The wonders of Zomba Plateau

After our spell on the 'Lake' we spent a few days in lilongwe, the capital, again to carry on writing up the case studies and interviews. Also, to buy reading material from a wonderful secondhand bookshop we found, to use the internet and try to sort out our visas for Zambia so we could leave Malawi for a couple of days as we were advised to re-enter for another 30 days without taking out the temporary residents permit which would cost a fortune. We decided to find cheap lodge in Lilongwe, to be shown into the executive suite (at the same price) with an enormous room with wood floors (unheard of out here), a very large bed and a walk -in modern shower. So much for going down market! The Zambian visa proved a farce as the Zambian High Commission wanted to charge us extortionate rates which were out of date. (Very strange) so we decided to try our luck at the border.

We then went to Zomba, a large town in the south, for a few days as we needed some excercise and Zomba plateau has great mountain walks according to the guidebook. We searched the town to rent a cottage up on the plaeau, following a variety of people as they led us around many church and theological college buildings in search of the holder of the keys to a cottage. We finally ended up going to a convent in a girls school where a nun agreed to us renting their cottage on the plateau very cheaply and presented the keys to us in an ancient little tin holding it in both hands, as nuns do. After a night in a very basic lodge in the town (a sort of Cell block H) we drove up the long winding road wondering what we were in for. The cottage was right on the edge of the escarpment with a vast panoramic view of the valley below. We sat on the veranda as the sun went down spellbound by the scene before us. Zomba town was spread out in the green vegetation right below us, with a small range of mountains dotted with forests beyond. There were smaller mountains in several directions many with perfect mountain peaks. A large mountain range loomed on the horizon with other mountains dotted around. The colours ranged from deep green to rocky greys to pink skies with misty eery shapes in the distance. The sky was vast as usual with the light on a few clouds adding to the drama of the view. As we were pretty high in the mountains it was rather cold, which was a bit of a blow, until a man came in and made a log fire for us. Very cosy, so thank you nuns. The following morning we got up early to find a magical sight with the cloud circling the mountain peaks below us giving the whole scene an astounding beauty. Another sight we shall not forget. We found a guide called Whisky who although 21 was still attending primary school! He took us on two really good walks, the first day to see the views from the escarpment and the second to the highest peak and then to another special site of interest, a 300m deep hole.

The following day we dropped the car in the compound of the friends where he works for the foreign office in Lilongwe so that we could travel to Zambia for our visa to be renewed in Malawi. Of course little goes as planned here. The immigration people at the border refused to accept our plan saying we must stay in Zambia for at least a week which would have scuppered our work schedule. Then, after taking us to one side offered to sort it all out for the cost of the Zambian visas without us needing to go into Zambia at all. It was an offer we couldn't refuse. It clearly didn't bear asking questions and our passports were handed back to us duly stamped up as we waited 100 metres down the road. H'mm, not something we would have wanted to be involved in if we had a choice. It all felt a bit set up.

Then back to work with Jane interviewing more women and children in an area north of Lilongwe, again many stories of poverty and resilience.

A colleague of Jane's from Barnardo's is arriving next Tuesday for two weeks to help with the interviews and writing the report. We're looking forward to seeing her and expect that we won't update the blog now until we leave Malawi in 3/4 weeks time.

Starting the Childrens Study

Blog 13

Back to the North

The children's interviews are now in full swing. Well, Jane is in full swing. Ken sits in the car reading his book whilst Jane carries out the interviews. Ken is called in to photgraph and video the families at the end. Ken comes into his own later in the follow up work of turning the interviews into case studies, and fascinating it most certainly is.

So many of the families survive on next to nothing and the loans from MLF are a complete Godsend, sometimes they are the difference between the kids eating one meal and two meals a day. Managing on £2.00 to £5.00 per week to feed a family of 5 or 6 is not uncommon. Quite a few of the businesses are not yet successful as they are selling fish and apparently the Lake is too choppy for much fishing as the men use dugout boats which turn over and they drown if they go out in choppy waters. This makes the fish in short supply and more expensive. These women really struggle as their profits are often extremely small, but they are still desperate to have the loans so that at least they have something to buy the fish with. Some of the women have businesses that are growing and doing well and are making enough to pay their kids school fees and giving them 3 meals a day.

