All of us are on a life long trip to the grave, with major decisions to be made along the way.

Our main aim is to live a comfortably and as healthily as we can.

Along the way we need to live in harmony with our fellow man, helping all we can.

We also need to live in a sustainable way, making the smallest foot print we possibly can.

We tend to make it an optional extra whether or not we give respect and thanks to the Eternal Creator.

But in reality he has prepared for us a place in Heaven and is offering it as a free gift if only we will accept his son Jesus Christ for who he is and for what he has done for us.

Village ladies digging a new irrigation canal inorder to open up a new vegie garden.

There are about 20 ladies in the group who work every tuesday and friday in the garden.

They share the profits from the vegies they sell to the mine.

GREETINGS FROM AFRICA 14
Hello Everyone,
We arrived safely back in Karonga on Sunday evening May31st, feeling rested from our 3 week holiday, and ready to swing into action again. The swing lost some of its “oomph” with the power going off 5 minutes before we arrived and staying off for 31hours! Yes, we’re definitely back in Africa. Some of the simple pleasures in life for us are turning on a shower and getting hot water (as opposed to a cold trickle, or even worse, no water at all!), mobile phones that work 24hrs a day, internet likewise, and electricity on, and at full strength, especially when you have a houseful of hungry visitors waiting for dinner!! It’s a four star day when everything is working at once!
Back to our holiday - we did a 16 day coach tour of England, Ireland and Scotland with a very compatible and enjoyable group of 44 people (29 Aussies, 13 Americans and 2 New Zealanders) plus Elva, our excellent tour guide, and Steve, our trusty Scottish coach driver. From all accounts we encountered fairly typical weather, with a good smattering of cold, drizzly and sometimes very windy days, but it was rarely an inconvenience and helped us to appreciate what the locals must have to endure in the real winter! (At lunch break in Salisbury on the first day, I (Anne) found the nearest camping shop and bought a cosy waterproof coat to avoid snap freezing!) It’s hard to choose the best thing about the trip because there were so many highlights, but the food and accommodation were outstanding (hot showers and electricity all the time!!) and the castles, cathedrals, villages, bays, landscapes etc. are amazing.
We also spent our first 24hrs in England with the brother and S-I-Law of a dear friend from Irian Jaya days, enjoying their outstanding hospitality and the lovely Sussex countryside. Next we caught up with Scottish friends in Edinburgh whom we first met here in Karonga, and then later we caught up with other ex-Irian friends at Stratford-on-Avon for a delicious riverside picnic lunch and stroll – these contacts each added a special dimension to the holiday. Now we just have to lose a few kilos and identify all our photos, easy at the time, but the information seems to be rapidly deleting itself from our minds!!
We finished with two days in London (one icy cold, wet and windy, the next hot and sunny!) and then flew overnight to Johannesburg and then on to Malawi. Rina met us at the airport and we had two nights in Lilongwe for a wonderful “catch–up/hand over the presents” time, and we also went shopping for groceries/household items etc. to stock up before Rina headed back to Mangochi and we set off for home.
Since arriving back, Chris has plunged back into his food buying role (to the great relief of the guy who filled in for him), and I have been getting all his accounts for the last 18 months in order for an audit – not for the faint hearted, and guaranteed to raise the stress levels! In the second week we had 2 days of Social Development planning meetings with our Country Manager and Department head from Perth, so that involved extra catering and candlelight dinners – yep, the power was off more than it was on while they were here, so a back-up generator is now being arranged – sounds good to me!
Last week we enjoyed a four day visit from one of the Paladin directors and his wife, and this week we have been hosting a film crew working for Paladin. Also during this time we had the wife of one of our expat workers staying here for a week. The day after he left for a week in South Africa, she became very ill with cerebral malaria, and although she responded quickly to IV treatment in the local hospital, she needed to be where we could take good care of her while she completed the course of quinine tablets, and until her husband returned.
We also had 6 young volunteers over for a meal on one of our free nights, before they all left after 10 weeks in Karonga. They had been living with a local family so really enjoyed the BBQ chicken, salads and fresh bread rolls – a welcome change from beans and rice!
I started this letter on June 1st, did some more on June 7th and finally got around to finishing it now, so if it sounds a bit disjointed you know why! We love to hear your news too, so drop us a line if you have time.
Warm regards,
Chris and Anne
Karonga, 25th June 2009

