It feels good to be back home in Malawi...soon after landing in the capital, Lilongwe on 17 May, I sensed the smell of the dust, and I said yes, this is home! A few hours later I was chewing sugarcane with my two uncles at Area 47 in the city, before catching a bus to Blantyre where I arrived around 9pm. What a trip! I thanked God for the travel mercies and grace I found before Him and friends like Pastor Duncan Forbes and my classmate Margaret Nyamushamba who took me to Heathrow Airport, and also for the favour with my luggage which included my new Ibanez guitar..(I had worries if I would be allowed to have three pieces of luggage!). In Blantyre it is currently hot in the afternoon and cold at night. Half the time I am at home trying to 'rest' and the other half visiting friends and relatives, including some who are sick. Yesterday I cheered up two patients, today I have already been to see one and another trip is lined up around lunch hour. These are the realities of life in Malawi. In London and Sweden I thought that one is stressed by hustling and bustling, meeting deadlines, trying not to miss the train, tube, bus...time matters alot. In Malawi the stresses are quite different. Mainly they have to do with social obligations such as weddings, engagements, sicknesses, funerals or trying to meet the needs of friends and relatives. I rejoined the Praise Team at my church Word Alive Ministries International last weekend...it was good to be welcomed by the leadership and friends...I was a bit rusty playing the guitar, but I should get better. My family are so happy to see me back after a year and I'm loving the attention!!!
The Reading Calvary Family Church Praise Team has been making me remember home...I have enjoyed worshipping at their church and of course the 'swallowship'. A pity though that the audience hasn't been as 'dancy-dancy' as that of Malawi!
I had an interesting experience today..one of my flip-flops(slippers) or 'masilipasi' broke at the weak point some of you know very well. It was a real hassle for a person like me who abhors walking barefoot, especially in the loo, regardless of the fact that no one else uses it except me!! Being in London aggravated matters, for back home, quick repairs are easy...you take a piece of wire heat it on an open fire and use it to pierce holes into the footware and apply necessary strings or wires to hold the broken strap together( ya, it's the strap that broke!) With these fire alarms here, I couldnot dare light matches...what to do then?? I should be a 'shoe-repairer' (cobbler) or a barber when I go back to Malawi! My DIY skills in these areas are quite good...after shaving myself with a passable 'cut' I also fixed the silipasi! If you want to know how I did it, give me a fiver!!! The other day I was trying to buy a phone online and my Swedish debit card was causing all sorts of problems so much that after three attempts I gave up...I was dejected! My friend Margaret Nyamushamba was passing by Hammersmith and I asked her to go to the phone shop and do the necessary (kuchita zomwezo)...she succeeded. I thank God because the phone I was seeking online was locked and would have needed unlocking, but the one Margaret came with for the same amount of money, was sim-free yet of the same model!! I saw the wonders of God as I failed thrice to buy online. The Lord knew that as His child I deserved better, a phone that would not cost me more money to unlock!! Praise Jesus!!
Time flies indeed and it seems like yesterday when I was arriving in London for my studies in January. It also seems like a moment ago as I reeled under the pain of losing my close friend, Lucy Prisca Mtembezeka, a year ago today. It's a pity that her photo is on my laptop which crashed a year ago and is proving too expensive to repair...you would have seen her bubbly, smily face. I still think about Lucy and look at the last ever card she gave me. ( I took it with me from Malawi)...the words say: "When the sun is shining in the sky, brightening the world around us..you are the one who puts a touch of joy, of delight to my world, Love you tenderly". The little girl would have been in form three; she was intelligent and desiring to succeed in the battle against orphanhood challenges! I miss her alot. On a warmer note..the sun today feels like the African version! Quite hot outside and I don't know how the people basking on the lawn are managing. I guess they are making the most out of the weather, while I as an African, don't miss or mind much sunshine.
