A Parent's Love

This week we bought tickets to see the Wiggles when we are in Perth in December.  I'm really excited - not because the Wiggles is my live show of choice, nor because I'm a rare parent who is not driven crazy by daily repetitions of their music (I am - driven crazy that is) but because I know that my daughter is going to love it.  Like any parent I get a real kick out of seeing her joy and excitement.

In Luke 11, Jesus talks about His Father's joy in giving to His children.  As he put it (and I paraphrase), if we as imperfect but well-intentioned parents love giving good things to our children, how much more does God love giving even better things to His children (verse 13).

It has been too long....!

My first post since June!  I have lots of thoughts in my head but obviously I haven't made time to put them down.  Mostly it's because of a 90cm, 12kg bundle of energy who likes interaction with Mum much more than amusing herself.  I find that with playgroup and other such activities, shopping (mostly for groceries), housework & cooking and then playing with Cassie I don't get a lot of spare time.

I'm feeling REALLY tired at the moment.  Cassie has been waking up quite a lot at night or far too early (4:30am) but maybe it's also the change of "seasons".  Mt Isa doesn't have obvious seasons but recently the winter has definitely gone and we're reaching into temperatures in the high 30's.  It's going to be a looooong summer.  I shall try to punctuate it with more posts and hopefully some provocative and interesting discussions on issues close to my heart.

Book Review - Belly Dancing for Beginners by Liz Byrski

"Belly Dancing for Beginners" by Liz Byrski focuses on the lives of 3 women in their 50's and 60's, all in very different circumstances, who become close friends when they tour Western Australia on an educational belly dancing tour.  The tour symbolises the journeys they each take in their lives and the issues they resolve along the way.  The story also involves the lives of their families and close friends and how those relationships unfold as the plot progresses.  The book finishes with an unexpected twist once the 3 women are back at home in Perth.

Liz Byrski writes a compelling story, one which I always find hard to put down.  Her use of older women as protagonists has filled a niche in the reading market and she is to be commended for bringing some of the issues faced by women as they age into the light.  I also enjoying novels which are set in places that are familiar to me and there are plenty of West Australian references throughout this book.  She researches her subjects thoroughly but in some ways it feels like her attempts to weave the findings of her research into the story are a bit clumsy.  The characters, as sympathetic as the protagonists are, also often feel a bit contrived.  However, if you can look past these issues, Liz Byrski's books are well worth reading and this one is no exception.

Exploiting Children for Art

An Australian artist is at risk of being prosecuted over photographic works depicting children as young as 12 - 13 in semi-nude poses.  His exhibition no sooner opened recently than the Australian Federal Police closed it down, seized his works and commenced an investigation of the situation with a view to charging him.

What I find interesting is that a number of prominent Australian figures have come out in his support.  Their reasoning:  they don't want Australia's cultural reputation to be devalued!  (See link.)  I wonder where the "privilege" of art stops and the laws that apply to everyone else start.  If it's OK to exploit children for the sake of art by photographing them semi-nude and then letting the general public gawk at them, would it be OK to emblazon them with tattoos and photograph them?  Would it be OK to carve artistic images in their skin with a knife?  Would it be OK to photograph dead children?  The reasoning of those in support can't be given any credibility and I'm surprised that such prominent figures would want to be connected with this kind of work in any way. 

The law has deemed children younger than 16 or 17 (depending on which State we're talking about) to be too young to be able to consent to sex acts.  The reason for this is their sexual vulnerability during their young teen years.  Even if they think they are consenting to sex, there are so many factors involved, especially when the other party is an adult, that the law has decided the matter once and for all.  So what is so different from photographing young children and then displaying them for the world to see?  How can a child of 12 or 13 consent to this?  Even if their identities are protected, it makes no difference in my view.  Their bodies are still on show for others to see and someone else has decided that this constitutes "art".  There are 2 worrying things about this:  one is that someone could think of the idea in the first place and have no internal indicator that tells him it's not an appropriate expression of his artistic creativity.  The other is that there are people who would find this "art" interesting or palatable and not detestable.

I'm afraid I don't care about the reputation of Australia's art industry when it impinges on the welfare of children.  I fully support the actions of the Australian Federal Police and am thankful that we have a police force with a clear view of what's appropriate and what's not when children's welfare is concerned.

Saving the World

Having a young child is taxing of time, energy and creativity.  That's no startling new information but lately I've been wondering how I can be a bit more outward focused rather than being totally consumed by motherhood.  Admittedly, I do have to fight a belief that I should be trying single-handedly to save the world, but even so I felt I could be doing a bit more than I currently am with my resources.  My noble thoughts had drawn a blank and I was feeling a little bit despondent until Saturday.  Cassie, my daughter, and I went to a birthday party.  It was for a little chap we didn't know that well but we'd been invited, the house wasn't far away and I thought we'd go.  In fact I did prevaricate because his Mum had told us that she expected about 27 children to turn up and the image I had of complete chaos was a bit daunting.  Nevertheless I thought we'd turn up and if there were the expected 27 kids and chaos was ruling, we could stay a short time and then go home again.  So I bought him a present and a card, dressed Cassie up in her party dress and off we went.

As it turned out, there were not 27 children there; there were 4 including Cassie.  One of those was the party boy, another was his sister.  His Mum was over the moon that we came.  I didn't have to leap a tall building or ride off on a daring steed, I simply needed to turn up to a local kid's birthday party to make a difference to someone else's day.

Of course it doesn't stop there but it's good to be reminded that making a difference doesn't necessarily mean a huge expenditure of time and energy.  

It's been a while

Wow, it's a while since I last posted anything.  Since then we have moved back to Australia from Malawi.  Hang on a minute, since then I've become a mother AND moved back to Australia from Malawi.  Not to Perth, where our "home" is, but to north-eastern Australia; to a remote mining town called Mount Isa.  It's very different from living in Malawi - the power works, the phone works, the internet works (most of the time) and so far no one has asked me for money.  It's a nice change for now and our 16 month old daughter is enjoying all the local activities.  It's still a distance from family and friends but we're closer than we were and the phone calls are a lot cheaper.  How long we'll stay here we're not sure but for now it's home.

Update

We've had significant problems with online communication over the past few weeks, largely associated with theft of phone line cable. Now we're back up and running for hopefully a good while.

I've posted a number of my newsletters today so the site is now up to date. These are newsletters I send to friends and family to enlighten them about life in Malawi. There are some deeply serious issues and I would be telling only half the story if I didn't share some sobering details, but I've also tried to include humour to lighten things up as well.

Hope you enjoy. If you feel prompted to give to any charities who work in Malawi, post a comment with the kind of area you'd like to support (eg children, HIV/AIDS etc) and I can put you in touch with some organisations.

Frog

Malawi Memo 22 March 2006

If I were to describe to you a day in my life in Malawi, today was quite a good day to choose. As usual breakfast was served to us by the ever reliable and efficient Mary. Before this, however, we held discussions with the very newly separated Arnold. He announced yesterday that Catherine was leaving him and would be around sometime that day to collect her things. And collect her things she did. According to Arnold, she took everything, including his clothes. Ah, the joys of family law disputes! Consequently, we have lent Arnold some money to get back on his feet. To his credit, he let Catherine come in and take what she wanted as he did not want any more fights. We’re not sure what has effected this change of heart, but we’re very happy about it.