Although we work long hours, it is good to have something to get our teeth into. We returned to the orphanage lodge for more interviews in Rumphi and then back to Mzuzu city for more of the same. The weather in Mzuzu was dreadful. By far the worst yet with rain all day for about three/four days. Fortunately it didn't stop us frm working as we had the high vehicle again and most of the families were near the town. Whilst some families in town are a little better off, the urban poor live in more squalor than those in rural areas. On one occasion Jane fell over in the mud three times and her trousers were very mudded, much to the delight of the local people who thought it a great joke. We travel quite far into the rural areas on occasions. Once we had to wade thigh deep through a stream to reach the house of a woman we were interviewing. She was delighted we made the effort, but of course she and her children have to do it all the time when it has been raining.

We have now returned to the Lake (or 'lakeside' as they say here) in Nkhotkota to stay in a lodge on the beach for further interviews in the area. And very nice it is to. The weather changed from constant rain to constant sunshine. One evening we were having supper on the terrace just a few feet from the beach (Yes, life is hard for us) when the local choir turned up complete with keyboard, amplifier and speakers. It was a real treat and gospel music like you have never heard it, with a strong beat, fantastic harmonies and syncronised dancing. The backdrop for the choir was a full moon reflecting on a strip of cloud and glinting off the sea behind them. This gave the whole thing a magical air. Quite extrordinary. It did go on a bit and lasted for over two hours. Quite an event nevertheless. The next night another choir to serenade us. Not so professional as the previous night, but very good. On the third night the first choir returned so we even know some of the words of the songs now!

Unfortunately we have had another theft. Jane was lying on the beach outside our banda (hut) with her MP3 player. Whilst she had her eyes closed someone must have crept up from the nearby bushes and took the player from beside her. Of course, it is not surprising to have the occasional problem of this sort as the gap between what we have and most people around us have is so great, it must be quite a temptation to take advantage of these sort of opportunities. Perhaps it is surprising there are not more problems like this. Of course, for Jane it is very sad as she has lost all her music for the rest of the trip. Although we try to be vigilant, these things take us by surprise.

Moving on

Blog 12

Back in the office in Kasungu Jane put the final touches to her proposal for the children's study and the chief executive from the UK arrived with a chap from South Africa who is an expert in Micro finance. They both, together with a young chap from MLF in England, stayed in the guesthouse with us which gave us lively and interesting evenings. Lots of good discussions about MLF and the survey work we had been doing. Jane's networking with UNICEF went down very well and all in all it proved to be a very good week. Jane's proposal was agreed and we went ahead with the plans to visit other regions around the country.

First stop was Selima near Lake Malawi, in the central region, where we interviewed more women. These women turned out to be not quite as poor and living in a more urban setting. We stayed in a lodge on the lake ('Cool Runnings') and the white Zimbabwian woman who ran it announced that we were cool when she heard about our trip. Cool? Can you imagine?

From there we planned to go to another town further north, but a bridge on the access road had been washed away. The alternative route was unpassable due to heavy rains and the only other way was via the northern route which would mean a 400 KM detour. We decided to give this a miss and went instead for a few days at a lakeside resort, Cape Maclear, which was said to be beautiful. And so it was. We had a strange experience getting there. We took a well signposted road (unusual in Malawi) to the M10 for the resort to find ourselves on a very bad dirt road with the prospect of 100 KMs to go. We were surprised that there was no traffic in either direction whatsoever, but slowly struggled on negotiating the deep ruts, mud, and potholes. After about an hour and 20 KMs we joined a brand new road which was the best road we had seen. We discovered that this new road replaced the old one we had been driving along, but no-one had taken down the signpost for the old road which was not far before the junction for new road. We were amazed, relieved and amused in equal measure.

We stayed in a lodge right on the beach, but, of course, there was no electricity as a transformer had broken down. We also discovered (after Jane had been swimming a few times) that the clear lake water was badly infected with Bilharzia in that area, a very nasty parasite. It is a minute worm which enters the bloodstream via your skin, and because there was no power for the usual water pump this water was used for the washing/shower water in the lodge. Fortunately there is medication we can take when we return to England that should stop it from doing serious harm. However, the lake, the scenery and the skies were quite extrordinary, and we spent hours watching the incredible sunsets from the bar seated right on the edge of the lake. It is hard to find the words to describe how such sights make you feel.

