Latest News from Malawi

Hi from Malawi where we are moving into winter and the rains have finally stopped.  Although in Mzuzu we can expect showers at any time of the year.

On 7th May I was a guest at the coronation of Senior Chief Mtwalo.  Chief Mtwalo is the T/A (traditional authority) in the area we are working in.  The tribe is N'goni and it was a colourful occasion.  The President was there to perform the ceremony with two chiefs being elevated to senior chiefs.  The families are regarded as the 'Royal Family'.  There was entertainment throughout the day as we waited for the arrival of the President.  After the crowning ceremonies there was a lot of dancing and singing performed by visitors from other areas but for me the best was the tradtional dancing of the N'goni warriors - this is a fantastic specatacle........

it was impossible to get close as it is not allowed to stand in front of the President's podium so this was the best view I could manage of the dancers......there must have been at least 100 of them!

The newly crowned Senior Chief Mtwalo and his wife.

On a more practical note we have now received a delivery of 45 boxes from our friends in Scotland.  Included were white boards, easels and flip chart holders donated by Spaceright Europe and work boots donated by St. Margaret's High School, Airdrie.  I mention these donations particularly as the Adult Literacy training programme started on Tuesday of this week and the instructor had been using masking tape to attach the flip chart pages to the board and the walls of the class room as you can see in the photo below.......

but when we arrived with our delivery we were able to provide a flip chart holder much to the delight of the instructor......

There are two people being trained as trainers who will then work in the community, using the class rooms, to deliver the adult literacy programme.  The programme will run for 10 months and is desigend for those who cannot read or write and will include from the seventh month onwards those who have some literacy skills.  At the end of the course there is an exam and a certificate is awarded to those who pass. 

And the boots are mentioned because............... The boots as you can see from the out of focus photo, were gratefully received by our watchmen and ground workers who are based at the site.  Some of these guys have no shoes and are either barefoot or have flip flops and one or two were wearing gum boots (wellies).  The gum boots are supplied by the Trust for the site workers.  The photo is out of focus as they were excited to have the boots and were jumping around.  We have 7 workers at the site and the boots laid out are for the ones who were not present at the time - the night watchmen. 

Thank you Scotland......we love our boots!

Also in the latest consignment there were another two sewing machines which means we now have 5 sewing machines.  With this we now intend to start the tailoring programme.  We have an instructor coming who will train 10 people, five in the morning and five in the afternoon over an 8 to 10 week programme.  Once trained they will then be encouraged and assisted to set up a working co-operative to improve the lives of their families.

Our latest consignment.......

We are grateful to everyone who has taken time and effort to donate, store and to pack up these items to be sent out to us.  We are particularly grateful to Aabsolute Storage in Glasgow who continue to provide us with a free storage unit where items can be safely stored until such times as they can be sent out and to Bill Richardson for his tireless energy in packing and delivering to the Raven Trust for transportation to Malawi.

Dire Straits ..........not the group, but life in Malawi!

Hi Folks, my blog is supposed to be an update on the progress of the project but over the last few months the project has stagnated due to a number of factors - mainly due to a severe shortage of funds but we struggle on.
So for a change I thought perhaps an insight into daily life in and around Mzuzu might be of some interest.  This is the 'city' of the northern region and is surrounded by lush green forests due to the climate and the fact that there is generally more rainfall and indeed showers can come at anytime during the year with the exception of August to early November.  It is now winter and the mornings and evenings are cold, even for a mzungu like me!  This surprises local Malawians as they think since I'm from Scotland I should be used to this kind of weather but the body does adjust and when the temperature drops by 10 degrees or so you feel the difference so the winter woolies are now out of storage and the elcetric balnket will be going back on the bed.
I'm fortunate to live in a reasonable house in what is known as a low density area and I have a 2 metre high wall surrounding the property.  This is necessary for security and at night there is a security guard on duty as break ins are common place.  To an extent this is understandable given the deprivation suffered by the majority and the lack of work available.  Normal housing in and around Mzuzu varies from mud built structures to brick built as can be seen in the collage.


Houses around Mzuzu city





Typical toilets, shower rooms and kitchens



Facilites are basic with outside pit latrines (toilets) and bathing rooms (showers ie a bucket of water).  There is a communal tap for fresh water and most houses have no electricity but rely on paraffin lamps.  Kitchens are outbuildings with wood fires for cooking, meaning smoke filled, dangerous areas where accidents occur regularly especially with young children falling on the open fires.  Smoke inhalation is also a major health problem.  The table in the photograph is typical of that used to place dishes and cooking utensils on to dry once they have been washed.