After breakfast, we headed to an internet café because we are into day 23 out of a possible 38 of no landline connection (ie in the last 38 days, 23 of them we’ve had no phone.) There are a few different reasons for this. The first problem was that our surge protector paid the ultimate price in such a self-effacing way that we didn’t realise that it was the reason our phones were not working. The next problem was that someone stole a length of cable outside our estate. This took some 2 weeks to replace but even then our most important line was still not working so it took another few days until a technician could come and fix the wiring. We were restored for a whole 2½ days before someone else helped themselves to a length of cable outside our estate. My call to the phone company today for an update elucidated that the company has put out a nationwide call for cable as they are having trouble finding cable to replace the bit that was pinched. SIGH!

After the internet café, Martin dropped me at my Chichewa speaking group and headed to the airport to do battle with Customs over some technical instruments we sent to South Africa for repair under warranty. Customs wanted to charge duty! This is the second time I have attended the Chichewa speaking group, mainly because it took considerable perseverance to find them. I love it. It’s a group of 4 ladies all around my age who meet at a coffee shop for 2 hours on Wednesday mornings and pay a pitifully small amount to a guy to teach us how to speak his language. As you know, I’ve been trying to pick up bits and pieces of Chichewa since I’ve been here. Our mostly absent co-tenant has a very helpful text book that I have purloined and with that, Mary and Arnold’s guidance and practice wherever I can I’m doing OK as far as beginners go.

While I was at my group a lawyer from the Ministry of Justice rang me to arrange meetings in April to negotiate the Development Agreement we’re hoping to agree with the government so our project can go ahead. So in mid-April I have to take my admin/accounts person hat off and put my lawyer hat back on (if I can find it) and help to negotiate a mining agreement.

After lunch Martin sent me off on my own to the bank and post office while he stayed at the office and made phone calls. Before I was able even to get out of my car there were 2 food selling vendors and 3 guys on crutches lined up waiting for me. I bought some peanuts and bananas (I don’t always buy but this time I did) and, working on the theory that social security for the disabled is provided by the altruistic, gave some money to the guys on crutches. So then we were joined by quite a queue of guys on crutches – seriously I’ve never seen that many at the post office. When that line was through the guys who sell wooden carvings and paintings etc wanted me to look at their stuff. I managed to get out of that and actually make it as far as the bank, only to find that their system was down and that unfortunately I would not be able to withdraw money. I waited for a while to see if it would come back up but it didn’t so I proceeded to the post office. While waiting I chatted to the guy on the front desk and he asked for us to employ him.

Now the post office staff are very quick to tell you when their lunch hour is. We are exceedingly well aware that lunch starts at 12 noon and even if they are in the middle of checking your mail at 12, too bad. So, having arrived at the post office hatch at 1:20pm, I felt I’d given the staff enough time for lunch and that there shouldn’t be a problem. Not so. When the girl finally opened the hatch at 1:30pm she had a mouth full of sandwich and a look on her face as if I’d interrupted a sacred event! While waiting for the post office girl, a guy who I now know is called Patrick started a conversation with me, during which he asked us to employ him.

My next task was to try to find a vacuum cleaner bag as the current specimen has seen much better days. This is not the first attempt I have made to find said bag. In fact it will probably be my last attempt as ALL other avenues I have tried have rendered NOTHING. The shop across the road from the post office told me on the phone that they have vacuum cleaner bags but that I’d have to come in and see what they have. No, they couldn’t tell me over the phone whether they had my model. So today I decided I’d go and see what they have only to find that whereas the entire rest of the country takes their lunch from 12 or 12:30, this shop is closed for lunch between 1pm and 2pm. It was 1:35pm. Tomorrow!

Before I was able to get back in my cars, the wood sellers entered into quite intense negotiations with me to look at their stuff. It was probably 5 – 10 minutes by the time I greeted them all, found out how they were and as politely as possible begged to be able to get into my car and look at their stuff some other time. No, probably not tomorrow but maybe next week.

Later this afternoon we went back to the internet café, the first of which was not able to help us because of a power outage. While there, an attempt to send a 2 page fax to Australia proved futile but at least we had internet connection.

A happy end to the day saw me being able to cook dinner on our electric stove in full electric light and to eat it in full electric light while we watched cable tv.

Yes, the frustrations of the day still pale into insignificance when we consider the luxuries we also enjoy. This time of the month and year are particularly fraught for many. This is probably the last month before maize harvest begins and as most are paid monthly at or around the end of the month, very few have money left for food. I’m sure this is the reason for the number of people begging and the intensity with which the vendors try to negotiate a sale.
Another luxury we’d struggle without is the delight of being able to listen to BBC World on the radio. Our car radio is tuned to it so we are able to listen to all kinds of fascinating topics, readings and interviews while we do our best to anticipate what the mad drivers on these roads might do next. I had missed the “Beeb” as it’s affectionately known in Britain and it’s nice to have it back as a part of our life here.

In the meantime I’m pleased to say that the local media has continued its onslaught against gender-based violence. No doubt it will take time for entrenched views and attitudes to change, but at least the country sees the value of putting out a very clear message and if enough organisations join the fight then I think the country will see some lasting change. It’s obviously not possible to eradicate it completely but a shift in the balance of statistics would be very welcome.

This newsletter would not be complete without my latest chitenje report. I am very happy to announce that Martin has finally conceded defeat on this issue and in fact helped me choose some fabrics during our recent trip to Karonga. Previously he had groaned that it was not possible to find black or navy blue fabric and that everything was far too garish. (It is in fact possible to find dark, plain colours, but I’m not going to tell him where!) Karonga and Mzuzu, the city about half way between Lilongwe and Karonga, both have extensive cloth markets. We visited them last time we went to Karonga but this time the range was even better and the colours even brighter. My contribution to the local economy will keep the country going for the next few months and now I just have to figure out what I’m going to do with it all!

As further evidence of the breakthrough with Martin and fabric shopping, he had to make a business trip down to Blantyre last week without me. While there he purchased, unaccompanied, a fantastic painted wall hanging painted in brown and…wait for it…..orange! I’m a happy woman.

While we were in Karonga the local guys at the camp near where the mine will (hopefully) be decided that they were going to make Martin a Chief and are busy making him a chiefly spear. Martin was initially very flattered but is reconsidering his position after I told him that as a chief he would have to wear national costume.

I’ll finish this letter with an account of our new gardener and some idiosyncrasies in the local use of English.

We found ourselves having to hire another gardener after Mary’s son, Jeffry, sadly failed his high school leaving and has gone back to try again. We found Kennedy (we affectionately refer to him as “Gunshy”) because he advertised on the board at our favourite supermarket. He is so thrilled to have a job that he has been bobbing and bowing (I mean down on 1 knee) whenever he sees us, much to our embarrassment (For heavens sake, man, I’m Australian. We don’t believe in bowing to ANYONE!) We gave him some money to help him get to his father’s funeral recently and he rewarded us with more bowing and a vow that he will keep working for us “until my life is finished.”

A few of the “pearler” names we have come across recently include Revival (F), Tryness (F), Stywell (M), Stain (surely a ground for parental homicide) (M), Ronex (M), Robtcher (M), Auspicious (M), Joylet (F), Loyce (F)(possibly a typo??), Beston (M), Dickens (M), Smalls (M)(ouch!) and Gogo (F). Wake me up……

Our geologist was unwell recently and when he was on the up, we asked him how he was. His reply, “A little bit fine.”

