Our early morning drive to the clinic takes us past the machete-wielding 'human lawnmowers'. You do really see them alongside most streets, probably also because it's the rainy season causing all plants to grow so quickly.These flailing machete-waving individuals can be seen trimming the roadside flora at a surprisingly efficient pace. There's 'job security' there too - surely, when they reach the end of a street, the grass and shrubs they only recently cut will have grown enough to where they can once again commence their onslaught on the greenery.
Parts of the US are getting hit by crazy snow storms and weather this week - we are so far removed from that right now.
I accompany E & D to a satellite clinic, some 45 km outside of Lilongwe in the afternoon. We fill up with diesel and then head west, soon passing through a checkpoint on our way out of Lilongwe.
The car races through areas that seem really remote and rural - and then I realize, there really aren't many places in the world more remote than this. Come to think of it, I've not seen or heard one airplane since setting foot on Malawian soil - how often does that happen?
We shoot through 'towns' that have a 'Wild West, main street' feel to it, minus the cowboys and indians. There are a lot of locals around, one group is playing cards under a tree at a table, tobacco hangs in another store, kids are sitting on the curb, goats are running around.
Outside of these towns, we manage to see the vast countryside of Malawi - visibility is pretty good today, and distant mountains, probably in Zambia, Malawi's neighbor to the west, can be seen too.
The turnoff to the clinic actually has a sign posted on the main street! We rejoice and take the dirt road, some 4 km to our final destination, passing a large lake - which probably houses just a few mosquitos...D & E's meeting with Dr. K goes well - it seems that things are going well in this clinic.
No comments:
Post a Comment