"We Have Faith", climate campaign Maputo - Nairobi

COP 21 - the climate summit in Paris in December will be crucial in the global efforts to deal with climate change.  Faith communities in Southern Africa have seen this summit as worth campaigning for.  "We Have Faith" was therefore coined as the slogan for the campaign, and a long bicycle relay is currently on its way from Maputo through nine countries with the aim of reaching Nairobi mid-November.  This week the relay crossed the border from Zambia to Malawi.  The route so far took the bicycle caravan through Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia before entering Malawi.  15 competitive cyclists received the baton at Mchinji border, and was joined by a number of bicycle taxi drivers... and Stein.

The caravan will continue through the country to its northern border with Tanzania, and continue through Tanzania to Kenya. A group from Uganda will also join the relay before ending up in Nairobi.

The Zambia and Malawi teams were met in Mchinji town after the "prologue" from the border by religious leaders, including the Catholic Archbishop of Lilongwe and government representatives.  At the sports ground the formal handing over was taking place, and appeals were made.  National television was present, and the event was covered as one of the top stories during evening news.

While the bicycle caravan is making the campaign visible in town, the aim is to have a petition for Paris signed by one million people during the relay.

Today there was a big event at one of the stadiums in Lilongwe with speeches, poetry, traditional dances and display of the bicycle caravan.  Majority of patrons were secondary school youths who kept the spirit high through their enthusiastic cheering and clapping.

Mosques, temples and churches have been given "teasers" for the respective sermons Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The climate message will hopefully be heard throughout the faith community this weekend.

Climate change is a burning issue in Malawi.  Devastating floods hit in January/February, followed by drought and food crisis.  Forest has been cut without proper replanting, and run-off is causing major damage every rainy season, and seasons are more unpredictable than they used to be.  Malawi, being one of the poorest countries in the world is struggling with the economic consequences of climate change.  One of the "We Have Faith" demands is climate justice:  those who cause the major climate changes should pay up!  A youth made the following statement in today's event: "Climate change is different from HIV and AIDS,... it hits us ALL".  Very true, my young friend!

Politics, economic challenges... and stewardship

Radio and television stations have limited hours of English service in this country.  I therefore rely on newspapers to keep somehow updated on goings-on in the Malawian society.  Fortunately the press is rather outspoken, and deals blows both left and right.  It is hard to know how reliable they are on facts, but issues are brought out in ways that keep power-brokers on their toes.

During the last weeks a number of issues have coalesced into a serious question to the government's stewardship of Malawi's resources.  Earlier this year the Parliament adopted a national budget without external budget support, due to the so-called Cash-gate corruption scandal that rocked the nation in 2013-2014. "Austerity budget" was the term used about the budget.  This budget came on the tail of the devastating flood emergency that displaced hundreds of thousands of people and destroyed major crops in January and February.  Soon reports started to emerge on shortfalls in health sector.  Drugs were not available, ambulances were grounded due to lack of money for fuel and repair, newly graduated nurses were not hired in the allocated jobs...

Ambulances grounded due to lack of money to buy fuel!

Two weeks ago the President declared a food-emergency, announcing that 2.8 million people would be in need of food aid during the next few months due to the failed crop season.  This week the Vice President used the figure 3.3 million people.

At the time of these announcements, an International Monetary Fund delegation visited the country and declared that the government was off track with their economic performance.  The spending has been too high, and a revision of the budget in order for the country to get on track is necessary.  Further tightening of the belt even more is necessary.  

The newspapers obviously follow these developments with critical eyes, and the government is constantly under fire for lack of action, for condoning corruption, and spending money wrongfully.

This last week media found a new issue to pursue.  When the President left for the opening session of UN General Assembly in New York, media claimed that he brought with him a delegation of more than 120 people.  This brought about a big uproar, since millions of US dollars were spent of taxpayers' money.  One of the very poorest countries of the world was sending an extremely bloated delegation "on shopping spree in New York" was the take in media.  While the President's spokesperson claimed that less than 20 people were in the President's delegation, sources within the US embassy informed that number of visas issued tells another story.

