I didn’t get as much running in Malawi done as I had hoped as my running buddy Lameck was only there for a couple of days of my time there. That does not mean to say that I did not have other running buddies, just not ones I could go further with! We arrived on the Friday night at about 6.30pm, a good three hours late as our flight had been delayed in Nairobi (on the way I would realise that had been nothing!) and so it was dark and most people were inside. The children had been waiting all afternoon apparently and I felt absolutely dreadful about that. I had text the head teacher to say we would be late but mobile reception was dreadful; there is hardly any in the village anyway but it has been particularly bad lately as there is a chronic lack of petrol and diesel throughout the country and they were turning the mobile transmitters off because of this. Of course it is obviously causing terrible problems in other areas too and there were protests about it earlier in the summer; unusual in a country widely regarded as the ‘warm heart of Africa’. Even though we were so late and it was dark some kids came running out to follow the car down to the HT’s house and as soon as I stepped out of the car I was totally surrounded…and all I could hear were cries of “jogging,jogging”! I explained tomorrow would be better!
It was quite good to arrive at the weekend and be able to settle in more leisurely. There were football and netball matches at another school nearby so we, and a cast of about 100 kids, walked the 3.5 miles to the school to watch. We left about 10am and got back at 6.30pm! It is quite usual for so many kids to go and watch their school teams and I love that – a real community and school spirit and they get so into it, although I think with A and B games of both netball and football I think even they were getting a bit fed up by the end! Most wear their school uniform to go too, which adds to the school spirit.
Most bring fried maize kernels although that was a long time for that to keep them going but what they don’t have is a lot to drink through the day. There was a bore hole on the way which some stopped at and one at the school but many had nothing to drink all day. It’s often commented I think how the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners drink nowhere near as much as us and I guess it’s the same here, they just don’t seem to need it. I was pleased to see that this time the girls were wearing ¾ length leggings under their school skirts to play netball. They have never done that before and it used to make them very self-conscious (understandably) while playing. It’s a game with much more physical contact there than here, although it must work as their national team is one of the best in the world.
On the way there and back I was surrounded by children and it was not long until they were asking to go jogging, jogging so since I can’t resist what they ask of me on every downhill and some straights we were running with me in a skirt, goodness knows what shoes, big hat, sunglasses and bag. It probably totalled a couple of miles and they loved it, singing all the way back. Every day after that I ran with the children as they would always come and ask to go out. We only went around the village really as I could not explain anything else to them and I wouldn’t know where I was going! As usual though it was one of my highlights as we had so much fun doing it. After it every day I would play chases with them and that gave me a bit more exercise and some speed work although I felt very unfit compared to them. I would gather them round me and shout 1, 2, 3, GO and then chase them so they would ask for the game by saying that to me! It was good to go round the village with them as then children who stayed further away would come and join in and then come back to the pitches with us afterwards and join us for chases, bubbles, ball games etc.
I felt that things were a lot better in the village since I was there 2 years ago; more children seemed to have shoes and drawstring bags for their books. They also looked healthier – there were no distended stomachs that I saw this time. Plus more people had bikes and one person in the village even owns a pick-up truck now. Hopefully this continues, I know they have had 3 years of good harvests now but it would only take one bad one to set things back again. They have still been being helped by concentrated aid as well; world vision are helping get children, especially girls into secondary school, they are building 2 more teachers houses and provided a wheelchair for this child, whom when I was there before had to drag himself around on the ground which I found very distressing.
There was one emotional moment for me before leaving though. Two years ago I had a baby named after me, born the same day I arrived and I went back to see her, taking some clothes and shoes with me for her. However she wasn’t part of the success story I was seeing elsewhere. When her mum brought her in she was all wrapped up and still looked liked a baby and when she was unwrapped she was long but very thin and just did not look well and I was told later by the HT that she has been consistently ill. He said he suspects HIV. She is also unable to hear so far although the doctor apparently said this may come back. It was a bit of a shock and she was certainly the sickest child I saw while I was there this time.
On the Saturday morning we walked into Mayani trading town, which is almost 5.5 miles away and went round the market etc. We had Patrick there, a kid who was at school the last time I was there, although about 15, but is now married with a baby. Life would appear to not have changed much for him, just like before he came and hung out with me every day but his wife I only saw when I went to visit the baby and she is so young still too. He told me he wanted to go back to school but of course that’s not possible now. Maybe, by the time his little girl goes to school she’ll have the chance to go to secondary. Anyway he decided to come back with us and he was pushing his bike with a big bag of maize on it. I felt so terrible that he was walking back with us (he would have been able to cycle the flats at least if he had not been with us) that I pushed the bike back with most of the way back – just not the last big downhill as I would have been crushed it would have been so hard to control. It was hard, hard work, not because it was so heavy but because it was so hard to keep upright. So anyway that was a good day of exercise – 11miles very hilly walking at a fast pace, half of it pushing a bike and on the hottest day we had! I felt that was a bit of a substitute for a long run at least!
We left the village that evening (later than planned as Billy the taxi driver had been queuing 7 hours in the capital waiting for a tanker to arrive with petrol) and of course again it was very emotional leaving the children. It was made only slightly easier this time as we were so anxious about the taxi actually arriving that that had taken over a bit and the fact it was dark when I left so I could not see the children so well. Still, it was hard and I didn’t really want to leave! Forty ones hours later, after being bumped off the first flight to make room for VIPS’s, which resulted in a long layover in Nairobi and an aborted flight from Amsterdam once in the air due to a funny unknown smell on the plane I got home, showered, dressed and went to work.
I spent the rest of the week going to bed at 8pm to try and recover and finally felt ok by the weekend. On Saturday Neal and I went to Queen Elizabeth Forest Park to run with the Glee Club. It ended up being 15 miles and it was great to get out and do that and has given me a bit of a confidence boost. I really enjoyed running somewhere new too.
A couple more photos:
