Look What's Happening at the New House of Many Stories! - Part II

As promised, here are some more pictures and updates from Malawi. Most of these pictures were taken in January of this year.

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For a variety of reasons, economic and cultural (these will be described in more detail on our website soon), it is difficult for a girl in Malawi to pursue an education. As a result many young girls are left with no other option than early marriage and motherhood and older women often lack the knowledge (read: power) to improve their own or their families' situation. So, one of the most exciting things to happen so far this year is the birth of a brand new program that offers Adult Literacy and Continuing Education courses to the women of Balaka.

Rose Mbendera is heading up this new endeavor. We'll have a bio (her story is an inspiring one) on our website very soon.


The classes are only a few months old but they are growing by leaps and bounds. They began in what was the dining room of Bola Moyo's rented house in Balaka...


...and soon, we were persuaded to transform the living room into a classroom.



Here is one of Rose's less shy students demonstrating her English abilities.



Now, almost 4 months into it, the living room turned classroom is also no longer a suitable size for our adult students. We are currently trying to locate a larger, yet affordable and conveniently situated, space in which these activities can take place.

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As we also work to accomodate the growing number of youth attending the Center, here they are as they unload bricks that will be the floor of one of the new outdoor shelters (see previous post).


George, a member of Bola Moyo's staff, builds what will become the composting area for our Organic Learning Garden.




Some of the youth get to help start the first compost heap.



Can you see that good-looking corn peeking over the fence of the garden? It's almost harvest time.


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A few of our PRIDE kids (this is about half of our pilot group for the new PRIDE program) show off the PRIDE sign which is meant to symbolize 'togetherness'


Maria sings us a solo.


Mphatso tries his hand as a teacher.


Margaret tries teaching me how to carry large, heavy buckets of water on my head. I honestly don't know how they do this.


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A party would not be enough to show our staff and their families just how much we appreciate the work they do and how much we love working with them but in late January, we threw one anyway!





And stay tuned for more...

Look What's Happening at the New House of Many Stories! - Part I

Wow, so much has happened since our last blog posting! We apologize that our updates have been few and far between. I guess we get so busy and so excited with what's going on in Malawi, that we often forget to let you in on all of the latest.

Cara and I (Dustin) returned from Malawi at the end of January. We were there for two months and we were honored and pleased to have my father with us for the month of December. This blog post is part I of a photo-logue of some of the latest happenings for Bola Moyo. Part II will be posted in a few days.

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In December, on our arrival in Balaka, we were welcomed, as is often the case, with an afternoon full of original skits and celebratory songs and dances.

Kwatha showing us her moves!


Some of our PRIDE kids have discovered an interest in acrobatics.



These costumes are modeled after those worn in the Gule Wamkulu or "Great Dance" - a group of dances performed by an elite and masked society of men, chosen and known only by tribal chiefs, at initiation ceremonies, funerals, and the celebrations of Malawi's Chewa tribe.



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In previous postings, you might have seen some pictures of the building in which our youth clubs were meeting. At the end of last year, we lost the use of that building as it was going to be rented out to another business at a much higher rate than we could pay. The activities of our youth center, along with the library, were then moved to the house that we've been renting, and using as living space, for ourselves, Margaret (our Malawian Program Coordinator), and other visitors. This is a temporary situation but, so far, has worked out really well.

The house is nicely situated in the center of the neighborhood from which most of our youth come. We also now have more space for games and sports and other activities that need to occur out of doors.


The only true downside to this new setting is the lack of indoor space. Bola Moyo's Malawian staff, however, in their incredible resourcefulness, solved this problem by constructing a couple outdoor structures that would act as protection from the elements. Here are some pictures of the beautiful thatched-roof shelters that were built to accomodate our rowdy group of youngsters. This smaller structure is called "The Summer Hut." The reason for this name is that many households will construct similar huts for the purpose of providing shade in the hottest season.


This larger structure is referred to merely as "The Shade." Margaret's nephew, Madalitso, is the one you see doing the construction. I'm sure I've not met a harder worker than this young man.



Our library in what used to be the dining room:



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At the end of December, the staff and youth of The House of Many Stories invited their parents and other members of the community to an Open House at which the activities and opportunities of the youth center as well as the skills and talents of the youth were on display. The Open House took place at the local Baptist Church.

Here are Margaret and some of the youth as they prepare for the Open House.


Margaret and Isaac show some parents some of the things their children have accomplished at the Youth Center.


The program for the day included a Christmas-themed play that the youth and my father, with his dramatic expertise, wrote and put together.



Of course, no celebration in Malawi is complete without snacks and lots and lots of dancing.



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It's not often that we get to join our Malawian staff in welcoming other visitors from America (Malawi's not exactly the easiest country to get to). Recently, however, we've been happy to have many such visits:

...my father, John Pattison, who we've mentioned already,




...our good friend Liz Reilly (and Bola Moyo's board presdient) was with us for the Open House festivities,


...our former intern and American staff member, Desiree, took a break from a stay in Kenya to come and visit us for a couple of weeks,


... and Kim and Pandy Pinto, now living in Portland, stopped by too. Pandy is a Malawian. Kim and Pandy met when Kim was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi. After some years, they finally got a chance to return to Malawi to visit Pandy's family and allow their son, Denzel, to see, for the first time, where his father grew up.


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Here are some more pictures taken in December of '07 at the new House of Many Stories Youth Centre.