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​Moving to The North

11/25/2021

9 Comments

 
Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Joseph Katsala

On the evening that I was told by the CorpsAfrica/Malawi Country Director that I had been placed in Karonga to Volunteer for the next ten months, my mind ran all sorts of imaginative iterations. I was literally shaken to the core. I had never really been in Northern Malawi (apart from my one-day trip to Mzuzu to my sister’s school), and the stories I had heard about that part of the country weren’t encouraging either. 

Days turned into weeks and before I knew it, I was in a Toyota Hilux with two other Volunteers, our luggage in the back, moving to the North. In the travel frenzy, we at times forgot we were relocating from the cities we knew to rural communities to start new lives. It’s surprising how you can want to do something and not want to do it at the same time.

Just as we started passing through Chikangawa, our car broke down and we had to wait for some two hours for help. During this time, and the next few hours being towed to Mzuzu, I had more than enough time to contemplate the fates that awaited the three of us in our respective sites across Rumphi, Karonga and Chitipa. After spending a night in Mzuzu, we arrived in Rumphi to drop off one of my fellow Volunteers in the village that was soon to be her home. As we bade farewell, I could see the anxiety on her face as she was being left, probably hundreds of kilometers away from her closest relatives to live with people of a different culture and language. Passing the grass thatched houses, maize fields, and curious eyes, as we sped on, the dusty road gave me a perspective of what probably awaited me in Karonga. 

Upon entering Karonga, the heat was apparent, the smell of fish unavoidable; reality of what was about to happen was slowly creeping upon me. My anxieties made me wish for a magical fast-forward button that would take me to the end of my service just at a single press.

Before three o’clock in the afternoon, we reached my site and we were warmly welcomed by my host family, the development officer, and the chief. Even though I could not understand every Tumbuka (local community language) word and phrase they said, I did manage to catch a few including; happy, welcome, feel-free, and home. It felt as though they were happy to see me. As I muttered to myself, ‘This will probably not be as bad as I thought,’ I remembered the quote; “We suffer more in our imagination than in reality.” Nevertheless, let me not get ahead of myself, it has just been a few weeks into my ten month stay.
Picture
The breakdown
Picture
Me (in a grey CorpsAfrica T-shirt) with my fellow Volunteer (in a green golf shirt) and host mother and host brother on my day of arrival.
9 Comments
Chiukepo
11/25/2021 11:52:02 am

Welcome to the service Joseph and all the best. Enjoy the lake

Reply
Joe
11/28/2021 12:14:22 pm

Thank you 😅,

Reply
Wedson@villageX link
11/25/2021 10:32:31 pm

Happy to work with you Joseph, all the best

Reply
Joe
11/28/2021 12:14:49 pm

I look forward to it.

Reply
Alex
11/26/2021 03:02:50 pm

Great article! I like how you put the mmod on the ground onto a piece of paper!

Looking foeward to your experiences after a month or two!

Reply
Joe
11/28/2021 12:16:01 pm

Thank you 😅 I will be sure to let you know.

Reply
For.bidden.sunflower
12/8/2021 02:01:52 am

A great read! All the best with the new experience! I have a feeling that by the time your 10 months stay is over you're going to be sulking and wanting to stay.

Reply
Joe
12/17/2021 11:45:51 pm

Hahaha... And thank you I probably might.

Reply
Faith Victoria
12/19/2021 06:51:53 am

Just reading this now. Hoping you have settled in quite well by now. All the best in Karonga waDada 😅

Reply



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