Guest Blogger

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Thurs 24 May

So here I am, your guest blogger - Leigh / Dad / DDLL (short for daddy long legs - self explanatory I trust). I’m new to this and a bit unhappy that it’s a public forum so can’t be too rude about anyone in case they tune in.

Arrive Lilongwe from overnight flight via long stopover in Nairobi and spend afternoon sorting out arrangements. A good night’s sleep and then leap out of bed (after untangling myself from mosquito net). Does one leave glasses, book, etc outside the net or bring them inside onto the bed ? Anyway refreshed as only one hour time change from UK.

Fri 25 May Likoma Island

Off to Lilongwe airport for my 4 seater (including pilot) flight to Likoma Island. This saves several days delay in traveling to port and catching the one boat, the Ilala, that travels up and down Lake Malawi. Luggage limit of 15kg and I’ve got the full 20kg from UK as it is full of printer cartridges and other computer stuff for Tamsin’s schools, as well as essentials for Tamsin such as chocolate, potato crisps, and English paperbacks. The only other passenger is a cellphone engineer and it’s about an hour to Likoma, an island 8 x 3 km close to the Mozambique shoreline. Touch down on ‘airstrip’ and there is Tamsin looking much the same as last seen (August 2006).

I wrote an e mail home and this is what it said -

Likoma was a bit hard to describe on the phone - especially with two locals listening. It's also very hard to ascertain the wealth or poverty when conditions are so different from what we are used to. Very poor roads, very few
vehicles. Very few 'facilities' eg Tamsin's house had no electricity at all and no running water. Yet virtually on the beach so wash water from lake and drinking water carried from a well. Lots and lots of people. Practically no
land line phone but cellphones worked well - apparently because system installed recently so more efficient than UK. Much muttering from the Lake Malawi Project (LMP) people as to how lazy everyone is and too reliant on handouts. (LMP is the charity that organized Tamsin’s help at the schools as well as lots of other local facilities). Had a bizaare day where we went to a local demonstration of how to make a compost heap and how to grow vegetables in beds surrounded by ridges with grass to prevent soil erosion. Many speeches in the village hall. Amazingly the 'best garden competition' (which is really best vegetable patch) has a top prize equivalent to 100 pounds - a huge amount for locals. But they are desperately trying to encourage self sufficiency rather than relying on handouts and buying imports. There is also a strong undercurrent of HIV / AIDS and although the people to me looked superficially healthy this, together with the poor diet, means they are not.

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