tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34248305546702414332024-03-05T21:49:00.485-08:00News from MzuzuAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-32747389811852416592016-02-26T03:40:00.001-08:002016-02-27T08:42:38.253-08:00The southern highlandsIn Malawian terms I see myself as a northerner. We were based in Mzuzu which is the largest town in northern Malawi, my Malawian alter ego, Musopole, was from Kameme village in Chitipa district which is in the far north west where Malawi meets Zambia and Tanzania, and all our travels had been in the north. I liked the north. It's green, the landscape is varied, it's not too hot (at least, as long as you are away from the Lake), and the people are friendly. It's also a place that people in Malawi who are ambitious don't want to come to or stay too long. If you want the good jobs in government or the large Non-Government Organisations you go to Lilongwe in the central region. If you want to make a career in business or commerce you go to Blantyre in the southern region. So it is seen as more laid back than other parts of the country and I like the idea of 'laid back'.<br />
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So I had a natural prejudice against the south which was reinforced by the fact that the furthest south I had been was Lilongwe, a city that it is not easy to take to. I talked previously about the contrast between the Old Town and the Capital City but, unless you are in a particularly charitable mood, it is difficult to see that either has much going for it. The town is divided into Areas that are numbered not on the basis of location but how recently they were built - so it is impossible to find your way around. Crime is seen as a problem - although I never witnessed it - so the only safe way of getting around after dark is considered to be car. It's in a part of the country that has little in the way of geographical features of interest. And it's the base for a government that finds it difficult to deliver what Malawian people need. But maybe I am being over-critical. The Sunbird Hotel in Capital City which we stayed in on the way south and the way back was comfortable, good value and, as with everywhere we stayed, had welcoming and friendly staff. We had a wonderful host, Cecilia Cruz, who ferried us and our luggage around, welcomed us in her home, and took us to the Four Seasons complex which is an oasis of calm in the middle of Lilongwe. All the taxi drivers we used - Elson, Bester, and Rhodrick - made sure that we didn't at any stage have to master the complex Area system.<br />
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Lilongwe is in the central region and the south itself was a revelation. I don't know why - I knew about Mulanje as one of the highest standalone peaks in Africa and the Zomba plateau as an impressive geographical feature - but I had the idea that the south was going to be a lot less interesting than the north - generally low lying, featureless, very dry, and overpopulated. It wasn't like that at all. Our first experience of the south was the coach journey from Lilongwe to Blantyre. The first major town we passed through was Dedza which lies about 70 km south of Lilongwe; a fellow passenger told us it was the highest town in Malawi, with significant amounts of rainfall and with snow not unknown in the winter (June to September) months. South of Dedza, the road runs along the border with Mozambique for quite a long way. with rolling hills stretching out to the west across Mozambique and to the east across Malawi (the south of Malawi is wedged into Mozambique with a western, southern and eastern border). As we approached Blantyre, we moved into generally flatter country but with large hills dotted across the landscape. <br />
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Blantyre lies at the foot of at least three of these standalone hills and just about anywhere you are in the city you have a view out onto at least one of them. The Sunbird Mount Soche Hotel where we stayed (Sunbird were doing special offers and we stayed in them in most places we visited!) was right next to the commercial centre of the town and had a busy city feel at its front - but from the back we had an idyllic view across open land to hills. Blantyre has also developed organically as a city and there is none of the confusion caused by the artificial Area development structure in Lilongwe. The centre of the city is the old corrugated iron roofed buildings from the original Scottish settlement which is one of the oldest European settlements in Africa. The modern developed commercial centre, including the Malawi stock exchange, is on Victoria Avenue which runs north of the old city centre. Haile Selassie Road, which runs east from the old centre, is a more traditional African commercial centre, with lots of small shops and a whole phalanx of tailors busy making and mending clothes on the pavement outside the shop fronts. Victoria Avenue, Haile Selassie Road, and Glyn Jones Road, which also has commercial buildings on it, form a compact central triangle of roads which encompass the main parts of the city. There is a totally separate part of Blantyre, Limbe, which was developed in the early 1900s as the railway terminus and is some 6 km east of the city centre - but even this seems a logical development to meet the growing transport needs of what was at the time becoming an important commercial centre for the tobacco and tea trade. Blantyre also had a special significance for Nya Kaunda. The town is named after the small Lanarkshire town that David Livingstone came from and where Nya Kaunda's mother was born.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hw586nKLgjo6N1WP62FK9pGulXg3w4ofcASTYUHkLqCotdYAYRktD8_uAEE-JoyBoUtko_opBeqcsCdX3nxyN4n9sahsWc11Vd4OfqgGYx5cyIEqcOYl3XBAqETbIMw2CdaQwzGeqpAT/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4hw586nKLgjo6N1WP62FK9pGulXg3w4ofcASTYUHkLqCotdYAYRktD8_uAEE-JoyBoUtko_opBeqcsCdX3nxyN4n9sahsWc11Vd4OfqgGYx5cyIEqcOYl3XBAqETbIMw2CdaQwzGeqpAT/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+469.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">'Old Boma' in Blantyre - the orginal colonial administrative office at the junction between Victoria Avenue and Haile Selassie Road</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tailors lined the pavement of Haile Selassie Road </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from our bedroom in the Mount Soche Hotel - the front of the hotel faced on to the busy Blantyre commercial centre </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Michael's and All Angels' Church in Blantyre - headquarters of the CCAP (Church of Central Africa Presbyterian) in southern Malawi</td></tr>
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From Blantyre we travelled east to the tea growing area centred on the town of Thyolo. Here the green tea growing fields stretch as far as the eye can see - it feels like being in the middle of a wine growing area in the south of France. We stayed in Huntingdon House on the Satemwa tea estate which is one of the smallest in the area but still employs up to 2,600 people between January and May, when the tea plants grow fastest, and around two thirds of that number at other times of the year. The estate was the first in the area to achieve fair trade status and this is reflected in the the work it does to ensure that people on the estate have educational opportunities, health facilities and other community activities. But life for workers on the estate is very hard. They get paid 17 kwacha (around 2 pence) per kilo of leaves collected; 100 kilos in a day gives them a wage of 1,700 kwachas which is about double the minimum wage in Malawi but still amounts to less than £2 per day. In addition, changes to weather patterns, with later and lower rain fall, are affecting yields which has a knock-on effect on the ability of workers on the estate to make a living. There is also of course a wider political undercurrent about the legitimacy of the original tea estate concessions and measures that might be taken to rectify what are seen as historical injustices.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmeCfFSgFVJclCgBP9FCLvDqvX6RW3Oyrxuic8XiruQVBRME9kRbuX1CFa94grgOzYjalQpicQYWst7eTaGERnsP8q8jRW5-rzyNUayqHaQOiXMbskEieqPla9tDnz8QMfCyo-oWDBUM7W/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmeCfFSgFVJclCgBP9FCLvDqvX6RW3Oyrxuic8XiruQVBRME9kRbuX1CFa94grgOzYjalQpicQYWst7eTaGERnsP8q8jRW5-rzyNUayqHaQOiXMbskEieqPla9tDnz8QMfCyo-oWDBUM7W/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+511.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huntingdon House on the Satemwa Tea Estate</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea pickers in the Satemwa fields</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSC_1FRqwoOYTKbtJo4m8c17NIUEV3zru27YkEGq9zEwY_UImPZIlVabucjq6nVqZ0-RIZZqDiamLf4PxHeMNIou64agPW1AvCofXAEHcdk8t1S_s5E0w8KzfiApMNCTV1ETgA1O_77R0z/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSC_1FRqwoOYTKbtJo4m8c17NIUEV3zru27YkEGq9zEwY_UImPZIlVabucjq6nVqZ0-RIZZqDiamLf4PxHeMNIou64agPW1AvCofXAEHcdk8t1S_s5E0w8KzfiApMNCTV1ETgA1O_77R0z/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+570.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea tasting at the Satemwa factory</td></tr>
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Our journey from Thyolo to Zomba took us past the Mulanje massif which is on the eastern border of Malawi with Mozambique. Low clouds meant that we couldn't see the highest peaks but we did climb up to a beautiful waterfall with a pool at the bottom where we were able to cool off in the clear mountain water. Zomba itself is at the foot of another massif - the Zomba plateau - which rises high above the plain. The town, which was the colonial capital and remained the capital for the first decade of independence, is much smaller and less busy than Blantyre but in certain ways has a similar feel with a number of old buildings built in the late 19th century, a traditional African commercial centre and views of hills from almost anywhere within the town. It is also the home of Chancellor's College which is the top university in Malawi.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waterfall part way up Mulanje - a dip in the pool allowed us to cool off</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of the Mulanje Massif</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hotel Masongola - built in 1886, it's the oldest building in Zomba</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWx15aFKLOFarr5AxpalsMJrA1zwUTNCCCaYLImIBSL4IEeUI1nEimjC8DkTBIYZdcyQ6ShmpyUKdY3uNTENd4mKcLLnWCfMLkJm-2QUsOOFdZT6DHbl_AJUhFJ9r7aVl3T5fT9vkNiQd/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWx15aFKLOFarr5AxpalsMJrA1zwUTNCCCaYLImIBSL4IEeUI1nEimjC8DkTBIYZdcyQ6ShmpyUKdY3uNTENd4mKcLLnWCfMLkJm-2QUsOOFdZT6DHbl_AJUhFJ9r7aVl3T5fT9vkNiQd/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+753.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mathews, who we had first met in Nkhata Bay, showed us round Chancellor's College where he is studying Economics</td></tr>
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The Zomba plateau itself is magnificent. It's a huge mound rising out of the surrounding countryside. We spent two nights in the Ku Chawe Inn which is on the plateau and has beautiful views down to Zomba town and across the Malawian plains. The Zomba plateau is the place that foreign dignitaries are taken to admire the Malawian landscape and we had a walk which took in Queen's view, where the Queen Mother was taken on her visit in pre-independence 1957, and Emperor's view where Haile Selassie was taken on his visit shortly after independence in 1965.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emperor's or Queen's view - you pays your money and you takes your chances<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Lake Chilwa from Emperor's View</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0A-xQ2EPNCKPhvC7dZgGB7geiKZM5gr5Yt30LH2q4-U_3aywKkmkhRSnG3EaCyrieBbU2xSUdYfGxF4Di2HznHnx-DTCQn_4koLjhS6xNrzuTRPWOwIwZDMLHMM-inOBZ0Q_gzlUZx9i/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+684.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0A-xQ2EPNCKPhvC7dZgGB7geiKZM5gr5Yt30LH2q4-U_3aywKkmkhRSnG3EaCyrieBbU2xSUdYfGxF4Di2HznHnx-DTCQn_4koLjhS6xNrzuTRPWOwIwZDMLHMM-inOBZ0Q_gzlUZx9i/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+684.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset - view from our hotel, Ku Chawe Inn, on Zomba Plateau</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXE8pC3TEnLzUrQSH6-KpTRbBJts-v-0MbPKqTHqqUQ1m6jmNrVkrrYzzdjSIPO7Gr0CCHCwaE4YkkEW_Zy5fB7NlaUtHiqxxpXteECgYNYS38w6o1DHgtyZsvk_nwBC3D-IcaA7UypKE/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxXE8pC3TEnLzUrQSH6-KpTRbBJts-v-0MbPKqTHqqUQ1m6jmNrVkrrYzzdjSIPO7Gr0CCHCwaE4YkkEW_Zy5fB7NlaUtHiqxxpXteECgYNYS38w6o1DHgtyZsvk_nwBC3D-IcaA7UypKE/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+770.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking back at Zomba Plateau from the road to Liwonde</td></tr>
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Our penultimate night was spent at the Liwonde National Park which lies on the Shire (pronounced sh-i-re) river. It was our first sighting of the Shire river and it was very impressive - a huge expanse of water which has its source at the south end of Lake Malawi and joins the Zambezi river in Mozambique. On the 30 odd kilometre boat journey up the river from Hippo View Lodge in Liwonde Town to Mvuu Lodge where we were staying we passed large numbers of hippos, some elephant families, numerous varieties of birds, and fields full of termite mounds which looked like standing stones placed long ago by a pre-historic tribe. The boat had to swerve at one stage to avoid a crocodile that had popped its head above the water.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5icQHIHdqoUGFqvoc0UKzi74mfPhgEpyL3CuPXGfPumHEBVY7OnlbJEBsRAnHlXYfsJ80Ycqfm_-__nxHmFe_lJ54YWVguPp9B9w2zgivobfFv_TTG8T75aa5p6io10-HUBNCwZFOqeQ9/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5icQHIHdqoUGFqvoc0UKzi74mfPhgEpyL3CuPXGfPumHEBVY7OnlbJEBsRAnHlXYfsJ80Ycqfm_-__nxHmFe_lJ54YWVguPp9B9w2zgivobfFv_TTG8T75aa5p6io10-HUBNCwZFOqeQ9/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+797.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shire river</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdB5Z412WpALpr0Im5Q5vW1rOGficks4PI1leahkDqt7hEGHAYOZispF_SqHLOO-qScPZyUtA_J32YiqGf_YqaF3jeeC13d6CnD6cRgwJUnKCL6JjHgji9F0H__Z5e4OX26Vj29ZaS-uVT/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdB5Z412WpALpr0Im5Q5vW1rOGficks4PI1leahkDqt7hEGHAYOZispF_SqHLOO-qScPZyUtA_J32YiqGf_YqaF3jeeC13d6CnD6cRgwJUnKCL6JjHgji9F0H__Z5e4OX26Vj29ZaS-uVT/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+851.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Hippo (and friends) grazing on the banks of the river</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qCYPjTUpZRt4DUAE3nWp7-_Ji52w5Ez2Mlq17CXuyrNvqwX4okFobA5BSSpMSU2fD6ywu4OdVV_FA7LFloJWwsgVtr45EVgT_hy_k2bZxpxoekgcWVDqFr6CaL_OxEK3wuJpw3kM5aY_/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+1061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9qCYPjTUpZRt4DUAE3nWp7-_Ji52w5Ez2Mlq17CXuyrNvqwX4okFobA5BSSpMSU2fD6ywu4OdVV_FA7LFloJWwsgVtr45EVgT_hy_k2bZxpxoekgcWVDqFr6CaL_OxEK3wuJpw3kM5aY_/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+1061.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elephants wallowing in the river</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_39H5mze-0pUAn1i_qOe_TGVOuke4ReQifIB5oEwbEUAMJePwl1OBBN6qK5mPdbJ3RJof0xtPl3SaqhGPjwEgj70FuByYLaCM579RJylzpT2eDgAsDl6fxXvT9VQE8qP8KvHEVqHokgnX/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+1016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_39H5mze-0pUAn1i_qOe_TGVOuke4ReQifIB5oEwbEUAMJePwl1OBBN6qK5mPdbJ3RJof0xtPl3SaqhGPjwEgj70FuByYLaCM579RJylzpT2eDgAsDl6fxXvT9VQE8qP8KvHEVqHokgnX/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+1016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A crocodile cools off in the river</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9pYC_-ReayiFCtmQeVa8XjpC6qyWE6lglk_MeAim9C_ovhKOBPbXoV0s-M-14rDkRGFXMNezve3GICYiSHlwpvxgevtLLZWWV7-I08DQNxs_Du_6Q3L-UW-nzKKnB9-Mh1wVHDPw2_Yw/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+829.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin9pYC_-ReayiFCtmQeVa8XjpC6qyWE6lglk_MeAim9C_ovhKOBPbXoV0s-M-14rDkRGFXMNezve3GICYiSHlwpvxgevtLLZWWV7-I08DQNxs_Du_6Q3L-UW-nzKKnB9-Mh1wVHDPw2_Yw/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+829.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Saddle Billed Stork - some beak! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxL9UAIfumfjuGCRU0j_zzVT9Ucpv0rkyi5iiWjvykoj92DNc3jZPSePW06DF2XaCBxd92kewd1PxoFAWVltuSr-SVyWx0BgeFieAdLfYHQL-r11aUM42ciZHnPN8-P5vEk1iMLUo5nuV0/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+912.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxL9UAIfumfjuGCRU0j_zzVT9Ucpv0rkyi5iiWjvykoj92DNc3jZPSePW06DF2XaCBxd92kewd1PxoFAWVltuSr-SVyWx0BgeFieAdLfYHQL-r11aUM42ciZHnPN8-P5vEk1iMLUo5nuV0/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+912.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthews, our guide, serves sundowners on the game drive at Mvuu Lodge</td></tr>
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After a final night in Lilongwe, we travelled back to London with an overnight transfer at Addis Ababa. Like Dar es Salaam, Addis was a complete contrast to any of the towns or cities we had seen in Malawi. It is a large, developed, modern city. Our hotel was reached by travelling along what was the equivalent of the North Circular Road so we only got a limited sense of what the city was like. There were aspects of a modern city that all of us would want to avoid - traffic jams, vehicles belching out noxious fumes and a low lying smog hovering over the city. But there was enough excitement and potential to make us feel that Addis, as with Dar, is a city we would want to visit again so we could get to know it better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmia6BjF2yr02joDPmmOJdmwEr8S-6QuKjpq9pNdpeQmclC-6lHrANJwhvRGKXAxIbaNBM3hCE8Lwcs1AMOeBTK4djyXT15ucjkXYMRIydFLuTLNWDGJIPGwpi3heRj2bzgNpi1FvjtQh/s1600/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+1097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmia6BjF2yr02joDPmmOJdmwEr8S-6QuKjpq9pNdpeQmclC-6lHrANJwhvRGKXAxIbaNBM3hCE8Lwcs1AMOeBTK4djyXT15ucjkXYMRIydFLuTLNWDGJIPGwpi3heRj2bzgNpi1FvjtQh/s320/South+of+Malawi+-+Feb+2016+1097.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Addis Ababa's equivalent of the North Circular Road</td></tr>
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So now we are back in London. There is probably one more blog left in me...to tie up the loose ends and give my final impressions of our 5 month sojourn in Malawi.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-40090575407684309342016-02-15T10:37:00.000-08:002016-03-05T03:06:01.781-08:00Travels and Travails<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A lot
has happened since my last blog. I joined Nya Kaunda in Zanzibar for a few days
before we travelled back across Tanzania on the Tazara railway. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We spent our last seven days in Mzuzu,
with me trying to complete the work I was doing and saying our goodbyes to the
many friends we have made there. We’ve now left Mzuzu and travelled south.
We're in Blantyre, the commercial capital of Malawi, and will be
moving on to Thyolo near the Mulanje massif, which rises to over 3,000
metres, <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Zomba, the colonial
capital of what was then Nyasaland, and Liwonde, which is Malawi's premier game
reserve. Our final night will be in Lilongwe, followed by a flight back
to the UK via Addis Ababa. So quite a packed schedule. <u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Zanzibar is a fascinating
place. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Its history is
dominated by its role as a trading post between east Africa and the Middle East
and Indian sub-continent. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>For
much of its recent history it was ruled by the Sultan of Oman; but there are
also major British influences - and even after it joined Tanganyika to form
Tanzania, it followed its own very distinct path. Whilst mainland Tanzania
under Julius Nyrere was a leading member of the non-aligned movement, Zanzibar
developed close relations with the East Germans. <u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This history is reflected in
the eclectic mix of architecture in Stone Town, its capital – narrow streets
with bazaars of the kind you find in north African souks, sultans’ palaces,
late 19<sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>century
buildings that reflect the then sultan’s wish to modernise Stone Town (the
House of Wonders was one of the earliest adopters of electricity in Africa and
the first building in East Africa to have a lift), an Anglican cathedral built
on the site of the former slave market and, in the outskirts of Stone Town, flats
that look as if they were transplanted from Soviet era Berlin or Warsaw –
although unlike many in Berlin or Warsaw, they have never had any repairs or
renovation. <span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQs1nRZsx09eMtqk8XCYOt7QqVQ1lqy7tKHqtOrQZiozZNeWG889AVncU-idJgGz4tweRIxoR1gVqcj4xS41cHgHs1R5ywoGFEzxScXrt8FTBCIRuSAjtKoJhxmBbZBzYRnJkEWMCOKGR/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+131.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqQs1nRZsx09eMtqk8XCYOt7QqVQ1lqy7tKHqtOrQZiozZNeWG889AVncU-idJgGz4tweRIxoR1gVqcj4xS41cHgHs1R5ywoGFEzxScXrt8FTBCIRuSAjtKoJhxmBbZBzYRnJkEWMCOKGR/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+131.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The House of Wonders in Stone Town - built in 1883 for Sultan Barghash bin Said</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBD5BIEZ59uXG5kh9ShtMqwlNc4ygSez5X-jW69tRF8K7oNRwKKSI6XM2SqGgyj6PSprYw7uGXeGB5MYil_1uzrffgUffP3Kvzl1YLgYBHMY3s6YrNtR1Yhms3v_rXgsFR-iC-7BlD3Tg-/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+100.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBD5BIEZ59uXG5kh9ShtMqwlNc4ygSez5X-jW69tRF8K7oNRwKKSI6XM2SqGgyj6PSprYw7uGXeGB5MYil_1uzrffgUffP3Kvzl1YLgYBHMY3s6YrNtR1Yhms3v_rXgsFR-iC-7BlD3Tg-/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+100.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Christ Church cathedral in Stone Town - built on the site of the former slave market</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
political climate in Zanzibar remains fraught. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>There is still a huge pull toward Oman
and this is reflected in deeply divided political views between the governing
party, which is a sister party to mainland Tanzania’s governing party, and the
opposition party which would like to strengthen links with Oman. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>There is a history of cancelled
elections or elections in which the opposition does not take part because they
say the polls will be rigged. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>When
we were there, an election was due on 12</span><sup>th</sup><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">March
and every time we were in a taxi the taxi driver would be attentively listening
to the news to hear the latest update on the election. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>And not surprisingly people are
fearful of what might happen – thousands of people were killed and thousands of
others (including the family of Zanzibar’s most famous son, Freddie Mercury)
fled shortly before the amalgamation with Tanganyika; and political violence
during which people have been killed has erupted sporadically since.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9cCcXwUv688y5BY9DXLrrWcqxXaDuLeHP6GeSlaBPRy2g4uQmf_elS4H01ILHxfxNtPgt0AbDNRoSNwwUcK9BHY_i1-hIlBkS1Jvkf29qjXfRjrskc2wGM6VMnQB2zfISNf6J-J2RJMW/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+104.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9cCcXwUv688y5BY9DXLrrWcqxXaDuLeHP6GeSlaBPRy2g4uQmf_elS4H01ILHxfxNtPgt0AbDNRoSNwwUcK9BHY_i1-hIlBkS1Jvkf29qjXfRjrskc2wGM6VMnQB2zfISNf6J-J2RJMW/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+104.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaws Square in Stone Town- a Speakers' Corner where topics of the day are hotly debated</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Zanzib</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">ar
is of course a beautifu</span><span style="line-height: 115%;">l place as well.</span> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The
beaches stretch for miles, the sea is an extraordinary turquoise, there are
coral reefs where you can snorkel and see a range of colourful fish. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Our
lodge, Villa Kiva, was on a wonderful stretch of beach which was practically
empty. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The tourism industry is however a mainstay of the
economy (along with export of cloves) and there are other beaches which seem to
be overrun by visitors.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Another sunrise - this time over the Indian Ocean</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The journey to and from Zanzibar
took us through <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Dar es
Salaam, which is a bustling cosmopolitan city with a busy port, modern office
buildings, and what seemed like an efficient and effective infrastructure.
