Passing the days in Lilongwe

I seem to have a knack for writing these updates during power outages…not that I really need to time it just so, but still.

So my first few days in Malawi went really well. Not a single complaint about the place I was staying, I could not have asked for a more centrally located "hotel". It seems like a fairly sleepy little capitol to be honest. Lilongwe is spread out over a huge number of “areas” split across the old city and the new city. For example, my hotel was in zone one in the old city- the oldest spot in the whole place…UNDP is all the way out in zone 47 of the new city (I guess that makes it the 47^th oldest place?). Regardless, my first day went pretty smoothly. I even managed a stop at the U.S. Embassy to register...a very weird experience.

John, my counterpart in Lilongwe picked me up on his way to work and we went out to UNDP together. I cannot imagine how overwhelmed he is with projects and do not know how he finds time to arrange meetings for all of the Millennium Cities researchers coming though. John actually works for UN-Habitat so education isn’t even his area of specialty, but he knew just the people he thought I should speak with in Lilongwe.

My first meeting was with the executive director of ACEM, otherwise known as the Association of Christian Educators in Malawi. You see, there are three different groups working on the provision of education here in Malawi: the government, the private schools, and the church schools. The various churches all over Malawi actually ran most of the schools up until the 1960s when the government took over, but 60% of primary schools are still owned by churches, even if they are run by the government. ACEM consolidates all the different denominations and facilitates the provision of education in religiously affiliated schools. Clearly this is an important connection for my research. Everything went very well and I was given a few contacts in Blantyre to speak with about various reports and such for the assessment. All in all, a pretty decent first day.

I decided that I might venture out that evening to a little place around the corner for some dinner. Don Brioni’s is clearly geared toward the expat and tourist crowd, but I didn’t care. I can’t trek too far a field at night and didn’t feel like paying for a taxi. “Don Brioni” a.k.a. Brian is a British guy who has been running the joint for 20 years. His wife, a Malawian, helps him with the business looks to be about 30-40 years younger than him. Still, they are very pleasant and direct me to a seat at the bar. I had brought my copy of Pride and Prejudice loaned to me by a close friend, but actually never cracked it because as it turns out, I was sitting next to, you guessed it, a returned Peace Corps volunteer. You guys are everywhere!!!

RPCV and I sat and chatted for quite some time. It turned out he had been in the Philippines years ago when the Peace Corps were doing “experimental sites.” He had to walk 7 hours into the jungle from the end of the last road to get to his village. He loved it and stayed 5 years. He certainly has his opinions about the head of the organization I am representing here, and I can’t say that I disagree with any of his points. I do wonder if there really is a “cure” for global poverty and how in the world one solution can be universal. I am also extremely skeptical of any effort that does not focus on empowerment of communities and relies mainly on foreign investment. But what the heck do I know!?

My second day in Lilongwe I had mostly to myself. My first meeting of the day wasn’t until 4pm (who schedules meetings at 4pm on a Friday?)-but it was a pretty big one with the Director of Education and Planning at the Ministry of Education. I had plenty of things to occupy me: cramping all my stuff back into my bag, purchasing additional minutes for my cell phone, and of course, a visit to the ATM to pay my hotel bill.

So here’s the thing, the currency in Malawi is the kwacha and it is a 1:140 ratio. The largest denomination of currency available is 500 kwacha which is about $3.50. So imagine the stack of bills that is spit out when I take out 40,0000 kwacha to cover the hotel for the week, the bus ride, food, taxis, cell phone and so on. Let’s just say it’s a pretty thick stack. I can see the giant target forming on my back as I stand at the ATM to withdraw twice since the maximum allowed is 20,000 at a time. I return directly the hotel to pay my bill, purchase wireless time, purchase cell phone time, and get my bus ticket (essentially to unload as much as I can ASAP). Thank goodness that my place in Blantyre is going to very reasonable so I can avoid these trips as often as possible.

My meeting that afternoon was fantastic! The Director and his colleague were so supportive, so helpful; it was totally unexpected and a wonderful way to end the week. I was not only given their blessing and permission to continue on, but they gave me a whole slew of data and basically indicated that I really should come back to Lilongwe to meet with them again and visit other ministries. So it looks like I will be back soon.