Wednesday 04 Dec
Back in Australia, Wendy is living out lessons learnt in Malawi.
Former Intercultural Worker, Wendy, shares what she learnt on the field and how she's putting the lessons into action back in Australia.
"Looking back on my years in rural Malawi, one of the key things I leant was how to value people. Walking through the village, each person is acknowledged and greeted individually. I remember once becoming quite sick with a flu. One of our dear friends and her sisters made a trip of about 50 kilometres to come and pray for me. I was so touched that they would make such an effort.
Back in Australia, I can see how difficult it is for migrants and refugees to grapple with the English language. I remember one of our earliest friends in Malawi who would visit us from time to time. He always spoke slowly for me and listened carefully with great patience in our conversations. How kind and encouraging he was! In Australia we are time poor and our busyness can take precedence over our value of people. In Malawi, community is treasured. Effort is made and time is spent. For me to reach out to my neighbour in Australia, I find I need to import some of the essence of the richness of relationships demonstrated to me in my Yawo friends."
This is an excerpt from an article in Resonate magazine. You can read the full article in edition 34 here (view online) or here (printable PDF).