7 quick takes...

01 June

7 quick takes...

It was so nice to see our 'granny' in the village again.

Sometimes you have days that you, from the moment your kids wake up, wonder if it is already bedtime. Today is one of those days. It’s only 7:30 and I have already comforted more tears, heard more complaints and seen more dramatic eye rolls than I can count on both hands. Normally the girls get on well but today they seem to be uninvited guests in each other’s space with unkind words and tears as a result. Right now Sophie has gone back to bed because she is cold (she also refuses to wear anything but a summer dress) and Doris is drawing. I hope this peace will last for a while so that I can write this blog, have a cup of tea and start this week, that will be busy, in relative peace.
I haven’t been very good at writing lately, as my head has been full. A few weeks ago, a Dutch NGO approached me to ask if I can film for them because they needed some footage. Later on, it turned out that that footage would be for a Dutch TV show, so that has kept me occupied. I had to borrow a camera, organise a trip, learn about making tv and do it right away. I feel like I jumped into the deep end and have been on a steep learning curve in the past weeks. I did the first day of filming last week, but we had many (technical) challenges so I will go back this week and hopefully I will be able to film everything I need to film. Learning is intense and nice, but being able to capture stories of wonderful local heroes so that the world can learn about them is a privilege that makes it all worth it.
The first film-trip tied in nicely with a trip to the north that we had already planned to do. After a year, it was more than time to go back to Zulunkhuni but the journey is long and, if you want to be flexible with times, expensive too. Fortunately we found a gap and it was fantastic. The lodge is closed because of Corona and the lack of tourists, but a few of our friends who work in tourism have found their refuge there to wait this season out. It was great to be able to bath again in that blue lake water, to hike those steep hills, to see people we have missed and to immerse ourselves into the slowness of the village. I wasn’t sure how the girls would react as it had been so long, but they found their groove right away and Sophie asked if we can spend there a month next time, instead of a few days.
Our car was packed on the way to the north. Food for ourselves and our friends but also loads of medication and soap for the village. The clinic in the village has always struggled to have an adequate supply because Malawi doesn’t have what it needs to take care of all its people as it is and depends largely on the help of NGOs. Ruarwe is tucked away in a remote, and hard to reach corner which makes that they are always at the back of the queue. In the last few months, the focus of international aid has shifted from the ‘common deadly diseases’ like malaria and infections to the prevention of treatment of corona. It is understandable but in a country like Malawi, corona is, at the moment, definitely not as big of a deal as the other diseases. As a result, medication shortages are even more distressing and people die of easily treatable diseases. We were glad that we, together with others, could help a little , but its only temporarily and Ruarwe is only one village. I hope that the world won’t forget that corona is not the only drama that we are dealing with and also realise that an ICU bed costs a lot of money to save one life where as malaria medication and antibiotics are relatively cheap with the potential to save many lives. The problem in this world is that the value of your life seems to largely depend on where you were born…
Our car was full when we arrived but definitely not empty when we left. Our favourite banana man who used to hike down 1,5 hours to supply us with bananas came and brought us many of our favourite small yellow bananas. (Yup, when you live long enough in Malawi, you will learn the difference between the different banana species and develop a preference because each species has a distinct flavour and texture.) Another unexpected addition to our luggage (and farm) were two little bunnies. In Ruarwe is a man who keeps bunnies (for food) and we always said that we would buy little ones when he had them. He never had little ones. They must be the only bunnies in the world that were allowed to procreate but didn’t ;-). However, this time around, he had little ones and seeing that we have so many animals already anyway, adding two rabbits didn’t seem too hard. The girls (and Hartmut and I too) are smitten with Lulu and Nijn. (From Kalulu and Konijn, the words for rabbit in Chichewa and Dutch). We still need to build a house for them so right now they are living in a box from which they frequently escape but that will come.
We added some animals but also took some away. This weekend it was the birthday of one of the girls’ friends in Lilongwe. She turned 5 and when you turn 5, ducklings are a perfect gift. (We obviously discussed this with the parents first). It was the first birthday party that we attended in two years so you can imagine that the girls were beyond excited. It was everything they hoped for; a cake, singing, games…. Now it is time to prepare for Sophie’s party. She is turning 6 in 3 weeks and although she may not have much first hand party experience, her wild imagination and creativity makes up for that.
Moods seemed to have calmed down and the girls are playing peacefully together. Sophie is still cold, and still refuses to wear something warmer, and Doris is still easily offended, but at least they are playing, I was able to write this before the daily power outage starts and everything seems a little brighter. Maybe bedtime doesn’t need to come just yet, maybe we can actually have a good day together. Happy new week!