I am in Malawi—have been here for 5 days—and am currently in the city of Lilongwe which is the capital of Malawi. I have done some driving around—2.5 hours to the east to the lake (to a place called Salima), and 1 hour to the south to a place called Dedza. Much has changed in the city to where I have some difficulty recognizing where I am. And on the roadside, I can see what conditions people live in. I was able to see some of the villages from the road—the water pumps, the roadside shacks, the make-shift storefronts, the goods all piled neatly for sale right on the side of the road, and the bus-stops bustling with activity. I also saw a lot of “telephone bureaus” and little red stands labeled “CelTel”—these are places you can purchase airtime for your cell phone. A sign of the times? Or a time of the signs? I am not sure which it is for right now. I am amazed that there are people who can purchase airtime for their cell-phones but do not have enough money to survive for the next couple of days. But maybe that’s something I need to ask someone here; how does that work?
I had a conversation with one of the young people here—a 26 year-old. He was working part-time at the hotel at the lake. It was an interesting conversation but sometimes I wonder how much of it is to the tune of foreigners and how much of it is really what they think. Not that I doubt his honesty but I’m wondering how automatized language is to people who have been used to a certain way of life. I had to dig a little before I actually got any answers to what his thoughts were on NGOs. Here's his picture:
I am overwhelmed at what I see here. I am overwhelmed at the number of NGOs and joint-projects, initiatives, and whatnots that seems to be everywhere in this tiny country. I ask myself what can possibly be done that has not been done in the last quarter of a century, and actually succeed in distributing a long-lasting better quality of life for people who are struggling to survive....In light of all that, I try not to complain that my malaria meds (or something else) seem to be giving me all sorts of side effects; I have been saddled with a rash on my neck for almost a week now, and it does not appear to want to go away. . . .
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