Off to the North East Kingdom of Vermont

I am off to my cabin in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont for two weeks. Sans internet access. Will try to post periodically when I am in places with wireless access.

First Impressions of Malawi

One of the many people that we met when we were in Malawi asked us about our first impressions of Malawi. I told him that my first impression was deforestation. As I write this one month after returning home there are three first impressions that stay with me: deforestation, coffins, and goats. My first sight of Malawi came when our flight from Johannesburg was descending to the international airport in Malawi. Even though I was sitting in an aisle seat, I had a decent view out the window. The very first thing I noticed was the lack of trees. No, the landscape was not entirely denuded of trees, for there were patches of trees.

After I got in the van with Luzu for the trip from the airport to Wendels –– about a 30-minute drive give or take –– I resumed my observations. I noted large areas without trees, and something else. There were large areas of land that had been burned. As the days wore on, a common sight were these burned out patches of land.

In Malawi, it was very common to see individuals selling there wares by the side of the road. Some had small stands; others merely claimed a patch of land. Fairly early on in the trip, I began to see that many if these “vendors” were selling charcoal in what were similar to baskets on the top of long poles stuck in the ground. The charcoal could be used for cooking. So, this would account for some of the deforestation. But what accounted for the burned land.

Luzu provided the answer. If memory serves, there are two common explanations for the burned land. One is more obvious, clearing land for crops. The other is less obvious. I wrote in a recent entry that people burn land near their villages to draw out mice, which are eaten. One of the things that vendors sell are mice on a stick. Once I knew what I was looking for, the mice on a stick were easy to recognize.

In my first glimpse of Malawi as we were driving from the airport to Wendels, we all noticed the large number of coffin makers selling their wares in these small roadside stands. This is a very sad and visible sign of the high death rate in Malawi. It sounds very callous to say that I got used to seeing a lot of coffins for sale during my time in Malawi. I don’t mean to be unfeeling, but after a couple of days I just had to turn off the large number of coffins for sale.

I’ll write about goats tomorrow.

A tribute to our drivers, part 2: Luzu

I have talked about Luzu elsewhere in this blog, so those of you who have been following along have already been introduced to him through my earlier entries.

I think that Don and Mary Thomas first met Luzu through the American staff from Global Aids Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) about five years ago. I think. With the exeption of 2006, when Luzu was unable to get off from work, Luzu has been a driver for five years with groups lead by Don and Mary.

Not only is a superb driver, he is a very nice person. I liked Luzu from the time we first met, when he met us at the airport just outside Lilongwe. I believe that Luzu has been at his current job for at least one year, so he used his vacation time to be our driver. From what I understand, he earned in two weeks, what he normally earns in two or three months. In American terms, the $20 or so we paid him each day, seems inexpensive, but to a Malawian, it is a nice piece of change.

From the start, I knew that he had experience driving on the dirt roads in the more remote sections of Malawi. I only have one picture that shows a somewhat typical road in a remote section of Malawi. And believe me, we were on worse roads than that one.

Luzu never lost his cool and knew just how to tackle driving on these roads. There were a couple of times when he went around to the back of the van either after we stopped or before we drove off. We always wondered if something was wrong. The worse that happened is that we lost a small section of the rear bumper, or perhaps two sections. No punctured or dragging tail pipes, no punctured fuel lines. No accidents. He seemed to know just how to approach the ruts and rocks on the worse sections to avoid damage to the van.

He never minced words, when asked a question, but we always knew that he was on top of things. For example, on that rainy Saturday when we visited Mindanti and points beyond in a very remote section of southern Malawi, I told him that I heard that this road was bad and could be impassable in the rains.

He said "yes, we have to go soon."

And we left soon after that. Probably because it was the dry season and it had only rained that day, the dirt roads had not turned into that awful slick mud. And as we drove down a long hill to cross the river and her tributaries over a bridge with very, very low clearance, the river had not spilled over onto the road. So, we made it back. When we passed Mindanti on our way back to drop off our passenger, Luzu did not try to get on the turn-off to Mindanti. Instead, he dropped him off at the side of the road. He wasn't going to risk getting stuck.

Considering the size of the van we had, it had a very small tank that took about 40 liters of diesel fuel. That is slightly over 10 gallons. My subaru outback wagon has a 15 gallon tank. He knew just how long to time it between fill-ups and just where the petro station would be.

