Dedza, Malawi … It is Saturday night at the trading center at Dedza, and a few blocks north of the main street, the students from the Malawi International Bible Institute (MIBI) are enjoying a celebration. The evening has been organized by Suzi Stephens, Medical Director for the Malawi Project, and includes the students in the school, as well as the visiting members of the Western Hill Church of Christ in Austin, Texas who have just arrived in the country earlier that afternoon.
Still numb from the long oversees flight the Americans are experiencing their first day in Malawi, and their first Malawi meal. Nolan Read, one of the teen members of the Western Hills group, has a laptop computer he packed in his luggage before leaving Texas. After the meal, and a period of singing, Nolan is asked to speak. Up on his feet he quickly tells the students his intention to present them with one of the laptops he gathered for his Eagle Scout Project the previous year. The excitement, already at a high pitch because of having the visitors from America, climbs even higher over the news of the computer.At last these 7 students, the first class at MIBI, are going to be able to open a window to the world, a chance to see and know what others around the world are already able to experience. None of the students have ever used a keyboard, and Nolan plans to spend much of the next two days helping them get started with their use of western technology. What do they want to learn first? They want to learn about Nelson Mandela, someone notes.
The Austin team, traveling with members of the Malawi Project, plan to spend two days in the Dedza area, experiencing the culture, lifestyle, food, and interaction with the people of the “Warm Heart of Africa.”
MIBI currently meets in rented quarters in Dedza, with the administrator, seven students, and 2 additional staff members. The Malawi Project, in 2009, assisted in the establishment of the school, and assisted in the acquisition of over 200 acres of land near Dedza for the creation of a major campus in the area.