7 quick takes from Hartmut

7 quick takes.

1. A couple from Australia was volunteering with the local NGO a couple of weeks ago and stayed with us. It is their first time with us on our signal hill and they, like everyone else, look for a spot with a great view over the lake and with a more or less comfortable rock to sit on. We are eagerly waiting for the whatsapp messages to load. Internet is particularly slow today but we have learned to be excited for every new batch of messages. Unexpectedly, the volunteers walk over to us and graciously asks us if there is any particular spot on the hill with superior internet reception or if the fastest here is simply the "Emergency signal". I pause for a while regarding the 2nd question about the "Emergency signal" and then it suddenly dawns on me and I need to force myself not to laugh out loud. "No", I answer, "it does not really matter where you sit as long as see the reception tower far down south at the lake shore." And yes, the "E" signal showing on top of your phone screen is the fastest you will get, but it stands for EDGE and not Emergency. So funny how one forgets the old internet carrier signals in time of 3G and 4G/LTE (and I guess soon 5G, if its not there yet).

2. So after our dear friend Philippa, who is co-running the NGO in our village, stayed the past months in the luxury chalet dubbed the "Stone house" (it is not really luxurious at this stage as the roof was disintegrating by the day, hence poor Philippa was rather "forced" to live there). Anyway, now that she left for 3 months to the UK, immediate maintenance is required. I prepared our maintenance manager weeks in advance of her departure that we need to get cracking on the roof the day she moves out.

Fast forward 4 weeks, we managed to remove the grass roof, burn it and clean the house (1 days work) and cut 4 poles (half a day of work). I assume, the rest of 28 days or so were needed to thoroughly plan the work, do thorough risk assesssments, organise the work space and ask the ants and termites to please vacate their homes or they would be destroyed along side them? Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy our staff and have tremendous respect for them, I guess I just have a different concept of "hitting the ground running" and ASAP :).

3. I am sitting with Doris in front of our house while Sophie is frantically running in and out the house fetching all kind of toys. She is the "Oster Hase" (easter bunny) and hides them and we need to search for them once she is ready. It intrigues me how patient Doris is. She patiently sits for minutes on end (as the search is repeated multiple times) waiting for Sophie to give the signal that she is ready. In between the waiting, Doris looks up at me with he deep blue eyes and says "we can only look when Sophie tells us she is ready" and shouts "are you ready Sophie?". I am a little envious at her patience as I could do with some of it, but more profoundly I realise how privileged I am being able to witness my kids play every day and be able to spend so much time with them. In fact 24 x 7 for more than 3 months now. (Only Anneke has been 1 night away from the kids so far.)

For a dad who has previously been working long and hard hours in the corporate world and who also enjoyed going to work, the idea of a "full time dad" sounds amazing but in practice it is a massive adjustment and cannot be taken thoughtlessly. Fortunately, I did anticipate this drastic change and with lots of grace from Anneke and my kids, I think I found my sweet spot and really enjoy being together literally all the time.

4. Before we moved out here into the remoteness, one of our main concerns was of course what we do in an medical emergency. Friends wanted me to buy a satellite phone, build an airstrip or take out a comprehensive international medical plan. We decided to move without them in place and have numerous reasons, the main being that the unknown dangers are always more perceived than the day to day dangers you have adapted to. (It is insane to come to terms how many people we know have died in car accidents in Namibia and South Africa the past months). 3 months fast forward, we still do not have any of them in place, but I still think loads about how to get us out here as fast as possible and we are in a much better position to judge what we can afford and what is practical.

So rather than spending all of our savings on an international evacuation scheme, we are looking into storing our own fuel for in case we need to hire a boat to get us out and fuel has run out in the village (which does happen...) and building relationships with people who will assist us without hesitation in such cases (in real life I think everyone here in our village would immediately assist as I have seldom come across such selfless people).

5. A broken solar panel, a broken charge controller, numerous damaged batteries some unmarked and complicated wiring and a complete sophisticated still-standing pico hydro system...the ugly and unfortunately very common face of development work in Africa.

Fortunately, this picture does not overshadow the local NGO in our village as it is running well and is mostly self governed. The library, youth club and nursery school is working well and the newly installed maize mill is also running.

As electrical engineers are supposed to know everything about electrical house installations (whereas in fact electricians are trained to do so) I have been asked to look at the electrical system and experienced yet again the aftermath of the selfish and obstructive western saviour complex. The pico hydro installation is ma perfect example. The system is immensely complex, build on the wrong spot, no drawings or spare parts are left behind and little to no training was done by the installers to allow it to run for an extended period of time. Only after completion of the project did the NGO realise that the installers were inexperienced final year students who were literally butchering around. Develoment work is great, but it needs to be done the right way and it needs to happen slowly, very slowly indeed, usually way too slow for most western money to be justifyable.

My aim will be to simplify the installation and to see if some spare parts can be sourced. Let's see how far we get.

6. You might be asking yourself what I keep myself busy with the entire day. Besides spending very good time with Sophie and Doris, I mainly keep myself busy with maintenance work. Most things in the lodge need some care and if I don't organise the team, I keep myself busy with cutting and trimming of trees, building an oven, cleaning flower beds and repair window frames or painting. And since you cannot buy much here in northern Malawi and the freight via boat is a logistical nightmare, everything is full on DIY. Furthermore, the generator broke when we arrived and so I have been forced to learn woodwork without any power tools. A skill that is almost redundant in our age but such a blessing to be able to still learn it and see it being done everyday here in the villages. I am really enjoying the learning curve and it is very satisfying.

7. The other evening Anneke suddenly tells me that the soccer world cup must have started or is about to start. How and what happened that I missed such a grand moment in my calender? The answer of course is that Zulunkhuni happened to me. The quietness, the peace, the remoteness, the lack of urgency in life and detachment from the daily internet has taken its toll and I am more and more convinced that it is not a bad thing. I have been telling Anneke for years now that I must stop being so involved in supporting my national team and I think I am getting there slowly but surely. So far I only watched a single game and thanks to God he only allowed me to watch till the 82nd minute against Korea when the electricity went off so that I would only here the bitter result the next day via word of mouth. Now at least Anneke and I are on the same page and are supporting the "red devils".