Today was highly anticipated because we FINALLY got to hike
this beautiful mountain we live below. It has been seducing me for weeks and at
last we had a free morning to explore it.
After a nice breakfast where Amos played some Christian
music, probably in honor of Sunday, and I drank lots of tea, our favorite
driver, Felix, came to pick us up. Felix used to work for the forest department
so he regularly gave tours of the mountain (Zomba Plateau) and others, and
would be taking us all the way to the top. We piled into the car and he turned
onto a road we have never used that immediately sloped upwards onto a rocky
path. We even crossed a rickety bridge barely as wide as the car.
Shortly, the road was winding up the mountain and on each
bend, people waited for the passing cars holding out baskets of brightly
colored fruits. They looked amazing- bright red berries and fat yellow bananas
and plenty of fruits I couldn’t identify. They all stood up quickly holding out
their baskets desperately as we passed and I wondered how much business they
can get just waiting here on the winding road. We can’t really eat berries
though and we were on a mission so we kept trucking up the mountain. Felix
pointed out the dirt single-track on the side of the road and told us they were
called “potato paths” for the Mozambican refugees that come to Zomba to farm
potatoes on the mountains, and use the paths as shortcuts down to the town to
sell their spuds. I don’t know if anything has sounded more magical and
fantastical to my ears than “potato path.”
After a little bit we turned off the main road to a red dirt
road that bounced us a ways into the forest. We shortly parked at a Y
intersection and hopped out of the car, ready to hike. There was a hut there
made of sticks which 4 guys ran out of when they saw us. They hurried over to
some little benches by the side of the road which were laden with precious
stones arranged on pieces of newspaper. Felix explained that Zomba plateau and
the next mountain over were rich with these rocks, mostly different types of agate,
quartz, and something that sounded like “blue coriander” but I think that’s a
spice and unfortunately there’s a restaurant somewhere called blue coriander so
that’s all that comes up when I google search it to verify. Also others but their
accents were really thick and I’m not a geologist so I can’t be sure of their names.
They were pretty is the point.
We resisted buying anything then, and started our hike.
Shortly after getting underway, we passed under a tree and I heard fervent
buzzing. I looked up and there were just tons of bees in the tree high above
us. Felix told us they like the flowers of the tree. It sounded like bees do in
a movie, all the angry buzzing.
The scenery was so beautiful. Some of it seemed very classic
African jungle like you might imagine, but lots of it felt just like the Appalachians
BECAUSE those sneaky British imperialists cut down lots of the natural forest
and planted tons of pine when they got here so that they could have trees to
make paper. It’s a little sad but the pine forest was also really beautiful.
There were also some ferns that Felix told us the Japanese like to make pie out
of. So mom watch out for your ferns when I get home because there’s a new recipe
I’ll have to try.
We stopped at “Butterfly Falls” thus named just because lots
of butterflies hang out there. They were
beautiful and the sun was out too. When crossing a chunk of forest Felix told
us that’s where the leopards live. LEOPARDS. They hide in the day and hunt at
night. Isn’t that insane? I was looking around suspiciously the whole time we walked
through the forest.
Nearing the top of the mountain, Jess and I started asking
Felix about his life. It began because we were both independently wondering about
the tribes I’ve been telling you about, so we asked Felix what tribe he was
part of. That answer was complicated though because Felix’s father immigrated
from Mozambique and married a Malawian woman, so Felix doesn’t have one tribe,
and he lives in Zomba where things are less tribal anyways. Hearing about his
father changed the nature of the conversation though since he died when Felix
was 10, so Felix told us about how he used to be hungry. Malawians have a way
of talking about hunger very factually, without trying to impress upon us how
hard it was. We managed to discover that many days as a child Felix ate once a
day, some days not at all. But his story is a happy one.
When he was in his 20s he got injured doing his job for the
forestry department and broke his femur. It was repaired at Zomba Central but
the recovery was very painful. He told us “but there was so much pain I felt I
was nearing to death.” A woman noticed him there and saw that no one was coming
to take care of him because he was orphaned, so she started visiting him
regularly and bringing him blankets. When he was healed, he married her. Now
they have three children, two in secondary school and one in standard 8.
However, Felix’s sister passed away shortly after bearing her second child, so
Felix adopted her two kids as well. He told us he didn’t want them to know
their parents are gone, so he’s raising them like his own.
That was just the background information though. He told us
about how he teaches his kids. His main goal is to help them eat 3 times a day
so they can learn it’s wrong to steal to eat. He told us about preparing for the
harvest and assigning each child five ridges to make with their hoe before they
can go play, and how they always work as fast as they can so they can be done.
He told about how every dinner is with the family at their table, and that they
“speak praise” for how each kid is doing in school, and all the things they’re
grateful for. He said they laugh every night. The best was when he told us how Saturday
night is different. On Saturday nights they prepare for church on Sunday by singing
hymns after dinner, and dancing together, and Felix’s wife reads from the bible
for them and his oldest daughter Stella closes with a prayer. He credits all
the things he has to faithfulness to God, and by Malawian standards he has a
lot. I secretly cried a little bit when he told us about Saturday nights.