Next stop was a mission at Mua. The elderly priest who has been working there for many years is an artist, so the whole settlement was beautifully painted and decorated, with a museum which covered the history and culture of the main groups of people in Malawi. Quite fascinating. The large Catholic church was decorated with African designs and colours, with lots of wood carvings and some beautiful sculptures. The overall impression was quite stunning.

Unfortunately we still can't post pictures - we are working on it. Also this blog is rather behind the times but we'll post another one in a few days now we have internet access!

Adventures Up North

Our first outing for our work with MLF was a trip to Rumphi, in the northern region of Malawi. We stopped overnight in Mzuzu, the major city in the north, to change vehicles for we needed a 4X4 as the roads are bad in that area. We agreed to meet Jack, the driver of the 4X4, in the car park of a local supermarket. At the appointed time a 4X4 drew up and the driver waved to us. He confirmed his name was Jack and we said we would have to go to our guesthouse house so we could exchange cars and he agreed we could climb in to the car to do this. Ken said we needed to fill up with petrol as we need the car for the week. He thanked us but said he must change the car if we needed it for a week. He seemed a bit worried about this and we also thought it strange. As he drove away Ken's phone rang and the real Jack said he was waiting for us in the car park. The driver agreed his name was not Jack and seemed quite relieved when we said it was all a mistake and we jumped out of the car. We will never know who he thought we were!

Rumphi is situated high in the mountains which dominate the area. We stayed in a lodge in an orphanage where the profits from the guests go towards the costs of the orphange. The camp is modern and very attractive, and built in the African style. The Dutchman who started it all about ten years ago has channelled water from a mountain stream which he supplies to local people free, and his uncle has set up a bakery in the orphanage to teach young people baking skills and supply the local shops with good bread. The facilities were excellent and very comfortable with separate s/c thatched huts. The views from the camp were splendid as we were surrounded by the lush green peaks of the region's national park.

We undertook more interviews with women from loan groups in the area. About 35kms from Rumphi we visted a group of women who insisted in turning out in full force and met us with singing and dancing, arriving in a line as we stood by our car. It was very moving and Jane joined in the dancing, much to their delight, and to Ken's horror in case he had to join in as well. These events are wonderful and one of the highlights of our trip.

Our interpreters were very good. The one in Kasungu was called Precious and the one in Rumphi was named Trouble. Whilst it was a little awkward to call these men by their names, neither had the personalities their names imply.

The bird calls in Rumphi have been strange. One sounds like a persistent telephone, another like a loud dripping tap, and a third has a sound of a repeating low toned whistle. Not the best background noises at 5.00am, but then, we do go to bed at 9.00pm.

Why are African skies so extraordinary? They seem broader, with stronger colours, and the clouds appear more dramatic, and interact with the landscape to give an overall effect that often leaves you amazed. Could it be we are beginning to see Africa through rose coloured spectacles?

After four days in Rumphi we took a long dirt road to Livingstonia, 900 metres up in the mountains above Lake Malawi. It is a mission started in the late ninteeneth century to carry on Livingstone's work. The road became more treacherous as we progressed and our 4X4 was not a 4X4, although fortunately a high sided vehicle. After about an hour We became stuck in severe mud ruts and only managed to free ourselves because it was down hill and we slid along about 50 metres, saying thank goodness we didn't have to come back that way. About ten minutes later we were stopped as a large truck had become stuck blocking the road, so we had to turn back and face this seemingly impassable stretch of mud. After surveying the mud ruts for a while we decided on the most likely route and just went for it. You can imagine our elation when we made it through. The idea of becoming stranded many miles for anywhere was pretty scary. We then took a 100 km detour and went up by the rockiest road ever and stopped just short of Livingstonia at a campsite right on the edge of a precipice with a 700 metre dropped to the valley below stretching out to Lake Malawi. We stayed in a hut right on the cliff edge. Absolutely breathtaking.

