Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Karonga/Chipita Trip in Short





The seven day survey trip was overwhelming and wonderful. And hard. Returning to Blantyre at 4am, in my sleepy state (and my eyeglasses off) I thought I was back in Scotland. That's how developed Blantyre is compared to the rest of the country, especially the far and remote North.

The trip was a success - we managed to track down at least five signing Deaf in Karonga and collect information. Chipita - we also found two children whose families invented sign language. We went into an actual African village to meet one family - we had to take a bike taxi there.

The M26 approximately between Karonga and Chipita is the absolute toughest road - the road to Embangweni School for the Deaf mentioned earlier in a post looks like a piece of cake. The 150 km trip took nearly five hours in the dirt and crossing or bypassing partially collapsed sections.

Lake Malawi is gorgeous. It's the size of Vermont, the 3rd largest lake in Africa and 11th in the world, I think. Many village livelihood depend on the Lake.

Tomorrow, I leave for the south - Mulanje - for MANAD Board training. Mulanje is also where southern Africa's largest mountain is. Woot!

3 Comments:

Blogger Kate O. Breen said...

I forgot to mention that we weren't aware of Karonga School for the Deaf's (under CCAP like Embangweni) existence. We had a great visit with the students and staff.

Will post several blog posts regarding the trip whenever I get the chance.. - kb

3/31/2009 4:24 AM  
Blogger MCC Brazil! said...

I love the photos - thanks for posting them.
My friend is a medical doctor who works in Angola - that's her main job, but she writes about her travels and experiences and has just written a travel book about Angola. I think you can do the same, Kate. You write beautifully and your adventures come alive to me - development work your main job but writing on the side? I so enjoy reading your posts.

4/01/2009 8:38 AM  
Blogger Kate O. Breen said...

*blush* thanks! I can't deny it didn't cross my mind....

4/10/2009 6:44 AM  

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