Learning the Malawian way from Chester
Malawians have their own way of life and it’s not our place to judge....
Yesterday morning, on the road to Balaka, I noticed a lady carrying a huge bowl, on her head of course, piled up high with rice. I commented to Chester, our driver, that it was a disaster waiting to happen thinking that I’d only drop it and spend the remainder of the day picking up all those little grains.
Chester replied with a chuckle, “Mark, this Malawi….”.
“Enough said”, I thought.
It seems a common phrase here and one that we should learn to bide by ourselves more and more. Malawians have their own way of life and it’s not our place to judge. What they do deserve though is not to suffer. If we can help them out of poverty they can build on their own unique and quite beautiful culture.
Since then I have kept quiet when he put hot water on his cornflakes at breakfast and cut his toast up into triangles, stabbed them with a fork and dipped them into his coffee. I already know the chuckled reply I would get.
About the Author
I look after two roles at One. 1) I head up digital and social media; and 2) I host client trips out to our sites in Africa and blog our experiences. You may already know me as the voice behind One Difference on our Facebook community.
One is such a unique, fun and life changing business. Our aim is to make it easy for everyone to make a difference to those that need it most. I feel fortunate to work for one of the best companies ever. We are honest and transparent about who we are, we work hard at our cause and we have a lot of fun too. My colleagues, our partners and our community members make a great family. I feel part of something truly special.