With that I’ll leave you for another few weeks. Keep smiling (it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to.)

Malawi Memo 3 March 2006

I last wrote just before we were expecting our colleagues from Perth. We had a very busy week with them but the meetings we attended were largely very positive and when we reached the end of the week we felt confident that our timescales are not impossible and that there is enough will within the various government departments for the project to go ahead. We are not counting our chickens yet (will anyone be counting their chickens at this time in history? Instead I think we might have to start counting our reptiles or platypi or something else that hatches from eggs) but we’re hopeful.

Apart from that it has been a trying few weeks here in Malawi. Since I last wrote, we have had 12 days (the most recent period is now into its 9th day and I’m sending this from an internet café) without a landline phone connection (and thus no fax or internet), almost no post despite the fact that we know people have sent us things, several hours without power (when you add up all the power outages) and last Sunday we hit the pinnacle: at 5:30pm we had no phones, no power and no car (the battery died on Saturday). No power means no means of cooking (or in Martin’s case, no coffee) and no car means no takeaways so for dinner we settled for cold leftover chicken and baked potatoes by candlelight.

Baking potatoes is my latest scheme to address the food shortages. I’ve been buying bags of potatoes, baking them and then taking them with me when I go out and about. When people ask for money I give them a potato instead. Most have appreciated it because it’s food they don’t have to go buy and cook and I prefer giving food to giving money. The price of rice and maize at the moment is prohibitive for many people who are literally surviving on the goodwill of others.

I have written much about the poverty in Malawi, especially the food issue, because that’s probably the most obvious and acute issue facing the country. Thankfully the rains this year have been better and the maize in many areas is looking strong. The government is forecasting a 96% increase on last year’s crop and let’s hope they’re right. In the meantime there is another issue I want to focus on in this newsletter: the plight of women and children in Malawi. It is less obvious than the food shortage because I don’t have women approaching me on the street asking, “Madam, can you please save me from my husband who beats me” (unless, of course, you count the events in my own backyard) and, of course, a lot of the violence happens behind closed doors.

However, recently the newspapers have been reporting more and more stories about violence to women and children. Last week there were 2 days when the n newspapers contained 5 articles between them, 2 about sexual abuse of children by their fathers – one girl was 15 and became pregnant and the other was just 5 months old! Another was a 12 year old girl being sexually abused by a man unknown to her and the other 2 were about the plight of women in general. Two of the men had been tried and convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, one for 3 years and one for 12 years. It appears that incest attracts a maximum sentence of 5 years whilst “rape and defilement” is a more serious crime, and attracts a longer sentence!

One article, entitled “Hunger with a feminine face” talked of families selling their daughters or forcing them into early marriage so they could afford food (in Malawi men pay the dowry.) Of course some women have turned to prostitution to make enough money to feed their families. Statistics show that women are far more likely to be HIV positive than men of the same age. Other women have died eating poisonous roots and berries while trying to find alternative food sources for their families.

Even more disturbing, I think, is an article in which the writer quotes a village headman who believes that a woman’s refusal to give her husband sex on any given occasion constitutes gender-based violence. To quote the article, “If you give a woman the right to say no to sex with her husband, you are at the same time giving the man the right to have sex outside the marriage. And this right will bring death in the family through HIV and Aids”. Village headmen are the traditional leaders in Malawi society and for that reason are very influential.

Another problem, not covered in recent newspaper articles, is that when men die, their extended families often lay claim to their possessions. There are many, many stories of families racing to banks to drain bank accounts, forcing the wife and children out of the home and onto the street and at times even killing the wife so that she cannot make any claims herself.

I think I have been in self-protective denial about the awfulness and extent of this problem, probably because there seem to be so many needs in this country, and probably because of yet another attempt to flee from the emotional demands of family law issues. However, I’m really pleased that the government is taking these issues seriously and there are a number of government and non-governmental initiatives to bring positive change in these areas. Our church has joined this throng and I’m excited about getting involved.

Tomorrow Martin and I are off to Karonga for a few days. I will be providing further training for Twisile (pronounced Tweesiray), our accounts clerk and will be helping Martin to look at Occupational Health and Safety issues. Martin will also be catching up with the local chiefs and making sure everyone’s up to date with their information. I was hoping that we’d have time to do a bit of travelling in Tanzania while we were up that way but unfortunately we don’t have the time this time. We’ll get back to Lilongwe on Sunday and then Martin has to leave for Blantyre (opposite end of the country from Karonga) on Monday morning. I’ve been spending quite a lot of time home alone lately as Martin also had a 5 day trip to Namibia recently.

You’re probably getting sick of the sound of my voice by now, (that’s humorous irony for the less subtle amongst you) so I’ll draw this to a close with an Arnold update. We had to give him a written warning for not being on the premises during work hours for the nth time. Since then he’s been immaculately behaved. In fact he has little time to get up to mischief because the grass has been growing so fast, and we have so much of it, that as soon as Arnold finishes mowing it, he has to start again.

By the way, we have hired another gardener whose name is Kennedy (we affectionately refer to him as “Gunshy”). He is so thrilled to have a job that he has been bobbing and bowing whenever he sees us, much to our embarrassment (For heavens sake, man, I’m Australian. We don’t believe in bowing to ANYONE!) We gave him some money to help him get to his father’s funeral recently and he rewarded us today with more bowing and a vow that he will keep working for us “until my life is finished.”

Life is precious. Bye for now and talk to you again soon.

Malawi Memo 10 February 2006

I had no idea that when I came to Malawi I’d be embarking on a study of toilet paper but did you know that there are different types of 2-ply? Let me assure you that there are. We were actually onto a good brand of 2-ply and I should have stuck to it but ever the explorer, I have just brought a different kind – 9 rolls of it – and it’s just not the same! It’s to do with the thickness of each ply but I’ll leave it at that.

Such are the trivial issues one has to deal with in this place and I guess you tend to focus on them at times as a distraction from the not at all trivial issues like politics and poverty. On our arrival back from a lovely 3 weeks in Australia we were greeted at the airport by a guy selling green beans and another guy in a wheelchair. We were also greeted with the news of the various antics of the President. His most recent move has been to fire the Vice-President for not turning up to Cabinet meetings (which apparently he didn’t tell the VP about!) It seems that if he’d read his Constitution the President would have known that he couldn’t fire the Vice-President and that the only way to get rid of the VP was by impeaching him. As the President himself is still the subject of impeachment proceedings I can imagine he was not too keen to go down that road with the VP but an unconstitutional dismissal…..?! We’re still waiting to see what the fall out will be but we’re expecting something quite spectacular.

Back to the issue of the guys selling things, as annoying as it can be, our sympathy was really with them this week. Martin went down to the bank and the post office on Tuesday morning and found himself in the middle of a governmental attempt to round up all the street sellers and to move them on to a “less intrusive” area. Tear gas and shots were being fired and Martin found that tear gas is no respecter of persons. He was gassed not once but twice! I was in the area the following day and it was very quiet and subdued. The normally vibrant colours of the cloth market that usually operates on the rails in front of one set of shops (ie the vendors drape the various bits of cloth over the rails and then stand in front) was nowhere to be seen, although a couple of the vendors surreptitiously approached me, backpacks on their back, and whispered that they could do me a very good deal if I was interested. “Today is cheap price, Madam, very cheap.” I’m starting to come up with response lines they can’t argue with rather than just saying no. My latest is, “Oh, I’m very sorry but my husband would be very angry with me if I bought more chitenje (word for cloth)”.

