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July 1, 1999, CE Continued I enjoyed my time in Malawi quite a bit, for several reasons. Mark spent most of that week up in the north of Malawi meeting with his counterparts there, leaving me free to do what I wanted, but in good hands. I had a good time. For one thing, they speak English in Malawi. It is less expensive and (barring riots) safer than Mozambique. The Inglis family was wonderful... they both gave me space and entertained me, as well as giving me access to their library. Malawi has really great carvings and art work -- better than Mozambique -- and for a better price, so I bought some stuff there to bring home. (Yours truly is getting much better at bargaining...) |
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I guess there are only two (or three) real stories I have to tell of my time in Malawi. As you may have read, Malawi recently had an election. I heard that it was the first time an African nation had two consecutive democratic elections -- a big deal. Anyway, the opposition was not terribly happy at remaining the opposition. About three days after a very peaceful election day, etc. the opposition held a protest. The protest marched right past where I was staying. Glenn Inglis had gone, with both his daughters, up north with Mark for a while. Linda had just left to go to the airport to pick up a Habitat for Humanity group, leaving me with her 17 year old son and two of the Habitat folk. We heard the protest outside, but I only got nervous when the dogs started barking. I went to the gate to see who it was. Happily, it was the Habitat director, Yamiko, from Malawi and a friend of his. So I invited them inside. Shortly after that, we heard the gunshots. Yamiko advised me that they were tear gas, and we rushed through the house closing all the windows. Apparently that was a wise precaution. I had left the dogs outside, and Luke (the son) decided to let them in. When he opened the door, he got a face full of tear gas. We found out later that there had been gunshots as well as tear gas. It was interesting. Half an hour later, everything had quieted down, and Yamiko, etc. left. Linda returned shortly thereafter. I guess all is well that ends well! Hopefully Malawi is doing okay now. | |
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The Habitat for Humanity group came from the Presbyterian Church of
Canada as well, and were going to Mangoche (as you recall, where we
caught the bus) to build a house. Mangoche is right on Lake Malawi,
which is enticing, so I decided to go up with them and spend a day
building a house. It was fun. The bricks were home made... made from
mud, sun dried, and then dried in a home made kiln. The mortar was
literally mud -- there was a pit behind the house where a man would mix
the dirt, some water, and a shovel full of sand. We just put the bricks
on with the mortar! (It sounds really easy, but there are skills
involved.) I had a fun time. The next day, I braved African transport
all by myself! (Are you proud of me?) Actually, the only hairy part
was because the zipper on my backpack really broke. There was no way my
concoction of duct tape and a safety pin would keep the bag together all
the way to Blantyre. (Not that the bag was overstuffed or anything...)
I asked the van driver who had taken the habitat folk to the site and
who was taking me to the market to catch a bus if there was any way I
could get some rope or something to keep it together. He suggested that
I buy a new bag. Then I figured out that he wanted the old one... I had
no problem with that except that it would require my moving the contents
of one bag to another! That is not a happy thing to have to do in
public. But, nervously, I did so. (By the way, the new bag came from
the same Arab trader who changed my $20.) Fortunately, the new bag is
bigger than it's predecessor, so everything moved well. Unfortunately,
a couple people came over to watch... one of whom the driver (Moses)
cordially introduced as a thief. It was at this point I developed my
fear of losing exposed film. I am happy to say, however, that to the
best of my knowledge nothing went missing in that interlude. Three
vans/buses later, I was back in Blantyre, and very proud of myself. (It
was only supposed to be one bus, but in a fit of wisdom I decided I
would pay my fare upon arrival. The bus did not arrive where it was
supposed to, so I only paid part of the fare. See? I did figure it
out!)
Well, I think I will leave you in Blantyre for this round, before my carpal tunnel syndrome comes back full scale. Tete is coming up! |
This is the truly beautiful Lake Malawi. Unfortunately it is infected with schistosomiasis (bizhardia) and is too dangerous to swim in.
Habitat for Humanity and me building the house in Mangoche
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The Presbyterian cathedral in Blantyre, Malawi
A Malawian road hazard. The ironic part of this picture is the just barely visible set of powerlines.