Can you believe I lost the Malawi Project Blog site? That's right. When I purchased new computers I erased everything off of the old ones. Too bad, I erased the blog address by mistake. Then every time I would get ready to spend the time to locate it the phone would ring. You know the problem. I just didn't get back to it, and when I did it was time for the phone to ring again.
Tonight the phone was quiet so I was able to spend the time to go into that space where no man dares to tread and look under all of the old logs and see if I could find the Malawi Project site. I have found it.
Get ready. We are about to start writing again.
Dick
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Friday, November 27, 2009
Project Donates Car to Namikango
It was very pleasant traveling in Malawi on this trip, thanks in part to Katie and Jarrod Schafer. They were finishing up a 5 month, first-time, trip to Malawi and asked if we wanted to buy the car they had used. Jarrod knows a lot about these things and really found a great deal on a car while they were there. We jumped at the chance to buy it, used it while we were there, and then donated it to the Namikango Mission and Maternity Clinic in Thondwe when we got ready to return to the states. Mark Thiesen, at the Mission, has consented for us to use the car when we are in country in the future so it is a win-win situation for everyone.
The contact with Katie started when she was 17-years-old and wrote to us to learn about Malawi for a school Project. That interest and communication continued through the years and this year, at 25 Katie was able to fulfill her dream of going to Malawi.
The contact with Katie started when she was 17-years-old and wrote to us to learn about Malawi for a school Project. That interest and communication continued through the years and this year, at 25 Katie was able to fulfill her dream of going to Malawi.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Back in the States
We are now back in the states and trying to recover from the jet lag that always travels with us on every trip. It's always worse traveling from east to west than it is going from west to east. Wonder why that is? Too, the reentry is really hard as we come into a culture filled with affluence and stuff after leaving one that has so little. Our culture seems to get uptight over such insignificant things while in Malawi they struggle just to survive for another day.
That plane flight over and back was a bit difficult with all of the rough weather. It seems that is characteristic of this time of year. Winter beginning in the northern hemisphere and summer beginning in the south and it clashes in the middle, right where our plane travels. It doesn't help that it is a 16-hour flight across the ocean either. How can a plane hold that much fuel? And how low is it when it reaches Atlanta? And how far can one swim if we were to run out of fuel?
Now it is immediately get accustomed to driving on the other side of the road. Now that is a quick shift and it leaves little room for change and adjustment. Too we have gone, in one day, from 100 degrees down to 45. Wow! quick shift. Now where did I pack that jacket.
Home, are at least, home in Indiana. We seem to live in two different worlds. Two different homes. And when we are in one we miss the other. And when we are in the other we miss the one. Always missing one or the other.
Wow. No bugs. No mosquitoes. Electricity stayed on until I turned off the switch. Telephone worked every time I picked it up. Makes you want to sneek up on it several time and pick it up just to hear the dialtone. And the computer, well you can't imagine how nice broadband is in the states. It works! No potholes on the interstate. Interstates, WOW. Interesting there are so few people walking along the sides of the road. And no one has buckets, baskets and barrels on their heads. Interesting. This western side of the world. Too many cars. Too many signs. Too much noise. Too little personal contact. Too much...
Must go to the supermarket shortly and get some things. But that first trip is always so hard. Suzi usually does not go for several weeks. She leaves it to me. She'll break down and cry every time. Makes me wonder if the grocer doesn't think I'm a pretty abusive husband. Others must wonder if she wanted to buy a snack and her cruel husband refused. She just stands in the middle of the isle crying. They just don't know she is crying for all of the children in Malawi who have so litt.e to eat. And the old, the widows and all of her Malawi neighbors. Big tears, every time. The cereal isle alone is bigger than an entire Malawi grocery, and our culture buys more in the snack food section than most Malawians eat for an entire day. It's a tough lesson to swallow (no pun intended) when we see how much we have and how little they have.
Next blog we will take a look back at some of the highlights of the trip to Malawi in a shortened form, then will begin our travel schedule around the U.S. to report on the progress for 2009 and plans for 2010.
That plane flight over and back was a bit difficult with all of the rough weather. It seems that is characteristic of this time of year. Winter beginning in the northern hemisphere and summer beginning in the south and it clashes in the middle, right where our plane travels. It doesn't help that it is a 16-hour flight across the ocean either. How can a plane hold that much fuel? And how low is it when it reaches Atlanta? And how far can one swim if we were to run out of fuel?