As it happens, although there were a few quiet days on the street vendor front, the government backed down and the vendors are all back in force. It’s actually nice to see them. Despite the days when you really just want to go about your business without being bothered, the area just wouldn’t be the same without them.

Actually there are equivalents in Australia (well all over the Western world) to the harassment of the street vendors – yes, the telephone canvassers. We don’t get them here so we’d forgotten about them. Occasionally we receive calls from people who dial random numbers just for a chat but they don’t last very long because of the language issue. However when we were in Australia and staying with friends we received 2 calls in the space of 2 days from people trying to sell things. I guess that’s the power of the retail industry. As long as there is life on earth there will be people trying to sell you things.

Now, since so many of you asked about Arnold, our gardener, while we were back in Australia, I’ll bring all of you up to date. Just before we left a letter arrived for Arnold in our PO box. As he’d recently been married, I thought it must have been a congratulatory card or letter so I presented the letter to Arnold with much excitement (how often does he get letters, you know?) Well it was actually a Magistrate’s Court summons regarding the payment of Child Support for one of his children. I was aware that Arnold had been married before so assumed it was about one of his older children. Oh no, no, no. It turns out that this son is the same age, within a few weeks, as Owen, the son Arnold has with his wife, Catherine. I asked if Catherine knew about this and the reply was “Oh no, no, no. She would leave me.” Can’t say I blame her, to be honest. Arnold’s primary concern was not that he’d cheated on his dearly beloved, or that she’d be upset if she found out, but that the Court might put him in jail if he did not have enough money to pay. Naturally he thought we might be able to assist him in this regard. Strangely enough I found my sympathy beginning to wane but, not having quite reached the end of my generosity, gave him instead some free legal advice.

Arnold went the next day to Martin, who by then was up to speed with events. Needless to say he didn’t find much of a sympathetic ear in Martin either. As we were leaving, Arnold was stewing on the possibility of jail (a possibility I considered to be quite remote) and still trying to wheedle some money out of us. The court date was while we were away and we received an email from the guy looking after our work to say that Arnold had also approached him for money! I was beginning to think a night in lockup might not be a bad idea but as it turned out Arnold was able to do a very reasonable deal with the woman’s father, so that Arnold pays what he can when he can and if he can’t he simply needs to let them know. Catherine still doesn’t know and Arnold thought maybe I could understate his pay on his pay slips so she won’t know if there’s money disappearing to another source. In all other respects Arnold has been on his very best behaviour since we’ve been back but we really think it’s just a matter of time before he’ll step over the line irretrievably.

Otherwise it’s been a week of catching up after holidays, correcting the mistakes I made on Monday when I was still well and truly jet-lagged and preparing for the arrival of several business colleagues from Perth. Next week is a week of meetings with various government departments to try to resolve areas of possible dispute between the company and the government over an agreement to mine uranium in this country. Please pray because I think this represents the single largest challenge of the entire project. It will be an interesting but very busy week and after the dust settles I will report on more of the fascinating events that comprise life in Malawi.

Happy New Year

Hello Everyone, and happy new year! For us 2006 slid in softly rather than with loud celebration but nevertheless we are filled with anticipation of another year full of adventure, things to celebrate and things to wonder about.

There is good news to report from Malawi:

1. The rains have started. Leading up to about the middle of December the weather became increasingly hot and sticky, as it does in the tropics before the rains. Then the storms began and the rains came and it has been raining with enough consistency to keep the maize growers happy ever since. We have had some storm casualties, including our printer, which took the hit on the phone line and sacrificed itself to protect the phone line, the modem and the telephone. The guy at the IT Centre gravely informed us that the printer was “flied” (Malawians interchange Ls and Rs without warning) and so we have upgraded. The microwave is also displaying no signs of life, which is perplexing, as none of the other white goods have been affected at all. As you can imagine, we have since equipped ourselves with surge protectors for everything we possibly can and we now sleep better at night knowing the computer, especially, should survive any storm that hits. We also had an 8 hour power cut following one particularly nasty storm, but it was a Sunday so we didn’t need to work and we spent the time talking to each other and reading. In the meantime, the good news aspect of this story is the rain for the crops and the cooler weather.

2. We have done a bit of traveling around the countryside in the past few weeks and there are fields and fields of maize at various stages of growth. Some fields have had problems with armyworm killing the crops but in the rest of the country the growth seems to be progressing well. We will keep praying for an abundant crop this season.

3. It has been all quiet on the domestic front (ref previous newsletters).

4. There have been many strong messages aimed at the President from various donors that this year provides him with a good opportunity to focus on working together with opposition parties to achieve some big goals, rather than focusing on differences. This is good news for our project as it will need the co-operation of Parliament in order to go ahead. We are hoping to have reached agreement with the government on all important aspects in time to present the agreement to Parliament for the June sitting. The political situation has been very quiet over the Christmas/New Year break so there’s not a lot more to report on that at the moment.

5. We have acquired some more office furniture and I now have my own desk and laptop to use. This is fantastic because previously I had to wait till Martin was out before I could use the computer. I am hoping to have some time for some creative writing this year and having a computer for my use will help.

6. We had a really lovely Christmas down at a Tea Estate in the south-east of the country. Martin and I have never been that far south before and it’s very different countryside to the rest of what we’ve seen of Malawi. There are rolling hills covered, as far as the eye can see, with tea bushes. Unpicked tea leaves are bright green and very attractive. The tea estate was beautiful, peaceful and very interesting. We had 2 Aussie friends who’d come to see us and spend Christmas and together we relaxed, did a tour of the estate and the tea factory and did some driving around. We saw Mount Mulanje, Malawi’s highest peak, which is magnificent. Due to the prevailing conditions it was surrounded by cloud, which made the view even more spectacular and evocative. At one stage we bogged the car trying to get a closer look but the fact that there are people everywhere in Malawi (which at other times can be frustrating) was to our advantage. We’d been stuck barely 2 minutes before a group of lads ran with undisguised enthusiasm in our direction. They had the car out of the muck in no time and were delighted to have earned some unexpected cash (not for the post-Christmas sales, I can tell you, but no doubt they would have had no difficulty spending it.)

7. Actually, the fact that there are no post-Christmas sales is also good news because post-Christmas the roads and shops are “normal”. If we had sales here, the roads would chock up and the traffic would be gridlocked for hours. Traffic here is crazy anyway. You have to have your wits about you and basically expect every car on the road to cut straight in front of you whether they do or not so you’re ready for it when they do (which is far too often). Martin and I often talk about volunteering for the Police Force for a day or 2 here and there so we can book people. However, I was driving recently and watched while a police van overtook me and the car in front of me up a hill into a blind crest and then into the face of a massive truck which he only managed to avoid because the truck slowed down. If the police drive like that, things are not going to change in a hurry.

8. There’s a road that starts at the edge of our suburb which cuts Lilongwe in half for us and is therefore very convenient. Until about a week ago there were massive road works on this road and the other end of it was blocked. The blockage has shrunk over the months so that we have been able to drive further and further along it but we couldn’t go the full length, which meant driving the long way round to just about everywhere. This is not a big deal, really, because Lilongwe is quite small but Chilambula Road is now completely open and we can drive the whole length. It’s great.

