There's nothing like being gone from my site for a week (and being in the capital city) to make me love and appreciate my village even more!
The woman selling me produce in the boma automatically gave me a Malawian price instead of trying to up charge me. I was given the front seat in the mini bus because I had 3 bags. A form 2 boy carried one of my backpacks up the mountain as we chatted about malaria and he asked me questions and encouraged me to come to his school to help teach about malaria and HIV. My neighbor kids FREAKED OUT with excitement when they saw me walking up. My amayi friends had me come up to sit and catch up with them while they talked about how much they missed me and gifted me sweet potatoes before I left. A two yr old curled up in my arms. The gates to my fence were fixed. And most importantly--MY HEALTH CENTER NOW HAS ELECTRICITY!!!!
Aka a few houses also have electricity! This means I can hopefully charge my phone and laptop at the health center now rather than having to go all the way down to the boma. (Especially wonderful considering I just received a whole bunch of electronic resources on malaria interventions!) And, I might potentially be able to get electricity wired to my house. Who knows what will happen, but I am just so happy to be back in my village. Every time I return to site after being gone for a few days, I appreciate it's beauty and the wonderful people even more. ✌️