Felix’s farm usually yields 65 bags of maize, but this year
he harvested 5. That’s how terrible the flooding has been, it is going to be a
very desperate place here come October. Felix is saving those 5 bags for the
hungry times and using money to buy maize flour in the market now, while it is
still being sold. Families from his church even came to his house this morning
asking for some of his ground nut harvest and flour, because they hadn’t eaten
in three days. It’s a problem I have some trouble visualizing.
When we arrived at the top, we were in a clearing and there
was a little path to a ledge with some benches, called Queen’s View. The view
was spectacular; I couldn’t believe how enormous Mount Mulanje still looked
from up there. We met a girl named Stephanie who is a peace corps environmental
volunteer in Machinga who was showing her parents around, visiting from
Southern California. She took a picture for us. Oh it’s called queen’s view
because the queen of England visited and stayed up there. I don’t know where
though because I didn’t see a lodge…
A little farther on up there was another lookout called Emperor’s
View, because the emperor of Ethiopia once went up there and apparently the
Rastafarian religion believes he was their living god at some time, so there
was some Rasta signage up there.
On the way down I was walking along and then slipped on some
loose clay and hit the deck. I just scraped my knee but it was all dirty and
gross. Luckily I was with two pediatricians who snapped into doctor mode. Also
it meant I won best blood for the hike!
Also on the way down I got thinking how nuts it is that I
write a blog and more people than just my parents read it. I’m really grateful
for that because part of the reason I take pictures here is so that I can make
people I care about understand what it’s like here. I wish you were all with me
to really feel it. So anyways I’m really happy that you are reading it and
hopefully getting to think about all the new crazy things I’m thinking about.
When we heard the bees again, we knew we were close.
Back at the car I bought some pretty rocks from those guys
selling. Then as we were leaving in the car some guys carrying potatoes asked
Felix if they could put them in his trunk and he could leave them for them at
the bottom of the mountain, so they could walk the potato paths with less
burden. We did that and when we stopped at the road block to deposit the spuds,
a bunch of fruit sellers bombarded us. I bought some passion fruits because they’re
tasty and Penny bought a big yellow thing.
need some gooseberries? I know a guy
At home we showered and then Jess doctored me up. We just
have to change it really regularly because there’s greater risk of infection
here and that would be a game changer.
straight doctor'd
Then we went to dinner just the two of
us and had great talks about life. She treats me like she’s a big sister which
is awesome because she’s a really good big sister and I’m missing my actual big
sister Tierney. Also Kevin, who is not a sister but a brother.
After dinner I had a message from one of my best friends Stephanie linking me to this article http://almost.thedoctorschannel.com/14323-2/. She said she knew my work was different than the things described there but that she thought it was interesting, and it got me thinking. It is very easy for westerners to come to developing nations and leave a net negative result, especially when forming short relationships with children. Also, my original motivation for joining PMDI was so I could see Africa to see if it was for me, a completely self-focused motivation. The only thing now that can make my work a net positive for Malawi is followthrough: using the feedback and data I collect here to deliver a medical device that works and fixes a problem. So Pat is right, of course, it's all about coming back.
Then I worked on the AMCAS but got really really
frustrated because the internet is not very good and it’s hard to make sure I
understand the requirements and so on. But I just threw my hands in the air and
used Facebook to call mom and dad. I walked around outside in bare feet, and it
had just rained so the ground was all wet and warm and steamy. It really helped
to hear their voices, both for understanding what is next on the application
but also because it’s hard to be away from home.
Pride makes me really want to say that I’m so in love with my
adventure here that I never need to come home, but living according to pride isn’t’
usually a good idea so I’ll have to admit it, I’m quite homesick at times. But
I think it’s important for me to discover that now; I’m not like Rebecca at
Liwonde whose personality suits being lonely in Mozambique. I could still see myself living and working here, but I would need someone by my side who knows me very well and
who would understand the way I process the things here.
Anyways the phone call drew to a close when all the wild
dogs started howling. They howl most nights and they’re often pretty close but
I’ve never been outside when it happened and it was really loud and really
scary. I was sure a werewolf was going to grab me before I got to my door.
(shout-out to Wolfe because I accidentally first spelled “werewolf” as “werewolfe”)
Okay that’s all for now, goodnight!
With love and wild dogs,
Lauren
I am grateful for…
A safe place to live
Mountains
People reading my blog
What will I do to make
today great?
See some trees
Ask Felix lots of questions
Shower (poor showers-to-days ratio this week)
Daily affirmations. I
am…
A hiker
3 Amazing things that
happened today…
Learned about Felix’s family
Hiked for 6 hours
Won best blood!
How could I have made
today even better?
Bought more rocks
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