Mangochi

I am in Mangochi again on business – I was here before, about four weeks ago, on another business trip. Mangochi is at the southern tip of Lake Malawi (though not right on the lake unfortunately), and has the highest concentration of Malawi’s Muslim population. It is quite warm in Mangochi, and has a very different feel than Lilongwe – more rural I guess – definitely more people biking and walking through the streets, with only an occasional car driving through. People are friendly, and there are many veiled women and children. There are definitely less white people here, though I am sure the population has seen their fair share, so I get quite a few more stares than I would in Lilongwe, especially as I walk to work rather than drive or take a bike-taxi.
I am here to help evaluate the results of a baseline survey that this office conducted prior to implementation of a food security, water and sanitation program. Not sure if I knew what I was signing up for – I came to pick up the survey results today and there is a BIG box of paper – handwritten surveys…I will do my best to get the data in today, so I can spend tomorrow doing analysis with the woman here who is in charge of the project implementation.
Tomorrow night, Jules is driving up with Regan and Wiley (Melissa’s son, who we have for the weekend) and we will go north a bit to spend the weekend on the southern lakeshore, where Jules and Regan have not yet been.
Although I love Senga Bay, I also loved the beauty of the southern lakeshore when I was here briefly before – you can see mountains all along the coast and the Cape sticking way out into the water.
I was able to send 2 CDs of pictures to Kate for uploading (THANK YOU KATE) so pictures are now available on my flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/adventuregirl7), and I hope to insert some into my blogs soon (if I am ever home for more than one night!!!).