Now it is immediately get accustomed to driving on the other side of the road. Now that is a quick shift and it leaves little room for change and adjustment. Too we have gone, in one day, from 100 degrees down to 45. Wow! quick shift. Now where did I pack that jacket.
Home, are at least, home in Indiana. We seem to live in two different worlds. Two different homes. And when we are in one we miss the other. And when we are in the other we miss the one. Always missing one or the other.
Wow. No bugs. No mosquitoes. Electricity stayed on until I turned off the switch. Telephone worked every time I picked it up. Makes you want to sneek up on it several time and pick it up just to hear the dialtone. And the computer, well you can't imagine how nice broadband is in the states. It works! No potholes on the interstate. Interstates, WOW. Interesting there are so few people walking along the sides of the road. And no one has buckets, baskets and barrels on their heads. Interesting. This western side of the world. Too many cars. Too many signs. Too much noise. Too little personal contact. Too much...
Must go to the supermarket shortly and get some things. But that first trip is always so hard. Suzi usually does not go for several weeks. She leaves it to me. She'll break down and cry every time. Makes me wonder if the grocer doesn't think I'm a pretty abusive husband. Others must wonder if she wanted to buy a snack and her cruel husband refused. She just stands in the middle of the isle crying. They just don't know she is crying for all of the children in Malawi who have so litt.e to eat. And the old, the widows and all of her Malawi neighbors. Big tears, every time. The cereal isle alone is bigger than an entire Malawi grocery, and our culture buys more in the snack food section than most Malawians eat for an entire day. It's a tough lesson to swallow (no pun intended) when we see how much we have and how little they have.
Next blog we will take a look back at some of the highlights of the trip to Malawi in a shortened form, then will begin our travel schedule around the U.S. to report on the progress for 2009 and plans for 2010.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Lilongwe to Thondwe
Thursday and Friday November 19 and 20, 2009
On Thursday and Friday we were in Lilongwe obtaining reports, having meetings, and dealing with planning sessions. Met with a number of friends and caught up on what has taken place in the country since our absence. Picked up a very nice letter from the Vice President’s office and met with program directors for programs we are helping to support.
On Friday around 11 we left for the south, and the Namikango Mission. We’ll be there overnight and leave around 5:15 AM for the airport and the beginning of that long, long flight back to Indiana.
On Thursday and Friday we were in Lilongwe obtaining reports, having meetings, and dealing with planning sessions. Met with a number of friends and caught up on what has taken place in the country since our absence. Picked up a very nice letter from the Vice President’s office and met with program directors for programs we are helping to support.
On Friday around 11 we left for the south, and the Namikango Mission. We’ll be there overnight and leave around 5:15 AM for the airport and the beginning of that long, long flight back to Indiana.
Dedza to Lilongwe
Wednesday November 18, 2009
I’m up at 6 AM. Suzi plans to follow in a short time, probably around 6:48 or 49 since breakfast is planned for 7.
Promptly at 8 AM the three men from the farm appear outside the door in order to go over the tractor and the two BUV units delivered here last year.
First problem is a hanging tail light assembly on one of the BUV’s. Wow! Am I excited. I can do this. I’m a certified V-Tractor/BUV mechanic. Better go back and take out the word “certified”. In fact, maybe you want to also take out “mechanic”.
Can someone get me a screwdriver and we’ll just pop the cover off so we can put in a new bolt and nut and successfully wrap up the first project? What? No screwdriver. And no other tools. Now what do we do? As usual I wait for a time and a Malawians usually comes up with the solution. True to the past one of the man has run to get a nail that has been flattened and with it we are able to pop the cover, and get inside to put in a new bolt that will hold the box properly in place. Wow! Great. That one only took about 45 minutes. What’s next? I think I wish I had not answered that question. They can’t get the V-Tractor started. The battery is dead. And besides the main man that was trained last year has left and a new driver/mechanic is on the job and he would like for me to go through everything that was taught the year before. Now let me say candidly. For a few minutes I wondered what I was doing here! And I knew in a few minutes they would wonder as well. Trying to stall for time (maybe nightfall will interrupt us and rescue me in time), I suggest they get the battery charged while I go over and see the land for the international school with Mama Kadzamira. Wow, out of that one for a time. Now if the rains will just come before we get back.