But it was not just Dar where we noticed significant differences between
Tanzania and Malawi. After travelling across Tanzania on the Tazara train, we
spent our last night in Mbeya in the west of the country. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s not far north of Mzuzu and the
countryside around it is very similar – hilly, green and fertile. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It’s also a similar size and acts as a
regional hub. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>But whereas
Mzuzu has no proper town centre, a hotchpotch of buildings in varying states of
disrepair, and mostly dust tracks for roads, Mbeya is a modern planned city,
with <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>buildings generally in
a good state of repair, a network of decent roads, and a centre with a range of
shops and commercial premises that reflect its status as a regional hub. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>To a large extent these differences
reflect the access to the Indian Ocean that Tanzania has, with the relative
prosperity this brings to the coastal areas trickling out to other areas of the
country. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>But I am
talking about<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">relative</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> prosperity here.</span> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The GDP per head of Tanzania is double
that of Malawi’s which means it is around $600 per year compared to Malawi’s of
under $300. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>And we could
see the extent of poverty that exists in the shanty towns around Dar es Salaam
as we travelled through them on the Tazara train. </span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Dar es Salaam port</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvBWOoDRNuCFB3wmikencbrtPXrjCatysEyUnHeSE5OgvUmwsCdvBdEVXGVrgAwUgZFOHasQAb-2kni7Bm3xc_cJ1GIqAuVRnG-7PtdxWlGs1JF5fH8bF_dK7bVGKuVY7c0vJgvHUO5Xt/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+017.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbvBWOoDRNuCFB3wmikencbrtPXrjCatysEyUnHeSE5OgvUmwsCdvBdEVXGVrgAwUgZFOHasQAb-2kni7Bm3xc_cJ1GIqAuVRnG-7PtdxWlGs1JF5fH8bF_dK7bVGKuVY7c0vJgvHUO5Xt/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+017.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Modern office buildings in Dar</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNVTciW5yNsdS83lSwFl9wlkh6OHExC8lUGUWmEyF9EtNLEZ9Wl3YCw7n8q9OpZRftoY4I2u8bLIwckIRzIZGtVyuTGiF2dZ7fA3LKDJq2WKQkcS_PsQk_XRqx9hR5Ow5g91XVfofK2TW/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+019.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNVTciW5yNsdS83lSwFl9wlkh6OHExC8lUGUWmEyF9EtNLEZ9Wl3YCw7n8q9OpZRftoY4I2u8bLIwckIRzIZGtVyuTGiF2dZ7fA3LKDJq2WKQkcS_PsQk_XRqx9hR5Ow5g91XVfofK2TW/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+019.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Selling fruit in Dar</span></span></td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;">The </span>Tazara railway was built in the early 1970s by the Chinese and does not seem to have
been updated since. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It was a 24 hour journey from Dar es Salaam to
Mbeya which at times became alarming when the train was going full pelt and
hopped along the track – it felt slightly like one of those cartoons where an
engine is dragging train carriages flying through the air behind it. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It
certainly didn’t help us sleep. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We were told by an Australian that the man he was
sharing a carriage with informed him that the track we had just travelled along
was where the train usually derails! <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>But
it was a great journey through varied Tanzanian landscape. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The
track goes through the middle of a wild life reserve and apparently you can get
good views of the animals from the train. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Unfortunately
it was dark when we passed through so we didn’t see anything.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2Y8eUpipUGj9u_RSplWMvW2KQ_4_T40v_nwx6UyBQoVN9xWZqfYVeDAH3YJFM-JBVsyIax8JZlOyIjU1hdgEeUAB4h8a_cuSNJL40TKINEIg1Kj8olNdl2kOUf3bvLOGs2wnMhMG5X-l/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+221.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2Y8eUpipUGj9u_RSplWMvW2KQ_4_T40v_nwx6UyBQoVN9xWZqfYVeDAH3YJFM-JBVsyIax8JZlOyIjU1hdgEeUAB4h8a_cuSNJL40TKINEIg1Kj8olNdl2kOUf3bvLOGs2wnMhMG5X-l/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+221.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nya Kaunda on the Tazara drinking Kilimanjaro beer</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZWlu0730f5xuw4aJtyCQaHs-cdwn8KPJWoi5UlBOcCCLtZrIDsTGDVfDXsPwswvQt1DEStuZvBHgB86pwMi9zz_GZURi9lJJrgF_AN3MQklbNSMsvO4AvDrz-OTVnAlXHAjL-qh_-Y4Q/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+259.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGZWlu0730f5xuw4aJtyCQaHs-cdwn8KPJWoi5UlBOcCCLtZrIDsTGDVfDXsPwswvQt1DEStuZvBHgB86pwMi9zz_GZURi9lJJrgF_AN3MQklbNSMsvO4AvDrz-OTVnAlXHAjL-qh_-Y4Q/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+259.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">View from the Tazara - rice fields in western Tanzania</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;">Our
journey back from Mbeya to Mzuzu was also interesting.</span> <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We
got a bus at the busy and chaotic Mbeya bus station but were told a few
kilometres from the border that we would have to change to motorcycle taxis. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The
conductor, who was very helpful, paid the taxi drivers the fare and we changed,
suitcase and rucksack and all, onto the motorcycles. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>A
couple of kilometres from the border the drivers stopped and told us that they
had only been paid to get us that far; we would have to pay 1,000 shilling (all
of 30 pence) each for them to take us all the way to the border. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>After
the border we got onto a minibus which was meant to take us to Mzuzu. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>But
at Karonga we were asked to change into another minibus and again the conductor
in the first one paid for the rest of our journey (in this case, there was no
request for further money!). <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The police in Malawi are clamping down on
overcrowding of minibuses and ours were certainly overcrowded – the first one
had about 18 people in it when there were seats for 14; <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>the
second had up to 16 people on it – plus bags of maize, buckets of fish, our
luggage – when there were seats for 11. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>There
are police road blocks between every municipality and we passed through at
least half a dozen on our way down and were stopped at all. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>On
each occasion, the conductor went and had a chat to the policemen and we
carried on. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Good business for the policemen, not so effective
at stopping overcrowding of minibuses.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsCsFhcFkCv9h-u1ZTuZ7z3bRd3zvLzoR16Y7xoNNsUsp2e2QXfOJQSFsFsiBAD_aO8s5bfJTbqPZrcYHLo_BIhXL5X-iDUWLPeWaFi5MCj5w1a87xrbiJT5A3007yuTleROiJbZhJhBQ/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+324.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMsCsFhcFkCv9h-u1ZTuZ7z3bRd3zvLzoR16Y7xoNNsUsp2e2QXfOJQSFsFsiBAD_aO8s5bfJTbqPZrcYHLo_BIhXL5X-iDUWLPeWaFi5MCj5w1a87xrbiJT5A3007yuTleROiJbZhJhBQ/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+324.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nya Kaunda - with luggage - looking somewhat apprehensive</span></span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEVFTTsipmsoNlcgx82zelt0FG6_aYD1BuQox3ZWDOAeLVSyB2W4YbTSEwRerO5MEhz6nA83xC1ZLkmUrRJJgTmFbctUk9Z6LonMl6Ec1qK7NGgwcyefxIDwqsHYPrBTFrd-9UDSLlgwp/s1600/Tanzani+-+January+2016+327.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqEVFTTsipmsoNlcgx82zelt0FG6_aYD1BuQox3ZWDOAeLVSyB2W4YbTSEwRerO5MEhz6nA83xC1ZLkmUrRJJgTmFbctUk9Z6LonMl6Ec1qK7NGgwcyefxIDwqsHYPrBTFrd-9UDSLlgwp/s320/Tanzani+-+January+2016+327.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was difficult to get a true impression of just how crowded the minibuses were</span></span></td></tr>
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My last week
at Temwa was busy. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Temwa’s
focus is on delivering services in the Nkhata Bay North community and it has
limited capacity in its finance and administration office. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>They carry out day to day work but
they struggle to find the time to develop policies and procedures or do
detailed financial planning. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>So
I was able to add this capacity. I needed to ensure that as far as possible the
policies and procedures and new budget process are agreed and become embedded
in the organisation. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There were interruptions. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We had a swoop by the local Mzuzu
immigration office to check that Jo and Sheena, who were over from the UK
office, and I had the appropriate visas to work in the Mzuzu office – me as a
volunteer and Jo and Sheena in their capacity as full-time staff in the UK who
have oversight responsibility for the work in Malawi. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>There were threats of confiscating
passports and taking us down to the Immigration Office. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The immigration officers became
particularly exercised when I told them that I had been asked to pay 20,000
kwacha (20 pounds) to an immigration officer in addition to the normal $100 fee
for a Temporary Residence Permit and I had not received a receipt. This kind of
thing should not happen in their office! <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>They said they would investigate it if
I liked but pointed out that in Malawi both sides of the transaction would be
investigated – not just the recipient. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The
outcome was Jo going to meet the top official at the Immigration Office and
getting advice on the correct arrangements that needed to be put in place. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the coach to Lilongwe, in the
outskirts of Mzuzu, Nya Kaunda saw a sign which said “Trust Nobody Partnership”. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It is an interesting approach to
partnership working which possibly has some parallels in the UK. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>It probably is something that could be
added to management text books alongside the “best laid plans o’ mice and men
gang aft agley”. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>And it has
a special resonance in Malawi where there is an understandable lack of trust. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>But it is not inevitable. The culture
that has developed in government, in officialdom, in business and in management
circles is not one shared by the majority of people. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>The programme and project managers,
project and field officers, drivers, watchmen, cleaners and others that I have
worked with in Temwa are the most trustworthy people you could come across. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>They represent by far the majority of
people in Malawi. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We
had great fun at the leaving meal we had last Friday. <span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>We will miss them all!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83IZvUBPQNSr30K5ThEdMr0-Av-wPgii5QW3T7XZIU3cPfSYp7CWcju7cq0tK0xz_B8zDJgJGJG7ycBzeK_vq5XXp8eS_dvrKY7KnknuIFb1hJhjCH6MLdtUvjzBTKumRZiuUu9bdZGAP/s1600/DSC02613%255B1%255D.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh83IZvUBPQNSr30K5ThEdMr0-Av-wPgii5QW3T7XZIU3cPfSYp7CWcju7cq0tK0xz_B8zDJgJGJG7ycBzeK_vq5XXp8eS_dvrKY7KnknuIFb1hJhjCH6MLdtUvjzBTKumRZiuUu9bdZGAP/s320/DSC02613%255B1%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Our leaving dinner at A1 in Mzuzu- a truly great team</span></td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-60280850060357409362016-01-24T10:49:00.000-08:002016-01-24T10:49:43.275-08:00"...the best-laid schemes o' mice an' men..."I've been premature in previous blogs about the rains arriving. We had a ferocious storm in November and some heavy rain in December but nothing lasting. In Mzuzu, which is in the hills and has an abundance of trees, the rain has been sufficient to ensure the greening of the landscape. Other parts of Malawi are getting greener too. I went to Lilongwe with Liz who flying to Dar es Salaam and it certainly looked a lot greener on the road from Lilongwe to Kamuzu airport than it had when I arrived at the beginning of October.<div>
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The rains have arrived now. In Mzuzu, it's still quite warm but there has been hardly any break from cloudy skies and, as I write this blog, sheets of rain continue to fall outside my window. In a break in the rain yesterday, whilst walking into central Mzuzu through the maize fields that stretch out at the bottom of our valley, I started talking to Brian, who with his mother and sisters was working the family maize plot in the valley. I asked him if the delay in rains had impacted on the harvest and he said 'no', pointing to the green fields stretching in front of us. </div>
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But late rain is having a major impact in the much drier south and in areas of the north nearer the lake shore where there are fewer trees and less rain fall. Jo, the Temwa managing director and co-founder, has recently arrived in Malawi and says she has never experienced such conditions in the twenty odd years she has been living in or coming to Malawi. It's strange for me because what I see is lots of green. Jo says crops have been ruined as a result of people planting in the expectation of rains that never came. There is increasing hunger (stores of food that people build up for the non-growing season have been used up) and reduced income, with farmers not having produce to sell at market. </div>
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This has significant implications for Temwa's work. Temwa's focus is on building sustainable communities in Nkhata Bay North by encouraging diversification of crops, working with communities to reduce deforestation, promoting education through bursaries and other means, helping address the scourge of AIDS, and providing micro-finance loans to strengthen local economies. But changed weather conditions, with significantly delayed rains, affects all of this. Hunger prevents people having the strength to plant the tree seedlings that the communities have been cultivating; farmers can't generate income to pay off their microfinance loans; and the general lack of income in the communities means that others who have taken out microfinance loans to set up shops and other trading activity have no buyers. And there are other factors that add to the problems. There has been an outbreak of cholera in the Nkhata Bay area, with a number of cases in Usisya. More generally, the economic conditions in the country are getting worse (there were under 700 Malawian kwacha to £1 a year ago; there are now over 1,000 kwacha to £1) and, together with endemic maladministration, this is affecting the ability of the government to take action on any of the many problems the country faces, including helping deal with the food crisis. So it's not going to be business as usual for Temwa in Nkhata Bay North. You can read more about Jo's view on what she has found on this visit in her blog at <a href="http://temwa.org/an-update-from-jo-hook-on-the-food-crisis-in-malawi/" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">http://temwa.org/an-update-from-jo-hook-on-the-food-crisis-in-malawi/</a>.</div>
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I haven't been down to the lake shore recently so I haven't really witnessed what has been going on and I'm not sure it would be obvious in a casual visit by me. As I have said before, Malawians that I have met are very positive about life and the hardships they face. You will be told about them and the impact they are having but there is an acceptance that this is the way things are and, as far as possible, people just get on with life. So we have been getting on with the things we do...</div>
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... which takes me back to "the best-laid schemes 'o mice an' men". We had our Burns celebration on 14th January (wrong date for the cognoscenti but we had to fit it in before Liz's flight to Tanzania). It was meticulously planned. Johnny at Macondo Camp had contacted a piper friend in Canada who piped the home-made vegetarian haggis in via skype. John Fox, who is from Dumbarton and runs the Eva
Demaya centre with his wife, Jacqueline Kouwehhoven (MP for Rumphi West), addressed the haggis and gave a wonderful (abridged) rendering of the tale of Tam O' Shanter. We had a beautifully spoken recorded version of Burns's ode To a Mouse. Liz sang a number of favourites from the Burns' playlist - Ca' the Yowes to the Knowes, Ye Jacobites by Name, and My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose - as well as a few other traditional Scottish songs. We missed out on My Heart is in the Highlands and, I'm not sure, but I think we overlooked Auld Lang Syne. The whisky wasn't flowing but Tom and I fitted in one before the evening was out. So the "the best-laid schemes 'o mice an' men" didn't "gang ... agley"...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Fox addressing the haggis</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz singing some Burns' hits</td></tr>
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...but that can't be said for Liz's planned trip to Tanzania. We took the coach from Mzuzu to Lilongwe (6am start - we're getting used to it!) a couple of days after the Burns supper with a view to having two nights in Lilongwe before Liz's Monday morning flight to Dar es Salaam. After we got to Lilongwe, Fastjet, the company that was meant to be flying Liz to Dar, contacted us to say the flight for Monday had been cancelled but it was OK because they would put her on the Friday flight! As far as Liz was concerned, that was going to "lea'e (her) nought but grief an' pain for promis'd joy!". She managed in the end to get on a Malawian Airlines flight which left on the Sunday morning.</div>
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Elson, the taxi driver who dropped Liz off at the airport, drove me round Lilongwe Capital City on the way back. What a strange contrast to Lilongwe Old Town which is like any other town centre I've been to in Malawi except bigger, busier, dirtier and less safe. Capital City was built in the 1970s with South African money to be a new independent capital (replacing the old colonial capital of Zomba). It's got a new Parliament Building, Capitol Hill (where all the government departments are located in identikit '70s office buildings), a new Bingu Mutharika conference centre and hotel (Bingu was President who died in office in 2012 and brother of the current President, Arthur Peter Mutharika), large modern Reserve and National Bank buildings, a few empty shopping malls, a mausoleum for Hastings Kamuzu Banda (founding President of independent Malawi and an advocate of close relations with South Africa), well kept tarmacked roads...and no people (well it was a Sunday!).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seat of government</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A deserted Capital City</td></tr>
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I'm due to fly to Dar es Salaam with Fastjet on Friday. To Burns, "foresight <i>may </i>be vain" and "the best-laid schemes ... gang <i>aft </i>agley". There's an acceptance there that foresight has a role. Malawian Air fly to Dar on Thursday - maybe I should just cut my losses.... </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-1524611835141022452016-01-10T08:28:00.001-08:002016-01-12T22:07:25.487-08:00New Year on LikomaLikoma is one of two populated islands on Lake Malawi, some 50 kilometres south east of Nkhata Bay. It is close to Mozambique - no more than a few kilometres - and lies in Mozambique waters; but it belongs to Malawi. There are strong ties with Mozambique though with regular travel between the two and Portuguese not uncommon as the European language that locals know.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise over Mozambique </td></tr>
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The journey to Likoma is an overnight ferry ride from Nkhata Bay, but heading south on this occasion, not north as we had when going to Ruarwe. The Ilala timetable remains unpredictable. You will recall that on our journey to Ruarwe, we almost missed the boat because it left half-an-hour before its scheduled time. This time it was in port for hours before its due departure time and we were on board an hour before. But for some reason it sat in port and left an hour and a half after its scheduled 8.00pm departure time. We had a further delay of at least half an hour, mid-Lake, when there was a major commotion after some backpackers on the top deck refused to pay the first class fare or move to a lower deck; the captain was in the process of turning the boat back before they agreed to move. We remained in first class but the degree of comfort was questionable - it was an overnight journey but the best you could hope for was to find a piece of deck to lie down on and that became difficult when it started raining and everybody had to move into the bar area. The various delays meant our arrival at Likoma was after dawn which helped when we disembarked; at least we could see where we were going as we climbed out of the boat that ferried us to the shore...although in Liz's case she had the added comfort of a piggy-back onto the shore.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First class sleeping quarters on the Ilala</td></tr>
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Our destination at Likoma was Mango Drift, a Mecca in these parts for backpackers (according to the Bradt guide book, although actual numbers don't compare!). It's on the west side of the island with a view across to Chisumulu (the other populated island on the Lake which lies a couple of kilometres away from Likoma) and beyond that, in the distance, to the Malawi side of the Lake. It was busy compared to other lodges we had stayed at - barring Mushroom Farm - but that isn't saying much. There would be three or four people in the bar area at any time, either playing bao (a board game common in East Africa that is not unlike backgammon) or just chilling out on the comfortable seating which, like the bar, is made out of old boats. Just as at Usisya Lodge, the bar area is built around a tree trunk which adds to the generally exotic feeling. Each night a candlelit table would be set on the beach for dinner and we would have the water lapping up to the Lake shore a few metres away. On two nights we had live music in the bar - Gaspar Nali from Nkhata Bay who played an extraordinary home-made instrument (half way between a guitar and a double bass with a beer bottle used to play notes) and a local Likoma group who sang a lovely mixture of gospel and African music. And we saw in New Year beside a fire that had been lit on the beach.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinner table being set at Mango Drift<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRnCjcuqGvVu3EC1iCYxJYkjMRFiosVrX0Vw4bB80MnrKTORzRsrDiiYCZnYfteSr1ESWivPAAl_dThNX4itwBbQIii1AIa_bkbqVK4D6bLQ85_MrxTzUqFOchamstzJ3iJOiGhaxh5D87/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+059.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRnCjcuqGvVu3EC1iCYxJYkjMRFiosVrX0Vw4bB80MnrKTORzRsrDiiYCZnYfteSr1ESWivPAAl_dThNX4itwBbQIii1AIa_bkbqVK4D6bLQ85_MrxTzUqFOchamstzJ3iJOiGhaxh5D87/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+059.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Gaspar Nali playing in the Mango Drift bar</td></tr>
