As
far as I was aware there was no broadband internet in Malawi last time
I was here, and, although I had heard that was being introduced, I
expected to have to search the posh hotels to find it, so I am very
pleased to find that now even Doogles has broadband, although it is a
bit slow, and not very reliable. The PCs have USB connections too (they
have apparently had a bad virus just recently, and have removed all the
floppy drives, but left the USB ports - not sure of the logic in that!).
Normally it is necessary to
change at Nchalo, which usually means clambering on to the back of a
matola, an open flatbed truck, which means a lot of dust, and usually
the added thrill of having to perch on the side panel. However, as it
turns out, this minibus is going all the way to Nsanje, so I
stay on board. Nchalo is a major changeover point, however, so we must
wait for the minibus to fill up again - minibus drivers make their
profit on the last few passengers and won't leave until they are packed
full. I risk a hard boiled egg and some nuts from the local traders
while we wait, and get chatting to a guy who turns out to be a
newspaper reporter. His name is Binson Musongole, and he has worked for
the Blantyre Weekly Digest and the Nation on Sunday (the Nation is one
of the biggest Malawian papers), so I tell him about PAW and give him
the cards. He promises to get in touch, and seems interested enough to
maybe do an article on the project.
At 2:30 we are off again, very full, very hot, and very, very dusty - not a comfortable journey. We arrive in Bangula at 3:30 and I check into the "VIP Room" at the Aska motel - their prices have gone up since last year and it now costs MK750 (£3) per night.
After
a cold drink I head up
to Isaac Falakesa's house. He is the retired headmaster of the primary
school, and an old friend, and I am hoping that he will give me some
assistance with the education project. He is very pleased to see me and
more than happy to help with the project. As well as getting to the
schools, I also need to get up to the reserve and to the PAW site just
outside the reserve at Siki village. Although the occasional vehicle
travels up to the park, there is no public transport, and the best way
to get there is by bicycle. Bicycle taxis are not hard to come by, but
another possibility that occurs to me is to hire a bicycle for the
duration of my stay. I ask Isaac if this is possible, and we walk down
to the other end of town, and he has a long conversation with a guy. A
price does not seem to have been agreed, but the guy agrees to meet him
at eight the following morning and then they will meet me at the Aska
at nine.
We return to the Aska for a beer, and then he suggests that he should go and get the teachers to discuss the project, so I have a much needed shower while he fetches them.
He returns with Mr. Ritch, the deputy head of the primary school, and Mr. Makina, the head of the Kalambo Secondary School (there are two secondary schools in Bangula, a fact which I inconveniently forget later on!). We discuss the project, and they are happy to help. The schools are actually on holiday at the moment, but both schools have groups of pupils studying for exams in September, although the school at Tisa, which I had hoped to include, is closed. We agree that the best plan is for them to introduce the idea to the kids, and to select groups, tomorrow, and then I will meet the groups on Tuesday and Wednesday. I am looking for groups of around 10, so we decide on one group from the secondary school and two groups from the primary school.
We drink some more beer, and I dig my meat and cheese out of Aska's fridge and have some supper. They have not seen the pictures I took last year, so I fetch the laptop and we have a photo session and discuss how to alleviate poverty in Africa.
At 2:30 we are off again, very full, very hot, and very, very dusty - not a comfortable journey. We arrive in Bangula at 3:30 and I check into the "VIP Room" at the Aska motel - their prices have gone up since last year and it now costs MK750 (£3) per night.
After
a cold drink I head up
to Isaac Falakesa's house. He is the retired headmaster of the primary
school, and an old friend, and I am hoping that he will give me some
assistance with the education project. He is very pleased to see me and
more than happy to help with the project. As well as getting to the
schools, I also need to get up to the reserve and to the PAW site just
outside the reserve at Siki village. Although the occasional vehicle
travels up to the park, there is no public transport, and the best way
to get there is by bicycle. Bicycle taxis are not hard to come by, but
another possibility that occurs to me is to hire a bicycle for the
duration of my stay. I ask Isaac if this is possible, and we walk down
to the other end of town, and he has a long conversation with a guy. A
price does not seem to have been agreed, but the guy agrees to meet him
at eight the following morning and then they will meet me at the Aska
at nine.We return to the Aska for a beer, and then he suggests that he should go and get the teachers to discuss the project, so I have a much needed shower while he fetches them.
He returns with Mr. Ritch, the deputy head of the primary school, and Mr. Makina, the head of the Kalambo Secondary School (there are two secondary schools in Bangula, a fact which I inconveniently forget later on!). We discuss the project, and they are happy to help. The schools are actually on holiday at the moment, but both schools have groups of pupils studying for exams in September, although the school at Tisa, which I had hoped to include, is closed. We agree that the best plan is for them to introduce the idea to the kids, and to select groups, tomorrow, and then I will meet the groups on Tuesday and Wednesday. I am looking for groups of around 10, so we decide on one group from the secondary school and two groups from the primary school.
We drink some more beer, and I dig my meat and cheese out of Aska's fridge and have some supper. They have not seen the pictures I took last year, so I fetch the laptop and we have a photo session and discuss how to alleviate poverty in Africa.