Welcome to this blog, which was written during a placement in Malawi as part of my training as a minister in the Church of Scotland.
Because this is a blog, the last entries are at the top and the first ones at the bottom. If you want to follow it in chronological order, select May 2010 from the list at the right hand side and go to the bottom, then work up.
Feel free to post comments or questions, they will still get to me.
Alan
Well, we are now back in Scotland and, sadly, Malawi feels very far away. However, it is great to see friends again and the bed is more comfortable.
It’s interesting to see familiar things slightly differently than before.
It is good to know that we no longer have only one shop which sells cheese (sometimes). It’s also much easier to know the lights will come on when I press the switch and being back home also means that my shoe choice is no longer limited to smart or sturdy or sandals.
However, it’s hard not to wonder about the excess of “western” living.
Do we really need “sun-kissed raspberry shampoo”, or the endless shelves of similarly ridiculous products?
I hope that I will no longer take for granted the fact that clean, drinkable water comes out when I turn the tap, or that I have both the ability to travel and the luxury of choosing how I travel.
If anyone is still reading this, then thank you for your virtual companionship on this journey.
If anyone wants to get in touch, then you should be able to contact me via alan at kimmitt dot org dot uk, or by leaving a comment.
God bless you and yours,
Alan
Well, this is it. Ten weeks in Zomba have elapsed. The lack of recent blogging has not been due to lack of activity. Things have been a little busy and competition for the laptop has been more intense now that the whole family is here. Andrew and his girlfriend, Heather, joined us a couple of weeks ago.
Over the course of this blog, I have tried to avoid an “On Thursday I went to….” travel diary and have attempted to record observations which might reassure friends that we are still alive and well. At the same time, I suppose there has been a vague hope that anyone planning a similar trip who stumbles across this blog might find something vaguely interesting or useful.
This has been my first (and perhaps last) attempt at blogging. I have probably been reluctant to write anything too personal, but I don’t think I can leave without some more comments about the people we have met.
Malawians describe their country as “The Warm Heart of Africa”. I have no experience of other parts of Africa, and the temperature has been not much warmer than Scotland at this time of year. However, the welcome we received here has definitely been very warm. Before I came, I knew very little about what I would be doing and the people I would meet. This trip was a wonderful ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity, which seemed to good to miss. Ten weeks later, I can’t imagine not coming back. Despite the cultural differences, our experience has been of wonderful people who have unreservedly welcomed us into their homes and lives.
There was the man who shared his umbrella with me when it started raining. There were the people who gave us the chicken in Nkanda (my neighbour insisted that his son killed it and we ate it the following day). There was the supervisor who lent us his car to make trips as a family. There have also been many people who have gone out of their way to make us welcome. We have been deeply touched and blessed over these few weeks and, although we are looking forward to going home, I think I can reasonably say that the whole family will be very sad to leave.
We have also been to wonderful places and had some great experiences, but I think it has been the people we’ve met that will been the lasting impression of my trip. Ten weeks on from the start of this blog I hope that I am a little humbler, little better informed and little spiritually richer than I was. I also have a lot of new friends.
I apologise for the gap in blog activity. It’s been a bit busy and I am also now having to compete with two children for computer/internet time!
There are obviously huge differences in people’s financial situations between Malawi and Scotland. Of course, I knew this before I came. At the moment, I don’t feel able to comment on poverty in my blog. It is a complicated issue. However, I am recording the following observations about how some people earn money in Malawi.
A lot of people sell a lot of things here. Although there are a couple of (South African owned) supermarkets in Zomba, most things are still sold through smaller shops, markets and individual street/roadside sellers. For example, almost anywhere, even in small villages, there are people sitting by the road selling, neatly piled stacks of tomatoes or other vegetables. Farming is small scale. Some people can get their produce to markets (often on the back of bicycles), but many others have to hope that purchasers will come to them.
Yesterday, the oil warning light came on in the car when we were a long way from a town. Silas stopped in a trading centre and was directed to a dilapidated house, where someone sold oil in reused plastic water bottles.