What type of stewardship are we witnessing?  Media ask:  "why is Malawi still extremely poor"?  There are obviously a complicated cocktail of answers that need to be explored. Political, economic and developmental analysts are offering their viewpoints in the newspaper pages.  No single solution is prescribed, but the fourth state power is attempting to do its job:  put important issues up for scrutiny and debate.  People in power are challenged.  How are they responding?  The jury is still out!

The gated community

I have been silent for a couple of weeks, and it is time to reconnect.  A visit to Harare upset my writing schedule.  Besides attending a regional meeting of ACT Alliance, I had the chance to meet up with my old colleague from DanChurch Aid, Christian Baleslev Olesen, who is now representing the organisation in Zimbabwe.  While waiting for our flight back to Lilongwe, he invited us for a walk in a wildlife park.  While the path was taking a sharp turn to the left, we suddenly realised that the path was already occupied by another living creature:

A python of 2 1/2 - 3 meters blocked the path.  It did no harm to anybody, and after having secured the documentation above we continued our pleasant walk,... although with a slightly heightened alert.


In my previous blog I visited the entrepreneurs behind the wall of my residence.  This time I will take you even closer.  Now is the time for the Jacaranda trees to bloom on bare branches.  As I walk outside my gate I get the full view of a flower-covered tree.  This is perhaps what catches your eyes when you look at the photo below?

Look a bit lower in the picture and you see the view of "my street", a street with plenty of potholes... and walls and gates.

Lilongwe is a relatively safe city compared to other African capitals.  Walls and gates are nevertheless a conspicuous feature in residential areas.  Why would we wall ourselves in, if the environment is rather safe?  Perhaps the city is not viewed as totally safe after all?

My watchman and his colleagues are on duty 24/7,...and the wall is topped with electric wires!  This is not enough.  Behind the walls the house is also fortified with steel-meshes that are being locked at night.

Are we completely paranoid, or are there good reasons for all these security measures?  I honestly believe the level of precautionary measures reflects a slight paranoia.  At the same time I recall my visit behind the wall where I encountered makeshift workshops and shops, and dusty roads leading into more or less shacks serving as homes.  Malawi's poverty is right on my doorstep, and my luxury life inside the wall (although fairly moderate according to Norwegian standards) is obviously a huge contrast to the struggle for life that is the reality behind my wall. Desperation may lead to actions of crime that could descend on us behind the walls. As individuals we cannot change the social injustice, and therefore physical measures are put in place to protect against repercussions of the injustice.

The contrast between the have's and the have not's is enormous in Malawi, as in many African countries.  My money can protect me from poverty, by closing it out behind my wall, and my money can provide almost anything in the shops.  Commodities are available... if you have enough money to spend.  I can therefore live a comfortable life in my gated community!

My entrepreneurial neighbours

While sitting outside reading today's Saturday paper I kept noticing a sound from behind the wall that caught my attention.  Was it a cutting torch that was at work?  It struck me that I had not really explored life behind our wall, and decided to go for an exploratory walk.

As I reached around the block and recognized our water tank... this time behind the wall... the origin of the sound appeared.  It was indeed a cutting torch at work, and the man who handled the tool was apparently an artist working in steel.  Kondwani, as I learnt to be his name, was surrounded by a welding machine, hammers and cutting machines.  Two steel birds were emerging from the iron sheets and pipes that artistically were formed into tails, wings, legs and bodies.  On one side some finished birds and a cheetah were on display.

In my curiosity I asked him where he had learned his trade.  He narrated that his basic skills had been obtained at a technical school in Blantyre.  Welding, cutting and body work formed the starting point. While he tried his luck as a car mechanics for a while, his dream was to utilize his creative abilities.  He was digging deep into his pockets and went to Zimbabwe to learn sculpturing.  Jobs were not to be found in which he could use his new-won skills, and he had to start his own business.  Together with his brother he bought basic tools and started producing sculptures and receiving cars for repair along the roadside. Gradually business picked up, and now they form a group of four who work together.  They built a shed as a basic workshop, and bought a container as a store.

