Work and Play

June 29, 2011 Patricia Kelly

Everyone has had difficulty getting on the internet, using WiFi. They claim it’s fixed but still it doesn’t work. When I reported the problem, they reply that it’s not a problem because it will be fixed. I think they mean eventually. But that’s so Malawian. Being patient is the only way to live in Malawi.

On Saturday we hiked Mt. Mulanje to the waterfall. At the fork that turns up to the forest entrance, we picked up our guides. Many guides wait there, hoping to be selected. As the bus stopped, they started calling, “Patricia” when they saw me. I was selecting two guides I recognized and had negotiated 1,500 kwatche each, when another pushed through whom we had had last year. So I asked if they wanted the three of them, then it would be 1,000 each. They said that “was fair.” I actually was surprised by their sharing the opportunity. So Wiseone, Samuel, and Lucius boarded our bus that was already crammed to capacity. But in Malawi a bus always can always squeeze in more!

On our hike up, there must have been at least 150 women and children carrying wood off the mountain. Women with babies on their backs, and little girls with loads that seemed impossible. All were barefoot. We had tough, hiking shoes on and could still feel the sharpness of the rocks.

The falls are beautiful and still bountiful, even in this dry season. At the bottom of the falls, there is one large deep pool and a smaller shallower pool. Of course one of the guides jumped in, enticing the students. Three did swim. I had told them the water was bitterly cold. After all, this is winter for them and we’re also at a high elevation. They found out that it was even colder than they could have imagined.

Sunday I went to church with my roommate Sharon Hunter from NC A&T. We were there from 8:30 to 11:15. The service was longer than last week because they had a guest minister from Australia, Dr. John Wilson. We’re now meeting lots of people we have seen before there. About 9:45 five of our students came in. Now that’s Malawian! And they weren’t the last to join the service.

After church, Sharon and I went to the tailor’s house next door. There we met Levis working in her garden. She runs the business and employs three tailors. I had to take over the material that the Virginia Tech students had selected for graduation stoles. She showed Sharon and me around her home and garden. The house was built in 1890, one of the original colonial houses. The first building of Annie’s Lodge was also built in the colonial period and housed a dining room, kitchen and six rooms. She now has 43 rooms here and two conference centers, but all built in the colonial style. Levis’ gardens are beautiful, must be two acres right here in the city.

On Sunday afternoon we went to Annie’s for dinner. The bus came in through the gate to her house, and we heard drumming and an African ululation. Tables were set up under the trees with linen napkins. St Paul’s choir was doing a fundraising to acquire matching outfits for performing. They were from Chipeta Village next door to Annie. The traditional drummers led us in village dances. The evening was magical.

On Monday we met the scholarship students in the afternoon. We gave them backpacks and other materials. Virginia Tech students seleced one of the Form 1 scholarship students from Domasi Government School. (They’re finishing Form 1 next week so the student they select will be going to Form 2 in September.) They’ll sponsor the student for Form 2, 3, and 4 (equivalent to sophomore, junior, and senior years). I think that it will be good for them to meet and select the one. Radford University and North Carolina A&T decided to sponsor the students from their schools (Malemia and Domasi Demenstration) in Form 1. The scholarship provides tuition, a uniform, shoes, and exercise books and pens. Even though the students have been selected (passed the national 8th grade examination with high enough scores to go on) many parents cannot afford the cost. Four years is equivalent to $150. It’s truly sad and such a waste of human capacity. But Virginia Tech students are inspired to do something, even in a small way. I’m very proud of them. On Friday, they varnished the classroom door; all classroom doors are outside doors and exposed to the weather. We used a dark stain polyurethane that evened everything out and will really protect the doors. The head teacher was excited. He even asked if what we were using came from the US. He hadn’t seen that kind before, and coming from the U.S. made it even more special to him. The students continue to have an impact each and every day.

On Tuesday after school, we learned drumming. Then we went to Mulunguzi Primary School where Blacksburg Presbyterian Church has built several classroom buildings some with skylights that give more light for reading in the rooms. BPC has also established a very nice library that we took pictures of to take back to the church. We gave several teaching and learning materials to them. The school is quite successful. Thirty-two students took the School Leaver’s Exam (standard 8 national exam) and 31 not only passed but were selected, and the head teacher Frederick Kakole said that most go on to secondary school, either in resident schools or the community day schools.