Harvest

Question: How is Malawi most like Iowa ?
Answer: Corn is king!
Maize is the miracle plant introduced to save Sub-Saharan Africans from starvation. In good harvest seasons it has done just that. However, like most transplants, corn has brought along with in several unforeseen consequences.
For starts, in most of Malawi corn has become so dominant that crop diversity is rare and nutrition is severely compromised. Many Malawians eat maize porridge for breakfast, a few greens with maize cakes (n’sima) for lunch, and n’sima with a little meat (when available) for dinner. (On the cob it looks and tastes like what we know as field corn.)
So, what did we at the Crisis Nursery decide to do with our vacant lot while planning for our proposed building? Plant Corn! Of course, everyone here knows that the soil has become so depleted that “no fertilizer—no maize”!
Last fall fertilizer cost about $75.00 per 50 kg bag. (up from about $50 the year before) and we needed 2 different bags. Thankfully, special vouchers are available for the poor and we received two vouchers on behalf of the babies.
Come harvest time last month, a work crew from the Nursery descended on our modest plot to pick it clean. We then returned to the Nursery where the nannies painstakingly removed the corn from the cob—kernel by tough little kernel. The kernels were then spread out to dry before being taken to the local maize mill for grinding into flour. (Many villagers still rely on mortar and pestle for this process.)
Back in the Nursery again the Maize flour is boiled up to make n’sima which our hard working staff enjoys with a relish of greens, beans, and occasionally beef cubes. Won’t you join us for lunch some day?

The New Truck

Life is hard on vehicles in Malawi. The roads are pot holed and rough. Trips into the bush to pick up and discharge babies almost always require travel on “roads” that we consider paths. They are dusty, rutted, rocky, and often don’t even look like a road. I have had several trips that I thought would be impossible for any vehicle. Nevertheless, over the mud holes and down the ravines to the villages we go.

Our Land Cruiser was starting to need frequent repairs, often costing as much as $700.00 a month. It was killing our budget and we were never sure whether the vehicle would be able to make the trip. What would we do if we got stuck in the bush and had a tiny baby with us? Not nice to contemplate.
So with funding from our friends in the Presbytery of Northern New York, we purchased a new truck. Now, such a purchase is never simple in Malawi. The paperwork is long and complicated. There are licenses, certificates of fitness, and insurance. And then there are the taxes. Malawi charges about 90% tax. Yes, that is correct 90%! This is painful. The cost for our new truck had to be almost doubled. OUCH!! There are certain instances where the tax can be waived, but we didn’t qualify. Only single cab trucks are eligible. However, we can’t function with a single cab as we always take a driver, nurse, social worker, caretaker, and baby –at minimum. Hard to fit 5 or more into a single-cab. Paul has written letters, visited government ministers, faxed, re written letters, and made endless phone calls. He has invoked the powers that be in the Synod. All to no avail—so far! Nevertheless there is still a glimmer of hope for duty-free status.

So, thanks to the generosity of folks at home, the Nursery now has a 4x4/double-cab/diesel pickup truck at double cost. We call it “The Lone Ranger” (it’s a Ford Ranger), and we love it. It doesn’t break down. We can leave the windows closed when it is hot and dusty and let the air conditioner filter and cool the air. The babies (and we) no longer cough from the dust. The lights and fans work. And it has working shock absorbers. Wow. We have never had it so good.

Here at the Nursery there was singing, clapping, and general joyousness when the truck arrived. We gathered around and had prayers for those who drive it, for those who ride in it, and for those who provided the funds. We are all really happy that it is here.