Out of Africa - Letter 13, April 2009

Hello Everyone,

This letter is somewhat overdue because we’ve all been so busy with preparations for the mine opening on Friday April17th – then I decided it was best to wait until it was over and things had quietened down so we could tell you about it. However, life has continued to be chaotic, with a big town party in Karonga and one still planned for the all the villagers at Kayelekera. Fortunately the celebrations have been staggered as one of my responsibilities has been to organise helpers to cut, fold and bag over 2,000 Paladin print sarongs! (It’s a good thing I didn’t need to hem them as well!)

After months of intense work by 2,000+ people to finalise construction and get ready, the President of Malawi (Dr Bingu Wa Mutharika) did the final speech of the opening ceremony, pressed a specially set-up button, and the massive drum of the crusher began rolling, pushing soil out along conveyer belts – a proud and moving moment for us all! The opening was followed by a sit down luncheon for about 400 guests in a huge marquee (previously used by Nelson Mandela!), and then there were displays and guided bus tours around the plant, before departure back to Karonga - by buses or helicopters that had been specially brought in to facilitate transport of all the ministers, officials, bankers etc. I think there was a huge collective sigh of relief from us all that it went off so well when so many things could have gone wrong!

Celebrations continued the next day with the sub-contract groups going off to party at various locations. Paladin employees went to Beach Chamber Motel for a Big BBQ/smorgasborg lunch from 12 – 5pm – it was a good time to chat, relax and recover. Chris and Kat (with whom we shared a house for the first 9 months) are leaving, so I made a big farewell cake and the Mine Manager expressed Paladin’s appreciation for all their hard work. We are sorry to see them go, but they will continue working for Paladin in Australia so we’re sure to see them again.

Chris is relieved that food orders are now starting to get smaller as construction workers finish and leave. His work is relentless with no days off so we’re really looking forward to leaving here on May 7th to do a 16 day coach tour around England, Ireland and Scotland – it will be so nice to give our heads a break from constant responsibilities! Chris was going to hand over the food buying at the beginning of June to be fully involved with Comminity development/Agriculture but has now been asked to keep buying until the end of July! Despite the hard work, he likes doing it and gets satisfaction from knowing he is a vital link in the chain.

Over the last 2 months I’ve been supervising a team of workers renovating a property Paladin has rented next door to us. Staff from the Lilongwe office want to move into the 5 bedrooms next weekend, so I’ve had carpenters, electician, plumber and tiler going flat out this last week and it’s looking good!

I went to a ‘Bridal Shower” recen tly – Wow! Certainly not like we do it in Australia! About 500 women, mostly in gorgeous evening wear, packed into a big church hall with lots of loud thumping music, dancing and laughter. It started with all the ladies coming out to the front in groups of about a dozen, and dancing in a circle around a lady holding a basket ready to catch the money they were waving and throwing! There were about 6 speeches (counselling for the bride-to-be) and between each speech, they would start dancing and throwing money again – they were obviously having a marvellous time, while the bride-to-be sat on the stage with her assistant looking rather hot and bored! It’s hard to imagine what the wedding will be like!

Saturday night we had 9 young volunteers over for dinner and watched “Evan Almighty” Some of the girls were ecstatic to be in a “real” home for the first time in a month! We still have plenty of visitors staying over, or just in for a meal.

Four weeks ago we went to an excellent contour drainage seminar in Mangochi and enjoyed a few days with Rina. We then returned to Karonga (11 hours drive!) and she went to Kenya for two weeks hands-on professional devlopment in contour design techniques.

Jim and Robyn Nottingham arrived back last week from a 6 week break, it’s great to see them again and to have them back on the team!

