Market Day!

After Christmas, after good fellowship and good food it would seem we could spend a relaxing day at home. No turkey but wow all other animals were not spared!
December 26th, Boxing Day and that means most shops are closed. However the markets are always open and so we decided to walk there. We had done some wash and the sun was out as bright as it can be and so it was a good time to go into the market.

We hadn’t gone too far when we were approached by George who was curious about our visit to Malawi and soon he sold us two bracelets which I really don’t need. At the same time an elderly man worked at convincing us that we would love to have his batik cards. No we really did not need those either but we bought a couple because that is the way it goes. While I am negotiating a man in a shirt and tie approaches Hans and exclaims, “When did you get back?” Hans thinking he should know him tries to make some connections but can’t seem to make them. When the fellow suggests that Hans could help him with some fuel, Hans remembers! The same scam happened to him in Nairobi where he handed over some shillings but not this time! Hey it is all about making a living, honest or not. However I rather buy from the street vendors.

Finally we are on our way again and meet up with the young man who promised us a pineapple which we paid for two days ago but he had run out. He had some really nice ones and he remembered we had already paid for it. Well we would pick it up on the way back along with some avocados that another fellow was selling.

Finally we were off into the market where soccer balls, electrical paraphernalia and vegetables all for sale. So we negotiated for 6 potatoes and 15 meters of strong rope so that we can tie two bicycles on the car’s roof top when we go to Ulongwe on Monday. The bicycles are meant for the two supervisors for the Food for Work project. We go on to the local barbeques and negotiate for one. We however are walking and promise we would come back to pick one up. They are willing to sell us the charcoal too, huge bags for 3500 kw. We find out later that we can buy the charcoal along the road to Chipoka for 500 kw. When we return later in the afternoon we buy the bbq but leave the charcoal, a huge disappointment for them but we figure it is better to buy from the producers and give them a fair price then give the middleman all the profit. This is so difficult here because so many villagers end up selling their goods for such a low price to middlemen who come to buy from them because they cannot reach the markets themselves and do not know what the prices are. Doesn’t this remind you of fair trade coffee? Nothing is simple.

Some pictures

Just a few pics for seeing life in Malawi. Isn't this a beautiful tree? it is in full bloom with flowers . There are so many diferent kinds of beautiful trees. Hope to capture more of them to share with you.

The view along the road to Nkhoma. It was a beautiful drive.
Our partners in the relief work.

I noticed this little creature one morning when I awoke at 5:00 a.m. A little gecko but it was inside the mosquito net. It is very helpful in catching mosquitos but still I wonder how it got inside the net?

Almost Christmas

Another beautiful sunny morning and we are getting ready to make a visit to our partners about 50 km south of here. But getting out of the city was a real challenge. People were everywhere trying to get out of the city to go home for Christmas. We needed to get some money out of the bank machine but the line ups were horrendous. We stayed for twenty minutes or so realizing that it was going to take a much longer wait in line. But the next challenge was getting through the traffic as minibus after minibus was taking over the road. We were never going to move so Hans remembered another round about way that was longer in distance but we were moving!

Once we were out of the city it became a fairly peaceful drive and we enjoyed the changing landscape immensely. Individual hills and mountains just appeared here and there in the rolling farmland. It was quite unusual and fascinating and everywhere there were beautiful newly planted gardens. What hope there is!

Once we made the turn off to our destination we drove higher and higher on roads that were well paved but had no guardrails and looked over a beautiful countryside. Villagers were pushing their bicycles along, sometimes with charcoal or other goods piled high. And there about fifteen kilometers in was the little town that was our destination. The director had his little office on top of the mountain overlooking the valley down below. It was a amazing spot. After a couple of hours of meeting we again enjoyed the drive, this time the descent.

Back in the city we joined the hustle and bustle, stood in line for the bank machine, did some groceries (did I tell you the cost of food is very high?) and you do walk with big stack of bills. The largest bill is worth 500 kwacha ( $1.00=110 kwacha.). Besides the grocery store there are lots of vendors around as well selling fruits and vegetables and mops and brushes. But I’ll tell you about that another time.

Meanwhile, have a blessed Christmas. It is a strange feeling to be away from family and friends and yet it gives us reason to reflect on what Christmas is about. We will miss you all.