Another challenge was to not be run off the road by speeding minibuses and pick-up trucks packed to the gills with people. Luzu always let them pass. In Malawi, motor vehicles share the road with people walking, bicycles, lots and lots of goats, and Ox carts, As we approach villages, the crowds increase, more walkers, more bicycles, more speeding mini buses, etc. The horn is always honking and we swerve to avoid hitting something. Through this all, Luzu kept his cool. I would have been cursing up one side and down another. Not Luzu.

We passed many, many broken down vehicles, just as many on the tarred and the unpaved roads. It is a tribute to both Don and Luzu's driving skills that we did not end up as a statistic or stuck in a remote area with a broken down van and/or car.

He was also a great tour guide, answering all of our question about Malawi. We were always asking him, Luzu what is that? We would describe what we saw if necessary. And he would have answer for that the next time we passed it. Often he could guess at an answer from what we told him. As time went on, I got less and less shy about asking him questions. And we learned so much from him,

Why do people burn grass and other vegetation near their villages? Either to clear areas for crops, or to chase out the mice so that they can eat the mice. Honestly.

We passed some very large (5 feet or so) hills that looked like large ant hills. They are termite hills. We asked why the sticks in the top? The stick keeps the termites from exiting the colony.

We learned to identify baobob tress and banana plants.

And we all gained a new friend in Luzu.

Caught up with responding to your comments

I have finally sat down and responded to all the comments to my blog going back to the start of my trip. So, feel free to go back and read these.

I would be remiss if I did not pause and thank all of you who read and have otherwise followed along with my blog during and after my travels. It doesn't matter whether or not you posted a comment. What matters is that you were here. I could not of done this with the support of all of you wonderful people.

A tribute to our drivers: Part 1, Don

I left Malawi three weeks ago. It has taking me that long to begin to process what I experienced in Malawi. Towards the end of my travels in Malawi, I knew that one of the first things that I would write about would be a tribute to our two drivers, Luzu and Don.

One of the more personally unsettling statistics about Malawi that I ran across prior to my travels is that Malawi is among the leader in the number of traffic accidents per capita. As I thought about this statistic and made decisions not to share this with certain loved ones because I did not want to worry them needlessly, I knew that Don and Mary, others from GAIA, and other Episcopal Church groups had been to Malawi and returned safely from Malawi. So, I knew I was in safe hands

I would like to introduce you to these safe hands. Don Thomas (on the right in the photo) grew up in northern Maine (I think). Like other rural regions in America, northern New England has its share of dirt roads. I know this first hand from the 25 plus years that I have owned seasonal property in northeastern Vermont. Northern Maine is no different and in some regions, even more remote.

Some dirt roads, the road that my property is on in Vermont is an example, are pretty well maintained. This maintenance is also known as grading. As I write this, I am looking at the inventory of town road equipment for this Vermont municipality. They have a 2001 cat grader (with wing). I am pretty sure that this is the piece of equipment that I have seen them use to smooth out or grade dirt roads to minimize ruts and potholes that will degrade the road if left ungraded. Now my dirt road has la very large number of residences on the road, so the road is graded on a regular basis. Roads in more remote regions are not graded on a regular basis and the ruts and potholes can shake the muffler and pipes off a sedan. To say nothing of the possibility of a two-wheel drive vehicle getting stuck on a rutted dirt road, especially after heavy rains or during snow melt in early spring. This time of spring thaw in northern New England is known as mud season and can disable pick-up trucks as well as some four-wheel drive vehicles.

While Malawi has a system of fairly decent tarred thoroughfares between the major towns and settlements, there are a large number of dirt roads serving the rural villages that are as bad and worse than the most remote dirt roads in northeastern Vermont. Don, our trip-leader, learned to drive on such roads in northern Maine, so he was well equipped to deal with driving on these back roads in Malawi. And he was driving a sedan that, to the best of my knowledge suffered no muffler or pipe damage.

Not only did Don know the tricks of negotiating such roads safely, he did so with what I will call a sense of taking care of the people in his group, a sense of compassion and stewardship. I have had enough close calls on rutted dirt roads in Vermont to know that it is not all that difficult to get in trouble on these roads. I have learned when to turn around and I have an all-wheel drive Subaru wagon with slightly higher than your typical sedan or wagon. Don drove on roads that I cannot imagine driving on.

