My Walk in Malawi

The biggest highlight of my New Year’s trip to Malawi was a walk I took on the 1^st of January 2017. My mission was to find a Christian church to say a little prayer in. just to make sure the Man Upstairs and I are aligned for the coming year. I asked the staff at the lodge for directions to the nearest Christian church which turned out to be a Roman Catholic Church. And so armed with my directions and a strong resolve I set out into the local village to find the church.

After some 20 minutes of walking I decided to stop at a nearby house to confirm my directions. That’s when I met Amaru (not sure if got it right). Amaru is a young lady in form 4 who decided to make it her concern to get me to the church safely. Unfortunately Amaru’s English is not so good and my Chichewa does not go beyond hello and thank you, so communication was a bit of a challenge. Despite the linguistic barrier, Amaru and I journeyed together and struggled to share information about ourselves and our lives. As an aside, people can’t seem to resist asking why I am not married, even Amaru who I had just met wanted to know. She is eager to get married, as soon as she finishes school and finds a man….

Much to her amusement, walking through the village with me made Amaru some type of celebrity because everyone wanted to know who I was. She smiled and told them I was her friend from Zimbabwe. Amaru told me that she walks bare foot because she doesn’t have money to buy shoes. She must have had some expectations that I sadly could not fulfil. I would have spared a pair of mine but sadly she is a size 6 and I am a size 4 (I asked for her shoe size that’s how serious I was)

And so Amaru and I walked to the church and found it locked. She then suggested that we go to her uncle’s shop because he is catholic and may be able to offer some assistance. Uncle walked us to the church elder’s house. On parting uncle gave me that “aren’t you going to give me a little something something” look. That asking look is what deprived uncle of a 1 000 kwacha, I will not be forced into giving tokens of appreciation. Sorry uncle. I did thank him though, profusely so…

Church elder turned out to be a high school English teacher so this bit of communication was much sweeter. But the news was bitter. Church elder informed me that the key holder (holder of the keys) had gone to the city and taken the keys with him. So in a bit of disappointment I asked the church elder if it would be ok for me to say my prayers at the door of the church. Agreeable he was, and so Amaru and I walked back to the church. When we got back to the church Amaru absolutely refused to leave me, opting instead to sit under a tree waiting for me while I prayed.

All I will say about the prayer at the door of that old and dilapidated Catholic Church was that it was sadly beautiful and beautifully sad….

After the prayer Amaru and I walked back to the main road where she left me, we exchanged goodbyes and Amaru received her token of appreciation, politely and full of surprise, as though she was not expecting it.

That walk was the highlight of my trip…

Coming a close second was the New Year’s Eve party at the Funky Cichlid…. But that’s another story for another post…