Malawi The Warm Heart of Africa

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MalawiThe Warm Heart of Africa

• University Lutheran Church of Hope Mission Trip
• September 14-October 3, 2006

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A Solar Oven
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Tell me more!

• The Solar Oven comes with all the accessories
  needed to cook, including
• 2 - 3.4Qt. (3.0 L) black, enameled pots with
  lids
• 1 thermometer with F C scales
• An instruction manual that includes recipes
• 1 WAPI (Water Pasteurization Indicator) that
  confirms when water is safe to drink.
• The Solar Oven weighs just 10 pounds and is only
  12 ¼ high by 27 ¼ long by 17" deep.
• To learn more, go to http//www.solarovens.org

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What problems do Solar Ovens alleviate in Malawi?

• Malawi suffers from deforestation. It takes a
  ton of wood to maintain a family of 4 for a year.
• Women, especially young women, spend large
  amounts of time and effort foraging for firewood.
• When firewood is not available, people may drink
  contaminated water, leading to diseases.
• Women who work in cooking tents and the babies
  strapped to their backs suffer from lung and eye
  afflictions from being in smoke.
• Women in long skirts risk setting themselves on
  fire.

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How does one get to Malawi?We took this
Northwest A330 from Minneapolis to ..
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Amsterdams Schiphol Airport
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..where we changed to a KLM 777 to Nairobi, Kenya.
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We spent the night in the Mennonite Guest House
in Nairobi,
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.. then left the next day, flying past Tanzanias
Mount Kilamanjaro...
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.. and on to Lilongwe, Malawis capital, in this
Kenya Airways 767-300.
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Inside the ELCM (Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Malawi) compound at Lilongwe. Luther Hall is to
the left, the cathedral is in the background.
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Looking outside the main gate of the compound.
People are everywhere, the roads are mostly
unimproved, and the ground is pretty barren.
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Malawian money.137 Kwacha 1.00.MWK500
3.65.
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Eric, an employee of the ELCM. This is a Malawi
laundromat. We did our laundry this way, too
with helpful advice from Eric.
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Sunday morning worship in Lilongwe Lutheran
Cathedral.
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During the sermon, Abusa (Pastor) Kwanza Yu
taught the children under a tree in the yard.
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In a nice tradition, the choirs continue to sing
as everyone leaves the church after worship.
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Tim assembles a solar oven. The 7 of us were
able to take 12 knocked-down ovens to Malawi.
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• Check it out! Over 100 degrees Celsius, the
  boiling point of water. Thats the Malawi sun in
  action!

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The swings have no seats, but the kids have fun
anyway!
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• This slide was dangerous even the kids could see
  that. They climbed up the trough, but wouldnt
  go down it.

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Our happy home in the ELCM compound in Lilongwe.
Our room was in the short portion of the L.
Conditions were pretty spartan by our standards.
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The Mission solar oven in front. Bishop Joseph
Bvumbwe is front and center behind to the right
is his associate, Mphatso Thole, who shepherded
us all over Malawi. Nice job, Mphatso!
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Street scene in Lilongwe. As the mosque
indicates, Islam is growing in Malawi. There
appears to be no evidence of tension between
Christians and Moslems.
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Lilongwe street scenes...
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Kristof Nordin, an American ex-pat now living in
rural Malawi. He and his family are working to
prove the viability of many types of foods in
that environment.
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The gang having tea in Kristofs very lush
garden. Hes figured out how to have viable food
crops all year round amid his neighbors brown
fields.
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Edwin the gatekeeper (standing), and a friend.
Edwin, a gentle and dear fellow, is one of the
one-out-of-six Malawians carrying HIV.
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• Heres one of the problems were trying to
  mitigate Transporting firewood via bicycle. How
  much did he have to pay for this? How far did he
  have to go to get it?

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Heres one of the problems were trying to
alleviate The need to gather and transport
firewood.
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Our very luxurious cabin at Mvuu Camp in Liwonde
National Park.
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Wart Hogs in the yard. They appeared to be
neither threatening to us nor threatened by us.
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Njovu! One of a number of elephants we saw while
on a drive around the park in the early evening.
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Part of the tradition at Mvuu Camp is to stop by
the Shire river and enjoy an MGT while the sun
sets.
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MGT

• (Thats a Malawi Gin Tonic!)

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Early in the morning.

• We had gotten used to hearing wart hogs in the
  yard and monkeys scampering on the roof.
• However, the crashing we heard around 430am was
  a mystery.
• Craig got up and peeked out from behind the linen
  curtains and there were 2 elephants, Mama and
  Baby, pulling branches out of the trees for
  breakfast!
• Sydney looked out the side and, not 10 feet away,
  was Papa! BIG! WAY above the roof line! We
  watched hushed for about 10 minutes until they
  all moved silently away!

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Craig Sydney in the shade of a Baobab Tree.
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The next morning, we went cruising on the Shire,
home to Mvuu, the Hippopotamus!
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Antelope grazing along the Shire, keeping their
distance from.
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..the crocodiles!
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Njovu crossing an inlet.
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Cormorants that have turned everything white with
their droppings.
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Fish Eagles high above the Shire.
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Mvuu Camps main lodge from the river.
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And as we drove the narrow track out of the park,
through the forest...