We moved up to the Mission in Livingstonia the following morning to stay at the original house for the missionaries. Very basic! However, it was full of atmosphere and interesting historical material. We attended the church the next day to hear the famed gospel singing, which, with three choirs, was all it was cracked up to be. Having to stand up in front of the three hundred congregation to introduce ourselves as visitors was not expected though.

Working in Malawi

Working in Malawi

One of the benefits of working alongside Malawians and doing the surveys is that we have begun to see a little of what life is like for the local people. The wages are very low. Most families have households of six or more people and the income is very unlikely to cover the cost of the most basic needs. On top of this they pay income tax on any income over the equivalent of 12 pounds a month. Of course, most Malawians have no jobs, so survival is a precarious business. Food in the shops is not much cheaper than we pay in the UK and in some cases more expensive. Most families live on a sort of polenta made from ground maize which they have with some kind of sauce, very rarely with meat or fish. One of the reasons we can't find much in the way of vegetables (and quite a lot of other foodstuffs) is that very few people can afford them, so it does not pay the shops to transport them, what is available is what is grown locally. The biggest problems come at this time of year, during the rainy season, their food supplies have run out and there are no crops to pick until the rains stop in April. Also, because the land is so over farmed most people cannot achieve even a reasonable yield from their crops without fertiliser, to many another unaffordable luxury. Of course, the price of food has escalated over the last year or so. Tobacco is the only cash crop in this area, and many people try to grow this as well as food to try to tide themselves over the hard times.

One thing that amazes us is how smart many people are. Given the complete absence of any facilties, wearing light clothes and whites must mean an enormous amount of scrubbing for the women.

Education is a high priority for most parents, and many children attend at the primary stage However, the cost of the compulsory uniform is a major burden. Where youngsters do achieve an education at a more senior level it is often at the cost of serious hardship to the whole family.

Another salutary experience comes from our interviews where so many women care for children who are orphans because their parents have died, mostly from AIDS. These women have nothing, often no income and only the food they grow, yet have taken in 2, 3, or 4, young children. We have come across so many staggering stories of severe hardship, yet many of the women remain resilient and positive. It is hard to convey the impact of seeing and hearing all this first hand.

Although, when planning this trip, we intended to try to experience a bit of the life of African people, (the 'real Africa' we called it) the reality is that the gap between the lives of local people and that which most white westerners, i.e. us, can tolerate is too wide. Especially now we are settled somewhere and working it is as though there are two completely different existencies.

As in any society, there is a range of problems. We hear stories of people being robbed (we would call it being mugged), although we don't hear of the victims being hurt. Also, the other day we came across a large crowd outside a Police station and we were told that 8 people had been arrested for teaching children witchcraft, which appears to be strongly believed in Malawi. We were also warned not to stop if you knock over an animal as someone will probably try to extort a large sum of money from you or you may be attacked, especially if you knock someone over. The Police advised you to take the person to hospital first and not stop to seek assistance. However, day to day we do not feel threatened as everything seems friendly and relaxed. As is usual it is hard to assess what is actual risk and what are people's fears from what they hear. We intend to be careful non-the-less and walking about at night is completely out.

Also things seldom happen as you expect them to. Africa time is an elastic affair for some people in business and at work. Of course, this is rather nice and refreshing as life is much slower and people don't become stressed, frustrated and anxious. There is much to recommend this. It's funny how quickly we seem to have accept the change of pace, although we do occassionally feel a wee bit frustrated.

Working, instead of travelling, has extended our experience of being in Africa tremendously. The richness of being here is brought home to us every day.