Some local grocery shops



Travelling around is an experience in itself - for those of you not familiar with transport in Africa you take your life in your hands each time you use public transport.  According to figures there are more deaths on the roads of Malawi due to accidents than there are deaths from AIDS.  A minibus can crash and all the occupants killed, a lorry carrying 'matola' (that's people paying to ride in the back of an open truck) can often be so tightly packed its impossible to count the number of people on it - I've tried and there can be 60 or more packed like sardines in these trucks.  The road signs advise motorists to 'Arrive Alive - speed kills' or to 'Share the Roads with other users'.  What it doesn't tell you about the other users is that these can be people walking, young children, bicycles, goats, chickens, cattle, dogs etc.  Road sense or highway code as we know it is non existent.

In Mzuzu a popular form of transport is the Sacramento which is a bicycle with, if your lucky, a padded seat at the rear, but often just the wire seat.  These are very busy in the morning transporting people to town, women with babies tied to their backs, children going to school anyone who can afford to pay for the service.  Another form of transport is to take a taxi.  These taxis are mostly very old vehicles with smashed windscreens covered with sellotape, doors that don't always open because there is no handle on the inside, boot lids that rattle and shake and a strong smell of petrol from the plastic containers they carry in the boot in case they run out of fuel.  They never leave until the taxi is full and you can be sharing it with 3 or 4 other people, maybe someone with their live chicken at their feet.  My most frightening experience is when they travel down the hill from my house and they switch off the engine to save fuel.  Its a very steep hill and runs for about 2kms and I pray that we reach the bottom safely and that the vehicle I'm in doesn't have power assisted brakes or steering!  Fuel shortages are frequent and last week the taxi I was in ran out of fuel half way up the hill so it was 'sorry madam' and I had to get out and walk.  I have to say I don't mind the walk on the way down but on the way up its a different story all together.

Even with my own transport I've had my share of scary experiences.  I had borrowed a car from a Malawian friend while I was in my first year in Malawi.  While travelling from Nkhmenya to Mzuzu a tyre blew and the car rolled, ending upside down in a ditch......miraculously I walked away from this without a scratch.  I have to say since that incident I have been extremely particular regarding the quality and maintnenance of the tyres fitted to the Trust vehicles and no longer borrow cars.  At least our vehicle is looked after and  well maintained. Next time was last year after a visit to Kwik-fit to have new tyres fitted.  Job done I headed off for Lilongwe but had a feeling something was 'not right' with the steering so wasn't travelling too fast.  I was able to steer the car to the side of the road and stop safely but imagine my shock when I got out to see my rear wheel rolling off at speed into the forest.  Some little kids went running after it and found it and rolled it back out for me. When help arrived from Mzuzu they just looked at the vehicle and said 'God loves you madam'.  The nuts had not been tightened properly!  Kwik-fit accepted responsibiltiy for this and compensated us for the damage.  Worried, the Trust driver, now routinely checks the wheel nuts, tyre pressure etc prior to setting off on any journeys.



Lost my wheel !!!



As if that wasn't enough the last incident was when the brakes failed .....yes failed!  I was heading to the Lake for a quiet weekend and realised there was a problem with the brakes which I had to keep pumping to get them to work until finally even pumping them didn't work.  I had to do a handbrake stop as I approached the police road block but they didn't realise I had a problem so I passed through.  Once safely out of sight I stopped and called Mzuzu once again for help.  Worried arrived a couple of hours later and with help and a roadside repair was carried out, new brake pads fitted and I was on my way.  This was really my own fault as the brakes had been making a grinding noise and Worried wanted to have this checked out but I was so desperate to get away for the weekend I took the risk.  We have now sold this vehicle as it was becoming a liability with mounting garage bills and we are just waiting for our 'new' vehicle which has been recently imported from Japan to be released by the MRA.

At Chesney Trust, of course, we take road safetly serioulsy and we never take risks.  Our driver is qualified to drive public service vehicles and has completed a defensive driving course.  He drives safely and within the speed limits at all times.  The maximum speed on the roads of Malawi is 80kms per hour and now that the traffic police have speed cameras one can never be sure where they might pop up.  They are also all around the country doing spot checks on vehicles, and drivers in an effort to reduce the casualties on the road.

At the end of this month we have our 1st group of volunteers from Outlook Expeditions coming, students from Park Mains school in Renfrewshire so we should have some interesting news and photos for next time.

So, life is different ..........interesting, challenging but never boring!!!!