Days 6 to 10 Time in Nkhotakota

It has been said that the world needs more one-handed economists.  As we know truth is a fleeting concept and statements like “on the one-hand … while on the other hand”, although often portraying a more complete version of “truth”, often lead to confusion. Sometimes “truth” is found somewhere in the middle of the extremes and sometimes it is both extremes co-existing.

I am just back from 6 days away from anything resembling an urban setting. I am reminded of Charlotte’s Web when Charlotte weaves the word “Humble” into the web above Wilbur’s head and needing to respond to a query from Wilbur as to what it means, Charlotte references a dictionary to state that it means “close to the ground”. I too have been humbled – in both senses of the word: I have been close to the ground and made more (much more) aware of the disparity that exists between the world as I knew it and the world as I have come to know it. During the past 6 days, I can say that the only deprivation that I have experienced is the 30 minutes that it has taken to download a webpage at the local internet service site.

“On the one hand” I have been less than a stone’s throw away from villages that embody Malawi as described in the handbook that was provided to me:

Malawi is:

•       Landlocked sharing borders with Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia

•       With 13+ million people the most densely populated country in Africa

•       Listed among the world’s most developmentally challenged countries

•       Life expectancy is 42 years

•       Illiteracy rate is high (27% men and 57% women)

•       80% of women in rural communities can neither read or write

•       Major issues are malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, gender inequality and environmental degradation

•       88% of new HIV/AIDS infections are due to unprotected sex

“On the other hand” the travel publication Lonely Planet describes Malawi as follows:

•       “Malawi is often called – Africa for beginners

•       Lake Malawi – A shimmering mass of crystal water whose depths swarm with clouds of vivid cichlid fish. Its shores lined with secret coves, pristine beaches with beach huts.

•       In the south you will find Mt Mulanje, criss-crossed with streams and waterfalls

•       Up north and hugging the border with Zambia is a starkly beautiful wilderness where ravishing highlands meet vast mountains which loom over empty beaches and colonial relics

•       Zebras pose on the skyline, wildflowers tickle the grasses, and huge herds of elephants, antelopes and buffalos roam on the sultry flat woodland reserves.

Perhaps Malawi is best described by itself: “The Warm Heart of Africa”. Indeed it is all three.

I have been visiting the Nkhotakota region which is mid-way on the western shores of the 700 km long Lake Malawi. Nkhotakota was a major centre for the African east coast slave trade (1840's onward) which used Zanzibar as its hub. Nkhotakota was where the Arab traders met the African world and slaves were loaded onto dhows to sail across Lake Malawi to Mozambique for the journey to the coast. It was also a place where the Scottish missionary David Livingstone stayed (1860) and tried to negotiate the end of the trading in slaves (see picture above for the tree under which these negotiations took place).

Nkhotakota is also the home of The St. Anne’s Mission Hospital where I worked and was the site of the Anglican Diocese of Malawi for over 100 years.