1 of 22 hairpin turns as climbed the mountain
Today at about the 10th of the 22 hairpin turns down the mountain from Livingstonia, we passed a man with a handhewn hoe balanced on one shoulder and a cell phone held to his opposite ear. It’s like that here. The primitive alongside the most modern technology.
We climb the mountain in our 4-wheel drive Rav4 at a seemingly snail’s pace and then we pass women walking to the top, with suitcases perched on their heads; it will take us 45 minutes; it will take them five hours.
We go to visit a borehole well drilled just one month ago that provides the only clean
Borehole at Miracle Church site
drinking water within kilometers. And we take our GPS unit to record the latitude and longitude coordinates for the government representative.
No matter where we go we take pictures, pictures, pictures. And Jeff takes time to show the digital images to those he has just photographed – men, women and children who may have never seen themselves because they don’t have mirrors in their homes.
The women of Malawi are strong and tireless
As we cruise down the highway, it’s as if we’re running along a three dimensional timeline. Starting in the village we pass women washing their clothes in a river and young boys herding goats with simple wooden staffs. A little further along the road and this imaginary timeline, we pass a man riding behind oxen hitched to a cart or homemade plough. Suddenly we come across roadside markets where women sit patiently with their beautifully stacked tomatoes and potatoes and children run to the car with bunches of carrots and red onions. In more populated areas and a little furthered developed area, we see tuck shops (small wooden stands) stocked with small packets of salt, bags of sugar, toilet paper by the roll, matches, a few sweets and the fancy ones have refrigerators with cold Fanta.
Without fail, we are passed by swerving and jammed-packed lorries and mini-buses., the “time machines” that carry people from the village to the city. The truck beds are overstuffed with cotton or potatoes or people. The mini-buses each have large hand-printed signs in the front window advertising their route, “Mzuzu Livingstonia” or “Lilongwe Blantyre”. They fly down dusty roads, hooting warnings all along the way to the bicyclists, pedestrians, goats and cows along the road.
As we hit the cities, we see cement trucks and heavy machinery laying down more
New road leaving Mzuzu
tarmac. We find grocery stores and cafes advertising internet in the windows.
And we keep driving. From small groupings of huts and lack of electricity and clean water to villages to towns and cities and then back again. From South to North and back home again. We move through the geography and the population as if moving from the Stone Age to the Digital Age, repeating the journey over and over again from Katondo to Madisi to Lilongwe. From Kamwendo to Livingstonia to Mzuzu.
What a beautiful description of the discontinuities that hit Americans in the face when traveling in Malawi. The ugliness and the beauty almost hit us in the face because they are vivid for us to see. I wonder if we miss that same dissonance here in the USA. Perhaps a Malawian would be able to see it better than we can. And, I wonder about the beauty and ugliness in my own life. Well … thanks Kara for this wonderful reflection.
I hope I don’t sound stupid, but I had to look up what anachronisms are. I think I’ll start using it in casual conversation as a result. Thanks.
Malawi sounds like a great place to gain perspective. Your children will have so much wisdom from all they experience there. I’m so impressed with all that you are giving, and all that you are taking in.
What does GCFA stand for? Glad WordPress featured you on their homepage today so I could get introduced to Malawi. Gloris
p.s. come on over to my blog for some encouragement now and then from the Midwest. :) http://www.gloriadelia.wordpress.com
Isn’t it wonderful that you can “take me there” when I no longer have the inclination to get too far from my own home but have a lively curiosity. Thank you.
WordPress has brought a whole new dimension to my life.
It’s nice to hear that there still are places that doesn’t quite fit in the modern civilisation structure of the global world of today. How sad though that it pretty soon will be penetrated with high-ways, sky-scrapers and shopping malls.
Very interesting to travel away from tourist routes indeed! Also interesting to talk with those “who may have never seen themselves because they don’t have mirrors in their homes” and learn how they perceive their “I” and their place in the world… just a suggestion :)
Nice new discovery due to your post.
As a U. Methodist I accidentally stumbled across your blog earlier in the year. As the mother of a daughter who spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, I have been a regular reader. My daughter taught at the CDSS in Muhuju toward the north, you looked out her back door at the beautiful Nyika Plateau. I was fortunate to visit Malawi, an experience that I will never forget. I so appreciate your feeling about the people, the amazing women in particular, the life there, the contrast to life in the U.S. Thank you for describing it so well. Yewo.
Tyler says, “I love all the pictures we’re looking at. I love Carter. I love Mr. Jeff. He has a J in his name. That’s all.”
Beautiful post, Kara. Thanks as always.
So magnificant! I’m so glad you’re sharing pics from your journey! :)
http://www.theprettyproject.com