We’d love to hear from you if you have time to write.

Warm regards,

Chris and Anne Mattinson
April 2nd 2009

Sixth Letter From Africa March 5th 2008

Monire Mose! (or Hello everyone!)

Yes, I'm into my fourth week of language study and happy to find I can remember most of what I'm learning. Some lessons are great (nouns) and others feel like I'm wading through molasses (verbs!) but overall there is progress :).

Angella, my language helper, has taken to the task like a natural and keeps me on my toes! She's 22yrs old, was raised by her aunty along with 14 cousins and siblings (after her parents died in 1998) and did her Dip. Business Studies with a scholarship but the funding cut out. She is now doing the Advanced Diploma by herself just using text books and finding it a struggle. She is approaching another funding organisation to see if she can get her fees covered to do the course by correspondence. Once qualified she hopes to get a good job and help her siblings with their education. So young to have suffered so much and to have such a big load of responsibility.

Chris' workload has increased dramatically and he spends three days a week working with a couple of helpers to buy enough food to feed 650 people! A cooler truck with driver now transports most of it to the site so that has been a big help. When he is not filling the orders he is doing the bookwork or arranging to have cows and chickens slaughtered, then picking up the meat and putting it into the 6 big freezers ready for the next delivery. He has started building the pedestrian suspension bridge up near the minesite so workers can get home when the river floods.

On Feb 2nd Chris and I were involved in catering for a big dinner for the Managing Director of Paladin and a whole lot of other VIP's from Australia - about 30 people in all. Chris worked with the guys cooking 2 small goats on a spit and barbequeing chicken and sausages while I Iooked after salads, dessert etc. It was a really nice evening and everyone appeared to have a good time. The following weekend we were invited to a neighbourhood birthday dinner where we enjoyed lots of delicious African style food with coleslaw, potato salad and a birthday cake. One of my favourite dishes is beef and banana curry - must get the recipe!

We are planning to visit Rina in Mangochi at Easter, driving down on Tues.18th March so we can visit villages in her area on the 19th to learn about their Total Life Care programme. We're hoping strategies that have proved sucessful there can also be implemented to improve the economy of farmers in our area. After the long weekend we will go on to Blantyre to buy furnishings for our rental house - which we are hoping will be a reality by then!! Meanwhile we have had a young carpenter here make us some bedside cupboards, a coffee table, spice rack and a big bookshelf for starters!

Continuing good rains have sent the maize crops soaring to two and three metres in height ( the song lyrics 'the corn is as high as an elephants' eye' from the movie "Oklahoma!" have taken on a new meaning!) I also read in the paper the rape increase during the wet season when women working in the gardens are hidden in their crops and are more vulnerable.

I'm enjoying being part of the neighbourhood now and look forward to seeing my friends at the markets or walking to and from work. One afternoon I found myself sitting on a neighbours porch enjoying a game of Scrabble with her and a friend! Another lady told me I'm her sister, so Chris is her brother-in-law and we don't need to be lonely while we live in Karonga because her family is our family - now that really makes us feel accepted!

I've started an ambitious project - crocheting a bedspread for our bed! It's supposed to cool down enough to need a blanket from March to August and to date have a 140x140cm square (consisting of 31 squares) that almost covers the top of the bed - guess that means I'm about half way!! There are doonas and blankets in the house if the situation gets desperate :) I'm using 4 ply 'wool' from the market in mainly dark green, light green and white with highlights of yellow and orange - looks cool and cheerfull. I washed most of the wool before using it as it was so dirty - didn't know you could do that, but the balls dry very well over three days pegged to the clothesline!)

We'd love to hear from you if you have time to drop us a line.

Warm regards, Chris and Anne Mattinson

Fourth Letter from Africa November 22, 2004
Greetings from Africa,

We got off to a good start with our letter writing but lost enthusiasm when it became apparent that many of our e-mails didn't get through to the recipients. If you haven't recieved "Greetings from Africa" 1, 2 and 3 then you will now know why you haven't heard from us. Could you please drop us a line if you receive this one.

