Sunday, July 3, 2011

Malawi's hospitality

These past few days have been eventful, fulfilling, and tiring. I spent two days in Lilongwe and met old friends throughout my time. I saw Peace Corps staff and spent much time catching up with them. I also ran into another RPCV at a cafĂ© in the morning and we chatted away. I met up with another Malawian friend whom I met from Duke, Wazi. He’s now back in Malawi working for the Ministry of Finance.

Early the next morning, I had to haul my katundu again back to downtown Lilongwe. It took me about 45 minutes this time. But on the way there, some guy on a bike slammed into my arm and fell. He kept looking at the drops of blood on his hand, then at me, then apologizing “Sorry madam”. Now I have a big, fat bruise on my arm.



I got to Dedza where I did my homestay training when I first arrived in Malawi. Oh, it was such a heartfelt homecoming. As I walked into the village, streams of kids ran around me and followed me to the Odala household. I was awkwardly sitting with about 50 kids staring at me, waiting for me to make a move. Slowly neighbors and friends came to greet me while I waited for my grandmother to come. I finally got up and decided to walk around and just as I did, they said “Amayi is here”. I turned the corner to see her looking for me and when she saw me, she couldn’t stop smiling and saying “Elaine-ee!” She kept saying “Alendo! Alendo!” (Guest! Guest!) and how people told her while she was farming that she had an alendo waiting for her. She kept wondering who she was and was so ecstatic that I was there. After three years, we finally met again. She wanted to prepare me a chicken but I told her I was in a hurry so she made me chips and eggs for old time’s sake.



Then I took a minibus to Ntcheu, which took forever. Because of the fuel crisis, we had to switch to 3 different minibuses just to travel 90 km. But finally I arrived and stayed with a good friend of mine, Isaac Talimire. He used to be a teacher and neighbor at my old site. In fact, he shared the other ”half-house” I stayed in and took such good care of me. This time around, he still took good care of me and was very happy to see me.

I wanted to go to Blantyre the same day but transportation takes so long in Malawi and I didn’t want to travel while it was dark, so I decided to stay with Talimire. The next morning, I was going to Zomba to visit another health worker friend, Andrew Chikhadzula, who had transferred from my old site. Because of the uncomfortable experience the previous day, I wanted to hitch a private ride. But after standing for 2 hours, I figured no one was going to pick me up so I finally took the minibus. On this ride, the minibus broke down about 5 times in one hour because the oil was completely out, so we switched to another minibus. When I finally got to Zomba, I had to take a bicycle taxi to my friend’s house about 12 km away. It was actually kind of nice to sit on the back of a bike and enjoy the scenery with the wind whipping through my hair. His area was much more remote than the last person I stayed with. He didn’t have a door lock; he opened his house with a machete. We ate dinner in the dark and his neighbor graciously offered his place for me to stay since my friend did not have sleeping accommodations for me.



My last stop was at P.I.M., my old site. I left Zomba in the morning, had to get off in downtown Zomba to exchange money since I was running out of money, then hopped back on a minibus. This minibus took longer than I expected getting to Limbe but finally I arrived in Limbe and had to board another minibus to go to P.I.M. But I wasn’t sure where I was going to stay because the administration at the site told my friend (former counterpart), Davie Makanani, that they didn’t have room for me. But my friend graciously said that I could stay with him. He made room in his food storage for me to sleep in where his chickens were also residing. I was really grateful that he went out of his way for me to have a place to stay and took me on his bicycle to the places I needed to go. He even said “A few days is not enough. You should stay 2 weeks!”

I’m really so thankful for Malawian’s hospitality. It’s living in these villages that have shown me what genuine hospitality looks like. My friends, who had little and didn’t own much, went out of their ways to ensure a comfortable bed for me to stay in. I think that some may even have given up their own blankets to ensure that I stayed warm at night. I know it’s not easy to accommodate guests, because you have to prepare their bath water, their meals, and their rooms, but they do it with such willing hearts. It was when they sacrificed for me that I realized how true hospitality really looks like. It wasn’t like they could just roll out a couch for me to sleep in, pick up some McDonald’s for me, and hand me a towel to jump into the shower. They really don’t have much, but they took me into their homes anyway and made me a part of their family. For that, I’m truly grateful for their kindness and graciousness. Even though I’m living the village life, I couldn’t ask for more. This is why they call Malawi "The Warm Heart of Africa".