CORPSAFRICA
  • Home
  • About
    • About us >
      • The Model
      • Human-Centered Design
      • Impact
      • Development Partners
      • Junior CorpsAfrica
    • Team >
      • Staff
      • Board of Directors
      • Advisory Council
    • Work With Us
    • Press
    • Videos
    • Testimonials
    • Contact us
  • Countries
    • Morocco
    • Senegal
    • Malawi
    • Rwanda
    • Ghana
    • Kenya
  • Volunteers
    • Meet the Volunteers >
      • Morocco Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Morocco
        • Group 2 Morocco
        • Group 3 Morocco
        • Group 4 Morocco
        • Group 5 Morocco
        • Group 6 Morocco
      • Malawi Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Malawi
        • Group 2 Malawi
        • Group 3 Malawi
        • Group 4 Malawi
        • Group 5 Malawi
        • Group 6 Malawi
      • Senegal Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Senegal
        • Group 2 Senegal
        • Group 3 Senegal
        • Group 4 Senegal
        • Group 5 Senegal
        • Group 6 Senegal
      • Rwanda Volunteers >
        • Group 1 Rwanda
        • Group 2 Rwanda
        • Group 3 Rwanda
    • Podcast - "My CorpsAfrica Story"
    • Featured Projects >
      • Dzaleka Basketball Court
      • Kitchen Gardens
      • Coronavirus Response
    • Featured Volunteers
    • Alumni Association
    • Apply
  • Events
    • Events >
      • PROJECTing Resilience
    • All Country Conference
  • Blog
  • Donate
    • Donate to CorpsAfrica
    • Pay It Forward Campaign
    • Holbrooke Campaign
    • Corporate Council for CorpsAfrica
    • Planned Giving
    • Amazon Smile

Not Just Your Ordinary Friday

5/30/2018

0 Comments

 
Written by CorpsAfrica/Malawi Volunteer Mr. Dingaan Kafundu 
 
Come to my site any day and at first glance it will seem like a deserted little community. You will see houses, little groceries, and shops, but hardly any people in sight. You might see a young shepherd protégé with his sheep passing in the street, a lady with her source of water firmly placed on her head, or a few distant deep voices of men sharing a laugh over a game of Bawo, but that’s about it. You will soon learn that most of the people here spend their times at their Munda and Dambo (out in their field). That is unless, of course, you decide to come on a Friday. 
 
On a Friday, it’s like a whole different place. My small and quiet community suddenly turns into the hustle and bustle of big city-esque community. You are woken up before the first cock's crow, by the sounds of worn out truck engines coming to drop vendors and hopeful salesmen off, voices of women rushing to secure their 'spot' on the vegetable stalls, and little boys and girls choosing to skip school to spend the whole day in makeshift cinemas watching their favorite actors in loosely translated Chichewa versions of their favorite movies. It’s Friday market day. 
Picture
Picture
​Walking in the street to and from the market, your mind is immediately in awe at all the different colors, people, and items on display. What was a quiet deserted road is suddenly filled and packed to the brim. On your left you have clothes of all sizes and to your right are local hand-woven mats at the most affordable of prices. You walk further into the market and you have butchers taking center stage with pork, beef, and lamb at your mercy. Meat comes once a week, so it is no wonder it pulls the largest crowd. By 12:00pm, the butchers pack their knives up, because they’re sold out of meat. 
Picture
As the sun sinks into the mountains and the first stars wink, it is of no surprise that it’s the alcohol's turn to take the spotlight. Men and women alike cheer up in little circles waiting for their locally brewed wine while the younger lot will be found right by the speakers dancing around to their favorite jams. Everyone seems to be having such a great time. And rightly so.
Picture
​It is a pretty remarkable sight. And as the last truckload of people and unsold goodies depart around 9:00pm, the peaceful calm and quiet makes its way back home to my deserted community. In the morning, it is as though nothing happened the day before, the market is back to a single stall of a few tomatoes and the people go about their business. But inside we are all waiting for Friday to come again.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Support
    Welcome
    ​to the CorpsAfrica Volunteer Blog! 
    Get an inside look at the experiences of CorpsAfrica Volunteers in the field.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed

Picture