It's hard to believe we will be back in Australia in just over three weeks! We leave here on the 15th Dec and arrive in Perth on the 16th. Our return flights are booked for 2nd Jan. Our three main events in the meantime are to organise a Christmas party for about 250 children at the Kayelekera (minesite) village, find a house to move to in the in the new year.and make the 6-7hr trip down to the capital (Lilongwe) to meet Rina when she arrives on Dec 1st. She will spend a week with us here in Karonga before starting her assignment in Mangochi on Dec 8th. We're really looking forward to seeing Rina again and showing her our part of Malawi. Some of the Malawian staff will help us find a suitable house and then Paladin takes care of the rental contract.

The last few weeks have been a good time for making new friends, trying to learn some of the local language and becoming part of the community. We have started attending the english service at the Presbyterian church, had four neighbouring ladies over for afternoon tea and attended a thanksgiving mass, feast and party at our neighbours house (went on until the wee hours of the morning!!). We had a visit from 2 bored volunteers who invited us to visit and gave us a grand tour of a nearby Catholic campus (high school and Tech college) where they and 4 other American young people work. We then enjoyed a delicious meal of hamburgers and cake! They are such a nice enthusiastic and dedicated bunch (3 guys and 3 girls) and we were really impressed with scale and scope of the work there.

We have been working with local ladies at Kayelekera to plant an irrigated vegie garden with mixed success - some of the seeds just didn't come up! :( The produce will be a drop in the bucket of what will be needed but it gives them a chance to be involved and earn some money, also a good opportunity for us to get to know them and get in some language practice.

We have been looking at warehouses to rent so we can set one up with a cool room, freezers etc. to store meat and vegetables for the supply line to the mine. We've chosen a warehouse now and are going through he process of sorting out a contract. It will need to be cleaned out and painted, new windows put in etc, but with the cool room, freezers, ute and freezer truck all on order it looks like its' coming together now.

We have been interviewing applicants over the last few weeks and today our new Agricultural Community Liaison Officer (Assistant!) started working for us - his name is Stafford Kaluba, a local man about our age with extensive horticultural knowledge and experience.

The locals were predicting an early start to the wet season but there have only been a few light showers since the heavy downpour on Oct 23rd. The weather is continuing to be hot (35oC maximums indoors) and very humid, but we're surviving with our trusty little fan blowing most of the night!.

We're hoping to catch up with most of you over Christmas.

Warm regards, Chris and Anne

Eleventh Letter from Africa, November 2008

Hi Everyone,

The strong winds that blow dust over every surface have thinned out the excess mangoes, and the trees are groaning under their prolific load of expanding fruit – just a few weeks and we’ll all be enjoying them - mmmm!

Other trees all over the country are putting out new leaves in anticipation of the rainy season. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Leaves come out after the rains, right? It’s even harder to comprehend if you could see of how parched and hot it is at present.

The big, old Boab at our front gate not only has leaves but its big white flowers delicately perfume the air each evening. I’ve heard the aroma described as both jasmine and baked potatoes! Did you know that tartaric acid is made from the Boab fruit? It is commercially produced a can be found in the baking section of some shops.

Chris has continued his food buying programme, which is now streamlined to the point that his workers can do all the purchasing with minimal supervision. He holds the purse strings, keeps check on the freezers, checks the delivery invoices and does the accounting and reports. He has been greatly assisted by the arrival of two large freezer units (one of which is running beautifully now that the electrical problems have been sorted out!) and an 10 tonne fridge/freezer truck which greatly helps with transporting food to the mine – the only problem is that its refrigeration unit doesn’t work yet! Such is life in Malawi!

The new Community Health Workers, Jim and Robyn Nottingham arrived late September and it’s been great having them here. They have adjusted well to the heat and frustrations, and made very positive progress in their work in just a few weeks.
Gregarious Jim loves getting to know the people, and Robyn, an avid photographer, is never short of something to photograph! (See chameleon below.)

