Trip to Malawi

April 25, 2012

The third of April was our 53^rd wedding anniversary.  We celebrated (?) by going to the small country of Malawi.   We met the Bullocks (senior missionaries and a counselor in the Zambia Mission presidency) and the Pretes who are a missionary couple serving in Lilongwe, Malawi.  The Bullocks were very kind to us, driving us to our appointments and having us over for lunch.  They told us that Malawi is the most densely populated country in Africa and one of the poorest in the world.  One of the first sights that met my eyes were people carrying heavy loads of something black wrapped in large packages (coal I learned later) on their backs, heads and/or bicycles.  There were lots of vehicles but many more people walking or riding bicycles.  There is a fuel shortage as the country has to import petrol and doesn’t have the right currency to do it.  Apparently the suppliers want a more stable currency than the Malawi kuwatcha (currently the exchange rate for the US dollar is 162:1).  So they have to wait until they have enough dollars or euros to import it.  There must have been a hundred or more cars each in the two main petrol stations in Blantyre just waiting for petrol to arrive.  The cars were there at least three days. The owners just leave them at the station or parked in line along the street. (See photo below)  Finally Friday night some of the cars started to move.  This happens all the time according to the Bullocks. 

We stayed in a Protea Hotel, the Ryalls.  It was fairly comfortable and had a good dining room where we ate most of our meals.  For lunch one day we went with the Bullocks to a Chinese restaurant which was good even though there was no fortune cookie.  It was interesting to me that in a city where the people are so poor that there were so many big modern bank buildings and car dealerships.  Some must be able to afford cars even though their homes were not more than shacks.  Unemployment is a real problem.  Elder Bullock said that when it rains the sand from the dirt roads runs downhill.  Some people then gather the sand into a pile and sell it to contractors who need it for building. Everyone does what they can to eke out a living.  All of the streets in the city are lined with little make shift stalls selling used clothing, food, building materials, junk.  There is one area that I would compare to an American flea market as the whole area is nothing but these stalls.  Clothes are strung along a clothesline for like a block.  I wondered what they did when it rained, as there were no coverings or shelter.  I came away counting my blessings.

Other interesting sights we saw in Malawi included little goats on a harness being driven down the main street like one would walk a dog, a man in a cart being pulled by two donkeys, a small firepot (photo below) that is used to cook entire meals for a family, and women in colorful purple shiny skirts and headpieces to match walking to church (Good Friday). 

The church audits which were the purpose of our trip went fairly well.  None of the buildings had computers, let alone the internet.  Leaders need to be advanced money for airtime (cell phones) and internet cafe charges to retrieve emails and taxi fare to go to the bank to deposit donations.  They are trying to follow church procedures and except for obtaining receipts are doing quite well.  There is one fairly new large chapel in Blantyre.  It was where Elder Nelson came to dedicate Malawi for the preaching of the gospel last October.  Two branches meet there.  A year ago a district was organized and the two branches were divided to make four.  The two new branches meet in small houses, one on the side of a cliff whose entrance is down a steep flight of steps.  One of the members of this branch is in a wheelchair and has to be carried up and down these steps each Sunday. We did not go to that building.  The other new branch is renting a small home that has been converted.  But there is not room for everyone and many people need to stand out on the porch or grounds for sacrament meeting.  This is not very convenient especially when it rains.  The church is still growing there despite the challenges.   

Blantyre is surrounded by small mountains and was green as they get most of their rain in the summer (December through March).  There were beautiful plants and trees and would be a nice place to live, if one could make a living. We were there for three days as South Africa Airlines only flies in and out on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  We did get fed very well on the plane even though it was only a  little more than a two hour flight.

We spend most of our time in the Area Office.  All of the 545 unit audits were due March 15^th.  As of the end of April we still have 74 to come in.  We also do special projects.  I was asked by the Area presidency to make some charts and slides for the Area review coming up showing the demographics of the church members in Southeast Africa.  It was interesting to see that over half of the adult members are single.  The wards here are not your typical family ward in the United States.

             We are poor photographers – mostly we forget to bring the camera.  So these shots were taken with our cell phone.  We will try to do better.