Saturday was exciting as we were invited by our friend
Hastings 1 to a conference at Annie’s lodge. The theme was entrepreneurship and
it was put on by a group of studetns called ENACT,
for Entrepreneurship in Action. It is
made up of students and graduates of the Malawi Polytechnic University in
Blantyre, so I was really excited to meet some college kids. Less excited for
the small presentation Hastings had asked me to do on my device. But a promise
is a promise, and the polytechnic kids would probably have great ideas for the
system.
After breakfast we moseyed into the conference center and
saw that the tables were in a U shape, with a little u inside of it. Presenters
had to sit at the inner u, which was nerve wracking. I soon quit my worrying
because the presenters were just so incredible. The MCs were very charismatic
and funny. The first presenter was a secondary school girl who was part of a
sort of pre-ENACT group called student driven solutions. The mission of ENACT
is to help students begin businesses while still in university, but student
driven solutions says “hey it’s never too early!” The girl, Mayamiko, has
dreams of two businesses: the first a social enterprise to help girls from her
village avoid becoming prostitutes by a system of micro-financing, and the
second a fashion design business. Her heart was an inspiration.
Quite appropriately, the next speaker was a polytechnic 4th
year names Lauretta who began her own fashion line, called Vivietta. She has
dressed entire fashion shows and many beauty contest winners, and since beginning
her business last August has gained international recognition and recently
signed a contract with a company in the UK. And it all makes sense because the
clothes are incredible. We played a fun game, all introduces ourselves, and
then Ashley and I did our little bits. Ashley was gracious and eloquent, I gave
it the ol’ college try and gesticulated lots with the inflatable baby. Next a
polytechnic student named Dumi showed us his SMS security and alarm system
which was really cool and impressive because it used a microcontroller which
aren’t widely used or taught about in Malawi. Then Dr. Kelly talked about her
success renewing and reselling old houses. Then…it was Annie’s turn.
Annie woke up like this
I’ve said multiple times Annie is Beyoncé. It’s because of
this- she knows what she is doing. She talks so engagingly that she could
probably say anything and I’d think her an expert, but she really did have a lot
of wisdom on business. She has a way of simplifying things. After telling the
story of beginning with a coffee shop in Lilongwe, then traveling a lot and as
a result housing international friends who visited (thus, the loge was born),
she told us some of her beliefs on business. My favorites were that “It’s not
good walking around with big feathers,” referring to when birds puff up to look
bigger. She argues the business owner must be as small as possible so the
customer feels big. Also she talked about the fact that half of what people pay
for in any business is how they are made to feel. So no one wants to do
business with a sour face, and putting on a happy face and making them feel
relaxed is sometimes as important as what you are trying to sell them on.
Next was lunch where Ashley, Penny and I got to know Dumi
and Lauretta better. They told us more about Africa as a whole and some of its
problems, as well as some unique problems in Kenya, Malawi, and the DRC, all of
which Lauretta has lived in. Amos was also playing there on the porch so we
listened to him. While a student was borrowing his guitar to play a song, he
handed me a small notebook. He had told me a week earlier about his
volunteering in a health center, but this blew me away. He had written pages of
background information on the issue of the initiatory rights of a Malawian
tribe that include sexual acts on young girls that contribute to their early
sexual activity and in many cases prostitution or early childbearing. I was so moved
at the effort he put toward explaining the issue to me. I only read it today.
When he gave me the book he said for me to keep it until I had time to really
read and think about it. I feel so blessed to have heard his music and been
moved to talk to him a week ago.
monkey outside the conference
After lunch, we knew there would be a party for Annie’s
daughter Katherine. The problem was that in Malawi, set times don’t mean a ton.
Things just happen when they happen. That meant that at 3 pm when I went into
the conference room again to find all the polytechnic students sitting
listening to music, I thought that was the party. A couple students asked me
about dancing and nudged me to show them what I could do. I felt super shy and
refused to dance alone. Luckily Ashley turned up soon and we both got a lesson
from our new friends Christina and Eric. They were both really good. Soon we
fetched the other American girls and pretty quickly the party was underway,
with a big group of us dancing in a circle and copying each others moves. All
the Malawians have a way of moving that makes even the smallest motions look so
graceful and creative. They really can do no wrong on the dance floor.
Very few of the guys were dancing with us though (really
just this guy Patrick who was the best, I’ve never seen anyone look happier
dancing). I wondered why they would waste such a great opportunity to dance and
have fun, the hard part of being the first ones was over. After about 2 hours
of dancing around and getting quite exhausted, we realized- the actual party
hadn’t started. We had just danced our hearts out at the pre party. Soon the actual
party- with Katherine and Annie and food and drinks and live music- was
happening. After sitting on a curb with a bunch of students and bonding for a
bit we were ready to rally.
monkey encouraging us to rally
I was a butterfly. You may not believe this but I will know its
truth in my heart: when I’m feeling it, I can dance. Even the Malawians told me
they were impressed. Patrick and I even had a dance off. It was an incredible
time, learning moves, feeling like more and more of an artist as the night went
on. Everyone was smiling ear to ear. When it came time to sing Katherine a
happy birthday, Andrew and Dan (two lodge employees we have interacted with a
lot) carried in two beautiful cakes and Katherine and her husband cut them, all
while dancing. People walked around with a plate covered in many pieces of cake
and we just grabbed some with our hands and ate like animals. It was the best.
The dancing never stopped.
Eventually the polytechnic students had to depart for
Blantyre again around 9 pm, but we hugged and exchanged contact information to
stay in touch. It was so so wonderful to connect so well with people from this
place, it helped to not feel like visitors but just kids. The party then moved
to a sort of clubhouse at the bottom of Annie’s property, where Katherine and
her family and lodge employees and us kept dancing and eating chips and
laughing. It was quite a night. By the time Memory, one of the lodge employees,
drove us back up to the main lodge, our legs were aching from dancing for
nearly 8 hours. All I could do was shower and sleep the sleep of the dead.
With love and hips that do not lie,
Lauren
I am grateful for…
Avocado
Talking to Annie’s staff
All the Hastings
What will I do to make
today great?
Hastings ENACT entrepreneurship conference
A PARTY
Not thinking about the thermistors for a little bit
Daily affirmations. I
am…
Sarcastic
3 Amazing things that
happened today…
DANCING
The polytechnic students
Annie and her beautiful family
How could I have made
today even better?
Learned even more dance moves
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