Having been here for more than two months, I have learned some things that make me think differently about what it is I am doing here, about development and foreign aid in general. I have a little more perspective about how the project is run and I’m not sure how much of that content and satisfied feeling I have now as I did early on.
The tone of my third recount, as you will see, seems to have changed, but I am simply recalling my observations and perceptions with honesty and little diplomacy.
We are supposed to be here at a development project, but somehow the more time that passes I continue to ask the question, is this development or a business? Most things seem to either be about money, image, useless meetings that never have conclusions, resolutions or decisions made and the word that always comes to mind is ‘fake.’
The Denmark period resulted in much of the same thing which seemed to be common to all DI’s. Of course it’s much nicer being in Malawi or Africa than in Denmark, with nice surroundings, climate, culture, people etc, but somehow in this Danish ‘organization’ you can’t seem to escape the same question - What are we actually here for?
After visiting pre-schools for 1 ½ months it has made me see that the program is not working. Here are some reasons why:
1. There is no system/structure in place to have sustainable development and ensure new DI’s that we hand over to continue the work that we do. Every DI that comes has a different vision, so it’s usual for something to be started but then never finished and something else concentrated on instead. We DI’s come to work here for 6 months, so it is 6 month period, after 6 month period, after 6 month period, with no continuity. And that is not sustainability. It’s not consistent and it feels as though the work you put in for 3, 4 and 5 months is wasted once someone else starts. You can easily say that every little bit counts and that nothing you do is a waste because it all contributes to helping in some way and to the bigger picture, but actually, if you are here working on something for months that isn’t followed through, it’s hard not to ask what the point was when it just gets lost along the way.
2. Working with pre-schools has made me see that the management here does not care what we do when we visit pre-schools. They just want to know there is actually someone going there, just so they can report that all gaps are filled. They never even ask how things are going or what we are doing, and no one from management ever comes to visit them with us to see what we are doing. They have no idea what we do and never will. There is no system in place to monitor any of it.
3. This point continues on from number 2. What is the actual goal of visiting these pre-schools? There are many obvious things you can see that is wrong with a pre-school or what it lacks, but what are we DI’s actually here to do? We can’t modernize classrooms or change their systems. Teachers have been teaching the same way for a long time and in some way have values that are part of their culture that makes it hard to break old habits. We can’t change this. Yes we can offer advice and ideas about different approaches with teaching, hygiene practices and monitor opening times and attendance, but in most cases all these things result in pushing someone that does not want to be pushed.
In my last blog I mentioned that I wanted to work on organising a feeding program for the children in all 30 of our pre-schools, however after giving it a lot of thought and having discussions with various people, I have realised that a feeding program is another aid dependency that is a short term solution, but in the long run of development is not the way forward. It would be more beneficial for each pre-school to find ways of feeding themselves instead of relying on being given things for free, otherwise this reliability and dependency will always be there. Unfortunately it is not an easy thing to do due to lack of funds, however some schools are able to make it work and have food cooked for the children by committee members every day. So it is possible, but it depends on how motivated the teachers, parents and committee members are, and how much they care to make this happen.
4. There are too many pre-schools per DI which means not enough time can be spent in each school. It would be ideal to visit all pre-schools in one week, because any less makes it hard for consistency and follow up, but due to the distances, we can’t spend much time in these schools at each visit. It would be different if we had 3 or 5 pre-schools to put all our energy into, but instead of choosing quality of quantity, DAPP (without much thought process or consideration) opted to bring in more pre-schools under their care. One of my biggest problems is the quantity over quality issue which is something that I constantly talk about when trying to address the pre-school issues. I also saw this quantity over quality thing in Denmark several times. It’s the same.
5. This is related to number 4. The walking distance (at least for my schools) is usually longer than the time able to be spent in each school. This does not make sense and is not productive or efficient. I am not complaining about walking because I don’t mind it at all, I am used to it and we walk almost everywhere, but it is not practical or logical to operate like this.
