Taking a Picture vs. Painting a Picture

I am back in Neno for the week and it is by far the most beautiful place-beautiful for its scenery and for its people. It clearly is the place "where the streets have no name." I have experienced quite a bit this week but one minor observation, maybe even a frustration, is that I do so much traveling around the country that I don't get to spend much time in one place getting to know the people and environment. In this sense, I'm merely taking a picture and then moving on. If I were painting a picture (please forgive the art metaphor), I would be more invested, creating the painting itself. If I were in the safe place for an extended period of time, I would be able to build the kind of lasting relationships that touch people andmake them but aside all their sceptisim of your presence. The Malawians here in Neno all want me to come back and so do I. It is easier to take the picture, but far greater the reward and more personal the process of painting the picture.


The hospital visits and clinic visits never get easier. Malnutrition is so rampant here that it no longer phases anyone. It has become a fact of life. And the distance to the clinics is too far for many to come. I found one woman who walked 8 hours to come to a clinic. There is 1 ambulance for 4 health sites and as we traveled, we often stopped to escort children to the hosptial. There was one who was badly burned and if we had not arrived, the child would more than likely have not gone to the hospital because of the distance. The work being done by the Clinton Foundation, Partners in Health, and other groups has done so much for Neno but when you are staring at kids whose eyes are suken into their heads and have been reduced to a skeleton because of AIDS, it seems like a drop in the bucket. And if there ever comes the day when it no longer feels uncomfortable for me to see these images, then that is the day where I fear complacency will take hold. But despite all this, there are the people who are always smiling and are always grateful for what they have. For every sick child, there is the little girl I pass everyday on the main road who has the brighest smile sticking out from her large, pink hat. They truly embody the idea of hope. And maybe that is why Neno is so beautiful.

Malawian BBQ consist of mice on a stick. They aren't too bad, except for the part about the fur.