I am thinking about changing my blog title as in five days my African Adventure starts!
The continent has for long been on my "to visit list" and now the time has come. This time I am not going as a regular backpacker but as a volunteer. Volunteering is another thing that as been on my "to do list" for many years and again this seem to be the time for me to do it. So off I go!
However, Africa was not my first thought when I was thinking about where to go and volunteer. I had been thinking to seriously go to Nepal and then to another South-east Asian country. But then my travelling-around-the-world friend Mike and my true hardcore backpacker mate Christine inspired me to go to Africa. Of course Africa has always been on my mind, but was more thinking in the terms of maybe one day I get to go there on my honeymoon. LOL, so I guess I am off on my honeymoon! But where is the groom??
Anyhow, once I decided on Africa I started to do some research on where in the big big Africa to go. There are hundreds and hundreds of volunteer organisations in Africa... the more I researched the more confused I got. But I had one certain criteria! That it had to be for free and in return for my blood sweat and tears I would get food and shelter in return. So I did not even look into those organizations that charges thousands for volunteering for some weeks. This to me is absolutely absurd! I soon realized that in Africa I also had to forget about the free stuff as at least I had to pay for my shelter or the food while volunteering. Well, fine I thought as neither of these are too expensive in Africa.
So I was looking for a small charity offering free volunteering and a cheap bed and I decided to go either to Senegal, Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia or Mozambique. I also wanted to have some recommendations from other volunteers and nomads like me and where else to look than on CouchSurfing! I started reading posts and came across one Coushsurfer that had been volunteering in Tanzania and around so I sent him an email and asked what he thought would be a good idea. This couchsurfer was a Cuban guy in his 50s and he recommended me to go either to the poorer countries Mozambique or Malawi as the people need more help there than in Tanzania. He knew about this small charity called Butterfly Space that was run by two British girls and encouraged me to contact them. So I looked the charity up on the internet, found them very interesting and emailed the girls, who right away invited me to come down and work with them :) They offered me a cheap bed and free volunteering work. "AaaaaaaHhh" I thought shaking my head, never ever underestimate the people on Couchsurfing! Couchsurfers are great great people and even though we do not know each other we can count on one another! Like this guy in the Caribbean Cuba, on the other side of the world, recommends a Finnish girl from north of Europe to go volunteering all the way south to Malawi in Africa. What a small world it is. I love it!
So at the end it was an easy choice. Malawi it was!
The ticket got booked, insurance has been bought, the lonely planet is secured and the backpack is ready! This time around, I have also been smart enough to get a wind-up torch for all those moments when the battery dies and you are outside sitting on the bush toilet in the middle of the dark night when you hear scary rattle noises in the bush next to you. I have also invested in other smart gadgets that I have missed out on before, such as a head-light, practical waterproof dry bags, a ultra light travel towel and new hiking shoes. As all backpackers know the most important thing to bring is, except for the Swiss army knife, an interesting book and I got "Conversations with God" that I hopefully will have time to read.
I have only had a sneak peak in my Lonely Planet Malawi guide book (aka my bible) to get to know something about this new home of mine. I have to admit that I did not know anything, absolutely anything about this country. I did not even know where exactly it was situated in Africa. That is how bad my African geography was. Shame on me!
So for all of you that actually have no clue, just like me, what Malawi is all about I have done the homework for you. So no need to google it :)
Malawi is located south of the equator. Right about here. Next to the the eight largest lake in the world! It neighbors Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. Malawi it about as big as the UK and is populated by 13 million people, who speaks the official languages English or Chichewa or any of the smaller local tongues. The capital is called Lilongwe, where my flight will take me and they have the same time zone as Amsterdam and Stockholm so hurray for no jet lag! I will get to Malawi with Kenya Airways from London via Nairobi, a 15h flight transit included.
Their currency look beautiful to me and is named Kwacha and divided into 100 tambala. For 1€ you get 220 Kwacha, which maybe you get a meal for on the street. I will for sure find out how this really is as I am a big street eater.
Malawi has the reputation for being "The Warm Heart of Africa" because of its friendly people. Among backpackers it is knows as "Africa for Beginners". So I guess I am heading for the right direction. The rainy season is about to start when I hit the ground and it is
promised to be hot and humid with some buzzing malaria infected mosquitos
around. I have already stocked up on some glorious green malaria pills, which I hope I can take with no side effects. I am sure the mozzies inhabitate Malawi because of its beauty and animals and I hope to see some of these hippos around the bush. But hopefully not when I am out peeing in the middle of the night.
Malawi seem to also have its on gold. "Malawi Gold", locally knows as "chamba", is the name given to cannabis originating in Malawi. It is internationally renowned as one of the finest marijuana from Africa and brings an economic profit to the country even though cannabis is illegal in Malawi. It is one of the most popular type of marijuana in the Netherlands, where weed is actually legal. Its taste is described as "sweet, with a hint of pineapple".
Malawi also got very known a couple of years ago when Madonna adopted a baby boy from the country. There was the dispute whether or not the baby was an orphan and it turned out that his father was very much alive but somehow Madonna got to adopt the child anyway. Hmmm... don't ask me why.
Besides that, Malawi is a very poor country where the majority of the people live on agriculture. HIV and AIDS is very common and so is HIV orphans and infant mortality. There are numerous NGOs and charities located in Malawi. Butterfly Space, where I will be volunteering, is both a local charity and a hostel. They run several projects with the community and I can choose from working at the nursery, teach at the school, build the playground, work with disabled children, work in the garden, help out at their internet and resource center and much more. I have not yet decided what I am going to do as I first want to get there and check out the vibe. But one of my main interests is to work with children and if the vibes hit me hard I will go for it!
During my travels you can check out my whereabouts on my Google Map at the bottom of the blog. I will also upload pictures on Picasa, which is linked to the blog. I plan to write as much as I can and hopefully inspire you to join me in Malawi :) As always, you are more than welcome to visit me wherever I am in the world! As for now, my plans are to volunteer for three months in Malawi and then backpack around in Tanzania and Zambia for one month. But note than plans can always change. :)
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