"So, who buy your birds and animals?" I asked.  "People like you!" he replied with a hopeful smile. Perhaps another day...?

Not far from the makeshift workshop I stumbled upon a man who apparently was making shoes under a iron sheet covered structure, also along the dusty roadside.  Right behind him three-four men were busy repairing bicycles.

In my afternoon walk just behind the wall of our house I had obviously encountered entrepreneurs who made a living based on their acquired skills,  but under extremely basic conditions.  Steven, as my shoemaker called himself, had no formal training.  He was raised as a neighbour to a shoe factory, and used his eyes and hands wisely as he tried in his own ways to copy what otherwise machines were shaping out of the hide.  With leftover hide from the factory he developed his craft and started his business.


The shoe on display was my size.  It lacked soles, but I could easily envisage the pair as slippers, ... and they are on my feet as I write this small piece.

"Culture" and culture...

This weekend I was as usual buying and reading two newspapers on Saturday and two on Sunday.  Weekend papers are a mix of local news, opinions, promotional pull-outs, feature stories and cuts and pastes from international media. During the week I try to understand the politics of this country, societal challenges and developmental efforts.  Weekends give me more of the "soul" of the country.

One article caught my eyes in the Sunday paper.  A chief was decrying "Western culture", describing it as a threat to Malawian culture.  What was this "Western culture" that caused his constipation?  With interest did I realise that he was referring to proposals for production of marijuana to replace tobacco, and legalization of commercial sex.  He was then listing other "ills" coming from outside, and ending with ..."...the coming in of democracy has eroded everything".

These lamentations come in the midst of a national struggle to rid the country of child marriages, trafficking of persons for child labour, and attacks on albinos for the magical power of their body parts... These traditions are said to be inherited from Malawian history. What is it about this culture that is drastically better than "Western culture"?

It struck me how we very often reflect on "us" and "them.  We contrast the worst in "their culture" and romanticize about "our culture", and do not relate the best or worst in the respective cultures with each other.  We make connections that probably are not relevant.  In this case the blame was on introduction of democracy... How often did we not hear the reverse story about the "savage natives" of Africa that needed to be saved from themselves?

Living in Malawi gives me a golden opportunity to confront my own stereotypes when encountering stereotypes presented by others.  So far during my stay in Malawi I have experienced a rich culture which has been influenced by local and regional history... and greatly flavoured by other cultures, including "Western culture".  Nuances are found between rural and urban areas, between age groups and men and women.  The Malawian culture is not what it was yesterday, and will be different tomorrow compared to today.  I am fascinated by the different flavours of culture that surround me!

Talking about flavour of culture... and nature.  My newspaper reading was enjoyed amidst colourful vegetation in a beautifully trimmed garden, credit our gardener Gani.  Just see for yourself!

 

                                                                  

   

Christianity encounters local culture

This small piece will take us back to Mua Mission.  Yesterday there was a major cultural festival with dances, plays and poems from the local communities.  Hundreds of local people and a few number of visitors from afar were crammed into the outdoor auditorium/theatre.

The day started with a Catholic Mass led by the founder and leader of the Kungoni Centre of Culture and Art, Fr. Claude Bouchet.

A significant part of the mass was the participation of a large group of traditional Ngoni dancers and singers.  Their traditional rhythms and songs were given texts that flowed with the progress of the mass.

The theme of the mass was “Nature and Culture”, inspired by the recently published encyclical by Pope Francis on Environment and Climate.  We heard the recital of the lamentation of the tree, and we witnessed the planting of a tree. 

All this in full harmony between the Christian mass and the traditional culture. The African philosopher John S Mbiti is describing in his book “African religions and philosophy” how African rites and traditions penetrate African individuals and communities in existential situations, involving life and death, and overrule Christian rituals.  His claim is that the missionaries left African Christianity too shallow because they were not willing to de-socialize their outlook from the European heritage and re-socialize Christianity to the local history and traditions.  Local traditions were dismissed and discarded outright, and were not explored in order to find confluent values and perspectives from where Christianity could bridge with local history and tradition. What we experienced yesterday was a result of Kungoni’s many years of promoting enculturation, an important attempt to blend global faith tradition with local culture.