At the beginning of October I went with Jim and Robyn to show them Mzuzu, a lovely town in the hills about three hours drive south. While there I had a meeting with a Malawian Presbyterian minister, who, with his brother, has translated the Good News Bible into the Chitumbuka language. (Although ‘retired’, he works full time teaching at a Seminary and running the Mzuzu branch of the Bible Society!) He is keen to translate the Christian Family Living course for me and said it is a very important book for the people of Malawi. Two weeks later, after meeting his team (3 translators and a consultant), we formalised the agreement by signing a contract for them to begin translation right away. I had a meeting with them on Monday and they are making excellent progress, and plan to have it completed by mid - December. I will need to make another visit then to do some back translation checks and fine-tune the formatting. The next step will be getting it printed – there are not many local options, so we may need to have it done in another country.

On Sunday I showed Jim and Robyn the town of Livingstonia named after the famous Dr but not established by him. It is located about 1½ hrs drive from here, at the top of a high plateau with a fifteen kilometre, 19 hairpin bend road to negotiate – it’s incredible to consider this was once part of the main road linking Karonga with the South! They were suitably impressed with the distinctly Scottish atmosphere of the stately buildings making up the university, Technical College, High School, Hospital, Museum, huge church and numerous dormitories and staff accommodation. We also visited a nearby waterfall – it took some persuading for Robyn to get me that close to the BIG drop!

I had a weekend with Rina in Lilongwe recently, and we both enjoyed reading, talking for hours at a time and eating out at restaurants! She had come to see a doctor, as antibiotics prescribed in Blantyre for a throat infection weren’t working, in fact she was steadily getting worse. The new, stronger ones did the job and she was feeling much better after a few days.
We have tickets to fly home to Perth on December 19th, arriving in Perth on Saturday 20th at 11.35am. We then fly back to Johannesburg on Jan 7th, overnight, and get to Malawi the next day. Chris is flying to Sydney on January 2nd to have 4 days with his Dad and brothers before the Jo’burg flight. We’re looking forward to catching up with lots of friends and relatives, but not to arriving with jet lag in the midst of the Christmas rush!

Warm regards,

Chris and Anne Mattinson
10th November 2008

Tenth Letter from Africa, September 2008
Hi Everyone,

Today (Sept 17th) is the first anniversary of our arrival in Karonga. The year has been a huge learning curve with lots of joys and frustrations, but an enriching experience we wouldn’t have wanted to miss. In the past Africa was one of the last places in the world I would have wanted to live, but now it is the one place I want to be – it feels like home and that’s a good feeling.

So, what have we been up to? Chris has been as busy as ever with the food procurement programme which has now reached 8 tonnes of food weekly. He is now concentrating more on the accounting side and training two extra guys who will hopefully be able to take over all the purchasing in the new year. By then, the numbers to be fed at the mine should have dropped to around 250 - 300 men.

I have almost finished supervising the renovation of the unit (curtains finished this morning!) and it should be ready by Monday for its first occupants. They will be our good friends, Jim and Robyn Nottingham, who are arriving to begin work with Paladin as Community Heath Officers. We are excited at the prospect of working together with them, and in the meantime we’ve been e-mailing almost daily to answer their questions, make suggestions etc. Monday is looking pretty chaotic – plane arrives 10 am, lunch here for Jim and Robyn plus 5 VIP’s, then in the afternoon between showing all the visitors around town etc, I’m helping the head caterer from the mine to do a barbeque for us all next door at the office – 30+ people?

Tuesday afternoon we will all be going up to the minesite to celebrate 2,000,000 injury free work hours, with speeches, singing, dancing and then a big evening meal for everyone. After that, Jim and Robyn might get to see what ‘normal’ life is like here!

