Hospitality in Pahuwa

Saturday in Pahuwa was a special day. We were introduced to Chief Ibrahim,  a kind and gracious man, who made us feel very welcome in his village and thanked us for our work to train women in ways to keep their families healthy.  He indicated that he is also concerned about the health of his village, especially expectant mothers and  children under age 5 .

We learned that the partially built bamboo structure a short distance from the chief’s home is being built to house a medical clinic. He asked us if we could persuade donors to give so that they could have an under five and prenatal clinic.

The nearest clinic, Maquapala , is about 6.5 km away from Pahuwa,  which is quite a distance for a woman to walk for a prenatal checkup or to deliver her baby. 

We told the Chief that we would attend an event with the US Ambassador in a few days and that we would seek an opportunity on that occasion to ask her for the assistance he requested. We told him that we are Christians and that we pray for his community because it was the love of God that first brought us there. We asked him to also pray for God’s blessings on his village and that God would enable us to continue to be a blessing to his community.  He responded, “Of course we pray. We are Muslims.”

Then the women invited us to a large sports field where George and Samuel played games with the children.  On every visit to the village, George teaches a brief lesson about practicing good sanitation and hygiene. He also teaches them hero stories from the Bible. On this visit, one of the children asked to hear the story of David. It was amazing because this is the story George had planned to teach! Every week the children look forward to storytime. 

Nearby, the women spread out a large bamboo mat for Hellen and me to sit on. The women sat  in a broad circle on the ground around us, and we began our lesson on family planning.  A few young teenage girls were sitting near me on the front row. I assumed they were children who wandered in on this meeting. When Hellen asked them to go and join the other children, they said that they wanted to be in the class because they are already married.

 

The class went well. There were about 18 women attending the session. I taught them that their bodies were made by God and they deserve to be respected. They learned that they should respect their own bodies and that they should require others to treat their bodies with respect as well.  I taught them the importance of taking measures to protect themselves from STIs like HIV and AIDS.

I also encouraged the women to discuss with their husbands their needs and preferences concerning family planning.  In this session, the women learned thirteen methods of family planning, some of which require medical assistance and  some that require the approval and cooperation of their husbands. They also learned how to determine times in their cycle when their bodies are  less fertile. 

The women enjoyed the small group discussions and activities. In one of the activities the women sorted diagrams of  family planning methods by how effective they are in preventing pregnancy and how much protection they give against STIs.

As we were concluding the class, one of the women asked me to wait because they had a gift for me. Several women stood up and began to lead the others with singing and dancing. They were singing a traditional Malawian welcome song.

Then, by ones and twos they stepped forward with arms full of maize and pumpkins, gifts from their fields, and laid them at my feet.  What a humbling experience. In this very poor village, this was a beautiful and rich gift.  We are very thankful for the open door of hospitality in Pahuwa and the opportunities this opens for sharing the love of God.