9. A whole lot of new chitenje (African cloth) designs are coming through and Christmas has provided me with a good opportunity to buy lots of it for various purposes. The chitenje sellers love me and sometimes when Martin is in their vicinity without me they ask him, “Where is your wife?” I’ve found a particular stall up near the markets where the range is perhaps not as good but the guy applies no pressure to buy. He simply lets me look and choose and then asks such a reasonable price that I don’t even bother to barter. I guess he knows I’ll come back which, much to Martin’s chagrin, I do! The other chitenje sellers that I patronise are set up across the road from one of the major supermarkets, outside another supermarket and across the road from a series of banks and the post office. I guess they figure they can get better prices as there are more azungu (foreigners) who go to that area. Consequently they start off with hugely inflated prices and there is some intense bartering before we agree a sale. They are also so keen to sell that they bombard you with cloth so that making any kind of reasonable decision is compromised. But it’s an interesting experience and I’m glad to be able to support local industry. (Martin says the same about drinking Malawi gin and the locally brewed beers, all of which are actually very good.)

10. We had a snake inside the house in mid-December. No, that’s NOT good news, but the good news is that it was very small and was discovered by someone other than me. The even better news is that there has been no recurrence of this unwelcome event and certain of us (me) are praying that there will not be for the duration of our time here. Apparently cobras are a local snake but we haven’t seen any, except a couple on the road when we’ve been driving in the country. That’ll do for my study on the habits of reptiles in Malawi.

11. Australia won the cricket!!!!!!!!

12. We’ll be in Australia to celebrate the cricket victory, woops sorry, to visit family and friends, from 15 Jan to 4 Feb. We’ll spend the first 10 days or so with my parents down near Albany and will then be in Perth for the rest of the time. There is a communal picnic/BBQ/whatever at South Beach, Fremantle, on Sunday 29th Jan from around 1-ish. We’ll position ourselves within sight of the café so you can find us. Those of you in Perth would be most welcome to join us. In fact, those of you not in Perth would also be most welcome to join us but I can appreciate that the logistics may not be favourable.

I’ll finish with a quaint cultural practice observed by Martin recently. Malawi seems to have been keen to adopt the Western white wedding model and so it’s not unusual to see cars with wedding streamers attached. This particular day, Martin saw a wedding car with bride only. Following that was another wedding car with the groom. The bridesmaids (in matching pink dresses) and rest of the wedding party were wedged in a public minibus following behind. I hope they made it to the church!

With that I’ll say farewell till my next installment but will hopefully see many of you in person before then.

Christmas ya bwino ku Malawi

Hello friends!

Christmas ya bwino ku Malawi….well it’s not too hard to translate: Happy Christmas from Malawi. The “bwino” is from the Portuguese which is spoken in Mozambique, one of Malawi’s neighbours. Chichewa, the national Malawian language, seems to be a bit of a mixture of a number of different local languages. The tiny bit of Spanish I know which is close enough to some words in Portuguese has helped a minute amount but otherwise I’m learning Chichewa the painstaking way: memorise and practise.

This is likely to be my last newsletter before Christmas and, in fact before the end of the year, as next week we have a group of people from Perth in town and will be involved in meetings all week. The week after we have other friends arrive from Perth, more of the tourist kind and then Christmas is upon us. We’re spending Christmas at one of the tea estates in the far south of Malawi. We’ve heard it’s beautiful down there and we’re excited to see it.

Traveling from Malawi to England exposed me to a number of cultural (and other) extremes. From hot & humid to frosty, from a place with limited retail options to retail frenzy, from very early rising to much later rising and from being noticed everywhere I go to being completely ignored. In fact I tried speaking to a couple of people in a Subway takeaway shop near Trafalgar Square. I had been given a sticker for buying a 6” sub and was not going to be able to use it so I tried to give it away. Well, the horrified looks I was given! It was as if I’d suggested joining some kind of suicide cult.

I really enjoyed my 2 weeks in England. It was great to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in 3 years and great to visit some old haunts. I went to the movies (we don’t have a cinema in Malawi), did a bit of shopping and enjoyed being able to walk down the street without being noticed and stopped. Speaking English constantly and not having to concentrate on unfamiliar vocab was also nice for a couple of weeks.

It was a nice break but it’s also good to be back in Malawi. The weather is even hotter & more humid. Martin said that there were a couple of decent storms while I was away but there’s been no rain since I’ve been back. It really tried hard today but after a few drops it stopped and cleared up again. Around and about ground has been ploughed and is ready for maize planting. I think people are waiting for the first really good rains before planting and also there’s been a hold up with getting fertilizer into the country. According to the newspaper, there are bags of fertilizer at various borders but the country has no foreign exchange to buy it. I’m not sure where the donor money, donated for the purpose of alleviating food shortages, has gone!

A couple of days ago we had the pleasure of meeting our famous neighbour, Mama Kadzamira. Although not married to Dr Kamuzu Banda, the country’s first President, Mama K, as she’s affectionately known, was his official escort. I’m not sure how this came to be but it was clear that she was very suited to the job. She received us with grace and charm and conversed on a wide variety of topics with ease and intelligence. She looks 40-something but she must be in her late 70’s or early 80’s. Most Malawians hold Mama K in awe and we have surmised that she must be as close to royalty as Malawi is likely to get. People speak of her as a woman of the people and there are stories of her visiting hospital queues and speaking to people waiting for treatment. (Yes, in Britain and Australia we queue in the comfort of our own homes, often for far too long, but in Malawi they literally stand in queues for medical treatment. I’ve been to the Lilongwe Central Hospital once and was profoundly depressed by the experience.)

Now for a radical change of subject, last night we went to a cocktail party put on by our mobile phone company. The most notable feature of the evening, apart from the minimal number of white faces, was…..let’s just say that for those women who worry about the size of their derrieres (and I’m not admitting that this is a relevant issue for me) you’d feel very good in Africa! We came away with promises of new and improved service and with a bottle of red and a coffee cup each - not bad at all.

The telephone company that provides our landline service has some interesting quirks. Its most interesting quirk is its propensity to cut off the line for non-payment of the bill….AFTER the cheque that you gave them to pay the bill has cleared! When Martin paid the bill last month he mentioned this and asked if the company would please ensure that we were not cut off again as it hindered our ability to work. The very helpful gentleman suggested to Martin, “Sir, perhaps if you pay the bill before you receive it you might not be cut off.” No cocktail party from them!

Speaking of “African logic”, Martin has been busy trying to organise a conference that our company is holding next week. He emailed the (large prestigious) hotel but decided to visit them when he received no reply. When he asked the booking lady whether she had received his email she replied, “Oh no, sir, I don’t have email.” Martin was perplexed as she had given him an email address. When he queried this she responded, “Yes sir, that’s the address I would use if I had email.”

It’s hard to say what Christmas in Malawi will be like, apart from the fact that it will be hot, like Christmas in Australia, and our Christmas dinner will most certainly feature tropical fruit. There is very little Christmas paraphernalia in shops and no Christmas carols playing. I’ve seen a handful of Christmas trees around. Many people are Christian and there are holidays for Christmas and Boxing Day but as for what people do, I’m not yet sure. The shops and roads are certainly busier but we haven't yet been able to pin down exactly why.

There are obviously other cultures and religions in Malawi as well as Christians but I don’t think the Malawi Christians would stand for dropping all references to Christ and Christmas, as has been suggested in various places in the West. The Muslims here celebrate Ramadan and everyone lets them get on with it and I am assuming the Christians will expect the same privilege.