Mobile phones are popular here, partly due to the poor fixed line network. Almost all contracts seem to be ‘pay as you go’. Top-up vouchers are sold at the side of the road, mostly by women. Walking the route from home to the market, which is about a mile, I pass around 10-15 sellers of top-up vouchers. These are sold at prices fixed by the phone companies and the sellers get commission. There is a particular group of ladies who spot me as I come up the road. They cross to wait for me every time I come in to town.
There are many men who are employed as guards/caretakers/handymen by businesses and individuals. I don’t know how much they are paid, but it can’t be very much.
For most people, cooking requires firewood. The electricity supply is far from universal. Some of the wood is gathered locally, but a significant amount comes from the hills. Every day there are many women who walk up Zomba mountain (for about 1500ft) and return with large bunches of six foot branches on their heads. These are then sold in the town. On the same route, others bring down potatoes, which are grown on the plateau.
Not far from Zomba is a new road which goes some of the way to Phalombe. Part of this has been cut through a small hill, resulting in bare rock faces on each side of the road. Beside these are neat piles of different sized stones for sale. These have been gathered and broken up by men working each day with picks/hammers.
There are many similar examples of ways that people make money. Many people work hard for little reward.
Last week, I responded to a Facebook request from Anne McLaughlin MSP, to e-mail the Home Secretary about Florence and Precious Mhango. Today I found out that part of my letter has been reproduced in Scotland on Sunday (and attributed to Rev Alan Kimmitt). Expect the unexpected!
http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/news/Alex-Salmond-joins-plea-to.6413171.jp
I have been told that things here work in Malawi time. This is widely held to be about an hour behind clock time, but it’s not as simple as that. My supervisor, Silas, is keen on timekeeping and will start things close to the advertised time even if half the people are missing.
The theological college necessarily has a well defined timetable. However, the start and end of lectures are marked by the ringing of a bell. This bell is outside the first year classroom and is rung by one of the first year students. The ringing of the bell can vary up to 5 minutes before and after the correct time. I assume the timing depends how much that student is enjoying his lecture. Lecturers seem to regard the bell as a gentle hint that they might start to wind up. The net result is that the timetable is somewhat more flexible than it appears on paper.
This same phenomenon applied to the services at “Zomba Zero”, the main CCAP church in Zomba, which we attended this morning. The noticeboard outside indicates that there is a Chichewa Service from 6:30am to 8am, an English service from 8:30am to 9:30am and a second Chichewa service at 10:00am. We agreed to meet up with Joseph Thipa at 8:15am, so that I could meet the Session Clerk before the service. Everything seemed straightforward and clear.
The first Chichewa service was still going strong when we arrived and finished about 8:50am. A quick changeover meant that the English service only started 30 minutes late. However, it lasted over two hours and finished at about 11:15am. We didn’t wait around to find out when the second Chichewa service finished!
I think I am slowly beginning to understand Malawi time. It’s a little frustrating for our Western mindset. However, as someone commented, in Malawi, the event is more important than the time. I like that.
Last Sunday, the day after the wedding, was the first time that the rest of the family experienced a Malawian church service. We went to Nkanda, which we were delighted to find is twinned with Cairns Church in Milngavie. We were met by one of the members, Robin, who had visited Milngavie and had apparently met Margaret’s aunt and uncle. At the moment, the Nkanda congregation are replacing the church roof, so less than half the church is currently covered. Since it had rained heavily overnight, there were puddles on the (concrete) floor and we only used the covered area. As the service started, I wondered if I might get sunburned while preaching – not a common problem in Scotland. In fact, the sun moved and I was in shade for most of the service. The service was wonderful and Robin interpreted for Margaret, Robert and Iona throughout. The unexpected bit came after the service when the minister told us that Robin wanted to give us a gift. He appeared a few minutes later with a live chicken. I hope I recovered quickly enough to give an appropriate ‘thank you’.
