Wow, time here is going so fast. I can’t believe I’ve done nearly a third of my time in malawi already! Yikes!
First, I’d like to thank you so much for your kind offers to send goodies to my nursery! I will look into this seriously. It may not be practical really, as sending things will be very expensive, and we need to do thigns in a sustainable way, so we’re going to try and get regular funding from unicef. I’ll look into it though. Thank you so much, you’re lovely!
My personal situation is still the same as before, so I thought in writing this next installment of “Yes, I am still alive”, I’d write a little more about the society etc here. It’s really fascinating actually.
Firstly, witches. And other spiritual beliefs I suppose. Either way, it seems that everyone in Malawi believes in witches, spirits, charms, curses etc etc etc. At first I was amazed,especially because many of these people who are ernestly telling me about these things are very intelligent people, and to me, I thought those sorts of beliefs were mainly in stories for young children. But people like a good story don’t they? And I also think that once you believe something, you look to prove it, rather than looking to disprove it. They always laugh at my questions, saying “Sally, you’re such a philosopher” or “Why do you ask so many questions?”. Anyway, I realised that these beliefs make life mroe interesting for people so I didn’t challenge them too much. But then they have some very serious, bad effects too. For example, little children can be accused of being trained by witches if they start to behave rebelliously. I’ve heared such accusations made, and thought, well, what does that mean for the child? Belief in the power of witches is also manipulated by village elders and headmen to stop people from disobeying them. If you do, the elders might remove all the bones from your body, lock you in a small pot, make a crocodile jump out of your cup while you’re brushing your teeth…
So yes, worrying to me. I can’t say I’m being very open-minded, but I’m not getting very good answers to my probing questions!
A positive I’d like to write about now: the culture of openness and sharing. If a neighbour needs somethign here, they simply go to their neighbour’s house and are given it. No questions asked. Sharing is a huge part of the culture here, and you can’t even really eat a packed lunch without sharing it with everyone around you. it’s a nice way of living. Of course, it only really works because people know it’ll be reciprocated, but it’s nice that that cultural mechanism is there.
OK, next!!! The other thing that amazed me was the number of people who want to move ot the UK. No other countries in Europe, just the UK. Loads of people keep approaching me, having a nice chat, then saying, “Erm, so, can you take me to the UK with you?”. Or somethign similar. They think it’s like heaven, and I’m trying to dispell that view. But at the same time, I’m beginning to be more aware of what a plethora of opportunities we do have available to us in the UK. It’s quite staggering really. I know they’re not all there for everyone, but things are still so much better. The fact that I’m going to Oxford next year seems like something of a joke when I speak to these people. We have huge social problems, but the opportunities are generally there. I wish we’d make mroe of them.
And now I’m going to make an apology, to everyone who I’ve not replied to by email. Yahoo is being incredibly awkward, and won’t load messages when I ask it to, so I’m relying on this blog for most communication! If you want to email me it might be worth copying it onto a comment on the blog too.
I’m just blabbing today, as you cna see, cos I have no idea when I’m going to have to be pullde off the internet. So, Nsima, you asked.
Well, shockingly to malawians, we don’t have nsima in the UK, but if you google it you should get some helpful pictures. it’s closest relative in UK food is probably if you were to get white cous-cous, then squeeze it togetehr so it wasn’t in balls anymore, but was just a bit lump. Then you tear bits of, mould them into balls in your hand, and use it to pick up the various relishes. It’s a messy business, but quite enjoyable! Not sure how nutritious is- it’s made of white maize and water.
Ooh, maize, there’s another topic. Malawians love maize! And many, if not most, families have their own maize fields, which help them to maintain food security at the household level. I’ve been harvesting maize, which is really nice and made me get all philosophical and ponderous! The maize cobs are hidden in a parcel of leaves folded around them. And sometimes, it looks like the whole parcel is mouldy and rotten, and it’s just going to crumble in a pile of nasty insects as you prize it open. But then sometimes, the most mouldy parcels have the biggest, brightest maize cobs inside, and it’s a lovely surprise. It’s a lovely setting as well, as the field has views across the landscape, over mountains and blue skies and dozens of other maize fields. It’s rather yummy.
I’ll be back…
