Mission Report 2018

02 July 2018

I’ve just returned from the 4th vaccination appointment. One important part of the preparation is now complete. And soon it will finally begin. It’s obvious why Germany couldn’t win the Football World Cup—after all, the Senior Expert Service in Bonn had already booked our flight for the day of the final…

17 July 2018

On Sunday the feeder flights didn’t arrive. Heavy rain spoiled the departure. Neither Michel from Hamburg nor I from Berlin reached Munich Airport in time to catch the connection to Johannesburg. We were stuck for two days because, due to the holiday season, all flights were fully booked. This evening we’re finally supposed to continue: from Munich to Rome, Addis Ababa, and after a stopover in Ndola, on to our destination Blantyre. There we will rejoin the planned itinerary, and the appointments with GIZ and the German Embassy will take place on Friday.

19 July 2018

It wasn’t so easy to slot into the prepared travel plan, as our luggage didn’t arrive with us. At least Michel’s suitcase showed up the next day… my travel bag will arrive on Friday and be forwarded directly to the airport in Lilongwe. I can pick it up there on Saturday.

22 July 2018

Finally in Kasungu. We drive to Chiuno Village, meet the two chiefs, inspect the prepared digging sites, and measure the depths. Then we arrange to meet again the next day.

23 July 2018

Both chiefs are dressed in their festive clothing. After a preliminary conversation, the community is called together. The women sit opposite us, the men in the center with us, and the children to the side. Expectations are high: since 1997, people have been waiting for a well with a pump, and they have been repeatedly put off and disappointed.

01 August 2018

The pipes are connected and the pump is installed. At the same time, the women dance and sing to the drum, as they are the happiest: instead of getting up at two in the morning, it is now enough to get up at 6 a.m. to fetch water. In no time, the pump is installed and—water flows.

02 August 2018

Inauguration ceremony. Distinguished visitors from the District Commission, the Traditional Authority, other chiefs, and those of the village. After the community has taken their seats in the usual group arrangement and several dances accompanied by the women’s singing have set the tone, the village poet appears and reads the verses he composed for the day from a leaf. Then come the speeches: one chief after another, including the senior chief, then the traditional authority, and a woman who comments on everything once more. Finally, it’s our turn. That concludes the official part, and the whole group moves to the construction site of the second well still to be built, then to the completed one, where the dignitaries gladly try out the pump handle. The women dance and sing, and some of the elders express deep gratitude.

03 August 2018

Meeting with the water committee about the construction of the second well. Michel trains them in handling the tools, explains how the pump must be maintained, and answers questions. We are very moved by a letter of thanks to the donors, written in Chichewa and translated by Chisomo.

05 August 2018

Today we buy building materials, as no truck was available yesterday. So today we make several trips between the hardware store and the village. In the afternoon, we take a short trip to the nearby national park. On the way, we see a kudu; from the lodge across the lake, we see antelopes and a herd of hippos. We missed the bathing elephants. A ranger knows where they’re headed and takes us to follow them. A few hundred meters away, in the adjacent forest, we get very close to the elephant family feeding on trees and bushes. Impressive and beautiful!

06 August 2018

The water committee agrees to the further arrangements for the second well, and those present sign. At the drilling site, a large stone is slowing the excavation. We get stronger tools.

07 August 2018

The well builders have made progress with the stone, but it’s slow going. A chief asks me to look at a small boy. The two-year-old has terrible burn injuries. He fell and landed in an open fire. He is missing palm-sized pieces of skin, several layers deep; two areas are oozing. I decide to take the boy to the hospital.

08 August 2018

We pick up the mother with the little boy. The doctor examines the wounds, checks his temperature, and runs a few tests. Then the boy’s wounds are cleaned, he receives an antibiotic injection and additional medication. The treatment must now be carried out daily over seven days. We take mother and child back to the village and bring another boy with burn injuries. His head is covered with burst blisters; the wounds bleed, and flies settle in them. The wounds have already become septic from sticky hair and contamination. Tomorrow, I also want to bring M. K.’s daughter, who is said to suffer from anemia, to the doctor. The well builders continue to struggle with the stone.

09 August 2018

We visit Mayi Gundani, the Traditional Authority we met at the well inauguration. We ask her for short-notice support for a meeting with Senior Chief TA Kaomba. Chisomo is surprised that she gives out his phone number; I am to call him later. He is at Kasungu Inn for a meeting. We go there. It’s a conference, many people sitting at tables in the garden. Then he stands before me: a very kind and dignified man who reminds me of Nelson Mandela. He takes me outside, where we sit and talk briefly. A very warm conversation that makes me feel honored.

10 August 2018

The first stop is the clinic, where I greet the women who must come daily with their children for treatment. Joseph’s head already looks noticeably better. At last, we receive the full set of pump equipment for the second well and bring it—accompanied by excited children—to the village. The chiefs receive it. Then comes the moment of farewell, a very emotional situation for me. At 13:01 we are on the road and arrive around 15:30 in Lilongwe.

11 August 2018

Chisomo joins us for breakfast at the hotel. To ensure completion of the second well and further project work, I leave him my laptop. At the airport we say goodbye warmly. The flight departs on time; Johannesburg is wintry cold. From there, the onward flight also leaves on time, as does the connection to Berlin. We land absolutely punctually—and my luggage arrives too.

The journey ends on Sunday morning, 12 August 2018.

We set out with the goal of building two wells and completing at least one of them in the short time available. Now the second one will be finished after our departure, thanks to the local colleague who supported us greatly and will complete the work. The people of the village trust us, and we trust them. They want to do more, identify with this self-help project, and are now establishing a CBO (Community-Based Organization) with a legal structure similar to that of a nonprofit association. This allows the next project phase to begin. We want to return, and the people of Chiuno Village want us to return. For this, we are collecting donations to build a school and a kindergarten, as well as a training and cultural center, on a plot of land already available.