Rural life - Morning!

View across the village in the morning sun

I woke at 5 am to what I thought was my grandfather’s clock. Every hour the musical chime was pronounced in his house in Holland I would descend the stairs of the 3 storey house to open the front door to greet no one! The school bell set me back in place, it oscillated as the headmaster struck a monotonous beat onto the car wheel frame repeatedly.  I could hear the rattling of the bull frog beeping like a car alarm. The birds followed, a chorus set the sky to dim which was the opening of my new day. Ladies sang at the borehole which echoed across the building site.

 

The beautiful sounds each morning set me in harmony. 

The dark orange light approached turning to yellow through my patterned chitengi (local traditional Malawian woven cloth used as a skirt) curtains. 

Chitengi curtains

The streaks of light bounced off the walls. The happy bee flew through, feeding me with energy for the numerous tasks to encounter. The cockerel shrieked corresponded to the twittering birds. The shape of light on my room wall widened as I planned my forward thoughts and organization for the day.

Top window sending sunlight to the guest room in our rammed earth house

The strength of the light each morning sets me in harmony.

A timber weight rattled with the breeze from the window and patted on the wall. The timber knocking was set in a rhythm that morning. I always found time for my daily yoga stretches, these were very important so my neck wouldn’t collapse after carrying that many water buckets during the day.   The meditation rhythm continued through stretches. The wind was frisk, justifying the strength, power and need to build a wind turbine. I made a wind turbine with plastic bottles that was assembled a long time ago. 

Plastic bottle wind turbine

It was now a project placed on the dusty bottom shelf. It was trampled and disfigured as the wheelbarrows collected and were forced to go on top of one another due to lack of space. The storage room was a dark smoky space linked next to the kitchen and the fumes travelled with the wind directing all senses to get out. My eyes stung and the poignant smells inhaled into my body were definitely out of no choice. The simple cooker or kettle switches were missed when there was no other option but to cook on a fire. This started with collecting firewood, clearing the ash, and then making a good fire from mulch, twiglets and then logs which I hoped would burn well (were not fresh).  Starting the fire in the morning was always the most difficult with no heated embers to feed off although the cup of tea was always worth it. I would always remember my dad that sung:

‘I like a nice cup of tea in the morning, just to start the day we see …and my dearest heaven is a nice cup of tea’. This made me smile as I sung along to the tune.

After breakfast I started emptying the smoky store room lining up the wheelbarrows for the Landirani Trust construction team. There were 42 of us at present. Several were taking part in carpentry on the workshop roof build; others were moving rocks and making cement for the restaurant foundations while 14 men and women worked with me in the training accommodation building at the bottom of the 10 acre site. 

Training Accommodation Build

I walked from top to bottom of the site greeting everyone in turn: ‘mwazuka bwanji?’ chichewa Morning greeting and ensured not to miss anyone out. Then I worked, checking forward stages and communicating them through small bits of Chichewa and sign language, most know the routine which is great. When everything seemed to be understood I continued helping ladies fill buckets at the borehole and taking them down. I joined any activities to make the day run smoothly: checked the earth mix, perhaps helped lift and tighten the formwork into place, then transported the mix. The heat was intense as I often ran up and down the site getting nails and other equipment people needed.

The energy of the people each morning set me in harmony.

Luckily these actions are repeated every morning in the village.  There are often a few variations, perhaps I would walk to the village main trading center to get bread, maybe I find time to play guitar or listen to the news on my solar radio! Sometimes I find the energy to go for a small jog or cycle. 

This is my active rural life. 

Training accommodation construction team