but there is really only one word that accurately describes the Malawian transportation system: shitshow. Like if you were to look in the dictionary under 'shitshow" it would have a picture of a truck in Malawi.
This weekend I went to Liwonde National Park. Normally the trip would take about 2.5 hours in a car, but of course in Malawi it is far longer than that. We began from Salima; we boarded a coach bus, but even after all of the seats were taken they continued to fill it with Africans...and their chickens and babies (standing room only). The bus took 3 hours to get to Balaka (30 min away from Liwonde), bc it stopped every 10 minutes or so to pick up even more people as well as so we could buy fruits and junk from vendors out of the bus windows. Oh, and we hit a guy on his bike, which caused a fight to erupt on the street...and while the fight was happening, I observed a woman whip out her left boob, squeeze it, squirt breast milk on her baby child's head and then cleaned him with the milk.
From balaka to Liwonde, we took a minibus (like a small super shuttle van), but it was more of the same game of "How many Malawians can we fit into a vehicle?" However, this trip was the worst bc 10 min into it we picke up some fishermen who stacked their dead fish in the back. I cannot think of a worse smell than that of sitting in a small van for 30 min with 20 Malawaians who mostly haven't showered, babies who haven't changed, and dead fish.
Total travel time to Liwonde took about 4 hours. Somewhere in between going to and leaving Liwonde I went on a few safaris.
The journey home took even longer bc I left on a Sunday afternoon, so there were a lot of people traveling. The ride to Balaka wasn't bad (the dead fish didn't smell as bad this time around), but the bus operator misguided us and somehow we wound up stranded at the crossroads of 2 highways. We (me, Cally, Gretchen, and a Dutchman named Joseph) sat in the bed of a truck for over 3 hours with like 40 other Malawians, chickens, etc. as it stopped probably every 2 or 3 minutes to pick up someone else. Then in the middle of the ride the driver told us to get off and catch a minibus (which had dead fish in it) to Salima, which took another hour, then we had to wait to be picked up and drop Joseph off at a lodge. Total travel time home took about 6 hours.
This place is crazy. I don't think I've ridden in a public vehicle here yet that hasn't had at least 10 Malawians and some sort of live animal on it. Awesome! Anyhoo, I will have safari pics up (they're not super great but meh) when I get home.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Malawia
I finally have the opportunity to update this blog! So much has happened so far, I probably can't cover it all but I'll try. Things here have been going very well. I am thoroughly enjoying exploring this place, meeting the people, helping out, and most importantly learning.
I am staying in a city called Senga Bay, about 2 hours away from the capital, Lilongwe. It is very close the Lake Malawi, a huge lake that borders the eastern part of the country. My host Margaret is the director of the Senga Bay Baptist Clinic, and I am staying at her house with 2 other volunteers (Gretchen and Cally) from Alabama and North Carolina working as teachers. When I arrived, I began working at the clinic (a private community clinic), where they treat mainly malaria/HIV. The facility covers other roles such as maternity, immunizations, nutrition, palliative care, counseling...and it even has a primitive lab for diagnosing things like malaria and TB.
The first weekend after I arrived, Gretchen, Cally, and I went to a place called Cape Maclear, on the southern end of Lake Malawi. It was beautiful! We stayed in a lodge on the beach, took a boat out, went snorkeling, met some other foreign aid volunteers, and ate great food. On the way back to Senga Bay we killed a goat with our truck. Oops.
The following week up until now I worked in the clinic and at Salima District Hospital. Salima is the city of about 300,000 located about 10 miles away from Senga Bay; since the clinic is pretty slow sometimes (as it is private), I went to Salima's hospital which is FAR busier. I have learned so much...especially everything about malaria. In the afternoons I help Gretchen and Cally teach an english class (well, they do most of the teaching). There are so freaking many kids here...family planning anyone?
We started a project today painting the baptist church here..it will be a lot of work for the 3 of us but we can at least get a good start on it if we don't have enough time, and we bought all the paint for it.
Tomorrow we are headed to Liwonde National Park to go on a safari for the weekend; I'm pretty excited!
There is so much else I would love to say but just don't have the time. Hopefully another update next week. L8r m8s!