6. We DI’s are the ones visiting the pre-schools so we can see all the issues. But when we provide feedback and give our opinions, nothing ever changes. We are heard but not listened to, and this means that the same issues are going to continue to be problematic for each new DI that joins the project in the future. What is development?? I don’t know anymore. Or maybe I thought I knew but never actually did. And what is a “Development Instructor”? I’m not sure I can answer this question either.
These are the main points of concern and I was getting to a point where I was asking myself, “What am I doing here?” Almost 2 ½ months had passed being at this project but I couldn’t seem to find an area of work to fit myself into. I didn’t feel productive visiting pre-schools and the last thing I wanted to happen was to look back at my 6 month period and feel like I hadn’t really done anything worthwhile. I had to stop and take some time to think about what it really was that I wanted to do and achieve here. I took a step back and thought about the goals I had made myself in Denmark and made a new plan.
In Denmark my main goals were to develop a Health club for the students in the college, work at addressing the issues of HIV/AIDS (although back then I wasn’t sure in what way or who to help - ie. the community, the students, the teachers, etc), teach English, do some fundraising and work with pre-schools. But I think rather than pre-schools actually being a goal, I knew that there was a pre-school program and that I would be working with pre-schools anyway, but never actually specified exactly what goals I had in this area because I didn’t know what the schools were like back then.
I thought about how devastating HIV/AIDS is and that initially (before joining this program) when I read information about all the different projects this organization works with, I wanted to work with the TCE project (Total Control of the Epidemic). It focuses on raising awareness about HIV/AIDS, providing information and also mobilizing people to get tested. When it came time for selecting our projects there were no places in TCE, so I came to the Teacher Training College instead.
I decided that I wanted to change direction in my project and concentrate on making a difference with HIV/AIDS. Even though I am at the TTC project, there is actually quite a broad scope and as well as being able to work in the college, we are also able to work with communities. So my new main focus, instead of pre-schools is working together with existing HIV positive support groups, or if there are areas/villages that do not have support groups in place, to develop/form them myself. And with this I would want to have a central point where people from the villages can attend the closest one to where they live.
Of course, before doing all this I had to speak with my DI responsible leaders to let them know of my plans. I knew that they wouldn’t just say yes because there would be no one to work with my pre-schools if I changed direction. It might sound like I am giving up on helping the teachers and kids at the pre-schools or avoiding the challenges I have come across, but it’s not like that at all. I can simply see that what is currently in place is not working and what is there now is the same as what was there 6 months ago, and 12 months ago, and several years ago, so I don’t want to be a part of this cycle that continues to run but with no positive step forward. ie. No development.
You could ask, if something is not working then why don’t I try and do something to help make it better or change it? But it’s not that simple. We identify problems all the time, make management aware of them and do our best to try and help with resolutions, but there is only so much you can do, and when the next step needs to be left to management, they don’t do anything. They say they need to speak to this person or that person (above them) and then we never hear about it again. They ask us to give our feedback, but they don’t do anything with it even if they say they are going to. So what are we supposed to do?
I put together a plan and went and spoke to Fred, the person in charge of community work in the college. I informed him of my ideas and asked his advice about who to contact and what the best approach would be. He welcomed my ideas and told me the best way to do this would be to approach local clinics and community-based organizations to find out if there are existing support groups, and if not, what the best way would be to get people together to start one.
If working with existing groups, the objective would be to see how they operate, what information they discuss and offer my knowledge, time and advice where possible to raise awareness and share information about transmission, prevention, treatment, nutrition, natural remedies, etc. If developing a new group, the objective would follow the same lines but obviously take some extra investigation work to find out which villages are close by to which central locations, speaking to the Chief of the village, to identify who the positive people are in the communities and to locate and get permission for use of a place in each area.
Once I received as much information from Fred as possible I asked my DI leaders, Macdonald and Magura to meet with me. I told them about my plan and naturally they were concerned because they didn’t want me to leave the pre-school program. I told them all the things I thought was wrong with the program as I mentioned above, which are also the same things that have been discussed time after time but with no resolution. I also said that I didn’t feel productive doing what I was doing and didn’t want to look back at my 6 months feeling like I had done nothing, and that whether a DI visits a pre-school or not makes no difference. That might sound a bit negative, but it’s true.
