Something New
I have never before had the opportunity to attend the launch celebration for one of our program partners.
Malawi is our ninth country, and the eighth new program since I started working at Plant With Purpose. However, it is the first time I have ever been to an official opening. (I have been told that I forget to celebrate successes, and perhaps this is an indication of that.)
In any case, it was worth the multiple days of travel to be there. After 33 hours of airports and airplanes to get to Malawi, it is another 6 hours drive from the capital, Lilongwe, up to Mzuzu, the third largest city, where our office is located. From there it is another hour to the watershed where we are actually working.
Malawi is known as the “Warm Heart of Africa” and lives up to its nickname. (I foresee this description becoming overused in our writing in the years ahead, because it fits so well.) In general, the people are some of the friendliest, most welcoming I have met anywhere in the world. One feels instantly at home.
Before leaving Lilongwe, we had a meeting with the Minister of Natural Resources and Climate Change. I did not know too much about him, other than that he is a former actor and radio personality, so after introductions I was a little surprised when he turned to me with an admonishment. “You say you are a faith-based organization. Don’t hide that. Too many organizations come here claiming to be faith-based, but work just like secular organizations. If you are a faith-based organization, let Jesus shine through in your work.” It was a point well taken.
Arriving in Mzuzu, we visited Floresta’s shiny new office. (We incorporated under the name “Floresta in Malawi,” utilizing Plant With Purpose’s original name for our field presence, just as we have in most other programs.)
I had been involved in hiring our director, Elizabeth, on a previous visit, but all of the rest of the staff were new to me. As we held devotions together, I was impressed with the youth, energy and competence which filled the room. There was an air of expectancy that was really fun to be a part of. This is, of course, a brand new organization. Other than Elizabeth, everyone was hired within the previous five months and were still getting comfortable in their roles. We have leaders for each of the three pillars of our work - Environmental Restoration, Economic Empowerment and Spiritual Renewal, all led by a remarkable woman named Diniwe, who holds a master’s degree in agriculture from Mississippi State University and comes with experience working for both Oxfam and Land O’ Lakes.
That afternoon, we drove out to the location of our first watershed, Lwafwa, and after a short walk, were greeted by the eager members of one of the first Purpose Groups. Like so many places we have chosen to work, the land was hilly, with maize, cassava and other crops arranged in precarious, postage-stamp plots on steep hillsides. Houses were spread out, with no obvious village center. There were also quite a few trees and in the midst of the rainy season, everything was very green, but as we walked, our board chair, a well-known professor of forestry and natural resources, confided to me that the state of the land and the forest “hurt her heart.” After some brief conversation, we joined the community members in planting an assortment of fruit trees and native trees. The first Floresta trees in Malawi.
A few words before planting
From there, we drove down to make an official call on the District Commissioner, in Nkhata Bay. He welcomed us, and after conversation, we signed an official MOU in his office, accompanied by a spontaneous song commemorating the signing of agreements. The commissioner also reminded us of the proper protocol for hosting the Minister of the Natural Resources at the main event the next morning. “He gets a unique chair - it can’t be like any of the other chairs. His tent must also be unique. If it is like the other tents, it needs to have some decoration to distinguish it. The coffee table, with the Malawian flag, guest book and flowers must also be there.”
Of course, another part of the protocol is that each of the important guests must be acknowledged by each of the speakers, by name and title, and in the proper order . That alone may have added an additional hour to the launch ceremony and was easily the most difficult part of my own presentation.
This event took place the following morning at a rural elementary school within the watershed.
The minister learns about the three pillars of the Plant With Purpose model - 1) trees and fruit symbolizing environmental restoration, 2) the traditional savings group box, representing economic empowerment, and 3) a Bible and devotional materials representing spiritual renewal.
When we arrived there were already several hundred people there, and tents had been set up around the perimeter of a dirt schoolyard. Dozens of people in green Floresta shirts were involved in arranging chairs, working on the sound system, or just standing around. This was a little confusing, since we had outfitted most of the invited guests in Floresta shirts, including government officials and leaders of other organizations and ministries. Even the traditional chiefs, distinguished by their hats, were dressed in Floresta shirts. I watched as two people put up green garlands to differentiate the VIP tent where the minister would sit.
At the appointed hour, we all walked down the road about a quarter of mile to greet the minister’s car as it drove up. He didn’t arrive right away, and as we stood there singing, I couldn’t help but think of the Biblical parable about the ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom to arrive.
When his vehicles and escort arrived, we formed a processional, singing, carrying signs, and stopping to plant trees, each next to a prescribed hole, with our titles next to them. My own relative prestige became apparent as I knelt to plant my seedling among the feet of the journalists and camera crews filming the minister.
The rest of the morning consisted of speeches (lots of them), most of them dry, and with lots of acknowledgements of the important guests, interspersed with singing, dance performances, and school children reciting poetry.
For my part, I was happy to remember the minister’s encouragement, thanking God for bringing us to this point. The minister delivered the final speech, letting his charisma shine through, and I began to get some sense of his celebrity. He took the mic and moved from tent to tent, telling jokes, and speaking with great animation. While the crowd had been merely polite up until this point, he soon had them laughing, clapping, and singing with him.
We concluded by raising a Plant With Purpose/Floresta in Malawi flag over the school yard, and watching as school children threw flowers in the air. All too soon it was time to get back into the car and begin the process of retracing our steps back to our respective homes.
I really miss the days of actually spending time with the communities we serve, and being more than just a ceremonial presence, but it was truly uplifting to meet this team. I will see them again soon on Zoom. However, with programs in nine countries and a limited travel budget, this was the first time I have caught myself wondering when I would be back.
