Malawi Nov 2012

A SCOT AND A BANJO IN MALAWI - NOV 2012

Outdoor concert

"We're happy you've come to sing for us. But half the children – the youngest ones – had a test this morning and we've sent them home.

There are only about 600 pupils left in the school...” said Mr Getso Maheri, the headmaster of the village school at Satemwa. So we sang together under the giant trees by the school yard.

17 concerts in 17 days

”Come sing for school children in the morning, college students in the afternoons, and the rest of us in the evening!” That was the invitation from my old friend Charlotte, who has worked in education, health and agricultural development in Malawi for almost a decade now. My banjo and I had our work cut out: 17 concerts in 17 days. But there was also time to see the mountains, Lake Malawi, and the birds, flowers and animals that flourish in the Liwonde National Park.

Flamboyant trees

In October - November, just before the rains, the Jacaranda and Flamboyant trees bloom. Both tree species are originally from South Africa.

Name influences

The place-names are beautiful: Mankhamba, Liwonde, Chamasowa, Amalika, Lilongwe... But there is also the imperialist tradition: Blantyre. I was able to tell people that it was miners from Blantyre that started the revolution in Scotland in 1919.
People's names: British - Robert, Steve, Frederick, Patrick, Cedric, Maxwell, Brighton
Religious: Blessings, Gracious, Willingness, Precious
African: Mpatso, Zaher, Mowende, Nozipho, Getso

”It's radio-ready”

Maxwell tries to sell me his car, a hand-painted yellow sports saloon with flaking speed stripes and door problems.
There is a gaping hole in the dashboard...
”It's radio-ready,” explained Maxwell !

God is all around

God is popular in Malawi. They paint his name on everything from vehicles to bridges. Painted in huge white letters on a shop front: GOD KNOWS. Wonder what they sold?

The children sang

The children speak Chichewa, but sang along with my songs in English in four-part harmony.

The students I sang with at the training colleges love to sing: they came along and sang at the evening concerts as well. The audiences loved it.

Malawians on the road

Malawi is 2.7 the size of Denmark. The population too.
But you see Malawians all the time, walking along the roadside. They can walk from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. for days.

Dirt roads

A tropical rainstorm turns a dust road into a reddish treacle track that sucks your soles and sends your feet gliding any way but where you want to go. Cars slip helplessly into the ditch. Passers-by will help you out, provided you did not splash them as you drove by. “Then we're not your friend.”

There are tarred roads, but no more than they can be used as landmarks: “Turn left at the baobab and go straight on down until you get to the asphalt"