Frances Hoffman
I feel… like the last… forever of my life… has been spent on this plane. Destination: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Just a quick 15-hour flight from Toronto–no big deal.
Once we arrive in Ethiopia, there will be a two-hour layover before our next three-hour flight to Lilongwe, Malawi. THEN we have a bus to Zomba, Malawi. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? NO!
I am slowly going crazy
That being said…
All this travel will be worth it. I’ve been doing some reading on the country and figure now is as good a time as any to brief everyone on Malawi and what exactly it is the Malawi Sweat Equity Trip 2013 is to accomplish.
SO Malawi *eh he hem. This is a small, land locked country in South Central Africa, with one of the poorest economies in the world. In fact, it has one of the three lowest GDP per capitas in all of Africa at just under $200 USD. The country’s economy is heavily dependent on agriculture with coffee being one of the country’s main exports (Brian has warned me, though, that the coffee where we will be staying will actually be terrible. At least that’s something to look forward to…)
Health standards in Malawi are shocking. A person’s life expectancy is 35 years old! (2008 statistic, which has improved over the last 5 years but still shows the drasticity–is that a word?) The maternal mortality rate translates to approximately 13 deaths per day. Malnutrition is also a problem; it is associated with over half of the childhood deaths in Malawi. HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and Malaria are not only prevalent, but the populations most immediate causes of death. This is clearly a country that needs to focus on improving its health care. Unfortunately it is unable due to its slow economy, illiterate and uneducated workforce, and dying population.
Health system and education financing in Malawi is obviously problematic considering the country’s poverty. Most money spent on health and education is externally sourced. A sweat equity trip of 12 Canadian Rotary members for example…
Our group is there primarily to build a library for a school in Zomba. The school has been built in former years’ sweat equity trips. We are completing the library (and latrines) portion of the plans. The team has raised $25,000 towards materials and funding with the plan to make a lasting difference, and to truly understand the situation people in this country are faced with. They are also bringing a bag per person of school supplies, books, toothbrushes, etc to Malawi, so a big thanks to Ethiopian Air (way better than Air Canada) for letting us all take an extra bag. I have absolutely no idea what to expect. This trip, I expect, will open my eyes to the realities other people have to face every day, and to how I can make a real and positive difference in this world.
But on a more serious note… the flight is still not over!