I am staying in a city called Senga Bay, about 2 hours away from the capital, Lilongwe. It is very close the Lake Malawi, a huge lake that borders the eastern part of the country. My host Margaret is the director of the Senga Bay Baptist Clinic, and I am staying at her house with 2 other volunteers (Gretchen and Cally) from Alabama and North Carolina working as teachers. When I arrived, I began working at the clinic (a private community clinic), where they treat mainly malaria/HIV. The facility covers other roles such as maternity, immunizations, nutrition, palliative care, counseling...and it even has a primitive lab for diagnosing things like malaria and TB.
The first weekend after I arrived, Gretchen, Cally, and I went to a place called Cape Maclear, on the southern end of Lake Malawi. It was beautiful! We stayed in a lodge on the beach, took a boat out, went snorkeling, met some other foreign aid volunteers, and ate great food. On the way back to Senga Bay we killed a goat with our truck. Oops.
The following week up until now I worked in the clinic and at Salima District Hospital. Salima is the city of about 300,000 located about 10 miles away from Senga Bay; since the clinic is pretty slow sometimes (as it is private), I went to Salima's hospital which is FAR busier. I have learned so much...especially everything about malaria. In the afternoons I help Gretchen and Cally teach an english class (well, they do most of the teaching). There are so freaking many kids here...family planning anyone?
We started a project today painting the baptist church here..it will be a lot of work for the 3 of us but we can at least get a good start on it if we don't have enough time, and we bought all the paint for it.
Tomorrow we are headed to Liwonde National Park to go on a safari for the weekend; I'm pretty excited!
There is so much else I would love to say but just don't have the time. Hopefully another update next week. L8r m8s!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
London
I'm in london, in an internet cafe. i have a 10 hour layover before my flight to johannesburg, and this woman at heathrow kept bugging me to go into the city...so here i am. i have been running around the city taking pictures of everything possible...i covered piccadilly circus, west end, buckingham palace, st. james park, big ben, parliament, westminster abbey, london/tower bridges all in 4 hours...pretty good eh!!?? i'm fixing to head to hyde park, then take the train back to heathrow so i can get ready for my flight to south africa. many pictures to come.
man i love this city.
man i love this city.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Blogggzzzz
I am starting a blog. Why? I don't have much time to elaborate as I leave for Malawi tomorrow and gotta finish packing, so here are some short reasons.
- To record my life. I kept a xanga in high school, and after reading over it, it's hilarious to see how big of a fool I was, but kinda cool to see what I was doing or thinking throughout that time. I really should have started this a year ago when I began med school.
- I'm going to Malawi until August and I wish to chronicle my adventures. But I intend to keep this well after my trip.
- So you can see what I'm doing in life. Everyone is getting busier and busier, so I figure this is a decent way for you to see what's going on, if you halfway care.
- Self expression? Feel free to comment on anything I have to say, as often as possible. Most likely if nobody reads this I'll shut it down (and nobody will ever know), so read and provide input. I like reading other peoples' blogs too, and I have learned that there are pretty much 2 ways to get people to consistently read your blog: 1) you have an interesting life or 2) you state your opinion. I don't have the Tucker Max lifestyle, but I can do the latter. I don't even care if you completely flame this blog, b/c that means you read it...maybe.
Much more to come. Stay tuned! Next update will be from Africa.
- To record my life. I kept a xanga in high school, and after reading over it, it's hilarious to see how big of a fool I was, but kinda cool to see what I was doing or thinking throughout that time. I really should have started this a year ago when I began med school.
- I'm going to Malawi until August and I wish to chronicle my adventures. But I intend to keep this well after my trip.
- So you can see what I'm doing in life. Everyone is getting busier and busier, so I figure this is a decent way for you to see what's going on, if you halfway care.
- Self expression? Feel free to comment on anything I have to say, as often as possible. Most likely if nobody reads this I'll shut it down (and nobody will ever know), so read and provide input. I like reading other peoples' blogs too, and I have learned that there are pretty much 2 ways to get people to consistently read your blog: 1) you have an interesting life or 2) you state your opinion. I don't have the Tucker Max lifestyle, but I can do the latter. I don't even care if you completely flame this blog, b/c that means you read it...maybe.
Much more to come. Stay tuned! Next update will be from Africa.
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