So I can’t yet give you any examples of Christmas in Malawi. Instead I will go back to England to the example set by Anthony Walker’s mother*. As Christmas approaches she has had the trial of those who killed her son and yet still she has the courage to openly and publicly forgive them. Christmas will be a rough time for that family but they are modeling the message of Christmas in a way that speaks more volubly than words: Christ came to earth as a man to offer people forgiveness for their shortcomings and relationship with God. Having received that we too can offer forgiveness to others and do our best to live in peace with the rest of our communities.

Wherever you are I pray that Christmas is a time of peace for you and your family and a time when the love of Christ is evident in a personal way to you.

As for us, we will reach Christmas 6 hours behind some, 2 hours ahead of others and 11 or more hours ahead of others but we will be thinking of you all.

God bless and more news in 2006
Toni (& Martin) xx

* For those who haven’t heard the story, Anthony Walker was a black 18 year old young man living in the north of England. He and his girlfriend and another friend were out walking one night and were confronted by a group (perhaps only 2) white youths. Anthony’s friends fled but he ended up with an axe embedded in his head and died. It appears that the attack was completely racially motivated as Anthony’s girlfriend was white.

A Powerful Choice

Tonight on the news there was a story about a Palestinian boy who was killed in the seemingly never-ending skirmishes between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Rather than perpetuate the hatred and violence, the parents chose to donate their son’s organs so that 3 Israeli children could live. I wanted to spread their story because it says more than anything else could possibly say about the power of forgiveness and a choice to love instead of hate. In a world where people are suffering from secondary post-traumatic stress disorder just from watching the news, what a beautiful, heartening and powerful story.

I doubt I’ll ever meet these two people but if I could, I’d hug them! Instead I’ll pray for them in their grief and pray that their courageous and powerful choice will bless many, many lives and not just those of the families of those little Israeli boys.

Malawi News 27.10.05

The past month has been a combination of day to day routine and some exciting (and not so exciting) challenges. As usual, the highlight of our time here is meeting Malawians, a number of whom could teach all of us how to find reasons to be thankful despite adverse circumstances. It is rare not to get a smile or a laugh from a Malawian.

The challenge of fluctuating water supply has fallen from the Number 1 slot in our list of challenges. At the time of writing this place has been filled by our gardener/ house boy, Arnold. I have a lot of time for Arnold. He works hard and shows initiative. He is willing to do whatever is asked of him and he is a very good cook. However, his private life is not quite so orderly. Arnold and his partner, Catherine, have now involved themselves in 2 incidents of domestic violence since we have been here, the most recent being Tuesday night. As Arnold was sporting a bleeding bite mark and Catherine was able to locate a large garden slasher with which she claimed Arnold was chasing her, we are quite concerned about this issue, not least because they have a young child who’s not even 2 years old. After a couple of attempts at mediation, things calmed down. Now, despite the fact that Catherine said she believed Arnold wanted to kill her, she no longer wants to leave and they are trying hard to convince us of their plans to live happily ever after.

It may clarify the picture to mention that the source of this argument was their impending wedding in December. Arnold had been to us a number of times, asking to borrow money so he could “do a bit of business” to make money for his wedding. We had told him as many times that we would be happy to help but not until he had a specific plan and could satisfy us that he would be able to pay the money back. Well, the business plans have apparently not advanced and, according to Arnold, Catherine was reviewing her options; specifically whether it would be possible to find herself a more wealthy husband. This is Arnold’s version of the story. Catherine’s version has not been so easy to decipher.

We are now faced with the choice of whether to evict them immediately because there is another family on the property who is affected by this violence or to give them another chance. I’m in favour of laying down some very clear boundaries and giving them another chance, but the big worry is that we will effectively be confining their fighting to behind closed doors. Clearly they won’t want us finding out about any further skirmishes because that will mean eviction. But what damage will be done, especially to their son, Owen, in the meantime?

Sadly domestic violence is rife in Malawi. Whilst officially it is not an accepted part of Malawian culture, women (and lets face it, the victims are usually women and children) who find themselves in violent situations usually don’t have too many alternatives. If they leave there is no guarantee that their family will make housing available because it’s their husband’s job to provide for them. Not always, but often, the husband is the sole income earner so the woman has no means of supporting herself and her family. Despite the fact that the law provides sanctions against such violence, the law is often not enforced here and how many women could afford to access the legal system?

So, we’ll give them another chance and hopefully will find a way of helping them access some education and counseling that will maybe help change things for them.

Dear God, didn’t I come here to have a break from family law?!

The rest of the top 5 challenges include:

2. Need and poverty everywhere around you. This is best represented by the many, many people who greet me when I’m out and about. “Hello Madam. Where are you going, Madam? Can I be your friend, Madam? Will you buy….?” There is literally no escape from people trying to sell us things. It’s my problem, I know, because it’s just one aspect of how life is in Malawi, but I wish there was one place I could go where I could find peace from the constant pressure to buy. Usually when I politely refuse to buy, the seller accepts that and goes on his (it is usually a man) way. However, there are times when the seller persists in the face of repeated, polite refusals. One seller persisted to the point where I found myself telling him, “In my culture it is rude to keep asking when I have told you I don’t want to buy.” But the greatest aspect of the challenge is not the “annoyance factor”, although that is a challenge. No, it’s the distressing fact that so many people in this country have so little and many are not able to eat every day DESPITE the amount of aid that is poured into this country.

3. Politics – it has been a long acknowledged fact that probably the greatest fundamental problem with Africa is its leadership. Sadly, Malawi is not leading the race to role model effective and visionary leadership! The headlines for the past few weeks have almost entirely centred on the efforts of a number of MPs to impeach the President. The basis of the charges are said to be the fact that the President came to power as the head of one political party and then promptly resigned from that party and created his own. Actually it seems that there are quite a number of men hungry for the position of President and in fact, that is their primary motivation for impeachment. I am not saying that the current President is above reproach but there may not be a better alternative right now. Also, it means weeks of Parliamentary bickering over the correct procedures for impeachment, whether the President should be found guilty, if so, who should be the interim leader etc etc. This all involves expense that the country cannot afford, not to mention the fact that nothing else is getting done and other more important issues (eg food shortages) are being overlooked.

4. Utilities - last Thursday night I was ordering take away (there are definite advantages to a high number of Indians living here) and the lights went out due to a power outage. Thankfully they were cooking with gas. If you can picture me sitting in a small restaurant with illumination from street lights and a couple of candles in the shop, waiting for my take away, and returning home to eat it by candle light, this will give you a picture of this particular challenge. I guess we’d have a power outage once per week or so and usually not for very long. It’s when you add it to the fluctuating water supply, the internet connection that drops out repeatedly and the phone line that on average once every 3 to 4 weeks just doesn’t work, it’s a challenge. Last night our phone was disconnected for non-payment of the bill……only we did pay the bill…..a week in advance……and the cheque cleared yesterday. The reason these things challenge us, though, is that we’re used to having uninterrupted supply of these services (well with the exception of my parents). We’ve used to having what we want when we want it. I think it’s actually good for us to have to adapt our lives to times when we don’t have these things.

