Malawi

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

Look up all the statistical tables you want and you will find that Malawi is one of the bottom 5 or 10 poorest countries on this planet. But then what do the statistics mean? In Malawi's case, they mean that most of the people are just eking out an existence, many are starving and many have AIDS. No one is very interested in Malawi, no natural resources of value to the rest of the world, you see. It is a pity.
I only had a few days there and mostly by the lake and I tell you that it is quite beautiful. And so are its people, quite the loveliest people I met in Africa. Came home, thinking this was a personal impression but it isn't. If you surf the net, you will find it constantly described as the 'warm heart of Africa.' I cannot deny that I fell in love with it.
One young lady, who did my laundry at a camp, asked me to send her school books. I did when I got back home. Oh the box has turned up all right at the local post office but 90% of the contents have been stolen. A young lad has asked me for help in his computing studies. Well I have a spare 3 yo laptop that I could send him but how the hell do I know if I could get it to him safely?
The Malawi High Commission in London and the British High Commission in Lilongwe are pleasant but not of any practical help.

How on Earth do you help these people? I despair.