Before we leave, we thought it would be a wise idea to give our blog followers a bit of background into where we are going and what we will be doing. Below is a picture of the African continent, showing where on the continent we will be. To the right of that image is a larger image of the country. Katherine and I will be spending much our time on an island in Lake Malawi named Likoma Island, very near Mozambique's coast. The rest of our time will be spent on the mainland, in a town named Mzuzu, located in north-central Malawi.
While on Likoma Island, we will be working primarily in a secondary school and an HIV/AIDS hospital. The plan (which certainly may change!) is for Derek to spend most of his time in the school teaching, while Katherine will spend most of her time in the hospital. But, both of us will spend at least part of our time in each. As far as what Derek will be teaching, from what we know it will likely be a combination of English, government, and history. The following is a link to a Youtube video describing St. Peter's hospital on the island: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7FaA38ioQ
The Anglican Diocese of Northern Malawi will provide us with housing in their guesthouses, a housekeeper, and a driver during our time in Malawi. For all of this, we are so very grateful. We are told that we may also spend a bit of time working with clean water programs on the mainland, which provide education about the importance of clean water, along with constructing water wells in villages. Besides this, we will simply "be present" to learn from the Malawian people, and to be with them.
Lastly, I would like to end with some statistics about Malawi. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP (gross domestic product) per person of $857 USD. This takes into account PPP, or purchasing power parity, which factors in inflation and the cost of living to provide a meaningful value for the reader. So, the average income for them would be equivalent to us here in the United States of having $857 per person, per year to live on. Hopefully I explained that so everyone can understand! By the way, if anyone reading the blog ever has any questions, please feel free to leave a comment, and either Katherine or I will try to respond. Approximately 12% of the population is afflicted with HIV/AIDS, with over 68,000 people dying each year from the disease, all in a country of only around 16 million residents. As one might expect, Malawi's life expectancy is only around 50 years.
Until next time, peace be with you!
And also with you.
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