Mondays, Mondays

A day without phones and internet…that is not good! It set out to be a good day, the sun was shining and we were up by 5:00. Good time to do some wash. Did I tell you that I did wash on Saturday but as it hung on the line it showered at least three times. The wash ended on lines in our bedroom. Unfortunately I had to redo some of it because as wash hangs there, drying slowly, it can begin to have a lingering dampy smell. So I do it again.

So today is a nice sunny morning, time to do another wash. Hang it out on the line and away we go with our work. But the cell phones aren’t working, not anywhere, inside and outside the city. So we must make visits to complete our business. No communication from across the pond slows us down as well, actually stops us. But somehow things get done. Twice in the afternoon we were at our internet provider, bought some bananas from a vendor and finally by 6 p.m. we were back on line and some communication was back. Did I tell you that when we were in town the raindrops began to fall? We hurried home, saved what was mostly dry and hung the rest in our bedroom!

So it is 9:00 p.m. the phones are back, the internet is back, my wash is dry, the commodities have been ordered and life is good!

Two Weeks In!

It’s been two weeks and as we had limited internet access it is now time I share a few events and thoughts. Hopefully I can make this a daily occurrence J. We are enjoying the weather here, warm with rain for an hour or so daily and more the last couple of days. How easily it is to be caught in it. And the umbrella is at home! We will learn.

Because it is the start of the project we are extremely busy, getting the right people together, tendering, getting the commodities ordered, setting up a bank account, getting training organized, different forms printed and copied, traveling to the distribution centers, getting our own house in order and so much more. We now have internet at home so that should make communication more regular although skype isn’t working as well as we hoped.

Life in the city is quite different than in the rural areas as you might imagine. The streets and the roads going outside the city are always filled with people walking to their own destination. Although Malawi has only about 12,000,000 people it is the most densely populated country in Africa. As one can imagine this causes problems, as 80% of the population is involved in farming. Land is limited and as families grow the children are also dependent on land for future livelihoods. As we were driving to one of the affected areas last week , we saw many farmers, mostly women but men as well working so hard on preparing and planting the fields for the harvest next May. The fields looked beautiful as the rains had been coming for the last few weeks. Land is given by the headman of a village to his villagers but some real controversy is present as well as some headmen have been selling parts of their land. More problems for the future.

It is Sunday morning and we will be going to church to a rather interesting community. Malawians and a good number of xpats make this church their home church. Much music, long sermons and some interesting outreach programs. One in particular impressed me was an outreach program for prostitutes in the city. The women are helped to come off the street, taught new skills to find jobs, support for living in a home, given a mentor/counselor and so much more. Last week three of them were introduced in church! Try that back home!

Till tomorrow!

We arrived!

Just a short note that we arrived! It was a long journey with a few delays but otherwise uneventful. That's what we like.
We found that we could recognize so many of the places we had experienced in 2006. Malawi's poverty is so evident everywhere. And Africa "is on the move". People everywhere, walking.
For about ten days we have settled in a guest house in Lilongwe while our new home, a one bedroom apartment becomes available. It 'll be great to settle in, although we have a great place in the meantime.
The weather is great, sunshine, heat with a little rain. The rainy season is supposed to happen now but the weather patterns have changed and nothing is for certain anymore.
It is Sunday today and already we have met so many people, first at church, then at lunch. Tomorrow we will be hitting the ground running. We need to prepare for buying commodities, meeting with the partners at their locations, doing training and so much more. This month will fly by!
Till next time!

Building Bridges

Why Build Bridges?
This is dream, a possibility, a realization. Why are we here but to be building bridges. We want to connect with those on life's journey, we want to connect and share our lives, our worlds, our thoughts and hopes. We want to do that wherever we are. We see, learn, discover so much as we travel through our books and through different places in the world. We have been blessed to be given the opportunity to work with people in different cultures, to enjoy and learn from them, to see and walk with the suffering, to celebrate with others as we enter each others' lives. As we have already experienced, life here at home is warm, comfortable and easy. That seems like a real blessing :) shouldn't it? Is it then we hear a voice of "now what?" ... We need and want to share the lives of our brothers and sisters, their joys and sorrows so that we can experience the realities in each of our lives. When we are away, we want to stay in touch with our family and friends. So much happens but so often events and thoughts become blurry and dim if we don't share them as soon as possible.

So here we are at the airport waiting to board our plane to Lilongwe, Malawi. Let us know what your doing and what you might want to know.