I am very grateful that we had two vehicles, the car that Don drove with such love and care and Luzu in a large van. Both vehicles were rentals, by the way. If it was only our group, no luggage, and no additional passengers we all could of squeezed into the van. And even with the luggage, we could have squeezed into the van and been crowded.

My next entry will be about Luzu (in the picture on the left), so stay tuned.

Doing other things while processing Malawi trip

I am still here, but have found the need to hold off on writing about Malawi while I continue to process all that I experienced. So, for the last few days I have spent time catching up with chores around the house and in my home office, resuming my exercise program, as well as branching out to learn some computer programming languages.

I am getting ready to resume blogging about my Malawi trip. Look for something in a day or two.

More on Bwaila (aka Bottom) Hospital

Well before I left for Malawi, I knew from reading e-mailed journals of a physician who traveled in 2006 to Malawi with Don and Mary Thomas that there was a shortage of physicians in Malawi and that most Malawi hospitals had shortages of supplies that hospitals in developed countries take for granted, things like sutures, sterile gloves and the like.

Being well meaning, if somewhat naive, I set about to try to do something to help. It seemed to me that the easiest way that I might be able to help was to find a way to provide some medical supplies to Malawi hospitals and clinics. I was about ready to give up on this quest when I ran into the husband of someone from my parish who is working as a physician's assistant in a major medical center in the mid-atlantic region of America. He confirmed what I had I come to suspect, that it is far easier to obtain medical supplies for donation to hospitals and health clinics in need if you are on the inside. And he offered to help, saying he has done this before. I was thrilled.

When we visited Bottom Hospital, recently renamed Bwaila Hospital on our first full day in Malawi and met with Dr. Meguid, I was extremely moved by his impassioned description of massive human rights violations at his hospital because of staffing shortages and facilities shortages. I wanted to help, so I stuck my hand up, told him of my friend at a US hospital who was willing to try to help gather needed medical supplies to send to his hospital. I asked what was needed. His answer was simple and astounded me. He said that their biggest need was people (i.e. medical personal who can come and help).

It was his need for people that stuck in my head, in part because for various reasons, I am not a person who can provide the help that they so desperately need. And I am not just saying that because I have no medical training, there are other reasons that I am not going into here that prohibit me from offering to help Bottom hospital. It is hard to explain to those of you who have never been to Bottom Hospital why this simple statement of need had such a profound impact. Perhaps because it speaks to the depth of their need. In any case, this simple statement of need by Dr. Mequid coupled with my apparent inability to help him added to my despair.

I have come to realize that I do not the effect that writing about what about what I saw in Malawi might have. I can not help Dr. Mequid directly, but perhaps my words will stir the heart of those of you out their who might be in a position to help directly.

I was not sure at first why he did not speak to the need for medical supplies. I found out towards the end of my stay in Malawi that shipping things overseas is a very big deal, as even simple shipments can get tied up in customs requiring people time on both ends. And that doesn't even address the shipping costs involved, which can be prohibitive. I understand that there is at least one organization that helps ease the costs involved in shipping medical supplies overseas, but this may not address the issue of time required of the staff of the overseas hospital on the receiving end. I did not find out much about the "administrative staff" at Bottom hospital. I suspect that they are just as overwhelmed as the medical staff is. Perhaps receiving a relatively small amount of medical supplies from an overseas donor is not worth the staff time required to deal with customs? This is just a speculation.

As I was preparing to write this entry, I said to myself that I should go back to the handwritten journal that I kept while on my trip to be sure that I don't miss anything and that I get it right. I found two things listed in my notes about what Dr. Meguid said his hospitals biggest needs are. The first on the list is people, that is the one I remembered. The second thing I noted is a pool of money for decent salaries.

At this point, I don't have an idea of how to get money to Bottom Hospital if I were to know of a large pool of money for decent salaries. And I have spent time searching to no avail. However, I have found that people who are in a position to help another person is usually able to find a way to connect with the person and organization in need. So, I can trust the process so to speak.

Oh, and speaking of people who can help. I may have written about the young married couple, Adam and Rachel who were a part of the group of Malawi travelers. Adam and Rachel are planning to stay in Malawi through Sept. 20. Adam is a licensed practical nurse, I think. He wants to volunteer as does Rachel. They both want to help and spoke to Dr. Meguid about this about a week after I left. He is going to speak the Matron at Bottom hospital. I assume that the Matron is the person in charge.

