Africa Jurnal Day 32, Tuesday May 24

Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Day 32
Kamuzu International Airport, Linlongwe, Malawi

Our time in Malawi is drawing to a close as we await our flight to Nairobi, Kenya. Yesterday morning I spoke in African Bible College morning chapel service, followed by my Worthy of Your Calling seminar for the Children of the Nations (COTN) staff. Both were well received, and I trust helpful. Andrew and I spent the afternoon at the pool and the evening getting ready for our departure today.

In some ways Malawi is quite different from West Africa, yet in other ways very typical of it. It is not as densely populated as Nigeria, and even Linlongwe, the capital, is much more spread out than Yaounde in Cameroon. It is poorer, with very little natural resources for export. Most rural villagers survive on the bare minimum, as evidenced by their reliance on bicycles for transportation, rather than the ubiquitous motorcycles and taxis in Nigeria and Cameroon. Yet Linlongwe has the most advanced infrastructure of any other city that we visited. It appears that the British had installed water and phone systems before independence. And after independence, Malawi appeared to thrive under the former leader, Kamazu Banda. There is more of a European and Asian presence here, many of the shops being owned by those of foreign descent making their home here.

Health wise, the biggest issue on people’s minds is the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There are many, many AIDS orphans, with many organizations and ministries working to help them. Depression is as rare as it is in West Africa, the people I asked knew of no one in their circle of acquaintances who had committed suicide. It will be interesting to see if the generation that is being orphaned will have a higher incidence of depression as adults.

Christianity is the main religion of Malawi, with up to 80% claiming adherence on census data. There is an Islamic presence with a mosque in Lilongwe and a major Muslim presence in the Selima area. As in West Africa, Malawians are very spiritual.

I am thankful for the opportunity to experience Malawi. Overall, the people are friendly, and probably gentler than West Africans. My heart goes out to the children, especially the AIDS orphans. Also, there is the anticipation of a food shortage this year as the crops were sub optimal due to drought. I look forward to keeping in touch with the new friends we met.