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I've written so much about the wonderful landscape of the Rift Valley Escarpment that there is little to add on Likoma which is an outcrop from the Escarpment. It is more rocky than other places and there are large numbers of supersized baobab trees...but for the rest, there are the same sandy beaches with rocky promontories, hills climbing steeply above the shore line, areas of dense vegetation, variety of trees, and abundance of bird life. Village life also appears much the same with villages dotted along the shore, fishing boats everywhere, fish and cassava drying nets, well tended vegetable plots, tethered goats and roaming chicken.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-06iMLPz9-eWBrY4VtgBu2w5ocHGi-wxC1kkLVFwGmanHccktjxKWwdYsjzBdM4aXSW0gGU_VGiMfbUd9x2NijbE7q4XvD61Pj2T1_ZGgmozRnFQZzvInNhJN8wbxbiZj5URfqV73HJ4K/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-06iMLPz9-eWBrY4VtgBu2w5ocHGi-wxC1kkLVFwGmanHccktjxKWwdYsjzBdM4aXSW0gGU_VGiMfbUd9x2NijbE7q4XvD61Pj2T1_ZGgmozRnFQZzvInNhJN8wbxbiZj5URfqV73HJ4K/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+047.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nya Kaunda measures up in front of a baobab tree</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLVnyWo8_6ZezP6-9mAd2fy_PoyYSurZ3ljKAOJOiJsQZNZqPnU4Z88hQx1ulozP9eNAEAQQU9PIL9VvwRf6__lv1mmXKWjPBJNEIQCES2O0iHflar_lNaIZAXyQNcgDrinwUtjL6p6sp/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJLVnyWo8_6ZezP6-9mAd2fy_PoyYSurZ3ljKAOJOiJsQZNZqPnU4Z88hQx1ulozP9eNAEAQQU9PIL9VvwRf6__lv1mmXKWjPBJNEIQCES2O0iHflar_lNaIZAXyQNcgDrinwUtjL6p6sp/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+123.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back on Barra? - a cormorant dries it wings in front of Mango Drift</td></tr>
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The main town in Likoma is Chipyela. This is where the Ilala comes in and shops, bars, community facilities and government offices are located. But it is hardly a town, more a big village. There are two particular features which stand out. One is the small airport with planes flying in on a regular (well, at least daily) basis. These are most often ferrying in passengers and goods from Lilongwe destined for the up-market Kaya Mawa Lodge (they don't publish prices on-line but the Bradt guide book has them at $335 to $495 per person per night!). The other is St Peter's Cathedral which was completed in 1906 and which was headquarters of the Anglican Church in Malawi until after the Second World War. It is an immense structure to be found in such a remote place.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvZL2QBvxTO957ARfLkip7RV6SWfvUhKE2XaVngnscHDazxBeUDtzFn0yQ8IrobEZJo1tIK0cTwS0aALwHY0sgd15F5tEum0BW277bttMfnXgDL66WZfUQH7hyq1XgJfQUybZZC8pc8oe/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvZL2QBvxTO957ARfLkip7RV6SWfvUhKE2XaVngnscHDazxBeUDtzFn0yQ8IrobEZJo1tIK0cTwS0aALwHY0sgd15F5tEum0BW277bttMfnXgDL66WZfUQH7hyq1XgJfQUybZZC8pc8oe/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+080.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St Peter's Cathedral, Chipyela</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcGOwXz5hTQBVYm7q6obexo5UnVnjoS3AS1C4i8xU2vRx6WZsL33eOwRXwJ9eeKsqWKNXTarBetv2sTfcAVXQnia2TZaF501ijBuYqoAsDxNg729ogQHJ7cMd_viV3VyRMrvii_WQPNTj/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcGOwXz5hTQBVYm7q6obexo5UnVnjoS3AS1C4i8xU2vRx6WZsL33eOwRXwJ9eeKsqWKNXTarBetv2sTfcAVXQnia2TZaF501ijBuYqoAsDxNg729ogQHJ7cMd_viV3VyRMrvii_WQPNTj/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+074.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chipyela main shopping street</td></tr>
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We were four nights on Likoma and wanted a bit of variety so we spent our last night at Ulisa Bay Lodge, around 4 kilometres along the shore from Mango Drift. We were expecting a car to pick us up but instead we heard a chugging boat engine coming round the promontory from the Ulisa Bay direction. The comfortable and serene boat journey was a pleasant change from either getting exhausted walking in the blistering heat or being carried on the back of a truck along the bumpy Likoma roads. Ulisa Bay Lodge is less backpacker and more traditional lakeside chalets. The rooms are beautifully decorated and the Lodge itself is very close to Ulisa Bay village which means the bar had locals in it, not just backpackers. We also had a wonderful view of the sunset which was hidden by a promontory at Mango Drift. We loved Mango Drift but it was good to get a different experience.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVbWy_SPp7bgRJuqjTM3oNvGzEreuwMQewrpTo7v4TsDmQv7Kq8wakoh4B5ZxmUVlrwOJfq-GjS3bBdqtCWen8DmZHLgcI7DlzLJiVEA8t-t6Y5hp_PVGL2PiAsw2ERzQU_kHKu0ZgbkW/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwVbWy_SPp7bgRJuqjTM3oNvGzEreuwMQewrpTo7v4TsDmQv7Kq8wakoh4B5ZxmUVlrwOJfq-GjS3bBdqtCWen8DmZHLgcI7DlzLJiVEA8t-t6Y5hp_PVGL2PiAsw2ERzQU_kHKu0ZgbkW/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+145.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arriving at Ulisa Bay Lodge</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c_J_7lMAK8MbZ5YM01AdrMlAmO-ug_r6XRcL9cN-H766LCJBhC3gafVpkF0YD10n1tydLpn9GsxnkdYQCv0bT84I9Msgd9g3rFJDTjrGf7-QCO6bmgvZJpunAr9HlgO-rU3PEImLy74b/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1c_J_7lMAK8MbZ5YM01AdrMlAmO-ug_r6XRcL9cN-H766LCJBhC3gafVpkF0YD10n1tydLpn9GsxnkdYQCv0bT84I9Msgd9g3rFJDTjrGf7-QCO6bmgvZJpunAr9HlgO-rU3PEImLy74b/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+170.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gin (Malawian, of course) and tonic in the Ulisa Bay Lodge bar - Chisumulu can be seen in the distance</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Gb7svRcBhTH6lGfZiCq4W-Oa__nbqPNRJPriiMm6D_UkDQ4I3zjb_5ASf60Vo2ELgM3s0y5cMJkV8_1hMimV6tCz9p_CMcMhVv-b2wy6SUyP9X7lnR-4CQnOwccFaPXI4rHL2J4Nay53/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+153.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Gb7svRcBhTH6lGfZiCq4W-Oa__nbqPNRJPriiMm6D_UkDQ4I3zjb_5ASf60Vo2ELgM3s0y5cMJkV8_1hMimV6tCz9p_CMcMhVv-b2wy6SUyP9X7lnR-4CQnOwccFaPXI4rHL2J4Nay53/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+153.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset seen from the Ulisa Bay Lodge bar</td></tr>
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The Ilala did not disappoint on the way back. It was meant to leave Likoma at 6pm (or that's what the timetable says) and arrive at Nkhata Bay at 1am. Instead it left at 2pm and arrived at 7pm; definitely good to arrive much earlier in the evening but a problem for anyone who is naive enough to believe what timetables tell them.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg_YEuH5eWLdV_Yycwy4JT19cD8MgOKCGFX7i0MsyoGcFND46TW_n5X9jRgFzG5HGCmZEuoAevv42MDbi05bSVrLPcjfNcQRYkl7rhjhF7NHZjZBFwQ1t7BnUMsRvvYkLfbunVn4UwSTN/s1600/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg_YEuH5eWLdV_Yycwy4JT19cD8MgOKCGFX7i0MsyoGcFND46TW_n5X9jRgFzG5HGCmZEuoAevv42MDbi05bSVrLPcjfNcQRYkl7rhjhF7NHZjZBFwQ1t7BnUMsRvvYkLfbunVn4UwSTN/s320/Likoma+-+New+Year+2016+208.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stopping off at Chisumulu on the way back</td></tr>
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So now we are back at Mzuzu again. I am stuck into Temwa work and Liz spent last week at the Crisis Nursery and is starting back at Wongari School today - though only for a week after which she disappears off on her trip to Zanzibar! Our valley is becoming increasingly green and lush as a result of the rains and the Temwa compound garden is in a productive state - maize cobs, aubergines and we hope shortly to be getting avocados. Gift, the Finance Administrator, brought in chickens he breeds at home and we had a freshly slaughtered chicken for dinner. Mpatso (Gift) and Chiwemwe (Happy) had their kittens before Christmas; they kept them hidden in the innards of the sofa and armchair they had chosen as birthing places but Mpatso disappeared a couple of days ago with two of the kittens and we don't know where they have got to. We are hoping for their safe return. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZp5dF7gNYnqckmkJxhlHj95IqJMguzzK-bEfDuhfcIHs4M3qzfq4lfDAxRqjRPD6fOy2dhHchyOexxPDm7_fpqa1Mn_Z0SsvKxjQOb3rkQWHvSjE9dfYCbjA3vYUU0xxAOnsJ7E2Mlfrp/s1600/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZp5dF7gNYnqckmkJxhlHj95IqJMguzzK-bEfDuhfcIHs4M3qzfq4lfDAxRqjRPD6fOy2dhHchyOexxPDm7_fpqa1Mn_Z0SsvKxjQOb3rkQWHvSjE9dfYCbjA3vYUU0xxAOnsJ7E2Mlfrp/s320/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How green is our valley?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOL71dcF5iMyBYqWjEeWK-t0EYPD4Is-MzRwmUQquMAw49yaCJgGXW6XcZ4dDmEWht2L3206TbE33R76cZ1-W7hIgnZk3_oiUj4HX3A9C1Us4UrN1_k3D1XiyEP4-fZKyHTXFVCWYDnUAk/s1600/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOL71dcF5iMyBYqWjEeWK-t0EYPD4Is-MzRwmUQquMAw49yaCJgGXW6XcZ4dDmEWht2L3206TbE33R76cZ1-W7hIgnZk3_oiUj4HX3A9C1Us4UrN1_k3D1XiyEP4-fZKyHTXFVCWYDnUAk/s320/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oversized aubergine in the Temwa compound garden<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZwH6GWhg6paZt36PlAl0jKz75GgzRCc7ii4jyQ4UNxf3gPh-BWxqFBIqQHOvTn-3_IxgWmGMmCyvch4pdhkyaCL2lRQqXVx_lfFT4CH_GnfPr3xTk_TewzdcodsuUedABFGciiLi0s2z/s1600/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ZwH6GWhg6paZt36PlAl0jKz75GgzRCc7ii4jyQ4UNxf3gPh-BWxqFBIqQHOvTn-3_IxgWmGMmCyvch4pdhkyaCL2lRQqXVx_lfFT4CH_GnfPr3xTk_TewzdcodsuUedABFGciiLi0s2z/s320/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">James and Nkhoma plucking chickens in the Temwa garden</td></tr>
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We visited Wellington's house on Sunday morning. It was an interesting experience for us - I think people are probably as used to seeing mzungus (white people) in some of the remote villages as in the Chiputula area of Mzuzu that Wellington lives in so we attracted a fair amount of attention. We received the usual warm welcome at Wellington's house and were given tea and food - interestingly, in what apparently is a Malawian tradition, when the food had been laid out everybody else went out and we were left to drink the tea and eat the food on our own (well we would have eaten it if we had not had breakfast just before we went there). We were then joined again by Wellington, his wife, his children and an assortment of neighbours. Wellington's wife and neighbours wanted to find out more about us (Malawians have a touching interest in backstories) but none spoke English so Wellington had to translate which he was brilliant at (Liz and I think Wellington should move into a new career, translator not watchman).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3dpJpUBN0holtXK1JOMXJySYutowjzh7jzOh6tAVI7g9mVKZ8saQx5pMIJT9HBZT-2HYwU70MHVeYPqX8lz7bHHcDwjqxfvB0hv_63Vk7GWRpkW9GwPVDzJFG46bOXVwOQcw11J4v6fx/s1600/Visting+Wellington%2527s+house+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3dpJpUBN0holtXK1JOMXJySYutowjzh7jzOh6tAVI7g9mVKZ8saQx5pMIJT9HBZT-2HYwU70MHVeYPqX8lz7bHHcDwjqxfvB0hv_63Vk7GWRpkW9GwPVDzJFG46bOXVwOQcw11J4v6fx/s320/Visting+Wellington%2527s+house+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taking a bicycle taxi to Wellington's house in the Chiputula area of Mzuzu</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfE49fIWjlpeAe9UTNHPD0HgKe1FiWgHIZMiQ5_AXdQSwlsV2IOV8m6V2QSgc8-Z6xTyVlZoiYTaGhgOodOJTnxQEe5nNQuFUpQhDUMEC7gCdFHklLDB5h5_sa_V8w4-US3Efj4MYX9O6m/s1600/Visting+Wellington%2527s+house+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfE49fIWjlpeAe9UTNHPD0HgKe1FiWgHIZMiQ5_AXdQSwlsV2IOV8m6V2QSgc8-Z6xTyVlZoiYTaGhgOodOJTnxQEe5nNQuFUpQhDUMEC7gCdFHklLDB5h5_sa_V8w4-US3Efj4MYX9O6m/s320/Visting+Wellington%2527s+house+011.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wellington, Nya Kaunda and Grace, Wellington's first born, who wants to become a nurse</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iRkRGB8ij0OgM6OHBpxkDUIYuGJo8X0BzqDtIeENlIhcKx5S_kLFB-G9E5X2GO3z29ElNSWGBLuxeJhr8FEqxJRAZQLkvz794aThtcbgSDHHCbYMxO8P4tJmgBqdP9eJ9SLTq9NlpMb7/s1600/Visting+Wellington%2527s+house+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7iRkRGB8ij0OgM6OHBpxkDUIYuGJo8X0BzqDtIeENlIhcKx5S_kLFB-G9E5X2GO3z29ElNSWGBLuxeJhr8FEqxJRAZQLkvz794aThtcbgSDHHCbYMxO8P4tJmgBqdP9eJ9SLTq9NlpMb7/s320/Visting+Wellington%2527s+house+014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside Wellington's house - his wife is third left at the back</td></tr>
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I have in previous blogs given some of my impressions of Malawian life and hope to again in a future blog. One issue you can't miss is the impact that superstition has on society (I have just been reading one of the No.1 Detective Agency stories in which understanding local superstitions plays a key role in solving one of the crimes). There has been more than one story in the Nation newspaper about mob violence following deaths from lightning strikes where individuals have been accused of casting evil spells - in at least one case, this led to the death of the supposed perpetrator. A possibly more bizarre story which fortunately did not have such terrible consequences was the one on the front page of last week's Nation on Sunday where rioting started following rumours being spread that a local pastor had turned into a snake. The article is accompanied by a picture of said Pastor sitting on a sofa looking just like a normal human being - clearly the rumours had no basis in fact!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oP74C64JA-Xk2Q22JBA8_qdk3aXwO4utEkG4mekmXtJLQB7GJhGIID4ejDhsiTPoSnTmeB-JWbG9hv_lTx4i6gxhCXhWGnR0VIU9Es7PXe1LBujR_D-Oox1p1op9rFmS_V0mmr0NEeyM/s1600/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4oP74C64JA-Xk2Q22JBA8_qdk3aXwO4utEkG4mekmXtJLQB7GJhGIID4ejDhsiTPoSnTmeB-JWbG9hv_lTx4i6gxhCXhWGnR0VIU9Es7PXe1LBujR_D-Oox1p1op9rFmS_V0mmr0NEeyM/s320/Back+fo+Likoma+nd+Mzuzu+-+early+Jan+16+010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Snake' pastor looking very much like a human being</td></tr>
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The Burns Supper is going ahead at the Macondo Camp on Thursday and we had a practice on Sunday night after dinner - Liz singing Burns and other Scottish songs and others (not me) practising their Highland fling. Attempts to get haggis have failed but Johnny, who is managing Macondo whilst the owners are back in Italy (having just had a new born child), has found a vegetarian haggis recipe. The feedback Johnny has had from others is that the vegetarian version will be preferable to the usual haggis constituents. Bagpipe and other Scottish music has been downloaded in preparation. I suspect there will be a bit of whisky as well.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGynXkG7bI8R4f0HwzasiWE-V74bMG962UlbUyFK_hqnlU_hJDuJLlTHofmfhCX71oiUNDsYN8mf2lDIiiSt0y0tZ0-1plNfZEvMaoc_E9vLeOblMHUxP2Nzp9nmrK2HiNuVK1OOIPtYl8/s1600/Preparing+for+Burns+supper+005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGynXkG7bI8R4f0HwzasiWE-V74bMG962UlbUyFK_hqnlU_hJDuJLlTHofmfhCX71oiUNDsYN8mf2lDIiiSt0y0tZ0-1plNfZEvMaoc_E9vLeOblMHUxP2Nzp9nmrK2HiNuVK1OOIPtYl8/s320/Preparing+for+Burns+supper+005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Practising for Burns supper on Thursday</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-1115458750888333762015-12-28T04:04:00.001-08:002016-01-07T08:30:17.475-08:00No mushrooms at Mushroom FarmOur trip to Livingstonia once again took us north, past the Rumphi turn-off on the M1, down the Rift Valley Escarpment and along the lake shore to Chitinda. From here you have a view up to the Nyika Plateau and Livingstonia lies on a ridge about half way up, 900 metres above the lake shore. Mushroom Farm, where we were staying, is lower down the ridge, at about 700 metres. <br />
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Once again we found ourselves in beautiful Malawian terrain. The views down to the Lake, across to the Nyika Plateau, and out west toward the Zambian border were magnificent. We didn't see the splendid sun rises we had seen at Nkhata Bay and Usisya (these were hidden from us by the ridge which rose a bit to our east), but the moon shining on the water in the evenings was almost as impressive. We had seen fast flowing streams on our visit to the Nyika plain and on the Zulunkhuni river at Ruarwe but had not seen anything to match the falls at Manchewe.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSVGgLAk994rHZeLmFoMxASInLOQzA5zL5KEnO4qCh_DU7qqzDD40IOAT7kBUqa3l88PD9-5MzCjhWVJag2RAOzy5y128MUZi6XDe8yMG4uFhSqwA5fOz4TyBjjVsf9m4F0xuGsw-UaO5/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXSVGgLAk994rHZeLmFoMxASInLOQzA5zL5KEnO4qCh_DU7qqzDD40IOAT7kBUqa3l88PD9-5MzCjhWVJag2RAOzy5y128MUZi6XDe8yMG4uFhSqwA5fOz4TyBjjVsf9m4F0xuGsw-UaO5/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+217.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nyika plateau, seen from the road between Mushroom Farm and Livingstonia</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPucbq-sXYR7k94-jUacO6nS67UMlpVlOie3BrgEool0I4Np-rKi0yZVYwuP4_kbif0324Qa4-KFTt91Tmnzf_acjr4BRqG1R1M6i6dxmkcq9CUPRVKIKwjUVBAuhRE-2nxfyj4A8YWFJ/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoPucbq-sXYR7k94-jUacO6nS67UMlpVlOie3BrgEool0I4Np-rKi0yZVYwuP4_kbif0324Qa4-KFTt91Tmnzf_acjr4BRqG1R1M6i6dxmkcq9CUPRVKIKwjUVBAuhRE-2nxfyj4A8YWFJ/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+168.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View west from the Livingstonia Mission Church bell-tower - the horizon stretches for ever</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDA_e3SFGf-xC5hMCNJRBUu3OB898OU27NC37GmQK4Qoz7KeL8zBj2GBMBZv36QKcWRUDQargNt4GgTonmZR_p_cYzufULy5ZwaR77Yk8S1dfMOCX7LPa6YBM6paiyv48hRF5EqI9_Nj1/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDA_e3SFGf-xC5hMCNJRBUu3OB898OU27NC37GmQK4Qoz7KeL8zBj2GBMBZv36QKcWRUDQargNt4GgTonmZR_p_cYzufULy5ZwaR77Yk8S1dfMOCX7LPa6YBM6paiyv48hRF5EqI9_Nj1/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+215.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View down to the Lake shore</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2UydexD5XEpTJ0RiE5FpqRZE5XynBejxQVfjzKKKOZL_0NY5AyO9gMi9z5kJ8nOljoFNK2kSJvlc1CdaPzSUxCVrPtS6rjC1ukxlB8mAk-pC7x-vWsJgGYU7SSK8UPX93yTtO82QotNq/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2UydexD5XEpTJ0RiE5FpqRZE5XynBejxQVfjzKKKOZL_0NY5AyO9gMi9z5kJ8nOljoFNK2kSJvlc1CdaPzSUxCVrPtS6rjC1ukxlB8mAk-pC7x-vWsJgGYU7SSK8UPX93yTtO82QotNq/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+236.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manchewe Falls</td></tr>
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There were no mushrooms at Mushroom Farm; the season was wrong. But the place is heaven. The lodge itself is made up of an assortment of structures which form living and sleeping quarters: wooden chalets perched precariously on the edge of the ridge, an A-Frame made out of an indeterminate material, our safari tent with a thatched canopy, the obligatory compost toilets in painted wooden structures, a living room, a bar, a concrete yoga platform (!), hammocks, various tables dotted around the place. A dry river bed (or at least it was dry until the storm on our last night there) runs through the middle of the camp. Monkeys play in the trees, birds sing, butterflies flit. There are the views - down to the lake shore, across to the Livingstone Mountains in Tanzania, along the Rift Valley Escarpment or up past Livingstonia to Nyika. The vegetarian food was the best and most varied I have ever eaten; there may not have been mushrooms but other vegetables were in abundance - freshly picked avocado, aubergine, green beans, lovely tasting onions - and brought together in exciting recipes. There were of course the infectiously friendly staff: Budget, Bishop and Kondwane who worked in the bar and served the food; the singing and dancing cooks, Fiskani, Enetta and Charity; and Oscar, the handyman, who made sure we had hot water in the showers and hails from my home district of Chitipa (you will recall that I am Mr Muspole from Kamame District in Chitipa) . The Farm is owned and managed by two young Americans - Maddy and Cameron - who live out the ideals of eco-tourism; they use local labour, source as many of their products as they can locally (food and materials), are eco-conscious in all they do, and are active in the local Manchewe community.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVoGZufM3NbIao9U_TNUpK1okZhH44MlOYv_3p2ktHRrgQkGFNmSpn3l2yJlM27m6i3ogntKtgoNeWr1iBu6gyI6TT19eF0AmepetCS3wE-ka2T3_y4NUbWE9b0oyHhQd_kJ7LDRcQxAS/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVoGZufM3NbIao9U_TNUpK1okZhH44MlOYv_3p2ktHRrgQkGFNmSpn3l2yJlM27m6i3ogntKtgoNeWr1iBu6gyI6TT19eF0AmepetCS3wE-ka2T3_y4NUbWE9b0oyHhQd_kJ7LDRcQxAS/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+287.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"> Moon on the water - view from our safari tent to the Lake, 700 metres below<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBGdyyfpqTZypEVAvJNRHqpypNXMxfG-mqdUhNzsh0eUYppt4-j8jjlU5NYrExhxIlPn4J9aDioKEafbDWmMbpVFnVWrUtlSftJwhozCYUsVRW1P2s7summA9undC_na5cs2AWIgA4LF1/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+309.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqBGdyyfpqTZypEVAvJNRHqpypNXMxfG-mqdUhNzsh0eUYppt4-j8jjlU5NYrExhxIlPn4J9aDioKEafbDWmMbpVFnVWrUtlSftJwhozCYUsVRW1P2s7summA9undC_na5cs2AWIgA4LF1/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+309.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">View of our safari tent from the tastefully decorated compost toilet</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2vWi6vvS5oNReVXTJOUnxBP7VSKESOzDCgxK5fRglbHLYODiBId2hBdsCB44R_gYXuwK_BWvXKCXORVhXXITfSP12RoUXwskkYtr9FVnOdAO_cuL-Gr3oTTNDvrTBpGYDud0GIhEXT9O/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU2vWi6vvS5oNReVXTJOUnxBP7VSKESOzDCgxK5fRglbHLYODiBId2hBdsCB44R_gYXuwK_BWvXKCXORVhXXITfSP12RoUXwskkYtr9FVnOdAO_cuL-Gr3oTTNDvrTBpGYDud0GIhEXT9O/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+282.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Preparing our Christmas dinner - the dancing cooks</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxkxsK3aa4TcrQxmE_g5O0bzSHHYMW3FXKBw2kTlXCDeTasxajAjqWHiS-Q8CuHNMiaTaRYe2NZ_zdH6isSBC1pLUGdJwP7XMh7pkedYa53yvHV4OibR6qGnDAEbWsITagXo8bfXtlOyq/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxkxsK3aa4TcrQxmE_g5O0bzSHHYMW3FXKBw2kTlXCDeTasxajAjqWHiS-Q8CuHNMiaTaRYe2NZ_zdH6isSBC1pLUGdJwP7XMh7pkedYa53yvHV4OibR6qGnDAEbWsITagXo8bfXtlOyq/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+283.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best vegetarian food I have eaten</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0m2SUaTGp3zA8-sxYgfS3OoxY53HrHonbPueKmYAlpm3pUCInayfxmfu6w0XY38ICZlp-LnqWNZ6HkGu87kpbGrvWa6fdFsZkyYaoXY88kCLaL6SntTnqPFvtoT3lGnLQis8HnZdXS0Y/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0m2SUaTGp3zA8-sxYgfS3OoxY53HrHonbPueKmYAlpm3pUCInayfxmfu6w0XY38ICZlp-LnqWNZ6HkGu87kpbGrvWa6fdFsZkyYaoXY88kCLaL6SntTnqPFvtoT3lGnLQis8HnZdXS0Y/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+220.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a Green</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgG6D3HgyZnWoB4lQUieef1cSrxoeRy-GuSlIhLuKiVrocgow1JwU0alhrgZ8B23VugpiRxcUaOhGVtHIwTtbxo8ftQd57ZoYKWrXvs7WdkOAZJQ-mVhgUqEGw59oFS3c8NZ801-E5zL0/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgG6D3HgyZnWoB4lQUieef1cSrxoeRy-GuSlIhLuKiVrocgow1JwU0alhrgZ8B23VugpiRxcUaOhGVtHIwTtbxo8ftQd57ZoYKWrXvs7WdkOAZJQ-mVhgUqEGw59oFS3c8NZ801-E5zL0/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+313.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Insect life at Mushroom Farm<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxKVSZZWdSEJBRaFE9wI5Fl_XGobMj924J3OrNH99i-OH8deAW7ACcj1dHELgXZ-WbD3MNybgKAMN1S3vDkrcJCooaxMCt02Y0A0GO9yY9RMiwUgD9Rv3NXcQDLwQIznmnuDv3rpTmWbN/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkxKVSZZWdSEJBRaFE9wI5Fl_XGobMj924J3OrNH99i-OH8deAW7ACcj1dHELgXZ-WbD3MNybgKAMN1S3vDkrcJCooaxMCt02Y0A0GO9yY9RMiwUgD9Rv3NXcQDLwQIznmnuDv3rpTmWbN/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+263.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The wonderful Forest Restaurant run by Mr Banda who used to be a cook at Mushroom Farm</td></tr>
