The Warm Heart of Africa

Last week the Emmanuel International Tanzania team took a trip down to Malawi to join up with EI Malawi in their annual retreat. The retreat took place at Cape McClear, which is a beautiful beach located on the southern shores of Lake Malawi. We all packed into our Landcruiser Prado and began the long drive down, stopping our first night in Mzuzu, but not before hitting a calf that decided to run out in front of our vehicle at the last second. It was a pretty tense moment as we knew we had to pay the villagers for it but were new to the country and had no idea how much it may be worth. We ended up paying a decent price and were not ripped off too much, and I am happy to say that was the worst thing that happened to us. That was the second time I had been in a vehicle that hit a cow, luckily both times no humans were hurt. Anyways the first evening we went out for a lovely dinner at an Indian restaurant, which was much classier then anything we have in Iringa so it was a treat. The second day we stopped in Nkhata Bay for a look around, as people tend to rave about it being one of the nicest places on the lake. It was quite pretty, but there wasn’t much of a beach, just grass and rocks on the shoreline, but we didn’t go to the place which most people recommend, Butterfly Lodge, so I can’t judge too much.

That day we drove all the way to Cape McClear, arriving a day before the rest of the EI people were due to arrive. That was nice because after 2 full days driving it was good to have 3 days on the lake. Cape McClear is an amazing place, the waters are crystal clear (as the name implies), and instead of it being a stretch of high end resorts it consists of a few small resorts interspersed within a village of about 12,000 people who live and work on the lake. The resorts tend to do development projects for the village such as the Chembe water project which brings water from the lake, treats it and disperses it throughout the village via a number of clean water taps. Cape McClear, to me, is an ideal place for couples and honeymooners, as the tranquility is unparalleled. That said, with a group of backpacking friends I think one could have a great time as well.

On Friday we went out kayaking for the afternoon, tried to circle an island but it turned out to be too big, so we settled for going half way and then out to Otter Point, where there is a protected marine park. We saw a number of fish eagles looking very majestic as eagles should, and the scenery was beautiful with large granite boulders dotting the shoreline. That night the rest of the people arrived for the retreat, and it was great as we got to see old friends and meet new ones. While the beach was awesome, it was really the connections forged with people that made the weekend. There is something to be said for sitting on a beautiful beach in the warm heart of Africa sharing a sunset with someone you connect with in a real way.

On Saturday some of us decided to go for another kayaking trip, and this time we went around another point to find a secluded beach. I remember watching my paddle breaking the clear blue water with smooth stroke after stroke, and gazing around at the majestic view, with the picture in my head of looking down from space and realizing exactly where I was and how lucky I was to be having such an incredible experience. We stopped and went for a swim, climbing up a white rock which turned out to be white because it was covered in hundreds of years of bird poop. Luckily it was perfect for jumping off and we were quickly made clean again in the cool water. That night was again filled with great conversation and on Sunday we had one more session and then hung out on the beach swimming and playing Frisbee until the afternoon before leaving.

The EI Malawi office is located in Zomba and we were able to go and visit for two nights and a day to see how things are done in Malawi, where EI has a much larger operation than we do in Tanzania. We got to hang out with the other interns and see where they live and work. We also met a guy who is cycling from Switzerland to Cape Town; he has been on the road for 22 months and is now stuck in Malawi waiting for a part to be sent out in Germany. He had some amazing stories and showed us some news clips about his journey. I highly respect the courage and endurance required to do something like that.

For our one day there we went out to see some disaster risk reduction projects, which aim to reduce the risk of famine in the event of droughts or floods in the areas around Zomba (which occurs often – this year floods wiped out thousands of peoples crops leaving them with little to no food). The first project we saw was a crop diversification pilot, where they villagers plant different crops that can withstand a wider range of growing climate conditions such as bananas and cassava. Normally they only grow maize, which isn’t ideally suited to the region and often ends up a ruined crop. The villagers were very happy to see us and told us about how the project had improved their lives. Aside from reducing the impact of disasters the project also increases the nutritional content of their diets and thus leads to stronger, healthier people.

The second project we went to was a cooking demonstration project where the locals are taught different cooking techniques that save firewood and incorporate these new non traditional foods into their diets. This was very interesting because it was exactly what I am teaching about right now at Amani. They cooked a huge range of dishes including rice, cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, beans, relish, greens, and eggs. It was the best meal I have had prepared by locals in Africa, and I guarantee it could rival any posh restaurant for variety and richness of flavour. The people were so welcoming; as we arrived they broke into song and dance to welcome us and did the same to send us off. They are much less reserved than Tanzanian people.

The next day we began the long journey back, driving all day and stopping at a nice lakeside resort for a swim during sunset. It was so peaceful sitting on the veranda, listening to the waves hit the shore and journaling about the weekend. We awoke the following day for the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen in my life and then drove back to arrive in Iringa in time for dinner. So overall it was a near perfect trip, and I defiantly want to return to Malawi one day; if you ever come to Africa I highly recommend it as a destination.

Busy Busy

Sorry that the posts have been lacking of late. As you can imagine, as time has progressed, so has my language ability and correspondingly my workload. I have been spending every weekday out at Amani for the past several weeks and when I do get to town on the weekends things have been hectic. The teaching is going well; we have covered many topics including basic human biology, hygiene and sanitation, mother and child health, water use and SODIS, nutrition and diet, and malaria. Next week Andrew and I will teach about cooking techniques and environmental awareness, and then the whole crew will be headed down to Malawi for a week long retreat. We will be meeting up with the EI Malawi people including the other interns who we went to training school with so it should be a good weekend. After we return I hope to spend the final weeks of the internship covering respiratory diseases, diarrheal diseases and HIV/AIDS. Also I would like to facilitate a few seminars which will serve to build on the student’s knowledge of what they have learned and to answer any questions they may have. Anyhow I just wanted to give a quick update, hope that you are all doing well in your respective countries!