5. The language – I’m progressing with my ability to speak and understand Chichewa, but they speak so fast! Actually, when I make the effort to speak even a small amount of Chichewa, I’m greeted with delight and enthusiasm. A little bit certainly goes a long way. It’s a great blessing that so many people speak English because otherwise it would be really tough but we do encounter people who don’t speak much English. Communication is then a challenge. Communicating by phone is also a challenge. We’re getting used to the African accent, but over the phone it can be nigh on impossible to understand what the other guy is saying. No doubt they say exactly the same about us.

These challenges can be frustrating, especially the politics, but in fact they help to make our time here all the more interesting and rich. Joy and happiness do not spring out of having all things under control or the way we like them, but out of being centred on the really important things in life.

On a slightly less esoteric note, Martin is in Blantyre to give a talk to members of the Electricity Company of Malawi and members of the World Bank on our project here. He received a phone call yesterday at 4pm to tell him that today was on! This is another example of the exciting challenges we’ve had this month. Providentially, he had prepared a power point presentation earlier that day because he also has to give a talk, this time to members of the Ministry of Finance, on Friday. He’s not sure whether he will cope with 2 days in a row in a suit!

We have a good social group of both expat and Malawian friends. I do my fabric painting classes each Friday morning and out of that group it looks as though a creative writing group will spawn. Once a month I meet with a group of ladies for a purely social dinner. We have done some small-scale entertaining and been entertained. Often work colleagues come to stay on their way through. Last week we had our housekeeper from Karonga down. She has a bookkeeping certificate and she was down so I could train her to do the accounts for Karonga. We belong to a local church which provides another social circle. There are a nice group of people in Lilongwe and although it is quite a small city it is large enough to have a number of different groups of friends. Although it would be entirely possible to socialise exclusively with expats, we enjoy meeting Malawians and have found them to be a very friendly, lively and interesting bunch. As I said at the beginning of this email, it’s rare not to get a smile or a laugh from a Malawian.

Recently we spent a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend at the Lake. We stayed in a private cottage owned by a company who looks after most of our freight. The cottage backed right onto the beach so we were able to sit in the shade and chat or read, swim and snooze. We also went snorkeling with some tropical fish. Having grown up by the coast, it was strange to swim in a natural body of water and not be all salty when you got out but it was still lovely to be able to swim.

So, having been here 4 months I’m definitely settling in. It’s a very interesting time to be here and despite (even because of?) the challenges I’m glad to be here at this particular time. It feels to me like there are enough people who are not satisfied with the way things are here to get together and pray and act for change. Although we may not see that change during our time here, it’s good to think that we are capable of making a difference.

The Story of Faggie

Faggie is in her early 20’s and works as a public telephone operator. In Malawi, public telephones are attended and the operator dials the number and works out how much to charge you. Faggie completed high school and has greater aspirations but jobs are hard to come by. She will stay at this job until something better comes along and the MK2,000 per month she earns helps her family make ends meet. Having said that, at the moment the maize price is inflated due to the national shortage and the family cannot afford to eat every meal. It’s possible that some days they do not eat at all.

Faggie lives with her brother, sister-in-law and their 3 children in a tiny house with no electricity. The floor is made from compacted mud, as are the bricks.

I met Faggie when I was out for a walk one day. She called out to me and asked me to be her friend. I was reluctant because I thought she wanted to be my friend so I could provide financial support. No doubt this was part of her motivation and, although I find that confronting, you have to admire her initiative. Not able to think of a reason for saying “no”, we exchanged contact details.

Faggie phones me from time to time or I wander down to where she works for a chat. Her grades do not reflect her intelligence because she struggled to pass her high school exams, but actually she is a sharp girl who wants life to be better than what it is. She would like to study nursing but needs to pass a pre-requisite unit first so she works 6 days a week and studies. Hopefully she’ll pass but then there are university fees that she will not be able to afford.

I have been to her home, at her invitation, and her sister-in-law was keen to welcome me and cook me a meal. I had limited time so I had to apologise profusely and promise to come back sometime soon. In the short time I was there, most of the neighbourhood came by to welcome me and pay their respects.

Despite the fact that the house is tiny and there is no bathroom as such, and despite the fact that it takes her a good 45 minutes to walk at a brisk pace to work, Faggie always manages to look (and smell) neat, clean and fresh (the latter being quite unusual in Malawi).

Faggie has asked me if our company can employ her. Whilst this may be possible in the future, it is not possible now and the earliest possibility is not likely to be before 2007. She has also asked us to pay her university fees but we have other commitments that make this impossible.

Besides, perhaps the greatest tragedy in this story is that Faggie represents so many who are in a similar position or worse.

The Story of Agness

Agness is the lady who opens the gate for us when we drive into or out of our housing estate. She works with a man named Rafael Lucius (one on each gate) and they always greet us with smart attire and a warm smile.

Agness is about 25 years old. She was married but her husband decided that he preferred another woman, leaving Agness to care for their young son alone. Agness now lives with her parents several kilometers from our estate and walks to and from work. She starts at around 8am and leaves between 4 and 5pm, 7 days a week. For that, she earns the princely sum of MK2,000 per month (the equivalent of A$21/US$16/£45). Agness’ mother also works but her father can’t because he’s unwell. (To give you a comparison that might be more meaningful, we pay our housekeeper MK8,000 per month and she struggles to make ends meet on that amount, admittedly with 4 children to support on her own.)

A few weeks ago Agness sent me a letter asking to borrow MK2,000 so she could buy maize and fix one of the doors in her house. We assumed that “borrow” meant “give” as it frequently does here. However, yesterday I received another letter from Agness, containing MK1,000 of the amount she had borrowed and apologising profusely for not being able to pay the whole lot back at once.

I took the money back to her and told her it was a gift from God (He’d given it to us in the first place) and that she could keep it. Just seeing her genuine gratitude and delight meant far more to me than the pitiful amount we’d given. And in a land where so many people expect us to give to them just because, Agness’ story is especially moving.

Racism

Racism has always been an issue that disturbed me, not least the fact that my own heart often leans towards segregation and superiority. Happily, much has been done to fight this ugliness and the world has moved on considerably from the popularly held views of the 19th century and before. Yet, I suspect that as long as the human race lingers, racism will be alive and well somewhere.

The more I ponder this issue, the more it occurs to me that those who genuinely believe in “white supremacy” couldn’t have got it more wrong. Recent genetic research suggests that in order for the genetic mix that we have in the human race today to be possible, the earliest humans must have been black. Also, observable genetics indicates that “black genes” are dominant over white genes. Most “mixed-race” children are a testimony to this fact.

When you consider what black races have suffered at white hands, what they’ve survived, then it would also appear that on average, black people are stronger physically and perhaps mentally than white people.

However, when it comes to the most important issue, the state of a person’s heart, how can colour have any bearing whatsoever? The choice to love others or, on the other hand, to live selfish lives, faces every human being regardless of their genetic makeup. Surely that’s how we should be judged and not by what we look like or aspects of our culture.

In Malawi, many “black Malawians” (for wont of a more appropriate term) seem to accept that more respect is due to white people than to their own people. I can walk down a street and be greeted by several people whereas a black woman would usually be ignored. Most of the black Malawians around me refer to me as “Madam” and are very reluctant to greet me by my first name. It makes me sad and I feel like saying to them, “How am I any different to you? I deserve no more attention or respect than you do. The future of this country lies in your hands. Be proud of your heritage and who you are. Stand up and fight for what is good and right.”

In the meantime, I pray.

