Katie lives with me since March, 2015. Once she came to my house, we started looking for her family. However, that was not easy. We only had a phone number for her father's family. They Katie years treated badly and refused to contact her mother to give family. Eventually after 5 months and many phone calls they gave me the phone number of the uncle of Katie. The uncle went to the village of the grandmother and after four long years Katie could finally talk to her grandmother. De his, has raised her, loved her and cared for her before the family of her father took away. Katie's grandmother begins to be very old and every time when Katie said she asked if Katie would come along.
Last week there was a school and I decided to bring Katie to her hometown to visit her family. After a six hour drive we arrived in Mulanje, a city in southern Malawi. Katie remembered the way to the village so it was easy to find.
Once we arrived came Katie's aunts and friends to her run. She could not believe she was finally back, and she looked so good. Her grandmother was the church so we had to wait before we could see her.
We are 4 days left in the village and have experienced the real village life. Mulanje is very hot this time of year so we slept outside in a thin turf. We woke up when the sun rose, went to the well to fetch water, lit a fire to cook the food and went to bed shortly after the sun had gone down. We enjoyed the local food and many mangoes.
In the afternoon, the grandmother arrived in the village and showed Katie the four days that followed not only. She was so happy to finally see her granddaughter again.
Now Katie is older her grandmother what she could ask questions about her mother. Her mother died in the village when Katie was only three years old. In the morning she was ill and in the afternoon she was dead. The birthday of the mother of Katie appeared to be on the day we arrived in the village, 15 October. Katie's mom did very well in school and has high finish. Only a small percentage of the Malawian population manage to finish high school so Katie was very proud when she discovered this. After school, her mother had for four years as a clerk and managed it to build a beautiful house I the village of the money they earned.
When Katie was young she loved going to the river to swim there with her friends so we went back to the same river and enjoyed the refreshing water. Also, we have had many long conversations under the mango trees with her friends and family. Some of Katie's friends were already married and had children, here she was very shocked and now understand better how important school is.
The floods last year in southern Malawi, there was no harvest. Katie's family is struggling to find food, and most children in the family do not attend school. Katie enjoyed seeing her family, but it was difficult for her to see how hard her family had. Her twelve-year-old friends already had children and no future for themselves.
On the way she told me that she knew God much love her. She was severely beaten and has been through difficult times, but now she has a mother and a chance to go to school.
Love,
Nicole
