October 8, 2007 - We are back from Malawi and our visit to has been quite incredible - the adventure has just begun. We were in the capital city of Lilongwe as well as the cities of Mzuzu, Livingstonia, Liwonde, Mua and Salima/Senga Bay. It was an amazing journey and one that I had been waiting for so many years to fulfill, to finally see Africa. We met so many incredible incredible people, including John's old friend Justin Funsani from his Peace Corps days, it's easy to see how Malawi came to be known as "the warm heart of Africa" - we could(and I'm sure will) learn a lot from them.
The moment we arrived we were involved in helping out with preparations for the first graduation of the College of Education students of the newly formed University of Livingstonia. I was helping to organize volunteers to print and assemble 1000 programs as well as some gifts and dipolomas for the students, and John was standing in at the graduation rehearsal for the Vice Chancellor who had to meet with the president and he also helped write talking points for most of the speeches, including the President of Malawi's graduation address. In addition to attending the graduation we spent our first week at Livingstonia meeting University and community leaders and faculty as well as leaders of the Presbyterian Synod of Malawi's northern region(with which the University is affiliated). We wanted to gather information about their needs to get a better understanding of the current state and to find out more about where they wanted to go as we assessed how we might help.
At the graduation, John and I were in the acedemic procession(wearing our U of M maroon and gold gowns) and ended up being seated on the podium just 2 rows behind the President of Malawi, who gave the commencement address, and next to the U.S. Ambassador and his wife. In attendance were members of Parliment, cabinet ministers, two paramount chiefs, traditional dancers, the families of the graduates, and, of course many of the local people who came for the huge celebration and state event - there were probably 2, 000 to 3,000 people in attendance.
As a state event, it was televised live and rebroadcast several times, so it gave some wonderful publicity to the University, and hopefully some greater credance to the promises made by his excellency(a bus for the University to use in transporting students and faculty from their remote location, a dormatory for the girls, approval of their accreditation, and paving for one of the roads to Livingstonia - all things that were sorely needed). Having skipped my own graduation years ago, I was thrilled to be apart of this one and am sure I will never attend a more memorable, historic, excitement filled graduation as this one.
After leaving Livingstonia we rented a car and did some sightseeing, first going to Liwonde National Park. We took amazing boat, jeep, and walking safaris along the Shire River in this national game park(and had elepants visit us every night outside our tented camp!). We then visited an historic Catholic mission that has arguably the best history center for traditional Malawian culture and an artists' wood-carving center, and had some pure R&R at a beautiful resort on Lake Malawi.
After reflecting on our experience and the information we gathered, we have decided to return in January 2008 for six months. They're very interested in having us update thier strategic plan which can help them set priorities and obtain funding now that they have passed this first important hurdle of graduating their first class of degreed teachers. John and I will work together on this. I'll also provide consultation on project management for their next admissions/enrollment cycle among other things, and I'll conduct some in-service management training and employee development for their staff. John is also hoping to spend some time working at the local hospital, as this is the type of work he did in the Peace Corps and the hospital administrator is a smart forward thinking man who has a wonderful vision for his health care center. It turns out my church has a Dr. and clinic that they have sponsored for many years that is only about 20 kms from Livingstonia and I hope to make a connection there too. It is truly a small world!
It seems like a near-perfect opportunity for us -- a good match with our skills, a country that John loves and that began to love in a very short time, and an opportune time for us to try out "the next thing." With this being only the 4th University to serve the population of nearly 14 million people, the need for higher education is off the charts, and they are so eager to learn and make this a success. I just couldn't imagine walking away from this opportunity, or from the wonderful people we met. And we get to bypass one Minnesota winter!
