Bees, Bingu, and Bee-lining it...

Bingu...
I'm writing this post while enjoying the delicious bubblegum-like taste of a lollipop that came wrapped in DPP blue with Bingu's head on it. After all the speculation about the elections and instability we had a very quite election week. Even the Malawians that I've talked to have been surprised how quiet voting day and the subsequent days have been. I would call it a small victory for Malawi. Free, fair, and peaceful elections.

The victor in the elections is most certainly Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika and the DPP. He has moved from a minority government to a majority government. Apparently the DPP has been struggling to implement a lot of its plans because they only had the minority. It also seems like a lots of political old-timers lost their seats. So, Malawi is in for a little bit of a shake-up, which I think is good. (Also, I'm happy Bingu gets to stay around for a little bit longer - if only to save on the cost of photos and the like - it seems that every public building in Malawi is graced with a photo of Dr. Mutharika).

Bees...
It appears that there are a band of rogue bees on the prowl in Lilongwe. Several other volunteers managed to wander into the middle of a swarm of bees last Sunday. They were chased down the street by bees for several hundred meters and were only rid of the bees when a quick thinking Malawian sprayed them down with bug spray and helped them into the showers of the guesthouse where they were staying. Luckily, I missed the bee attack. But, I was around to go and get several tubes of bee sting cream and some antihistamines for the not so lucky ones. I got a ride with the guesthouse owner and it was a bit of a surreal experience... there were cars running in the street with their doors open (because the bees had gotten in through the open windows as the cars drove through the swarm - and owners abandoned the vehicles). This might be a little odd in Canada, but is really weird here, because everything is gated. Theft is definitely a fact of life. You don't see cars with their windows down let alone in the middle of the road with the doors open and the keys in the ignition.

We were told later on that someone had destroyed two hives without trying to kill the bees first.. thus a bunch of angry bees were unleashed on the world. There were reports of bees disrupting voting lines in Lilongwe on Tuesday, so I guess it took a while for them to get over their outrage at having been un-housed.

In case you're worried everyone was ok. Just a few stings here and there.

Bee-lining it....
Also, on the weekend I went for a little 12 km run for the Lilongwe Wildlife Sanctuary. It was a lot of fun. There were about 150 of us I think, and I would say we were about 75% Malawians, and 25% azungus (that's what they call us foreigners here). I had a great time and got lots of encouragement from people on the streets. I think the fun run is a new concept here in Malawi, but I would say it shows a lot of promise. However, if you're ever planning such a run... please don't start it at one o'clock in the afternoon.... it's just ridiculously hot (it even got to the Malawians).

Till next time.... =)

Going to the Polls tomorrow....

Tomorrow is election day in Malawi. The lead up to the election has actually been pretty exciting and full of political maneuverings. The incumbent President is Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika. He's been in power for 5 years and he seems to be doing a pretty decent job. It's pretty difficult for me to judge of course, but Lilongwe is undergoing some pretty significant growth. For example, we're getting our first big department store. It should be finished some time next year and would be the equivalent of Walmart in Canada I think. Some might not see this as a really positive step and I'm not really a fan of Walmart type stores (as those who know can testify to), but here it feels like a step forward. It means more jobs for people. There are also many other buildings and homes being built. Bingu, as he is called here, has also invested in road infrastructure. Five major roads have been built in Bingu's time, which are pretty much essential for development. Imagine a 200 km drive taking 10 hours! However, Bingu has used public funds to finance his campaign. His party, the DPP, has posters, buttons, flags, hats, and chitenjes (cloths that local people wear) everywhere. He's also used several Hummers to transport his campaigners around Malawi. The picture shows a DPP flag in one of the markets.

The main challenger for President is John Tembo. He has formed a coalition with past President Bakili Muluzi and it appears that the coalition has a fighting chance against Bingu. Muluzi is an interesting character who was president for two terms from 1994 to 2004. Malawi's constitution says that a president may only serve for two consecutive terms and Muluzi has been in the courts for the last several months trying to win the ability to run again on the grounds that he took a brake from being president and another term should be considered as independent of the previous two consecutive terms. So far, the courts have turned him down. But! he's now in an alliance with John Tembo and they're hoping to win the election, although critics say the two don't have much in common politically.

Although, the last few elections here have been calm this one is definitely a little more contentious than in previous years. I've heard different speculation about what's going to happen over the next few days. Everyone seems to agree that it will all work itself out over the next few days and be calm again by the end of the week. I'll be tucked away safely at home whatever happens and I'll update you soon!

Welcome back to Mulanje Mountain: The Saga

We woke refreshed and raring to go after 4 1/2 hours of sleep. We weren't quite sure how far we were going to have to go or how much of an elevation gain we had to look forward to but we were excited. After a little bit of trouble finding a minibus that was going in our direction (apparently the bigger bus that we'd be planning on left at 6am not 7am) we were on our way to Mulanje. Minibus journeys are usually a little cramped (they more people they can fit into the bus the more money they make), but in this case the journey was very pleasant and broken up by people selling fresh macadamia nuts when we stopped.

Once in the village nearest Mulanje mountain we immediately found a guide to take us up the mountain. Our guide's name was
Besta and he helped us get ready for our hike. We found the local market and stocked up on excellent hiking foods like oranges, boiled eggs, and rice and we were off. We decided that we probably didn't need any of the small fried mice that they were selling at the entrance to the market. Our collective reaction to the little fried mice was mostly 'are those what I think they are'. Sometimes being a vegetarian is such a good excuse for being a coward when it come to the local cuisine.

