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"Supporting the Light"
2006 The Journey
The journey to Muona in Southern Malawi is made difficult and expensive due to the fact that none of the large airlines fly direct from Europe. This means that a minimum of three flights are required. So we arrived in Blantyre having travelled overnight from Glasgow via Frankfurt and Johannesburg.
Although it was a long three plane journey we arrived on time, and apart from Pr. Jim having some hassle with customs because of the holdall of football boots he was bringing in for Charlie, we got through safely and were greeted by a welcoming party – Charlie, Timothy, Thom and Aubrey.
Thoughtfully, Charlie had arranged for us to stay two nights at Grace Bandawe Conference Centre in Blantyre so that we could acclimatise before descending into the much hotter Muona region.
During the time we were at the centre we noticed a few people who had also travelled on our flights and discovered that they were there to take part in a conference on Children’s Transport Inception Workshop.
Although the rooms were quite basic, the centre had B&B guest rooms with the luxury of a hot show and the all important mosquito net, not forgetting and excellent buffet breakfast, all for a reasonably cost!
As the centre of Blantyre was not far from Grace Bandawe, we walked around the city doing some sightseeing, changed our GBP’s to Kwacha and visited the Malawian Bible Society where we had purchased the bibles.
Honestly folks... this isn't as bad as it looks! They were just leaving the packing of the car to those who knew best and of course, I was taking the official photos :¬)
This is Aubrey at the wheel of Abbas Rest Orphans’ 4x4, our faithful driver and able mechanic who could always be relied on to get us to our destination!
We travelled south from Blantyre on the main road and what appeared to be the only tarmac road. After about 2 hours we turned left on to the Muona road, a more typical road of dusty red earth.
This photo was taken as we started to descend towards the Shire valley but we did not continue down into the basin. Shortly afterwards we turned left towards Muona and the border of Mozambique.
From the main Blantyre road to Muona, I counted 12 rivers but only 6 of them had water all year round. This picture shows just how much land erosion occurs in this part of the country and how much of the soil ends up as silt in the river beds.
The photo above of a seasonal river, with river banks two metres high and large exposed boulders, shows the force with which the water must flow when dropping down out of the mountains, during the rainy season.
Everywhere you go in Malawi you will find people sitting by the roadside selling their various produce – bananas, sugarcane, cloths, maze corn, firewood – basically anything that someone else may buy!
This village was just after a river that still had running water and I noticed that banana trees were growing along its bank, but with so many all selling bananas, the price one can get is every low.
Most village houses are built from bricks made from soil taken from the ground were it is to be built. Those who can afford to, have them fired (as above) to make them last longer. However, many cannot afford this additional process and rely on the sun to bake them.
As we progressed along the road towards Muona, Charlie had our driver turn into Kadodo and stopping outside a mud hut announced ‘That's us, we are here!’ Thankfully it was only a joke. However, village kids were all excited by our presence and soon gathered round for a photo.
The bungalow Charlie had managed to rent for us was in the grounds of Trinity Hospital and was normally used by visiting medical staff. It was a good base to work from and close to Cuppen Hall
The accommodation had this suite (above) and it was comfortable for those who could sit on its warm material. However, George preferred to use one of the side tables as he was always hot enough!
The accommodation was better than we had expected and as we looked around the bungalow, Pr. Jim was caught on camera casting a quick thank you towards heaven. Or had he spotted his first mosquito!!!
The week of the conference turned out to be one of the hottest weeks - touching 40C! But praise the Lord for electric fans and mosquito nets that made our time in Mouna bearable! We had arrived...
Copyright 2007 (c) Almond Ministries