We lave around noon to see the 150 acres the tribal chief has donated for the school complex. It is breathtaking, and almost beyond imagination. Our guide, near the bottom of the land, points to where we are going. You’ve got to be kidding. He wasn’t. And he heads out like he is a Kenyan runner in a New York race. I’m afraid he’ll disappear from sight and I’ll wonder around in the wilderness until the construction crews finds my skeleton later in the year sitting under a tree looking out over the beauty of this place. It’s a dream come true for sure and I can just imagine all of the buildings scattered around the landscape where students come from all parts to learn.
When we reach a place just a little way below a large granite outcropping of rock near the top the guide stops. Looking across the valleys and mountains that stretch toward the horizon I have a hard time holding back the tears. Then he says, “The next time you come we will climb to the top through those rocks.” Now I’m really having a hard time holding back the tears, but for a different reason.
Retuning to the village near the bottom of the mountain we stop to visit with the tribal chief who donated the land. She is 82 year old Pochema Nkutie, and she has been a chief for 31 years. I’m going to prepare a story for the Malawi Project web site about her. She was so gentle and kind, and appreciative of what I described was coming to her mountain. She said so many people come and make promises, but no one returns to do what they have promised. She is pleased to learn that the promises that have been made to her about this program will come to pass.
Then Mama and I return to the house and have lunch with Suzi and Mary, or is it dinner? After all it’s about 3:30 in the afternoon.
Now you probably remember those guys with the V-Tractor, the rains, and nightfall. Well, the last two events have not come to pass so I’m on the way outside around 4 to resolve this problem. The first thing I suggest is that we send the mechanic to Cool Runnings and have him trained by the mechanic Tom trained the day before. Great idea. Everyone agrees. Took care of that problem, don’t you think?. Next? The batteries have not yet been taken to “that place over there” to have them charged. Well, that sort of solves that problem as well. Don’t you like the way I do problem solving? I offer to stop by on Friday morning and take the tractor for a little demonstration spin if they will get the batteries charged. Everyone is happy with the results. Not sure Tom will give me a passing grade for this training session. I think when I return to the states I will throw myself on his mercy and plead for additional training on the tractor before I come back to Malawi next year.
At around 7:30 we leave for Lilongwe (yes, it’s dark), and arrive with Mama on the north-side of the city around 9. Remember that question as to whether 3:30 was lunch or dinner? It is now answered about 10:15 when we sit down for a very large dinner. Last bite eaten and we are off to bed by 11. We now have electricity, water and phone service. We’re in paradise.
I’m up at 6 AM. Suzi plans to follow in a short time, probably around 6:48 or 49 since breakfast is planned for 7.
Promptly at 8 AM the three men from the farm appear outside the door in order to go over the tractor and the two BUV units delivered here last year.
First problem is a hanging tail light assembly on one of the BUV’s. Wow! Am I excited. I can do this. I’m a certified V-Tractor/BUV mechanic. Better go back and take out the word “certified”. In fact, maybe you want to also take out “mechanic”.
Can someone get me a screwdriver and we’ll just pop the cover off so we can put in a new bolt and nut and successfully wrap up the first project? What? No screwdriver. And no other tools. Now what do we do? As usual I wait for a time and a Malawians usually comes up with the solution. True to the past one of the man has run to get a nail that has been flattened and with it we are able to pop the cover, and get inside to put in a new bolt that will hold the box properly in place. Wow! Great. That one only took about 45 minutes. What’s next? I think I wish I had not answered that question. They can’t get the V-Tractor started. The battery is dead. And besides the main man that was trained last year has left and a new driver/mechanic is on the job and he would like for me to go through everything that was taught the year before. Now let me say candidly. For a few minutes I wondered what I was doing here! And I knew in a few minutes they would wonder as well. Trying to stall for time (maybe nightfall will interrupt us and rescue me in time), I suggest they get the battery charged while I go over and see the land for the international school with Mama Kadzamira. Wow, out of that one for a time. Now if the rains will just come before we get back.
