To
the South (by Kirk Collins)
Today
we headed south into the beautiful Lower Shire Valley. We were
told that the view from the top of the mountain was going to
be spectacular but when we arrived it was fogged in.
Chikwawa
District Hospital. We unloaded 90 wheelchairs in the humid
climate of the valley. Compared to the other clinics and
hospitals we have visited, Chikwawa was clean, large and did
not seem to be crowded when we were there. This hospital was
the first one Bill worked at five years ago so it was a nice
return visit for him. As with the other drops after we
un-packed the chairs, the villages went crazy over the boxes
and plastic. Nothing goes to waste in Africa. We arrived dry
and rested and left wet and a little tired.
We continued south to Montfort Mission
Hospital. We met Sister Doreen who runs the hospital. Bill had
also worked in this hospital when he was there on a prior
trip. We delivered 80 wheelchairs to the hospital and everyone
was so grateful. As we left Montfort, Chuck started to hand
out granola bars to children. It is fun to watch but there is
a sad side to it also. They get a little frantic trying to
grab one of the treats. The children are radiant when you wave
or take their picture. At first they are a little hesitant to
let you take a picture of them, but once you do and show them
the picture on the digital camera, they come alive with smiles
and laughter. Their happiness is very contagious.
Our
next stop was the Sucoma Sugar Estates. On the way there, we
saw termite mounds, some over eight feet tall. The valley is
beautiful, full of mange, avocado and citrus trees growing
everywhere, and of course maze. The fields of sugar cane were
lush and looked very healthy. It looked like they had modern
irrigation for the entire 12,000 hectares (25,000 acres). One
of the gentlemen we met told us the irrigation is about 45%
water pumped to the fields with the remaining done by rain.
The factory is totally self-sufficient on power. They use a
co-generation generator that is fired with waste from the
cane. The Estate employs over 7,000 people and provides free
lodging, electricity, water and plumbing to each house. There
are seven clinics on the estate and several schools for the
children. They also sponsor some outside projects for the
local community. Sucoma is the largest employer in Malawi.
We
were invited to eat lunch at the Sports Club located next to
the Shire River. We were hoping to see a few hippos or crocks
so Bill could check out his theory on staying completely still
if a crock puts his jaws around your leg. He seems to think
they will not bite if you do not move. Good luck with that
research Bill! Unfortunately we did not see any of either. We
will have other opportunities this weekend. We delivered five
chairs to the largest of the clinics on the estate. So by noon
we had delivered 175 chairs to three sites, we are getting
good...
We
had been lucky the entire day with sunshine with a few clouds.
As we started to go back the Blantyre sky opened up with rain.
We could see villages flooding and animals huddling together
to stay warm. Life seems to continue somehow whether it is
raining or not. As we arrived back in town, Past Governor Bill
had a wonderful idea. We should go and see if the laundry is
done. 
See, Bill has the heart of a giant, and instead of letting the
hotel (which would have taken probably two hours) do all or
our laundry, he asked if it would be okay to take it to a
local person he knew so he could make a few extra Kwachas (the
local currency). Well, the rain came and it came and it came,
and when we walked to the yard to claim the laundry, there it
was still hanging on the line, very very wet! So Past Governor
Bill who had taken on the prestigious title of DCG (Dirty
Clothes Governor) was immediately stripped of his title and
most of us took our laundry to the hotel. We still love ya
Bill...
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