Alphabet Soup

Holy smokes! Where does the time go. It is already Sunday here (00:41 to be exact. I've got my Blackberry on a 24 hour clock to see if I can get the hang of it. Next thing you know I'll be working on the metric system).

The days have blurred by. Let's see. Tuesday we went to Dedza Pottery and hunted for the Nkhoma Mission. Turns out the Mission is 16 kilometers (sorry. You get to do the conversion yourself. I'm still working on the 24 hour clock) from the road, which is quite a way when you can only go five or six km an hour.

Wednesday I never made it up for the walking group. Alas! I missed some of the ladies. This is a pretty transient community. Folks are sent here for 3 or 4 years and then they're off to another assignment, or back "home" -- wherever that may be -- until the next posting. This time of year many are traveling to on summer holiday back to families and friends in far flung places (even though it is winter here).

Thursday we began to make arrangements to go to Liwonde -- one of Malawi's national parks. It's an overnight trip. We'll get there next Wednesday in time for lunch and then go on an evening boat safari where we'll see hippos and crocodiles. The next morning we will participate in a land safari when we will hopefully get to see elephants and giraffes and the like. In the meantime we will be roughing it in a family cottage with two bedrooms and mosquito nets (an important accommodation, even in winter). We also went to the Ministry of Hope -- more on that in another post.

I did manage to get to the Friday walk -- Sandy was hostess, so I made a gluten free tea cake that was essentially butter and sugar with a little self-rising flour thrown in to make it look good. The cake was surprisingly good, even though I have never been much of a baker. That's my brother, Stephen's, strong-suit. The ladies seem to like the snack. So did the ants two days later. Monday we will meet at Kathy's house for our morning stroll.

On Fiday night Richard and Monique Dictus invited a group of UN employees over for a buffet dinner. It was a farewell for Elizabeth and Dom who are returning to Rome after being posted in Malawi for 4 years. Dom is with the FAO (no, not Schwartz -- the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization. It was very kind of Monique and Richard to include me in the gathering. Maitland is with the Intermonetary Fund (IMF), which gets him on this "A" list. Although not an agency of the UN, there is a close association in what they do.

Richard Dictus is the Coordinator for the UN Development Program coordinator (UNDP) and Monique and Richard invited people representing more letters of the alphabet that I can relay here.

Present at this dinner (which was outstanding and gluten free since Monique also has gluten intolerance), were people from all over the world working in a variety of UN enterprises having to do with food, agriculture, health, childrens' health and development. It was amazing -- and it was such a privilege to sit with these people who are so passionate about making the world a better place. I got to listen in on a true global perspective on the conditions in Africa, the United States and a host of other countries, since when people were describing a particular situation, they often referred to their own points of reference in their own countries, as well as their observations of similar circumstances in other parts of the world. It was fascinating.

The conversations certainly gave me pause to consider where I get all my news and how I might be a little more diligent about knowing more of the background of a situation while I am forming an opinion.

I think the most moving aspect of the evening was hearing how much everyone around the table truly cares about the people they serve as representatives of the various United Nations entities. We in America tend to have a very jaded view of the UN and its accomplishments, but when you are on the ground, so to speak, there is so much good work being done by dedicated people whose intent is to change lives for the better.

It is almost church, and something for us churchy people to think about.

On Saturday Sandy and I took a small excursion to the Four Seasons Center where I could pre-price touristy gifts. Sandy said the prices there are good and will provide good comparison for other expeditions.

After Moses and Miriam woke from their naps we all piled in the car and drove down to Kumbali Lodge. That's the place Madonna stays when she is in the country adopting children. I can see why she stays there. The Road to Kumbali Lodge is right in front of the President's home. In order to get to the road there is a checkpoint -- a checkpoint that is there for the benefit of the President. Just so happens the check point guards don't like paparazzi any more than Madonna. Works out well.

On the way to the Lodge is Kumbali village, which is supposed to be a tourist stop where they have individual huts constructed for pottery, carving, art, etc. Unfortunately, we got there around 5 p.m. and it was almost all closed down. I think Kumbali village has not yet caught on. Maybe having to go through a checkpoint is a bit of an impediment?