Banalities and Tragedies.
Limited came last night to say that one of the men from the staff quarters had been killed in a car accident so he and Andrew will be late today.
I could leave it all for them but I like tidy and so have done dishes, tidied bed, put on washing - none of which I mind. We were up early, at six, because we went to bed at 9.30 and I think I will be due for an early coffee. It is nice in a way to have the house to myself and to wander around sorting washing, doing dishes, tidying and cleaning. It reminds me of how much I like my life in Australia where when someone comes to clean, it is once a week or once a fortnight for a few hours as opposed to every day, most of the day.
Perhaps it is because I value my privacy, or because, growing up in a society which does not have servants, I do not find it as easy to share space. But, as we realised in India, the most valuable thing you can do in the Third World is give someone a job. Of course there are pluses and having the house kept clean and the washing and ironing done are big pluses - but there are also minuses. As with all things no doubt.
Life is so much harder for people here. You cannot help but be conscious of the fact that it is not just the death of the young man but the family will lose their home and his wife and children will be dependent on their family. The quarters here are provided by employers and so if you lose the job then you lose the house. They are really, by local standards, very well off because our guys get more than double the minimum wage plus the house and we pay for electricity and water so it must be a shock when that kind of life is lost. But perhaps they are used to it in ways we might not be.
But you cannot help but feel for them all the same. Our house is in a block of four, fenced and there are about ten, maybe twelve, of them in this street but three or four of them are not completed and have been sitting in that state for thirty years. The houses were built by the president who took over at independence, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, and are actually well constructed - shades of the hangover from the Brits. They belong to the family estate and they have begun finishing the vacant ones.
Like all presidents and those who hold power in Africa, Banda was quick to take advantage of his position and to branch out into profitable areas for personal gain. Hence the row of houses which still provide income for his family.
In the middle of the group are the staff quarters and these are really nice houses - palaces by local standards - the area also fenced, with accommodation for the staff who work in the houses - I guess at present that means about thirty families.
And when Limited did come back, in mid-afternoon, once the family had been set on their way to Blantyre, I heard that the young man who died was not married. That in itself is a blessing for more lives could have been ruined by his death if he had a wife and children. He was in his early twenties and studying - another huge loss for the family because he would have earned a better wage than many can, should he have qualified. His sister is in intensive care and he had taken her breakfast, in that way of the Third World where facilities are poor and family need to ensure that family members are fed while in hospital. He was on his way back when he collided head-on with a truck. Or the truck collided with him. 'Bang,' said Limited, bringing his hands together.
They drive too fast and trucks are often overloaded in Africa so such accidents are common. It is yet another tragedy for his family because his sister is unwell and pregnant and she lost her husband last month through the disease which rages through the subcontinent and no doubt through her. Such litanies of woe are not unusual in Africa and perhaps people are more pragmatic about tragedy in general, but the grief remains enormous all the same.
Our problems pale into insignificance by comparison. It is a salutary reminder. It seems facile to say it, but, beyond that the weekend disappeared as it does with no power cuts which was truly spooky but the server went down because someone had cut the cable (to steal copper wire) in two places between here and Blantyre.
Photo: Mango trees in blossom.
However, they got it back up within two hours which is pretty impressive by local standards. But copper theft remains a plague in Africa with nowhere safe from those who are looking to make easy money. The South Africans are thinking of designating copper as a precious metal which will make it illegal and therefore harder to sell. But I suspect ways will be found around even that. It is the tragic irony of life here that any attempt to improve the way things work is sabotaged by the demands of poverty and corruption.
But where you have poverty and no faith in government you will have theft and corruption. That is one 'law of the jungle' which is always at work.
There is a depressing note to Africa in that it always feels like three steps forward and four backward. We are out on leave in a few days and much in need of it. Down the 'wormhole' into Oz, which truly is a 'magical place' by comparison. Deprivation never breeds appreciation more than in the less developed world. One can only wish it were other. But, wishing does not make things work better and neither does it bring young, broken bodies back to life.
On a brighter note, the mango trees are in blossom and the bushes and trees in general are also in fertile hands. Because of it the birds are abundant and Malawi has some of the most beautiful birds in the world. And it is strawberry season and the young men walk with boxes piled high around the streets in the old part of town. I have already made a few jars of strawberry jam and have frozen some for when we get back. The strawberries, like the tomatoes, are unexpectedly good here. They line up with the other positives in this country like the local gin, tea, coffee, peanuts and locally baked bread. There are always positives it is just that on some days more than others, it is helpful to count them.
In many ways it has been a productive week with the genset serviced; the jerrycans and the genset full of diesel and the batteries for our inverter ordered and due for delivery by the time we get back. And there have been no power cuts for two days. On the local scale it makes for a pretty good week - well, it does for some of us.
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