past couple of weeks

waiting for our lift - me doing my porter impression, Claire traveling light



our massive pile of bags - 9 porters! bigger than Hunt's Everest expedition!



a 'fireball' flower



steep and hot



another Chambe Peak sunset photo



looking down to the hut and Elephant's Head - now green with new shoots of grass after the first few rains



a scramble to the summit of Nandalander



on top of Nandalander



negotiating the cave on Nandalander



leaving Tuchilla hut on Sunday lunchtime, with Nandalander Peak visible behind on the left (Khuto Peak on the right)



Rach dancing with kids before the event.



Fatima giving a speech on the causes of disability (surprisingly, it's not actually witchcraft...who knew!?)



a group of deaf people dancing to music. The young woman in the turquoise top and dress is also a plumber.



A wheelchair bound individual demonstrating some of the tailoring he has done.



Rach delivering her inspirational speech, with Rex in the wheelchair (bottom right of photo) translating into Chichewa

Weather: pretty hot, but not unbearable most of the time. Hot in at night too, but luckily we have a fan in our room. Bangwe is quite high in Malawi though, and the rest of the country is sweltering! We have had one fantastic tropical downpour, but that was 2 weeks ago and we’ve not had much since, so we’re just not quite into the rains yet. We were told that when it rains it doesn’t get much cooler – not true, luckily!

News: in my last update I linked to an article showing the criticism levelled at the government. Well, Bingu has responded to this like a petulant child, avoiding really answering the questions and stubbornly twisting ‘facts’ to suit his agenda. This article seems to cover it - http://www.nyasatimes.com/national/bingu-speaks-on-pastoral-letter.html . I am very pessimistic of this criticism having any substantial effect, especially so far away from the next election (2014), despite the fact it has come from one of the most respected groups in the country. If the all powerful catholic church cannot have any effect here, then who can? Maybe we need Mr Ban to come back again as he did for the ridiculous and inhumane treatment of the homosexual couple.
http://www.nyasatimes.com/columns/malawi-needs-more-than-%E2%80%98fresh-generation-of-leaders%E2%80%99.html is an interesting article, with an un-Malawian standard of critical thought, relating to the African tendency to have aging leaders.

Work: I have finished the website. Woop woop! Now we just need the code to upload it onto the live web…however, for some unknown and inexplicable reason the person supplying this code has decided to use the oh-so-reliable Malawi Postal Service to send the code to us! He might as well have tied it to a rock and thrown it in our general direction, we’re about as likely to ever see it! I will pester him by phone and email if it doesn’t arrive next week (our last week of work!).
Rach has been handing over to her replacement and getting more involved in the things she really wanted to do when she came here all those months ago. She has been instrumental in the organisation and success of a Disability Awareness event held on Monday in the sports grounds of a local school. Her speech on equality was inspirational – maybe she’ll circulate it at a later time. She has also been guiding and inspiring Women’s Groups which formed after her Gender Awareness event a month or so ago.

Fun Stuff: Claire arrived 10 days ago, and Rach went to find her in Lilongwe. The next day we had a few of our Blantyre friends up for a braai (BBQ), and trip to our local pub – quite the township tour! Rach worked the beginning of last week, then spent Thursday and Friday down at Majete where temperatures were pushing 45 degrees C. Luckily they got a localised storm overnight, which cooled things right down to a sleepable temperature. On Saturday a big group of us went to a hut on Mulanje for the night. The large group and reluctance to have an early start meant we suffered somewhat when we started walking at 11.30am…right in the heat of the day! Temperatures were definitely over 30 degrees the whole walk, possibly pushing 38 at times in the full glare of the sun (although luckily our walk was reasonably shady). It was the kind of hot where you can feel the air is unusually hot when you breathe it in – a bit like a sauna. Sweat-fest though it was, it was also a good sociable group of a mixture of very new people, old-timers, returnees, and us – so lots of sharing of experiences. A beautiful sunset at Tuchilla hut (yes, the one with the rats – although they were far more timid this time due to the large group), and a night of chilli and wine was just the ticket. Next morning some people climbed Nandalander Peak behind the hut, while others lounged around at the hut waiting for our spritely return. Fortunately we did not set off down from the hut until after 11.30 again, otherwise we may have faced temperatures under 30 degrees C…can you imagine?! A long hot walk down was motivated by the thought of pizza and cold beers. A pool in one of the rivers provided a brief wallow – more for hygiene purposes than genuine cooling, but it made you feel better afterwards.

On Monday Claire came along to the Hash with us again (having joined us the previous week too). The route was very urban and traffic ridden, so good training for her London Marathon run next year – although perhaps the weather will be a little different…perhaps not!

On Wednesday Rach and Claire headed up to the Lake. I gathered by text that their journey was so fast that they got there in time to kayak across to stay on Domwe Island a night earlier than planned – I look forward to hearing about that, such a beautiful place. Tonight I think they are staying in the village at Cape Maclear, then Friday they head for a night in Lilongwe before Claire’s departure on Saturday. On Sat Rach will head back to the Lake to join a big group of us who have rented a private cottage there to help our American friends celebrate thanks giving. It’ll be expensive, but hopefully the good company, food and wine will make it worth it. I guess I could say that I am paying for it with the compensation money the bank have paid me for their inability to set up a direct debit for my credit card. They mucked up twice, and have paid me compensation both times, so that should cover this weekend nicely. Good times ahead!

On a final note tomorrow (Friday 19th) is World Day for Prevention of Child Abuse, and next Thursday (25th) is International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Worth a thought…