Life in Malawi as at 22.09.05

The past month has been eventful in various ways, momentous in fact, when you think that after 18 YEARS of world domination the Aussies went and lost the Ashes. At least they waited till I was out of the UK but there are still plenty of British people in Malawi and they have not been reserved about their jubilation! I think the only other Australian I know in this country at the moment is in fact a German. Our house co-tenant, who’s not here more often than he is, is also Australian but he’s not in the country at the moment. Thanks (or no thanks, depending on how hard you’ve taken the loss) to DSTV we were able to watch a good deal of the cricket and, despite the outcome, it was a wonderful series to watch. The time difference between Malawi and Britain is just 1 hour at the moment so that made it all the easier.

On a more positive note, our Australian German geologist brought out a video camera duty free last time he came out. I’ve been hankering after one for a while and he was happy to organise it all for us. Martin has been referring to me as Quentin Tarantino and feels that no one is safe but secretly he loves the excitement of it all. A couple of weeks ago we were out near our front gate because I wanted to film the entrance to the property. I think almost the entire population of the neighbourhood’s children appeared as if on cue and wanted their pictures taken. So they ended up on film and on the digital. We spent the rest of that week printing pictures because each child wanted their own copy. They’ve since been lined up outside our gate wanting more. Quentin Tarantino and Lord Lichfield! I have posted some of the photos on another website - www.ialmond.com/malawimemos

The biggest challenge I’ve found in the past month has been the informal water restrictions; informal because nobody actually knew they were going to happen and because they are not evenly meted. We should actually be fairly safe because we live next door to one of the former First Ladies of the country but, when asking around, we seem to be without water more often than most of our friends. Perhaps the FFL gets preference, which is why we end up with less. I don’t know but what I do know is that any time after 6am we have no running cold water – sometimes all day and sometimes for a couple of hours. As this situation is “informal” we never know when we’ll have a day without water. Thankfully our co-tenant had the brilliance to sink a bore and this does alleviate many difficulties but it still makes showering a drama. Yesterday, for example, we had no water all day and no power for some of the day. No power means no hot water, even if the tank was full (which it wasn’t). The hot water tank can be filled from the bore but for some reason it wasn’t so when the power came back on the element tried to heat water that wasn’t there and fried itself instead. So no hot water, no cold water. (Even if the hot water is running, you can’t shower because it’s too hot without cold water. Unless the hot water tank is filled from the bore, the cold water doesn’t seem to be running at great enough pressure or often enough to fill the hot water tank.) It’s very unusual still to be without running water at 6pm but we were and, of course, last night was the night we’d been invited out to dinner to meet the US Ambassador and the British High Commissioner, among other people. We were due there at 7:30pm and by 6pm I still had not showered, smelled and had a BAD head of hair. We resorted to phoning a friend!

It’s not just showering either. Try flushing the toilet with no running water all day! Oh yes, I could spend an entire email on toilet issues in Malawi but I’m sure you’d rather I didn’t go there. There is some good news, though. Most of the time, if we look in all the shops around town, we are able to buy 2 ply toilet paper. Happiness if found in small delights.

On Sunday Martin and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary (another example of time flying!) It was exciting to think back to our wedding day and remember the many special moments in the day and especially the group of friends and family who shared it with us. We took off for the weekend down to a nice hotel in Zomba, a pretty city in the south of Malawi. It was lovely, a quiet, secluded place, set on the side of the hill overlooking the valley below. It went all too quickly, but weekends tend to do that. Anyway, the first year has been full of interesting adventures and we’re looking forward to what the next one will hold.

Other than that, life has been full of a lot of day to day stuff. We’ve had quite a few work colleagues stay here for a day or 2 at a time so we entertain quite a lot and have also been entertained, which is nice. The first dinner party we went to was back in July. One of Martin’s business contacts – he and his wife have been very generous with their hospitality and have invited us to the company’s Lakeside retreat next month.

The dinner party we went to last night was hosted by a delightful Indian couple whom we met when we went into Mrs Patel’s fabric shop to have some sheet sets made. We did this because a careful search of the entire city of Lilongwe drew a blank on sheet sets. It seems that at any given time there will be a random item of some kind that you cannot buy here. At that time it was sheet sets. Right now? Lemons. I think that’s part of what’s interesting about living here because you can’t assume things and you have to be creative when you can’t find something. At that time (it was back in June, I think) we could not find sheet sets so we had them made. Mrs Patel owns the shop and because they looked after us well we went back and had curtains made and various other things. I think that qualified us to be dinner guests. The Patels are Malawian born British citizens of Indian heritage but all their children are in the US. I guess that’s the reason for their connection with the US Embassy and British High Commission. Anyway, it was a very interesting evening.

I hear that news of the food crisis in Malawi has made it to Australia. Yes it is serious and there are reports of children dying from starvation/nutrition related illnesses. Martin and I cannot understand how this is possible with a country full of charities. Also, there is plenty of food in Malawi but there is a serious shortage of maize, the staple food. Sadly, Malawians are accustomed to thinking that if there is no maize they will starve. Last year’s maize crop was a bad one but the country also produces a lot of very good rice and both Irish and sweet potatoes are in plentiful supply, as well as many other kinds of fruit and vegetables. The government has started a “Feed the Nation Fund” but the word is that it’s already being mismanaged. Mismanagement here is one of the biggest problems with the country. So, for those in the practice of praying, the poor of Malawi are very deserving recipients.

As I’ve previously reported we are constantly asked for money or to buy things when we are out and about. The truth is, whether we give or not makes little long term difference to these individuals. What they really need is “hope and a future” ala Jeremiah 29:11. We are of course hopeful that our company’s mining plans will be successful as that project could add significantly to the country’s economy. So far the progress is good and we are finding favour with most if not all of our business associates. However, probably our biggest challenge is obtaining the government approval we will need to proceed. We’ve heard stories of such approval taking up to 8 years whereas ideally we need it by the end of 2006. This is another source of prayer.

To finish on a much lighter note, I have started fabric painting classes and it’s great fun. I’ve been twice and in probably one or two more classes I will finish my first project, which is a cushion cover with a “funky bird” picture on it. In the last class I attended we were like our own little UN contingent, with representatives from Korea, Nicaragua, Burundi, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and of course, Australia. Malawi is very multi-cultural, especially because of the aid community and it’s great being an international community.

Clueless Crosswords/ Codebreakers

I don't know about you, but I love clueless crosswords (aka codebreakers). The International Express has one every week but I can't seem to find a free source on the internet. So I've decided to start making my own for anyone else out there who likes to do them. Here's the first. The solution can be emailed upon request.

Complaining

I have a particular talent for complaining. In fact I reckon I could get a PhD in it. There is always a reason to complain about something in an imperfect world. I am sure you agree.

When I was preparing to move to Africa I was conscious that I would be challenged about my propensity to complain. I was right. Malawi is indeed an imperfect world for many, many people. However, something I have noticed is that the Malawians rarely complain about things. They are much more likely to laugh about them.

For example, for the past 2 weeks we have had problems with water supply. The cold water is off for quite lengthy periods during the day and the hot water pressure has been significantly decreased. This makes showering pretty close to impossible. Now, I can honestly say that for the first few days I had the good grace to accept this situation with humour and creativity. No problem, we can boil water when we have it and bath in a bucket. That lasted a few days but I'm now complaining! I want my water! I want it now! Of course our house staff just laugh, "There's no water again, madam, but I've carried in a bucket of water from the bore for you and I've boiled pots of water and put them through the filter so you have plenty of drinking water."