First Visit to the Sisters in Malawi
by Mother Miriam
St. Mary's Convent, and Chapel with statue of St. Mary (below)
One of the first things I gained in traveling to Malawi was a great empathy and respect for the Malawian Sisters who had come to America and lived with us for over two years, totally immersed in a foreign culture. Everything was new and different in Africa to my provincial American eyes, but totally familiar to my Malawian Sisters traveling home with me. The red soil was redder than any Georgia clay, and the numbers of people walking or riding bicycles or ox carts along the roadsides were overwhelming. And, of course, May is late fall in the southern hemisphere. Mzuzu on the Vipyra Plateau is a kilometer above sea level and damp and drizzly. Likoma Island on the Lake was like Florida, except for the baobab trees we have all read about, but I had never seen until now.
The Convent is everything we had hoped for when the Sisters and
I discussed its design in Peekskill two years ago. Their nine acres
are surrounded by a combination of residential and industrial plots—a
confusing patchwork of dirt roads and paths that only a Malawian
could navigate! The Sisters have worked hard both to cultivate the
land and to furnish and decorate their convent home.
The open breezeway between buildings is the site of many activities from shelling popcorn to sell, to lunch for the St. Agnes’ girls.
The prominent features in the compound were the grilled windows and lockable gates installed on all the buildings for the Sisters’ physical safety and for the preservation of their goods—a sad but necessary reality in a culture defined by desperate need.
At each parish I was asked to speak about the religious life, and Fr. Raphael Mponda graciously translated for me. At each stop on our tour the many parish groups gathered to give us a welcome ceremony so typically African and very memorable. There were Mothers’ Union choirs, men’s choirs, Sunday School children’s skits and recitations, dances and lively hymns, gift-giving and speeches all around. The pictures on this page are a collage of all four ceremonies —each one, very special. I was overwhelmed by the hundreds of people who took time out of their workdays to see us and welcome us in this very energetic way.
The second week the Sisters showed me around Mzuzu, and introduced me to the Roman Catholic religious in the city. I was glad to see that they have religious role models nearby. The Holy Spirit and Rosarian Sisters are from Kenya and Tanzania. The MIC Sisters are international, Canadians and a Chinese sister.
Between visits I saw how the Sisters have organized their lives at the Convent. I was reminded how close to the edge of deprivation all Malawians live. There are no quick convenience foods. The Sisters asked me to cook their favorite chicken recipe from Peekskill—Creole gumbo. Sr. Martha helped me out by slaughtering the chicken before Matins and getting it boiled and picked before Terce.
At the end of the second week Peggy and Tammy had to return to America because of previous commitments. The third week the Sisters talked with me extensively about their thoughts for the future, the struggles they are having to reach self-sufficiency, and what they need to grow their household and the Community in Luwinga.