Becoming a Citizen

          The judge welcomed the 75 people sitting in the Federal Courtroom directly in front of him with these words, “This is a good day. Today everyone in the courtroom will be happy with the decisions. That does not happen very often.” He was able to draw this conclusion because the people gathered in the front of the courtroom in Indianapolis, Indiana were about to become American citizens. The smiles on their faces reflected their excitement, and their approval of the judge’s words.

          Each person’s name was called, and each of them gave the name of their country of origin. They were from all over the world, and it was easy to speculate why most of them had come. America, the land of opportunity and prosperity, was a door through which so many of the world’s poor and downtrodden wished to enter. These 75 were at the threshold. A lot of time. A lot of study. A lot of work. But they had made it, and in a time when so many are entering America through the back door, it was exceptionally pleasant to see these people, who had worked hard to make it, coming in through the front door, legally, properly, lawfully.

          They placed their hands over their hearts, and recited the pledge of allegiance. Somehow it sounded different when spoken through so many different accents, and with such enthusiasm and excitement. It was new, and for the first time, they were saying it as American citizens. It had been a long time since I had heard it with such commitment and focus.

It is Official

His American name is now Benedict Adams, and today he is one day old as an American. The pictures that capture the moment he stepped out of the federal building in Indianapolis, and posed for pictures are reflective of his excitement and pride. His smile as he repeats, “I am an American”, makes me proud to be one, and reminds me of what so many of us take for granted. We shouldn’t be so presumous. Benedict’s excitement will serve as a reminder for some time as to the value of being able to say, “I am an American.”

Hospital Groundbreaking

A number of pictures have now been posted showing the ground breaking ceremony for the new hospital to be constructed north of the Dedza Trading Center, in central Malawi. These pictures can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/malawiproject

"Right Girl", "Wrong Village"

Chitakula Village, Malawi… It was 2002, and Malawi was suffering famine in a way this generation of young people had never seen. We stopped our work on the construction of a major hospital project, and turned to food distribution. On this particular day we went to deliver food at the height of the famine. Everywhere we went people were starving. Malawi had not seen this kind of suffering in 50 years.

Somewhere along the way we got separated from the 10-ton truck carrying the food we were going to distribute. Our small pick up truck filled with the distribution team, actually traveled down the wrong road to another location. At the time we were unaware we were on the wrong road to the wrong place. While the big truck went to the main village where the chief resided, we ended up in one of the 300 smaller villages under his jurisdiction. We had only a small portion of the ration we intended to deliver, and in short order we were out of food and heading back to the compound to find out what had happened to the big truck. In the camera were scenes from this, “wrong village.”

That night I downloaded the day’s pictures, and there was the little girl. Although that year I saw thousands of other children, this little girl and her picture stayed with me. It sank deep into my heart. Before leaving Malawi that year I commissioned a Malawi painter to capture her on canvas. He did a masterful job. Little did I know how helpful this little girl, and the image of her sitting in the dust with a near empty bowl, would be to me in subsequent years when the work would grow heavy, and discouragement would often appeal for us to give up and end our effort.

We have not given up and the little girl in the blue dress has had a lot to do with it. After all, she is so helpless, and she represents all that is good about the work we are doing. I often wonder where that little girl is today. I will never know, but one thing I know for sure. Everywhere I go she goes with me in my heart. To me she will always be “the right girl, in the wrong village.” We had gone to the wrong place, but this little girl gave me the “right picture.” She is the heart of Malawi, and its future.