Frances Hoffman

Now, today is a harder day to describe, aside from it being a lot of work. We divided ourselves into teams (painting, masonry, and carpentry). Window specialists, Shirley, Doreen and Rhonda, were doing the detailed painting work while Jeff, Al, and Brian Westlake did the broad brush strokes and roller work. Again, there was a strong contribution by the local workers. We got about half of the interior walls painted with their first coats.

Mike, Andrew and Chris had their hands full of mortar as they knocked out the windows of an older building and replaced them with new concrete blocks (how can one describe these windows? “Open-air windows” is a good explanation, but they are cement blocks with holes in various designs). Tom, Paul and Brian Edwards did the woodwork and got some doors measured and planed for hanging.

It was a warmer day, but most of the painting was done inside and so the team didn’t have to endure most of the African sun. Good days work, team!

Photos to come once we get some better connectivity.

This morning we went to the United Christian Congregation at the University of Zomba Church. Perhaps it was livelier because of the audience (students) or perhaps it was simply the African cultural influence—all I can say is the service today was energetic! And musical! The constant gospels and hymns were beautiful and filled the room. They had that same beat and “collective voice” that African music is typically known for (there were also rap songs, which were a mix between rap and bible reference). Every one sang along, clapped and danced, including the visitors from Canada—it was surprisingly fun to be part of. I was also quite surprised with the number of stiletto heels I saw on the women! And the fashion! The congregation certainly did dress up in their finest clothes for church today.

After that, we had a scrumptious lunch half way up Mount Zomba, also known as Zomba Plateau. Then, we all hiked to the top. Fifty-five minutes later… Wow what a view! This was “Emperor’s View”, where Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, meditated and spent time at on his stay in Malawi. It was definitely worth all the energy it took to get up. The landscape kind of reminds me of Jurassic Park.

That was lots of fun. We saw a waterfall, lots of pine trees believe it or not and a few sites suffering from the deforestation prevalent in Africa.

Before leaving Zomba Plateau/Mountain there were some street vendors hocking local craft. Brian is an especially rigid negotiator.

While we worked yesterday and had some taste of SWEAT Equity today was a learning experience as we visited two programs with which district 7070 has been associated for at least 4 years, Dignitas’ HIV programs and the Kutchere Community Center.

In the morning we went to the Zomba Hospital and had a quick tour of the facility. This hospital had been built in 1809, has 540 beds with 120 new admissions each day during the week. As you can imagine, the main challenge this hospital faces is space. Walking around was heart wrenching, and in no way resembling Canadian standards.

It has a total of 7 doctors – one of which is an administrator. It also has about 80 medical technicians who have a 3-year diploma beyond high school and who perform emergency medical examinations, prescribe drugs, treat wounds and do basic surgery and basic orthopedic services. They have a total of 3 doctors who have a particular specialty and staff of approximately 200 nurses. The services and the range of needs were daunting. After we toured the hospital we had a wonderful visit with the HIV Teen Club, who normally meet once a month but made a special trip to the hospital for us. There are about 20 students who gather under the sponsorship of Dignitas to have friendship, support and a positive reinforcement of activity and personal goals.

After a wonderful relaxed lunch at Casa Rosa, overlooking Zomba, we went to see the wonderful ladies of Kutchere. Unfortunately, 5 of our friends have passed away this past year but the remaining ladies are just as full of laughter, dance and song as ever. We were impressed by the great condition of community center and the operation of the fish farm ponds. What a remarkable group of ladies! We delivered a bag of material and about 25 knit hats which were immediately put on by the ladies. Frances and Brian were given (or gave) a lesson in the art of throwing Frisbees. Their sewing machine, given to them by team members 3 years ago, is still operational and we are hoping to see if we can get a cottage industry started with the help of a micro bank, which has been established by Emmanuel International plus some incentive by the current team. The materials and wool gathered by Maureen and Robbie were hugely appreciated and gave stimulus to another round of cheering and warbling (quite an interesting noise) by the ladies.

Returning to Annie’s we encountered a local wedding and a few of us went to observe from a distance.

Another great day with multiple experiences and we look forward to a touristy day tomorrow.

– Tom Sears