Day 21. Fri 7th May
Mwabvi, first trip, day 2.
This morning we visit Nguluwe village. Mr. Nguluwe, the headman, is also
group headman for several of the villages in the area, and as such warrants
the luxury of a brick house. He is a charming old patriarch, and we sat
like two old-style foreign delegates, with Willie Dathumba, one of the
NP extension advisors, acting as interpreter. He says how happy he is
that the park would be redeveloped, and I say how much we wanted to minimise
the impact on the lifestyle of the villagers and we smile and shake hands.
I ask if I can take some photos of the village and the next thing
I know the whole village is combing its hair and asking to be photographed.
I take one photo of each family and promise to send prints out with the
next delegation. (I am told that the village has a population of 2000,
with a total of 20,000 in the villages headed by Mr Nguluwe, but there
cannot be more than 50 people here and there doesn't seem to be enough
huts for anywhere near 2000).
We return to the reserve and Willie suggests a trip to another local village,
which specialises in brewing the local hooch. Unfortunately when we arrive
we find them in the middle of the funeral of a child who has died, so we
drive on to Bangula to do some shopping. On the way we pass a village where
they are in the process of constructed a new hut, which seems a good photo
opportunity - there is a young lad up on the roof who is only too pleased
to pose for me. We also stop off to have a closer look at the cotton fields.
Cotton is a major crop in this area, although the market is poor. Not only
must they compete on the world market with cheap man-made fibres, but also,
unfortunately, the flood of second-hand clothing into Africa from western
charities has destroyed local clothing industries.
In the afternoon we return to the PAW site to chase up a consignment of
planks which should have been delivered, but they haven't, so one of the
day-watch boys is sent off to find out what's happened to them. Eventually
the plank supplier arrives on his bicycle to say that he cannot deliver the planks today,
so we don't pay him, and he cycles off home again. It's not quite like
popping down to B&Q!.
Auxies cooks up some chicken pieces for supper, and we get an early
night - we're off back to civilisation again tomorrow.