Blogs from Lilongwe, Central, Malawi, Africa - page 8

The day I decided to leave Cape MacLear for Lilongwe was a Sunday, which is never a good day for travel in Africa. It was made even worse by the fact that Joyce Banda, the country's new female president was visiting Monkey Bay. Despite getting up early, myself and Dmitri from Belgium, had missed what was supposedly the only pick up going to Monkey Bay to Cape MacLear that day. After a while of asking around, we eventually found another pick up to take us to Monkey Bay. From there, we were put on another pick up to the junction of the road, heading towards Dedza. At Dedza, we were told we could get a bus to Lilongwe. At the junction we found a pick up going to Dedza. We waited an hour and half, in ... read more

After an amazing 4 months, my time in Malawi has come to an end. It was incredibly sad to have to say goodbye to Malawi and all the animals at the centre and the wonderful friends I've made, but I promised them that I'll be back as soon as I can. Living in Malawi was such an incredible experience and I've learnt so much about so many things. I can't even begin to tell you all the things I've learnt, but I'll give you a brief insight: -Babies (in my case, animal babies) may be cute but they're a lot of work, especially when they're hungry or tired and throw temper tantrums. I'm definitely not ready for a baby of my own for quite a while! -It's difficult to be a minority and have to deal ... read more

This place is amazing! After 5 weeks of being here in Malawi, I'm still really loving it. I'm learning more and more about African life and everything is always so fascinating, even if it's really frustrating at the same time. Things generally happen pretty slowly here, which can be frustrating if you really need to get stuff done, but I find that I've adapted pretty well to “African time”. I walk and work a lot slower here than I do in Australia. And I'm hardly ever the person that everyone else is waiting for, which is a first in my life! I had to go to the immigration office a couple of weeks ago to renew my visa and it was the most frustrating, complicated process! It took me two hours just to get a stamp ... read more

What is the best gift that you would be willing to give? Would you give "the shirt off your back" if someone needed clothing? Christians certainly ought to be the folks in this world who willingly assist others "as we have opportunity," and such generosity ought to be extended "toward all men" (Galatians 6:10). But let's challenge our thinking. In ascending order we ask: "Would I give away my wrist watch, my kitchen table, my vehicle, my house..?" However, all these physical items will degenerate over time. The greatest gift we can possibly offer is - Telling someone how to be saved! Can you think of any greater gift?! Read 1 Timothy 4:8. When someone becomes a forgiven, godly person, there are blessings in this life and in the life to come. We generally seem adept ... read more

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