Bye Bye Africa...

My time in Africa has come to an end. It has been a good journey and spending five months in "the dark Africa" has changed my perception of the continent, the people, and non-profits. I, and I think most of us, have this dark image of Africa, where children is starving, there is aids everywhere and child soldiers shoot at anything moving. The media has us thinking that Africa is just a bad bad place. While all of this is somewhat true, Africa has so much more to offer. To me Africa is beating music, bum shaking mamas, vibrant colours, friendly people, rice and beans, nsima and fish, smiling curious children, tranquility, strong laid-back people, and so on. It might be that this is mainly representing Malawi as I spent most of my time there and of course there is still famine, poor people, corrupt governments, scam cheating charities and all the rest. But the people itself, poor or not, are just like you and me. We all want love, peace and joy. Some might consider that being driving down the street in a ferrari while others might find that in watching a colourful sunset over the sea or sharing a meal with your family whether it is a buffet or a bowl of maize porridge. Being born in the Western world is just luck of the draw but true happiness can be achieved any where, it is just a state of mind. 

Dar es Salaam

Africa, at least the central and eastern part is just beautiful. They are blessed with seasonal fruit and lush green wet seasons. I enjoyed so many fresh mangoes, pineapples, bananas and avocados. To me that is pure luxury, to be able to wake up in the morning and just pick the fruits from the tree. I will miss that.
 

The people are also beautiful. They are so strong. It always amazes me when I see women carrying something like 30 Liter of water on their head up the hill and that little 8 year old girl carrying her 1 year old baby sister on her back. The women are the ones we truly need to applaud in Africa. They are the ones taking care of the family. As they say" if you educate a women you educate a village, if you educate a man, you educate one person". I found this to be very true in Africa and I always tried to buy my vegetables from women and encourage the little shy girls. Lots of women are suppressed in Africa, they have no say, they get no education and have to deal with their lazy drunk husbands. I was actually shocked by the amount of alcohol men drink in Malawi. And when they drink it is like there is no tomorrow. They drink until they cannot stand up any more (maybe a bit like in Finland actually). Like the fishermen. They are out fishing all night, which is very much a hard job, but then

Rain from Victoria Falls

when they come back into shore around sunrise they might sell their fish, fill their stomachs with some nsima (maize flour porridge) and chicken, go to the bar and sit there drinking all day spending all their money on cheap deadly alcohol and maybe have a good time with a prostitute before passing out at noon and maybe finally make it home in the late afternoon with whatever left over money there is. What can I day but TIA (this is africa).

I am not trying to be a feminist but this is just the reality in a lot of African places. I think alcohol destroys so much, not just in Africa but all over the world. It's sad. 

So spending some months in Africa has definitely broaden my horizon. I have, as on all of my trips, learnt and discovered new things about myself and the people and countries around me. I am grateful for all the experiences I had in Africa, good and bad and for staying healthy and malaria free. I met so many interesting and nice people both muzungus (tourists) and locals. I will definitely go back to Africa on day and explore more as there are so many things to see and visit. My highlights were seeing the animals, the masai people, and swimming in Lake Malawi among many other things. I have made some great friends on the way, who I hope to see yet again some day.

Tawonga Malawi, Asante sana Tanzania, and Zikomo Zambia. I had a great time!

...next stop Europe!

 

 

 

Kenya Airways took me back home to Europe. Great airline by the way.