A Joyful Home

I met Martin three weeks ago. He was standing outside Shoprite (the South African grocery store chain) holding a thin stack of papers. As I was pulling out of the parking lot he approached my window and timidly said, “Excuse me I’m looking for a well-wisher.” I eyed him suspiciously and asked what he meant. He explained that he was looking for someone to pay his school fees. He had been accepted into a program at the Natural Resource College but had no one to pay his fees. His father is a farmer in the South, his mother died last year. He is one of 9 and has only one employed brother who is a primary school teacher. I told him to meet me at Bottom later in the week.

I thought about Martin occasionally during following days and decided without much debate that I would find a way to pay his fees. From our three minute conversation I had strong sense that he would excel if offered the opportunity. On Thursday afternoon Martin arrived at Bottom still carrying copies of his final grades, the results of the MSCE (the national test taken after high school), his acceptance letter from NRC, and a form listing the fees. We had planned to meet at 4:30, when the shift at Bottom ends, but on Thursday just after 4pm – as it often does – everything happened at once – hemorrhages, births, resuscitations so I walked out into the dark at 5:30 to find Martin waiting for me on the curb near my car.

We stopped by the bank and then I drove him home to the one bedroom house he shares with his brother, his brother’s wife and their three children. After a few minutes we all began to relax. Laston teased Martin and his wife, everyone laughed easily. Rosemary added to the conversation from the kitchen while cooking fish and nsima. Three year-old Roseby fell asleep on her dad’s lap before dinner. I left two hours later.

Saturday I returned to their house to check in with Martin about his first week and to give him the rest of the money for fees. He said it was a good start, he is getting used to the 7 kilometer bike ride he must make twice a day but it doesn’t leave him much time to visit the library and there are no books to take home. I promised that I would do everything possible to find funds for boarding next term (day classes are US$325/term while boarding is US$740/term).

I happened to have my computer in the car so we looked at pictures of the US and then Malawi, we all agreed that Malawi is a beautiful country. Martin and Laston have never been to the lake so we decided to make a trip in December. I laughed so much that my cheeks hurt (a rare feeling) and I left their house feeling light and happy. The kept telling me how grateful they are for my assistance to Martin but I feel equally blessed to have met them.