The next unexpected event came at the funeral of an 86 year old church elder from Chiphoola on Monday, I had been asked to pray (in English) after the sermon. We gathered in the centre of the village, with over 500 people mostly sitting on the ground. I was in a row with the minister and elders and was standing in front of a tree. As we were singing the second hymn, I noticed an ant crawling across my hymn book. It seemed unlikely that it had fallen out of the tree, so I looked down to see a large number of ants crawling up my trousers. Fortunately they were small ants (some of them here are about an inch long) and they didn’t seem to be biting. Surreptitious shakes of the trouser legs had little effect. However, I managed to step back around the tree when my neighbour stepped forward to preach. At least that stopped any new ants starting to climb. Eventually, as we walked to the grave side, I managed to brush them all free. Ah well, I’m here to experience new things – and I am.
‘Expect the unexpected’ has become my motto for this placement. It’s probably a good motto for church ministry. In Malawi. it also works in reverse. My experience so far has been that things will happen that I don’t expect and things that I do expect may well not happen – but that’s OK.
We were invited to a wedding today. The brother of one of my supervisors (Takuze) was getting married and we were invited. It was a fascinating experience. Apparently the day started at 5am for the bride and groom. However, we didn’t get involved until the church service. This was advertised as starting at 8:30 am, but actually started about 10 minutes early. Fortunately, we had arrived at 8:15. The service lasted about an hour and then photos were taken outside the church. The next bit was a big improvement on most British weddings.We were allowed to go away until the reception at 1:30pm, while more photos were being taken. The reception was fascinating. About 200 of us were seated in a school hall (this later swelled to about 400, with many standing at the back). We were given a programme, which was in English except for “First Perekeniperekani”.
After the bride and groom entered, Takuze walked up to me and said “You are opening in prayer”. “When?”, I replied. “Now”. So, in front of 200 strangers, including a bride and groom I had never met, I opened in prayer, with photograph flashes filtering through my closed eyelids – Expect the unexpected. Then was the ‘First Perekeniperekani’. I was told to stay where I was and was given a large plastic bucket. After this lots of people came up and threw paper money into the bucket. ‘Pereka’, I now know means ‘to give’, so ‘Perekeniperekani’ appears to mean ‘to give lots’. I was allowed to sit down and large parts of the next two hours were spent throwing money around. At one point, Margaret and I were given apples, for reasons which totally eluded us since the proceedings were all in Chichewa. At another, we were called up to be photographed with the bride and groom. At about 5pm, Silas drove us home. He trumped my experience by describing a church service where he had arrived late and sat in the back pew. The minister spotted him, called him to the front and asked him to preach. His advice is “Always have a sermon in your pocket”.
Just a quick update to say that Margaret, Robert and Iona arrived safely here last night 28 hours after leaving Stirling with no major problems. 
Despite the pleasant distraction of having them here, I wll endeaour ro keeping blogging.
When I was planning to come out to Malawi, lots of people talked about four hour church services. I wondered what happens for four hours. Now I know. Today I was at Mbedza CCAP church and, including communion at the end, the service lasted about four hours 15 minutes. Helpfully, I was given an order of service, so I noted some timings, as follows:
09:00 – We started in the vestry with a prayer before entering the church
09:05 – Opening hymn, Call to Worship, Opening prayer and Responsive Psalm
09:15 – Two choirs
09:27 – Announcements and welcomes to me, a local student and visitors, who were asked to stand
09:44 – The blessings of three weddings which had recently taken place in the local villages
10:07 – Two more choirs and a drama
10:27 – Dedication ceremony for eleven new members of the Mvano (Guild) – Part One
10:41 – Two more choir and Praise Team items
10:54 – Mvano Dedication (Part 2) – Mvano come in with new ladies in uniform – much rejoicing!
11:15 – Scripture reading, Apostles Creed, Intercessory prayer
11:30 – Hymn
11:33 – Sermon – I preached, but kept it fairly short since it was being interpreted into Chichewa
11:57 – Offering – everyone (200+) came up and placed their offering in the plate while we sung
12:10 – Catch up Masika (harvest) offerings by those not here last week and Offering Prayer
12:16 – Hymn
12:19 – Benediction
12:20 – Signing of the register by married couples and preparation for Communion
12:35 – Holy Communion including two hymns
13:15 – Final Benediction
I must say that the whole service was wonderfully uplifting. There was much joy, especially in the Mvano dedication. I was overwhelmed by the whole experience and never bored!
alan