A Week in my Life - Wednesday & Thursday... the following week

Hmm, didn't keep to the 'everyday' thing too well did I? well- i wrote a long post last Thursday evening- then the power went out and I lost it all...after that I couldn't be bothered. sorry.

This week has been another full one. My life seems to revolve around drains and coming up with new strategies to deal with all the things that challenge my world view on a daily basis.

The drains are coming along well and about 80% to plan- so that's pretty good. The training facility has been halted for a few weeks due to financial issues, but is now progressing again slowly.

The farm manger told me a few weeks back that he has leased one of the adjacent farms (about 2 acres), so I had been watching with interest as his workers raked up all of last years crop residues into windrows. I finally asked if he was going to burn it and was disappointed to hear that yes, he was going to burn it and put himself into debt to continue using inorganic fertiliser this year. I decided to take it as a challenge to make our demo farm SO good that he'll be making his own compost manure within 3 years :). Anyways, on Monday we were working ( I dug a few meters of the drain! ouch!) when I noticed a lot of smoke from alarmingly nearby... As the flames moved rapidly from his farm into the adjacent bushland, my heart was in my mouth! The flames were big and aided by a hot, dry wind it was fast approaching where we were working- but no one else batted an eyelid. The guys kept working and the women continued to relax under a tree (lunch break), only moving when the fire was within meters of them and had enveloped them in smoke. After a while the farm manager had to go off to fight the fire where it was getting too near to some village houses, but didnt seem phased at all - just slightly annoyed that the children had lit in the middle of the afternoon rather than the evening when it was easier to control.

I found the contrast of our culturally learnt responses to fire amazing. 4yr olds play with fire here all the time. The fires lit this time of year burn vast areas- but its seen as a good thing here. If this fire doesn't burn it, the next one will ...

I was feeling really upset and indignant the other day about how I had been treated in a situation. It wasn't right, or fair- but then a local friend visited and gave me the gift of perspective. We discussed her life at the moment- her bicycle that she uses as a taxi business is broken- so she has no income, her sisters have gone to live with their husbands in another village- leaving all their children with the grandmother and eldest sister who are struggling to find enough food to feed them. My friend also suspects that she and her youngest child- who is always sick- need to have an HIV test- but she is terrified of the answer and can't summon the courage to do it. Her husband is dismissive and doesn't want to talk about it. While we were talking her youngest child was constantly crying and whinging with the occasional tantrum. I offered to get her a drink and got her some milk and biscuits whilst thinking to myself that she could probably do with some discipline as well. It was only after the child ravenously devoured the food and sat down with a contented smile to quitely amuse herself that I realised that she had been hungry -really hungry and I wondered when my friends last meal was if it's at the point where there is no food for the kids either... Malawians are opportunistic- and the brazen few will harass you for money in public and make you feel like everyone views you as walking ATM. But Malawians can also be very proud and tend to ask less when they are really in need- that is, until it gets desperate- then they will knock on a rich persons gate and throw themselves on your mercy or calousness as the case may be...

Im still really struggling with the material discrepancy between human beings- all made in Gods image. Poverty- now THAT's not right or fair.