Service at Mount Soche Anglican Church

Mount Soche District & Limbe, Malawi


The morning began early. We left headquarters at 7:30 a.m and went to a service that began at 6:30 a.m. at the Mount Soche Anglican Church, which is one of the largest Anglican congregations in the Blantyre area. (As you will notice, we were an hour late.) The service was traditional with lots of prayers and singing, which is always amazing. The women sat on one side and the men on the other. All of the children and youth were seated towards the front. I went to the front to take communion; everyone was warm and welcoming. This was the site for interviews for the larger research project-- which I explained in one of my first postings--so after the service volunteers (local church members) were interviewed by our research assistants. It was a productive day.

The rest of the day was very quiet. I spent most of the time coding transcripts and preparing files for future interviews. The weather has been quite chilly these past few days, so we are drinking a lot of tea to keep warm. (No central heating!)

I spent the evening hours preparing to interview traditional healers tomorrow. We have an appointment lined up tomorrow morning with four traditional healers. Edgar has done a fantastic job. I will do interviews if the traditional healers speak English, and Edgar will do them in Chichewa. With the permission of the interviewees we will record the encounters. There are lots of things to consider culturally as we do not want to unintentionally offend any one. All should go well, and I will keep an open heart and mind to stories that will be shared.