We continued to exchange thoughts for about an hour, and we probably could have continued all day, but it wasn’t really going anywhere so I told them that I would think about things and make my final decision by the end of the week and let them know. I also asked them what would happen if I said I didn’t want to continue with pre-schools and decided to continue with my alternative project and they said that they can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to do, but they would like me to keep visiting pre-schools if I can. Anyway, by telling them I would think about it all and get back to them was my way of stopping the useless back and forth discussions that were happening and really I had already made up my mind.
The next day I went and visited two of the local clinics that Fred told me about. One of them was Amalika Health Centre which is actually located in the orphanage I am living at and the other was Makungwa Health Centre located in a town called Bvumbwe, which is about 1 ½-2 hours walk away.
The orphanage clinic was not open yet and visiting the other clinic resulted in a nice discussion with Brown, the Medical Assistant there who informed me that there is an existing support group who are associated with an organization called NAPHAM which stands for National Association of People Having Aids in Malawi. He told me that the two leaders of the support group do HIV counselling at the clinic twice a week and that he could organise a meeting with them for me if I came back the next morning because they would be there for a counselling session.
I also asked if there was anything at the clinic I could help with because I am a volunteer and have some spare time here and there and would like to help in any way I can. I was honest and said I didn’t have any medical experience, and Brown said that many of the staff did not know how to use a computer except for him and maybe one or two others, and if it’s possible I could help train them on the computer. I told him it was no problem so we agreed that Tuesday mornings would be a good time for the staff at the clinic and for me too. Since then I have had one class of computer lessons. It is at an absolute basic level, from turning on the computer, to the names of the parts of a computer (eg. keyboard, mouse, monitor, etc), to opening a word document, typing some information and saving it. Some even have trouble using the mouse and clicking on a folder or icon. But they are all very interested in learning so that is a good thing.
After meeting with Brown I called Fred to ask if he could come to the meeting with me the next morning to help with Chichewa translation because Brown told me it would be better, as English is very limited with the leaders of the support group. Fred asked me if I had discussed my plans with Macdonald and Magura and I said that I was going to give them my answer tomorrow, so he agreed to come with me.
That same day as I was going to the clinic to find out about support groups I met James, one of the field workers from the TCE project, (Total Control of the Epidemic) on the way. TCE people usually wear their TCE shirts so you can recognize who they work for even if you don’t know who they are. James was going to one of the villages he looked after to do door-to-door mobilization. Field workers are usually responsible for visiting individual households, raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and performing HIV testing and counselling. It is a very big job, as you can imagine, having to visit hundreds and thousands of households.
I told James about my ideas to work with existing support groups or develop new ones if need be, and I also asked him if he knew of any areas that did not have a group or a central location for members to meet. He told me that what I wanted to do was great and we exchanged contact numbers because he wanted to help make a support group in an area called Chinkwende, which is also where I teach English. They currently do not have a support group that is close enough for their members, so we discussed working together to try and get something happening there.
Later in the day I went to visit a community-based organization to try and get some information for the Chinkwende group, but unfortunately it was closed and I was told by a pre-school teacher who lives next to the organization that they are only open from 9:00-12:00 on Thursdays, meaning I would have to come back the following week.
The pre-school that is located here is not one of my pre-schools and I did not know the teacher but she told me she knew me, introduced herself as Margaret, and invited me in for some nsima. We are always offered to go to people’s houses to eat nsima with them which of course is a great way to get to know local people and culture, but I usually don’t like to accept because when you are the “Mzungu” coming to visit they make a big deal and give you a lot of food, and I would prefer them to keep the food for themselves and their families because these people are poor but still offer you to join them. I told her that was very kind of her and declined the offer, but she said that I am a friend and that I must come and eat some nsima with her. I told her that she shouldn’t worry about me and that she should keep the food for her and her family but she wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Of course they gave me plenty of food and even though I had already eaten, out of respect you should eat what someone has given you, so I did.
