More on Rangers Media in Malawi

More on Rangers Media in Malawi
Thursday, 21 January 2010 21:13
Written by Contacts

The weekend here gave us more heavy rain and since I’ve been here I have hardly seen the sun. Well, it is the rainy season.

On Saturday it was time to visit the orphanage again and this time I timed it right and the kids were all hyper. I love going to this place and the children love a wee cuddle. They all sat nice and quiet until I brought the biscuits and lollipops out the bag and then they went wild. It was hilarious! The sisters quickly gained control again and the kids all waited patiently on their sweets.

Their faces were brilliant as they enjoyed the taste so much. I spent all afternoon there and had a real good laugh. The orphanage does not allow visitors to take photos but I have managed to get myself into the good books and was allowed a few snaps. Great kids and a great place.

Sunday took me to the village of Kaponda that is supported by the Betty Cunningham International Trust. It was a chance meeting with Betty that got me addicted to Malawi and I have visited Kaponda village a few times so I was welcomed like a long lost brother. The work that the BCIT has done here is simply amazing and Betty herself is hero worshipped by everyone in the village. It was great to catch up with the folks here and get updates on how things are going. Thankfully in Kaponda all is going well and the kids have a nursery that feeds the children twice a day and the benefit to them is huge.

As it is rainy season my journey to Kaponda was a good laugh as the roads (dirt tracks) were pretty bad at times and my truck slid more than a few times.

As I have now visited Malawi a few times I am always finding ways to do things a little more cheaply. For example when I take food to the village like maize, sugar, rice plus the customary sweets for the kids I now buy from the trading centres that are generally only used by the locals. I have grown to love this experience as not only is it a huge saving I love the game that develops. In Malawi there is a local price and then a price for the Mizungo (white man). Thankfully I know how it all works and let them tell me the prices then tell them that I am Malawian and if they want the sale they can forget about their inflated prices. This brings a big smile to their face and then they agree to give me the correct price. Honestly it is a superb experience! I was buying mangos from a guy and he told me that the small ones were 10 kwacha and the big ones 20 kwacha. Now this is like 8p and 16p and would be a great price back home but even though they were so cheap I knew he was at it. I told him my story and him and all his mates started laughing and said yeah ok they are 5 kwacha and 10 kwacha. I bought everything he had for about a fiver and he was over the moon and in proper Malawi style asked me to come back tomorrow as he would have more stock. Part of the reason for telling you this is to give an example of how safe Malawi actually is. I would regularly be the only Mizungo amongst hundreds of local people who have nothing or virtually nothing yet I have never felt threatened or unsafe.

A Sunday in Malawi is like what it used to be like in the UK years ago. Nobody does much and everything is closed or perhaps open for only a few hours. Whether it is in the city or the villages people generally attend church then have a day of rest chatting with friends and spending time with the family. No Sunday afternoons on the bevvy out here (well not for many folks).

Monday is the big day! Malawi have one last chance to qualify in the African Nations Cup and they have to beat Mali, although a draw in the other game would mean they only need a point. The game is a 6pm kick-off local time and the game is the only thing folks want to discuss today.

In the morning I went to visit the nursery which was a brilliant experience as it was six months since my last visit and it was great to see the kids again. With them now being fed daily there is a definite improvement in the condition of the kids. They now all know their alphabet and numbers and are really good at English. It is brilliant to hear them singing and a few of the songs they have actions as well and some of it is hilarious.

Although most of the kids are in good health there are a couple who have had their difficulties. I was taking a photo of all the children individually for the Moni Malawi Sponsor-a-Child campaign when I noticed a kid with a badly swollen tummy. I asked why as I thought this was usually caused by malnutrition and obviously the kids are being fed in the nursery daily. It turns out the poor boy has had malaria that many times that his system is really low and therefore vulnerable. This has caused him further problems with his spleen. What a magic wee boy he is as well and he has a wonderful big smile. I’ve asked his mother to take him to hospital as her boy clearly has problems. That leads to another issue here in Malawi as you can wait so long to see a doctor and the distance to get to one can be many miles. When you consider that people have no transport, have land to farm, other kids to feed etc. then a visit to the doctor can be a two day exercise.

The second child I was taken aback with was when I looked at the paperwork and noticed one of the children was eight years old. Obviously with this being a nursery I asked which kid and why. Well I was amazed when this wee tot stood up. There is no way she was more than three or four and my automatic response was that someone was at it and pulling an asylum seeker line at UK customs. It was then explained to me that the child had really bad stunted growth. The sister stood her next to her sibling who was 3 years younger than her and you would have sworn it was the other way around. Stunted growth is a huge problem in Malawi with 46% of kids affected by it in some degree. Stunted growth is generally caused by malnutrition.

After catching up with emails it was time to watch the big game. I headed back over to Stuart’s bar, Chameleon, and watched it with him and his mates. Unfortunately I was 15 minutes late and missed the kick-off and Malawi were already two goals down! The first one was after 37 seconds and was a nightmare for the keeper. The second half saw Malawi creating lots of chances and after pulling a goal back their number nine missed a van Vossen-type sitter. The atmosphere was brilliant and we all thought they were going to do it as the result in the other game was going Malawi’s way, but unfortunately Mali scored a third from a breakaway and the party was over. It looks like Scotland has taught Malawi a lesson in hard luck football stories. So near but yet so far!