Been in Africa Too Long
In the circles of those who work in Africa from the west there are a number of funny little antidotes that begin with, “You’ve been in Africa too long when …” and you fill in the blank with some sort of situation that is unusual in the U.S. or Europe, but seems quite at home [...]
The Need for just a Simple Pencil
How Can a Student Write Without a Pencil? Some things in this world defy translation and understanding. To explain an ocean to someone who has never left the interior of a nation is quite hard to explain. Snow and ice are hard to imagine by someone who has always lived in a lower elevation [...]
They Keep Asking For Raisins
Zomba Central Hospital, Zomba, Malawi … We tiptoed into the hospital room of the men’s surgical ward at the Zomba Central Hospital in southern Malawi. It had been less than a week since Kasonga, a minister and teacher at the Leadership Training School in Mponela had been in an extremely serious accident. He was [...]
Pain Arrives at the Gate
Senga Bay, Malawi… The emotion is beyond explanation when you have to look a loyal, long-standing employee in the face and tell him his mother just passed away a brief five minutes after the two of you had been discussing her medical condition. He only just finished his sentence that he did not want [...]
Life in a Log, or a Bucket on Your Head
A Carved Log With Which To Fish A Bucket for Water from a Distant River A Hand Hoe for an Entire Garden This is Malawi Today Explain it and few people can understand. After all, this is the 21st Century. No one lives in a mud hut anymore, do they? And how can [...]
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