The next morning I met with Fred at the college so we could go to the meeting together. He told me that I should speak to Macdonald and Magura first before we go to make a final agreement on what I was doing. So I went and spoke to them, and they told me that they had spoken to the project leaders, Moses and Charlotte, who both said they would like me to continue with pre-schools, and maybe is there a way I could do both things? I told them that it would not be good to do both because if I am doing something worthwhile I should be able to focus on it 100%, put all my time and energy into it rather than have my hand in too many things without being able to give enough attention to either.
They said they understood but asked how many pre-schools I had and if it were possible that instead of visiting them all in one week that I could visit them all in a month. For the sake of telling them what they wanted to hear and coming to a compromise so I could get on with my work, I told them that instead of visiting 10 pre-schools in a week I could visit 3, which would mean they would all be visited in a month. They agreed and were happy with that, but actually, that is a completely stupid idea because visiting them once a month does not allow for follow up to be efficient, any real productivity to happen or consistent plans to be made. I rest my case with point number 2 above - No one cares what we do at the pre-schools or how much worthwhile time is spent there, they just want to know that someone is visiting them.
I went to meet with the two leaders, Sophie and Dennis, of the Makungwa support group to find out how they operate, where they meet and how often, and any other information they could tell me. I explained to them that if it is possible I would like to work with them to help where I can and offer my knowledge, time and support. They welcomed me and said that they meet every second Tuesday from 9:00-12:00 and that the next meeting was the following Tuesday so I would be welcome to come and join them. Fred agreed to come with me since it would be my first time, so he could help with translation and also try and identify any members that can speak English so that there is someone to help with translation for me in future.
The Makungwa support group meets at a local church and when Fred and I arrived they were waiting for us. Soon after this we started the meeting. Sophie made an introduction and let the other members know who I was and what I was doing there. Each of us had a turn to also introduce ourselves and everyone was quite welcoming. There were around 20 members and I noticed that the majority were women. There were only around 5 or 6 men. Later I found out that there are usually around 30-40 members in this group. Fred found out that one of the members, Harold, could speak English quite well so he asked him to sit with me and help with translation as Fred had to go back to the college for another engagement.
Malawians are very religious. Usually there is always a prayer, followed by some singing and dancing, and this is exactly what happened. After two songs Sophie acted as a pastor and began to preach from the bible for about ten minutes. And then Dennis commenced speaking about Anti-Retroviral (ARV) treatment. I learned that the Malawian government subsidises the cost of ARV’s to those diagnosed as HIV positive. So effectively, ARV’s are free, which I think is great because they are expensive and the average Malawian would not be able to afford them. As far as I have read and heard, the Malawian government really started to address the issues of HIV/AIDS around 7+ years ago, with the current President, Bingu wa Mutharika, the first National HIV/AIDS awareness program was implemented.
Once it reached around 10:45, something kind of strange (or maybe unfamiliar is a better word to use) happened. There was a table set up with some bowls that contained rice, chicken and vegetables. I was told by Sophie that it was time for my lunch and I was to sit and eat with Dennis. I asked if everyone was going to eat together but they said no, it was just for Dennis and I. Nonetheless, out of respect, I went ahead and did as they had informed me. Dennis and I washed our hands and sat at the front of the church at the table eating our food, African style (with our hands). The other members sat in the church and spoke to one another while we ate. It was very unfamiliar to me, and I felt a little awkward and uncomfortable eating while everyone else wasn’t.
When we finished eating, the meeting commenced and I heard from Harold that they were talking about some of the issues that they had in the group. This is where it started to get a little bit funny. They were talking about how they didn’t have enough plates for their meals and that they needed to find the money from somewhere. They talked about how they needed to get money for fertilizer and seeds to start a vegetable garden for the group so they could have the vegetables for their meals each meeting. And they also talked about how one of their members is not well and has to stay home and that they need money for everyone to be able to go and visit them because as members they should all care for and support each other (I didn’t understand the need for money here because I am pretty sure that all the members live in nearby villages and that everyone walks).
