The Lovegroves are in Malawi!...what?!...seriously?!
These last two weeks have been really, really different, in a good way though. By the end of June I couldn’t believe that it was finally time for the Lovegroves to visit Nchalo. How is it suddenly July and they have been and gone?! The night before Sophie and I went to meet Mum, Dad and Jenny just outside Blantyre I got very little sleep and kept expecting to wake up and find that it was still February! We had a great few days together and did some shopping in Blantyre (getting there by hitching a lift on the back of a matola (pick up truck) due to fuel issues in Malawi!) but were much happier when we were back down in the Shire Valley showing them where we had spent the last 6 months or so. Driving down with them was surreal, not only because my family were in Malawi with me, but also because it was the last time that we will drive down the Escarpment Road during our Gap Year in Malawi. While I have hopes of returning, I don’t know when and it was sad to see the view of the whole Shire Valley as we descended from Blantyre for the final time.
The Lovegrove family visit also included a day at Nyala Park, Illovo’s game park, spotting zebra, impala and giraffes, some time looking for chitenjes in Nchalo market and a morning exploring the hospital. Jenny was keen to see more of the hospital so she and I spent time in the paeds ward with burns patients and actually ended up in theatre together watching a hernia repair. The Phiri family joined us for dinner one night and we spent time introducing my family to all the friends that we have made during our time in Nchalo. I find it hard to believe that they have now been and gone, though we have plans to meet up for one day before they fly home, and it’s even harder to believe that this is the end of our final week in Nchalo.
While I asked Mum and Dad to bring me out a few supplies, both for fun and for my travels, they appear to have brought something that I would rather they had left in Harrietfield; the weather! It’s now winter in Nchalo which means that it is cloudy and a little drizzly. I know that I moaned about the heat when we first came, but I am not equipped to deal with this cold! At least at home when it’s cold I have lots of socks, tights and jumpers…I didn’t expect to need those in Malawi! Not only is it cooler than it has been for a long time, but I am now much more used to Malawian heat, so the “cold snap” really does feel wintery. It’s worrying that from now until February the weather will just keep getting colder for me as I leave Malawi in winter, arriving home as summer ends and Scotland heads into winter…I think I will be investing in thermals!
More seriously though (but not much) seeing Nchalo in cloud is very odd and women are now wrapped in knitted cardigans, jackets and jumpers have come out of the wardrobe and the babies at NRU are swathed in countless chitenjes and blankets. There are more cases of burns in the hospital, especially on children, too. Because for 10 out of 12 months of the year (roughly) Nchalo is so hot, there is little need for fires. This means that children rarely come across them and then when it is cold and they are gathered around the fire or the stove for heat, they do not realise the dangers. Kids have been playing near the baulas, knocking over pans of boiling water or jumping over the fire, playing with their friends. The burns are so widespread on their legs or torsos and while in the UK there are specialised units to deal with this, at St Montfort Hospital they are just admitted to the paeds ward. Because there is none of the sterility that there is in UK burns’ units, often the children catch infections and recovery is not painless or smooth. I’ve spent time watching and helping to dress the wounds, and it is another side of medicine which I am so grateful to have had the chance to see.
This Tuesday we had our final HBC training session. It was brilliant and after a couple of hours of questions and discussions we gave the volunteers and Never a few things, both to help them in their villages and to say thank you. The volunteers were adamant that the sessions we have done have been useful and from their continuous questions and stories, I do think that we have helped them in a very small way to detect and deal with sick villagers. As we left, after photos, singing and dancing, I was really sad to go. I doubt that I will see the volunteers again, even if I do return to Nchalo in the near future, but I feel so privileged to have been a part of their programme. How many other azungu have been able to become part of their work in remote Malawian villages? Probably very few, if any, and I doubt that there will be many more in the immediate future. We have had an amazing insight to their work in the community and have been lucky enough to have some involvement in basic African healthcare; something that I am now more interested in than ever, hence my hope to return!
Our last week in Nchalo has been spent, in general, preparing for departure. We’ve stripped the walls of photos (they now look horribly bare and threatening!) and gathered together our travel supplies.
Today we went to the hospital with our fridge, some toys that Sophie brought back from England with her and some medical supplies too. They were really well received and the hospital administrator couldn’t believe me when I told him that I have benefitted much more from the hospital in the last 6 months than it has from me. I have a little book which all our friends have been writing messages in and the final goodbye will be said to all the hospital staff tomorrow morning.
We also went back to Sekeni to visit our old neighbours and give them some of our clothes. It was amazing wandering through the village and there was no “Azungu” chanting, instead it was “Catherine!” “Sophie!” It was amazing to be remembered and greeted so warmly. The smiles on their faces were brilliant and they were dressing up in the clothes and putting stickers all over the place. I couldn’t help but wonder at how different life would have been for us in Sekeni if we had been able to stay. It would have been different, no doubt, but I don’t think it would have been harder or easier, but the good points and bad points would just have been like chalk and cheese to those that we have had living on the sugar estate. I don’t see the point in wondering “what if” for too long because we have played the cards that have been dealt to us and had the most incredible time in doing so. It’s sad to be leaving the Phiri family. They have been amazing to us and we had no idea how to thank them for all that they have done. Last night we cooked a family meal for the final time and in doing so learned to make Malawian beans and made them brownies too, which were scoffed up no bother, though salt was still added by the family to their portions of beans!
I am reluctant to leave Nchalo and all the friends that we have made. I will especially miss all the friendly waves, smiles and laughs that are part of everyday life here and have become so normal. While I am sad to be leaving, I am excited to be spending 4 weeks travelling in Malawi and have hopes of exploring the north with Isla and then making the most of the lake; after all, that is what Malawi prides itself on!
Because I have little idea of internet access as I’m travelling, this will probably be my last blog for a while, possibly until I’m home, but I cannot be sure! So, I just want to say a huge thank you to anybody who has been reading my blog, sending letters and encouraging texts (*cough* Grandma! *cough*) and who helped me fundraise in the first place to come to Malawi. My time in Nchalo has been unbelievable and I’m not leaving Malawi yet; I’m sure the next 4 weeks will be full of fun and finding out more about the country while meeting new people. Thanks for all the support and I’ll try to keep in touch over the next month, but if that fails I hope to see as many people as possible before I head to uni in September (2 months’ time…scary!).
Hope that everyone is well and enjoying their summer,
See you soon,
Tionana,
Catherine
xxx
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