Dear All,
On Wednesday 14 July we arrived in Malawi after a good flight. Teleza slept for a large part of the flight and Diana and Maria also did very well. We had 7 large suitcases, one of which was missing when we arrived in Lilongwe. Luckily this suitcase arrived a few days later. At the airport our driver was waiting to take us to our house, an hour's drive from the capital, has brought. Once there, all the nannies and children were present to welcome us. We received a warm welcome and it was very nice to see everyone again.
Maria had a bad cold in the Netherlands and had passed the cold on to the rest of the family, so the first days we spent mostly quietly recovering from the cold. Everything was new and strange for Teleza. She wanted to be with mom all day, so she couldn't do much business.
It soon turned out that the house was in dire need of some repairs. The bathrooms and toilets in particular were in bad shape. When you opened the tap, the water flowed down through the ceiling instead of through the shower head, the tiles fell off the wall and the tub was sinking. Through a German family that also lives here, we found a good contractor from the capital and the first repairs have now started.
The most important thing is that the children in the house are doing very well! The nannies took great care of them while we were in the Netherlands. Several severely malnourished children now look much healthier. Of course there are always things that could be better but I am very grateful that it went so well.
We are now largely involved in daily life here. Maria is up every morning just like before 4 wake up in the morning and Diana enjoys the local food. The girls still have 2 weeks of vacation before school starts so they still have time to get used to their new lifestyle. Teleza still has a hard time when I'm not there. She cries a lot and still wants to sit on my back all day. Hopefully she gets used to her new life here soon. Now that the repairs of the bathrooms and toilets are in full swing, I hope that we will soon be able to replace the tiles in the kitchen and repaint the house. The tiles in the kitchen are also falling off the wall and the paint is damaged in many places.
It's great all kids, in the house and in the villages, to see again. The children have all grown enormously and it is special to experience that up close. The families are so very grateful for the help they get! In many cases these children would not be alive without the help of our foundation. The donations for Afriana are very much needed and we are very grateful that with your help we can help the orphans in this area.
Thanks for everything.
Kind regards from Malawi.