                                       A Ngoni performance of a traditional wedding ceremony

The mass was followed by a number of performances of local groups, including dances, poetry, drama, comedy and speeches.  Mua Mission with its Kungoni Centre is indeed a unique institution!

A wedding - proof of contrasts

Last night I was invited to a wedding of a former NCA colleague. This became an eye opener for the huge social and economic disparities in this country.  While my previous blog was from a remote village in Nkhata Bay, I will now take you to the big ball room at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe.  This is one of the upmarket hotels in town.

Tables with seating for 10 were beautifully decorated, and I briefly calculated between 30 and 40 tables.  All tables were filled up with people all dressed up, surrounded by people seated around the wall since tables were not enough.  As many as 400 people attended this gala event.  The bride and bridegroom seated high up on the podium together with best man and woman and other participants of the close circle around the couple, received cascades of praises and well-wishes.
 

        The bride in the "high seat".  (My apologies for poor quality of photos taken with my phone)

A well-known personality from the main private radio station in Malawi had been hired to be Master of Ceremony, and huge loudspeakers thundered out heavy music with stomach-shaking base power.

In between presentations and speeches, the main activity of the evening was throwing of money to the couple.  Groups were called by name and danced their way to the front and threw money at the couple who greeted everyone of the guests in this way.  Later there were sessions with "ad lib" money-throwing.  On the sideline a bank had established itself in order to offer exchange of big notes into smaller denominations.  The number of notes being thrown was obviously giving quality to the party.
 

                 
     






Bride and bridegroom receiving showers of bank notes.

                                                             

                                          Dinner was of course served to all 300 - 400 guests, simple but tasty!

What was the final bottom line for this party?  I would not know, but I asked some guests what their guess would be.  I was informed that the rent of the hall would amount to about USD 2,000, while the total party easily would amount to around USD 10,000 - 15,000.  What is an average annual salary for high professional level of government employees?  I am not sure, but my guess would be around USD 8,000 - 10,000. The fact remains, however that around 80% of Malawians live on USD 1.5 per day or less: around USD 600 per year.

My observations are two:  There are huge social and economic disparities in Malawian society, and... weddings must be the ultimate symbolic proof of how your fare in the eyes of people in the community around you.

In conclusion, I enjoyed a lavish evening together with colleagues from NCA!

Change is possible...

We are seated under a tree, our guides from the Evangelical Alliance of Malawi, Birgit and I, and representatives of the small and quite remote village of Gulugulu.  NCA, through EAM is supporting a project for community-based care for children and youth.

   

                                  Playground equipment provided by NCA to Gulugulu village

We are informed about the importance of new ways of stimulating and educating children through their “children’s corner”.  Sounds and sight are those produced by nature and their creatures… until suddenly a different sound penetrates the meeting… the sound of a mobile phone!  The chairman of the “children’s corner” committee stands up, walks away from the group and starts talking loud on his phone.

                                         Meeting with the community under a tree

What a contrast!  In many ways this village is living as their ancestors have been living for generations. Their main tools are hoes to cultivate their fields, and suddenly this leap of generations into the electronic world of mobile phones and potentially social media!  Change is certainly possible.

Although this leap in time and technology, human cultures and inherited notions do not necessarily change that rapidly.  Children need to be taught that there is a relationship between the way they behave when they relieve themselves and their own health.  Why should girl-child not be given away for marriage, but be encouraged and helped to get education?  They need to learn how to straddle between learning traditional skills, and knowledge that can bring them into the wider world around them.  Their radius of operation is basically the village, and if lucky they may be offered to attend the nearest primary school.  This is a walk through the bush for 4-5 kilometers for your children of age 6-7!

