Settling in Nkhata Bay

---

Settling in Nkhata Bay:

The last time I wrote, we had just gone back to Nkhata Bay to put some more time into supporting SUPOCHO and the computer school. We were there for a week and it was an important time. We made a decision not to go all the way down to Mulanje to see the beautiful sights of the mountain and tea plantations. Basically, the constant travelling gets very wearing after a while and we both want to put as much effort as we can into helping SUPOCHO set up as possible. So we are presently travelling slowly down to Blantyre so we can visit the IT Schools Africa project worker there. We are hoping the lap tops will have arrived from Mozambique, but at the last communication 2 days ago, they still hadn't budged from Beira. Disputes between Malawi and Mozambique have created a big backlog of containers. At this rate the laptops won't have arrived before we are due home!
Then we plan to spend the whole of February in Nkhata Bay and to that end have been offered a room in a rented house and Derek is really chuffed because he's also arranged hire of a motor bike! It should be a cheaper month for us and we will be close to the Chintheche Big 6 artists too!

We have had lots of contact with other people who are invoved in setting up charities and supporting community projects. Nkhata Bay seems to be a hub of comminication for such as us but we also have good communication with a lot of local people too.
We were sad not to be heading off to Mount Mulanje but a day trip out with Webster to his family home found us up in the hills, closer to Mzuzu and pleasantly surprised to find ourselves travelling a long, long dirt road, through a massive tea plantation! The views were spectacular! The fresh meadow green of the tea bushes spreading out for miles beneath the blue green of the hills and the light blue clouded sky. I wish I was in an internet cafe where it was fast enough to send you photos,,,,, but no sch luck! We also passed by Macadama nut trees in plenty. Websters family home was in a beautiful, peaceful spot and I enjoyed this visit probably more than any other village visit...... I didn't feel 'on the spot' at all..... just gently and respectfully welcomed and we had some good conversations.
We had a busy day that day as Derek had organised to meet up with other friends in the evening for a night of recording drumming. Winston, Sweetman, Tom, Roger and King were really shit hot! What a fantastic night!

We are now in Mzimba, No electricity and no water most of the night and today! Very frustrating. I don't know how people stay so patient! But come the end of the super communicative, energetic world as we know it in thew west, Africans are gonna be much more able to cope!

---