Random Ruminations, Observations & Factoids ...

ITEM:  The weather we hit was unseasonably mild. We have had very temperate days, maybe mid to high 70's, and most nights have remained still pleasant, say high 60's - low 70's. Most nights have sufficed with just a light sweater. It is not the warmer, humid air which I was anticipating (consequently, my hair has been up in a flat, lifeless ponytail more often than not, rather than down in the soft wavy curls I get in Hawaii). In Malawi, they do not observe the four seasons to which we are accustomed. Rather, they have the dry season (which we are at the end of), the hot season (which is what is coming next) and then the rainy season (which is when mosquitos and malaria become rampant). Now having been out on many of the dirt roads which serve as the only way to the remote villages in which we work, we understand why passage during the rainy season becomes far more treacherous, and indeed, sometimes impossible.

ITEM: I now understand more about the smoke and fires and haze that often fills the Malawi skies (and which, by the way, make for vibrant and spectacular sunsets). There are village cooking fires. Also, there are piles of trash that are burned everywhere. Periodically, you can tell that someone has thrown in some plastic as the smell becomes harsh and acrid. Some of the fires in the surrounding countryside might be specific burns lit by usually young men in order to flush out the mice, which they then trap, grill and sell by the roadside, kebob style. It’s called embewa. I do not have first hand knowledge of this, but I am given to understand that you can get your embewa with or without the fur still on. Of our two drivers, one indicated he did like embewa, while the other emphatically did not.

ITEM: In the more urbanized areas, Malawi is a country of vigilant security. Every business in the downtown area has iron grillwork over its storefront windows and doors. When you venture off a main street to go into a residential neighborhood, you pass through a security "gate" (a stanchion across the road much like a railroad crossing, which is raised and lowered by the guard standing there). Every residence is walled. Atop the walls are often lines or rolls of barbed wire. In some places, jagged spires of broken glass have been affixed to the top of the brick walls to deter any would be wall-scalers. To enter a "compound", your driver honks his horn. The guard inside peers out through a peep window (a la Wizard of Oz... remember the fur hatted and gloved sentry at the gates to the Emerald City?) and, upon recognition, opens the driveway gate. The homes also have barred windows and doors. Even in the outer office areas, there are walled and gated compounds with the same entry criteria. At our GAIA office, on a side road, which is also within it’s own brick walled compound, I note that even the interior doors to the individual offices remain locked. And the keys are skeleton-style keys. Our Country Director pulled a large bundle of probably 30 keys out of his pocket - all skeleton keys on a ring, like a wild west sheriff or jailor. It is my understanding that much of this security consciousness is not necessarily because there is awful thievery now, although it must have been the case at some point. In a society where so many are so poor, you learn to protect what is yours.

ITEM: In the southern region, there are acres and acres and acres of tea plantations. As far as the eye can see the rolling hills are carpeted with the lovely low green tea plants. It is disturbingly beautiful. Particularly when you learn that the land and plantations are owned by British companies. The tea workers, who carry large baskets on their backs and must walk the miles of plants harvesting tea leaves at a back breaking stoop, are paid 57 MKW (Malawi Kwacha) a day. That is currently equivalent to approximately $.33. A day. It is unconscionable. There is only one plantation owned by a Malawian business man - but apparently he treats his workers no better. Shame on him. Also, when the British took over the land for the tea growing, they also wanted to be sure that no Malawi villages could be built in the areas surrounding the plantations. So in many places, part of the beauty that you see is because there are forests of blue gum trees (very much like our Eucalyptus) planted in perimeters and other strategic locations. The trees are planted close together so that no huts can be built there. And this is some of the best land and climate for farming.