                                        

                             The local community built this bridge to help access to their village

How will communities like Gulugulu manage the transformation that can close the gap between the age of hoes and that of mobile phones?  We make efforts to assist local communities to have access to skills and knowledge that can encourage their innovation and increase their options for future choices for improving their livelihood. This will have to happen with deep respect for their heritage, while exploring how short-cutting some of the many steps our own culture had to take from moving from the hoe to the mobile phone!  The wise female village chief Gulugulu expressed the wish to connect the past with the future through dynamic development of their children. Huge potentials lie ahead, and with wisdom we may contribute to constructive change!

The emergence of a maternity ward

This week Birgit and I spend time visiting NCA supported projects.  The main reason for traveling all the way north to the Tanzanian border was to participate in a site meeting for a health center building project.  From Karonga, after having followed the tarmac road towards the border for a while we branched off to a dusty and bumpy road. In patches it is not passable in the rainy season.  As we passed by rice fields on the plains, and negotiated some tricky stretches as we climbed the hills, we certainly understood why. Eventually we reached this sign:

Msumbe Clinic is owned by the Livingstonia Synod of the Presbyterian Church, and is serving the population from far distances in this hilly area.  The current outpatient department is too small, the building partly dilapidated, and operating without running water.  There is no proper delivery facilities for expectant mothers, and the one existing staff house is sub-standard.  On this background there was need for serious upgrading and expansion. Before end of 2015 Msumbe will have a maternity ward, which in principle will look like this:

Currently the site for the ward is being leveled out through manual work carried out by people hired from the local community:

There will be a guardian shelter, which will be a facility for expecting mothers with their guardians as they wait for delivery, there will be two staff houses, and the current clinic will be upgraded.  A borehole will be sunk to secure sufficient clean water.

During the site visit drawings were consulted against terrain and current status:

The site meeting revealed encouraging progress, and the users were quite happy about the prospects of the improved facilities.

The challenge, which is the general challenge in the health system in Malawi, is to see that necessary resources are made available to secure professional health service inside the infrastructure.  This is an ongoing struggle for the owners of the clinics.  We believe that Livingstonia Synod’s commitment will be kept.  

Experiences from other maternity wards are that the number of women who deliver their babies at the ward increases dramatically when facilities are available.  The number of children who enter this world in a healthy way is increasing and the children who die at birth drop encouragingly.  We believe the infrastructure will not be another “white elephant”, but can be of valuable service!

Joys of secondary school

What does it take for a secondary school in Norway, or somewhere else in the affluent world, to call for a major celebration with cutting of ribbon and all...?  This came to mind when I went through the local newspaper The Nation this week.  I had earlier read about the man, Robson Zgambo,  who had won the significant money prize in a lottery.  Instead of spending the money on himself or the family, he was concerned about girls in his home area of Nkhata Bay along the northern shores of Lake Malawi.  Their rate of graduation from secondary school was low, and the man wanted to contribute to their success in pursuing an educational career.  He therefore decided to use his prize money on a secondary school. What was needed to promote the girls' education?  ...Toilets...!  His wife supported him fully and shared with the newspaper that:"...the girls at the school failed to excel in their education because of lack of sanitation facilities...".  

The inauguration of the toilets was worth a celebration with cutting of ribbon and speeches by local dignitaries in addition to words of thanks from the principal and representatives of the girls. We know the physiological changes in girls when they reach puberty, and lack of sanitary facilities obviously cause regular gaps in their school attendance. I wonder if Norwegian secondary school girls would have any possibility to understand the joy of cutting the ribbon in order to access a toilet...

The story must certainly be understood in the context of Malawi.  In today's paper there was a story about a primary school that had waited for 28 years- and was still waiting - on four classrooms for their students to be built.  For all these years they had to gather under a thatched open space.  This is one of many stories that tell about the state of education in this country.

Coming back to secondary school; I met a secondary school teacher from Scotland who was an exchange teacher in Dedza, about 90 km south of Lilongwe.  She shared her experiences, and expressed a certain surprise - without good reason, according to her - that secondary school students were more or less like secondary school students in Scotland.  Some of them could not care less about education and had high levels of absenteeism, while others put all the energy and passion into their school work.  Conditions are different, but human nature seems to have a lot of similarities around the world.