We lave around noon to see the 150 acres the tribal chief has donated for the school complex. It is breathtaking, and almost beyond imagination. Our guide, near the bottom of the land, points to where we are going. You’ve got to be kidding. He wasn’t. And he heads out like he is a Kenyan runner in a New York race. I’m afraid he’ll disappear from sight and I’ll wonder around in the wilderness until the construction crews finds my skeleton later in the year sitting under a tree looking out over the beauty of this place. It’s a dream come true for sure and I can just imagine all of the buildings scattered around the landscape where students come from all parts to learn.
When we reach a place just a little way below a large granite outcropping of rock near the top the guide stops. Looking across the valleys and mountains that stretch toward the horizon I have a hard time holding back the tears. Then he says, “The next time you come we will climb to the top through those rocks.” Now I’m really having a hard time holding back the tears, but for a different reason.
Retuning to the village near the bottom of the mountain we stop to visit with the tribal chief who donated the land. She is 82 year old Pochema Nkutie, and she has been a chief for 31 years. I’m going to prepare a story for the Malawi Project web site about her. She was so gentle and kind, and appreciative of what I described was coming to her mountain. She said so many people come and make promises, but no one returns to do what they have promised. She is pleased to learn that the promises that have been made to her about this program will come to pass.
Then Mama and I return to the house and have lunch with Suzi and Mary, or is it dinner? After all it’s about 3:30 in the afternoon.
Now you probably remember those guys with the V-Tractor, the rains, and nightfall. Well, the last two events have not come to pass so I’m on the way outside around 4 to resolve this problem. The first thing I suggest is that we send the mechanic to Cool Runnings and have him trained by the mechanic Tom trained the day before. Great idea. Everyone agrees. Took care of that problem, don’t you think?. Next? The batteries have not yet been taken to “that place over there” to have them charged. Well, that sort of solves that problem as well. Don’t you like the way I do problem solving? I offer to stop by on Friday morning and take the tractor for a little demonstration spin if they will get the batteries charged. Everyone is happy with the results. Not sure Tom will give me a passing grade for this training session. I think when I return to the states I will throw myself on his mercy and plead for additional training on the tractor before I come back to Malawi next year.
At around 7:30 we leave for Lilongwe (yes, it’s dark), and arrive with Mama on the north-side of the city around 9. Remember that question as to whether 3:30 was lunch or dinner? It is now answered about 10:15 when we sit down for a very large dinner. Last bite eaten and we are off to bed by 11. We now have electricity, water and phone service. We’re in paradise.
Lilongwe to Senga Bay to Lilongwe to Dedza
Tuesday November 17, 2009
I’m up at 4 AM. After all it’s not every day you get the chance to introduce the Vice President of a nation to the new V-Tractor. Come to think of it this is the first and only time I have ever done this! I’m ready to have breakfast and get on the road. Only problem is that no one else gets up until 5. Now that seems like a 20-hour wait for the next 45 minutes. I think I ate the entire breakfast in three short gulps. Sort of too bad because the B & B looks to be a really great place to spend a little time and we have just popped in and out like popcorn popping on a hot burner.
I’m pressing the car for all we can do as we get out of town (within the speed limit I assure you). We really have to push it because I’ve watched these caravans of government officials pass us along the road. I can assure you I would not be able to keep up. But on second thought it would be nice to be placed somewhere in the middle and ride along dreaming, would it not? About an hour into the trip we learn the V.P. is slightly late getting away from Lilongwe but they are headed our way and coming fast. We reach Senga Bay in another 20 minutes and check to make sure everyone is ready, then we go back to the turn off from the main road in order to insure the caravan only has to make one pass to find the right roads that wander back through the village. In moments we hear the sirens indicating they are just near. Wow! It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes. It must have only taken them 45 or 50 minutes. How in the world did they do that without getting a speeding ticket?
The Vice President and entourage view the tractor as Tom describes its capabilities. They are obviously impressed, and appear to linger much longer than I expected knowing how far they must travel today and the number of things they must do.
