Recreation, environment - and conflict of interest

Last weekend there was no contribution on this blog.  The reason is simple:  Birgit and I spent the extended Mother's Day weekend in Mulanje Mountains and Zomba Plateau without internet-connection.  A small account of our experience is therefore following this weekend.

Beauty of the Mulanje Mountains

Mulanje Mountains is the highest mountains in Malawi, with its highest peak reaching just above 3000 meters above sea level.  The lower part of the mountains are moderate steep, and covered with a combination of indigenous and pine trees.

We stayed at a lodge belonging to the Presbyterian Church at the foothills of the mountain, in a self-contained chalet.  

While our hikes during the two days were limited to staying within the forest-covered lower part of the massif, we experienced the greatness of the nature.  The Waterfall, with its natural pool for swimming just below, was the playground for a group of scouts who stayed next-door to us.  Their joy of experiencing the nature, and enjoying swimming in the clear and chilly pond was refreshing.  Scouting is a global movement, and we clearly saw that Malawian girls and boys enjoyed life in Mother nature the same way scouts in Norway enjoy outdoor life!

The scout group under the Waterfall

The last day of our weekend we spent on the Zomba Plateau, a steep climb up from the old colonial capital Zomba.  The Plateau is a forest covered area with rivers, dams and excellent roads and paths for both biking and walking.  Zomba Plateau is at the same time a symbol of conflict of interest between environmental and recreational needs on the one hand, and survival for the common man on the other.

During our hike we met several men who obviously cut trees and brought firewood back to the market in Zomba and surroundings.  Every day they were climbing the steep ascent from Zomba.  You will have an impression of the view from the "Emperor's Viewpoint", a place visited by Emperor Haile Sellaise in 1965.

View from the "Emperor's Viewpoint gives an impression of the climb from Zomba

Thomas, who is in the right side of the photo below, makes the 10 km. climb with his bicycle every morning, uses the day together with his friend Lawrence cutting and splitting wood, loads his bicycle and makes it back to Zomba and the market in the evening.  According to him, this hard work may earn him USD 7 - 8 per day.  This brings his income clearly above the average daily earnings of the masses of Malawi.  The fact that he, and hundreds of other wood cutters, are depleting the forest and disturbing the environment seems to be beyond their concern.

Heavy load of firewood on its way 

to the market

Thomas and Lawrence cutting wood for a living

Preserving precious forest areas is clearly in tension with creating livelihood for many families who do not see many other options for their upkeep.  Government and many good forces obviously need to work on policies and practices that can remove this tension and create win-win situations.

Embarking on student life in Malawi

Beatrice was excited and nervous as we approached the gate of LUANAR (Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources).  When we took her, and all her student life belongings from Lilongwe this afternoon, a bit less than one hour drive from our house, it was her journey to start her student life.

Academic life at LUANAR ahead!

Beatrice is the daughter of Emily, our housemaid, and she is eager to study hard and dig into the aspects of nutrition.  Her huge desire had been to study medicine, but the requirements were sky-high, and although she is a bright young lady, she did not quite reach there.  Now she is ready to put every effort into her degree in nutrition.

Beatrice represents 1% of tertiary school-age population of Malawi that is enrolled in tertiary education.  In Norway around 75% are enrolled, while the figure for Botswana is 18%.  The threshold is high to find yourself in a university or college campus in Malawi, and considerably higher if you are a girl!   Not only is the academic threshold high, but also the economic threshold.

We have witnessed unrest and demonstrations among students the last few months due to sharp hikes in student fees.  In some universities the fees were increased with more than 150% in one leap.  For LUANAR students were told only two-three weeks prior to semester start that fees had been increased with 50%.  Many students had made huge efforts to scrape together enough money to pay for tuition, fees, upkeep, ... through jobs, student loans, identification of sponsors and other creative approaches.  After having been successful and with great anticipation looking forward to start of the semester, they were faced with new financial demands that might be seen as impossible to meet.  No wonder that some students and students-to-be took to the streets!  One of the universities is still closed, since their case has been brought to the courts for resolution.

With her student-life belongs, Beatrice is assisted by mother Emily and family to locate her dormitory.

In spite of 50% hike on short notice, students at the Bunda campus, one of three LUANAR campuses, did not take industrial action, and registration for the semester could take place today.

It is beyond doubt that education is a main driver of development in any country.  The assumption is that educated youth will fill positions in the public and private sector and drive innovation and economic development.  With the current slow growth of Malawian economy, and with a starting point as number 163 on the Human Development Index list of the United Nations, jobs are not necessarily waiting for young graduates.  Much depends on their own initiative to create jobs.

Beatrice has some years of studies ahead of her. Expertise on nutrition is pivotal in a country with widespread abject poverty and malnutrition.  With her future expertise we should hope that she can contribute to the development of Malawi, reduce malnutrition and promote her own job career in the service of the Malawian people.

The proud mother sends off her daughter with great hopes and anticipations

A proud mother Emily followed Beatrice to her student life registration, and she can indeed be proud that she has been able to support her daughter to reach this level!  

Lilongwe drying up?

In earlier entries in this blog I have reflected around the food situation in the country.  Estimated 6.5 million people will be in need of food assistance during the next lean season up til April 2017.  Lack of timely rains is the main reason why crops failed and people are left with less than needed food. Most of the food needs are found in the rural areas, not least in the southern part of the country.

The urban areas are faced with other challenges related to the low water levels.  Electricity is in short supply, and this is mostly impacting cities, towns and industries that are depending on electricity to make things go around.  Long spells with power cuts make refrigerators and freezers redundant, and perishable food cannot be kept properly preserved, businesses either have to invest in major generator sets or bring activities to a stand-still... with serious economic consequences.  An economy that is ailing at the outset is doubly hit when the water level prevent hydro power turbines from normal functioning.  As ever, we represent the privileged minority with a battery back-up system that keeps essential house equipment and light running for quite some hours.

Perhaps worse is the long hours without water.  I have been told that the Lilongwe Water Board cannot predict how long the main reservoir, Kamuzu Dam, can provide water to the city.

Kamuzu Dam, as it should be... but now it runs dry

Water shedding is a necessary move to prolong the period with at least some water from the tap. Chances are that Lilongwe city is drying up during the next one or few months.  Without water households, offices and businesses will be left in critical situations.  We already receive visitors from the neighbouring village who come with their empty containers and ask for water from our tap by the gate.  What if our tap dries up permanently?

Visitors from neighbouring Kauma Village fetching water from the tap by our gate

We live in a house and property that is owned by NCA, and therefore we have thought of measures to rescue the situation.  The answer is to drill a borehole and sink a solar panel run submersible pump. The existing elevated tank will be a useful reservoir that may provide continuous running water.  The problem will obviously also hit our office, and not least our staff colleagues.  Therefore we plan to mount a water tank on the NCA trailer and bring water from our house to the office.  This will rescue the office situation, and staff colleagues may bring their containers and bring home minimum quanta of water to their households.

The water tank in our back yard saves us from dry taps so far

The solution should be good for us, NCA office and our staff colleagues... because NCA has money to invest in a borehole.  What about the thousands of city dwellers without this opportunity to take precautionary measures.  Lilongwe Water Board is so far silent, and the City Council has not come out with proper information or contingency plans.  We are entering a critical period on many fronts.