Posts Tagged ‘treadlemachine’

Reality Check

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

There’s a serious side to life in Lilongwe, Malawi.  We visited it this past weekend when we went to Mtsiliza Village.

You could say it’s the equivalent to an inner city slum. But  some amazing Christian programs take place there, and sanitation and communal wells are scattered about the very large neighborhood.

We visited “Children of the World” where they feed 565 children each day (so they know they get one meal each day) and also run a Widows ‘Club. This  group of widows of all ages, greeted us with hugs and awesome singing. They each have learned a skill — knitting, sewing,etc — that they can use to generate some income. With all of their treadle machines in the background, we  learned from them how widows are at the bottom of the totem pole; since their alignment with their husband’s family no longer exists, they are on their own with nothing to call their own!  I have two treadle machines as night stands in my bedroom I wish I could give them.

They had items to sell, and though we didn’t need anything, we purchased a bunch. How I wish I could have gotten a CD of their singing!

The quantity of people this small country sustains is huge and because most Malawians reside in their small villages (and grow what they eat) this transitional inner city “slum” is the exception, not the rule like other African countries. The inhabitants in Mtsiliza are trying to find work and move out and make a better life for themselves down the road. But it was sure dirty, and poor, and bleak, and but for the grace of God…