Around 9:30 they are away and we sit down to a second breakfast. The night before Tom had contacted us to advise us of the death of a close friend in the U.S. and that the plans for the morning would have to change so he could catch the next flight out to the U.S. After breakfast we turn back to Lilongwe and airport to see Tom off. While at the airport we run across an old friend and church elder and have lunch with him. Since our earlier plan called for us to be in Dedza by noon, we are already so late we probably won’t make it before dark. Suzi has been trying all morning to reach Mama Kadzamira, who we know is waiting for us, but no luck. Apparently the phone company has trained the electric people. No service. We head back to the B & B to pick up our luggage, stop to drop off a microscope to a doctor in the capital, then on to Dedza. When we arrive there the electric company has given instructions to the water company as well as the phone company. Let’s add it up. There is no water, no phone service, and then the electricity goes out for a time. Now the really nice thing about that is there is nothing else that can go out. Oh don’t you believe that one, as we will find out in the morning.
Three of the farm workers come to discuss the V-Tractor and the plans for the next morning. Oh, my! Tom is gone and as I look around me there seems to be no one to try to answer their questions except me. I need a good nights rest.
Mama is kind and gracious as always and very quickly we relax. When we are with her she reflects such a calming influence, no matter how much chaos is swirling around us, that I conclude the questions with the V-Tractor are nothing to be worry about. Perhaps I may be a bit too optimistic.
All of us are a bit exhausted so it is early to bed. Since Dedza District is on a much higher elevation the temperature here is much cooler. We sleep much better. I’m not even worried that I have the V-Tractor questions in the morning.
I’m up at 4 AM. After all it’s not every day you get the chance to introduce the Vice President of a nation to the new V-Tractor. Come to think of it this is the first and only time I have ever done this! I’m ready to have breakfast and get on the road. Only problem is that no one else gets up until 5. Now that seems like a 20-hour wait for the next 45 minutes. I think I ate the entire breakfast in three short gulps. Sort of too bad because the B & B looks to be a really great place to spend a little time and we have just popped in and out like popcorn popping on a hot burner.
I’m pressing the car for all we can do as we get out of town (within the speed limit I assure you). We really have to push it because I’ve watched these caravans of government officials pass us along the road. I can assure you I would not be able to keep up. But on second thought it would be nice to be placed somewhere in the middle and ride along dreaming, would it not? About an hour into the trip we learn the V.P. is slightly late getting away from Lilongwe but they are headed our way and coming fast. We reach Senga Bay in another 20 minutes and check to make sure everyone is ready, then we go back to the turn off from the main road in order to insure the caravan only has to make one pass to find the right roads that wander back through the village. In moments we hear the sirens indicating they are just near. Wow! It took us 1 hour and 20 minutes. It must have only taken them 45 or 50 minutes. How in the world did they do that without getting a speeding ticket?
The Vice President and entourage view the tractor as Tom describes its capabilities. They are obviously impressed, and appear to linger much longer than I expected knowing how far they must travel today and the number of things they must do.
Around 9:30 they are away and we sit down to a second breakfast. The night before Tom had contacted us to advise us of the death of a close friend in the U.S. and that the plans for the morning would have to change so he could catch the next flight out to the U.S. After breakfast we turn back to Lilongwe and airport to see Tom off. While at the airport we run across an old friend and church elder and have lunch with him. Since our earlier plan called for us to be in Dedza by noon, we are already so late we probably won’t make it before dark. Suzi has been trying all morning to reach Mama Kadzamira, who we know is waiting for us, but no luck. Apparently the phone company has trained the electric people. No service. We head back to the B & B to pick up our luggage, stop to drop off a microscope to a doctor in the capital, then on to Dedza. When we arrive there the electric company has given instructions to the water company as well as the phone company. Let’s add it up. There is no water, no phone service, and then the electricity goes out for a time. Now the really nice thing about that is there is nothing else that can go out. Oh don’t you believe that one, as we will find out in the morning.
Three of the farm workers come to discuss the V-Tractor and the plans for the next morning. Oh, my! Tom is gone and as I look around me there seems to be no one to try to answer their questions except me. I need a good nights rest.
Mama is kind and gracious as always and very quickly we relax. When we are with her she reflects such a calming influence, no matter how much chaos is swirling around us, that I conclude the questions with the V-Tractor are nothing to be worry about. Perhaps I may be a bit too optimistic.
All of us are a bit exhausted so it is early to bed. Since Dedza District is on a much higher elevation the temperature here is much cooler. We sleep much better. I’m not even worried that I have the V-Tractor questions in the morning.
