Meeting on the move

Thursday

Our partner organisation YONECO kindly agreed to give me a lift to Zomba, and from there to Lilongwe where I was to meet with MacBain (the chief exec of YONECO). Things changed a lot during the day. Transport was delayed till late afternoon, and subsequently it was dark by the time we left Zomba. It took five hours to do the journey at night. Lots of people and bikes on the unlite roads. Dogs and goats running in front of the vehicle scared.

My meeting with MacBain was changed to a conversation in the back of the truck. We talked about difficulties in implementing some activities, and how difficult it was to sustain partnerships with multiple members and expectations. I got some updates about YONECOs work and projects. 6 major projects, 2 of which are with Waverley Care, and we shared thoughts about the funding of voluntary sector organisations in both countries in light of tightened budgets from governments and trusts.

Friday

I had hoped to meet with DFID (Department for International Development) staff after picking up my colleague Kalonde from the airport. Unfortunately the member of staff was on annual leave and so we set off south again, going via Ntcheu to visit the new district manager of YONECO. Unfortunately he wasn’t available either so we carried on back to Blantyre and got Kalonde settled in.

It was really good to have someone to share my thoughts with, and also share some of the frustrations of coming thousands of miles to see people who suddenly announce that they are unavailable. It really does seem to be an endemic issue here in Malawi. Meetings happen with 24 hours notice. Which means people are called to attend government meetings 5 hours away with very little notice. Add to this fuel shortages, which cause cancellations at the drop of a hat – and you create a ragged patchwork of availability that would challenge anyone with ‘european’ expectations of how to progress work plans and communicate.

Photo credit: Jonathan Assink