Sunday, 15th April 2007

To: Thyolo


Wow! The tea, tea, tea, everywhere tea, makes Thyolo, in southern Malawi, beautiful. Here is a picture of some tea, taken from the road.


Left my bike at Nimia's and took a minibus to Thyolo. Got off the minibus in Thyolo and asked the first woman I saw if she knew the house of the Kamotos. The Kamoto family were good friends to me. The children a bit younger than me, and the parents older. But Mr. and Mrs. Kamoto always called me "mwana wathu". Our child. I thought to myself, "Please, God, please let them be alive. Please let them be alive. Please let them be alive."


The lady said, "Oh! Kamoto!" and started leading me to their house. I knew where their house was anyway, but had just wanted to see the lady's reaction when I asked.


As I was walking with the lady, a man came running up to me and said, "Leigh Anne!"


Immediately, I recognized him as the Kamoto's eldest son, Philip. I said, "Philip!"


He asked where I was going. I said, "To your house!" He laughed happily and took over the leading role from the lady!


I asked, "Are your parents fine?" And by that, I really meant, "Are they alive?"


He said, "Yes! Yes! Mummy and Daddy are fine!"


When we arrived at the house, there they were, mummy and daddy, sitting at the dining table. Joy of joys! Hugs, embraces, insistences that I spend the night. Blah, blah. So, we had a nice reunion, and talked about many other old friends from Thyolo. Sadly, many of them had died, mainly from HIV. "Oh, Stevie, I'm sorry, he died in 2002." Or, "Oh, Tom, died in 1999. Sorry, mwana wathu." But many were still around and mummy and daddy would say, "Alipo!" She's still around!


After some time, Philip led me over to "Young Mittawa"s house. Young Mittawa, as he's called, even though he's almost 40, is the nephew to a fellow I used to go out with, named Mike Mittawa. (Mike also died, 2004, but I knew about that at the time that it happened.)


It was so nice to see Young Mittawa. "Auntie!" he said when he saw me. We talked and he wanted to insist that I sleep at his place, but I told him I'm already booked into the "Kamoto Lodge". So we made plans that I'd come over the next morning for breakfast.


Back at the Kamotos, I asked about mummy and daddy Gondwe. I was as close to their family as I was to the Kamoto family. The Gondwes and Kamotos were also very, very good friends with each other. We all (Gondwes, Kamotos, and myself) used to go watch local soccer matches every Sunday afternoon together. When my Mom and Dad came to visit me from the States, we had a wonderful evening and dinner together with the Gondwes, in their home. The Kamotos, however, gave me the sad news that daddy Gondwe had died, just last year. Ooohhhh. So, I wanted to go see mummy Gondwe, and we went over there with the Kamotos.


It was great to see mummy Gondwe, but in the end, it meant that my stay in Thyolo had to be prolonged. She INSISTED that I spend the evening and sleep at her house. I told her that I was already at the Kamotos, but she INSISTED, over and over. She finally said, "My child, you can't leave Thyolo without sleeping at your late daddy's home." God, how can you refuse that? So, we agreed that I come back and sleep over the next night.