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Mcdonald was our guide at Mushroom Farm. He met us off the bus from Mzuzu at the Chitimba turn-off for Livingstonia and led us up to Mushroom Farm. On Christmas Eve, before taking us round Livingstonia, we went to his home village where we met all his immediate family, several of his relatives, the head, deputy head and a teacher at Mahuwi School, where he chairs the PTA. and a range of other friends and acquaintances. On Christmas Day he took us and other people staying at Mushroom Farm to see the Manchewe Falls and visit the gardens at Lukwe Ecocamp. So we got to know him pretty well. He is absolutely committed to doing his part in improving the lives of the local community. In addition to his work with Maluwi School, he chairs a local community organisation which supports empowerment of women in the community, provides support for orphans, and generally promotes community well-being. There is limited or no financial support to carry out the work so it is about bringing the community together to achieve what it can with whatever limited means they have at their disposal. Mcdonald himself seems indefatigable. His home is some 7 or 8 kilometres from Mushroom Farm - beyond Livingstonia - and he was shuttling around between his home, the Mushroom Farm, the Lake shore on foot in the way that others might if they had some form of motorised transport. His garden has avocados, mangos, pineapples, bananas, greens of various kinds; he has land on which he grows cassava; he has plans to build a new house (there is a brick-making kiln in his garden but a serious injury to his hand sustained when a vehicle overturned on the road up from Chitimba has prevented him from starting); and he does his community work. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mcdonald outside his house with his 'third, fourth and fifth born' - the youngest child is an orphan who lives with his family in their two room house</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3MRQFvdjSs0fzf3CzWN_iSbk8zsqUIG1S4BoQdlrPvtq-QWAwodGXrVaggbgtXjqJI-S5Ga5AdAS5saKmbKIUuy4YYMfAAanbMD9dZq3CxJm_-0DIQNkPhs9R5t7pfDmcDtK0LtQ3-Pv/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3MRQFvdjSs0fzf3CzWN_iSbk8zsqUIG1S4BoQdlrPvtq-QWAwodGXrVaggbgtXjqJI-S5Ga5AdAS5saKmbKIUuy4YYMfAAanbMD9dZq3CxJm_-0DIQNkPhs9R5t7pfDmcDtK0LtQ3-Pv/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+115.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Mcdonald's wife's shop</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiJIUp3FN1PHrPZ57xBciM1jsLVHeBKJfwZDqSkzTzzvp16-DdWwhDheDCuWv2l8pP1BH8y1UhZOP2b-xqYT1n6c7q-uo511TnABS3e9Ie0exKJAtuFFEjyPUhb3pkFDE2wDo2A-x_J1_/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiJIUp3FN1PHrPZ57xBciM1jsLVHeBKJfwZDqSkzTzzvp16-DdWwhDheDCuWv2l8pP1BH8y1UhZOP2b-xqYT1n6c7q-uo511TnABS3e9Ie0exKJAtuFFEjyPUhb3pkFDE2wDo2A-x_J1_/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+088.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In Mcdonald's garden - anyone for avocado?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFvYeHjXadbnnc4Iyp9ocbEMeWL-pSNoOpJBI15_PaxzqmV_-M7kUDdgYOdehxV5kHJUbGU4sNhaPaUtB_aDvAUg4Humicpe0Tu5aiiyqI93w1mTvVn1fTLrFI0XL9Cfn5dVnr3SouWJ8/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVFvYeHjXadbnnc4Iyp9ocbEMeWL-pSNoOpJBI15_PaxzqmV_-M7kUDdgYOdehxV5kHJUbGU4sNhaPaUtB_aDvAUg4Humicpe0Tu5aiiyqI93w1mTvVn1fTLrFI0XL9Cfn5dVnr3SouWJ8/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+084.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Palm trees on Mcdonald's land<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU9VMAhX_tnluEUlpBlc6qddN_jHLeBdyP2-gJ3SAVg0087BjL6USxfJEYY3rc49GWOs86tQ8MYMGcnVGGyaw2AmWQNzd7DjmwM-PsEa05dQm6eubfRyH7qOduugcVR8ttvcx_N8XBi4C/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+122.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJU9VMAhX_tnluEUlpBlc6qddN_jHLeBdyP2-gJ3SAVg0087BjL6USxfJEYY3rc49GWOs86tQ8MYMGcnVGGyaw2AmWQNzd7DjmwM-PsEa05dQm6eubfRyH7qOduugcVR8ttvcx_N8XBi4C/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+122.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Mcdonald destroyed this plate of the local delicacy - fried termite ants</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEx5FFgIfXSrW85v1CoOr3v12t0ySswuVFHPmoL1pnMlClQi804ORg50WCUTDFndDIbEfwGQlaL7XtoXjMrwycovR_fUbCndedTn3KL6exdfge-KA9QSqoUa3_3hKCYLgjI9bely66vaJg/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEx5FFgIfXSrW85v1CoOr3v12t0ySswuVFHPmoL1pnMlClQi804ORg50WCUTDFndDIbEfwGQlaL7XtoXjMrwycovR_fUbCndedTn3KL6exdfge-KA9QSqoUa3_3hKCYLgjI9bely66vaJg/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+057.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A local meat market on our way to Livingstonia</td></tr>
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Livingstonia itself is not like any other Malawian towns we have visited. It was built on the site of an African township, Khondonwe, by Robert Laws to ensure a lasting legacy for David Livingstone’s work in the Lake Malawi area. He had previously tried to set up settlements on the Lake shore but on both occasions his attempts had been defeated by fatalities inflicted by malaria. He arrived in Khondonwe and over the next few decades led the development of the town. The church here is the headquarters of the CCAP (Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian) in the northern region of Malawi. There is a university, a technical college, a health centre and hospital, a school, a museum (in the house that Robert Laws lived in from 1903) – with the architecture more akin to what you would expect in Blantyre old town (Livingstone’s home town) or Aberdeen ( Laws’ home town) than central Africa. In contrast, the trees that line the roads into and out of Livingstonia make them into what look like boulevards from any small town in France.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihJw1NDB3wlzpr10DMDNSl7Lth8aZH5LkvcW_M1SqOPIGzTAo9Tn-hKDj5zfOqKXCU5pl4FKlV2YyNTLONw2jHoXFQRbE-FfTgaXVe_RpOW3reNomyl5maU0vUSZPRHx2c09UMzhf8Md3c/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihJw1NDB3wlzpr10DMDNSl7Lth8aZH5LkvcW_M1SqOPIGzTAo9Tn-hKDj5zfOqKXCU5pl4FKlV2YyNTLONw2jHoXFQRbE-FfTgaXVe_RpOW3reNomyl5maU0vUSZPRHx2c09UMzhf8Md3c/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+157.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Livingstonia Mission Church </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgty1-pIenW_kZ0jc8QuqT3Zx56S07TlV8lI5kJ__LBV1O_Uyaojmj5RufWvah9ZqcDjeGiisMevVIJnsrrJG0mKOMIt5DRoRVvaLEehNna7XitGy64zKdHYhk3Gp7rHbYktkYdD2RORfAR/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgty1-pIenW_kZ0jc8QuqT3Zx56S07TlV8lI5kJ__LBV1O_Uyaojmj5RufWvah9ZqcDjeGiisMevVIJnsrrJG0mKOMIt5DRoRVvaLEehNna7XitGy64zKdHYhk3Gp7rHbYktkYdD2RORfAR/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+154.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Entrance to Livingstonia University</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKXMXAWReEABGBgsnEI9p7mOD7EsRQfMm_9hgJogiUAznX_WkSZibvPKdSQq-OgsHRR28wniiJHBXgmOP1ZNFv9tRdLKUvSr7YTZ27YMMtrg2Xs44zww47Qk_k2NZ5pauvNy54hcKNh5K/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKXMXAWReEABGBgsnEI9p7mOD7EsRQfMm_9hgJogiUAznX_WkSZibvPKdSQq-OgsHRR28wniiJHBXgmOP1ZNFv9tRdLKUvSr7YTZ27YMMtrg2Xs44zww47Qk_k2NZ5pauvNy54hcKNh5K/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+188.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bell monument in Livingstonia</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUxisXysP2oWoIh0Zt6GXkXDLCQPK1y8kRwsN2aQKkNkaEgUi_5Uok200mQmDJAreLWN2K1OV096YiA9O2kDCucnzdvpkXyQ8VU91k61H-f23hVrwjP0h6l0kkJDm5dVWLN4YaQmq9qe8/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+195.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSUxisXysP2oWoIh0Zt6GXkXDLCQPK1y8kRwsN2aQKkNkaEgUi_5Uok200mQmDJAreLWN2K1OV096YiA9O2kDCucnzdvpkXyQ8VU91k61H-f23hVrwjP0h6l0kkJDm5dVWLN4YaQmq9qe8/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+195.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A boulevard in Livingstonia</td></tr>
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It's a bad admission to make, I know, especially after years of working for local councils which have a major role in promoting them, but green issues have never been top of my personal agenda. That may be changing. Temwa's focus on improving forestry and agricultural techniques to promote sustainability and the eco-consciousness of all the lodges we have stayed at whilst here has heightened my interest. And then there was the visit we made to the permaculture garden at Lukwe Ecocamp. Aleck the gardener (father of Bishop who works at Mushroom Farm) was passionate about the principles and benefits that come from proper eco-management of gardens. The garden was a magnificent example of the results that can be achieved. But it takes years of painstaking work and huge amounts of patience to get the garden in the condition that Lukwe is in. My (relatively ill-informed) challenge would be how people who desperately need food and other means of living can be expected to wait that long to see results. The challenge back would be can they afford as a community - and we as a society - not to?</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU779pMebuQyZcLQ4scLjDGgCJyeHvGE-t4BR3SZTAYVyRkTvgE9Z_yq6gFmv26q2r1C21qkRmEZnZ4rK6ZKTizX_kTDpKctQK1V_pJ7kU53P9mY2EynKcdp34X4QbLB4a0_QXCAqDw_h-/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU779pMebuQyZcLQ4scLjDGgCJyeHvGE-t4BR3SZTAYVyRkTvgE9Z_yq6gFmv26q2r1C21qkRmEZnZ4rK6ZKTizX_kTDpKctQK1V_pJ7kU53P9mY2EynKcdp34X4QbLB4a0_QXCAqDw_h-/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+227.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aleck teaching us the principles and practice of permaculture</td></tr>
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The journeys from Mzuzu to Mushroom Farm and back brought their own excitement. There were the normal trials and tribulations of an Axa bus journey to Chitimba and a matola minibus trip back. But these bore no comparison to the journeys between the lake shore at Chitimba and Mushroom Farm. The road climbs the 700 metres in 9 kilometres and includes 20 hairpin bends. We walked up without too much incident. Mcdonald guided us, including along steep paths which cut out a number of the bends, and we made it in some two and half hours. It was difficult - searing heat and I also had been foolhardy enough to refuse Mcdonald's offer to carry our rucksack which weighed a good 15 kg - but there was a sense of achievement and a couple of swiftly downed Greens (the Carlsberg beer of choice) at the end. Relief was our biggest sensation at the end of our journey down. The storm the night before had led to quite a lot of land slip on the road. We had planned to walk down with Mcdonald - mush easier than the walk up - but some American Peace Corps volunteers who were staying at Mushroom Farm had ordered a truck to take them down and we agreed, with some others, to go down with them. So there we were going down a 700 metre hill around 20 hair pin bends on a road (if you can call it that) which was disintegrating and with 16 of us squeezed in the back of a small truck and a further three inside. We made it - just!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBe4T9dNi8mbk9bay6YmbQNWtQPIAh8wju5OKa5PGBno93sIB6ONgz9EiByZfeEma1PktTE2N1kW9RxRrvcvL6l5TXwOul9t3_XaW2i_EGp1qwTq27iqPzrCFt9VPr6YVrgwBncvG6FI_/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBe4T9dNi8mbk9bay6YmbQNWtQPIAh8wju5OKa5PGBno93sIB6ONgz9EiByZfeEma1PktTE2N1kW9RxRrvcvL6l5TXwOul9t3_XaW2i_EGp1qwTq27iqPzrCFt9VPr6YVrgwBncvG6FI_/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mzuzu bus station - people getting on and off at the same time</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQJafud31txGjlHW0UT2YDgEEbcZnWJuVEozx3i5cgBCN4CXTkrk_0uTtyAt3jZrLVm4n-0H28bFTVhWMLd-gEGRXC_cTJk-7fIx0KFxVj4osfW_xPtRRu-7QyTw3HQEB3UmM4YA-dOiT/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQJafud31txGjlHW0UT2YDgEEbcZnWJuVEozx3i5cgBCN4CXTkrk_0uTtyAt3jZrLVm4n-0H28bFTVhWMLd-gEGRXC_cTJk-7fIx0KFxVj4osfW_xPtRRu-7QyTw3HQEB3UmM4YA-dOiT/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On our way up the mountain - lots of people were coming down to the Christmas market at Chitimba</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3ippoQKzsIZFQ2kmrEt5WnnLHeMbonA_Tqa8NP_MeO6IAOl8RWJFrVOd331BsMFup6u_b6Ob25_g7ZKBR1YSCnwB22QUPZKdySC5FsJuRUXQo5KBfoLabQNSTwDI1Hg1Eye4eae559l6/s1600/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+315.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3ippoQKzsIZFQ2kmrEt5WnnLHeMbonA_Tqa8NP_MeO6IAOl8RWJFrVOd331BsMFup6u_b6Ob25_g7ZKBR1YSCnwB22QUPZKdySC5FsJuRUXQo5KBfoLabQNSTwDI1Hg1Eye4eae559l6/s320/Mushroom+Farm+Dec+2015+315.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How many people can fit in one small truck?</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no rest for the wicked. So here we are, back one night at Mzuzu, and just about to go to Nkhata Bay to catch the Ilala on its southward journey to Likoma Island. It leaves early evening and gets to Likoma in the middle of the night. It stays there until early morning so we will have a choice of sleeping on the deck or braving use of the small boats in the dark night to take us to Likoma. I think it will be the deck...</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-90861418763820496622015-12-22T13:05:00.000-08:002015-12-22T13:58:15.620-08:00The Zulunkhuni riverRuarwe is 60km north of Nkhata Bay and can only be reached by boat (or the treacherous road journey from Mzuzu to Usisya followed by a 15km walk!). It was a spur of the moment decision on Saturday that took us there.<br />
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We didn't have long. I needed to be back for a meeting of the Temwa Malawi Board on Tuesday morning so we were working to a tight timetable...but the timing was good. The Ilala, which has plied its trade motoring up and down Lake Malawi since 1951, was due to be passing through Nkhata Bay going north at 7am on Sunday morning, getting to Ruarwe early afternoon, and coming back through Ruarwe early the following morning. So a stay in Nkhata Bay followed by a further night at Ruarwe beckoned.<br />
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We spent the night at Njaya Lodge (our regular in Nkhata Bay) and had just sat down for our 6am breakfast when I got a phone call from the Zulunkhuni River Lodge (our destination in Ruarwe) that the Ilala was about to leave Nkhata Bay...so much for the schedules! The gang plank was down when we got there but we managed to scramble on just before the boat sailed - others were not so lucky.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3YSD-LBfXMzl_oDKSGlko-TQu9oObF1kdHPBCA56z2hwWQZzi0-jYuWcCUHSyTAwjOGFdJiTI3ppgv9okrX-zmdpRQf6rbMq8mhHFKsYGXvy0cNNr-1sIDZVVrTcewJ5eNDn-VtenEyf/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The Ilala was built on the Clyde and has been in service since 1951<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyqJ_9LhLPu7lhcYogaT031KZoDSVW6sRTz57Okb5ADzQU0WDRYuV6aC3zRLFkJxDa6MPjv7crc5dDD1ekT7olgWp-XgNH7WPJqpGthAB6zBdgJMyaK5vGomN4aa_OB5hJbOvqr9k5dMw/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQyqJ_9LhLPu7lhcYogaT031KZoDSVW6sRTz57Okb5ADzQU0WDRYuV6aC3zRLFkJxDa6MPjv7crc5dDD1ekT7olgWp-XgNH7WPJqpGthAB6zBdgJMyaK5vGomN4aa_OB5hJbOvqr9k5dMw/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+302.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The bar on the upper deck of the Ilala<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3YSD-LBfXMzl_oDKSGlko-TQu9oObF1kdHPBCA56z2hwWQZzi0-jYuWcCUHSyTAwjOGFdJiTI3ppgv9okrX-zmdpRQf6rbMq8mhHFKsYGXvy0cNNr-1sIDZVVrTcewJ5eNDn-VtenEyf/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy3YSD-LBfXMzl_oDKSGlko-TQu9oObF1kdHPBCA56z2hwWQZzi0-jYuWcCUHSyTAwjOGFdJiTI3ppgv9okrX-zmdpRQf6rbMq8mhHFKsYGXvy0cNNr-1sIDZVVrTcewJ5eNDn-VtenEyf/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+011.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The lower deck of the Ilala</span></td></tr>
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The Ilala is an interesting antidote to British health and safety culture. It wasn't clear how many people, chicken, cows, bags of maize, cartons of 'shake-shake' ('international beer' according to its label), steel roofing sheets, or other packages had been loaded on the Ilala. There is no obvious checking of the number of people who get into the boats used to ferry people to and from the shore...I counted 42 in one of them. Young children get handed from one person to another as they are lifted from the boats. Fishing boats sidle up to the Ilala to sell their catches to willing passengers... with people hanging over the side to hand over their 1,000 kwacha notes.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_4HFf_SLJ9Dqh05GgJEsDiqNp9bdbChwjekKPQf7sVQraTNQpEs89R8HRMvyt82cbvz9fQTUR5mLGGXD49KTZ1Vp650z2fAqOPfv_rqF7P7nnzJN2Xmvi-bluqyokoeea_Gcun-RLM4U/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu_4HFf_SLJ9Dqh05GgJEsDiqNp9bdbChwjekKPQf7sVQraTNQpEs89R8HRMvyt82cbvz9fQTUR5mLGGXD49KTZ1Vp650z2fAqOPfv_rqF7P7nnzJN2Xmvi-bluqyokoeea_Gcun-RLM4U/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+056.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People waiting to be transported to the Ilala at Usisya, the stop before Ruarwe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTsIssc93EHtq2xhtKILPD_pIEbvYrk2BnuM4AG6-LBElae38n2ma43pvCiQOiTHmHRElGQx1AYZZF6-dtOfpPTygGeeOWLXxtQggm2heWUiFCXpUFwBKAWKdPrXw1O2_zzjVEXh3A3FT/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghTsIssc93EHtq2xhtKILPD_pIEbvYrk2BnuM4AG6-LBElae38n2ma43pvCiQOiTHmHRElGQx1AYZZF6-dtOfpPTygGeeOWLXxtQggm2heWUiFCXpUFwBKAWKdPrXw1O2_zzjVEXh3A3FT/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+051.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I counted 42 people on one of these boats </td></tr>
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For those of you who know Jane Campion's film, the Piano, our arrival at Ruarwe would be a familiar scene (sans piano). We clambered down a rickety ladder on the side of the Ilala into a boat filled with people, goods and chattels; at the shore we had to climb out of the boat, luggage and all, into waist high water; we then walked a couple of kilometres along narrow, rocky lakeside paths until we entered the Zulunkhuni River Lodge. We were pleased to see a piano in the corner of the Lodge dining area - clearly we <b>had</b> walked into a scene from the Piano!<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrk9Da9QYmUKoUD2FBEEdBs_IUNccjYbKcGm99Pf60Z3HHfbX-lt6TnkChX_ncDnp_53SYPbuHwbaSZs8BjIH_tYFTsDVpXyYyzwCQOfTycP-1G290eZr4Hg5_QQ1nmTDrD3yZThbcS-1/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifrk9Da9QYmUKoUD2FBEEdBs_IUNccjYbKcGm99Pf60Z3HHfbX-lt6TnkChX_ncDnp_53SYPbuHwbaSZs8BjIH_tYFTsDVpXyYyzwCQOfTycP-1G290eZr4Hg5_QQ1nmTDrD3yZThbcS-1/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+097.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">You have to wade waist deep to get on and off the boats</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbk3JdKSVEaiHev_2Ahw6x2ZB2qIVNifrwgzh1ZcbNxoNfoeqpQdxELfJ-puKViEeoLEWJ6CoKvtnKZ7sOxrVDlkQ7HReCbQihPYvQt5ZPCJBa5c0IO1d4tbAu2021cFynhhbo9d7oki31/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: start;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbk3JdKSVEaiHev_2Ahw6x2ZB2qIVNifrwgzh1ZcbNxoNfoeqpQdxELfJ-puKViEeoLEWJ6CoKvtnKZ7sOxrVDlkQ7HReCbQihPYvQt5ZPCJBa5c0IO1d4tbAu2021cFynhhbo9d7oki31/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+202.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The path from the beach to the <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Zulunkhuni River Lodge</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4ZX-oiVeOwlviPWDdldreE4Wkx63Cwg5RJljTVR2ZE0jwGcyVQU4O7ptfZHOrikCjVCpDuuI_lJZsaJCkd8vWflvC0u89VaNplQHz9SNkk5etsMWBMmXr-RQk4mFJtHzTmmQVbaYO2ls/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS4ZX-oiVeOwlviPWDdldreE4Wkx63Cwg5RJljTVR2ZE0jwGcyVQU4O7ptfZHOrikCjVCpDuuI_lJZsaJCkd8vWflvC0u89VaNplQHz9SNkk5etsMWBMmXr-RQk4mFJtHzTmmQVbaYO2ls/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+122.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The eating area - with piano - at the Lodge<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0Oj_rw7MRuwaSBU3AjekIy51SGoAOJI9oecn2GLkh3jI1_n-R4kauQWeB0INP5Ba4uNEdetOJFslCwNBbNtdcPEMiWE5X9ZAuVV355i6cOuXxaA3s2g8-z5u-AS1CmDyvuPrZFx3F0L4/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv0Oj_rw7MRuwaSBU3AjekIy51SGoAOJI9oecn2GLkh3jI1_n-R4kauQWeB0INP5Ba4uNEdetOJFslCwNBbNtdcPEMiWE5X9ZAuVV355i6cOuXxaA3s2g8-z5u-AS1CmDyvuPrZFx3F0L4/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+175.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The toilet/shower block at the Lodge</td></tr>
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The Lodge is at the mouth of the Zulunkhuni River which runs down from the Rift Valley uplands into Lake Malawi. At this time of year, when the rains have come, the water gushes down the folds of the valley into the outlet next to the Lodge and our afternoon entertainment was a walk to the top of the waterfall above the Lodge. The rains had cleared the air so we saw the Tanzanian side of Lake Malawi for the first time. The walk itself took us through lush forests which were full of birdlife, strange insects and beetles, and lots of jungle noise. The highlight of the walk up were the baboons that were swinging in the trees but then ran down to the river, jumping over the rocks and finding a quiet place to have a picnic of fresh mango.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQk4vHMC96FBwlVIZrQUnr7mKS5-_QDFZQb5HdCISZRFX4iADNcCEVsMCOj90f89VpeVPnNytsFI15QjiaAZ_BjaWuJ-bj7IqOAyXDN-UX0_fj2q5sQ26K5VrQc894Vl0Bq7FjcYtA0YS/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQk4vHMC96FBwlVIZrQUnr7mKS5-_QDFZQb5HdCISZRFX4iADNcCEVsMCOj90f89VpeVPnNytsFI15QjiaAZ_BjaWuJ-bj7IqOAyXDN-UX0_fj2q5sQ26K5VrQc894Vl0Bq7FjcYtA0YS/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+128.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View across to Tanzania <span style="font-size: x-small;">from the hills above <span style="text-align: start;">Zulunkhuni River Lodge. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmpGrL-roZA_nCF6O9xjH8FxGwS-n62BzYXwUdWIRCWtlArca60MWw8nuqY9acSKgFZiS-_CQ97_VFrE_ZuhxYSIBclLmXpCcLkmU4-12mp_kHN1QzUZGWftBRQkxlaRNB8t0TtEiB7hQk/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+132.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmpGrL-roZA_nCF6O9xjH8FxGwS-n62BzYXwUdWIRCWtlArca60MWw8nuqY9acSKgFZiS-_CQ97_VFrE_ZuhxYSIBclLmXpCcLkmU4-12mp_kHN1QzUZGWftBRQkxlaRNB8t0TtEiB7hQk/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+132.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Baboons having a picnic on the rocks below the path we were climbing</td></tr>
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On the way up, Kayola, our guide, had been muttering something about jumping down the water-fall. I had been playing along, partly not understanding and partly wanting to appear to be up for anything. We got to what we thought was the end of the walk - there was nowhere left to go - when Kayola asked us to take off our socks and shoes. He then started to wade across the gushing river. He stumbled as he crossed but then signalled to us to follow. I went first, with no certainty about what I was stepping on and with the water swirling around my knees. I then encouraged Liz, who was looking non-plussed, to come across, and she managed with a helping hand at the end from Kayola. We thought that was it but then Kayola started to cross the river again, this time just above the head of the water-fall. Again he was almost taken away by the flow of the river but made it across and turned to encourage us to cross. This time I was looking non-plussed but I started to cross. It was flat rocks at the bottom and, with my bare feet, I just started to slip. After a couple of attempts I called it a day - I think Liz had wanted to call it a day some time before - but by this stage Kayola was looking distinctly non-plussed. What was our problem? The only way back was by crossing the river again where we had crossed it up-stream - a scary enough prospect but at least we felt it was the better of two evils.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifp_F4qfIEGYGd6v3kfgv2MXzuKshAyQRkoLLnIifKPrJEYr5YGIf-ss6oYctjvUM-w2jo3r7ro45HKke-jcTBLPvMZeaz9pb6IlaRsDVELL1rPf8k3t1nEfUTW8pVuoDkHSztgDN82gWn/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifp_F4qfIEGYGd6v3kfgv2MXzuKshAyQRkoLLnIifKPrJEYr5YGIf-ss6oYctjvUM-w2jo3r7ro45HKke-jcTBLPvMZeaz9pb6IlaRsDVELL1rPf8k3t1nEfUTW8pVuoDkHSztgDN82gWn/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+143.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz gets a helping hand from Kayola</td></tr>
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The staff at Zulunkhuni River Lodge were amongst the friendliest we have met - which is saying something in Malawi. Levy, tending the bar and proudly telling us the story of how he and other villagers had been involved in the building and running of a library, community centre and other facilities (collectively known as Nyumba ya Masambiro, NYM), Fishani singing local songs whilst cooking our food in the kitchen, with Leah smiling and laughing alongside her; Kayola being long suffering as we climbed up to the waterfall and then showing off his own derring-do by diving off a 15 metre platform into a rocky bit of the lake; Duwe carrying our bag back to the boat and introducing his wife, who was amongst the village people on the beach. <span style="background-color: #e8dcc9; color: #633a22; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', Tahoma, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-F8iqck9p6SaEw40w5H5No_SldvNU0rRs3s_qSQmxambHK_SaJLi0Ee03eP7638b633ZgMqmZrsAJU4nq84Uh89FwGPLEOXrHmIRuNYemhxFzPIxPFkue-BKzK4SxdjIMHdSfXLU2vITN/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-F8iqck9p6SaEw40w5H5No_SldvNU0rRs3s_qSQmxambHK_SaJLi0Ee03eP7638b633ZgMqmZrsAJU4nq84Uh89FwGPLEOXrHmIRuNYemhxFzPIxPFkue-BKzK4SxdjIMHdSfXLU2vITN/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+194.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Levy and Fishani with a fish freshly caught in the Lake</td></tr>