Senga Bay to Lilongwe
Monday November 16, 2009
I was up at 4:45 AM; Suzi quickly followed me nearly 3 hours later! Yes, that is pretty early, but when I went outside I was faced with a matchless sunrise. For nearly an hour I watched the fishing boats come in from night fishing. Since the fishing villages are next to Cool Runnings we get a close up view of the boats coming in. I never tire of watching them. They work so very hard, especially when the surf is high, yet they continue on and on until they succeed. Sort of a commentary view of the state of the nation as a whole.
Around 7 AM Tom, Suzi and I had breakfast, great meal as always. This is one of our favorite places in all of Malawi to eat. After the meal, a pot of tea, and morning planning with Samantha, Tom started the training session on the newest V-Tractor that arrived in the country one week earlier. By around noon the sun had become unmerciful, and the heat was so oppressive even most Malawians headed for shelter. We were the only ones outside. Finally exhaustion drove us inside for an hour to deal with the headaches that accompanied the high temperature.
Around 2, still far too hot to be outside, but by necessity of schedule, we head to the farm of Chief Mdalakwanda who is the tribal authority over the villages that surround Cool Runnings. He has 13,000 people for whom he watches over and this is not our first meeting. He is gracious and very excited with the tractor that will help him provide for his people. The location is close enough to Cool Runnings that one of the men trained during the morning session drives the V-Tractor through the villages, while we go on ahead to be ready when he arrives. As he rounds the last curve we can see a large number of children excitedly running on both sides of the tractor. Sort of like a Presidential caravan and admiring fans and admirers running along to get a closer look at, and be seen, near the President.
Around 3 in the afternoon we quickly pack up and leave for Lilongwe where we have evening dinner plans. Tom will remain behind and we’ll make the trip back to Senga Bay the next morning to pick him up, and go down to Dedza to conduct a refresher course for the men who were trained on an earlier V-Tractor last year. But first, it is necessary to stop in Salima to get a new tire to replace the one that is tread bare naked.
The men at the tire store are efficient and quick and after relieving me of about $150.00 for the tire we are on the way across the 117-kilometer trek to the capital. Tarmac all the way so the travel is easy, although the heat gage is still struggling with trying to complete with the temperature outside and we find it necessary to leave the air-conditioning off.
By 5 we check in to a very nice bed and breakfast and start making preparations for the evening with the Vice President of Malawi. But suddenly, the electricity goes off. That seems to follow us everywhere we go this year, and seems a bit worse than in years past. Now the term “a bit” has a hard time defining trying to find everything you need in 6 pieces of luggage that have been packed and repacked numerous times since arriving in the country. By the time I find my toothbrush I am so exhausted I am thinking about taking a nap. Now where did I put my tie? And Suzi is having the same problem in the dark. “No, Suzi, I haven’t seen it. Are you sure we packed it?” But finally, with a little candle light from the folks who own the B & B, we’re on the way to see the Vice President promptly at 7:30.
The evening could not have been more pleasant. We were acquainted with the Rt Honorable Joyce Banda well before she reached this high level in government, and her and Suzi had worked together on other projects in the past. Tonight she is very gracious and immediately puts us at ease and on a first name basis. This allows us to relax and enjoy the evening without trying to remember all of the proper protocol that goes with the position. We discuss the present programs of the Malawi Project, including the new international school that will be coming to Malawi, as well as various other needs of the country. Then around 9 we move to the main dinning room for the evening meal. There is so much good food you do not want me to try to list it all. It is just too good! Two of her daughters join us for the meal and they are just delightful and very pleasant.
All too soon time passes and the evening is late. But our time together is far from being complete. Earlier in the evening we discussed the new V-Tractors. The Vice President is quite impressed and upon learning that one of the units is in Senga Bay she decides to change her plans for the following morning and meet us there to meet Tom and see the unit.
We head back to the B & B quite excited (now the word “excited” does not quite describe how we were feeling but for lack of finding words that are hard to find, we’ll just say “excited”. The owner is still up and we advise her that we will have to settle up tonight since we will have to leave no later than 5:30 in the morning. She surprises us by saying that she will be up by 5 and will have breakfast ready in time for us to eat before we leave. Neat. We turn in about 11:00, or maybe it’s 12:00. Actually not sure what time it is!
