Reasons to move (and why that's a wrong title).
I don't think I need to write a blog about why we would never want to leave this little paradise where we live sheltered from crime, pollution, materialism and rush. My blogs and pictures are a testimony to this. If I would start a blog about it, it would probably turn into a book and the process would convince me to cancel our plans and never move again. But that's not what we feel led to do.
When we decided to move to Malawi to manage a lodge, we knew from the start that the lodge would not be a place where we could live for the rest of our lives, even if we would want to. The reason for this is mostly financial. Eventhough we get paid much more than the locals, it is not enough to sustain our lifestyle (we are not demanding but would like medical aid and travel to family as a bare minimum) and well, it's hard to make that kind of money in the hospitality industry in Malawi. We knew from the start that we would live a very simple life and that money for things like medical aid and travel to family would have to come out of our savings. And that was ok but it obviously cannot last a life time.
The girls are really happy here. Many people tell us that the way our girls live is an absolute dream, and in many ways it is. The freedom, the nature, living with animals all around us and leading a very simple, undemanding life has certaibly shaped them and the lessons that it taught us will peobably continue to shape them and us for the rest of our lives. Some people ask me if I am concerned because they are not in a formal school and I can still say wholeheartedly that I never worry about their academic abilities. We are convinced that free, child-led play is the best teacher and I feel privileged to fill in the gaps and help them to find answers for all the questions their curious minds come up with. However, the one thing they do miss is friends. They have each other and are inseparable but especially Sophie is telling me lately that she wants to play with other children.
Before we moved here I had rather naive and highly romanticised ideas about how they would play with the children in the village but the reality is that it's not that easy. The differences are too big, and when everybody constantly touches your skin and your hair, repeats the things you say because they think it sounds funny and always points out that you are different because you are white, playing is not much fun. (I'll probably still write a blog about this topic because I have learned a lot from it.)
So yes, sometimes the girls play with the children in the village but not enough to wipe away the different-ness, not enough to belong. I think it would be good for the girls to be able to play with children who are more 'like them' (and that says nothing about colour) so that they can enjoy friendships and playing with other children.
Our faith is very important for us and living here, with very few distractions has made 'be still and know that I am God' very real to us. But while our personal faith grew, we are also convinced that you don't 'do faith' alone but in a community of other believers. In Cape Town we were part of the most amazing church community and we were very sad to say good bye to the friends we made there as they had become like family. We knew that we would probably not find something similar here but hoped for a nice church to go to. If you ask around here, everybody is a Christian but unfortuately that doesn't translate into churches that feel alive. When we go to church, there are usually only a handful of people (mostly children) and people just go through the religious flow that somebody taught them without it feeling real or with meaning. The main purpose of the church here seems to be to collect money as that's the only thing they preach with passion and it hurts our hearts to see how the gospel gets so distorted. We have tried things like starting a bible study and a sunday school but they never really took off without any support from the church (which you need as almost nobody speaks English). It has been a huge disappointment and we miss being able to go to a church where the gospel is preached and where we can connect with the members.
Now this may sound all very negative but bear in mind that this blog is there to convince me that leaving is a good idea. Initially I tried to write '7 quick reasons to leave' but I could not come up with seven because life here has been sweet and good. To my own surprise, it's not the obvious discomforts that drove us to decide to leave. We would happily continue to live remotely, without showers, electricity and shops. The lack of it made us more patient, more mindful and more creative.
So now you wonder, what is this opportunity that you are after that makes it worth to give it all up if you love it so much?
You may not think about engineers as very passionate people but I would definitely describe Hartmut as one. He is dedicated to his profession and loves the work. He also loved the team he worked with when we were still in Cape Town and commumicates with many of his old colleagues on a regular basis. That's how it happened that one of them approached him to ask if he would be interested in working on the construction site of a solar plant. Hartmut is passionate about renewable energy and loves construction sites (a real boy at heart 😉) and the best part was that this plant was to be build in Malawi. In Salima to be more precise. If all goes according to plan, will move to nearby Senga Bay which is a fisherman's village on Lake Malawi in Central Malawi. It is not too far from Lilongwe and much more populated than the remote shores where we live now. We had to think about this opportunity but not for very long.
It's a good move for Hartmut's career and Malawi had grown on us and being able to stay longer while earning a salary was a dream. We are also very excited about getting to know a different part of Malawi as the 'Malawi' we know now is only a very small part of the bigger picture. (If you want to understand this better; listen to the TED talk on the danger of the single story.)
As it stands now, we are in our last few weeks at the lodge. In two weeks our two months of travel will start. Hartmut's contract isn't final yet but will start in May or June. The contract is not a long one, the plan is that the solar farm is up and running by the end of the year. We are looking for a house and found a great one so we pray that contracts will be ready soon so that we can secure it. It's exciting but leaving here is bittersweet so now I'll stop writing and go back to watching monkeys because now I still can...
Love Anneke