• We were seeing elephants in the scrub.
• We stopped several times to get photos.
• As we entered a small clearing, we encountered a
  not-fully-grown male.
• He turned to face us.
• His message was unmistakable!

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Mphatso muttered, Hes going to charge Odar
put the car into reverse and retreated. We
waited. Njovu decided we were no threat and
turned into the bush.
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Think about that elephant for a moment.

• There are no large animals in Africa that can be
  domesticated.
• You cannot domesticate an African elephant, a
  hippopotamus, a rhinoceros, a zebra, a
  wildebeest, nor a giraffe.
• Think of what this means for development.
• No animal will pull your plow, none will carry
  your burden, none will carry you.
• How do you develop a society beyond subsistence
  with that situation?

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The Lutheran Church at Zomba.
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Cooking nsima, the national comfort food, near
the church in Zomba.
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Nsima

• Nsima is made from corn.
• Theyve milled it and removed virtually
  everything thats good for you.
• Whats left is a white powder that they mix with
  water and cook.
• Nsima fills your belly, but provides starch as
  its sole nutrient.
• Consequently, people with full bellies are
  suffering from malnutrition.

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So why do they eat it?

• It doesnt taste good it hardly has any taste at
  all.
• Somehow, Malawians have decided that the more
  nutritious parts of the foods are low class, fit
  only for the poor or for animals.
• Their grandparents had diets much more varied and
  healthy.
• Since, however, the life expectancy is under 40,
  most of them never knew their grandparents, much
  less what they ate.

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Every time we visited a rural church, we were
welcomed with infectious and joyous songs! To
download a brief clip of their music, go to
www.ulch.org/images/MalawiWelcome.AVI .
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Inside a rural church. The porous tarp isnt
much help during the rainy season.
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Little kids at the rural church. Some appear to
be suffering from either malnutrition or
parasites.
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Still more women arrive in a pickup, singing all
the way!
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In a truly welcoming gesture, before serving a
meal, a parish worker approaches every guest on
her knees and pours warm water for a hand-washing.
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• The usual way in which women transport their
  babies.
• Sometimes wed see young girls, even pre-teens,
  carrying babies this way. Was she the mother, or
  had the parents died?

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Typical scene along the road in a semi-built-up
area. People walking everywhere, sometimes with
big loads, sometimes for apparent great distances.
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Shot from the Supreme City Lodge in Blantyre,
Malawis largest city.
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Cooking nsima behind the deanery in Blantyre. No
wonder their eyes and lungs are so unhealthy!
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Jerry Johnson and the Dean of Blantyre checking
out a reflecting solar cooker. Its being used
to pasteurize a couple of liters of water.
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Preparing vegetables for the solar oven
demonstration.
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The solar oven demonstration at Blantyre.
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Communion celebration in the Blantyre Church with
our own Abusa (Pastor) Kwanza Yu assisting.
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Kwanza rocks! All the pastors sway to the music
as the choirs sing us out after the 3 hour 10
minute service.
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Market scenes along the road...
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More scenes along the way. (The furniture
business seemed fairly common they appeared to
be good-quality products.)
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By the shores of beautiful Lake Malawi.
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We had a couple of days of relaxation at a small
guest house on Monkey Bay, Lake Malawi.
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Local women do their washing.
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Kids in class at a very nice school in Monkey
Bay. Some rooms have desks, but not this one.
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What does this school need?

• They have 750 students and just 4 teachers and 2
  volunteers.
• The government will send them more teachers, but
  they must provide housing first.
• Many of the few desks they have are in need of
  repairs before they can be used.
• They have few textbooks
• They have few exercise books.
• The teachers are paid about 54.00 per month, of
  which they pay 20.00 for rent.

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Money!

• Thats all they need!
• Not all problems in Malawi can be fixed with
  money, but this one can!
• If they acquired a large sum of money, theyd
  know how to use it effectively for the good of
  their students.

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Passing through the countryside on the way back
to Lilongwe.
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Heres how you get fresh fish home without
annoying the other passengers!
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A giant termite hill, fairly common in the
countryside. They always lean toward the north.
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The community water pump, government supplied in
many villages.
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Another solar oven demonstration in Lilongwe.
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Formal presentation of solar ovens, soccer balls,
t-shirts, and infant caps to Bishop Bvumbwe and
his staff as a none-too-happy Martin Luther looks
on.
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Burial site of Dr. Hastings Banda, the first
president of Malawi.
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Kwanza delivering her sermon in Madisi,
interpreted into Chichewa by the local Abusa.
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The women are poor, but walk tall and proud.
Beautiful skirts!
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Craig with Christopher, our cook, and Eric, an
all-around good guy.
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Farewell to our intrepid driver, Odar. He was
always cautious, effective, considerate, and
gentlemanly.
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Heres something else money can fix - playground
equipment at the ELCM compound in Lilongwe.
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..and finally, on Monday, October 2, we hit the
long trek home...

• Lilongwe to Nairobi on a 2-hour flight
• a 6-hour layover in Nairobi airport
• a 9-hour flight from Nairobi to Amsterdam
• a 4-hour layover in Amsterdam
• and finally the 9-hour flight to Minneapolis
  where we arrived about noon on Tuesday, October 3.

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The End

• A Craig Sydney Production
• 2006
• Photos by Craig Wiester, Sydney Rice,
• and Mike Ruth Fingerson