Back in Chilomoni

We arrived back in Chilomoni on Thursday evening just in time for a meal with all the others at Mitsidi. Tony Smith (founder of Krizevac) was there. It was good to meet him at last, although I haven't had the chance to speak to him properly yet. I look forward to that. Jan and Lindy's children, Luke and Rosie, and their spouses Anneli and John, are also visiting at the moment so it was full house for dinner, 16 people including all the volunteers. For the first time since I have been here the big dining room table was not big enough to accommodate everyone at once and two people had to eat off their laps in the comfy chairs. We fell into bed after supper exhausted after our slow drive back from Liwonde and all were sleeping by about 8.30pm.

The next day I set out to show Rose and Joe Chilomoni. We visited the site where the Children's Centre showed some progress during the last week while I have been away. The concrete supports for the first floor of the south building are in, together with a lot of wooden scaffolding and work will begin to lay the concrete slab for the floor very soon. The scaffolding has been removed from the IT college too while I have been away and that makes a huge visual difference. The building is to be blessed by the Archbishop on May 1 and we are expecting up to 2000 people at a mass in the grounds. To my astonishment Malcolm says that Vince wants me to be the official photographer for the event! I am not sure that I am up to the job, but I shall enjoy having a go! We stopped over for lunch on the site. It was beans, pumpkin leaves and nsima day, so Rose and Joe had a genuine Malawian workman's lunch.

We went to see our classroom in St James' primary school and met Wilson the guard and a few of the teachers, but Alfred the Headmaster was out on a visit. Then we walked through the township to the admin building where I hoped to introduce them to Mary, who has been so kind to me while I have been here. Unfortunately Mary was at the Immigration Office sorting out people's visas. It is part of her job as sort of head of personnel at Beehive to make sure that we are all legal as far as being in the country is concerned. We had a bit of a chat with Peter, Managing Director, and he said some nice things to Rose and Joe about how useful their mother has been whilst in Malawi. That sort of thing is always nice to hear! Then we went in to Bee Bikes and had a good chat with Mike the Bike who runs that part of the project and we visited Bee Books and Joe and I bought a few volumes to make sure we don't run out of things to read. We dropped in to the Liquor Garden for a swift drink and ended up staying long enough for Joe to have a lesson in how to play Bawo from Patrick, the guy who clears away the bottles and generally keeps the place clean and tidy. I was pleased to note that Patrick and Charles, who owns the place, threw out a guy who came in and tried to hassle Rose, because he didn't buy a drink. We wandered slowly back to Mitsidi in time to flop about and read a bit before dinner. On the way we brought freshly roasted peanuts on the street. How much nicer they are than the kind you get in vacuum sealed packets in the UK!

On Saturday we took advantage of the chance to share Malcolm's car and went off to Mulange. We climbed up to the waterfall and had a picnic lunch with cheese and tomato sandwiches courtesy of my birthday parcel from Jack which included four types of cheese! We were fortunate enough to have the waterfall to ourselves for about an hour before we were joined by a party of mixed Malawians and Chinese, who apparently worked together, but I never did find out what it was that they did. Malcolm and Joe swam in the 68ft deep pool under the waterfall, but Rose and I contented ourselves with paddling, contemplating the view and taking photographs. It was beautiful, tranquil and very peaceful. On the way back down the mountain I managed to slip on the rocks and gained a grazed knee, such that I have not had since I was a little girl. I had forgotten just how much it hurts when you actually do the damage, and also how quickly the pain fades and becomes just a soreness that is unpleasant, but not difficult to put up with. We stopped at the entrance to the park where you pay the fees to walk up to the waterfall, and looked at the stalls selling crafts, such as carved boxes of Mulange Cedar. We all bought a gift or two for the folks at home. I had promised Joe that I would buy him a Bawo board for his birthday and we found a lovely little table with a reversible top with Bawo on one side and carved elephants and rhinos on the other so I bought him that. He has spent quite a bit of time since looking up the finer points of the rules on the internet and practicing playing against himself. He even persuaded me to play this morning.

This afternoon we climbed the Way of the Cross and looked down on Chilomoni Township, and indeed a large proportion of Greater Blantyre. It was a fairly clear, sunny day and quite humid. By the time we got to the top I was hot, sweaty and tired, but the view was worth it.