This could be my last brush with internet so I better write something. Our first day was a little overwhelming – I had forgotten exactly what the “fresh” in fresh air means. At home if I can't sleep I have only to open the window and cool, liquid clean pours in with a secret tang of the deep sky. It is like water to thirst and I am asleep again in moments. Here in Lilongwe the air is warm and thick, smells of spice and holds the possibility of mosquitoes. I don't sleep much the first night though beyond exhaustion from the trip from Ireland.


On our second day Pastor Lameck arrives; Malawian hospitality being such that he must drive the three hours from Mzimba to escort us back there tomorrow, he has been given the use of a car by a grateful patient and we have only to buy fuel. He arrives in time to drive us out to the airport to meet Jane arriving from Tanzania. My suggestion that I wait (sleeping) in the hotel while he meets Jane does not compute – he can not believe of me that I would be so rude – so we all pile into the car and lumber back out to the airport which I am glad of, of course, once I have been made to do it.


In the airport we sit in the waving bay on the second floor terrace and excitedly wait to wave at Jane, who doesn't see us, but never mind, we now have the fifty minute ride back into town to catch up and reminisce on our last trip to Malawi which took 2 days, four buses, a car, three motor bikes and four bicycles. We volunteer Davy to sit on the hard part of the seat and we drive in the dark planning our teaching strategy in broad strokes; we will spend the first day interviewing each of our twelve students to find out exactly what their needs are, how they are getting on with homoeopathy back home and what we can give them that is going to help them the most. We will be teaching use of the repertory and distributing the repertories we have brought with us but there may be other questions that need answering.


End of the second day. Night's sleep. Don't feel quite so cranky this morning! Mzimba today.

Packing again. It seems very boring to write a post about packing yet packing has been all consuming in the past few days. So different from the time we left for Tanzania 3 years ago when we were really travelling into our imaginations, not having any reference for where we were going, yet still pretty scary.


There is one thing I will be doing differently – I won't be bringing presents for the small children that we meet. Nothing I bought last time was relevant; the bouncy balls didn't bounce in the dust or the mud, the stickers were too precious and strange to stick, so many children left the consultation worried by the little gift they were clutching. This time I will accept that gift giving is not my skill and I will stick to prescribing and teaching. BUT if I can find bubbles this morning before I leave I will bring those. On our last trip any time bubbles appeared they were met with such hilarious delight. And they are of the moment, there - and then magically gone, petrol rainbows in the sunshine, causing a dancing swirl of chasing, thrilled and laughing children and then run out. Totally useless – only for joy.


What we are packing this time is more heavy duty; computers filled with libraries and homoeopathic remedies filled with potential benefits for the people who receive them. Both those things packing a big punch for the relatively small space they are taking in our bags and the small amount of money it cost to get them together. What a relief to pack up those computers after a month of tripping over them spread all over the house plugged into every available socket having their brains cleaned out and rearranged. Good to go now.


A big THANK YOU to everybody who has made this trip possible. We have received such amazing support. Lots of people have stepped in and done one impossible thing; lent us the lovely room for the fund raising party, sourced computer batteries, found the courier to deliver the computer batteries, given us computers, offered to pick up remedy bottles, donated great prizes for our raffle, given us money, given us computer software, smiled at us!! Instead of being impossible it's been really great. Thank you all.