And simple joys

Lest I get too melancoly, there were the simple joys that I witnessed:

The joy in Don and Mary's voice as they talked about the hope that ARVs have given to all those living with HIV in Malawi. When they first started to come to Malawi, they would visit those sick with HIV/AIDS. When they went back, these same people were dead. Now, they came back this year, and see that people are no longer dying.

The joy in the faces of the children as they mug for the camera and the delight in their faces as they see there picture in the digital camera.

The wonderful singing that we witnessed, as children in many places we visited sang and danced to greet and welcome us.

On that rainy Saturday in a very remote and very poor area of rural southern Malawi we visited an Anglican service. Not only was the singing beautiful, but there really was a sense of peace and joy. People who had nothing, literally nothing finding peace and joy in their God.

Uninmangeable poverty

When I went to Malawi I knew that it was one of the poorest countries in the World. I knew that I would witness a level of poverty that I had never witnessed first hand. I knew that there was no way that I could prepare myself for what I was to witness.

When I blogged from Malawi, I tried to capture some of what I witnessed through my words. Perhaps I succeeded to a certain extent. Yet, I find myself feeling like my words and pictures are inadequate to describe the poverty that we witnessed day after day and mile after mile. To a certain extent, you can only know if you witness this first hand. Yet, I will not stop writing about Malawi. Perhaps in time, as I continue to process what I have seen, I will find the words to relay the extent of this poverty to you.

And lest some of you think that I am despairing because I don't think that I or we can make a difference. Yes, there are things that we can do. We each have gifts that we have to offer, ways that we can help. Even a small ripple can make a difference. I, for example, have my words, my compassion, and the few dollars that I have donated to groups that are working in third and fourth world countries such as Malawi.

How was your trip?

How was your trip?

This seems like a very simple question. I've been going on vacations and the occasional trip out of town for business for a number of years now. Never have I not known how to answer this seemingly simple question. Until now.

The simple truth is that I do not know how to respond. How do I talk about the emotional exhaustion that I still feel and the depth of unending poverty that we saw and the resultant feeling of despair that I am left with? How do I explain that in the midst of the horrors of the poverty that we experienced good times traveling together as a group and did experience joy? How do I sum all this up in the one minute response that I usually give when asked this question. There is no simple answer that honors all that I have seen, the wonderful people that I traveled with, the people that we met, the poverty that we saw, and the very great needs of so many.

Ok, I am still processing all that I saw, and I am not ready to answer that question. I know that in time, I will have an answer to this question, one that I can speak.

I am very grateful for this web log and for all of you who have followed along with my as I wrote about journey to Malawi. And I intend to keep blogging about Malawi as I continue to process things over the days and weeks ahead.

Perhaps the best answer is the one that I have already used:

"I'm glad to be home."

Almost back to normal time and more pictures

I am almost back to normal time, which in my case is Eastern Daylight Time. That is, I went to bed at a normal time for me, around 11 PM and woke up a little after 7 AM. I have updated the rest of the entries from my time to Malawi to include photographs. So, those of you who have already read my blog may want to go back and look at the pictures for days 7 to 14.

Catching up and posted more photos

I have been home for 72 hours. The first night back, we went out for dinner, and I fell asleep on the couch in the living room watching a Yankees game. Silly me because they actually beat the Athletics by a score of 2 to 1. I went to bed only to wake up a little after 2 AM (or 8 AM Malawi time). I was afraid that I would be up for good, which would not have been a good sign. I dozed on and off until about 6:30 AM when I was up for good. Lounged around all day, taking a short nap in the middle of the afternoon while the Yankees were losing to the Athletics. Only to sack out on the couch about 8:30 PM. Sunday was a little better. Up around 5:30 AM and went for a walk in the afternoon. Exercise and sunlight is supposed to help with jet lag. Sat outside on our southwest facing deck after dinner to get more sunlight. Today as I write this, I am beginning to feel like I am starting to catch up with myself. We went for another walk this afternoon and I have made it to 5 PM without taking a nap. We shall see how long I last tonight. Last night I made it until 9:30 PM.

I have uploaded photos for days 7 through 10 so please feel free to go back and check out the photos.