Because They're Burning Bricks

Posted By Sika on August 27, 2007

Chichewa word of the day: Boma. The boma is the center of a province or an area. For instance, the Dedza boma, about 20 minutes by car from the College of Forestry, has the big hospital, the big market, and is the big commercial center for that area. I believe that the boma has regional government as well, but to be honest, I’m still confused by the Malawian governmental system and need to review it a few more times before I can even remotely explain it to anyone else. 

Peace Corps jargon of the day- PCMO-Peace Corps Medical Officers. These are our docs. Malawi is unusual in that we have 2 PCMOs and a nurse. Which is good, because it seems like we’re supposed to notify them for half of everything. They’re easily bribed by cookies, though. Well, sort of, in that they’ll be nice if it’ll get them cookies—but they don’t really change their plan of care for cookies. Not even if you beg. Not that I know from personal experience or anything.

We’re going to be down to 18 soon—Ali is going home. She’ll be letting the office know tomorrow and we’ll see how long it takes them to get her out of the country.

There were a few contrasts (not the ones you’d normally think of) between South Africa and Malawi that made me think more about why things are different in Malawi. For instance, in Malawi, when you buy units for your cell phone, you get a pretty little pre-printed red (at least if you have celtel) card. You scratch the back off and call with the number you uncover to recharge your account. In South Africa, at least at the hospital, when you paid to recharge your account they have a little machine that prints out an ugly little receipt with your recharge PIN on it. My first thought was just that the Malawian system is more aesthetically pleasing. Then I realized that the reason is simple. Even here in the capital electricity can be out for a day or more at a time. Many places in the country never have electricity. People out there have cell phones though: they go into the boma and pay stores to charge their phones or they have a car battery off of which to charge.  Many of the “stores” at which to buy units out in the villages consist of little wooden kiosks with a red and yellow Celtel sign (or whatever color the Telkom sign is now that it’s changed to TNM) So of course having preprinted cards maximizes the ability to get units to people consistently in a country where the infrastructure can’t really handle other methods.

Oh, and the really weird thing that made me realize that I’m in freaking Africa was that in South Africa the seasons are reversed. While mom and I were there it was winter, heading into spring. Knowing that it’s summer heading into fall back home. It’s not quite as obvious that we’re in a different hemisphere here in Malawi because there are only three seasons here: the cold season, the hot season, and the rainy season. During Chichewa class, when we were learning weather vocabulary, Agatha asked us to describe the seasons in America.  I tried to explain that in America we have a season where the weather goes from cool to hot and another where it does the reverse. Agatha couldn’t really get her head around the idea and so said, yes, three seasons, just like here.” The point being that the weather here is something different entirely at home and therefore isn’t “not American” but rather is African. Saint (her last name is Saint something-or-other and when she arrived in-country there was another Stephanie and so she is called Saint a rather lot and I just think it suits her) today asked Tim if he thought about getting a job in Latin America after PC instead of staying on in Africa, and Tim replied that he had, and he probably would be interested at some point, but that the thing that attracts him about Africa is that it is so entirely its own. You can’t really compare it to western culture, like you can Latin America; you can’t really compare it to eastern culture; it’s just  . . . Africa. And it has to be taken on its own terms.

Categories: Malawi
Tags: comparisons, South Africa