The Day We Opened the Library

Yesterday easily falls in the top 5 days in Malawi. Easily. Active Youth in Development (AYID), the youth group we started last January opened the doors of the community center and the library to the village. To say this opening was a long time coming is an understatement. The village, Kanyangale, is about 3k from the closest primary school and about 10k from the closest secondary school. When we started AYID last year I had no idea where it would go, but I liked the group and I needed the exercise. There was always a dream of a building, but they had to prove their want. So, we tried to raise money. We dried fruit (fail) and made soap (success), they carried canoes in from the road, worked in people's fields, burned nearly 25,000 bricks and proved their want. Honestly, the last few months have been trying. The project has been stressful and frustrating and I have lost my patience more times than I care to admit or remember. But, yesterday it was totally worth it. We had about 20 chiefs, the Traditional Authority for the area, a representative from our Member of Parliament, representatives from USAID, my boss from Peace Corps and a few volunteers all came to support the opening. The building isn't perfect, but the best stuff is what is going to happen inside. Today has been spent frantically trying to grade exams before I leave for Tanzania. Yes, this week we opened a library and next week I'm climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the week after that I'll be recovering on the beaches of Zanzibar, I guess my life is pretty cool. Much love, E