Our first week at MLF

Micro Loan Foundation (MLF)
We thought a brief desciption of MLF would be helpful at this stage.The foundation lends small sums of money to women to start small businesses. The aim of the scheme is to help lift the poorest women and their families out of poverty and, at certain times of the year, prevent starvation. It is very well organised. The loans are made to groups of up 20 women who have collective responsibilty for repaying them. The businesses are usually linked to farming produce but also include things like dealing second hand clothing or shoes, brewing beer. The women are provided with training and support to run their businesses and manage the money. They pay back the money over four months with interest, and in addition also usually save some money towards future ventures. Many women are on their 8th, 9th, or 10th cycle of loans as they successfully progress. MLF also has a smaller, but also successful, micro ventures programme funded by lottery money whereby groups of women run larger projects such as irrigation schemes, poultry farming, honey production, knitting or sewing businesses. In these circumstances the women are provided with equipment or machinery as well as the loans.
Jane's work, with Ken as assistant and driver (he's too modest he's doing a lot more than that!), is to start the work of demonstrating how MLF benefits the children of the women who obtain the loans. This work can be used to raise more money to extend the MLF work. MLF already have nearly 700 groups of women across the country currently using loans, so over 10,000 women are benefiting from its work.
MLF employs only Malawian people to manage and run the programmes, and it is professionally and efficiently managed with good infrastructure which copes amazingly with the frequent absence of electricity and water.
Living and working in Kasungu.
Our first day with MLF was a great successs. The offices were well equipped, smart, and in a modern compound. The staff at the HQ office were great. They were prepared for us and gave us an excellent induction, ending up in the afternoon with a visit to one of the groups of women who were paying back their loan to the scheme. We were taken for an hour's drive into the countryside to meet with the group. What an experience! The women, about twenty of them, were waiting for us and sang and danced to us in greeting. We were taken into a small hut for the meeting, and they cheered and clapped as Jane's introduction was interpreted by the loans officer from the scheme who took us there. The meeting was really impressive. The women jointly put together the money to repay that instalment of their loan. The women showed a high level of support to each other in the meeting. At the end of the meeeting, one of the elders gave a little speech saying how pleased and honoured they were that we visited them and they sang for us again. As we left one of the women felt Ken's hair, to the great amusement of the rest, and they sang and danced again as we drove away. Wow!
We have moved into a guesthouse with self contained acccommodation, a large bedroom, and the services include a cook and a daily laundry service all for half the cost of the town's only hotel.

Insert pictures

Although finding produce in Kasungu is not easy, the cook, a young man called Able, manages to produce excellent meals from the indgredients we buy. There are frequent power cuts and water shortages and on a daily basis, which is at present a problem all over Malawi. Fortunately the office has it's own generator, so it doesn't affect our work. The evenings are often a bit strange with no light to read, no TV or radio and nowhere much to go out to. All houses have compounds with high walls, large steel gates and a nightwatchman/guard, so we feel pretty secure. We have been allocated a car to use which will make it possible to vist the branches around the country and the groups of women we will need to talk to and interview. We can also use the car to travel about in Malawi which will be a great benefit.

Malawi at last

Having experienced the friendliness of the people here, the next most noticeable thing was the weather. It is the rainy season between November and March. This means that it rains most days. It could be for a few minutes or several hours, from light drizzle to torrents of it. There is plenty of notice as rain is always preceeded by the local people carrying umbrellas. Otherwise the weather is warm and very pleasant, about between 25 and 30 degrees and therefore the rain does't seem a problem at all.Our hotel in Lilongwe, the capital, is fine. Although a 'budget' hotel, it is comfortable.

We met a really nice Italian woman who is working in Lilongwe on a health project and we went out to eat with her most evenings. She had a car so we were able to explore local restaurants.Lilongwe is an unusual city. It is split between the old town and the capital city which are separated by 5 kms. Capital city was set up by Hastings Banda when he decided that Lilongwe was to be the capital, so capital city only contains the government buildings, banks and insurance companies, smart restaurants and smart housing. These are spread out giving the impression of a leafy suburb and not a city at all. Old town, the original Lilongwe, is spreadout so is also rather uncity like. Our stay was extended a few days as Ken had another stomach bug, so we had more time to explore.

At the end of the week we pottered off to Malawi's second city, Blantyre, which is the commercial centre of the country, just to have a look. The coach/bus was very luxurious, and although cheap, we travelled in style. The guesthouse/hotel had splendid views across the city, with hills and mountains in the background, but we couldn't walk from the hotel due to potential robbery in that area so we felt a bit marooned. The city was fine, although one day looking around was enough. Then back to Lilongwe for another local bus journey to Kasungu where we will spend the next four/five weeks for the first part of our work with the microloan foundation
Our first impressions of Kasungu were positive as we arrived in time to amble along the main street (there is only one really) and for the first time in Africa, no-one asked us if we wanted a taxi, a guide, to buy something, or begged for money.It seems that Kasungu has no tourists.