Ah, Livingstonia! This is a place far removed, 16 km up the side of an escarpment on a road with no less than 20 hairpin turns. Beautiful views abound but so does some abject terror if you make the mistake of looking straight down at critical points. Guard rails are unheard of and there isn’t room for two cars to pass, so you rely on the skill of your driver. Large boulders and deep rain-washed gullies in the road make it one long chiropractic adjustment. I had forgotten just how bad the road is.
Contrast that with the view when you reach the top, where all is forgiven and forgotten. Picture the best views along the north shore of Lake Superior (Lake Malawi in this case) and throw in a mountain range visible most days on the far shore of the lake. Add the everchanging play of light and clouds on the lake and you have a real jawdropper. The accompanying photo shows a rainbow over the Livingstone Mountains of Tanzania, 50 miles across the lake, as viewed from the plateau.
The weather is moderate here, a little more humid than it will be in a month after fall arrives (south of the equator, you know), with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the 60’s. Not too hard to take. During this rainy season, which continues into early April, the sky cover changes constantly, from thunder and rain to full sun and everything in between. Big, billowy clouds drift through the valley below us several times a day as we’re more than a mile above sea level.
The people are warm and welcoming and give so much for those who have so little. The children are a delight, though I’ve been a bit overwhelmed these past two days as the only teacher for Standard 1 (the equivalent of first grade) with 98 students and a piece of chalk as my only equipment. I’m doing a crash course in Tumbuka (the local language) commands and questions as the little ones speak almost no English. It’s challenging, frustrating and exciting at the same time.
Mary Ellen has been fully immersed in hospital life, and her duties run the gamut from midwife to emergency room nurse. Tomorrow she goes out on her first rural clinic visits, something she is looking forward to. Through the orphan care program at the hospital, she was made aware of a young man who was orphaned at an early age and is head of the household. He is off to college in Lilongwe (the capital city) this week after doing exceptionally well on his entrance exams and receiving a scholarship. Slight problem - he has no shoes and the usual ill-fittting donated clothing. She was asked by a credible source if we would donate some of our funds from the orphan care portion to help clothe this young man as he leaves the plateau for the big city and we readily agreed. So know that your generosity is making a difference here already.
On the secondary education front, we were disappointed to find out that the boarding secondary school here on the plateau is closing as the college is taking over their building. That leaves only the day secondary school to provide for the needs of all Form 1-4 (the equivalent of grades 9-12) students in the greater area here. This school is run by a very able headmistress named Mercy Jerre who I spent 2 hours with yesterday. There is no electricity at the school, no glass on the windows and no lunch program currently, so the infrastructure needs are great. And, as you might guess, the vast majority of the students come from impoverished families, so we’ll be working with Mercy and others in the community to determine where the greatest need is and how we can help.
We’re proceeding cautiously and making no promises to anyone here, aware that language and cultural differences can easily lead to misunderstandings. We’re determined to make the best use of the $6500+ that you contributed, and we’ll keep you informed of our progress.
Wishing you well from beautiful Malawi,
Steve and Mary Ellen
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