Talking about Dedza, there is an interesting pottery in that place.  They are producing a wide variety of pottery with African design, partly special design made on request by customers. We have some of them in our kitchen.  What does this have to do with education?  Probably not much,... except that some people have fortunately learned important skills.

Mua Mission - history and peace of mind

There has been a long summer vacation silence from my end, but now I am back in Malawi and receiving new impressions and making new experiences.  During this last weekend Birgit and I (Birgit is here during the remainder of her summer vacation) visited Mua Mission, close to Lake Malawi.  Mua means "sugarcane" in the local language, and is a reminder of its slave trade history.  Mua was a slave market, and slaves were fed locally produced sugar canes.  Based on this history the Catholic congregation White Fathers arrived in 1902 and started building a mission station.  They saw their mission as liberation from oppressive traditions and poverty.  Mua Mission did, however not leave the local traditions behind.  In the 1970s Father Claude Bouchet started what should be Kungoni Centre of Culture & Art.  In appreciation of the value of local culture as part of living out Christianity he has over the years made impressive studies of the local history and traditions.  This has resulted in a unique museum and a centre for enculturation and training of traditional tree carving.

       
                                         Robert takes us through the local history of Mua Mission

On the premises of the Mission a small lodge with five chalets, a dining hall and conference room was built 10 years ago.  At the entrance of the dining hall a signboard and a photo document Norwegian support for the project, and Crown Princess Mette Marit opening the lodge in June 2005.

Everything at Mua Mission, including the lodge is "stamped" by the philosophical and artistic ideas of Fr. Bouchet,  Even the toilet paper-holders in the chalets express local culture - and may come across as scary in the twilight of evening or early morning.

Masks are important historically and even in today's celebration of phases of life.  Outside each chalet there is a distinct mask, and the one outside our room did not invite for slumbering in.  Somehow it reminded us more of "Scream" than slumber.

 
Mua Mission is, in spite of the distinct cultural expression a place to recover peace of mind.  The small river below the chalets gives a backdrop to the songs of birds and buzzing of insects that penetrate the otherwise dark, warm silence.  Only occasional voices from the neighbouring village remind us that we are part of a living society, not only engulfed in history and nature.

Values...and values?

Country representatives of NCA are every year called to Norway for two weeks of training and consultations. We ended this year’s weeks on Friday.  Every day starts with a small reflection.  My turn came also up.  

Some few weeks ago Ireland had a referendum on same sex marriage.  On the plane from Malawi I found an article in NY Times International about this that caught my eye.  Ireland has an overwhelming Catholic majority.  The article gave an overview showing that Catholic majority countries in general had the most liberal laws and practices. This seems to be a contradiction. In the case of Ireland, the Catholic Church – supported by the Vatican – lobbied strongly against the liberal law.  Doctrines seem to be in contrast with practice.  The context (time/place) and private interpretations override official doctrines.  There are tensions between leaders and the grassroots.

Does this have relevance to NCA?  We represent a faith-based organization.  Our main partners are faith-based organizations.  What does this mean?

Push a button and my colleagues in Malawi will deliver a sermon or a prayer.  All meetings, be it internal, with partners, with building contractors, government… start with prayers.  Is this the yardstick for being a faith-based organization?

This personal sharing reflect wide varieties of interpretations of faith and doctrines.  When translated into attitudes towards social and ethical issues, it is sometimes difficult to recognize a clear set of values that correspond with NCA’s basic documents.

The Vatican regarded the Irish referendum as a serious set-back, while the people – Catholic majority – regarded it as an important step into the future.

I have occasionally heard that NCA needs to support the progressive segments of our religions.  We have in Malawi experienced in a project called “Human Rights and Theology” that representatives of our faith partners see contradictions between the two concepts.  We are in the process of universalizing Human Rights, and there are still important battles to be won in order to have a consensus about the compatibility between theology and human rights.

It is a reality that NCA promotes values and ideas that are seen as challenging to a number of our faith based partners. How are we perceived?  Promoters of Western ideas – with a religious gloss?  Do our partners tolerate us – as long as we come with the money and “do good”?  Or do we represent a voice of change, also for some of the interpretation of values and attitudes we represent?

