Bus trips Malawian style

Catching a bus is always an interesting experience in Malawi… You arrive to the bus station and in few seconds you are surrounded with “bus boys” who are all trying to get you to their buses. They will tell you everything to get you to go with their bus..” Take this one! This is the fastest! This is the best! This is the fastest of the fastest!” When you ask for the time they are leaving you get all kind of answers.. “It´s leaving just now now. It´s leaving 7.30. It´s leaving 9.00. It´s leaving when it´s full.” The last answer is always the correct answer, the bus will leave when it´s full, that´s for sure. So basically you just need to look for the bus which has the most people in it already. It might also be that they put some random guys to sit in the bus to look like it´s full though there is not nearly enough people for it to departure yet. They will also step on the gas to make it sound like they are leaving though they are not. It´s a tricky thing. It´s better to leave hurry to home and just set kind of a relaxed state of mind because no matter how much you stress the journey will take time, a lot of time.

For the bus to get filled and left Mzuzu it took us around 1,5 hours. Leaving from Lilongwe back to Mzuzu it was around 3 hours. And then the journey itself is about 7 hours. I guess I won´t be traveling to Lilongwe too often. The bus itself is not the most comfortable either, it´s good to find a seat which is not broken and then there´s the standing passengers also. So it´s a packed bus with a very closeness atmosphere. But the music is good and the landscape is beautiful! And it´s totally possible to sleep also though you might wake up with some neck pain.

I am happy to be back home to Mzuzu. Yes, it feels like home already. The work starts to make more and more sense especially after the workshop we attended on Friday and got the latest update from MMPA (Malawi Milk Producers Association). Hopefully we are able to look at some plans this week.

Rona cooked some chicken Asian style, smells so good I will say good night for now and enjoy the dinner while we still have electricity.

Comments

Sanna said…

Hah hah! :D I'm just thinking if they would wait the busses to get full back in Finland also.. It would take weeks! :D

2/29/2012 3:52 am

Pachoko pachoko.. slowly slowly

Things happen slowly in Malawi, very slowly. We are slowly getting more to the field but not nearly as much that we should be going there. Last week we managed to see some cows. Our field team got a new volunteer from Canada offering veterinarian services. That was great! So at this time we are working on a proper database of all the farmers who are members of MDFA. The information is bit and bits there and there so it´s going to take some time but slowly getting there. Me and Abdullae on the field Just using the word slowly a lot now to make you understand the reality we live in. No point to get frustrated about it, just need to live with it. And anyway we are left with lot of other things to do so might as well enjoy the slowness. I can never talk enough about fuel and diesel, there might be some but you need to be really lucky to get it. There are days when even the black market runs out of fuel. The political situation is very unstable and we basicly living under alert all the time...

Kun naapurin tyttö heräsi kuolleista

Elettiin vuotta 2015. Minulla oli jo muutama vuosi takana Malawissa ja asuimme mukavalla alueella melkein kaupungin keskustassa. Kaikki tunsivat minut, mutta itse harvemmin tiesin ihmisiä muuten kuin kasvoilta. Naapurustossa asui myös mukava nuori tyttö, ihan tavallista nuorisoa niin kuin muutkin alueella asuvat. Nyt kun ajattelen, niin siellä asui nuoria itse asiassa todella paljon. Malawissa 0-24 vuotiaat kattavatkin yli 65% koko maan väestöstä. Kaikki tapahtui pari taloa tästä meidän vanhasta talosta eteenpäin Eräänä päivänä tuli suru-uutinen, että tämä tyttö oli menehtynyt malariaan. Olin kuullut oudoista malariakuolemista, mutta se ei ollut koskaan tapahtunut näin lähellä meitä. Sanottiin, että hän oli ollut ihan hyvävointinen, mutta salakavala malaria olikin ehtinyt aivoihin asti ja hän menehtyi äkillisesti sairaalassa. Se, miksi tämä tapaus jäi erityisesti mieleeni, oli se, että käytin sitä usein esimerkkinä kertoessani ihmisille malarian vaarallisuudesta. Malaria on k...

Sometimes pictures tell more than words

Training farmers about heat detection. I was told here that every 9 cows out of 10 are not giving any signs of heat and are on silent heat.. We all know that´s not possible. So we went through the signs again and reminded the farmers that heat detection is one of the most important works in their farms. No calves, no milk. Introducing a very simple and easy to use "heat calender" for the same group of farmers that were getting the training about heat detection. That´s my pilot group working with this calender. I am looking forward for the feedback on it´s usage and later will introduce it to more farmers if it seems to work out well. The only problem is that not all farmers are able to read, especially the elderly farmers so this comes out handy only for those who are able to read. Teaching our community animal health worker to crab a cow for deworming. With these Malawian cows you need to really strong!! No matter how small jerseys they are. Must sa...

Mikä Malawi

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