24/05/2023
A small update from Margot Rakers who is currently in Malawi for the IMPALA (An Innovative Monitoring system for PAediatrics in Low-resource settings: an Aid to save lives) project.
Okay, keeping up with updates is proving to be a bigger challenge than finding petrol for our car. A little update, not on work but on weekends. After several attempts to get petrol, we were able to snag some in the dead of night.
Saturday morning we set off for our first stop to Game Haven. A reserve less than 25 km from Blantyre. Here we are welcomed by zebras, wildebeest and impalas who quietly eat along from our plates. The view is magnificent, the golf balls flying through the air even more so. Malawians (or rather the rich settlers) take every opportunity to lay down their green strips like rag blankets in the most picturesque places. So too here, among the wild beasts. Despite Malawi's independence from England since 1964, the colonial past still hangs heavily in the air. The golf courses with white English men with their far too white socks and rushing caddies give a small glimpse, but when we drive on towards the tea plantations my stomach turns very briefly. The dazzling landscape and magnificent old English tea houses also seem to set the stage for history and good conversation for a moment. The fact that, as a white person in a country like Malawi, you can never actually fully integrate and will always remain 'the Azungu' (with money and opportunities) also shows the stubbornness of the past.
Sipping our tea with a big chocolate cake, we come to the conclusion that we are not going to save the world and that it is time for beer. We drive a beautiful route past tea fields towards Mount Mulanje where we stay at the foot of the mountain in a lovely lodge. At 8pm the lights go out. After all, it is Saturday night.