Travel in space and culture

This week I traveled from Lilongwe, through Blantyre, Addis Ababa, Vienna and Stockholm to Oslo. As I moved from Southern Africa through Horn of Africa to Europe I realized that I was part of a cultural journey.

Human mobility has increased exponentially with new technology and improved economic power. Travel in air, belonging to the well-off in the Western world only a generation ago, is now commonplace around the world.  People converge from all kinds of directions and depart for different destinations.  Airplanes and airports have become cultural happenings.

At Lilongwe Kamuzu Airport the flavour of Africa was very present.  Women in colourful dresses and with fancy scarfs shaping their hairstyle walked around in high-healed shoes.  Young boys in suits were clearly expressing that the upcoming journey was a major event in their lives.  Luggage was brought in all kinds of shapes and forms; huge suitcases, over-sized plastic bags, cardboard boxes wrapped with rope...  Extended families crowded the departure area, winking farewell to their dear ones.  I was experiencing Malawian community-life. Asian and Western looking people blended in as a small minority.

As we landed in Addis, we entered the interface between Sub-Saharan Africa and Arabian sphere. We met turbans, jalabiyyahs, heavy perfumes and hijabs. Arab and Somali sound-bits mixed with African vernacular languages and English.  Addis airport is a hub for travels north, south, east and west.

On the plane through Vienna to Stockholm there were still a variety of skin-colours and languages.  Clothing and luggage were slightly less diverse, but rather more streamlined towards the "world traveler" style.  I was not anymore in an African community.  I was no more part of a minority of Europeans.  We were a mixed community - in between.  In Vienna a number of the Sub-Saharan Africans, Arabs and Somalis left the plane.

I now entered the last phase of my travel as representative of the mainstreamed majority.  Most of the colourfully dressed had left us.  Those who originated from Malawi, Ethiopia, Somalia... were mostly dressed in Western clothes, carried modern suitcases and roller bags.  Perfume smell was subdued and languages gradually shifted towards Swedish, and even Norwegian.  Swedes and Norwegians - white, brown or black - were obviously returning home.  Whether their origin was Blantyre, Mogadishu, Addis or Oslo they blended in.

I had been part of not only a travel in time and space, but certainly a travel in culture and identity.  Globalisation has many faces!

Burdens and innovation

We have certain images of what tools are built for.  Innovations can enhance their utility, or entirely transform their use.  Plastic bags are made to carry things.  If a number of plastic bags are tucked together and wrapped around in careful ways they can end up as footballs and be used by children in dusty spaces.  Small branches of certain trees can be cut and slightly split up in one end... and you have a tooth brush!  Beer cans can be split open and hammered into small cars or aeroplanes.

When I travel along roads in Malawi I see a lot of impressive use of tools.  For one, the use of heads, particularly women's heads is impressive.  This is obviously a tool as old as humankind, but not less

impresssive for that reason.  Sometimes the weight of things carried on heads is utterly unbelievable, at other times the balancing act is breathtaking, and many times a combination of the two makes a clumsy Norwegian quite humble.  Collecting wood and water are two main activities that are frequently involving heads.  These women south-east of Dedza are typical examples of the artists, although not displaying the most impressive acts.  What struck me with these women, and most women carrying things on their heads, is with which grace and down to earth posture they do it.  If I try, my entire body would be involved in the attempt, ... while look at the women!  They don't seem to notice that things are carried on their heads.

The greatest danger of traveling along Malawi roads at night is the number of people and animals walking along the roadside. With more than half of the population living in poverty, Malawi car park is somewhat limited.  Take into consideration that fuel prices are about 75% of Norwegian level!  Is it surprising that many people would have to think twice before investing in vehicles?  People therefore walk long distances, carry heavy burdens and establish their trading posts along the road.  Commodities will have to be brought from A to B.  Public transport, mostly minibuses, is an alternative.  There are, however limitations to what can be loaded on to minibuses.  Firewood for example does not fit into a minibus. Therefore other means need to be found, and the bicycle comes as a solution.  The notion "heavy duty vehicle" is well known, but I have not seen "heavy duty bicycles" being advertised in papers.  I have, nevertheless seen them along roads.  Just have a look at the specimen below!

