First impressions

I left Heathrow on Tuesday evening and arrived in Lilongwe airport at about 12 noon Malawi time (1 hour ahead of UK time) following a three hour transfer at Addis Ababa airport.  Having sorted out payment for my visa at the airport (they needed dollars and I had only brought pounds), I got a taxi the thirty odd km into Lilongwe.  I was struck by the number of people walking along the road side in both directions with no obvious destination -  no houses, no shops, no obvious workplaces  - and most of them not carrying things (although a few women carried fruit or vegetables on their head).

Liz and Rose seeing me off at Heathrow

My hotel, the Kiboko, was in the Old Town.  I was due to be picked up to be taken to Mzuzu the next day so I had a day in Lilongwe.   African city life was a  totally new experience to me - very busy, lots of street market stalls, small shops, colourful dress, an almost total lack of begging.  The absence of any obvious traffic rules (beyond - a surprise to me - keeping vaguely to the left), the sharing of roads between cars and people, and the open drains on the pavements made me glad I had travel insurance!  I also had my first experience of African shared taxis, going out to the Lilongwe wild life sanctuary which is between Old Town (the commercial centre) and Capital City (the political centre).

View of Lilongwe Old Town from the Kiboko Hotel balcony

     
Liz and the girls were expecting me to contact them as soon as I got to Lilongwe but wifi was down at the Kiboko and, when I went to an internet cafe, I couldn't get on email or any social media.  My UK phone was also not getting any signal.  I went to the cafe beneath the Kiboko for an evening meal, not sure how I was going to contact anybody.  In desperation, I asked a  woman who was sitting at a table near me to use her phone to ring home.  I then joined her and her companion for my meal.

She was Susan from Edinburgh and had been coming to Malawi on and off for the past 10 years (her first visit was accompanying Jack McConnell, then Scottish First Minister, to meet Bingu Mutharika, then Malawian president); her companion was Thoko, who's a nurse and wife of the official Malawian government photographer. We were later joined by Mabvuto who is a driver in Lilongwe and organises all Susan's travel in the city.  Susan was also staying at the Kiboko and at breakfast she gave me lots of advice about life and work in Malawi which will be invaluable in my time here.  She also introduced me to some people who work for Chance for Change, an NGO which works with young people who have been in prison.

Susan and Mabvuto, both of whom were a great help to me in Lilongwe

Temwa had arranged for Thumbiko, a driver based in Mzuzu, to pick me up.  We left Lilongwe about 1pm and got to Mzuzu just after 5pm.  When we got past the airport, the number of people by the side of the road reduced but there were still a lot.  There were also roadblocks (police and/or tax officials) at virtually every settlement we passed through.  About two thirds of the way along the 380 odd km between Lilongwe and Mzuzu there was a dramatic change in countryside from virtually flat plains to the beginning of the Northern uplands.  We stopped at a market at the side of the road where there were large numbers of women selling bright red tomatoes, greens of various kinds, onions, bananas and so on.  Thumbiko bought bags full of tomatoes, onions and greens for 2,500 Malawian Kwacha (there are about 850 Kwacha to the pound).

Women selling bananas at market next to Lilongwe to Mzuzu road

Thumbiko tried to teach me some basic greetings in Chitumbuka (the language of the Tumbuka people of northern Malawi) with limited success (I must try harder to address my complete inability to retain new words for more than 5 minutes!). We talked about Arsenal - he's a supporter; he told me about his family - 20 siblings in total from three separate mothers who are doing a variety of things now (teachers, working for the Ministry of Justice etc) and three young children of his own; his church where he is an elder (the CCAP - the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian - which is closely linked to the Church of Scotland); and attitude to drink - he is teetotal which I have subsequently discovered is common in Malawi. Thumbiko was also amazed I play five-a-side football - old men don't play football in Malawi!

First impressions of Mzuzu were of a very green, hilly city which, whilst busy, is much quieter than Lilongwe.  The Temwa office (where I work and live) is in a residential area about a 25 minute walk out of the centre.  I was greeted first by Harold and James who are two of the guards at the Temwa complex.  It is amazing how warm the greetings are in Malawi.  It's a combination of a firm handshake and a high five with tremendous smiles.  It's great and, unlike the language, came to me absolutely naturally (note to self - use smiles rather than language to communicate!).  Everybody (or most people) speaks some English (it's the official language) but the level at which it is spoken varies.

View from the Temwa garden in Chimaliro Road, Mzuzu

The Temwa office where I am also staying

Tiwonge, the new Temwa Programme Director in Malawi, and Charles, the Head of Finance and Administration, were also there to greet me.  They will be the people I work with closest over the coming months so I will be getting to know them very well.  Jo, who is the director of Temwa and is usually based in Bristol, is also here and Jo, Tiwonge and I went out for a meal in a local hill top restaurant on my first evening.

So now I have to settle in.  The local team had prepared an induction day for me on Friday so I got to know more about the projects and finances but I still have to work out how I can contribute effectively.  I went into the centre of Mzuzu after work on Friday with Jo and Elle, another volunteer who is leading on communications,  and they took me to the market which had a wonderful selection of fruit and vegetables, together with fresh fish from Lake Malawi.

Local street scene in central Mzuzu

Jacaranda trees in bloom in Kamuzu Avenue in Mzuzu

I will be settling into the office routine next week but I am also due to go to Usisya on Tuesday which is the only town in the Nkhata Bay North area where Temwa delivers its projects.   So it will be really exciting meeting some of the people from the local communities and seeing at first hand the work that Temwa does.  Usisya is about a two and a half drive from Mzuzu on not very good roads so I will be staying overnight there.

So that's it at the moment....more once I have been in the field at Usisya.