I'm making kids cry...wherever I go..

So it's obvious that since I haven't blogged in awhile, we've had a pretty busy week, and limited internet access. Every time I came to the office last week to blog, the power was out, and before I knew it, it was the weekend, and Keta doesn't have internet at her house; neither does any other citizen of Malawi. The organization that I'm working with pays $500 a month just for internet access, and given that 80% of this country lives on less than $2 a day, internet is quite the luxury. Lots to catch everyone up on here. We had our first training session with the girls last week. It was obvious that there had been few, if ever any "visitors" to this village, which is a nice way of saying that I don't think these people had ever seen white people before. SOmething I've had to somewhat be OK with is that the fact that I'm fair skinned makes small children cry..literally. The infants, and some toddlers will take one look at me, and begin to scream in terror at the sight of my face; and there's nothing I can do about it, but to just stop looking at them. Our first training session was well, interesting. There were only 6 girls at the beginning which turned into 21 girls in a matter of minutes. We were able to pass out shorts, and get the girls changed in a small house beside the field. If I could describe sounds of the giggles, I would. It filled the house, and all of us could not stop laughing. They thought it was the strangest thing to wear shorts without a skirt over the top. They kept laughing at calling themselves boys. Since the shorts were mens L and XL's, we were sinching the drawstrings around the girls' waists, which they also found hilarious. The big shorts were much appreciated, since they are LONG, which covers more of their legs; big thanks Tim! By yhe time we finished our warm up which turned into "follow the leader" there were 300+ people surrounding the field. Since I didn't know much about the girls or their skill level, we started with a simple passing drill. Let's just say We have a lot of work to do. Balls were going left and right, up and down- it looked like dodgeball! So for the next 2 hours, I bores the girls with mundane passing drills, but I was very proud of them that by the end of the session, they were able to pass and trap with both feet; they were able to dribble, and to bring the ball acroos their bodies to get passed a defender. O thought it was successful, and the girls were happy. The field was in decent shape, but long grass- maybe 8 inches or so, with lots of unexpected holes and hills, and the girls are playing barefoot. Their feet were hurting after practice. At the end, Edward the youth pastor talked to them about our Girl Empowerment Program, and then talked to them about the importance of an education, and avoiding relationships with Guys while in school, as many girls drop out of high school because a man has vowed to take care of her.. So they get married young an before long, the girl has a cheating or sick husband, and she is left on her own again. So we stress education to the girls. Edward then had to explain to the girls that some of the guys that were watching their training session were here for the wrong reasons. As modesty is highly respected in the villages, girls wearing shorts is a BIG deal. We even had to hand out a few tshirts to girls so that they could cover up, as some of them only own tank tops, most don't even own bras. So you can see how it would be somewhat suggestive for girls to be running around in shorts and rank tops. Edward had to warn them that some men may approach the girls with a newfound interest. This was a hard concept for me to swallow. Here I am, coming into the village wearig shorts, and at the end of the session, I jump in the van, lock the door and drive away. I have the security of locking the door. I don't have to worry about about the after effects of wearing shorts because I've left the village. But these girls that I'm leaving behind; they head home wondering if some guy is going to approach them; an they have no escape. They can't even escape to their own homes because there are no locks on the doors.. Welcoming anyone who chooses to intrude. It's a hard concept to swallow, but that's all that I can manage to do.. Because if I try and chew it and dissect it, then i will think that I may be causing more problems. Keta has assured me that I'm overthinking it.. But it gets harder and harder everytime to get in that van, lock the door and drive away. We went to another village that neither Keta nor Edward had ever visited, and I tagge along to present the girls team with soccer balls. Again, this village had never seen white people, so I had several bug eyed children staring at me for over an hour.. I'm always being watched here, and they all try and grt my attention, even when they are told to be quiet.

I went to my first girls soccer game in chilombo this weekend. The girls were excitedfor the shorts as well- I've come to te conclusion that they all just think it's so funny to be wearig shorts. I was told that these 2 teams were the better of the 9 teams I'm training. Their style of play resembled what I call "bumblebee soccer" where they all run to where the ball goes, with no regard to positions or the off sides rule. Luckily each team has coaches, so I am not solely responsible for their performances.. Haha the spectators must be thinking " well this American girl must not be too good of a player if she's coachig them, and this is the outcome.." haha. Bottom line is that the girls are enjoying themselves, which they are, and that makes me incredibly joyful.

Keta has also planned fr Vanessa and I to give nutritional talks tithe mothers and widows in the coming weeks. I'm very excited for this opportunity to grow and expand my knowledge. Our ulimate goal by the end o the month is to create a food pyramid specific to each village (according to their crops) and educate them about boiling vegetables etc. So that will keep us busy too.

The world cup hype is hitting hard here. Keta even decided to pay her cable bill this month so that we could watch all the games.. Hooray! It was a bit of a slow weekend, with the power out for most of the wknd. They have scheduled times whn the power goes out (3 times a wk for 2 hours at a time) but then it will also shut off randomly.. Awesome (not) so I've been getting a lot of sleep and waking up early. This morning I woke up at 5 and I'm starting morning runs. Now I'm used to San Diego sunsets (I'll admit it, I'm spoiled) and now I'm spoiled even more with African sunrises. They are absolutely breathtaking- I wish I could run with my camera. My runs have been a great way to start off my day, and I've even gotten Keta to start walking in the mornings while I run laps around her in the neighorhood. We really enjoy each others company, so the living siuation is working out quite well. I'm still trying to convince her to take me to the lake and an animal reserve before I leave! I'm crossing my fingers! Oh, ad I saw my first "wildlife" here.. Monkeys! Haha I was excited.

Please continue to pray for encouragement, and that the villages are open to the opportunities we are providing for the girls!