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Ruarwe itself has a lovely feel to it. Kayola showed us round the village whilst we were waiting for the boat. The beach area was the main hub of activity. But we walked past houses at the back and up to a community campus - a 105 year old church, a primary school, the NYM buildings, a clinic. There were one or two dilapidated houses which looked as if they had been built half a century or more ago and were totally out of place - but they only added to the charm.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCac0jYuUxWbc0frlCs0UO167wLgW0B6bifsq3z7PQ7MXE0KXcT0zJdDEiEcCkLPgOoyjHa4fssugDOOnxC5OKVrK7WmhIdkewAHj2A_cr8IXfwh22V4-yBpCNSZubJPt30f_5Wry8fja/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivCac0jYuUxWbc0frlCs0UO167wLgW0B6bifsq3z7PQ7MXE0KXcT0zJdDEiEcCkLPgOoyjHa4fssugDOOnxC5OKVrK7WmhIdkewAHj2A_cr8IXfwh22V4-yBpCNSZubJPt30f_5Wry8fja/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+254.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Children playing in Ruarwe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OzCpt57LoQlU0-lcTBM6U52QaYGz-QPP5w8Rf-c8XDmWCABbkA_-CIv7TbnCpDQ5m5oiIhtDpVHEzGzgamsCa8mXd1Q5bURr76FtqX4ArzvlJMFzlr65DLpsMhATlXCcOX4OmJuIaaSY/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OzCpt57LoQlU0-lcTBM6U52QaYGz-QPP5w8Rf-c8XDmWCABbkA_-CIv7TbnCpDQ5m5oiIhtDpVHEzGzgamsCa8mXd1Q5bURr76FtqX4ArzvlJMFzlr65DLpsMhATlXCcOX4OmJuIaaSY/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+252.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not your normal village house!</td></tr>
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One thing that increasingly strikes me about Malawi is that GDP per head is a very poor measure of quality of life (you'll recall that Malawi's GDP per head is now the lowest in the world) . Northern Malawi is less populated than the south, has different land ownership structures, and is more fertile - which may mean we're getting a distorted view. But people are happy here and on the whole have a good life. They have no money but, certainly in this area, most appear to be able to access food. There is a real sense of village community with people in the village taking responsibility for each other. The children clearly enjoy the freedom to run around and play. And people are industrious. We didn't see any bricks being fired here but we saw plenty of other industry: growing fruit and vegetables, rearing livestock, fishing and other activities, all aimed at ensuring that people could ensure a reasonably sustainable livelihood.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3EG2D4LZZ5Fb3sm6xKZUITR7lAMRt-3GyRFD9AauLxTvOOHnegW49J7s9QNA5T4Lrc23ie4n3c81CJcfNI_LxUsBaYO7oBljI9ipnBT-BCd3O-4xplaxkaYG_lOZ2jy2qp3WOb3R7S7X/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ3EG2D4LZZ5Fb3sm6xKZUITR7lAMRt-3GyRFD9AauLxTvOOHnegW49J7s9QNA5T4Lrc23ie4n3c81CJcfNI_LxUsBaYO7oBljI9ipnBT-BCd3O-4xplaxkaYG_lOZ2jy2qp3WOb3R7S7X/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+207.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A woman preparing cassava to make nsima, the local staple</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ98Sv27GnyZlJaQJK6VBjbq-oJ9sNJoBwbamaL6lF0aDQMeffvpaN1fNGQqzPVD5bA_fMlkivNYvRi4AjvfYRXteAT-UHUCU6K-OjxaQHsgj1u6jurJed9YtLDXz2w27z0-gR9VO-e_6d/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+217.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the many animals being reared locally</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnsZyx68SkZpNOmt4ZbMscZVWRTFHA61BG53EscFm9LIScWtM2ny8I9SHPRHUs8FmC-Imj7mNeNzatYOgor7eCqcsN0WfynCGn5oFnGQl0U6Ts7CwCrWgQvX7VguGa8H11vqcqz3g5PHV/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+186.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnsZyx68SkZpNOmt4ZbMscZVWRTFHA61BG53EscFm9LIScWtM2ny8I9SHPRHUs8FmC-Imj7mNeNzatYOgor7eCqcsN0WfynCGn5oFnGQl0U6Ts7CwCrWgQvX7VguGa8H11vqcqz3g5PHV/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+186.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishing at Ruarwe</td></tr>
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On our way back on the Ilala we could see what appeared to be smoke rising above the water in virtually every direction. In my typically 'observant-unobservant' way, I could see these smoke clouds, wondered briefly whether they were oil wells on fire and shifted my thoughts on to something else. Some time later, Liz drew my attention to them again - and this time I took in what I was seeing. Apparently they are swarms of flies that hatch in the depths of the Lake and rise up above it, much to the delight of waiting fish and birds. Occasionally the swarms drift over land to the delight of local villagers. They are caught by the children, squeezed into balls and fried - a real delicacy that brings to mind the Eccles cakes of my youth.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dXlMfZNKWSR5JYWec3VsV95tL6yrDAVabnSe6Pni4DXrEqB_jYOTFwmumi8vb6sAo8KDgAs8EFvw0x9l45zdlw8Q_lPf9xAsBrP1YlxgE5gJoXVELSdq9uVe2qz_ulvQGORjTPk-CnXp/s1600/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-dXlMfZNKWSR5JYWec3VsV95tL6yrDAVabnSe6Pni4DXrEqB_jYOTFwmumi8vb6sAo8KDgAs8EFvw0x9l45zdlw8Q_lPf9xAsBrP1YlxgE5gJoXVELSdq9uVe2qz_ulvQGORjTPk-CnXp/s320/Dec+2015+-+Ruarwe+316.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just how many flies?</td></tr>
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Those who read this blog may be wondering (in fact, I would, if I was reading it!) what this volunteering thing is about. Is it just one long holiday? Well it does feel like that sometimes - we do seem to have been around in northern Malawi. In my defence, m'lord...well enough of that. Suffice it to say that I am working very hard!!!<br />
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Having said that, after the Malawi Board meeting this morning and finishing off some work this afternoon, we are off on our next adventures - Mushroom Farm at Livingstonia for Christmas and Mango Drift on Likoma for New Year. I can feel a blog coming on...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-69178111155184194642015-12-13T21:24:00.001-08:002015-12-13T21:24:31.807-08:00'My Heart's in the Highlands'<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAs5dKgKdt4j8rdXy1-_oSSQ-T32ZMYuDaMNbOJ-gcGwBa0P5DKQzVyLTovG2Vozjj0VDnvbcIeCLOJX8LO_sN22CM0krUOGmern2-scrX9f22-ymeljQUlaqONcgSstrlHfMEDV1H1skn/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><br /></a>
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It's getting toward Christmas but it doesn't feel like it here. Following the storm we had six weeks ago, it seemed we had gone back to the hot dry weather Since then the rains have arrived but they are not like the storm we had...now it's nothing more than the heavy rain we might have in the UK during spring. And then it turns to what is most of the time very pleasant hot weather. So no sign of reindeer here other than the hats worn by Shoprite shop assistants.</div>
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Not that we have been short of seeing other kinds of deer (well antelope!). We had a long weekend in Nyika National Park which is 100 kilometres north of Mzuzu so pretty far north in Malawian terms - though not as far north as my home town of Chitipa (you will recall I am known here as Musopole from Kameme District in Chitipa). It rained quite a lot on the way up there and there seemed to be rain coming down (together with amazing lightning forks) all around us when we were there. But we were lucky and I don't recall a drop of rain falling on us during our stay.</div>
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Nyika is nothing like the dry scrubland we experienced at Vwaza which lies just to the south. The green rolling hills seem to go on for ever in every direction. There are lakes, streams, evergreen trees, bracken, beautiful orchids, mountain paths; there is low lying mist and dew on the ground in the mornings; there are heavy dark clouds with blue peaking through; there are log fires in the lodge and in the guest rooms for the cold nights; there is a small fishing lake in front of the lodge and little green wooden tables to sit at for picnics; there is even a friendly deer or two (bushbuck - looks like a deer to me but belongs, I think, to the antelope family) that come down to the lodge to graze on the grass in the mornings and evenings. We were back at the hostel we stayed at in Lochranza (Isle of Arran) in August - or it felt like it! </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5eFNiyDsmbtEqCTp8b_KJzffeABMTW7FTAWgZVnkaAPLrtWkmNyfpurj7aOKJZkm4yeyaYx4XsenHS05rrGk_jOt3klOIiJIEYmNMhyphenhyphenzhYqok9NnLFCNi7ak2p2d7wi66_UyBSaXkDvR/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje5eFNiyDsmbtEqCTp8b_KJzffeABMTW7FTAWgZVnkaAPLrtWkmNyfpurj7aOKJZkm4yeyaYx4XsenHS05rrGk_jOt3klOIiJIEYmNMhyphenhyphenzhYqok9NnLFCNi7ak2p2d7wi66_UyBSaXkDvR/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+228.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View across the lake to Chilinda Lodge</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcSNBPG-y6eMSZG2tzBngyOTAdWYQ_hfXxpDfbPS8zsM29ksNxPtejYl5AUACb-PHWBIboxtpfVe7zaIgz2VK_b9zg8bw89UVZodDxHTdw0O_tFbOF6rpOPAZNVc8CRK4TxGieMB8F31-/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDcSNBPG-y6eMSZG2tzBngyOTAdWYQ_hfXxpDfbPS8zsM29ksNxPtejYl5AUACb-PHWBIboxtpfVe7zaIgz2VK_b9zg8bw89UVZodDxHTdw0O_tFbOF6rpOPAZNVc8CRK4TxGieMB8F31-/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+227.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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Liz by the log fire in our room at Chilinda Lodge - electricity is only on from 6pm to 9pm</div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsA0-qE8I_R0Gb36orkMuma5zqIWN24lmDvrjsIoadahyWlEnPqAZsAWlKRW9aIQYHbhUKGmHxbkQrWW1Z-0uEq9Mq-fcCcctebYyYLzKO7JjZwX0gSAuTLv-ZgJmXRuytKt-6PvHHlEAB/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsA0-qE8I_R0Gb36orkMuma5zqIWN24lmDvrjsIoadahyWlEnPqAZsAWlKRW9aIQYHbhUKGmHxbkQrWW1Z-0uEq9Mq-fcCcctebYyYLzKO7JjZwX0gSAuTLv-ZgJmXRuytKt-6PvHHlEAB/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+091.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Disa Robusta -o</span>ne of the many varieties of orchid we saw in Nyika </td></tr>
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We went with Roy 'Tubby' Johnson, a South African who has lived in Malawi for a few years and runs Tubby Tours, and two other guests - Hannah who is from Korea and has been working as a volunteer near Zomba (the old colonial capital which is in the south) and Michael, a musician who trained in Karonga in the north and is now back living in Mzuzu which is his home town. Roy loves Nyika and was really enthusiastic whilst taking us on game drives. On the Saturday, he took us to his favourite viewing point, Chosi Point, to see the sun set over the Zambian hills to the west. Unfortunately the rain clouds over the hills hid the sun from view but it was a great spot and we returned the next morning, when the clouds had dispersed, to get an even better view.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Roy, Liz, Hannah and Michael at Chosi Point</td></tr>
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The animals were not the same as Vwaza - none of those elegant, big-eared kudu, no impala, definitely no hippo and buffalo....but masses of roan antelope with their trade mark white noses, herds of bushbucks running across the grassland, the ever present zebra, regular sightings of birds of prey and other bird varieties (for the connoisseurs amongst you, the spotting of Denham Bustards, a nightjar and an African marsh harrier), the occasional eland antelope (the largest antelope weighing in at about 1,000 kilo compared to the 500 kilo of the roan), and some unusual black monkeys with very long tales as we drove along the Zambian border on the way back. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFal-ceHv0B2Kmzx0Xvk2wRdHxWhyphenhyphen6XryW1cVLLUaMlAcbx6F7Sso0HaK4qwtCY9DudyD3Jre19lMyAiqkRYaXciMORD2k1aN-Q0dcXzB9Jt9HK7lPDAlQccIOLjtd5uXR00IcpFk8AlrP/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFal-ceHv0B2Kmzx0Xvk2wRdHxWhyphenhyphen6XryW1cVLLUaMlAcbx6F7Sso0HaK4qwtCY9DudyD3Jre19lMyAiqkRYaXciMORD2k1aN-Q0dcXzB9Jt9HK7lPDAlQccIOLjtd5uXR00IcpFk8AlrP/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+068.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A roan antelope with distinctive white marks on its face</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwf6J6ZxCXGRPSUOCUAupUZsxLOZXoQXNh6CskO_nZ1iTrqGiTcGSMnGVbZ4iWBrLVqu3fuh3YKb1OtvMma_t506Kop8RFZqMwRRBguVjf9H4fmK8RkbE7vBtxdDzv6cwqyEAmzMKPyER/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwf6J6ZxCXGRPSUOCUAupUZsxLOZXoQXNh6CskO_nZ1iTrqGiTcGSMnGVbZ4iWBrLVqu3fuh3YKb1OtvMma_t506Kop8RFZqMwRRBguVjf9H4fmK8RkbE7vBtxdDzv6cwqyEAmzMKPyER/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+161.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zebra Crossing!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ5NPe1W_C1aHCUkXo_sTE2PJ407Lc-3Smgc_bzSz23YmvxibYsfXgTgre_uDmVMQpyN1zOOei71TqHvKqkmGw7DVJeSSzYzQ4gYtXWw5TOjaesD2vDsjbA09XGWvS04Nv8-K3o5Pcb3m/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYZ5NPe1W_C1aHCUkXo_sTE2PJ407Lc-3Smgc_bzSz23YmvxibYsfXgTgre_uDmVMQpyN1zOOei71TqHvKqkmGw7DVJeSSzYzQ4gYtXWw5TOjaesD2vDsjbA09XGWvS04Nv8-K3o5Pcb3m/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+131.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the bushbucks ran alongside our car</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT22IWRRPmyqDxf4FIkwzH7FBR_jW79NG2ox8Tj3OFDrUr5I1Avvjqr8GktwRg9Hb7MPiQEi2B17DUtBQfNrsBls5DnahuBe92mrYTpP8iZlgwa7PXBPAHQYri0swDbtomVMWyc9GbVutR/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT22IWRRPmyqDxf4FIkwzH7FBR_jW79NG2ox8Tj3OFDrUr5I1Avvjqr8GktwRg9Hb7MPiQEi2B17DUtBQfNrsBls5DnahuBe92mrYTpP8iZlgwa7PXBPAHQYri0swDbtomVMWyc9GbVutR/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+080.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A pair of Denham's Bustards</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCexfWyBbxUf60UoQSK_Ktix_PXTMoc90JIce1d0tSYtXKhignMNf4-uiXgYjt18jPpCE7lxnbd2pPZhowmj3MYFgObyt8kM9hYZ0GF5CBomU3hLX14ZaBhi7KiujYghhMc7Qe0tUktx7U/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCexfWyBbxUf60UoQSK_Ktix_PXTMoc90JIce1d0tSYtXKhignMNf4-uiXgYjt18jPpCE7lxnbd2pPZhowmj3MYFgObyt8kM9hYZ0GF5CBomU3hLX14ZaBhi7KiujYghhMc7Qe0tUktx7U/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+097.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nightjar </div>
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Nyika also has one of the greatest concentrations of leopards in Central Africa and we were hopeful we might see one on the night game drive we took but as first timers we would have been lucky. We were able to pretend we were in the leopard's lair when, the next day, we went to the top of a hill which had a brilliant view of the antelope grazing in the valley below, good shelter in trees and rocks, and a smell of an animal marking its ground. But, maybe luckily, we didn't come across the leopard itself! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcg73_S2Cii5UtdSK6FBT2retXHXCwVCwiNNPnkd9tBPvx5sUQAZFCN-jm9iVNoy55qx9UoDQfOIB7sE2RO64lsJEdG4F1UQAFPwf7aonZwqhZHN7Fd5PsH7utAEAgnhLMFOby31Yi-DnY/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcg73_S2Cii5UtdSK6FBT2retXHXCwVCwiNNPnkd9tBPvx5sUQAZFCN-jm9iVNoy55qx9UoDQfOIB7sE2RO64lsJEdG4F1UQAFPwf7aonZwqhZHN7Fd5PsH7utAEAgnhLMFOby31Yi-DnY/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+086.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Blessings and Watson were our very knowledgeable guides on the night game drive</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAs5dKgKdt4j8rdXy1-_oSSQ-T32ZMYuDaMNbOJ-gcGwBa0P5DKQzVyLTovG2Vozjj0VDnvbcIeCLOJX8LO_sN22CM0krUOGmern2-scrX9f22-ymeljQUlaqONcgSstrlHfMEDV1H1skn/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><br /><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAs5dKgKdt4j8rdXy1-_oSSQ-T32ZMYuDaMNbOJ-gcGwBa0P5DKQzVyLTovG2Vozjj0VDnvbcIeCLOJX8LO_sN22CM0krUOGmern2-scrX9f22-ymeljQUlaqONcgSstrlHfMEDV1H1skn/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+188.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">The leopard's lair?</span></div>
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We saw fresh elephant dung on the way out of the park but no elephants. We stopped at Vwaza Marsh en route back to Mzuzu. What a contrast with the landscape in Nyika! No buffalo this time but loads of hippos doing their wallowing best and quite a few warthogs. Godwin, who looks after the Vwaza cabins, was there again - he didn't recognise us from the previous time until I mentioned that I was Musopole from Chitipa and Liz was Nya Kaunda from Nkhata Bay at which stage recognition was immediate - clearly our names have caught on. </div>
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In Mzuzu, the lights are back on - it seems that the coming of the rains has allowed ESCOM to reduce their load shedding activity! We went to Macondo Camp for Thanksgiving (a lot of the time it doesn't seem like we are in Malawi - either Scotland or, on this occasion, the USA); both the cats are expecting what Tom calls 'blessings' - there's a 'lad' in the neighbourhood who is clearly up to no good and we suspect is not planning to fulfil his fatherly duties; it may be their current pregnant state that makes them a bit more lethargic but 'catty' or 'catties' definitely hasn't/haven't got 'ratty' - last Saturday, I surprised 'ratty' when I opened a cupboard door and he used my shoulder as an initial landing pad before jumping down on the floor and scuttling past the bemused 'catties'; Elle has started making her home-made muesli from scratch by putting lots of fruit out to dry in the sun; we went back to Macondo on Friday to hear a recently formed local group called The Repatriation Band - they were 'rastas' who showed some devotion to their cause (at least the lead singer did) and every song had 'Repatriation' worked into it - there weren't many people there but the band made a real effort to entertain and they were great fun; Liz carries on helping out at the Crisis Nursery most days and has been showing children at Wongari Primary School how to play the guitar, playing along to them singing mainly religious songs, and teaching them to sing 'Blowing in the Wind' and 'Here Comes the Sun'; and 'Red Chile', which does a lovely hot tandoori chicken, has changed its name to 'Blue Tomato' (Liz and I are a bit concerned about the marketing impact of this - at least with 'Red Chile' you had some idea that it might be about spicy food).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">'The Repatriation Band' backing players</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSvOy7U9qX27vYXpaQL93zNkEL8bePNxKRC__q1zJe4uK5q0svga7H44Pn9tHUhA577QFxDKHjB0I-O6kCGP2-yDIusu_GrT-J3hX2LnsYDa_yQ6gMKgIcrYMkxDYD4S0oRsOj_uGVZC6/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNSvOy7U9qX27vYXpaQL93zNkEL8bePNxKRC__q1zJe4uK5q0svga7H44Pn9tHUhA577QFxDKHjB0I-O6kCGP2-yDIusu_GrT-J3hX2LnsYDa_yQ6gMKgIcrYMkxDYD4S0oRsOj_uGVZC6/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+014.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mangoes being dried in the Temwa garden (with cinnamon and baking powder round the outside as a deterrent to the ants!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k516jD2BGptpo_zoqVoIeoZ5ZOPdN2n0x2h6bVPmmpLWihtkrgbMW7tnAuSecIlzwoukqUwC5LtwtURiDRhcM6A6vi60Zmo7EPQOxVWSK3fFsk4so7nv8W5Y8fgiSR4t06bylTuAnQsH/s1600/Mzuzu+-+Dec+2015+009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k516jD2BGptpo_zoqVoIeoZ5ZOPdN2n0x2h6bVPmmpLWihtkrgbMW7tnAuSecIlzwoukqUwC5LtwtURiDRhcM6A6vi60Zmo7EPQOxVWSK3fFsk4so7nv8W5Y8fgiSR4t06bylTuAnQsH/s320/Mzuzu+-+Dec+2015+009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mushrooms are in season!</td></tr>
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At Temwa, the Nkhata Bay Natural Way (NBNW) team have moved on from 'sensitisation' (the community awareness campaign which I joined at Kasasire in the upland area in my first week here) and 'verification' (the process of checking people nominated to take part in NBNW understand the commitment they are making which Liz and I joined in Sanga on the lakeshore a few weeks ago), to 'situational analysis' which involves getting a more detailed understanding of each individual beneficiary's situation: what experience they have of the Income Generating Activity (IGA) they're involved in, what land they have for growing crops, fish farming or bee-keeping and what support they hope to receive from Temwa. The team have been going out into the field every weekday and most weekends (they got back around 7pm yesterday, Saturday, and went out again at dawn this morning, Sunday!). </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rAyZfdLuigC0H3U-rxlAjZD6O9a-YdFv7jj_u-y7c-hl2mBZVcW16xshoMvOXiRnel1t_W1PmPSk0S4j2feGcpug_BPRyC5xYoDiTS8ceOnp1Q3wVDC6JUJEhXW4t3PtlpyJzyHls7Qs/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rAyZfdLuigC0H3U-rxlAjZD6O9a-YdFv7jj_u-y7c-hl2mBZVcW16xshoMvOXiRnel1t_W1PmPSk0S4j2feGcpug_BPRyC5xYoDiTS8ceOnp1Q3wVDC6JUJEhXW4t3PtlpyJzyHls7Qs/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+002.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Off to the field - Benson, NBNW Project Manager, with Emmanuel, Programmes Manager, in the background</span></td></tr>
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The Nkhata Bay Natural Resource Initiative, which operates in areas not covered by NBNW, is currently trying to source and distribute potato tuba in time for the growing season. The micro-finance team continues its work assessing new clients, issuing loans, collecting repayments; I'm still hoping to join Jericho, the Project Officer, doing his round of the Nkhata Bay North area. It's been a quieter time for Fishani and Dyana, the health and education officers, following a hectic November - they've been catching up on paperwork, helping me put together the budget for next year and preparing for a review of their projects.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the office - Dyana, Maria and Fishani</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XpkO6mDFHluDNwcUexp3eF6f3BxbmbZMGCSPG3O3TpVUuF3i2wnU_hSzQ7K-uzi3yojWpIwb3658ael7Vmf9iLZOCpGwARfE6Wt99C4oDJyqGdPAn4Gu6sktVdLbHLBHSjF94-fA3fno/s1600/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XpkO6mDFHluDNwcUexp3eF6f3BxbmbZMGCSPG3O3TpVUuF3i2wnU_hSzQ7K-uzi3yojWpIwb3658ael7Vmf9iLZOCpGwARfE6Wt99C4oDJyqGdPAn4Gu6sktVdLbHLBHSjF94-fA3fno/s320/Nyika+-+Dec+2015+021.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div>
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Chimwemwe (Happy) prefers being in the office to catching 'ratty'</div>
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We'll be in Livingstonia for Christmas and Likoma for New Year. Liz's trip to Zanzibar is booked and I'll join her for the last part, before we take the Tazara (Tanzania to Zambia railway built by the Chinese in the early 1970s) from Dar es Salaam to Mbeya - a 24 hour journey which includes going through national parks - before making our way by bus/shared taxi to Mzuzu through south west Tanzania and northern Malawi. Before she goes, we're hoping Johnny at Maconda will put on a Burns Supper (if we can source a haggis!). There will be poetry readings and songs and I'm sure 'My Heart's in the Highlands' will be amongst them.</div>
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...and, getting back to Christmas, if you are still thinking about what to buy, why not try the Temwa shop at http://temwa.bigcartel.com/? A bit late I know but...</div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-7170511774751825592015-11-23T03:23:00.001-08:002015-11-28T01:37:06.079-08:00Bula, Vwaza and the Black Missionaries<div class="MsoNormal">
I normally write these blogs in the wee small hours in the
Temwa compound in Mzuzu (our home and my office). This time I'm sitting in Njaya Lodge in Nkhata Bay overlooking the beautiful deep blue Lake and
looking across to where it meets the light blue of the sky on the horizon. It’s
unlikely I’ll complete the blog here – we are in the middle of the normal
Sunday electricity load shedding by ESCOM (Electricity Supply Commission of
Malawi) and my lap top has less than one hour charge left. No doubt, I will be finishing it in the wee
small hours when we get back to Mzuzu!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68CSyeBgMETZ77dQ_gyCLGpacnr6dLQOwyAoPBOj5vbLpqeY1A0o39cHz-XuwsnmU80Dp_5V9aQO1pAJEebWBLId1lXK6dRLcwwzhyZa94PqrUXtlaTn4G4olZk02gz1tvfbaadLSjQpx/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj68CSyeBgMETZ77dQ_gyCLGpacnr6dLQOwyAoPBOj5vbLpqeY1A0o39cHz-XuwsnmU80Dp_5V9aQO1pAJEebWBLId1lXK6dRLcwwzhyZa94PqrUXtlaTn4G4olZk02gz1tvfbaadLSjQpx/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">View from Njaya Lodge where I started writing this blog</span></td></tr>
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Last weekend was full on.
