The end of my first day learning about Malawi

I certainly learned some interesting things by talking with Anthony, the driver for the National Library Center, and the director of the NL, Grey. Anthony is a trained chef and worked for a bank doing catering for their business for six years. After his six year job was over, he became a driver for the ML. Anthony has three children, two of them about the same age as LJ and SK. He and his wife have a baby, but they are not going to have any more children. Anthony says he wants his children to be able to go to college and that it is expensive. Anthony drove me around Lilongwe and we changed my US to "kwacha"...the money in Malawi. When I changed my money so I can pay for the hotel and tomorrow's coach ride to Blantyre (four hour drive), he told me that was as much money as he earns in three months. While we were in the grocery store getting some bottled water, the lights came on. Apparently, the lines get wet this time of year and the electricity goes off and on.

When I visited the NL to meet the director,Grey, I found that he is a very interesting! He was trained in agriculture and taught at the agriculture school, then took a job at the US Embassy as an information specialist (get that BB?)....When both the director and the assistant director of the National Library died almost at the same time, he was asked to interview for the job. Grey has been working at the national library for six years. I think it's really something that the library internet connection is very slow....slower than the one here at the hotel. Also, the telephone wasn't working. Most people use cell phones because the underground wires are too expensive to replace. I found the same thing here that I found in Georgia.

Corruption is a big problem here. Anthony showed me the main hospital in town. People were lined everywhere to try to get in. He told me that many of the workers in the hospital take the medicines and sell them on the streets. So, when people go to the hospital, they can only get aspirin. There are many billboards around saying "Let's fight corruption!"