Natka w Malawi: Jak mieszkam / My accommodation

English below

Streszczenie: mieszkałam u malawijskiej rodziny - model 2+3+5 (rodzice + trójka dzieci + piątka krewnych o przypadkowym stopniu pokrewieństwa lub powinowactwa). Dom był duży, a rodzina zamożna jak na malawijskie warunki.

I lived at a Malawian family and had a very comfortable stay. Had a big, clean room for myself with a bathroom just for me. In the house there was (almost always) electricity and (usually) warm water. The family prepared for me vegan food (which were the meals they ate anyways but with soya pieces or beans instead of animal flesh) which I'm very thankful for. I could even ask their garden boy to wash my clothes.

My bed with a moskito net. The moskito net (together with DEET) worked very well - during my 5 weeks stay I've been biten by a moskito only once. The girl on a picture is Nothando.

The family I lived at was the foundation's director's family. The family was typical for Malawi: it consisted of parents and their children as well as several random relatives: a sister in law, nephew, niece, brother, grandmother (the nephew and the niece weren't silbings nor there were they related to the sister in law) - 10 people alltogether living permanently.

I discovered that it is popular for Malawi to be raised not by your parents but by some further relatives even if your parents are still alive. For example, the girl at my house, Lindiwe, now 12, was taken from their parents when she was three years old. She lives in Mzuzu with her aunt and uncle now (the uncle is for her like father because for Malawians and many other Africans brothers of their fathers are also considered "fathers"). Some other family members were raised by their older silbings.

The fact that both parents are educated and have good jobs makes them wealthy for Malawian conditions (where the unemployment rate is around 60%, life expectancy is around 38 years and the most of the population lives in rural areas in mud huts). They can afford to send their children to good schools where the kids can really learn (as contrast to many public schools, especially in remote areas, where there are about 100 students in class). This is why all of their kids can communicate in English - even Ulunji who wasn't 4 years old yet.

Lindiwe and Nothando

A kitten living in the house (in chitumbuka: "chona"). She was about 6 weeks old when I arrived. The little creature has an incredible ability to purr for hours.

Nothando shows me the garden behind a bush. It has a lemon tree, sweet potatoes, maize and many other plants I can't name. There is also a little sugar cane field behind a stream.