Mulhako wa Alhomwe - Journey to revive culture, tradition

All work and no play makes for a dull life but last weekend I was the guest of my good friend Anna Kachikho, Minister of Tourism and Culture, as we joined the Lhomwe Tribe to celebrate the groups first anniversary of the revival of the Lhomwe culture and tradtion in the presence of Ngwazi Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi.

Anna dressed me from head to toe in traditional dress - yes even the shoes were made specially for the occasion - and I had no problem entering into the spirit of the day.  Everyone was wearing the cloth specially designed for the function.  This is a tradtion in Malawi and the men have jackets, shirts, hats made and the women dresses and headgear so I blended in well.
After the opening speeches it was down to the business of the day and the dancing began.  A raised podium had been constructed so that everyone had a good view of the dancers.  There was a break for lunch and afterwards the dancers returned - it was quite a spectacle with all the different colours and styles of dress, the constant drum beat and the whistle blowing.

 By the time the turn of the Phalombe women from Anna's home village came around I was ready to take part.  I had been coached in the style of the dance and as we took our place on the podium there was a huge cheer as the crowd realised there was a msungu dancing and we had to do a second round much to the satisfaction of the crowd. I heard later that this was reported over the radio but thankfully they didn't know my name.  But, of the only two pictures to be published in  The Nation, yes you've guessed it ,there's one with the msungu!  It was a long way to travel but I thoroughly enjoyed the day and look forward to next year's event.
Now back to work......................

Construction underway

It's been a week since we visited the site and as you can see from the photos work is now well underway.  The foundations for the two classroom blocks are being dug out and the concrete blocks to be used in the foundations are being moulded.  These are laid out to cure and have to be frequently watered to prevent cracking.

There is no water on site and a brick tank, concrete lined, has been built to hold the water used for construction.  The water is fetched from the river some 2kms away.  Local women have been employed by the contractor to collect and carry the water from the river to fill the drums loaded on the contractors truck.  They then drive back to the site and off load the water into the water tank.  This task is carried out several times per day.  It should perhaps be mentioned that this is the water source for people living in the area as there are no boreholes or access to piped water, this is the water used for cooking, drinking washing etc.
We are making some progress in our search for a suitable engine to drive the maize mill so hopefully that will be up and running in the near future.

   This weekend I'm off down south to Mulanje to a function with lots of traditional dancing so should be some interesting photos for next week!

Lots more photos on the main construction site!

Update From Malawi Thursday 15th October

Janet wrote

Hello everyone from Malawi,
Well you can see that construction has now started but we have no water on site yet so the contractors are building a large water tank that the local women will fill. They will be paid for this work by the contractors but it is not much fun in the blistering heat and the rough road surfaces! This is a very short blog to you all as I am travelling South to see friends and meet contacts who can maybe help move the project along. A few days respite recovering after the 3rd of October is welcome!
Enjoy the Photos!

Janet

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Official Opening of Ubale Bridge & Ground Breaking Ceremony.

The 3rd October 2009 a very special day in the Chesney Trust calendar and what a day it proved to be - fantastic! The ceremonies were due to begin at 09.00am but in true Malawian style it was some time after 11.00am before we were underway.  The purple and white cloth of Chesney Trust, Tshirts, purple and white balloons much in evidence.

The ceremony was attended by several cabinet ministers including Hon. Goodall Gondwe, Minister of Local Government, Inkosi Mtwalo (the chief of Mzimba region), Inkosana Lazaro Jere our local chief, the District Commisioner, the Divisional Education and District Education Managers, Village Head Men, and local dignatories - a long list.
The bridge was officially opened by Hon. Catherine Gotani Hara M.P., Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development.  The ribbon was cut and the plaque unveiled to much cheering and dancing by the local community.  We then walked across the bridge with the TV cameras, radio and press journalists recording the events.  It was then into the vehicles for the drive up the hill to the site for the school.
When we arrived the contractor was still busily trying to have everything in place - they had from the 3rd September to get organised but hey this is Malawi where time is not important - "don't worry Madam, we'll be ready " is phrase I hear all too often but my some miracle we always seem to get there and in the end everything was ready and the guest of honour donned her white protective coat and proceeded to dig up several shovel fulls of earth and the ground breaking was completed.

The contractor had a display board with the plans for the school and drawings of the buildings and he anwered many questions from the M.P's and others.  Hon. Gotani Hara was particularly interested in what hostel provision would be in place and was delighted with the planned hostel accommmodation.  Hon Goodal Gondwe was concerend with the water supply and has now promised to assist in providing piped water to  the area.  This will benenfit the school and also the local community who presently obtain their water from shallow wells.  The Education Managers wanted know about pupil selection and were very happy to learn of our plans to include hearing impaired, orphans and poor children who would otherwise be denied an education.

Interviews were carried out by all the press in attendance and sometime this week it will be on TV Malawi news with a possible documentary on the work of the Trust in the area.
With the formal part of the occasion over it was off to the football ground at Engcongolweni for the entertainment and speeches.  The children from the two local primary schools performed dramas, recitations, dancing and the choir sang a thank you to the Chesney Trust for the project of the school, for the bridge and for the maize mill.  Hopefully we will have this on the website in the near future .
With the speeches over it was time for lunch and then off home to relax.  Relaxation didn't come easily as I think I've been running on adrenalin for the past week but it was such a rewarding day and the culmination of two years work at this end and some very hard work fundraising in Scotland.
We have started ..................so we'll fininsh and we will be updating regularly on the construction that will soon be underway - the contractor is currrently measuring out and marking the foundation lines so watch this space...............................
Janet