As many of you already know, I spent some of 2007 in Lilongwe, Malawi working at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre.  It had a strong impact on my life and the way I see my priorities.  I’ve had a significant shift towards looking for the charitable side of any occasion, and where I can do something to really contribute.  In doing so, I’ve helped out at different community events, charities, and generally been aware of the indulgencies of our privileged lifestyles and tried to strip them down where possible.  Now I feel it’s time for me to get my hands dirty again at the place that really kicked it off and so I’m planning another trip to Malawi this autumn.

So far I’ve got my accommodation arranged, and just need to confirm firm dates for when I can be best utilised out there.

What’s the plan then?

There’s two key factors really.  They need to furbish the education centre with a suite of computers that are coming in over the next few months, and need someone with some technical ability to sort it.  So I’ll be making sure all of that is sorted out and everything is ready for the educationals to begin… however(!), before any of that can be done, the education centre needs to be built.  So my primary aim will be to get the education centre constructed so there’s somewhere for these computers to go!

Then What?

After all that has been finished (which I can see taking a few weeks), I’ll be getting involved with the day to day running of the centre.  The animals need feeding!  When I was there in 2007, we needed to chop up 15 kilos of fruit every morning and afternoon for feeding to the primates.  I’m sure that will have increased substantially two years on.  The beauty of it is that the local supermarket do their bit and donate their old stock to the wildlife centre, so there’s a good sense of contribution within the area.

Other tasks are general observations of the animals, making sure they’re all healthy and normal (although the vets are naturally better placed to pass judgement!).  Checking there perimiter fence is functional and preventing any unwelcome guests from getting in (both of the animal and human varieties).

Then anything else that’s thrown at me.  I’m going to get hands on with as much as possible.

And when not working…

Watering Holes: There’s not an immense amount to do over there really.  The part of Lilongwe I’ll be staying at is relatively quiet – it’s the old town.  There’s a brilliant traveller’s camp by the name of Mabuya.  I’ll be frequenting there for the odd “green”, which is common term for a beer over there.

Getting my PADI licence: I’m in the process of arranging to get my PADI diving licence in Malawi with AquaAfrica.  If you take a look at their gallery, you’ll see it’s set at a beautiful location teeming with cichlids.

Lake of Stars: A 3 day music festival that takes place on the palm fringed shores of Lake Malawi. The event promotes Malawian music and tourism, raises funds for charity and provides travellers and Malawians with the opportunity to enjoy incredible live music in an exotic and beautiful location.  It’s taking place in the middle of October, which will be perfect way to break up the month!