Home away from home

Hannah and Charles welcomed us into their home and we felt immediately at ease although we realised that the entire family was making a big sacrifice for us.  Hannah's mother is living with them right now as she has severe diabetes. Also in the house is the gorgeous Promise, a niece that lives with them. There are two bedrooms and a storage room in the house as well as the main living room.  At the back of the house there is an open area where Hannah does all her cooking (on an open fire), keeps the collected wood, washes the dishes, heats the water for bathing etc. There is an open pit latrine out back. No electricity, no running water.  At night, it gets dark by 6pm at the latest and then it is kerosene/battery run lamps. 
Hannah and Charles gave up their room for us and slept in the living room. There is little storage space in the house so everything is stored in suitcases around the house. 

Living room

We were overwhelmed by the amount of work Hannah does each day.  She usually wakes at 5:15 to begin to prepare for the day ahead by collecting water from the well, heating the water for washing and starting the fire. Then it is laying out the breakfast, helping her Mum get dressed and sweeping (with help from Charles and Promise) the outer yard.  Then by 8:30 she goes to work as a teacher until lunch!!  Back home to prepare the lunch meal and then dinner. Wash dishes, clothes etc before finally turning in by 9:00pm.  We came to understand that this would be a typical day for many Malawian women.

Our bed for our stay

We were glad to hear that Charles and Hannah will be moving to a new home sometime this year. Slightly bigger than the house they have with bigger rooms.  They deserve it as they both have contributed so much to the community.

Wonderful Hannah and her incredible open fire stove top

The Chiromo Family