Eyes, Ears, Hearts


What do you see? How does one open one's ears? Is it possible to perceive with the heart?

A few of us from Malawi Orphan Fund are travelling this week to spend time at the amazing village-come-school "Home of Hope". Many reading this will already know a lot about it, perhaps because you sponsor a child there, or support in some other way. Whether that's you, or you're new, welcome! 

Back to my questions. If you've travelled, you'll know the saying is true: you can leave everything else behind, but not yourself. And that's a problem. It's possible to arrive and unpack, along with the mosquito spray and toothbrush, an alien set of expectations that just don't fit the destination. They can render us blind, deaf and unempathetic to local realities.

This week at an event in London I found myself "randomly" seated next to a gentleman whose family traces back to Malawi. Like me he's lived and worked for most of his life in the UK. "I just don't understand it!" he said. "Why is so hard to get things done sometimes in Africa, compared to here?" And we started a list: mostly here the roads haven't been washed away by a flood; mostly here the local currency hasn't been massively devalued multiple times in the past few months; mostly here the topsoil hasn't been washed away because of deforestation.; mostly here the overriding need to survive isn't hijacking attention away from how to thrive.

Our group of five is travelling with supplies for Home of Hope's Vocational Training College and  Community Hospital (both on-site) and more - as much as we can each squeeze into our 2x23kg check-in luggage. And we're travelling with a long list of questions and curiosities about how things are going there - across nursery, primary and secondary schools, and technical college; the accommodation blocks, kitchens, and loos for the 1000 or so students and staff who live and work there in term time; the farms, gardens, and storerooms; the nascent "Enterprises" of fish-farming, macadamia tree propagation and more - and how we in the UK and elsewhere might be of support in all this. 

Top of our packing list, though: some "first-world"-puncturing humility, and a desire to dilate the pupils of our hearts. 

Thanks for your support and prayers.

 Alex, Gillian, Jo, Phil, Ruth.

Find out more including how to support, how to join the Newsletter / Prayer letter etc. at malawiorphanfund.uk

Read about other visits to Home of Hope by volunteer groups at the "Visit Home of Hope" blog



Location: Bedford, UK

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