First day of Ramadan

Makes me think about how naturally it is here with different religions. What is common for everyone is that they believe in God and belongs to a church. It doesn’t seem to be any tensions between different religious groups. The biggest religion is Christianity with about 82% of the population. Here you found mostly Catholics and Presbyterians. There are also smaller groups of Anglicans, Baptist and Evangelicals.  The second biggest religion is Islam, mainly Sunnis. 5 % of the population is either Atheists or practices traditional African religions.

This of course affects the life here. In my house there are two guards working during the weekend. One is Catholic and the other Presbyterian so one goes to church on Sunday and the other one on Saturday. And the women who helps me in the house is a Muslim so she goes to the mosque on Fridays.

Religion is an important part of life. People are asking me if I believe in God. When I tell them I don’t go to church and I’m not part of any religion they look at me as something must be wrong with her. Maybe it is.

The mosque in Old Town, Lilongwe

Buying a car is another story

At the beginning I thought I would manage without a car but only after a few days here I realize a car is needed. When it is dark, which is around 6 o’clock in the evening, it is not safe to move around without a car. It is possible to take a taxi but they are expensive and not easy to find. It is not just to stop one in the street. So I have accepted I need a car.

So how do you do when buying a car? First of all the most common is to buy second hand cars from Japan. You can either import them directly or you buy one in Malawi. If you want to import you will have to pick it up at the boarder. It takes about two months or so to get it. As I am already in Malawi that was not an option for me.

The car market is big and you can find cars for sale everywhere. I went to a car market which was an open space close to the road full with cars. There was no office only a lot of cars and a guy who was showing me around. Another place was in the parking lot outside a shopping mall. Another was in a street corner just beside the road. Other cars were taken to my office.

My car

The cars are not registered so when you have bought the car you need to register it. First you need to get the ownership of the car. When that is done they will give you your number plate and the Blue book. The Blue book is where you have all details about the car. The model, year, type of fuel, number of doors, etc. You also need a Certification of fitness. Before you can drive you need to insure the car. Then the car is ready to

roll. Even if I go a lot of help I have been running up and down to get all the papers.

Lot of paper work

N’Gala mountain – the smiley mountain

Around Lilongwe there are several small mountains. In Lilongwe, we are already at 1000 meter above sea level. N’Gala mountain is at 1400 meter above sea level.

N'Gala mountain

The climb of the mountain was tough. The fact that we are at 1000 meter about sea level makes it more difficult to breathe. I had to stop all the time to catch my breath. But the view was worth it!

The steep side of the mountain

View from the top

View over a village

On the way back I had the privilege of driving. We took a shortcut, this is what I call off-road!

Off-road

Field visit to Salima

Apart from visiting the two offices in Salima, we visited the Telecentre and the Agroforestry training centre. The Telecentre is a training centre where young people learn how to use a computer. They are trained on how to surf the internet and use the Office package. It is the only one in Salima. The centre have 6 computers and the students are sitting on boxes two or three in front of each computer.

In the Agroforestry training centre, farmers are trained on different ways of cultivation. It is like a showroom and each plot shows a different method of cultivation. One plot can show the difference between using chemical fertilizers and organic fertilizers. Or one can show how to increase the crop by the way of setting the plants and putting on the fertilizers.

The centre also have a kitchen garden which should be used for the personal usage of the farmer.

Kitchen garden

In the middle of the kitchen garden they put composted waste which works as a fertilizer for the garden.

Behind the kitchen garden is the house for energy saving stoves

Behind the kitchen garden is a house for the energy saving stove. The stove is made of 6 bricks and sand and water. Very little fire wood is needed to keep the stove hot which saves trees. The small house also makes the smoke to go out so that the farmer doesn’t breathe it in.   

Energy saving stove

Field visit to Mangochi

The way to Mangochsi is just beautiful, going through what is the end of Rift Valley and the boarder to Mozambique and then down to the lake. On the way you see people walking on the road, bikes everywhere, dogs, goats, cows, etc. 

