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Merry
Mission Journal November 5, 2004 Ndirande So the Tuesday afternoon program was set up to give them a bit of a break from the tedium and toil of life. The women that come have been taught to knit and are given yarn. Therefore, some of the babies are clothed in beautifully knitted caps, booties and sweaters. The children do a simple craft, and then everyone is given a nutritious snack. It may not seem like much but each week over 80 people show up to take advantage of this program. In the states, I am used to seeing handicapped children tool around the halls of my daughters’schools in high tech wheelchairs. There are ramps on every public building, and specially equipped bathrooms to accommodate people with disabilities. This is not true in Malawi. The handicapped are ignored and unfortunately, often taken advantage of or mistreated. As a result they are the saddest, poorest people that I have ever seen. When I came home from our first visit to Ndirande, I cried for two hours. I would like to tell you about each of the wonderful people we have encountered there each week, so I will do so one or two at a time in upcoming journal entries. It has taken me three months to get up the courage to talk about this experience because it has been the most powerful and challenging thing that I have done since we arrived. But I am determined to tell you what it is like to visit Ndirande once a week. Beth Merry |
I
have never been one who has been moved by the ads that you see in the back
of magazines with pictures of big eyed, grubby children entreating you to
give funds. I turn to the next channel when I see infomercials pleading for
money to care for needy children too. It is not that I don’t care,
because the Merry family has supported Compassion children for decades, maybe
I just refuse to be seduced by the blatantly emotional media appeals. However,
I have to tell you, that when you see these children in person it is an entirely
different matter. It rips your heart apart.
Each
Tuesday afternoon since we arrived in Malawi, the girls and I go two kilometers
down the road to the slum known as Ndirande. Fifty thousand people are crowed
into makeshift brick, tin and cardboard shelters with no running water, sewers
or electricity. Several years ago a Canadian Presbyterian missionary started
a program for the handicapped people of Ndirande once a week. Young and old
they come in to the Holy Ghost Roman Catholic Church Hall on crutches, in
makeshift wheelchairs and bikes or in the arms of a caregiver. Ndirande is
where some of the poorest people in Malawi live, and the handicapped are
some of the worst off. 
Although
everyone in Malawi is guaranteed an elementary education, some of these children
have disabilities that prevent them from going to school. For instance, one
boy who comes is deaf, and the only school for the deaf is in the northern
region of Malawi and it is overflowing with students already. Other children
have deformed hands or legs and can’t attend school. Others, who have
handicapped parents, are just too impoverished to pay the $4 school fee or
buy the $1 uniform. 
Then
I decided to do something. So, each Tuesday Heather and Brooke and I go up
to Ndirande to help out at the afternoon sessions. My mission each week is
to bring a bit of sunshine into each participant’s life. It is not
easy. These are not happy people, their lives are hard, and there is little
joy. For two weeks in a row, I tried to get one little girl to smile. She
has a deformed hand, and I would help her cut out cards or color pictures,
but no matter what I tried, she would not smile. Then Heather walked by and
tickled her –and she giggled! Then I watched Brooke pick up a little
girl with Downs Syndrome and give her a crayon. The child waved it joyfully.
So, I took a cue from my kids and became a bit more interactive. Now we are
pretty good at eliciting smiles each week. I can not tell you how good it
makes us feel.