Our time in Lilongwe

Hello family and friends!

The group is in Lilongwe and doing quite well. We feel really fortunate to be traveling through Malawi with these fantastic students. It really is a remarkable group-- they are adventurous, inquisitive and are taking care of each other really well.

Earlier this week we visited Mua Mission which houses the Kungoni Cultural Arts Center, the leading museum of Malawian culture in the country. The students were fascinated to hear about tribal ceremonial practices that mark rights of passage from birth to death.

Today, we began the day with a walk through Chilinde neighborhood to the cemetary and a visit to an area elementary school. Later, we visited Baylor Pediatric AIDS Initiative,Lighthouse AIDS Clinic, and Bottom Hospital where there is a program run by UNC for the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child.

In the evenings we have gotten into a habit of inviting dinner guests to our house, which has proved to be really rewarding. Already we have had some incredible conversations that have run late into the night-- guests have included people ranging from Malawian artists telling of the impact of HIV/AIDS on Malawian art and culture and personal accounts of the disease's effects on their families, to tales of village life from Peace Corps volunteers, to explanation of the foreign aid structure in Malawi from a USAID director.

On Thursday morning we will head south to Domasi for our stay in the village. The students are eager to experience village life and to work on their independent projects!

That's all for now!

-Marissa and Mike