Blogs from Northern, Malawi, Africa - page 9

BWELERO KALIYA YOUTH GROUP - Solar Cooking Ten o’clock we agreed. Timing is everything with solar cooking as the sun doesn’t wait for us, we all agreed. So, at 11am, with an hour of good solar cooking time already lost and with only four of the group arrived, I decided to press on assured that the others would come soon. (Made a note to myself to in future say a time at least one hour before I actually wanted to start working with the group). The last time I stood in front of a group of people and talked about solar energy, it was in front of a bunch of architects at an Arup office in Mornington Crescent. Now here I am, a lanky, pale, ginger white man, explaining to a group of eager students how ... read more

After my first encounter with the half completed Kaliya Vocational Training Centre, I was a little nervous about meeting the group - did they actually exist? I’d seen the video prepared by Christian Aid for the launch of their report highlighting the impact of climate change on developing countries (see www.solar-aid.co.uk) so I hoped that I would recognise a few faces. I had already met Emmanuel who picked me up from Njaya and took me to meet Mr Chiumia for the long trek up the hill and had also seen Chimemwe (meaning “happy”) in the video, hacking down trees with alarming ease. The first meeting was wonderful. Everyone was enthusiastic (although some expressed it much more reservedly than others) and all were eager to know more about solarthan John Keane had been able to cover in ... read more

As proof that life ebbs and flows, after our easy bus trip from Blantyre to Lilongwe, we experienced a hellish 10-hour bus trip from Lilongwe to Mzuzu. Not only was it very long (it should have only been about six hours) but about seven hours into the trip, we stopped at a town and the bus got so packed that people were standing in the aisles and sitting on the backs of the benches. A lady with a chicken stood over Vicky which caused Vicky (the English Princess) to freak out for the rest of the three hour journey. In addition, a baby being held near Vicky peed on her. I laughed as, after having traveled in India, everything is EASY. After the hellish bus trip, the girls wanted no more "public transportation" and we took ... read more

At Ngata bay we bumped into Damian and Lucy again which was great. Ngata bay was a nice little town on the lake so we stopped there for 3 nights where we got a hut right next to the water which was great for reading and playing rummy. Kristen thought she had me stitched up like a kipper untill I worked out she was in the lucky seat and got some points back after a switcheroo. ... read more