I’m now translating (from Indonesian) the 9th of 10 chapters of the Christian Family Living course. I have taught 6 classes to the staff at the Lusibilo Orphanage and the response has continued to be positive. A number have asked for a copy of what I’m teaching from - which is difficult as I’m working from a draft copy that I edit as I teach to be sure it is communicating effectively. The matron asked for a copy (and received it!) because she wants to translate the next lesson each week into the Chitumbuka language so those in the class who don’t have good English can still understand. I would love to see it published in Chitumbuka (Northern trade language) and Chichewa (Southern trade language) as Matron said those two languages would cover the whole of Malawi. But, first things first, I need to fine-tune the English version!

On Sunday the power was off for 17 hours and the water stayed off for two days. Chris had to quickly organise three generators to keep about a tonne of beef, chicken and fish chilled/frozen in all his freezers until the power was restored. The internet has also been down for the last two days, so if you don’t receive this today you will know why! But none of the meat went off, the water came back on, my vegies are growing, there are zillions of mangoes forming on trees all over Malawi - and life is good!!

Warm regards, Chris and Anne Mattinson (17th September 2008)

Ninth Letter From Africa, August 2008

Hi Everyone,

Our holiday in Europe seems like a distant dream already but we still get smiles on our faces every time we think about it or look at the photos - it really was a wonderful time!

We've been busier than ever since we got back - with around 1,400 mine workers to be fed Chris is now working 7 days a week. He's recently picked up a second vehicle and trailer in Lilongwe which is streamlining the process and will hopefully reduce the long hours.

We moved into our 'new' rental house on June 4th and it's so nice to have a place to call our home ( I'm sure Chris thinks I have an over-developed nesting instinct!) On June 12th I got a ride to Lilongwe to buy curtain materials - quite stressful as I couldn't find anything that resembled the fabrics I had in mind, and block-outs are pretty much unheard of. Rina arrived the next morning and with her valuable input we managed to find suitable (even some funky) fabrics for most of the rooms even though she hadn't seen the house.

The next day we headed back to Karonga and spent the week making loungeroom curtains, entertaining Paladin guests (did I tell you our house will be an informal guesthouse?) and preparing lots of food for Chris' 60th birthday party the following Saturday. The party went really well with 8 young American and British volunteers, and around 20 neighbours and co-workers for a barbeque lunch. The last guests left at 4pm then Chris and Kat (our former house mates) arrived for dinner and we had a nice relaxed evening with them. Rina relished the opportunity to hang out with so many of her peers as she doesn't meet many expats outside her group in Mangochi.

Settling into our house is taking longer than we anticipated, mostly because the beds and mattresses we ordered on May 6th didn't arrive for seven weeks and the two QS beds ended up being a King size with mattress (which we have kept) and a QS mattress without a frame! The two 3/4 beds arrived with two single mattresses. The hardware store owner assured me he would have it all sorted out in a few days but three weeks later there is still no sign of them!!

Curtain making has been a big job but the end is in sight. A ceiling panel in the last bedroom has now been replaced so the room can be painted before I hang the curtains! (Rome wasn't built in a day was it?) We have been infusing some life back into the parched garden and it is responding well. Amazing what water and chicken manure can do. Rina bought a whole lot of plants from a nursery in Mangochi so they have been a welcome addition, and most of the seeds have come up in my vegie patch. Having a kitchen separate from the house has taken some getting used to but we have partly solved the problem by putting a small table and chairs in the spacious kitchen for when there is just the two of us for meals.

I did a budget proposal to turn the accommodation unit into a self contained granny flat, and last weekend we went to Lilongwe again to buy more curtain material, kitchenware, and sink, stove, fridge etc for a small kitchen. We hope to have it ready for occupation by mid September. Our excellent carpenter will be very busy with kitchen cupboards to make as well as the table and chairs he is working on now, and the sofas he plans to do next!

While in Lilongwe we stayed in the same guesthouse as Rina who was meeting two Aussie visitors coming to help her contour and design her 5 hectare demonstration and training farm - their help has been invaluable.

