Birthday Celebrations and more!

It has occurred to me that we have been talking about "mzungu's" without actually explaining what a mzungu is. In Malawi, any white person is called a "mzungu." In the context of the children who live in the Rafiki Village, the usage of the word is pretty funny. These kids are very used to seeing white people- the Overseas Staff, and mini-missionaries like Emily and myself, and to them, we're just other aunties and uncles, similar to the rest of the staff, but a little different, of course. However, when they pass a strange white person on the street (on the way to church, or wherever they may need to go) it is a big deal to them. The kids are all pointing and shouting, "look, a mzungu!" despite the fact that there are three "mzungu's" in the car with them. In our case, the label is there, but it's not definitive, which is a little funny, and perhaps an interesting commentary on labels.

Today the village celebrated all of the January birthdays at snack time today- probably 7 or 8 birthday kids. The celebration is very cute. After the kids all eat their snacks, the "birthday boy or girl" in each family stands on a chair at one end of the Dining Hall and their mama reads a special note for them, often saying how thankful they are for this particular son or daughter, and ending with a Bible verse for the child. Then everyone in the Dining Hall sings happy birthday and another song of one of the mama's choosing. It is particularly special to listen to the mamas refer to these children as their sons and daughters, because they really do think of them in that way. They are hired to care for the children, but it's more than that- they love them as their own, caring for their welfare, and being proud of their achievements. I am beginning to have a huge amount of respect for these mamas and how much they care for their children.

And now a couple pictures:

Valiness today at the birthday celebration. This month, she turned five, and in her present from Rafiki, she received the Dora toy she is playing with here. She felt pretty special.










The goofball on the left is Maggie who puts the spitfire in Mama Jane's cottage by her inability to sit still for very long without getting into some form of mischief. This is Brenda whom she is with in this picture, but they were on the playground having fun with the camera. This picture really captures them both being very much themselves.






This is a typical scene from the market. The walkways are narrow and generally crowded with people selling all kinds of good things. I think it would be pretty easy to get lost in there, because the walkways keep going and going in some cases, but the place is subdivided by type of merchandise being sold, so that helps.