On Saturday, Temwa had organised a fair in Bula (one hour along the dirt
track road from Mzuzu to Usisya) to celebrate the Early Grade Literacy programme which provides help for children in local schools to improve their literacy levels. It is one of a number of Temwa projects to support education in Nkhata Bay North. Others include bursaries for children to go on to secondary education – education is only free in Malawi up to the end of primary level – and sponsorship for a small number of school leavers to go to teacher training college – with a commitment from them to teach for five years post-qualification in the Nktata Bay North area. </div>
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We had planned to leave at
6.30am but this had been put back to 8.30am the evening before. A vehicle hiccup – the Temwa car’s brakes
had failed going down the hill outside the Temwa compound (a good job the same
thing had not happened going down the steep and windy road to the Lake at
Usisya earlier in the week!) – meant we hung around until a minibus arrived to
take us there at about 11.30am.</div>
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Our arrival at the fair was impressive. The Temwa Programmes Manager, Emmanuel, who
was guest of honour, and the chair of the local Area Development
Committee (ADC), Ivor, were in the minibus. A large group of children carrying
tree branches and singing ‘you are welcome’ accompanied our minibus into the
village. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ-RC1jO81qmGsnhJZ6dr1rBZ19FY1tRNfqoQ7qcm5jqh5mhixaK_epMAie-Fk-ixsmG6aFr2cRVhkTtSYrK9kq_hZJLoGaj6sYJqzXD7RwYua2EU7Wou5U1BU4x1bS_SzhyphenhyphenMxPVSUKKI/s1600/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQ-RC1jO81qmGsnhJZ6dr1rBZ19FY1tRNfqoQ7qcm5jqh5mhixaK_epMAie-Fk-ixsmG6aFr2cRVhkTtSYrK9kq_hZJLoGaj6sYJqzXD7RwYua2EU7Wou5U1BU4x1bS_SzhyphenhyphenMxPVSUKKI/s320/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Our arrival at Bula</span></td></tr>
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There was a wide range of activity at the event: children read poems, recited the alphabet, and performed songs in traditional dress; the Temwa peer educators performed a play which had a central message of allowing children to go to school rather than keeping them off school to work in the fields; there was some traditional dancing by local villagers with a number of the audience – including the elderly Group Village Head – joining in; there was prize giving for success in competitions organised as part of the Early Grade Literacy programme; and there were a lot of speeches (mainly in Tumbuka but with one of the local teachers helpfully translating for us). A particularly inspiring speech was one by a local nurse, who had grown up in the area, talking about the perseverance required to achieve her ambition of becoming a nurse and returning to work in Bula.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlA2OtmzxU3WEY8lEnd5Eeg-dvqrFVa6vf9aOirkCgHn27nLzLzEmyHIxmggpbB3RIbk9Jb81HsJSKfC9oreN3e0SoEnhryc-4gSMP2Uzklu_Ya4-QT1UY_vv5xwSo_dmfg_ZF3AjSerg/s1600/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNlA2OtmzxU3WEY8lEnd5Eeg-dvqrFVa6vf9aOirkCgHn27nLzLzEmyHIxmggpbB3RIbk9Jb81HsJSKfC9oreN3e0SoEnhryc-4gSMP2Uzklu_Ya4-QT1UY_vv5xwSo_dmfg_ZF3AjSerg/s320/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+046.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Dyana, the Temwa Education Project Officer and lead organiser of the Bula event</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-FOBYN5tgbkKPBg8kvqWFzZj6ddE9nDt7BeY7NvoSeXXTr59bQV0lFKjHjqyvt_M0uoHIJf6npjmwRENqH7UyJAT7oxRQhggZVn1KnNCKQTKByRWLSAk3WWeNBlw2htcEpLNrKIcvpWb/s1600/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz-FOBYN5tgbkKPBg8kvqWFzZj6ddE9nDt7BeY7NvoSeXXTr59bQV0lFKjHjqyvt_M0uoHIJf6npjmwRENqH7UyJAT7oxRQhggZVn1KnNCKQTKByRWLSAk3WWeNBlw2htcEpLNrKIcvpWb/s320/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Children performing dressed as Ngoni tribes people</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FbWqFwlCLkAl018rmWw328AVxPj9uV66KKGu55af0xpRuX358JoL3C0vfKD4YYVeuWm4Caqi3AbTLHHNCC504lX5N1-2xI96ogiZHXve7sXBX_rsisVw2tG3yFcNU9rcigQUWFrcA-qA/s1600/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FbWqFwlCLkAl018rmWw328AVxPj9uV66KKGu55af0xpRuX358JoL3C0vfKD4YYVeuWm4Caqi3AbTLHHNCC504lX5N1-2xI96ogiZHXve7sXBX_rsisVw2tG3yFcNU9rcigQUWFrcA-qA/s320/14+Nov+15+-+Early+Grade+Literacy+-+Bula+060.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Local women led a traditional dance accompanied by drums</span></td></tr>
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Because of our late arrival, the entertainment/speeches didn't start until
around 12.30pm and they went on for almost three hours. Many of the children and adults had travelled
from villages which can be a long way from Bula, getting up at dawn and walking
for two or three hours. Despite this,
and the sometimes quite long speeches, the crowd remained attentive and
appreciative throughout. The commitment
to improvement through education is strong – despite the challenges of walking
long distances, hunger, and the need for children to help families eke out a
living. One of the telling points made
by Ivor, the ADC chair, was how to ensure that there are locally sustainable
ways of feeding children whilst at school.
People have not enough food for themselves (or, if they do, they need to be able
to sell any surplus to generate income) and therefore cannot contribute their own
products... but they might be willing to put time into maintaining plots near
schools for growing cassava and other foodstuffs if land could be reserved for
this purpose. (There’s more detail of the event on the Temwa website which is at http://temwa.org/learning-to-read-and-write-in-northern-malawi/.)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie6_91oMes0zeoIVXR6cVTI11wytI3PEyRzaQqqD_rYS0Rt1XCym8QjuTD93Veo0P61_obuVmzlTrQWFY8BdCTMHoUjMpepnHp75GOqaijTARNAVfwZWhxVwiypprR3Twak7RHJhw3RqaD/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie6_91oMes0zeoIVXR6cVTI11wytI3PEyRzaQqqD_rYS0Rt1XCym8QjuTD93Veo0P61_obuVmzlTrQWFY8BdCTMHoUjMpepnHp75GOqaijTARNAVfwZWhxVwiypprR3Twak7RHJhw3RqaD/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+025.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">On the prairie - Vwaza Marsh guide Nathan (suitably armed!), AFID volunteer Julie, driver Newton, Temwa micro-finance manager, Maria, and Liz</span><br />
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The Saturday trip to Bula was followed by an early start on
Sunday to visit the Vwaza game reserve. The
Malawi tourist industry is relatively small and, if people visit game reserves,
it’s mainly the more accessible ones in the south. Luckily we are already in the inaccessible
north and so it was a relatively easy
drive to get to Vwaza (two hours from Mzuzu – north along the A1 to Rumphi and
then an hour or so along a dirt track west to the reserve which lies on the
border with Zambia). We hadn't come to
Africa with any burning desire to go to a game reserve but visiting Vwaza was a
special experience. There
were hardly any other visitors there so we had the place largely to ourselves
apart from the animals and birds. The main attraction for the animals, particularly during the dry season, is Lake Kazuni - although lake is a bit of a misnomer at this time of year, more a watering hole. The most impressive were the hippos, with
large numbers wallowing in the water and making loud grunting
noises. We were accompanied by a ranger
with a gun and were able to get quite close – apparently more people get killed
by hippos than any other wild animal but they are only dangerous if you get
between them and water. More worrying –
and frightening – was being peered at through the trees by a herd of buffaloes;
the ranger made it abundantly clear that getting out of the car was not an
option! The range of animals and birds sharing the space was incredible - apart from the hippos and buffaloes, warthogs, baboons, monkeys, at least four different types of antelope, guinea fowl (a humble kind of bird to find in such a wild place!), marabou stork and so on. Elephants often come down to the lake in the dry season but the rains of two weeks ago meant they had been staying away - the only evidence we saw was the huge prints in the ground around the watering hole and the dried up dung. </div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAKEqXBMEzDxQbfKOxFLpRmSwqQvr_RtL2uRvL6xmobtT71LZD-X_kJDDytk2hyObQpUj3fwV3LxT02_uDSRZ9ZwkM-psYArBYBsw8fDHWeJIITleykSqjdsDDEfUFB9IWCogJ-I0OrK8/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgAKEqXBMEzDxQbfKOxFLpRmSwqQvr_RtL2uRvL6xmobtT71LZD-X_kJDDytk2hyObQpUj3fwV3LxT02_uDSRZ9ZwkM-psYArBYBsw8fDHWeJIITleykSqjdsDDEfUFB9IWCogJ-I0OrK8/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+052.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Hippos up close</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdaJAulFEbdkU44PQaFzEwrfcVx65yUGlOKa7uDlP1UkM5Axy43O8k-nCjQeWtOLjJCzn9NRr1BmATHU9q42ZfKZ-tlAgyqt9u-JEgX7cca81KnQKvFb5P6goTYbjZG5hRoSP5USniolq/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDdaJAulFEbdkU44PQaFzEwrfcVx65yUGlOKa7uDlP1UkM5Axy43O8k-nCjQeWtOLjJCzn9NRr1BmATHU9q42ZfKZ-tlAgyqt9u-JEgX7cca81KnQKvFb5P6goTYbjZG5hRoSP5USniolq/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">The buffaloes kept a close eye on us</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0NL_93OE-aVmyYBUi1NgCinAM0hXvmITXX9D4y6GqrBQ9B1ZfPesDEtG9A2usV6Kgd9fqnZnUS5rvZ6oRYhG-Cbz0fveGrYOA5OvVhwPd88iQSVS53ia-tMk5V0vOiERhytfjjJGrfBE/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN0NL_93OE-aVmyYBUi1NgCinAM0hXvmITXX9D4y6GqrBQ9B1ZfPesDEtG9A2usV6Kgd9fqnZnUS5rvZ6oRYhG-Cbz0fveGrYOA5OvVhwPd88iQSVS53ia-tMk5V0vOiERhytfjjJGrfBE/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+098.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Kudus were my favourites of the antelopes we saw - look at those ears!</span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingmXpDPtfZPQEDjk1uVESzXd6ru4-7R2ubUT-o6_F4bhFmvhpK_5fDHninIXye-Qo8z2LhPD15cgCNECTfBUi-zg97p_2cuHeBsccZY65Xw35DMOWZVYpNCbNbEpQBvmtqFx7oEgDqtNb/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEingmXpDPtfZPQEDjk1uVESzXd6ru4-7R2ubUT-o6_F4bhFmvhpK_5fDHninIXye-Qo8z2LhPD15cgCNECTfBUi-zg97p_2cuHeBsccZY65Xw35DMOWZVYpNCbNbEpQBvmtqFx7oEgDqtNb/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+078.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">A family of warthogs</span><br />
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It's hot here - well into the 30s every day (apart from the two days of storms we had) - and the idea of going out after we came back from Vwaza was not very appealing; we were hot and sweaty and I, for one, just wanted a shower and a bit of kip but...the Black Missionaries, one of Malawi's top bands, were in town and playing at the Mzuzu Lodge. We could hear the music across the valley and decided we couldn't miss it...so the shower was followed by a taxi trip to Mzuzu Lodge. I don't often go to gigs but, after this one, I could be persuaded to go to more. The Black Missionaries and their support band were great performers; the location was brilliant - Mzuzu Lodge has large open spaces with good views over the rolling Mzuzu hills; the crowd was just having fun. There were stalls selling various 'rasta' products and I paid 1,500 kwachas (£1.80) for a 'Blacks' (the nick name for the Black Missionaries) hat. We stayed there until the band sung their last song at 10pm so I didn't get my kip!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeODR7LJzTu37H_7u_1kGVGkAE-ljX-MaBcA3y1fqvyCIQftfHOJWKLq3oF9M_k2YYovMhU_I8e6d4v2UzF7-36YLiPLTeSk1THVnQh82n8W2w-FVxz5yaUVFj9ffHtwJyoL3tPGjfSE2Z/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeODR7LJzTu37H_7u_1kGVGkAE-ljX-MaBcA3y1fqvyCIQftfHOJWKLq3oF9M_k2YYovMhU_I8e6d4v2UzF7-36YLiPLTeSk1THVnQh82n8W2w-FVxz5yaUVFj9ffHtwJyoL3tPGjfSE2Z/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+108.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Black Missionaries were great performers</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDAryp48LnbgBHYVx6svVSaZQRnFAXWg9EbJFkyaQhSVnELt_Y2-Phiimw-krOCsrOzp05B3SIOmSm9Ounp_xVE-HPMwlOJq3nRsk621tW_4H-cBatUwnG9AJz9UI-M25zpRUU8qDEdWz/s1600/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXDAryp48LnbgBHYVx6svVSaZQRnFAXWg9EbJFkyaQhSVnELt_Y2-Phiimw-krOCsrOzp05B3SIOmSm9Ounp_xVE-HPMwlOJq3nRsk621tW_4H-cBatUwnG9AJz9UI-M25zpRUU8qDEdWz/s320/Vwaza+and+the+Black+Missionaries+110.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Me and my hat...</span></div>
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So here we are - or were (I am now once again in the office finishing this in the wee small hours) - back at Njaya Lodge in Nkhata Bay. I had a good balance between refreshing dips in the Lake, a visit with Dixon (who works at Njaya Lodge) to a very hot and sweaty football bar, an early start to see my fourth dawn/sunrise at the Lake (followed by a welcome return to bed), some lovely butter fish straight out of the Lake, and a fair amount of 'kipping' which I needed after the previous weekend.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMk_Bli9N1R3IQv9p-dYWlP-hBXBf6abmZ33aUNNi0gMDCu7VnXh2giP_ZzbQG0IEgcUtnReoD6eSJwB-Qw2gZ8PmwevQ8TyS31fvQs3S7_wXSgQPDSaPRryr4q94mKR83YoW-uaaC1kd/s1600/008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMk_Bli9N1R3IQv9p-dYWlP-hBXBf6abmZ33aUNNi0gMDCu7VnXh2giP_ZzbQG0IEgcUtnReoD6eSJwB-Qw2gZ8PmwevQ8TyS31fvQs3S7_wXSgQPDSaPRryr4q94mKR83YoW-uaaC1kd/s320/008.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun-rise over the Lake...again!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19Q4OSrJWV7ORme46dZbmucyGnCPpFFQssApjYXqf1HEOq45PqNNUqNCzT3GyCzzsW2wmcoFlF_oj18fUhen0m82cy6a6cscHKk34xKsbBzLF9Kn-503eWsL2MzTtwmQtXTj4RrlU4zqo/s1600/004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg19Q4OSrJWV7ORme46dZbmucyGnCPpFFQssApjYXqf1HEOq45PqNNUqNCzT3GyCzzsW2wmcoFlF_oj18fUhen0m82cy6a6cscHKk34xKsbBzLF9Kn-503eWsL2MzTtwmQtXTj4RrlU4zqo/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The double screen at the Sports Bar in Nkhata Bay. You can't get a proper sense of the heat of the place from the photo.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We have sorted out our plans for the Christmas break - Livingstonia, with wonderful views of the Lake, for Christmas itself, and Likoma, an island on Lake Malawi close to Mozambique, for New Year. We also have plans to go back to Njaya Lodge for an overnight stay before Christmas. And Liz is hatching a plan to take a January break in Zanzibar with her friend Jackie. So we won't be short of things to do... </span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-14515090808656540662015-11-16T23:31:00.000-08:002015-11-28T00:40:39.637-08:00Usisya (at last!)<div class="MsoPlainText">
In my first week in Malawi I went to Kasasire in the uplands area of Nkhata Bay North for a 'sensitisation' (awareness raising) meeting on the Nkhata Bay Natural Way (NBNW) project. Last week Liz and I joined Temwa project staff for the follow up 'verification' process in the lakeside area around Usisya.</div>
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Usisya is a two and a bit hour drive from Mzuzu across rough and treacherous dirt track roads (with the only feasible alternative a 45 minutes hair raising drive to Nkhata Bay followed by a three hour boat journey north up Lake Malawi). We had planned to leave in the early afternoon on Monday but ended up leaving just before sunset. Driving in the dark makes the roads more dangerous but the pitch black meant we were hardly conscious of the dangers we faced. Mind you, we were pretty physically wrecked by the combined effect of bumps in the road and limited suspension on our 4 by 4.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Benson and Efrina on the Temwa boat planning meetings at Sanga</td></tr>
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The Temwa boat picked us up from Usisya Lodge, where we were staying, at 6.30am the following morning. Temwa was running 'verification' meetings in four separate lakeside villages (Buwa, Mtawa, Sanga and Thotomsinghe), with Temwa staff allocated to each. We joined project manager, Benson, and field officer, Efrina, for the meeting at Sanga.<br />
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Our first meeting was with the Village Natural Resource Management Committee (VNMRC) at a tree nursery in a secluded hilly spot next to a small pond. Preventing and reversing deforestation is a key part of the NBNW project (Outcome 2). The purpose of this meeting was to check how many of the tree seedlings had germinated. After introductions, the group set about the business of counting each type of seedling to establish germination success. Overall, they found that 3,660 of the 5,000 seedlings had germinated - broadly in line with the expected germination rate of 70%. They also checked germination for the 9 separate tree seedling varieties.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sanga VNRMC plan the count of germinated seedlings</td></tr>
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The meeting was adjourned and we reconvened under a mango tree on the beach. Following the 'sensitisation' meetings, village meetings had been convened at which local chiefs had nominated people to take on volunteer roles as Community Extension Volunteer (the lead co-ordinator for the NBNW project in each village or group of villages) and Lead Farmers or to participate in farming activities (Outcome 1) or income generating activities (Outcome 3). The 'verification' process involved Benson and Efrina meeting the nominees individually to confirm they understood what was involved and the level of commitment that would be expected, as well as verifying personal details.<br />
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'Sensitisation' and 'verification' are part of an on-going process. NBNW is a four year project during which farmers will be trained in new farming techniques, trees will be planted, local people will be trained in forestry related business activities and effective business management, and community ownership of natural resource management will be strengthened. The four year duration of the project provides certainty of funding and time for outcomes to be monitored and assessed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Verification' in the shade of a mango tree</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sanga restaurant where we had lunch: a number of the participants in the earlier 'verification' meeting came in to thank Benson and Efrina for being given the opportunity to participate in NBNW<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Usipa being dried in the sun in Sanga. Drying nets like these were in every village along the Lake shore. </td></tr>
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Coming back, Liz and I got off the boat at Usisya beach and walked through the village. There were more farm animals than we had seen anywhere else in Malawi - pigs foraging on the beach, chickens feeding off rotting mangoes, tethered goats going nowhere! There were cassava fields that had expanded over footpaths and roads. There were endless mango trees. And there were children who were excited to see 'mzungus' (white people) and desperate to get their photos taken. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PDkCzR2IHk-xaPsTDGgj46EiteiNfhr4bp5gorwTgQSh3O_adVOjfzqBz0BqfO7OCi6qO2ba2GV2qNO8pZqBqR_s9ic0B5PQrW29ZZAdN__w97wfIO0va9GkYfxzACnkQQjTzqHhlN0e/s1600/Usisya+-+Nov+15+150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PDkCzR2IHk-xaPsTDGgj46EiteiNfhr4bp5gorwTgQSh3O_adVOjfzqBz0BqfO7OCi6qO2ba2GV2qNO8pZqBqR_s9ic0B5PQrW29ZZAdN__w97wfIO0va9GkYfxzACnkQQjTzqHhlN0e/s320/Usisya+-+Nov+15+150.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children in Usisya pose for the camera</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pigs forage on Usisya beach</td></tr>
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Usisya Lodge is much more basic than Njaya Lodge (the Nkhata Bay lodge we stayed in). The eating area is an open tented structure built around a mango tree trunk. Our beach cabin had a sand floor, no electricity and no running water - the compost toilet and shower were a 50 metre walk away. But the situation and views are even more spectacular than our apartment at Njaya Lodge. Wonderful sunrises (I witnessed them both mornings we were there). The lights from the fishing canoes at night and the sounds and sight of fishermen coming back at dawn with their catches of usipa. The birds sitting on the rocks. The variety of trees and bushes. The pure silver sand and clear water.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise in Usisya</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fisherman and bird at dawn</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our cabin at Usisya Lodge<br />
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I went in to see the Temwa compound in Usisya on the Wednesday morning. This is where the first Temwa project got off the ground in 2003, with the building of a community centre; it now also includes a library and a demonstration garden. Links to the outside world are poor. I was getting only limited telephone connection and there is no internet connection. There is also no kitchen and the only running water was in the demonstration garden. The temperature, which is much higher at the Lake than in Mzuzu, made working conditions practically unbearable. These difficulties, together with the fact that the Nkhata Bay North area is very large with many parts of the upland areas not easily accessible from Usisya, helped me understand why Temwa's administrative centre is in Mzuzu.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Temwa run community library at Usisya</td></tr>
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Our trip back on the Wednesday afternoon gave us a chance to see views that we had missed on the way down - looking down to the Lake from the road high above it, the rolling hills and deep valleys with villages dotted around, the beautiful colours in the sky as we travelled west toward Mzuzu at sunset.</div>
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Back in Mzuzu, Liz is finding her time taken up by the Crisis Nursery, where she spends two or three hours most days, and by helping out at the Marymount junior school where she has been going into classes to help children with their music skills. On Thursday evening, Danny Kalima, a Malawian singer song-writer, was playing at the Macondo. The storms of last week have gone and it was a beautiful evening to sit out in the hill-top surroundings of the Macondo and listen in the candle-light (the power was down) to his lively mix of African and soul music.<br />
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In my last blog, I said we planned to go back to Nkhata Bay this weekend. Our unplanned trip to Usisya meant we didn't go - two visits to the Lake in a week in sweltering heat was going to be too much for us! Our weekend has however been eventful and I will be reporting on it in my next blog...</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-24565560690189513292015-11-09T02:22:00.001-08:002015-11-11T12:41:21.659-08:00Malawian life<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Pf6XbeN0SpWbpq5crgaq9KOHK08vS7Whyphenhyphenjh8JX9sl1HJSdLMJdkIlHuz7wowxHOqnkWH7s24awcYSbhdQ-sGV1NDx6YAIEcuftxw2Vb6Ufn4QkGu_dt0A0DUDAfxarD6DiOGBgxMZxgm/s1600/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></a>
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I've now been in Malawi over a month and am starting to form some impressions of Malawian life. Of course these might change as I stay here longer but I thought I would set some of these down.</div>
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The first, which I referred to in one of my early blogs, is the friendliness of the Malawian people - the 'warm heart of Africa'. The warm welcoming handshake and smiles I got when I arrived. The children shouting out 'how are you?' to which I respond 'very well, how are you?', and they giggle between themselves (there's none of the 'don't talk to strangers' concern for children). The welcome we receive from locals when we go to events in the communities Temwa serves. The generally willing acceptance of people when you want to take their picture - a woman in the lush valley near where we live, a tailor mending the zip of Liz's waterproof, men firing bricks in Nhkata Bay, the children in Bigha playing with their trucks (although I made a mistake of taking a photo in the Swahili market without asking permission and got a negative reaction from at least one stall holder, so a lesson for me!). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Woman in the fields - it was getting dark so she came closer for me to get a better shot</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tailor wasn't able to replace the zip so didn't want to charge for the stitching job he did</td></tr>