At the base of the mountain we signed the log book and found out what we were up against. Day one: 6 km of distance and 1.3 km in elevation gain. Easy peasy! Right away climb began and my poor out of shape body started to question the whole climbing up a mountain idea. It was very hot and very steep. But, we soldiered on, took several breaks, and eventually the views started to get pretty fantastic. The pictures really don't do it justice, but hopefully you can get a little bit of an idea from looking at them. Every time we came to a stream we stopped for an extended break. Besta told us that we were 'fast' compared to his other clients but somehow I think that his strategy was that a little bit of flattery wouldn't go amiss. We finally arrived at our 'hut' just after dusk. Our hut turned out to be more of a cabin, with beds, blankets, pots, and a watchman. Quite nice actually when you're arriving after dark. We ate well that night (rice, boiled eggs, and oranges are delicious in combination) and the only sour note of the day was when Mike joked about having chocolate with him.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed up for another hut on the other side of the mountain. Mulanje is actually a section of igneous rock (?... I think). It started out at the same level as it's surroundings, but being harder than its surroundings, has grown higher and higher over the years. So, Mulanje is a fairly large area with several peaks. We decided to head a really interesting peak 3 or 4 hours away. The walk was much more relaxing on the second day and we walked pretty slowly and took lots of breaks to enjoy the views. We arrived at our hut around 1pm and decided to be lazy and enjoy the rest of the day at the hut rather than trying to rush and climb any of the surrounding peaks.

The hike down on the last day was probably the most strenuous day of all. The path that we took down was spectacular, but extremely steep. My legs resembled jelly by the time we were done. I would say it was all worth it for the views though. We started early and made it to the base of the mountain by 10 am. The minibus that we found for the trip back was a little bit less comfortable, I had zero mobility and Mike didn't move for fear of crushing the chicken sleeping underneath his seat, but we arrived safely back in Blantyre by lunchtime and treated ourselves to a delicious post hike lunch.

A fantastic trip all in all.

Stay tuned for pre-election coverage.

Off to Mulanje

Hey All!

This blog post has been a long time coming. Although I've had the best of intentions I've been extremely busy at work and somehow posting here has kept sliding down my list of things to do. Because I've waited so long I have a lot to tell.... so I'll divide it into bite sized chunks. First up, the journey to Mt. Mulanje.

Just over a week ago, I set off for Blantyre in the south of Malawi to climb Mt. Mulanje. I left Lilongwe on a Thursday night. My travel companions were Garrett, Alynne, and Graham. Garret and Alynne have been in Malawi since November last year. They are both Engineers Without Borders volunteers working in the water and sanitation area (EWB has two different programs in southern Africa - agriculture and value chains, and water and sanitation).

Garret is working with the district government trying to map the location of all of the water pumps that different non governmental organizations (NGOs in development speak - think World Vision, UNICEF amongst many others) have installed. Maintenance of these pumps is often not properly considered when the pumps are installed, and currently no one organization knows where all of the pumps are located. I see people using the pumps on a daily basis and I know that they do really help rural Malawians, but currently only 70% of them are working.

Alynne was working with another local Malawian NGO that installed water pumps in the semi-urban areas surrounding Lilongwe. Her placement with that organization has just finished and she'll be starting work with PLAN (an international organization that has a child sponsorship program in Canada I think). PLAN is moving into the area of Community Lead Total Sanitation (CLTS to those in the know). CLTS is the new wave in sanitation work. It is pretty controversial because it involves using shame to get a community to use latrines and wash their hands. However, if you really think about why do you use a toilet and wash your hands afterwards. What techniques did your mum employ? (Or for the mothers and fathers amongst you - what techniques did you employ to get your kid to wash his hands?).

And Graham... I met Graham on Thursday night. He's Garrett's brother and he's in Malawi visiting for three weeks. He's having a great time by the way... so if any of you are pondering a trip to visit me you too could have a fantastic time.

So.... back to the actually journey part. We made our way to the bus station on Thursday night after work and we were quickly approached by the people who make it their business to get you onto their bus. We found the most full bus that was heading for Blantyre and got on to wait. Most buses in Malawi don't leave on a schedule, they start their engines and honk a lot to attract people initially and then sit and wait until they are full before they leave for their destination. We were pretty lucky on this occasion and only ended up waiting about half an hour (I've had to wait 3 1/2 hours before). So we set off from Lilongwe around 8:30pm. This bus happened to be pretty uncomfortable. For about half of the trip I only had about half a seat. However, I consider myself extremely lucky to have the ability to sleep just about anywhere, so I slept for almost the entire way to Blantyre. I was woken now and then when the bus stopped to let people off and pick a few people up. At these stops (even in the middle of the night) people come up to the bus and sell things to you through the windows. You can buy nuts, fruit, drinks, donuts, and other snacks without even leaving your seat. Convenient!

We arrived in Blantyre around midnight. We walked the short distance to the closest hostel to meet the fifth member of our party, another EWB volunteer called Mike. (As a side note, most of the other passengers on our bus stayed on the bus and spent the night there - it saved them money because they didn't have to pay for a place for the night.).

Mike is another volunteer who works in water and sanitation. He works for a rural Malawian NGO called Freshwater that provides water pumps to even more rural villages. Mike's role at this organization was to oversee a leadership transition. The founder of the organization is retiring and EWB's role is to help make the transition as seamless as possible.

We met up with Mike in the hostel where he was dozing on the couch waiting for us. After checking into the hostel we decided that an early start was in order. We decided to be back at the bus station at 7am, and headed to bed around 1:30 am for a solid 4-ish hour sleep.