Dearest friends,
I read somewhere that "you cannot go to Africa and come back home being the same person as when you left". I am afraid it is true!
I traveled in India, Nepal, Egypt, South America and I never felt so disorientated as in Africa. All is different... the sky (as much during the night than during the day), the vegetation (evidently), the quality of the air (pure and non polluted), the temperature (again, evidently) and even a special odour that is from the earth... There are also the basic values of life that are so different than the ones we have in our over developed countries...
As Jean had been walking in Malawi for 2 months already, he had prepared a special itinerary for our little vacations. Except for the indispensable errands: bank, Internet etc., we avoided the big cities and the big hotels. We used the public transportation: a unique fare for all of them, be it a regular bus, a minibus or a pickup truck where one travels sitting in the box. The roads are quite narrow and without shoulder and the car or bus drivers have a fairly heavy foot.... Thank God for the horns that allow the numerous pedestrians to run away in vegetation to avoid collisions!
We saw plantations of rubber trees spiked with little tubes under which are hung small pots to collect the precious rubber. At first, it sure doesn't look like our car tires!!! We saw a lot of flowers and lush vegetation even though the rain season was weak this year. Because of the lack rain, we heard that there would be famine... indeed, the corn stalks (the basis of food in Malawi) are yellow and carry little or no ears.
Something to see absolutely: Lake Malawi! An immense extent of soft water of an incredible purity! We had a 2 day-cruise there on the Ilala, a boat that has been doing transportation on Lake Malawi for 50 years. The boat is an indispensable transportation means for some Malawians because several villages are not accessible by the roads. This cruise was an extraordinary experience. I felt as in a movie... observing colourfully dressed people embarking or disembarking... carrying their shopping or possessions... from bunches of bananas to furniture... It was multi-coloured ... animated and extremely exotic!
But the biggest wealth of Malawi is the Malawians themselves! First, they are beautiful with their devastating smiles... then, they are so kind and cordial!
Unfortunately, Malawi undergoes a reduction of its standard of living... several curses affect the life of the Malawians, amongst them is a deterioration of its economy and AIDS is responsible for important devastations... We saw very few aged people during our stay. On the other hand, the orphans are very numerous.
However, there is a positive side in many aspects. In Kande Beach Resort, we met a young Dutchwoman, Sandra Verbaan who undertook to have an orphanage of 30 places built in Kande Village. As the village counts about one hundred orphans, she promised herself to enlarge the building as soon as it is finished in such a way that there will not be one orphan left without a roof in Kande. You can write to Sandra to send her your support be it moral or financial or other.
In Monkey Bay, we met an Australian lady of German origin, Birgit Albers who thought of an impressive enough project... The education for primary school is free in Malawi but to attend secondary school, you need to pay some fees. These fees are minimal for us but impossible to pay for the numerous orphans. So, Birgit undertook to make a descriptive card with photo of every orphan who expresses his interest. Once a year, she goes to Australia, in Tasmania to be more precise, organizes a big African dinner at 50 $ a setting and distributes the descriptive cards of the orphan teenagers of Malawi and invites people to become sponsor for the studies of one of these young teenagers. Upon her return in Monkey Bay, she asks the young man or woman to write to his/her sponsor personally so that the 2 (sponsor and young person) are directly in contact. This project works marvellously well. Here I invite you again, to write directly to Birgit to offer her your support or even to sponsor a young teenager, thus giving him or her a break to overcome this stagnation.
After our cruise on the Ilala, we spent 4 days of paradise at the Baobab Beach Resort where Henry Shamu and his wife, Mary ascertained our happiness and comfort. As Mary and Henry are Malawians, we could take advantage of very enriching conversations while relaxing in a charming scenery and while appreciating young Peter's visits. Peter is Mary and Henry's 4 months old grandson.
Even though this newsletter is quite long already, I must speak to you about the mission of Mua. Founded since more than 100 years, it owes its little common development to the arrival of Father Claude Boucher, a Canadian from Montreal, who got there 28 years ago. Being himself an artist, Father Claude realized quickly the astonishing talent for sculpture and drawing of the Malawians. The first building to be constructed was a sculptor's workshop that allowed people to exercise their talent and to provide an income for themselves. The Mission then got bigger, adding buildings... Today, you can find an impressive enough hospital but still quite different from our so sterile hospitals, a church, a small zoo and the most astonishing museum that I ever saw. It is worth the trip to Malawi, only to visit this extraordinary museum whose theme is: the masks!
However, there are other appeals and projects in Mua... father Claude is very active! They have almost finished the construction of a complex to host visitors whose concept is quite African and Malawian and is in relation with, again, the masks... They have also just began to erect a library to deposit the multitude of manuscripts and other documents accumulated by father Claude. Serge St-Arneault, another father who is also from Canada, will manage this library.
One last thing: Malawi is clean... clean... clean! People are clean, the children are so cute, you feel like hugging them... and the houses and their yards, the roads and even the big cities are clean what made an astonishing contrast with the dirt of winter's end in Montreal.
Till next time...
Luce