawi, Africa

"Playing barefoot is just the beginning in Africa"

I FORGOT how filthy the kids get playing outside in all this dust. At least 2 or 3 times a day we ask the kids to wash their feet and hands and faces and for sure a good SCRUB before bed. The tiled floors need to be mopped constantly from the dirt we track in and the thought of those dusty legs climbing into clean sheets at night. Forget it ! I keep saying " I can't believe how dirty you are" and Ben said " MOM, playing barefoot is just the beginning in Africa" I had to laugh....because he's absolutely right. We have a GIANT task before us in setting up a home and an entire organization from here forward. For now, we are SO glad to see the kids playing outside. There isn't much else to do at the moment. We were hopeful for a few more toys and clothes to arrive in the boxes we shipped as scheduled two days ago. But, no boxes on the airplane. Seeing that only two flights come into Blantyre in a week we'll have to be patient. Kids are creative, though, and I've been particularly intrigued by one little item that got tucked into our suitcase at the last minute. The day before we left was the 4th of July and the kids got a red frisbee thrown to them by a local Bank in Watertown, WI.
This frisbee sat in our suitcase from America to Germany and down to Africa and never moved. The other day we suggested the kids should go out and play with some Malawian kids who live on the property where we are staying. They said " but we don't speak the same language?!" And we said...." but you can play". So they organized a plan amongst themselves to go outside and play with the frisbee - overthrowing it so that it would reach the interested kids watching nearby. Out came the red frisbee from the suitcase. It worked !









Next thing we knew we heard tons of laughter and the red frisbee was being thrown all around from child to child. The boys starting climbing trees and having bamboo stick sword fights and the girls used the frisbee as a bowl to make dirt and leaf soup ! They've all been fast friends since - nevermind the language differences. I am so thankful for these experiences for my children and for me ! Time to wash more dusty feet..........


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Location:Blantyre, Malawi

First Impressions in Malawi

I feel like I'm in a dream - like I've stepped into one of our home videos from 6 years ago except that our kids are running around here and they are much older. IT'S ALL SO STRANGELY FAMILIAR and yet I feel like a newcomer. On our drive from the airport to our guesthouse I felt overwhelmed. How did I ever make this place a home? Can I do it again? Will I be able to drive on the " wrong side of the road" with all these people all over the place? I looked at the kids for their reaction. Their eyes were quite bit with wondering what this new place was. "MOM, look at those chickens hanging without any heads or feet?" Our senses are great memory holders and as we stepped out of the car from the airport I smelled that smoldering firesmoke in the dry air of winter, the crunch of knotty grass and sights of the vibrant bougainvillia which reminded me that I was HERE, in Malawi. The first morning I woke up refreshed from a good nights sleep and heard the sound of the grass brooms sweeping the dirt and leaves outside my window. I walked out to the living room and opened the curtain and cracked open a window ( with no screen) and there right before me was the gardener. I smiled to be reminded that my privacy at home was again reduced to minimal at best. He said through the window " Good morning Madam, how are you?" To which I knew the reply" I am fine, thank you, and how are you?" Naturally he was curious about these newly arrived azungus ( white people). I remember how confident I was in my life here before. But now I felt awkward at the instructions given to give my gardener the compost and the obnoxious beep of our cars for someone to run and open the gates for us. Certainly we can just do these small tasks on our own? This world is VERY different from where we've come. From where I am writing I am about 15 steps away from the gardeners home on the property and have a great view of their children and their outdoor kitchen.

I am reminded of the children's book " A country far away" which compares children from a 3rd world country to those doing the same activities in a 1st world country. How can THIS LIFE be happening at just the same time as the one we just left ! THAT IS WHY we are here....
to share this world with our volunteers. A place far away where like minded christians of different cultures can help each other and learn from each other and by doing so strengthen faith in HIM whose HAND is over all of us. Here and everywhere is the opportunity to spread the Gospel of Good News and while there are people doing that in Wisconsin, the USA, Germany, China....etc.... we are here again and going to share Jesus in His Word and our deeds out of love for HIM with Malawi ! So now....to get started.

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Location:Blantyre, Malawi

Moving internationally

No matter how far you move its always a little crazy. Those last minute things thrown into a box - the teary farewells and the exciting hellos to somewhere new. Sometimes I feel like our family has taken on moving to a new level ! Or maybe its become a hobby?! We've lived in a different house the past four years in a row. Before that there were 3 continents as a family - plus one more that I lived on of my own. What in the WORLD? Yes, we've been in the world.
The variety of these homes and lives by way of individual cultures is something to either just forget or perhaps to study psychologically. I occasionally analyze it with my own brain and become overwhelmed. And I become comforted to realize that we are anything but alone. There are those who stay put in one home/village or city their entire life and I have reached a point in life where I am very impressed with those who do. And we know LOTS of people who are like us - doing the international thing. AND, we like it too :)

So today I tried to sit back and explain to the kids that we are " unterwegs" ( great german word for being along our way) to moving to a different country. And I TRIED to impress upon them the magnitude of it all. Last summer we packed up a few scattered things from my sisters house where we had lived for an entire year and moved into " our new home!" - for exactly 12 months. The summer before that we arrived from from Germany all deutsch sprechenende and alarmed at the fast pace of the americans. The summer before that found us stopped at the border between Canada and the USA and denying Stefan a proper entrance so we lived with my parents for 2 and a half months. The summer before that......was the BIG MOVE away from our home in Malawi to begin anew. ( which incidentally took 3 flight cancellations and 4 tries due to a virus) So what are we doing this summer? Moving back to Malawi.....its INSANE but AMAZING.....all at the same time.