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Then there is a real and infectious sense of humour. Laughing a lot is part of this - James and Halord always in fits of giggles; the repartee and laughter whilst watching football matches at Red Chile. There is the dry humour of Wellington talking about what he is planning for his Sunday sermon as lay preacher at the Zion Christian Church; or UK volunteers being given Tumbukan or other local identities - I am now Musopole from Kameme in Chitipa District (the very north of Malawi near the Zambian border) and Liz is nya Kaunda from Nkhata Bay (so, of course, much more local than me!). There is also humour in adversity - for example, when our vehicle broke down and we were stuck well into the evening on my field trip to Kasasire; or when we were having difficulty getting our new generator installed and Jericho, the Micro-Finance project officer who was doubling up as an electrician, saying 'ESCOM [Electricity Supply Commission of Malawi] operatives are working tirelessly to get you electricity' every time he went past our desks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new generator...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl3oWBmNhE8woejOQ5cGIVswEbNpcRAxbUMECFTU6u0dct8OkYeB-SQJ9EHX6WmjETjGYK0cD3pFoJXQeqRoYYc3BNs46bpM-JOY_EwDAhXqFFTqH76DE6fpNcGdqUZQdGWDENCz_L2s3/s1600/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwl3oWBmNhE8woejOQ5cGIVswEbNpcRAxbUMECFTU6u0dct8OkYeB-SQJ9EHX6WmjETjGYK0cD3pFoJXQeqRoYYc3BNs46bpM-JOY_EwDAhXqFFTqH76DE6fpNcGdqUZQdGWDENCz_L2s3/s320/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+013.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and its connection to one of our sockets!</td></tr>
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The influence of religion is huge. Everyone I have met and talked to professes themselves to be a practising Christian. And Malawians take their religion seriously. Meetings at work or in the field start and end with a prayer. Sunday services start at 7am to 7.30am in the morning and go on for three hours or more - and you can often hear singing coming from churches on other days. There is a huge number of different Christian sects - CCAP (the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian) seems to be the closest to what might be considered an established Christian church, largely as a result of Scottish missionaries' role in spreading Christian beliefs in this part of Africa. But others include Seventh Day Adventists, Pentecostalists, Zion Christian Church of Africa, Jehovah's Witnesses, Ethiopianist churches (which developed in the late nineteenth century and tried to reconcile Christian beliefs with traditional customs and beliefs) and so on. According to Wikipedia, 85% of the population hold Christian beliefs, with most of these Protestant but a sizeable minority (about 20% of the total population) being Catholic. The remaining 15% of the population is mainly Muslim and we have on occasions woken up to hear the sound of the call to prayer before sunrise wafting up the valley. Liz went to the Mzuzu Catholic church service on Sunday morning and said the church was packed. The service started at 7am but luckily was over by 9am - Catholics have a bit more of a set formula than Protestants and I presume that keeps services short!<br />
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The degree of adversity people face is very large. High infant mortality, low overall life expectancy, low levels of paid employment, low income, poor infrastructure, unpredictable weather events (late and heavy rains last December led to extreme flooding and destruction of crops) and so on. But people also find ways of coping and as a result there is very little public evidence of absolute poverty (hardly any begging) and a generally positive (or could be considered fatalist!) outlook on life in Malawi as reflected in a comment to me by a woman in a shared taxi that things may be bad but 'at least we don't have war or ebola'.<br />
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People seem to cope and seek to address the problems they face. The local industry/self-sufficiency I witnessed in Nkhata Bay last week - people firing bricks to make houses, mending their nets so they can catch - and sell - fish, making carvings and other artefacts that can be sold to tourists. The extraordinary array of vegetables, pulses, fish and other products sold in Mzuzu main market. The wonderfully tended plots and the range and impressiveness of vegetables and fruit people grow for themselves. The local Mzuzu products - honey, coffee, tea, and Nali (a top range spicy relish). The colourful Chitenge (a kind of sarong that women wear wrapped around their waist, particularly in rural areas, and is also used to carry babies on women's backs and as a head cushion to allow heavy objects to be carried on women's heads) for sale in the Swahili market. The commitment to develop new skills to create additional sources of income (for example, James, the watchman, is learning tailoring and has made a very fine shirt for Tom, one of the other volunteers, and will be making one for me from Chitenge material I bought at the Swahili market). The ingenuity and application people show in dealing with difficult issues - whether mending broken down engines or wiring up electric generators. The way in which I witnessed in Kasasire and Liz witnessed in Bigha local people engage with the issues they face and seek to address them as communities.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The well tended plots at the bottom of 'our' valley</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greham brought two of these huge home grown cabbages into the office</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegetables at Mzuzu market</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Some local products - the Nali relish is particularly good</td></tr>
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And, whilst local newspaper headlines generally focus on issues that people commonly associate with poor governance - back-biting between political parties, corruption, poorly managed government projects and so on - there is some evidence of things changing for the better. At a national Malawian level, for example, whilst child mortality is very high - according to UNICEF, in 2013 the under one mortality rate was 44 per 1,000 live births and the under five rate was 68 per 1,000 live births (more than 10 times the child mortality rates in the UK) - this compares with much higher rates in 1990 - 143 and 245 respectively. And the way that Temwa and other local organisations try to support the development of sustainable communities in hard to reach areas like Nkhata Bay North should mean on-going progress in local people's quality of life.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIwjVefi8oZn02wyBC-G4_9j3wgXGE2H6_fOFzW03Azh3f8FZWAMeMm3WluUnP71T7GlADoI1icAkFDbr82Obvqwtda8At7NbpLgnj1ige5MtL3tOaGb1QDvFk9AzAM3emIltp1Ah74RZ/s1600/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFIwjVefi8oZn02wyBC-G4_9j3wgXGE2H6_fOFzW03Azh3f8FZWAMeMm3WluUnP71T7GlADoI1icAkFDbr82Obvqwtda8At7NbpLgnj1ige5MtL3tOaGb1QDvFk9AzAM3emIltp1Ah74RZ/s320/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+003.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The rains arrived!!!</td></tr>
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Getting back to life in Mzuzu.... The rains came earlier this year than last. There was a heavy downpour and thunder and lighting that seemed to last through the night on Tuesday. The rain and wind - mixed with a low lying mist - lasted throughout Wednesday and into Thursday. Julie, the AFID volunteer who is working for SPRODETA, arrived on Wednesday and it certainly seemed the case that she had brought the Scottish weather with her from Aberdeen. We're back to sunny hot weather now but we can expect more of a mix (which is certainly good for crops in Malawi so long as the weather does not get too severe). Power cuts are still very regular - at least two last week which lasted most of the day (it felt quite spooky being in Shoprite, the local upmarket supermarket, and suddenly finding yourself in the pitch black). I've been starting work on Temwa's 2016 budget and also developing our procurement policy (standard fare for me). Temwa has been in a period of intensive training and upskilling of staff, including financial management training carried out by Charles, the Finance and Administration manager, and motor-cycle training so all project and field officers can get out into the field on motor-bikes when cars aren't available or can't navigate the roads. Liz has been helping out at the Mzuzu Crisis Nursery which is close by and looking at what else she can do when she is here.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IbHtOyZSu3CdncxOcfjb6UnZFhSwrUHIlY6ypnNOFeRHxPIl_MKTGVkym-gwmLHn4-KvIN-sJSLqcOzH-4bJf1pSAZE0ZAh6WYmjtme8OptfXi9Euwi1ePuJj3DamEsE3fUN1KOT_aPj/s1600/DSC01307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IbHtOyZSu3CdncxOcfjb6UnZFhSwrUHIlY6ypnNOFeRHxPIl_MKTGVkym-gwmLHn4-KvIN-sJSLqcOzH-4bJf1pSAZE0ZAh6WYmjtme8OptfXi9Euwi1ePuJj3DamEsE3fUN1KOT_aPj/s320/DSC01307.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temwa staff receiving training on financial management and personnel policies</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUH-3VA3NOb0YkUMsrhENAmNbdsLvpF0CoQSx7GU7QKulj1L95CCjbAbGLgN58S8ycufeQF5f3qKMpwwI-07eSLtP0aaNyZ6cwc8m5i0n2foMNQPB5SZh4QBE1ygwGPypkks7NM7X5epVm/s1600/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUH-3VA3NOb0YkUMsrhENAmNbdsLvpF0CoQSx7GU7QKulj1L95CCjbAbGLgN58S8ycufeQF5f3qKMpwwI-07eSLtP0aaNyZ6cwc8m5i0n2foMNQPB5SZh4QBE1ygwGPypkks7NM7X5epVm/s320/Mzuzu+-+early+Nov+2015+016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Project and field officers on their way to their motor-bike tests</td></tr>
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I've also got a confession to make. For those who thought I had developed superior photographic skills, I should let you know that all the photographs at the Bigha Mobile Testing Clinic event and most of those at the Kasasire Nkhata Bay Natural Way sensitisation event were by Elle, one of the other UK volunteers. So thanks Elle and apologies for using your photos without crediting you!<br />
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Liz and I are hoping to go back to the Lake next weekend (with Julie and Maria, Temwa's micro-finance business manager, who is putting up Julie during her stay). I'm also hoping to get to Usisya sometime ...it's the centre of our operations in the field and I haven't been there yet...<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-11567928645677163412015-11-03T04:15:00.000-08:002015-11-23T03:24:50.037-08:00Bigha, an arrival and Nkhata Bay (at last!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A previous blog recorded the 'sensitisation' (awareness raising) Nkhata Bay Natural Way (NBNW) event with the local community in Kasasire. NBNW focuses on Temwa's work to promote sustainable agriculture and forestry. A key target group for support through NBNW is families affected by HIV/AIDS. It is estimated that 16% of the Nkhata Bay North population aged 15 to 49 have HIV/AIDS and a separate Temwa project, the Mobile Voluntary Testing and Counselling Clinics (MVTC), is aimed at prevention, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fishani (right), the project lead, on a motor bike with one of the Peer Educators, encouraging people to be tested.</td></tr>
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The MVTC project is led by Fishani, who started with Temwa in a voluntary capacity as a Field Facilitator on the <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Farmers' Training
Support Project,</span> moved on to be a Field Officer, and is now Temwa's Health Project Officer. Like most of Temwa's field officers and project officers, Fishani is from the Nkhata Bay community and therefore has a real commitment to tackling the issues his community faces (there is an interview with Fishani on the Temwa website which provides more on his background - it's at http://temwa.org/interview-with-fishani/). On Thursday he was coordinating an HIV/AIDS Testing and Counselling (HTC) session in Bigha, on the road to Usysia. Liz, who had arrived on Tuesday, and Elle, a UK volunteer working on Temwa's communications, joined him.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SjlHGpsUWHtonA7v7RnESey-hjZn1Q4rDIVuQhXbJ9lHc5xhzY9ozH8-uTlgG7tUru_uL60cOP_EjuUxIU290OVg2CW9lojR9OF0JNHJ82nx5nctJjbYkM1UL-tyq4qhhSSfk7PT8wGf/s1600/thumb_DSC01374_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9SjlHGpsUWHtonA7v7RnESey-hjZn1Q4rDIVuQhXbJ9lHc5xhzY9ozH8-uTlgG7tUru_uL60cOP_EjuUxIU290OVg2CW9lojR9OF0JNHJ82nx5nctJjbYkM1UL-tyq4qhhSSfk7PT8wGf/s320/thumb_DSC01374_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watching events unfold</td></tr>
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The event itself reflected Temwa's multi-faceted approach to addressing HIV/AIDS. Community ownership of the challenges HIV/AIDS present is core to this and so the mobile clinics are turned into a whole community event aimed at encouraging people to test, educating people about how HIV/AIDS spreads, and addressing issues about the stigma that can be attached to people who are HIV positive.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuI7Nf6nBleOHssygfov9wfv2uXURwGllp9MWkxaCAJEZqWA1_hVlFVgia7OAtc76lcPrpWrY5qKarKaZRJR1OvueHti00oYY47IaSLu8r6KnzBRV3vMkh_8AtgHu071mBCJVYY5fbTVF/s1600/thumb_DSC01388_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFuI7Nf6nBleOHssygfov9wfv2uXURwGllp9MWkxaCAJEZqWA1_hVlFVgia7OAtc76lcPrpWrY5qKarKaZRJR1OvueHti00oYY47IaSLu8r6KnzBRV3vMkh_8AtgHu071mBCJVYY5fbTVF/s320/thumb_DSC01388_1024.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">'Shasha ndne' translates as 'wise up!'</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzq3cFwHVQ2hRnT6jJtqHZjDjdMRXE8ZzU8JjLmnwVquzlOJhhXJbYWuBZxzIGt98daY_i6WLxWC4Phur2Ehf7_APlMrSKZ7Vig2bxP2tw70TPOUw0MdF5Bj-B0-v9Gcr81-uDq2vE1de/s1600/thumb_DSC01372_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZzq3cFwHVQ2hRnT6jJtqHZjDjdMRXE8ZzU8JjLmnwVquzlOJhhXJbYWuBZxzIGt98daY_i6WLxWC4Phur2Ehf7_APlMrSKZ7Vig2bxP2tw70TPOUw0MdF5Bj-B0-v9Gcr81-uDq2vE1de/s320/thumb_DSC01372_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside the clinic - 92 people were tested on Thursday</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkyr6qUskgWYhdXZZxE7pC178RKy75ZCw_wywdWm8vGOxGxCbhPvdYW3nMu-UnhmsfAJSn0Ivc9lk8pmUYKKKv0I_4wCn4Xsdf5u0kSnWrEtyPlewdTIAfeyW52di-53hYflk_0sv92Sj/s1600/thumb_DSC01351_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 12.8px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmkyr6qUskgWYhdXZZxE7pC178RKy75ZCw_wywdWm8vGOxGxCbhPvdYW3nMu-UnhmsfAJSn0Ivc9lk8pmUYKKKv0I_4wCn4Xsdf5u0kSnWrEtyPlewdTIAfeyW52di-53hYflk_0sv92Sj/s320/thumb_DSC01351_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Market day in Bigha</td></tr>
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The testing clinic was one of eight carried out over a period of four days, testing a total of 549 people. Fishani plans the clinics to coincide with market day to maximise the number of people attending and, according to Liz, this together with the Temwa organised events all added up to a festival atmosphere. Peer Educators - young people from the community who have signed up as volunteers and promote understanding of HIV/AIDS issues through plays and other means - going around on motor-bikes with loud hailers encouraging people to get tested. Temwa tee-shirts with messages about HIV/AIDS on them being handed out. A food stall where chips are made. People queueing for the HIV/AIDS test clinics. Children playing with and showing off their home made toys. A play performed by the Peer Educators involving full audience participation - one scene involved one of the actors chasing another through the audience and around the village streets. And after dark, a film show with the projector powered by a bicycle generator, with films that were a mixture of drama involving actors from the local community and interviews with local people who had been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Throughout both the play and films, there was a huge amount of interaction between Fishani and audience members, with impassioned debate about the issues the play and films raised.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kqU3Ri9wEgMTNvHngmDSELjCm8t5ARqKqccuOanSHHR-uDnSulgS5TPZ-06xb8Dx0zQg7wZne8NvgMXkwS07xFAe954lJ6FybNoSI1XMCcnuAln8s4KTeVDzoYHVTFVbTbojwOq-Nve8/s1600/thumb_DSC01359_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4kqU3Ri9wEgMTNvHngmDSELjCm8t5ARqKqccuOanSHHR-uDnSulgS5TPZ-06xb8Dx0zQg7wZne8NvgMXkwS07xFAe954lJ6FybNoSI1XMCcnuAln8s4KTeVDzoYHVTFVbTbojwOq-Nve8/s320/thumb_DSC01359_1024.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;">Chips made from 'Irish' (the local term for potatoes) are yummy</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjDv8uQui6QTkQuMZqmEqeoSB1ch9Y7ptujg4Hq1Zvzcff3mhdkNUp7YzDoRwv2E1U5dEBmQZWbnQldcWrQ9zEZcCiWXPM0hGM9cRdzyj80O-KVbNS9HSSugaEtZWuGQF6lUaXInkPOrp/s1600/thumb_DSC01430_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjDv8uQui6QTkQuMZqmEqeoSB1ch9Y7ptujg4Hq1Zvzcff3mhdkNUp7YzDoRwv2E1U5dEBmQZWbnQldcWrQ9zEZcCiWXPM0hGM9cRdzyj80O-KVbNS9HSSugaEtZWuGQF6lUaXInkPOrp/s320/thumb_DSC01430_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Children show off their home made trucks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhsYpb2LkrYqzDnECn1dYzdO0GKnnNdYP1-aTjEeZhnLEft4EJgFYDorD7As5G4tf5kot6_S6sr-Awun_V7yECBKpxEqKEzbGB5YRYnrQ-VZXlThQpJKWDsMQQoy5C60uqqBKALqhP1bI/s1600/thumb_DSC01447_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWhsYpb2LkrYqzDnECn1dYzdO0GKnnNdYP1-aTjEeZhnLEft4EJgFYDorD7As5G4tf5kot6_S6sr-Awun_V7yECBKpxEqKEzbGB5YRYnrQ-VZXlThQpJKWDsMQQoy5C60uqqBKALqhP1bI/s320/thumb_DSC01447_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peer Educators, who sometimes walk up to 36 km to attend events<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">, perform in their play</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrL18RxHX3yVuvQfNbJ3e3SYiliFHksvzmjB5BPBY_u8x956HWZqzB0B8GKGYjbd9MKuBM6UjVy9MVn16cRTk_8FSNMxRB4nmzzjX10a8tvdRKYI4QKLdlOIdYkm5azPBXPwQDVrIi1BIW/s1600/thumb_DSC01469_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrL18RxHX3yVuvQfNbJ3e3SYiliFHksvzmjB5BPBY_u8x956HWZqzB0B8GKGYjbd9MKuBM6UjVy9MVn16cRTk_8FSNMxRB4nmzzjX10a8tvdRKYI4QKLdlOIdYkm5azPBXPwQDVrIi1BIW/s320/thumb_DSC01469_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of people from the village - and surrounding villages - turned out to watch the play<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Fishani encourages audience participation during the play</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-rm_8MwziLA07zgEc5Fjctu6vSNgynK3YMpxQtNSVHXeXFwSlQRYPVI342vPjKsfqzjzAUMOwp3mwoDOc88bXhsQ4cCCN9Syd78LwS74QiZVw3-93jOE-WDpOR255vFSIj0LdXCGLdup/s1600/thumb_DSC01487_1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm-rm_8MwziLA07zgEc5Fjctu6vSNgynK3YMpxQtNSVHXeXFwSlQRYPVI342vPjKsfqzjzAUMOwp3mwoDOc88bXhsQ4cCCN9Syd78LwS74QiZVw3-93jOE-WDpOR255vFSIj0LdXCGLdup/s320/thumb_DSC01487_1024.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greham, one of the field officers, powers the projector whilst others watch the film</td></tr>
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Liz's journey from London to Mzuzu had been pretty hassle free. We're used to ten hour car journeys from London to Oban, followed by a five hour boat journey to Castlebay - or seven hours if via Lochboisdale. So a six hour flight to Addis Ababa followed by a four hour flight to Lilongwe followed by a five hour car journey (Thumbiko who had picked me up from Lilongwe picked Liz up from the airport) is not that different - although a four hour wait at Addis Ababa starting at 6am is not everybody's cup of tea. Liz was feeling bright enough to do the 20 minute walk to the Macondo Camp restaurant which has comfortable outside seating in what feels a very secluded area and lovely Italian food, with meal and drinks for two costing 12,000 kwacha (around £14) - what's not to like? She's had a pretty full on week what with finding her way around Mzuzu on Wednesday and the trip to Bigha (they left about 1pm and got back about 9pm). But she wants to make full use of her time whilst she is here. She met Steve and Rose from a Mzuzu based charity, 'Wells for Zoe', on Friday and will be looking into what other opportunities there are this week. So watch this space to find out what she ends up doing.<br />
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In the meantime, we got away for our promised trip to Nkhata Bay which lived up to all the hype. Mind you, getting there and back was pretty hair raising. Shared taxis are the mode of travel and very cheap - 250 kwacha each (30 pence) to get into town and a further 1,300 kwacha each (£1.60) to get the 50 odd km from Mzuzu to Nkhata Bay. But the taxis are not in brilliant shape; they are overcrowded (on the way back we had 9 adults and a baby in a small 7 seater with Liz and me crushed in the back two seats alongside a third passenger); they travel an average of 60 km per hour along pot-hole filled roads avoiding all sorts of obstacles (stationary lorries, people on bicycles and foot, monkeys - I thought they were dogs at first - hens, cows and so on).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqASYFMH6iQyIfMaA5j6Aam8rpS4et-FVbYgDwRzMA05C4n1Mj3Zm0TC2MP1iGVnII7bqmIP_SXnB59gdl934VGMeHaAQwE6VDKuj8QO8R_FcRu0SU3DNrL2jwgi3lm6vgerj_dxdiKsr/s1600/Nkata+Bay+-+31+Oct+1+Nov+035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaqASYFMH6iQyIfMaA5j6Aam8rpS4et-FVbYgDwRzMA05C4n1Mj3Zm0TC2MP1iGVnII7bqmIP_SXnB59gdl934VGMeHaAQwE6VDKuj8QO8R_FcRu0SU3DNrL2jwgi3lm6vgerj_dxdiKsr/s320/Nkata+Bay+-+31+Oct+1+Nov+035.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windscreen of 7 seater we got back from Nkhata Bay (before we set off) - luckily this is the passenger side!</td></tr>
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We stayed at Njaya Lodge which is a couple of kilometres out of Nkhata Bay. We had our own small apartment with views through trees out to the Lake, our own semi private beach, and sight of numerous colourful lizards sun-bathing on the rocks (and the occasional larger monitor lizard scuttling away). The bar/restaurant is a short walk up the hill and has a wonderful outlook over the Lake, well manicured gardens and great food (fish from the Lake and those yummy chips). Nkhata Bay faces east across Lake Malawi so there is no sunset - but we decided to get up for sunrise (around 5.30am) and were not disappointed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from our apartment at Njaya Lodge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of many multi-coloured lizards sunbathing on the rocks</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sun rise over Lake Malawi (as witnessed from the balcony of our apartment)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men firing bricks near Njaya Lodge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The brick kiln</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Men mending their fishing nets on Chikale Beach, next to Njaya Lodge</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mangoes ripening on Chikale Beach </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dixon, who works at Njaya Lodge and took us to watch Swansea v Arsenal in a backroom at Kaya Papaya restaurant in Nkhata Bay</td></tr>
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So I'm back to work this week whilst Liz looks for a suitable volunteering role. Another AFID (Accounting for International Development) volunteer, Julie Anderson, who will be supporting SPRODETA, an NGO working with small producers, is arriving on Wednesday so we will be helping her to settle in in Mzuzu. We managed to arrange accommodation for her with Maria, the Micro-Finance Business Manager at Temwa, so she will be staying nearby.<br />
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More to follow....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-66020287481713133652015-10-26T23:32:00.000-07:002015-11-01T08:41:25.658-08:00Life on the Chimaliro Road<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The Chimaliro Road leads up the hill to the north east of Mzuzu through the township of Chimaliro and to the dust track road which takes you eventually (after two and a half hours) to Usisya . The Temwa compound is half way up it, next to Masimbiro Private Secondary School. It's been my home for the past two and a half weeks and will be for the next four months. It's also my office.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View down the Chimaliro Road to Mzuzu town - it's a 25 minute walk (or 250 kwacha in a shared taxi)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Chimaliro Road past Masimbiro school to Temwa compound.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View across the valley from the Chimaliro Road</td></tr>
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It's a strange experience living in the office - you never get away from it. My alarm goes off at 7am, I have a shower, take my anti-malaria tablet, go out to the kitchen for a strong coffee (Mzuzu blend of course!), say the first of my 'mwauka uli?'s ('good morning, how are you? ') to staff as they arrive, sit at my laptop at 8am, stop for lunch at 12 noon, start for the afternoon at 1pm and finish at 5pm (the fixed hours remind me of one of my first jobs in the UK when I worked as a researcher for the National Union Railwaymen in the early 1980s and everybody was at their desks at 8.55am, knocked off for lunch at 12.55pm, back at their desks at 1.55pm and knocked off at 4.55pm - all ex-railwaymen used to making sure the trains ran on time and getting off on time at the end of a shift). While officially I finish at 5pm, living in the office means I am never properly off duty...<br />