Road to Mangochi

Early next morning when waking up the door was knocking. Someone said; “Give me my bucket”, in a harsh tone. I thought, how could they knock on my door at this hour? I didn’t understand what she wanted but I opened anyway and she went in, took a bucket and left. Five minutes later it knocked again. Now I felt a bit irritated. “Why are they leaving things in the room that they need?”, I thought. Another girl was now going in again with the bucket and then she left. Then I realized they had brought me hot water so I could shower.

When ordering breakfast I asked what they had. Cornflakes (no milk), sausage, bread, egg, omelette, chips (pommes frites). I asked for omelette and chips, no cornflakes, no bread, no sausage. I got everything anyway. I obviously have a communication problem when not speaking the local language Chichewa or Yao as they speak in this part of the country.

The whole day I spent in our district offices with the finance and admin staff and also the rest of the staff. The issues raised were reporting, budgeting, activity planning, challenges with laptops not working properly, too low “airtime” (telefon card), petty cash, not functioning accounting system and many other issues.

For lunch we went to the best local food place in town. It was hidden behind a house so you had to know it existed to go there. We had chicken, beans, vegetables and nsima. Nisma is the staple food here and is made of ground maize flour and water. The food was just excellent and until now my stomach hasn’t complained.

Aunt Marys restaurant

After work we went to see the lake. It was a beautiful place and the sun was just setting.

Nkopola

First week in Malawi

The week has been very good. I have a good feeling about everything here. People are very friendly, the work is interesting, my colleagues are very nice and the city has a certain charm.It has been a productive week. 

I have…

- recieved my work permit (for two years )

- completed my first job week

- finalized my first payroll for this month...pooh

- opened a local bank account

- driven for the first time on the left side

- taken farewell to the previous manager

- moved into my house

The garden

Winter or Summer

While people in Sweden are enjoying the summer, I’m “suffering” the African winter. Before coming here people said that I should bring warm cloths though it would be chilly at night. Even if I was told that, I was surprised how cold it is when the sun is gone. While you are enjoying the summer, I’m sitting here with my warmest cloths, the heater on and drinking a hot cup of tea. Well I think it is my preconception that Africa should always be warm that makes me feel colder. It is not much colder than a normal Swedish summer day. It is colder inside than outside so when sleeping I have the heater on, a warm cover, warm socks and pants and still feeling cold. Looking on the bright side of it, it will be two months like this and then the rest of the year it’s hot.

Sunset over Lilongwe

The best compliment

Today was the first day in the office. Comments like "it's nice to be back", "good to see you again", etc were said. But then it came…“Ohh Anna, it is so good to see you. I see you have put on some weight! Now you are ready to get started!”

So maybe I should reconsider my plan to get started with some serious training…?

First day in Malawi

This time the first impression was of course different than the last time I came here. But I remember that I was so surprise that there is no feeling of a big capital in Lilongwe. It is more the feeling of a big village.

The Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe is the smallest airport I have ever seen at least if we are talking about international airports. You can't see any planes except for a few small once. 

Kamuzu International Airport

When arriving you have to show your yellow fever card. Then you walk 10 meters to the passport control another 20 meters to pick up your bags and another 30 meters you are out.

I’m staying at a hotel the first week so I have the feeling that this is only another trip to Africa and I will soon be back home again. On the other hand I’m longing to move into my new house and to have the feeling of being home. But for now I’m enjoying walking on the red African soil again.

Street outside my hotel

This is a dream come true. A few years back I could've never imagine that I would end up in Africa someday. For a long time I have wanted to work abroad and I can’t really take in that this dream has now become true. 

Goodbye Sweden!

In less than 24 hours I will be on my way to Lilongwe, Malawi. All "goodbyes" and all "I will miss you" are said. My bags are ready, I am ready!

What is waiting for me? Someone is picking me up at the airport to take me to my hotel which is in the middle of a wild life center in Lilongwe. They say you can hear the roar from the lions in the night. Then a new job, new city, new people, new house, new friends (hopefully), new experiences....in short a new life is waiting for me.

I know that not all of you will be able to visit me so this is my way to share my experiences and be a bit closer to all of you.

Leaving home