We're here!!

Aaaa we’re actually here!! MENTAL! We’re on day 5 but it’s only just starting to sink in that this is home for the next 5 months!

How was the journey?
Travelling from Heathrow to Lilongwe was a success although we did have a few minor problems, for example, one of David’s suit cases went missing! However, Laurie was very kind in giving David a spare toothbrush so all previous grievances were forgotten. On Tuesday he was able to retrieve it from the airport which is good news: Malawi-missing-suitcase-challenge complete!

What is Malawi like?
As we were nearing Lilongwe we were all surprised at how lush Malawi is. The land is full of greenery, with brown veins of dried up rivers and small tinned or straw roofed houses.

For the next 5 months we are based in Salima which is just by the edge of Lake Malawi. The drive from Lilongwe to Salima took about an hour and a half and it was a real eye opener. Beautifully dressed women in colourful wrap skirts were carrying allsorts on their heads: baskets, a pile of logs, a suitcase! Men in short sleeved shirts, rolled up trousers and sandals rode one gear bikes on the road (there aren’t pavements), often carrying a second person on the back (or third if a little baby was tied to its mothers back!). We were riding in a crammed, narrow minibus and the driver would honk to let the bikers know that he was about to overtake. I don’t think I would’ve passed my driving test if I overtook cyclists so closely and quickly. It’s actually very nice to escape the health and safety craze of Britain. Also, there are often herds of cattle and small goats at the edge of the road, sometimes very young children herding, and the one lorry that drove past us had two men sitting on the roof of it!

Salima, our new home

 How about accommodation?

The lodge where we’re staying at is really pleasant: we have air con in our rooms, a shower and a toilet (with multi coloured speckled loo roll!) and despite having a few power cuts we all feel grateful to have good accommodation. A few of us have had a few *cough* interesting experiences, for example I (Nia) hate spiders, and this beast of a spider with super long legs was hiding by my suitcase, and after a frightened squeal I was going to get one of the boys to heroically save me, but I decided to be an independent pro-Africa survivor and so I grabbed by converse and managed to fling it and it landed perfectly on top of the spider and (sorry animal lovers) squished it! Since then I have attacked another spider with my flip flop and wellies. Malawi-spider-challenge complete! Ben also woke up on Tuesday morning to about 100 ants by his bed climbing his mosquito net whilst devouring a moth. Nice.

What’s going to be happening for the next five months?
Monday and Tuesday we met all the charity, AGREDS, staff and had a two-day introduction to the work that we’ll be doing over the next coming months. I’ll give you a brief overview:
● Improved Food Security and Livelihood (e.g building fuel efficient stoves)
● HIV AIDS Prevention (e.g training youth leaders)
● Water and Climate Justice Project (e.g running climate change in 10 primary/secondary schools and Eco-san toilet construction)

We’re all buzzing about these projects and as individuals we already see which areas of the projects we feel we could contribute to most. We are currently discussing who would like to take up different tasks so that we can write reports as the projects go along in order to publicise the work that AGREDS do and to monitor the difference their work has made in local communities.

Us with the AGREDS team during orientation meeting

Cool fact:- At the back of the AGREDS office there is a Joke Shed!! This is where they go out, hang out and have a laugh- we're well impressed! 

What’s the weather like?
It is hot and humid here! At the end of each day we can’t wait to shower and whack on a pair of flippy floppies. However, yesterday disaster struck- no running water! Plus, it was extra humid yesterday and we were pretty devoed that we couldn’t wash off our layers upon layers of sticky sweat, suncream, DEET and grime- yum.

Lois and Nia experiencing their first ever bucket shower

It can also POUR down with rain too. This morning I woke up at 6am to the loudest thunderstorm I’ve ever heard, the ‘bang’ bit sounded like a hippo belly-flopping on my roof!!

How’s team bonding going?
Team bonding’s been really good so far and we’re loving a bit of banter and competitive card games. Last night we had a good team devotion sesh where we wrote every team members name on separate sticky pads and wrote one positive quality that was outstanding for that person. This was a really good exercise and it was a bit ‘gnawwwwh’ moment when we received the paper with our name on it and read what the team had written. We’re all pretty impressed that Malawian banter is really similar to British banter: loving that bit of cheekiness and sarcasm! We’re all pretty obsessed with calling this trip our Gapyah and we keep having deep conversations about politics, theology and other super nerdy subjects. Good hipsta-geek combo right there. We’ve also started learning Chichewa too which is a pretty cool language!

Lois, Laurie and Nia, Lake Malawi, Senga Bay

What are the team’s thoughts at the moment?
Our favourite thing so far/our moment of joy:
“Meeting new people”, “Nsima & Goat meal”, “Banter on the bus”, “Hanging out with AGREDS team”, “Slipping on a pair of flippy floppies after a day of intense perspiration”.

Things we are most excited about:
“Experiencing a new culture”, “Getting involved in schools”, “Going on safari”, “Becoming more intimate with God” and “Interacting with locals”.

Our expectations for this trip:
“Many challenges, like being so close to poverty, but also many blessings, serving people and seeing hope in local communities”, “ Building up a close relationship with the AGREDS staff”, “Becoming familiar with the culture of Malawi and after time, feeling a part of it”, “Being able to go into town and buying produce from the market using the language, Chichewa”.

Although the contrast with British life is hard hitting and a bit surreal, we’re all really excited about the time that we have ahead of us. We can wait to get stuck in with these projects, settling into the community, more ‘quality team bonding’ time and growing closer to God.

Sending much love to you all at home,

Team Malawi

The ‘Azungu’s (white people)

xxx