A walk to the Junction

January 8, 2011
A walk to the junction
This morning I finally got out of Regina’s compound on foot and walked the 1.5 miles or so to the “Bunda Turnoff” the landmark everyone uses to find her house. The turnoff is a junction for the road from Lilongwe and the road to Banda (more about Banda later). Like all major junctions here there is a police checkpoint where all vehicles must stop, an open air market, a petrol (gas) station, a large cell tower, and some small businesses. As I walked along the road I marveled at the things I saw being carried on the many bicycles going up and down the road. Since it was Saturday most people were going into Lilongwe to sell or selling along the road. As I do every day I passed men with huge stacks of firewood – sometimes twice as high as the guy sitting on the bike, secured in a wooden framework that creates a canopy over the rider’s head. How can anyone pedal such a heavy load? When there is an uphill incline most walk and only pedal on the flats or downhill but nevertheless balancing the bike under that load must take enormous skill. I also saw big loads of fresh red tomatoes, cucumbers, mangoes, bananas, greens, maize (a starchy rather than a sweet corn), chickens –mostly living- hung by their feet from the rack or handlebars and even a baby goat (alive). I also saw huge loads of grass for thatching huts as well as building materials and consumer goods being brought to the smaller outlying stores for resale stacked high on the rear of the bicycles heading back from Lilongwe. Occasionally I passed a bicycle taxi – a bike with a flat board for sitting over the rear tire. Looks like a dangerous and uncomfortable ride – I’d rather walk. The bicycle riders are all men. When I saw a woman along the road she was either carrying something on her head – anything from a load of produce, to a suitcase to just an umbrella balanced perfectly in the center of her head- or she is sitting by the side of the road selling some produce. The women smiled shyly and some said “good morning”, some of the kids waved at me, some said good morning in English or Chichewa, some stared, while others looked away. The men often greeted me and several asked me “Where you going?” “Nowhere” I said. “Oh just walking for exercise” they would reply matter of factly as though this is what one can expect from “mzungu” (white person). I noticed a number of small businesses along the road along with two very large complexes. The small businesses included a carver of elaborate gravestones with glass enclosed headstones where plastic flowers, ribbon wreaths or other tokens can be placed and kept safe from the elements. Near that business was another that had no sign but there were men sitting outside in front either talking or playing a game, a small grocery store, a carpentry, an ironmongery, and several whose products were not advertised. One of the large complexes advertises a resort in Mangochi (on the beach in Mozambique) a “car recovery” service and car sales service. Apparently a home, occasionally inhabited by the family who owns these businesses, is located behind the wall along with the car businesses. There was also a large “resort” hotel behind a high wall – Kim’s Retreat. I also passed many maize, peanut (everyone here calls them groundnuts), bean and tobacco fields some large some quite small. In most someone – often a woman- was working.
The day was sunny probably in the mid eighty’s with a nice breeze. I finally have some small sense of where I am – a bit out in the country and yet fairly close to town. I took no pictures this time but will try later. It seems I must pay if a photograph a poor person and maybe that’s OK as many people in Malawi live on less than $1.00 a day.