Back in Norway we have a Toyota station wagon, but I doubt I would be able to pile more wood into our car than this man carries on his bicycle!  His engine is probably comfortable on flat road, but I am sure he is challenged when he approaches uphill stretches.  Pushing this weight uphill is quite hard work, and holding back the same load going downhill is similarly challenging.  The two wheels and the frame does however make all the difference!  The bicycle is transformed to a heavy duty tool!

The examples and photos above are only two expressions of adaptation and resilience. Daily I see a lot of adaptation and resilience around me along the roads in Lilongwe and beyond.  Would I survive if I was forced to use the same survival techniques?  I am not sure.  Somewhere along the history my affluent life left some basic life skills by the wayside.  While I certainly hope people who currently have to make extreme adaptations and have to stretch their resilience will have improved lives, I should make efforts to regain some of those forgotten life skills.

In a later reflection I will return to another tool that is transforming peoples' lives in Malawi: the mobile phone.

A straw hut for a start

All stories have a start, although they do not need to start with Adam and Eve.  My blog story starts in a straw hut in the very southern part of Malawi.  Moving to Malawi in March prompted the idea to finally open my own blog.  Here I am, this time writing in English... and at other times probably writing in Norwegian.

Back to the straw hut in Bangula, the consultation room for the water and sanitation team of Norwegian Church Aid that was deployed during the devastating floods that hit parts of Malawi in January and February this year.  Thousands of people had to evacuate their homes, witness destruction of their houses and drowning of their crops.  In the middle of plenty of water, clean water was a scarce commodity. A system of bladder tanks and water taps were established.  People were without shelter, and NCA provided 450 family tents.  Sanitation facilities, including slabs for pit latrines were also made available.  Birgit and I visited the team just after Easter, eager to see how they were doing, and how the displaced population survived.

For Ulrik and Alexander, seen in the photo, provision of water and sanitation were now routine.  Maria, the third member of the team, was busy with hygiene training in the camp when this picture was taken.  For people in the camp, routine was another day lost in their desire to go back to their villages.  For some families uncertainties surrounded their return, since the government has indicated that they need to be moved to new homes.Water dries up, but lives have been upset.  Livelihoods have been put to a test.  The camp population live off the fields, and the fields were devastated.

The NCA team is back in Europe by now, and the government has told people to go back home by end of May.  Food rations will not be handed out in the camps, ... but perhaps a ration "for the road" may be provided.  Some seeds have been handed out to some of the farmers, in the hope that it was not too late to make a second planting.

The question we obviously ask is:  when is the next time the floods hit Lower Shire Valley, causing Shire River to go way beyond its banks and cause another disaster?  It is clear that natural disasters do not hit with any sense of fairness and justice.  Those people living in insecure and volatile situations at the outset are the ones that are mostly hit.  Where access has been difficult, access will be even more difficult after the floods.  Together with colleagues I visited a health clinic NCA is renovating and providing with new buildings.  In order to get there we had to follow a road that passes along a mountain ridge, with numerous rivers and streams to be crossed.  The photo below shows only one crossing.  There used to be a road with a so-called "Irish bridge" crossing the river.  As you will see, there is not much left of the road or the bridge.

One reflection has come to mind when talking with people affected by a combination of natural disasters, difficult access to education and health, many obstacles for food production and not least cumbersome access to local market.  Would I have given up, living and working against all odds?  Malawians may be experienced as phlegmatic, ... but no wonder!  Their resilience is just admirable.

While I maintain the conviction that what I am part of, as part of NCA and partner efforts, I remain with a deep sense of humility.  Few people in this part of the world, as in any part of the world, are saints.  They are, however survivors!

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I hope my blog can bring out reflections, observations, questions and opinions that you would like to comment on.  Let us see what might come out with some regularity.  In the meantime, keep smiling!