rip zig

Not in too much of a great mood right now, but I feel I must blog
since I have the opportunity. Two days ago my dog, Zigamba, was hit
and killed by a car. I have not been in the village very long, but
from the very first time I stepped into my village he was the best
part of my site and was always following me around wherever I went. He
was my constant companion. And for those of you that know me, I love
dogs very much, so it’s been pretty rough. It’s hard enough having
something like this happen, but to have it occur in another country
where I am still learning the language and the culture, it’s been
difficult. Enough said about that.

On April 28th myself and 20 other trainees officially became Peace
Corps volunteers. We swore in at the US Ambassador to Malawi’s house
in the capital city of Lilongwe. It was a really special day as we
celebrated the culmination of our two months of training and preparing
for our service. Although all the volunteers were happy to finally be
done training, we were definitely sad to leave each other and head out
to our sites without each other.

My site is in the central region of Malawi in the district of Mchinji
and it is in the village of Kakunga, close to Zambia. My house is
situated within a family compound and it is a brick house with a tin
roof. I have three rooms and a nice backyard and although it needs
some repair and cleaning, I have been having a lot of fun making the
place feel like home. This is the first time in my life I have ever
lived by myself, and although it is a strange and new feeling I am
enjoying it.

My day-to-day life these past couple weeks have consisted mostly of
cleaning, decorating, cooking, meeting people, gardening, reading, and
still trying to learn the language. Basically, I am just taking care
of myself, my house, and trying to integrate as well as possible into
my community.

There has been some challenging times, such as what happened two days
ago, but I am being constantly reminded of how blessed I am to be
here.  I’ve also been able to meet some great people who have made me
feel very welcome here. I knew before coming to Malawi that I would
have good days and some not so good days, and thankfully the Lord is
giving me the strength I need to get through both. That’s all I could
ask for.


“Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the
One who makes me who I am” (Philippians 4:13, The Message)



ALSO… I have a new address, so here it is:

Kathryn Kutzner
PO Box 50
Kapiri, Mchinji
Malawi

to the Warm Heart of Africa

Today it finally arrived - my invitation to... Malawi. No, not Maui. And yes, the place where Madonna adopted a baby. Until this afternoon, that was all I pretty much knew about the country.

It's so hard to describe how I felt opening the letter. I had a list of countries in my head where I thought they would send me and Malawi was definitely not a place I expected them to send me. I'm not really sure why.

But it's finally here. IT. The invitation. Crazy to think that I've waited over a year for a big envelope to arrive at my door. I will be leaving February 24 and my job title is "Community Natural Resource Management/Forestry and Parks Extension" volunteer. That's a mouthful. And it certainly didn't sound at first like anything to do with business advising, but after reading about the program in Malawi and the Environment/Natural Resource program, I believe that I might even have the opportunity to mix my desire for business/entrepreneurship and my passion for animals!

So excited beyond words right now!

Another lull...

I haven't updated in a while because frankly, there just doesn't seeem like much to update on.

One of the difficult parts of this process is the time in between each milestone when it seems that all I do is just wait around to hear from the headquarters. I was incredibly excited to be medically qualified and although I know it was a huge hurdle to get through, I am still not done. I am still guaranteed of nothing. So it definitely tests my patience and my faith in God's plan for my life, but I think that there is plenty to be learned in this meantime.

One small development is that I called the Office of Placement two days ago. I am traveling to Australia to see one of my best friends for 3 weeks in December (look for a forthcoming post on that one!) and I was concerned that if I get my invitation while I was away that I would not be able to officially accept it. Anyway, the placement assistant said that there is a possibility I could receive my invite before I leave. What an absolute blessing that would be!

So if you would like to pray for me, please pray that I receive my invite before I leave for Australia on December 12th!

Again, thanks for your prayers, concerns, and for even reading this blog. I can't tell you how blessed I feel to have people in my life who care enough to take part of this journey in my life...

One Last Step

So I received the letter in the mail today saying that I am OFFICIALLY medically qualified for service in Africa and all I can think is that it's about time. I can't believe I've waited six months just to hear this news but I am very happy all the same.

Again, all that is left is for me to receive (or not receive) an official invitation. But honestly, who knows how long that will take. It could be weeks or even a few months. But things are still moving forward, no matter how slow it may seem. So I am extremely encouraged and hopefully take it as a sign from the Lord that this is what He wants from me.

I am really really thankful for the people in my life who have prayed for me and have been constantly asking me for updates during this process. So if that's YOU, then I want to sincerely THANK YOU. I can't tell you how appreciative I am. And I ask for continued prayers because this next step is really huge and decides as to when, where, and even if I am going to Africa.

PTL!

Medically Cleared?!

Wow, so God chose to work really fast in this situation...

I just got an email this morning saying that "A decision has been reached regarding your medical review. Please look for a letter in the mail". Funny how this decision came about 12 hours after I wrote my last post. I am speechless right now. Thank You Lord!

Although this does not mean that I am officially cleared, I believe that it is very good news. I have to remind myself at each step in this process not to get my hopes up because nothing is guaranteed.

So for those of you that have prayed for me, THANK YOU. I truly appreciate it. God is so good.

Next stop...getting a placement officer and hopefully receiving my official inviation!