Now I wasn’t exactly sure how to take all this. Were they indirectly talking about needing money in front of me because they wanted me to give them money or buy them these things that they needed? This is usually the Malawian way (white person = money) so I wasn’t entirely sure. I thought to myself that if it gets to the point where they directly ask me for money then I would make it clear straight away that this is not what I am here for, and if this is what they expected and continued to ask for then I would not come to their meetings anymore. I waited to hear some more and Harold continued to say that they needed to tell me their problems so that I could help them, and I just continued to say, “Ok.” It got very close, and almost seemed like he was reiterating the point about not being able to afford anything, and waiting for me to say that I would help them with the money, but I didn’t say anything of the kind. Still I’m not sure if that’s what was being insinuated, so I also didn’t say anything about not being here to give them money.
I really hope that it is not like this because that would really disappoint me. I approached these people to try to help and support them with my knowledge, my time and my genuine concern without expecting anything in return, so I sincerely hope they don’t have the intentions I previously mentioned. I am going to see how things are at the next meeting and if I hear the same things and they continue to pry on this matter, then I will set them straight. This is where the dependency lies – “Azungu” are good for money and free things. Not this “Mzungu!”
Once they finished talking about the issues it was time for lunch for everyone else. But instead of rice everyone got nsima. I was curious about the whole eating situation so I asked Harold why I ate before everyone else with Dennis, and why we had rice, chicken and vegetables, and everyone else had nsima and vegetables. He told me that I was their special guest and that I shouldn’t worry, it was ok and normal for this to happen. I told him I understood, but that I didn’t feel I was worthy of sitting there and eating before everyone, that I am not above anyone else and we are all equal, and that we should all eat together. He understood where I was coming from and said that he could mention next time that everyone eats together. I told him I didn’t want to change their ways if this was normal practice, so if it was a problem then I would just do as they do. After this it was time for me to leave.
One Saturday we had a DI meeting at the Chilangoma Teacher Training College for DI’s from all projects in Malawi. We DI’s were required to make a presentation on our achievements so far and the plans we had for the remainder of our periods. Most DI’s did their presentations separately but we at Amalika combined ours because a lot of our work (mainly pre-schools) is similar, so I spoke about pre-schools for all of us and then each of us also spoke a bit about our work and plans.
I decided to stay in Chilangoma for the weekend because I joined some of the DI’s attending an HIV positive living group and we also celebrated Eva’s birthday who is a DI there.
The positive living meeting was really nice. Fraser, who was a DI at my school in Denmark, started visiting the group recently after taking over from another DI and he had been teaching the people about nutrition and natural remedies in regards to HIV. The day I joined they did a practical action and made soy milk with the people. First they explained the benefits of soy milk and then showed the people how they could make it for themselves. Soy milk contains a lot of protein and has nutritional properties that are beneficial for HIV positive people.
It was a great meeting and the people were so happy and appreciative. As with any type of meeting, gathering, ceremony or similar, there was lots of singing, dancing, music, etc, and everyone (DI’s included) were in great spirits. Many children were gathered around to watch what was happening, and once the soy milk was made and we gave it to each of the group members to taste, the leftovers were given to the cute kiddies that were around. What a great experience. It was also a good learning experience for me to get some ideas for my work.
Continuing my investigation work about HIV support groups in local areas, I visited a private VCT clinic (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) to find out if there were any support groups associated with them or that they knew existed. I met with Gideon, the Clinical Officer there and told him about my plans. He said it was a very good idea and advised me to speak with the Human Resources Manager and General Manager at their head office which was not too far away. This clinic is privately owned by the nearby Makande Tea and Coffee Estates business. I met with the HRM and GM who were very nice and told me they would like to work with me and that there are two committees associated with them, an HIV steering committee and peer educators committee and that the best thing would be for me to meet with them. They told me it would be best to go back to the Clinical Officer at VCT and ask him to introduce me to the chairman of these committees. So I went back and spoke to Gideon again and he told me he would speak to the chairman and organise a meeting for us and to call him in a few days.
While visiting the VCT clinic, again I happened to run into James from TCE and we arranged to meet at the community-based organization (Makala) that I visited the previous Thursday but it was closed, to try and discuss what we can do with our original plans to get together a central location for HIV positive members from the Chinkwende area.
