Successes in Senga Bay
We arose at around 7 to the sound of the waves moving ashore. It had been a tough trip the day before, and the last two hours had been in the dark. With large numbers of people walking the edges of the road, the broken edges of the pavement with no berm, oncoming trucks with their high beam headlights blinding us, and a goat or cow wondering on the road from time to time it was a rather harrowing trip from Blantyre to Senga Bay. Sleeping in till 7 was a real treat. Now it is time to look in on some of the programs on this side of Malawi that the Project has been supporting.
Breakfast is a real treat. It’s not what it is, it is how it is prepared. It is one of the things Cool Runnings is noted for, and Sam doesn’t disappoint us with an English breakfast of scrambled eggs, toast, and sausage links. Topping it off is a steaming hot cup of tea, Chombe Tea, some of the best in the world. It’s like home. Almost all of the staff knows us by name and we know them. Most have benefited from the V-Tractor, shoes, or various other programs put in place during the past few years.
As we eat Samantha talks full speed, catching us up on everything that has happened since we were here last year. Then we make a plan for the day. It will begin right after we finish breakfast, and will extend until noon on Tuesday. Now that’s a plan, and in this environment a plan usually works out. It’s one of the few places in Malawi when you can plan to do something at a particular time of day and it will happen, at that time.
Senga Bay Library
Since we were here last September the library has had its official opening, and is now in full operation. It was built through the joint effort of Cool Running, the Paratroop Battalion based in Senga Bay, a number of interested people who visit the area, and the Malawi Project. The Malawi Project supplied funds for the construction, and 2,000 books to assist with the only library in that part of Malawi that will have available this amount in resources, as well as the addition shortly of computers. It was really nice to enter the well-organized facility, and see students sitting quietly around tables studying. Up to now there has been no place anywhere near this place for such learning experience.
Safe Haven
After leaving the library we backtracked to Safe Haven, and a visit with the director. He and his wife have turned their home into a place for children who do not fit well in their families. These are often stepchildren, or in many cases orphans, who come to the program after school to learn a trade, find friendships, avoid getting into trouble, and study. Here they find the acceptance that is often lacking in their home environments, as well as being taught the things they would need to lead a productive life. Again, the support given from Cool Runnings and the Malawi Project is really evident when one sees the progress some of these young people are making. We looked in on the students in the carpentry shop and saw them making new entrance doors. A large stack of doors had already been completed, and were stacking near the tool area.
Before leaving we make arrangements with the staff to return the next morning, and bring dresses for the little girls who attend the pre-school. The dresses were sent with us from three different parts of the states, where women make them for these girls.
After these visits we return to Cool Runnings where we have lunch and answer a number of emails, create some information for the web site, and info for the folks back home. Around 2 in the afternoon we drive to Livingstonia Resort where we are able to get an Internet connection to send and receive mail. It is not like America where we can now stop at any McDonalds and instantly connect to the world. Here the places we can get on line are few and far between. The Internet, like the phone system, is frequently down, or operating at such a slow speed it is nearly impossible to send files of any size. The connection will repeatedly time out, and disconnect while you are trying to get a single picture uploaded to the web. This is the reason we can spend an hour or more trying to get a few letters in and out. So, after about an hour and a half we have sent and received communication. We have that warm and fuzzy feeling that we have accomplished something really significant, and that we are still connected to the western world … to some degree … part of the time … maybe.
After leaving our great success story of sending and receiving emails at Livingstonia we stop nearby at the Safari Beach Lodge to check out the accommodations. With teams coming in the future we need to have adequate sites to accommodate them, and we need a second, back-up site at Senga Bay when we bring groups to the lake. A short tour is all it takes; this is a great site, and a good one for a few or a large number. This gives us good back up if Cool Runnings is fully booked when we have a group coming. Good deal. Now it is back to Cool Runnings in time for the evening meal, and a few minutes to enjoy the view of the magnificent lake in the moonlight.
For about an hour we catch up with Samantha on everything that has been happening in Malawi over the past few months. She first goes over all of the pictures, and stories of the programs we are working on in Senga Bay and Salima. The V-Tractor leads the list. They are using it for so many different things. It is a real success and it is good to know another unit is scheduled to arrive here in about two weeks time.
She tells us the fuel situation has been a serious problem for about 7 months, and it continues to worsen. Her guys filled our tank with fuel right after we arrived. She had taken fuel out of her boats to hold for us. That will get us to the capital where Mama Kadzamira has taken fuel out of one of her vehicles to save for us. Sam says there is a great deal of concern with the upcoming demonstrations set for two days from now. The nation is on edge, as the problems have been growing; inflation, higher prices, fuel shortages, higher taxes, all of it coming rapidly and painfully. There is a lot of suffering and the people feel they are not being heard, and tomorrow we are heading directly into the capital just one day before the demonstrations are scheduled for the three largest cities of Lilongwe, Mzuzu, and Blantyre. Scott and I decide it might be safer not to stay in the lodge in Area 3, right downtown in Old Town, and stay rather at Ufulu Gardens. It is well up on the north side of the city in a large residential neighborhood. It might be safer than being downtown.
Around 11 we turn in for the night. The fog of rushing, rushing for the past week has caught up with us and both of us are almost numb with exhaustion. There is still a lot to accomplish and tomorrow is going to be a full day.