I was up at 4:45 AM; Suzi quickly followed me nearly 3 hours later! Yes, that is pretty early, but when I went outside I was faced with a matchless sunrise. For nearly an hour I watched the fishing boats come in from night fishing. Since the fishing villages are next to Cool Runnings we get a close up view of the boats coming in. I never tire of watching them. They work so very hard, especially when the surf is high, yet they continue on and on until they succeed. Sort of a commentary view of the state of the nation as a whole.
Around 7 AM Tom, Suzi and I had breakfast, great meal as always. This is one of our favorite places in all of Malawi to eat. After the meal, a pot of tea, and morning planning with Samantha, Tom started the training session on the newest V-Tractor that arrived in the country one week earlier. By around noon the sun had become unmerciful, and the heat was so oppressive even most Malawians headed for shelter. We were the only ones outside. Finally exhaustion drove us inside for an hour to deal with the headaches that accompanied the high temperature.
Around 2, still far too hot to be outside, but by necessity of schedule, we head to the farm of Chief Mdalakwanda who is the tribal authority over the villages that surround Cool Runnings. He has 13,000 people for whom he watches over and this is not our first meeting. He is gracious and very excited with the tractor that will help him provide for his people. The location is close enough to Cool Runnings that one of the men trained during the morning session drives the V-Tractor through the villages, while we go on ahead to be ready when he arrives. As he rounds the last curve we can see a large number of children excitedly running on both sides of the tractor. Sort of like a Presidential caravan and admiring fans and admirers running along to get a closer look at, and be seen, near the President.
Around 3 in the afternoon we quickly pack up and leave for Lilongwe where we have evening dinner plans. Tom will remain behind and we’ll make the trip back to Senga Bay the next morning to pick him up, and go down to Dedza to conduct a refresher course for the men who were trained on an earlier V-Tractor last year. But first, it is necessary to stop in Salima to get a new tire to replace the one that is tread bare naked.
The men at the tire store are efficient and quick and after relieving me of about $150.00 for the tire we are on the way across the 117-kilometer trek to the capital. Tarmac all the way so the travel is easy, although the heat gage is still struggling with trying to complete with the temperature outside and we find it necessary to leave the air-conditioning off.
By 5 we check in to a very nice bed and breakfast and start making preparations for the evening with the Vice President of Malawi. But suddenly, the electricity goes off. That seems to follow us everywhere we go this year, and seems a bit worse than in years past. Now the term “a bit” has a hard time defining trying to find everything you need in 6 pieces of luggage that have been packed and repacked numerous times since arriving in the country. By the time I find my toothbrush I am so exhausted I am thinking about taking a nap. Now where did I put my tie? And Suzi is having the same problem in the dark. “No, Suzi, I haven’t seen it. Are you sure we packed it?” But finally, with a little candle light from the folks who own the B & B, we’re on the way to see the Vice President promptly at 7:30.
The evening could not have been more pleasant. We were acquainted with the Rt Honorable Joyce Banda well before she reached this high level in government, and her and Suzi had worked together on other projects in the past. Tonight she is very gracious and immediately puts us at ease and on a first name basis. This allows us to relax and enjoy the evening without trying to remember all of the proper protocol that goes with the position. We discuss the present programs of the Malawi Project, including the new international school that will be coming to Malawi, as well as various other needs of the country. Then around 9 we move to the main dinning room for the evening meal. There is so much good food you do not want me to try to list it all. It is just too good! Two of her daughters join us for the meal and they are just delightful and very pleasant.
All too soon time passes and the evening is late. But our time together is far from being complete. Earlier in the evening we discussed the new V-Tractors. The Vice President is quite impressed and upon learning that one of the units is in Senga Bay she decides to change her plans for the following morning and meet us there to meet Tom and see the unit.
We head back to the B & B quite excited (now the word “excited” does not quite describe how we were feeling but for lack of finding words that are hard to find, we’ll just say “excited”. The owner is still up and we advise her that we will have to settle up tonight since we will have to leave no later than 5:30 in the morning. She surprises us by saying that she will be up by 5 and will have breakfast ready in time for us to eat before we leave. Neat. We turn in about 11:00, or maybe it’s 12:00. Actually not sure what time it is!
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