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...not that I am the only one. Fishani, who leads Temwa's HIV/AIDS work (Straight Talking, Mobile Voluntary Counselling and Testing Clinics, and Teen Clubs), was in the office in Mzuzu all last week and then spent the weekend in the field (our Nkhata Bay North catchment area) leading Teen Clubs and other activities. Maria, who is the micro-finance loan business manager who lives nearby, came into the office on Sunday to ensure repayments are up-to-date on the Mambu loan system (Jericho, the micro-finance project officer, had been in the field collecting loans last week and had sent her a spreadsheet with the information she needed to upload) . And Charles, the Finance and Admin Manager, is in most weekends; he would have been in last Saturday to complete the audit of the accounts were it not for the electricity being off for most of the day. Work life balance appears in short supply.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maria submitting loan information to the Mambu system on Sunday<br />
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Animals have dominated my early days in the Temwa compound. We have two kittens, Mpatso (meaning 'gift') and Chimwemwe (meaning 'happy') whose main purpose is to get rid of unwanted visitors but have, during their growing up stage, made themselves fully at home. We have quite a few lizards around the place but, although I don't see them as unwanted guests, Mpatso and Chimweme appear to do so! We have a resident bird (a heron, I think) who greets me outside my bedroom window in the morning. The watchmen tell me that we have small black snakes in the garden - Wellington, one of the watchmen and somebody who enjoys a bit of mischief, claimed one was a black mamba.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best of friends - Chimwemwe and Mpatso cuddling up on a chair.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome visitor for me; unwelcome (or, possibly, more welcome!) for the cats</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">View from my bedroom - heron(?) can just about be made out in the distance</td></tr>
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I have learnt a bit of Chitumbuka - enough to say good morning, how are you, I am fine, thank you etc but not enough to converse in. As I said in an earlier blog, most Malawians speak English but to varying degrees. There is also some interesting pronunciation - 'l's and 'r's are often treated as interchangeable. So, Gideon, an auditor who is working on our accounts, asked me if I was going to the 'rake' for the weekend - he clarified by saying Nkhata Bay but it still took me some time to realise the 'rake' was Lake Malawi. And I've constantly been confused by the name of one of the watchmen who greeted me when I arrived here. To start with I thought his name was Howard; he then spelt it out to me and I started to call him Harold. But in practice, as I found out when I was looking at some papers in the office, his name is Halord (I presume a Malawian version of Harold with the 'l's and 'r's switched round).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wellington enjoys mischief, and often wears Wellington boots!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James and Halord - couldn't have given me a warmer welcome to Temwa<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Ronald, the fourth watchman, who had to pose for this about 5 times until I got the light right!<br />
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Because I have no Chitumbuka and a lot of Malawian people's English is basic, conversations can be at quite a basic level. Nkhoma, who looks after the house and garden, was in work on Saturday doing a deep clean of the kitchen. I asked him if he thought the rat (unwanted visitor) was still around; in response, he shrugged and, more in hope than expectation, said 'perhaps catty got ratty'. My sighting of the rat disappearing behind the sink the next morning suggests the cats need to progress from lizards (and cockroaches) to the bigger stuff.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nkhoma who told me 'perhaps catty got ratty'</td></tr>
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My life outside work has been dominated by shopping for food in Mzuzu and football - not playing (if you recall from an earlier blog - old men don't play football in Malawi) but watching. All the Arsenal games are shown on television so I have been going to Red Chilli (or Red Chile as it says on the sign outside!), an Indian/Malawian restaurant just up the road, to watch them. A group of us sit round the bar watching the game - unlike the UK equivalent, there are a fair few people not drinking alcohol. I also went to see Moyale Barracks, one of the two local Mzuzu teams in the Malawi top division, play KB, one of the Lilongwe teams. It was a 1-1 draw. There was some enthusiasm in the crowd but the biggest cheer came at 4.20pm Malawi time (3.20pm UK time) when Manchester United scored against Everton. People were paying as much attention to their transistors listening to the Premier league live as to the Moyale game. Ticket prices are a bit different from the UK - 500 kwacha which is around 60 pence.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fans 'invade' the pitch at the end of the Moyale v KB match</td></tr>
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My last blog talked about the work Temwa does in Nkhata Bay North and the day I had out in the field seeing it at first hand in Kasasire. An unanswered question in previous blogs was what work I am actually doing!!! My primary purpose is to support Charles on budgeting and financial reporting. I'm used to working for large organisations where whole teams of people keep the finances running. Charles has to do it largely single handedly (he has a colleague, Gift, who supports him on certain aspects but he has been off most of the time I have been here - studying for and taking exams - and so Charles has had no support for the past week or so). Plus he faces a number of obstacles most of us in the UK don't ...nearly all transactions are in cash so there is a huge amount of paper money that has to be accounted for (the largest denomination is the 1,000 Malawian Kwacha note which is worth about £1.20, the smallest is 20 Malawian Kwacha which is worth two and a half pence); there are frequent power cuts which prevent computers being used (once laptops run out of power) and access to the internet; inflation is running at almost 25% which complicates managing budgets in a way that most in the UK have not experienced (the last time inflation in the UK was at a similar level was in the 1970s); he has to operate in Malawian Kwacha and Pound Sterling at a time of continuing (but not predictable) reductions in the value of the Kwacha relative to the Pound; and he has to work in multiple languages (Chitumbuka, the main language used in Northern Malawi, Chichewe, the national language of Malawi, and English which is the official and business language of Malawi and the language used by the Malawian government, the UK office and UK donor organisations).<br />
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And Charles also has multiple accountabilities...to Tiwonge, the Malawian Programme Director, and Jo, the UK Managing Director; to a Malawian Board and a UK Board; to Malawian government agencies; and to UK donors. Each has their own deadlines. Each asks for reports in a variety of formats. And each wants explanations of the information provided. <br />
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So I hope to be able to support him managing conflicting deadlines, planning the reporting workload, and anticipating and therefore reducing requests for additional information. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Movement in Kwacha to £1 - from under 300 in 2011 to 847 now<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Tom and Elle, the other volunteers from the UK, cooking on charcoal during one of the frequent power cuts<br />
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Enough about work. Liz arrives this evening and I have taken tomorrow off work to show her round Mzuzu. I think I have been suffering cabin fever - staying and working in the same place - so hope to get to the 'rake' next weekend. It's meant to be beautiful so expect some pictures....<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-40365805423376537532015-10-18T08:46:00.000-07:002017-01-02T11:08:20.580-08:00Nkhata Bay Natural WayI didn't do my promised trip to Usisya, the main centre of Nkhata Bay North, but I did get to Kasasire, a remote village in the uplands area. There are about 150 villages in the Nkhata Bay North area, which is divided between the lakeside area next to Lake Malawi, centred on Usisya, and the uplands area which lies west of Lake Malawi. Temwa staff were going to Kasasire as part of the launch of the new Nkhata Bay Natural Way (NBNW) programme and I joined them as part of my induction.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Usysia is north of Nkhata Bay - Kasasire is west of Usisya<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Village women at Kasasire - the woman on the left is wife of the group village headman</td></tr>
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NBNW (I hate acronyms but I'm going to have to get used to using them!) is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and is a four year programme that Temwa is running in partnership with the International Tree Foundation (http://internationaltreefoundation.org/) and Deki which raises funds to provide micro-finance loans in poor countries (http://www.deki.org.uk/).</div>
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The programme builds on the work that Temwa is already doing in Nkhata Bay North, supporting agricultural and forestry development, helping local people develop income generating activities (IGAs), providing micro-finance loans, and supporting local ownership of development activities through Area and Village Development Committees (ADCs and VDCs). In villages, lead farmers take responsibility for spreading good practice on crop variety and rotation which helps subsistence farmers feed families all the year round, Village Natural Resource Management Committees (VNRMCs) take responsibility for leading on the planting of trees and protection of forests, and VDCs take responsibility for prioritising loans. Community extension volunteers from villages will take responsibility for ensuring community liaison and mobilisation, acting as link persons to relay information about the programme to community members and beneficiaries. (Note: Readers will be tested on acronyms!)<br />
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There is a close connection between each of the main projects - for example, the Deki loans in many cases will go to support development of forestry based businesses such as bee-keeping and mushroom farming. There is also a close connection between NBNW and other activities that Temwa undertakes. Temwa already aims to support development of sustainable farming and forestry and will continue to do so in the villages not covered by NBNW. A key aim of Temwa is also to support sustainable governance in the area so it can move its focus of activity to other areas that need support and the work being done to strengthen ADCs and VDCs as part of the NBNW programme, including 50% female representation on them, is crucial to this. <br />
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The target beneficiaries of the Temwa projects and NBNW are also the same - families are prioritised for micro-finance loans and other support if they are headed by females, elderly people, or younger adults, have members who have HIV/AIDS, are large or are orphan hosting. Technical and financial training is given to people applying for loans and organisation of the loans process through Village Loans Schemes is aimed at ensuring collective ownership of the loans process.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A tree in leaf in Kasasire</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Kasasire football pitch<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The school at Kasasire<br />
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Our visit to Kasasire was part of the 'sensitisation' (awareness raising) programme for NBNW. Temwa is already well known in the villages so this is building on the relationships that already exist. Each of the 18 group villages (the local structures already include grouped villages with a group village headman) covered by the NBNW programme are currently receiving information through 'sensitisation' meetings and they will then determine between themselves who should take on particular roles (for example, community extension volunteer and lead farmer) and also help with the process of determining access to micro-finance loans. There had been some confusion about time of the meeting at Kasasire and it was poorly attended (around 15 villagers when other meetings have had 50 or more). The business of the meeting was conducted in Chitumbuka so I was somewhat at a loss about what was being said ...but the atmosphere in the meeting was very creative and positive with engaging presentations from Temwa staff and lots of contributions from the villagers. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Efrina, one of the Temwa project officers, explaining the NBNW to villagers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A villager makes her point at the meeting</td></tr>
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The journey to Kasasire itself was eventful. The drive was two hours from Mzuzu, mostly along rutted dirt tracks. We arrived in the village just as the children were finishing school so were the centre of attention for a while. Because not many people had turned up at that stage, we decided to drive to see one of the tree nurseries that had been planted nearby. <br />
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Unfortunately, our 4x4 broke down about a kilometre away from the village. We waited there for some time as Moyo, the Temwa driver, tried to fix the engine. After a while we all went back to the village, carrying with us the fizzy drinks and biscuits which we had brought as refreshments for the meeting. When we got back to the car after the meeting, Moyo was still trying to fix it. It gets dark at 6pm in Malawi and Moyo had got no further at fixing the engine. At this stage we contacted the Temwa office to arrange for the other 4x4 we have to come and fetch us. This arrived just before 8pm, together with two mechanics from Mzuzu. They spent a further two hours trying to fix the engine. Eventually it was decided to tow the broken down vehicle back to Mzuzu (which was pretty hazardous given it was pitch black and the roads had huge ruts in them). Unfortunately the tow rope broke after a little while and in the end the two mechanics were left behind to stay the night in the broken down vehicle with a view to trying to fixing it in the morning whilst the rest of us were driven back to Mzuzu in the rescue vehicle. <br />
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We arrived back at Mzuzu at midnight. It was a great experience for me - the beautiful sunset, the clear dark star lit sky, the bird song, distant village noises in the bush, and the camaraderie of all the people - but, despite their good humour, it must have been a strain for the staff who have to put up with this kind of thing quite regularly and had to be out at 8.30am the following morning to do three more sensitisation meetings in another part of Nkhata Bay North.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moyo (in yellow) trying to mend the engine, watched by Benson, Maria and Greham</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the village women carrying refreshments from the broken down 4x4 to the meeting</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Benson, Beatrice, Maria, Anne, Efrina, Greham and me waiting for the engine to be repaired</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me posing for the camera (with mechanic looking on) - I know nothing about engines!</td></tr>
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In future blogs I will talk about living in Mzuzu and also the work I am doing to support the finance team (I'm a bit clearer now though I need to be here longer before I can be sure how I can help). I'm also hoping to get down to the lake shore at Nkhata Bay when Liz arrives - it is meant to be truly amazing - and no doubt will be sharing experiences from there.<br />
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More to follow in future blogs....<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-3427262686477472342015-10-11T06:43:00.001-07:002017-01-02T11:28:38.488-08:00First impressionsI 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). <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Liz and Rose seeing me off at Heathrow</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">M</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">y 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).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2GbZWho9UwX_KzfFdgdqyZ8F7Q-Ecs1BDKnVuQFPyCJBusIYwKokYE23KVAu00n2vIf_R4KykxNuQ-uVNyV6q5go1QR0qGegrsfoUGk6zvCoQJGeCQl4SyATLCSYyVX4HGQAHmhWglxg/s1600/View+from+hotel+%2528Kiboko%2529+balcony+in+Lilongwe+old+town.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP2GbZWho9UwX_KzfFdgdqyZ8F7Q-Ecs1BDKnVuQFPyCJBusIYwKokYE23KVAu00n2vIf_R4KykxNuQ-uVNyV6q5go1QR0qGegrsfoUGk6zvCoQJGeCQl4SyATLCSYyVX4HGQAHmhWglxg/s320/View+from+hotel+%2528Kiboko%2529+balcony+in+Lilongwe+old+town.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of Lilongwe Old Town from the Kiboko Hotel balcony</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> </span></b><br />
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. <br />
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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.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susan and Mabvuto, both of whom were a great help to me in Lilongwe</td></tr>
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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).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvoW_qeP09G74O4pP2nh5NV_8MF4VH5QEfrgLlkd0aKLVcOHYQjpOrWj7_2mWo5yoSWhuSeZ-YbX8EPd3fTKaLvnlfCaJme0AtJpbsQ6haOHD4Qi_SdoKhi-baQ-91PKecwnKV6ls71Zg/s1600/Selling+vegetables+at+roadside+between+Lilongwe+and+Mzuzu.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgvoW_qeP09G74O4pP2nh5NV_8MF4VH5QEfrgLlkd0aKLVcOHYQjpOrWj7_2mWo5yoSWhuSeZ-YbX8EPd3fTKaLvnlfCaJme0AtJpbsQ6haOHD4Qi_SdoKhi-baQ-91PKecwnKV6ls71Zg/s1600/Selling+vegetables+at+roadside+between+Lilongwe+and+Mzuzu.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Women selling bananas at market next to Lilongwe to Mzuzu road</td></tr>
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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!<br />
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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. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySyaRB7c6mJ3DkoLaDmweQpoJFZYB0oQDrR_HDMWa8H9O6BKzlbjbPwxCUm2bNli6gR-ViX5eF71qTGW_XDXrJSs64S6RfgK3LLNMaR6pkT3rbsrsxF92HeZ2cJYvXnsQNud8rp12r2Ni/s1600/Garden+at+Temwa%252C+Chimaliro+Road%252C+Mzuzu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySyaRB7c6mJ3DkoLaDmweQpoJFZYB0oQDrR_HDMWa8H9O6BKzlbjbPwxCUm2bNli6gR-ViX5eF71qTGW_XDXrJSs64S6RfgK3LLNMaR6pkT3rbsrsxF92HeZ2cJYvXnsQNud8rp12r2Ni/s320/Garden+at+Temwa%252C+Chimaliro+Road%252C+Mzuzu.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the Temwa garden in Chimaliro Road, Mzuzu</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnn5e9jnt-BlPZ0OaVj4cvuw8XKEfkVJuSa8qnZ9200yiN1hv5GVNJ2F5nQTGuSpnJO9D5WAt9qy0Y7FJ5VmM_HTJOsLjafM65sfo-8tO9KLZ3jAJHfw1_yfv67IDeDqdG3FFm7WwX81WV/s1600/Temwa%252C+where+I+live+and+work.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnn5e9jnt-BlPZ0OaVj4cvuw8XKEfkVJuSa8qnZ9200yiN1hv5GVNJ2F5nQTGuSpnJO9D5WAt9qy0Y7FJ5VmM_HTJOsLjafM65sfo-8tO9KLZ3jAJHfw1_yfv67IDeDqdG3FFm7WwX81WV/s320/Temwa%252C+where+I+live+and+work.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Temwa office where I am also staying</td></tr>
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ctXhjjJn8MiT8yIX7BMdQemgf48qC2lf_RnLQWnTHM6VFFdwE6Q4FrE0mU0IYyP4fOdt9OJSDijd7vSdxnXeFRKxBo1JMoE7dLwVdzFwXGhyphenhyphentgXfdQzySxgfcy5NNYWDk6tVV4T0y9UI/s1600/Mzuzu+town+centre+-+small+shops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ctXhjjJn8MiT8yIX7BMdQemgf48qC2lf_RnLQWnTHM6VFFdwE6Q4FrE0mU0IYyP4fOdt9OJSDijd7vSdxnXeFRKxBo1JMoE7dLwVdzFwXGhyphenhyphentgXfdQzySxgfcy5NNYWDk6tVV4T0y9UI/s1600/Mzuzu+town+centre+-+small+shops.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local street scene in central Mzuzu</td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdN0FWuXqaVFYtmc_OTCDPATshQzor-GUOqGo6RmlK-lURahfsE2MrXlMDBMU5RZmtBFtx4Kb7eDRpweLuKrdymB7cR-AVFCYl2EEyj88jpi6JmdOA-vIMrtZ-TnU_RMMMFqh1yg1eh7g/s1600/Mzuzu+town+centre+-+trees+in+bloom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOdN0FWuXqaVFYtmc_OTCDPATshQzor-GUOqGo6RmlK-lURahfsE2MrXlMDBMU5RZmtBFtx4Kb7eDRpweLuKrdymB7cR-AVFCYl2EEyj88jpi6JmdOA-vIMrtZ-TnU_RMMMFqh1yg1eh7g/s1600/Mzuzu+town+centre+-+trees+in+bloom.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Jacaranda trees in bloom in Kamuzu Avenue in Mzuzu<br />
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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.<br />
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So that's it at the moment....more once I have been in the field at Usisya.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3424830554670241433.post-28466377196037853872015-10-06T03:53:00.000-07:002017-01-02T11:21:28.658-08:00Leaving for Mzuzu tonight<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is my first blog about my trip to Malawi to work with Temwa, a community organisation who work with the communities of Nkhata Bay North on the shores of Lake Malawi. I'll be based</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in the Temwa office in Mzuzu, supporting the finance team there.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It will be my first trip to sub-Saharan Africa and I'm not sure what to expect. I knew little about Malawi before I got this placement through </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Accounting for International Development (</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">http://www.afid.org.uk/) and my knowledge is still pretty limited - it's land locked (neighbours Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique), is dominated by Lake Malawi (which takes up about 20% of the land mass), is very poor (has the lowest GDPs per head in the world), has strong Scottish connections (its second city is Blantyre), has some of the most welcoming people in Africa (known as the 'warm heart' of Africa), and has beautiful scenery. Since I got the role, I have come across a number of people who have been to Malawi and all of them love it. So I'm hopeful that travelling to Malawi will be a great experience for me. I'm certainly expecting it to be like nothing I've experienced before!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also don't quite know what to expect from working for Temwa. All I have seen and read about what they do makes me really enthusiastic about working for them. It's worth looking at their website</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(http://temwa.org/)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to get an idea of what they do. Their aim is to support sustainable development in the local community and they see success as ultimately not being required and being able to support development in other communities. But I still need to work out how I can help. I haven't any experience working for Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) but I'm hoping that my skills and experience built up over years working for government organisations will be of use and bring a different perspective to what they are doing. I'm certainly looking forward to getting to know and working with the team in Mzuzu/Nkhata Bay North.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I leave from Heathrow tonight at 9pm and arrive in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi, at around lunch-time tomorrow (having had a three hour stopover at Addis Ababa airport). I've got one night to acclimatise in a hotel in Lilongwe before heading up to Mzuzu. Liz will be flying out on 26th October and we both plan to stay until the end of February.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">More posts to follow....</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02392325391942922749noreply@blogger.com0