Vita Meal distribution days

 
Jim and I went to Ntcheu which is a medium size town, 10,000 people live, 2.5 hours drive from our place for Vita Meal distributions. We drove a rental pickup truck loaded with 1000 kg Vita Meal. (Vita Meal is porridge powder made of soy beans, corn, vitamins and minerals.)
During this 2 nights 3 days trip I had an opportunity to look at Malawians’ real village life closely. That’s because we got a strong supporter, named Naomi (Malawian) who had worked for Save Orphan Ministries cooperated with us for local development projects. She was coordinated our distributions with 7 community based child centers this time. Also she is the only woman who is running a parliament election coming next month. She has a strong belief to help local children and village people because she knows the real problems they are facing. Her sister and her husband past away and their 3 children are survived. Orphans, food shortage, water, school, clinic, all these are not the problems of opposite shore but everyday’ challenge for people in Ntcheu. 　Naomi, she stands up and devotes herself to make changes for poeple.Naomi invited us to her house for meals because there was no place to eat in the town. We had nsima and fish for dinner. That was a typical Malawian meal. Village people don’t eat much meat or eggs because they are not afford to buy them. They eat nsima (made of corn), potatoes, tomatoes, beans, carrot, and pumpkin.
My husband little worried about our accommodation situation in Ntcheu because my standard is little bit higher than his. Naomi booked 2 nights for us. I assume that place was the best in the town. It costed us $7/night though. A good news was there was a flush toilet and a shower in the room. That was great but there was not a toilet seat. It was the only problem for 2 nights stay for me but I know this kind of problem which I had undergone many times at Paris. We just need strong abdominal muscles! Poor Jim, he drove all day on unpaved roads and the end of the day told me that he had been sick. He had fever.

Next morning, we were back to Naomi’s house for breakfast. She prepared some bread, french fries, and tea for us. I enjoyed them but Jim told me that he flicked a big cockroach sitting in the bread saucer. Thank you for telling me after I ate the bread.
I used her toilet at her house. There was no toilet paper but several pieces of newspaper on the floor. She does not spent her own money for toilet paper but pipes for village well. I asked myself if I could do that. Unfortunately nope... I could give up soy source desperately but I would cling to toilet papers badly.
7 places distribution during 2 days was not easy for me. We were totally worn out but their warm-hearted welcome hospitality we got at each center encouraged us a lot.
Now their songs I've heard come back to my brain over and over when I see this video.I do respect Naomi’s dedication, passion and want to thank her for her big supports.