Because I am interested in doing work with HIV, my friend Tim from TCE promised he would take me out to the field when he was visiting people in local villages to see the work he was doing. I told him I was meeting James and he said we could go together to meet him and then afterwards go to the field.
Tim and I spoke about working as a DI and it seems that it is a common feeling, regardless of your project that there is not much concern about having DI’s at the projects or what it is we do here. He was working with door to door mobilization of HIV counselling and testing but it was all done in Chichewa and without any information really translated for the DI, so it was useless him being there because he could not understand what was happening or being discussed, and it didn’t seem to matter for the field workers he was with whether he was there or not. So he decided to make his own soy milk project in relation to the benefits of nutrition for HIV positive people.
I told him about my plans to work with HIV groups instead of visiting pre-schools, and he said that I have a plan so I should go for it and just look forward with what I am doing and not worry about the pre-schools with the way the program is. It made me feel more certain and better about changing direction.
We both agreed that it is a shame this sort of thing happens and that if we were to have known before coming here that it would take us some months to realise we are better off making our own plans rather than in cooperation with our actual projects, then we would not waste so much time figuring this out and only having a few months left to do something worthwhile.
Now I have only three months left, and it took me almost 2 ½ months to see that I should do my own thing and not waste time with DAPP related works because it seems to amount to nowhere fast. My friend Maxi who I mentioned in my earlier blogs took six months to figure this out, and now as I also previously mentioned, she started and is still working on her mushroom farm project that is entirely separate from DAPP. This is common with many DI’s I have spoken to. Six months actually turns into two or three productive months (if that), and then it’s time to leave, not having been able to maximise a full six months of solid work.
Anyway, once I had met with James, he told me that he had already spoken to someone about the Chinkwende support group and that he just needed to confirm a day for the group to meet regularly. While I was there I dropped in to see Margaret, the pre-school teacher that had invited me for nsima the previous week to deliver her a bag of rice to show my appreciation of her hospitality. She was not there but I left it with someone at her house. I ended up running into her later and she very much appreciated the rice I had left for her.
Tim and I then went to visit one of the villages in his field, Chimbalanga, and met with Peter, one of the field workers there. Peter took us to a centre in this village where there is an existing support group and he introduced me to some other TCE members as well as people from the village and from the support group. He gave me information about the group and how they operate, what kinds of things have been happening and he told me they meet every second Friday and that I would be welcome to join them. He also showed me their vegetable garden which has maize, soy beans and moringa, just to name a few things. This group seems to be really well organised, and from what Tim told me, they are. So I will attend their next meeting and this now means I am involved with two support groups so far. I am looking to try to work with about three or four as my timetable permits.
A very positive experience I had recently was the opportunity to visit a Chinese-Buddhist orphanage. Tim at TCE is from China and he has been to this place a few times before. He found out about it from another DI who volunteered there after her project period with DAPP. Tim had organised to give a course to some students about HIV and Ray and I were interested to go along and see.
The orphanage is called Amitofo which is somewhat like a greeting to say, ‘hello’ or ‘welcome’ or something like this. It was founded by a Buddhist Chinese man who they call “Honourable Master” and has been around for 3 or 5 years (I can’t remember). It is quite amazing with plenty of land, a large Buddhist temple, lots of nice hostel rooms for the children, classrooms as it is also a school, a big office and conference area among other things. I really didn’t feel like I was in Malawi! There were many Chinese staff from the mainland, and also from Taiwan, as well as some Malawians. What was wonderful to hear was that the children learn 30 minutes of Chinese every day and are able to speak it! Tim tried speaking to some of them in Mandarin and they were able to answer him. It was so amazing. The local staff can also speak Mandarin which is great. So throughout the place there is a mix of Chichewa, English and Mandarin. It’s very nice.
Even though Malawians are mostly Christian, by being here the children also learn about Buddhism in a way that does not force it upon them, but the intention is for them to be open to other religions. Hence, they learn about Buddhism.
