#2nd month
(September)
My second
month in Malawi is already over and the first thing I have to write about is
that it’s getting hot! As the end of the dry season brings temperatures of up
to 36° it gets really hard for me to cycle my way to school under the
relentlessly burning sun every day.
This makes
me realise how hard the everyday life in a tropical country has to be for the
local population in this very poor surrounding. 36 degrees in a country where
you live in mud huts and you have to do all your journeys either walking/
cycling or in an overcrowded minibus is definitely something different than
living in well isolated houses, working in air-conditioned offices, shopping in
air-conditioned supermarkets and moving between them in air-conditioned cars or
trains. The good thing about the heat is that I finally started to appreciate
the only-cold shower in my bathroom which is great to refresh myself after coming
home from school.
Sadly, the beginning of this month was quite unpleasant for
me as I was ill and I had to stay in bed for a whole week. Fortunately,
Patterson has been so nice to drive me to the hospital in the next village
(Maldeco) where I was given an injection and medication for a few days. Many
thanks to Patterson, his wife Rose and as well to the headteacher Charles, who
visited me regularly to have a chat and to check if I am recovering properly.
The biggest
thing around MOET in September was the “Lake of Stars”-festival that took place
this month. It is said to be Malawi’s biggest festival with many international
artists from in- and outside of Africa and is hosted by the nearby Sunbird
Nkopola Lodge, which is just a 3 minutes’ drive away. It lasted from Friday to
Sunday. Although I was only going on Sunday it was an unforgettable
experience as almost all volunteers who stay in Malawi came together for this
occasion.
A great
thing about it was, that a lot of MOET students who could otherwise never
afford the almost 50£/60€ for the 3-days entrance have been invited to an AIDS
awareness show the day before the festival started, and in the end Lucius Banda (one of Malawi’s most famous
musicians!) played a few of his songs. The children were so happy!
MOET itself
has been experiencing a very international time this month, with many visitors
from all over the UK. Starting with Jennifer and Kelvin Woodwards, a couple from the mid east of
England and good friends of the director Patterson Majonanga who were doing a
tour through Malawi during their first visit to this country. They have been
supporting the school from their homes for a long time and continued to do so
while being here. On their last day here they were distributing a vast amount
of shoes to the learners as well as kitchen utensils and some sports equipment.
The second
visitors from the UK were a group of event-management students and their
professors from the University of Edinburgh who came to Malawi for 10 days to
volunteer at the Lake of Stars festival as a part of their studies. They were
very interested in seeing the “real Malawi” beyond the international festival
and truly impressed by the work MOET is doing. In the end, after visiting the
permaculture site, they were so nice to give some seeds to the school that will
grow well in the Malawian climate.
Women equality and AIDS awareness programme at Lake of Stars' main stage
Jennifer and Kelvin Woodwards from the UK and their donations
Students from Edinburgh introducing themselves to MOET learners and teachers.
They were discussing differences between Malawi and Scotland, and to the discontent of the students they came to the end that one of the main differences is the fact that Malawi is independent :-)
The danger of this snake that was about to enter the office through
a window could be averted.
