When times get tough people keep on keeping on.
There is an endurance to the African spirit. I suppose there must be. This continent, perhaps more than any other, has faced extreme challenges and still does.
Of course there is the third world factor but South America and India have never had to face the danger levels of disease and wild animals which Africa has. South America comes close but Africa, with its deadly diseases and deadly animals, insects and reptiles, has been a place of death and danger since humanity first walked its dusty plains and damp jungles.
Apart from which, when times get tough, for most, there is simply nowhere to go. They endure or they die. Malawi has known famine in the past and there is talk of it again. One hopes it does not come to pass but even with aid available there is a diesel shortage which prevents distribution.
The staple food here is maize and the price of that has nearly doubled. For people living on the edge of their money, any increase is worrying but one so large is terrifying. Andrew told me the other week that his wife had gone to their village to plant the maize. He looked happy. We had just had some rains. Sadly though, it is not the beginning of the Wet as we all thought and hoped because the rains have been intermittent and that means the maize crops may wither and die. It is yet another 'fear' to be added to a long and growing list.
The president has been away, perhaps unwell, perhaps holidaying, no-one really knows but everyone is waiting for his return. Any sort of change, particularly unexpected change, is worrying in Africa - it can mean far more than appears at first sight. And people know that times are hard and want their leader here. Tempers are short. Last week the police tried to clear hawkers from one of the roads into Lilongwe and a brawl was the result. It seems an unwise time to be doing such a thing. People are doing all they can to survive.
Meanwhile, problems here are no more than minor inconveniences. The power cuts are worse than ever - daily and for longer; the diesel shortage means we have almost a full tank for the genset but no back-up although we do have hopes it may be rectified this week; the days are hotter and power cuts mean we have to be careful using the inverter so no air conditioning or fans most of the time and the landline seems to be out of order most days for most of the day. Luckily the internet dongle works and so does the mobile phone.
The sense of gloom is palpable but that is because people here have seen the worst, have seen the days of eating grass and dying by the roadsides and it was not so long ago. The fear strikes as fresh as the smell of wet earth after the rains.
There is talk of better diesel and petrol supplies but the queues still snake around streets and lanes wherever there is a petrol station to be found. Our meagre supplies of diesel are inconsequential compared to what this lack means for most people here.
We have decided to give a bit more in our Christmas bonuses for Andrew, Limited, Fred the gardener, with his seven children, and Stephen, Charles and Duncan the guards. We also thought a bag of maize flour and some sugar might make their Christmas a little more cheerful. Everyone wonders what the new year will bring.
It is the season for puff-adders, lazy snakes which won't get out of your way and so often get stepped on, thus delivering a nasty bite, and black mambas, nasty snakes which will attack. We take more care walking in and out of the house than we did. Although neither of us thought of it the other night when we took guests to Kumbali for dinner and had to walk along the unlit path. The owner kindly turned on lights when we left after reminding us about snakes. It was something he should have thought of in the first place but after a life lived in Africa he probably takes most things casually.
Probably the biggest impact on me has been the combined power cut/diesel shortage situation which means I have done less cooking. I miss my cooking times. It's a great way to take care of a slab of the day and there is no doubt that preparing 'double dinners' again is tedious. But all as nothing really compared to people who not only cannot get diesel but cannot get food.
Poor Africa. After so many years here I only wish I could see signs of progress. But I cannot. There seem to be brief shudderings of 'good news' banked up on either side by bleak if not highly destructive events. The cellular memory of Africans must be replete with suffering and patience. And with fear. The foundation of Africa is a belief in witchcraft and almost a sense that 'bad' things are meant to happen, that they are a part of the process. The same attitudes prevailed in Europe centuries ago - there is nothing particular about any of it except that such beliefs have endured in Africa far longer. There are elements of it still to be found in India and South America and Asia but nowhere does a belief in witchcraft appear quite as entrenched as it does in Africa.
There is an 'extreme' quality to belief here which also explains why Africans appear drawn to 'extreme religion' like that produced by the evangelicals. Perhaps such extremes balance each other out in a way because there is no doubt that as evangelical belief grows stronger, so too does the ancient belief in witchcraft. Africa is not a place of moderation on any count.
But, on a closing note, as I write I hear that the national airline has stopped flying because lack of funds has led to its planes being grounded, and the president has returned. It is odd to be in a country where a president can disappear for more than a month with no explanation. There is no doubt that it seems to be a part of the African condition to tolerate - but perhaps that is why they reach a point where they will tolerate no longer.
Few countries in this day and age would allow such things to happen because in the modern age, elected representatives are always accountable. Perhaps the fact that it does happen in so many African countries is why it is so hard to bring about positive change.