We were able to have lunch before Tim began his course, and all food served here is vegetarian because it is a Buddhist place. The children still get nsima because what was explained to us by the headmaster is they do not want to try and change the children’s culture in any way. By the same token they are also offered African dance classes to keep up with their culture, and as an insight into the Chinese culture the children are able to learn kung-fu.
The school is from primary to secondary and the age of the children vary from around 6 years old to 17 or 18 years. Once graduating from secondary school some of the students have the opportunity for a scholarship to go and study in China or Taiwan. And once they graduate from university or college there is also a chance for them to come back to Malawi to work at the orphanage.
They are looking at opening more of these Buddhist orphanages in other parts of Africa too, such as Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Lesotho. It was great to visit this place because you can see that the children here have a really nice life. When you come from visiting the villages that are near where we live, you can see the difference in the children’s quality of life. Even though it is wonderful to see how the children live at the orphanage, it breaks your heart to see the extreme opposite in the villages.
Recently Tim and Ray planned to make tofu out of soy beans at Tim’s house and invited me to join them. The boys really looked after me as they cooked all weekend, not allowing me to do anything, even when I tried to insist! The food was amazing and a mixture of Chinese and Korean-style dishes. I felt so spoilt but appreciative to have so much Asian food which is something that I miss a lot being over here. I felt like I was eating all weekend!
It was a very nice time spent at Tim’s house and the boys are very pleasant company. Tim and I always seem to talk a lot about politics and the world and it is very refreshing to have these conversations. I enjoy the mental stimulation, and being with Malawian people a lot means this kind of thing is lacking. Unfortunately interesting, deep or meaningful conversations are few and far between with the local people. Everything is just small talk and on the surface and nothing that has any real importance or meaning. It doesn’t take away from their friendly spirit, but they are in dire need of knowing how to have a proper conversation. I guess it comes from how educated (or uneducated) they are too, and perhaps having English as their second language (even if they are completely fluent in it and quite advanced) may not allow them to express themselves or speak about a broad range of things if they are not speaking their mother tongue. But anyway, I need more stimulating conversation and unfortunately I don’t get this where I am living either.
Earlier this month I took a week’s break for the Lake of Stars music festival. Nine of us planned to go to the festival, but we were all going up there at different times. Ray and I decided to make a week of it and break up the trip travelling north. The festival was in an area called Mangochi, but first we spent a day in a place called Zomba where we walked up alongside the Zomba plateau/mountain for around 6 hours.
After Zomba we headed for Monkey Bay. Our plan was to relax on the beach by Lake Malawi for a couple of days before the 3-day festival. It was a long trip to Monkey Bay by minibus. We left Zomba around 8:00am and didn’t arrive in Mangochi until 12:00pm. Then we took a pick-up (truck) to Monkey Bay, arriving around 2:00pm. A pick-up is a truck that carries as many people as it can fit on the back of it. Usually you have to pay but I’m not exactly how much as in this case we had already paid from Zomba all the way to Monkey Bay, but we just had to change vehicles at Mangochi so didn’t have to pay again. It should only take an hour or even less from Mangochi to Monkey Bay but this pick-up stopped (what felt like) every two seconds!
At Monkey Bay we stayed at Venice beach. There were only seven of us at the hostel. Three American guys, Brian, Kasey and Bart from the Peace Corps in Zambia came down for the festival, David, a guy I actually knew from the four year program in Denmark, who had finished the program and was travelling around as well as spending time with his girlfriend, a DI at the TTC in Chilangoma. There was also a lady of Ethiopian background named Minnie who stayed in the dorm with Ray and me. She actually happened to live in Melbourne for more than 20 years, but was travelling south from Kenya where she had been living for the past year.
For a day and a half we all hung out by the beach together playing volleyball, swimming in the lake and hanging out with the local kids who were so fascinated by us “Azungu.” The town was around 30 minutes by foot so the only place to eat nearby was at the hostel which was expensive. Brian talked to one of the local guys who worked at the hostel and managed to do a deal for some nice food for all of us for dinner. We had heard that the local fish from Lake Malawi was a must to try, so the guy agreed to catch a fish each for us and prepare it with rice and salad, all for 500 kwacha (approx. £2) per person. The dinner turned out to be amazing and the tiger fish was huge! They cooked it on the grill for us and everything. It was probably one of the nicest meals I’ve had in Malawi.
