sarsah

Thursday, 21 July. We literally ran out of the office at 1pm, after Charles heard that government supporters may be on their way to CELA. Nandi, who lives near me, walked us a back way that added over 20 minutes to our trip, having heard that there were rioters on our normal route. The streets were eerily quiet, and we saw a police truck on the main road, full of cops, as we cut through a school. I arrived home at 2pm, just as the girls prepared to leave to take food to Isaac. I asked if they thought it would help if I went with them, and they said yes. With no minibuses running, we had to hitchhike and were picked up by a World Vision car. As we walked into the police station, Thoko ... read more

Well, it’s morning, and I highly doubt that happened. Someone from a’mai’s organization was sent to find Isaac, but we don’t think he made it, as things have started up again. As Dave put it via text, “We don’t know if he made it because it got rough downtown again.” A colleague came into my office about 30 minutes ago saying we had to get out of here. She hadn’t talked to the boss yet, but her brother called to say that the police were shooting at people walking to their shops downtown, which has caused a lot of anger, so protesters are heading toward City Center (where government buildings are). Our office is in a residential neighborhood next to City Center. He says it’s getting bad out there. Dave and the others are heading out ... read more

As we sat there waiting for Isaac, a police truck pulled into the station. Cops with guns and clubs rush out of the bed of the truck then turn around as they yell at the civilians inside. As the detainees exited, the officers started to beat them with clubs. They lined people up and, no lie, spanked them. As they pushed them toward the holding cell area, they continued to hit them. We could hear what sounded like people being beaten from inside the holding cells. Two more such trucks came in, though each had progressively fewer civilians, which thankfully also meant that the beatings were less severe. When more people were brought into the holding cell area, there were cheers, which we interpreted as cheers of comradely. The officer comes back to ask Dave to ... read more

*When I wrote this next section in my journal, it took up 11 pages. I’ll spare you all the details and focus on the bigger events. I’m also leaving out most personal thoughts/impressions as this is a public blog and the situation is still unfolding. Also, I assure you I am not being at all dramatic when I say that I need to protect certain people, so I’ve not used their names.* As we walked down the main street, we came to a police roadblock of sorts. There were rocks in the street and officers wearing orange vests stood in the middle of the road. A bystander mentioned that someone in town had been shot. Though we weren’t sure if he was right, as there had been no earlier word of violence, we saw police move ... read more

Yesterday, 20 July 2011, President Bingu wa Mutharika was due to speak. In advance of this address regarding the nation’s problems, civil society (NGOs and other organizations) prepared to hold peaceful demonstrations. Rumors quickly spread that the demonstrations would be broken up by police, who would arrest protesters and use tear gas to disperse crowds. Tuesday, my boss came into my office to tell me not to come into work the next day. He expected chaos, and heard that the police would use live bullets. Even he planned to stay in his house all day. I arrived home to learn that the President had sanctioned the demonstrations, which pleasantly surprised everyone. Civil society leaders met with police commissioners that evening to discuss protest march routes and procedures. Everything was set for a day of peaceful demonstrations. ... read more

When your family doesn’t have consistent electricity (or any at all), let alone computers, what’s a kid to do? Have you seen the photos from Victorian England, where children run alongside a metal wheel or tire while carrying a stick, and use the stick to keep the wheel moving? I see the same game every time we venture out of Lilongwe. The kids seem as happy in the villages as they do in the Victorian pictures. Then yesterday, I was walking home from work and saw a group of young boys, maybe 8-10 years old, dragging something behind each them with string as they ran down the street. Turns out they had constructed cars and trucks from liter-sized rectangular juice boxes! It was the coolest thing. They had cut out pieces on top so they could ... read more

After checking in for our 3 beds in the dorm, we entered the room and were greeted by 3 girls who go to Michigan State. One is even from Livonia (I realize the wonder of this moment will only be appreciated by a few of you)! They’re here, along with 2 guys from New Brunswick (Canada, not New Jersey), for summer internships. Desperately hungry, as it was now approaching 2pm, Dave, Megan and I walked along the beach in search of food. We passed women doing laundry in the water, kids splashing around, but very few tourists. We saw a few as we passed Gecko Lounge, but for the most part, we only saw Malawians. We decided on Mgoza for lunch. They had an open area above the bar, kind of like the tree house where ... read more

At long last, I have a decent travel story. This one involves a hostel that Megan, Dave and I chose on our own, public transportation, modified hitchhiking, and good bars within a safe walking distance. The tale begins in Lilongwe, where I woke up at 5:30am Friday. We walked to catch a minibus at 6:45am, which, combined with a short walk, got us to the bus depot around 7:15am. The bus depot is a mess. As you scan the lower windshields for a sign that includes your stop, guys approach and ask you where you are going. They then direct you to their company’s bus. This approach helped us to quickly find the right bus, except that bus was clearly full. When we asked the money collector if our ticket was good for a different bus, ... read more

Back to Mangochi. After settling in Saturday afternoon, we headed to the bar for some much needed food and drink. As most of you know, I’m not a G&T girl. But Malawi gin mixed with Malawi tonic is actually quite nice. Equally nice, and therefore preferred, is Malawi vodka. To buy familiar liquors is too expensive, but you can get a Malawian G&T or VT for about K420 ($2.80). Saturday night’s 9pm dinner came with entertainment. A group of performers from a nearby village had been selected to perform a traditional dance. While 2-3 men banged on the drums and 3 women clapped and sang, one or two other men would come out dressed in all sorts of costumes, most of which represented an animal. They would then dance around. Emma told us it was an ... read more

This title is more appropriate than you might realize, as our boss often behaves like Michael Scott. This is another topic that will have to be predominantly detailed through email instead of this blog. I have yet to decide if I’m going to make this public, and since the Center for Legal Assistance (CELA) deals with various government offices, best to restrict what I post. My colleagues are all very nice. There are 2 accountants, one projects manager, a projects assistant, 3 paralegals, and an office assistant (the one I mentioned earlier regarding the food). Most of them are in their early to mid twenties, except for the projects manager. I’m not sure how old Robert is. CELA’s mission is “to contribute to the improvement of the justice delivery systems, protection of human rights and upholding ... read more