Week Four (Malawi)

We looked very forward to see this country and especially the lake. I am sorry to say that we are leaving the country very disappointed. So let me elaborate on why.

We spent one week in Malawi, driving from the west to the south of the lake and then all the way up the lake into Tanzania. We had close contact with the Malawian people both in the rural areas and in the two major cities Lilongwe and Mzuzu.

The lake and the midlands of the country is really beautiful and something to be seen. However, you cannot swim in the lake due to bilharzia being present and people bath and do their laundry in the lake. The people in the businesses and campsites is friendly and helpful, however this is where it stops.

The country is really dirty, trash (real rubbish) and plastic bags is all over especially in the villages. The standard of services, especially medical, is very low. The police are just here, not doing anything and it seems the government is on holiday. On top of this can you as a tourist not move around in the country on a Tuesday and Thursday because there are protests and the people get violent. These protest is against one of the ministers that manipulated the last elections in the country.

The people themselves are very uneducated 39% of children never get to school and those that do just learn the basics of reading and writing. Aids is also a very big problem in the country, something like 47% of the people have HIV. This also lead to the fact that there are 1.3 million orphan children in the country.

This country need help from the world in a big way.