Meandering in Malawi - 12 June 2002
Birthday in Mzuzu
Back to the Bay
Itís a long way to Lilongwe
We returned to Mzuzu after a few days of chilling in Nkhata Bay. As we had arranged, we picked up a tyre from a geezer who had picked it up. Also, we had arranged to stay with a couple of VSOs, Emma and Andy, for the night. Iíd secretly rung them up to explain that it was Hippyís birthday and that weíd all go out for a meal on our wallet. Emma, who is not in fact a VSO, but is engaged to one, Andy, told me not to bother my little head and that all would be made ready.
I was desperate that the evening would be a success. Hips had not spoken to any old muckers in England for some time and so I tried (rather cheekily) to get Andyís phone number to interested parties in England. The only problem was how? In the end, I managed to use an SMS messenger service on the internet and hoped that the messages would get through. Meanwhile, England were beating Argentina ñ we did manage to get in in time to see the goal and the second half which, I guess was the best bits.
And so to Andyís house. It became clear that Andy had no idea that we were invited. In fact, Emma had not been able to contact him for the previous four days as heíd been out in the back of beyond. When he arrived, there was a house full of people and he seemed a little fazed. Remarkably hospitable for a man who had travelled pretty much the length of Malawi to get home.
Emma had given us the keys to the house when we bumped into her in town and the calls started coming from the UK as soon as we stepped through the door. They continued through the evening and even the next morning. I guess Hippy was reasonably happy with the outcome. After all, even John, the Scottish paediatrician from next door, had mucked in and made a cake for the occasion. We had not even met him before. How nice is that?
I knew that Pat had been up to something, but I was overwhelmed at the effort these complete strangers had gone to for a mad motorcyclist. Andy seemed to adjust to the fact that his house was invaded by a pair of strangers. The cake I have to add was one of the best Iíve had, very chocolaty and naughty. Thank you John.
The evening conversation enlightened me still further about the likely maize shortage. Apparently, yes the government had sold the reserves and pocketed the cash but they had been instructed to do so by the IMF, or at least some of the stocks to pay interest payments on their debt. Somehow I feel that it is particularly heartless of the IMF to tell a country to sell its food reserves, only to then probably require food aid later in the year. Seems to smack of a capitalist conspiracy to keep countries dependant on the West. Sorry I must be more subtle with my Marxist propaganda.
Also there was a long to discussion over the aggressive recruitment of nurses and teachers from Malawi (and other developing countries) to leave their countries when trained and go to the UK. Somehow I feel it is a difficult one to resolve. If I have the choice to work in a variety of countries so should a qualified person from a poorer country. But there also seems something ironic about sending VSOís to developing countries to fill skills shortages while British Government Agencies are happily recruiting trained teachers and nurses. In our drunken discussion the only ethical compromise we could come up with was to either recruit untrained people or compensate a country for the cost of the training of their qualified staff, who are leaving to earn better wages in the UK. As someone put it ëtelling children they cannot get an education in their own country because the teachers are now working in the UK, implies that the UK children are more deservingí. Now anyone who has taught in the UK and in poorer countries the reverse is more likely to be true.
Poor old Andy was called away in the early hours to do a little emergency radiology, by all accounts some poor chap with a painful groin, details not disclosed. Ouch!
The next morning, I had a special treat, my old friend Trish rang up. Chatting to her was great but it also reminded how little I have been able to chatter to old friends on this journey. Itís funny how a phone call makes you forget the miles between you. Sorry if I sounded negative about the news of your wedding Trish, but weíre a little disappointed that we probably wonít be able to get there.
On the way out of town the next day, we stopped in on another VSO project which was in full flight as we arrived.
Drew is a South African volunteer who is working with the Parks and Wildlife Office in Mzuzu. He is responsible for running their visitor centre and education and support in the local community for sustainable land use activities. As we arrived he was giving out prizes to a delighted audience who had spent the day colouring and writing poetry as well as other activities.
The kids then had a chance to have their say about what they were doing in their conservation clubs. Some had even managed to arrange a firearm amnesty and had had 10 guns handed into them. Impressive stuff! I wouldnít mess with these kids.
Around the building that is the visitor centre, he has laid out a network of trails that are marked to show features of interest. The contents of the centre, too, are part of his work with another VSO who we did not get to meet. A year into his placement, he has great hopes for a local to fill his shoes and maintain the project when he leaves.
The other VSOs that we met in Mzuzu were mostly in medical training posts helping to fill voids that Helen has pointed out.
Surprisingly we headed back down to Nkhata Bay. We were still considering whether to take the ferry down Lake Malawi. We had been quoted a huge amount of money but were still keen on the idea of a cruise. After a couple of days which included a lot of Bao (local game similar to Mankala) playing and the residents of the Mayoka Village going mad for a night (including the nudity of the manager at 1 a.m. and the singing of the Brit national anthem superimposed over a Kylie Minogue number ñ pretty dreadful) we at last decided to head south by bike. Enough is enough.
Weíd been told that the scenery for the first hundred miles on the way down to Lilongwe is rather super. The rain looked as though it was going to give us a hard time as we rose even further than Mzuzu. I actually started to feel a bit cold. Africa? Then I had to stop to put on my waterproofs. Bad to worse.
Of course, the donning of the waterproofs brought about a complete change in the weather and we were treated to some lovely views of volcanic plugs rising from the Central African highlands. We met a Norwegian guy heading north after having done the West Africa route on the way south. He was hoping to pass through Saudi and visit Qatar on his way back to Europe. His bike was very similar to our own and he had suffered the same problem with his alternator that Matze had had back in Egypt. I begin to worry that weíll suffer the same fate and itís a spare that I donít carry. We should make it to SA, inshallah.
Lilongwe is a little piece of Milton Keynes dropped in the middle of Africa. Strange, but true. It was apparently a designed city in just the same way as MK and has huge empty spaces. The only trouble is that it seems to have no real heart in the physical and spiritual senses. Thereís not much light at night, either, which makes it a little intimidating to go out in. One is left with a choice when out walking of trying to follow the tarmac in the pitch black or avoiding falling down craters and open manholes in the pavement. Tricky. At least Malawi does seem to have some of the more sensible drivers encountered so far. It may be that they have to drive as gently as possible to eek out the most miles possible from their threadbare tyres. Whatever, itís a lot safer than most places.
The only real bonus to coming to a capital is that invariably there is a large supermarket, where we can buy a few treats to remind us of home. But so far we have been unsuccessful in quenching Patís current craving for a Melton Mowbray pork pie. I worry that when we finally find one , probably in SA he will be disappointed. However, you can get cornish pasties in Malawi!
We found the VSO office following instructions from a nice man at the British Council. I know that Britain had a major stake in Africa before now, but we find it strange that wherever we go ñ even Eastern Europe ñ that the British are the only ones that seem to provide quality reference facilities. Come on you Germans and Americans and everyone else! Selfishly, it does mean that we, as Brits, can blag our way in and get hold of decent internet facilities.
Steve at the VSO office was extremely helpful and gave us loads of interesting sounding projects in the south of Malawi. We have been wanting to meet up with South-to-South volunteers to see how their placements are working out. There are three now on our hit list ñ a bee keeper and a vet from Kenya and a doctor from the Philippines.
Biding our time until we manage to get Mozambique visas.