Sarah Pennant , the fellow ‘coach chaser’ I met last Saturday, has been visiting Cure Hospital (the only burn centre in Malawi located very nearby to the SoP) as she has a friend working there. I joined her today for a visit to local villages. I had no idea what the programme was I thought it was a good chance to hop on this visit otherwise I will have no access to have a peek on rural lives.
The person who fetched us there is also called Sarah (so let’s call her Sarah2 for easier reference). She has been working on several projects in Africa for a few years. The current one is something on feeding programme for primary schools. The purpose of giving free meals to primary schools kids is to increase school attendance. Otherwise hungry kids do not come to school.
The journey to the school could actually make anybody throw up. The road is so bad. Full of big holes and rocks. However we’re so lucky to be with a very amazing driver like Sarah2. She manoeuvred her land rover so very smoothly up and down the hill without batting an eyelid. Funny enough that I didn’t feel a thing, strange as I usually suffer somehow from motion sickness. Perhaps I was too curious to be upset by anything else. I didn’t expect the journey to the schools involve a long way up and down the hills. I grew up in a village (which is located very much nearby a town) so I don’t really grasp the concept of a village could be an secluded place. Well I read that a lot in books, saw African villages in pictures, and you know you kinda know what’s going on there, BUT when you see it with your own eyes it’s a totally different experience. A totally different one indeed.
The journey itself amazed me. When we entered the village the first wave of shock hit me. There were small huts everywhere. And dilapidated stalls. Our car passed by quite quickly so I didn’t really capture what they were. I was not sure what they were at first glance. Afterwards I realise those are ‘shops’ and that was actually a marketplace. There were people running and shouting. Some of them recognised Sarah2 so I could hear them shouting ‘Salah! Salah!’ I guess the ‘r’ sound doesn’t exist in their language so they can’t pronounce SaRah properly. There’re many children around. May be half of the people I saw were children. Many women too, who were carrying their babies the ‘kangaroo’ style or carrying some goods on their heads. I didn’t see houses. Just bushes and huts. And the bumpy road. And of course ‘Salah’s friends who gave the thumbs up to everybody in the car while saying ‘shup shup’ (it means something like ‘your alright’ for the English translation). I felt I was entering a different world that I heard so much about it but yet to see it with my own eyes. I can’t really describe how I felt indeed. It’s very strange feeling. Maybe I just tell what I saw. But I don’t think so you would be at all surprised at what I’m going to tell you as you might have seen it, read it, or heard about it via the media.
The children were lining up in front of the school yard and a teacher was directing them to march into their classroom while singing ‘we’re following the God’s path’ (or something like that, I forgot what the lyrics were). There were about hundred of them. In all different outfit – some in uniforms, some in their own clothes, some wore shoes, some didn’t. But yeah everyone seemed to be cheerful. The children were very obedient. They queued up and marched as the teacher directed. We then followed them to the classrooms. Classrooms were big rooms with no chairs, and a blackboard in front. Some classrooms had no proper roofing so I could imagine you just can’t have a class when it’s raining. We’re lucky to have a sunny day today. Sometimes the children sat on the floor; sometimes, if the number was small, they sat on the cemented extension from the building (which forms the ‘seat) around the classroom (see picture). The children were very excited about cameras. They fought for posing in front of the camera. Each of us was pretty much swamped by the children as soon as we took the camera out! Sarah2, who has been to the school numerous times, still carries her camera along and shoots many pictures because the children love it!
There were only two teachers. They were sitting outside of classrooms doing marking for students. The kids were running and playing everywhere. We were told today was the last day of term so perhaps that’s why they were let to play. The headmaster told us only teachers are paid by the government so the school has no admin staff. The children have to do the cleaning for the school. There were two ladies who were doing cooking at the meal centre. So it was the project Sarah2 was talking about – the feeding programme. They were stirring some both in three big pots. There was no fence or barrier to the big hot pots to stop the children from entering the vicinity. I heard from my landlady that a kid died because he/she ran into the burning pot. I was bewildered when I heard this but now I was not surprised at all how this could happen. Health and safety isn’t at all an issue when you’re hungry.
The kids come from the local population who came up to the mountain to seek a living. Maybe seeking a living isn’t a good description. There’s no ‘job’ here of course, as it’s out of nowhere. You can only do farming. And you sell that to the local population. So they are just trying to make a living out of the already poor neighbours. Maybe some young men seek job in the city. But I heard there aren’t many. And I wonder why not. As this area isn’t so far away from Blantyre town centre. I remembered the young chap I chat with yesterday (who earned £24/month). Maybe he lives here. And he could perhaps live like a king here. There are no facilities in this area. I mean no governmental facility. Sarah2 said it’s a forgotten bit. It’s neither an urban nor a rural area. So government doesn’t give funding to develop this place. There’re only a few ‘shops’ – I don’t mean the ‘shops’ as the ones we usually see. But the small huts selling goods like vegetables, household items or just anything else the people need. So the donors come in, via negotiation with the district officers, to help building basic infrastructure for the local community. The project is supposed to end 3rd of July and that will be the hand-over day from the donor group to the government. Sarah2’s team’s job is to educate the local people how they can make a living (they have no concept of costing or doing a business – so Sarah2 is teaching them how to bake and sell bread), give them the basic facilities (like clinics, maternity ward, schools, churches) – and the rest should be taken care of by the government. I’m not sure how well this will turn out to be after Sarah2 left. I read too many reports about the lack of sustainability of donor’s funded project. I can just pray for Sarah2’s effort not to be wasted.
Well I knew this is a developing world. Malawi is one of the poorest nations in the world (though I almost forgotten it was..). Many people are living under poverty line. I read so many reports. WHO’s. UNESCO’s. UNDP’s. I read about poverty reduction programme. I saw pictures from youtube or movies about African rural areas. I heard about how people are forced to live in very bad conditions. But seeing it with my own eyes.. it hurts me. I can’t say I feel pity for them. I already knew how bad it could be even before I came. I’m not sure how actually I felt at that moment but it must be strong. I cried and I didn’t really know why. Even now when I pictured what I saw my eyes wet. I think everyone should see that with their own eyes.
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