The American guys managed to organise to work at the festival some weeks back which meant free entry. Good thinking on their part. The five of us hitched a lift back to near where the festival was going to be. The Americans were camping but Ray and I had accommodation at a rest-house organised already thanks to Laura, a DI from Chilangoma who was coming with us to the festival. We met her and some of the others, Eva, Vaida, Rita and Kornell at the rest-house the afternoon before the festival, and then went walking to find out exactly how to get to the festival each day. We also went for a swim in the lake. The rest house was in a great location and it only took us 20-30 minutes (each way) to walk back and forth each day. On the first day of the festival, two other DI’s coming with us, Annie and Assum arrived.
It seemed as though every “white” person either living in or travelling through Africa was there for the festival. Even though by western standards the cost of the three day festival was cheap (7500 kwacha-approx. £30), for the locals it was very expensive. There were many African people there but I think we were the majority this time.
Before the entrance to the festival there were many stalls set up by local people who were selling arts, crafts, food and drinks and I think it was a great business for them. Each day there were many local people (kids included) standing out the front of the festival for hours, watching the hundreds or thousands of foreigners.
On the first day before the music started, Eva, Ray and I were sitting on the beach talking, when five English guys approached us and asked if they could interview us for a documentary they were making about the festival. They said the interview would be aired on MTV and other music channels, but I’m not sure what happened with that. Anyway, it was quite a nice interview. They asked us what we were doing in Malawi and if we were just here for the festival, what we thought about a festival like this, and other questions about Malawi, the people and culture. We had our 5 minutes of fame!
The set up for the festival was great and right on the beach. There were three stages and we were lucky enough to hear some amazing music from Malawi, other African countries such as Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa, and also the UK. Music started late in the afternoon each day and finished around sunrise at 5:00-6:00am. We danced in the sand, barefoot for hours, which was a lot of fun.
Our group managed to lose each other all the time but then somehow continued to find one another later in the day/night. But at the end of the night we never ended up coming home altogether. Sometimes some left early, sometimes some came back the next morning around breakfast time and sometimes some didn’t come back at all and stayed on the beach! Fun times!
I also met and hung out with different groups of nice people and it was actually refreshing to meet other “Azungu” because we could have more in-depth and interesting conversations than what I have been experiencing with locals, as I mentioned earlier. The foreigners were predominantly British and American, but especially British, and I also met some Israelis, Dutch, South Africans, a Slovenian and a New Zealander. I heard the voice of another Australian on the first night but made sure I turned around and walked in the other direction! Haha!
I think the festival was quite a positive thing. If Malawi can’t see the world then bring the world to Malawi, is what I thought. It was a meeting of cultures and I think it was a very interesting thing for the local people to see so many foreigners in one place. Hopefully it also brought attention to the good things this country possesses, as well as hopefully opened people’s eyes to the not-so-fortunate circumstances and reality.
Due to the fact that I have become completely lazy with my hair, and for convenience sake, I decided to get my hair done in dreads at the festival. It cost me 2000 kwacha (approx. £8). They are not too thick and I’m not sure how long I will (want to) keep them for, but right now I have no need to brush and no use for a hair dryer or straightener! It’s great! The thing about being in Africa is that you don’t always have water, sometimes not electricity and you can’t really be bothered looking your best (at least not me) all the time. No one really cares how you look or what you dress like here (aside from the cultural precautions we need to take). It’s kind of nice actually because image is a big thing in the western world and something I do not miss.
Month number three has had its fair share of ups and downs and playing with my mind. It’s come to the half way mark and even though I am fine in general, I don’t know if, just like in Denmark, now that the half way point is here, I am starting to feel a bit flat. It might just be the routine and going through the motions each day. Hopefully though this change of direction in my work keeps things interesting and allows me to do something worthwhile and productive without too many frustrations. Let’s see.