So how DOES one move internationally? Well, you stuff your bags to their fullest which is minimal in comparison to most material posessions of moves within one country. You pack your ever growing children into an airplane and beg of them to sleep which they don't and realize a week later you forgot to use the last minute MUST purchase melatonin to aid in their 7 hour time zone change. You patiently try to remember that its hard for them TOO to suddenly be thrust upon a new language, new foods and that they actually DONT remember living here as easily as we adults do cuz it was just two years ago and so crying about having to drink fizzy mineral water is something to understand. OH and then we remember that this isn't the destination - just the visit so take deep breaths. SHARE with everyone along the way the MINISTRY which is taking you on this move - eat some shokolade - continue to let the kids survive on shokolade 'cuz only Benjamin and Stefan like leberwurst and drink a weissbier and remember how exciting it all is which is why its okay that you are carrying a huge bag of dirty clothes which can't be washed since most germans don't have a dryer and the cold rainy weather isn't getting the one load of wash you did do quite dry yet. It'll be OKAY if we pack damp clothes on an international flight. Afterall the shoes that were forgotten in Stuttgart made it by Express post the day before we are to leave and that's awesome ! And we take time to appreciate our blessings and the ability to live IN the world and SEE the world but not be OF IT....thank goodness. And HE will keep guiding us - even on the Autobahn - at 180 kmh. So here we go.....Tschuss Deutschland - onto our destination - THE RETURN TO MALAWI ! Looking forward to it ! We are blessed and the kids, btw, are doing GREAT !!!


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Flexability

Travelling internationally is something to experience. One needs to be flexible in the greatest sense of the word. Our family has travelled quite alot and yet I've stated it doesn't really make it easier. What IS easier, although, interesting is the ease in which your experience allows you to flow from one culture to the next. I can't really remember what it is like to see Germany with brand new eyes. And honestly I am thankful to have gotten along this far. Still, I am a very sentimental person which makes for some evening time to sit here on my 5th floor tiny balcony at sunset with "ein glass rotwein" and reflect on the past 3 days. Let's see....4 days ago we were all ( except for Stefan in brown) decked out in patriotic american colors and watching the 4th of July parade roll past my parents house. There were brats and Miller Lite , lemonade and watermelon. It was awesome !
The next day we boarded the airplane, Lufthansa , which was a great airline to fly to Germany as "probezeit" ( practice) for me as all written materials in the plane were both in english and german. I tested myself all along the way... We didnt' sleep a single wink so there was plenty of time.
Upon arrival and getting our rental vehicle Stefan eased onto the Autobahn - understanding all the signs easily and being only slightly alarmed at keeping up the pace at 140 KMH (kilometers per hour).

After 2 years absence from Germany we arrived at the doorstep of my dearest friend Ursula and husband Martin and their 6 children. Immedietly we all shook hands as is highly respectable even for children in Germany. Our language immediately switched to german and we were offered a glass of " sprudelwasser" which is fizzy mineral water and considered the only drinkable water here. The kids were given juice mixed with sprudelwasser! We sat down to a warm mittagsessen because you always eat hot food at lunchtime. Later it was utterly normal to sit down to a formal "kaffeezeit" with freshly made strawberry and peach cakes with cups of coffee an fruit tea for the children ( or thank goodness for our americanized children - kakoamilch )! After some typical activities for families around the globe ( a walk to the park and a magic show given by the children for the parents) we sat down for Abendessen - called Vesper in Schwaben. To our delight was the expected bowls of grainy bread and plates of cheeses and meats ! This was all a little strange and yet quickly remembered by our children right to the end of day where we all settled into our beds with extra large fluffy feather pillows and only a duvet covered feather tick to sleep with Zzzzzz......another country but soooo familiar. Wir sind Wilkommen in Deutschland


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Location:Zwickau, Deutschland

Felgs Afar.......again !

It's been two and a half years since my last blog post where I contemplated where HOME is?  We've just spent two wonderful years in the USA and it's nearly midnight on the night before we leave, again, and begin something new, again !  How to sum up our all-American experience?!  It was hard, wonderful, worth it, God's plan, hectic, busy, great ! Did we settle down and dig in some roots?  Nope.  Did we gain more life experience under God's guiding and all-knowing Hand?  YEP ! Does it get any easier to pack and to say good-bye to loved ones? Not really.  Do some people think we're a little nuts for constantly being on the move and trying out something totally new ?  Probably.  Did I appreciate being in my own culture for awhile and being really close to family and reconnecting with amazing good friends? Most definately.  Are we excited to go?  YES !! 

I remain in awe of what God has done for us and while life is certainly not easy and we have not always chosen the "norm" we are PREPARED for our mission.  This was the sermon theme that my Dad preached for us at our Commissioning service this past Sunday.  God has already prepared us and we go with HIM.  It's time.......here we go !  Come along with us by following our blog. Good-bye USA .....and all of those dear people we love there.  We'll see you again soon.