12th Day Thursday

First, an addition to yesterday:

Yesterday afternoon we rode our bikes to Namitete. The primary means of transportation here is the bicycle. Whoever owns a bicycle or even a motorcycle is mobile. Most bicycles have a plate attached to the back luggage carrier, which is often padded. This way, you can take at least one person with you. You can get a ride to Namitete for 75 kwacha (90 cents), but we wanted to ride ourselves and borrowed 3 bikes from the hospital's 'gatekeeper'.

The bicycles themselves are all in poor condition. The brakes usually don't work, or the chain ring on mine was completely bent. But as long as they ride, it's fine. Of course, you don't need a helmet or lock here, because theft is not an issue.

Namitete is slightly larger than Namitondo because it is located on the main road and many minibuses stop there. The selection of goods here is slightly larger. You can also buy bikes here, for example.

When you walk or ride through the streets here, you will notice the general "inactivity or idleness" of the population, especially the men. Everywhere, groups of people just stand, sit, or lie around. They talk and look around, and they are inactive. They don't seem unhappy and sometimes even wave at you. They probably just don't know what to do, which is not surprising given the living conditions. When someone does work, they do it slowly with breaks. Only a few are educated, meaning they have a degree, and they stand out from the others. Only primary and secondary schools are exempt from school fees, but high school requires tuition. The average distance to school is 4 km. Some time ago, there was an education reform here. The teachers from the north were supposed to come to the south, as the schools and teachers there are better. However, parents complained that their children had to do too much homework now and did not want their children to become too smart. Finally, the teachers had to go back to the north.

Last night we were supposed to meet with Francis. He was supposed to come by at 7 p.m. and go with us to a bar. When he hadn't shown up by 7:15, we went alone. (We didn't have any beer left anyway.)

The bar is only about 200 meters away at the 'Ottseingang' of Namitondo.

It's simply a room where a few men stood at a 'bar' and sat on wooden benches. Unfortunately, some had already drunk Malawi Gin or homemade maize beer a few times. Finally, Francis joined us at around 7:45. Although the music was okay, we went back home after 2 beers.

Today was another exhausting day with 35 patients.

At noon, I washed some things. (hot water from the kettle, soap paste, and scrubbing). The wash bins have ridges that are good for scrubbing.

All clothing items are now slightly reddish from the dry, fine red soil. Especially the shoes and socks are really red. I don't think I can ever get them clean again.

It's amazing how clean many Africans are despite everything. We wonder how they always get their laundry clean and even white. And most of the time without a washing machine.

It's funny when they wear clothes from Europe or Germany with German language on them. Here you can see some reuse of our consumption or waste (however you call it). On the one hand, it's good that the clothes are still being used, but on the other hand, it prevents the development of a local textile industry.

Everything always has 2 sides 😉

Tomorrow afternoon, we will probably all go to Liwonde National Park (if it works out again with the car and driver from the hospital).