Yesterday we hosted an outing for the children of the Lusibilo orphanage in town. Our yard was fairly buzzing with 54 children, 5 carers and the Australian family who are working with the orphanage! (The Aussies organised all the games and refreshments). I was very quickly handed a baby (Jessica, a 3 mth old twin) and spent the rest of the three hours holding babies, even two at once! It was a lot of fun, and the carers seemed to enjoy it every bit as much as the kids.

I have been preparing materials to teach a course on Christian Family Living (primarily to be taught at Kayelekera village near the mine) and yesterday I started teaching it to a group of about 26 local people to 'knock off the rough edges' and be sure it is easily understood in this culture. There was good feedback - one guy said he felt there was hope he may now be able to get his marriage back together.

Chris was going to add some more from his perspective but said it will have to be next time as he can't stop to do it now. One thing he wanted to mention is that The Bible Society told him there are no Bibles available in the local Chitumbuka language because they need $15,000 more to have it printed. Anyone inspired to do some fund raising?
Living in Malawi has it's frustrations along with it's joys, and so we keep reminding ourselves of how much we are achieving, and of what a privelege it is to be working here.

Until next time,

Chris and Anne Mattinson
8/08/08

Eighth Letter From Africa, May 2008
Hello Everyone,

Time to let you know what we have been up to for the last seven weeks. Things went along as usual until our Managing Director's visit in late April. We told him we were unsure of when to take our holidays because of the escalating work load, and he suggested 'now' rather than September when we had completed a year with the Company. (Paladin pays for us to fly back to Perth twice a year, once is compulsory but the other flight can be to anywhere else in the world up to the value of the return fare to Perth.) With this in mind, we e-mailed a travel agent with a proposed plan to fly to London, do a coach tour of some European countries and be back in Malawi in two weeks. Because of short notice, most of the tours were booked out, but we finally got confirmation on an earlier than expected tour 2 days before the flight!

There was no Paladin transport available to get us to Lilongwe for our flight to Johannesburg then London, so we booked seats with a reputable coach company. After 11 hours we got to Lilongwe at 11.15pm and to our dismay, discovered the big suitcase with all our clothes, shoes and medical kit had been stolen from the luggage compartment!! At least we still had our hand luggage with passports, wallets, cameras, ticketing details etc and a change of underwear! Determined not to let it ruin our "once in a lifetime holiday" we went shopping next morning for two smaller suitcases but had to wait until we got to London to find suitable clothes to wear in Europe. A kind tour agent at our hotel sent us to a realistically priced, one stop shop for all our clothes and we were able to get shoes, toiletries etc in nearby shops. Never have I so easily found clothes that fitted so well - Someone was definitely looking after me :)!

Next morning we boarded a coach to Dover (complete with dazzling white cliffs!) and crossed the channel by ferry to Calais where we boarded another very comfortable coach, met our top class driver and tour leader and headed into Belgium for the night. We had lovely spring weather and a fantastic 10 days through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France and then back across the channel where we had three days enjoying London before our flights back. What a wonderful experience with so many photos and memories to treasure!

Back in the real world of Karonga, the good news is we only have a few days before we shift into our rental house on June 4th. Rina is planning to visit for Chris' big "0" birthday party on June 21st so that will be our unofficial house warming as well.

On the language learning front, my excellent teacher suddenly had to leave town at the beginning of the month and won't be back - disappointing, but I'm working at revising and using the 430+ words she taught me until I can find a suitable replacement.

For those interested in my crocheted bedspread, yes, I did get it finished before we went on holidays, except for a few more rows to complete the border. In the meantime, we are using it every night now that the evening temperatures have dropped to around 24oC.

You may have heard on the news about a worldwide rice and wheat shortage, and non-South Africans being forced to return to their home countries. These factors are starting to affect Malawi socially and economically. In our area business men from other countries are buying up truckloads of rice, maize and beans causing prices to soar. Farmers enticed by high prices are selling their food supplies with little thought to the future and the possibility of creating a famine situation. We're praying for Government intervention to bring the situation under control.

We hope things are going well for you and would love to hear from you if you have time.

Warm regards,

Chris and Anne Mattinson
30-5-08