4th February 2026
Today was perhaps my only day in Malawi without consuming nsima, at least in this trip. Nsima is the longstanding staple food of Malawi. I’ve heard some Malawians say that a meal isn’t a meal unless there is nsima. That would exclude breakfast. But as the variety of foods available in the country increases, and as some people have develop a taste for that variety, some people eat less nsima. While rice is regularly consumed by some families, it’s far from taking over as the main staple food. The growing and processing of rice are more complex than for maize. Plus maize can be grown in a greater variety of environments than rice.
This morning I tried Trekker coffee for the first time. I made it as a pour-over using a tea strainer. It had a nice warm flavor to it, a little dark and bitter if you like that sort of thing, but not harsh. As a second cup of coffee it wasn’t bad. It complemented the fresh made donuts that Patricia brought me as I wrote before breakfast. Biscuit decided she wanted to share some donuts with me.
Our time to leave changed a few times as we added on various potential tasks and visits for the day. We had one primary goal but several side quests. The first side quest was to see if polishing the windshield of the Mark X would cut down on the glare of the headlights at night. Since Cephas doesn’t yet own a grinder and buffing wheel we opted to have the staff at the auto detailing shop do the work. The windshield looks better afterwards. The real test will be later if we head home in the dark. That will depend on how many side quests we actually accomplish.
For the second side quest we first met up with Haiton and Amina at the church hall in Mchesi. As part of my senior pastor duties I have the pleasure of checking up on some of the Good Works projects. One such project is the start of a potentially promising career in chicken farming. Juliana has received some funds to buy chickens to get her started. First we had to find the place. Unfortunately Juliana had hurt her wrist that morning. We actually traveled to her place with her youngest daughter with us. The trip should have been short but none of us actually knew the entire route to her house. We got turned around a few times and headed down some roads that should not be called roads. Thankfully it wasn’t raining and thankfully Haiton let me drive his Hilux again.
Eventually Juliana came out to meet us at a nearby intersection and guided us up the road the rest of the way. We chatted a bit about the varieties of chickens she has, how and what she feeds them at different stages of life, and the benefits of chicken manure. Juliana grows some of her own sunflowers which are used to feed the chickens. She even makes a certain feed by having the sunflower seeds pressed into oil which is mixed with some other ingredients and fed to the chickens. She has several chickens who sit on their eggs and hatch them and a few she takes the eggs from to incubate them.
After seeing around the rest of her place we headed back to Mchesi to pick up a man named Evas and head to the southern part of Lilongwe. We all jumped back into the Hilux and took off along the Road to Blantyre, the main highway that heads south out of the city. After fighting the queues and the heat of the day, we pulled off the tarmac onto a dusty path to an undeveloped area. The Lilongwe congregation has put together their own resources to purchase a plot of land (actually two smaller plots next to each other) with the idea that they could one day turn it into an income stream.
With high unemployment rates and low incomes even among those who do work regular jobs, the Church of God operations in Malawi are highly subsidized by tithes and offerings mostly from the USA. There is a desire to help supplement the subsidies that come in my potentially turning this plot of land into a rental property, housing students from a nearby college that recently opened. Malawians are known for their entrepreneurial endeavors and this is part of that willingness to survive and thrive in a constantly changing economy and world.
After seeing the plot thoroughly, even identifying some of the small trees already growing on the land, we headed back to the church hall. I handed Haiton back his keys and we went inside. We discussed a few items relevant to the day, had some cold drinks to cool down, and then set off on the next quest. Cephas and I had a few specific items we were told to pickup by Patricia before our final side quest. We headed to City Mall where we found some beautifully decorated cakes.
If we could have worked it out we would have also gone to visit the Nyalubwe family in the outskirts of Lilongwe but they must have had other plans because we didn’t hear from them. With a certain cake in hand we headed back out of the city towards Nkhwazi. But instead of taking a direct route we veered off at a certain juncture headed for the village of Mbavi.
Charuta Farms on the outskirts of that village has been featured on the news recently. They have a small orchard of apple trees and even produce some grapes, dragon fruit, and a variety of other organic crops. They use natural fertilizers from their cattle and goats, and even a natural pesticide made from rabbit urine. Cephas wanted to buy some apple seedlings so he could start growing his own apples. It’s an idea that has potential so long as the trees are well taken care of. Apple trees need water and pruning on a regular basis. Before we left the workers at the farm let us pick our own apples from their trees. The price of the apples was about 58¢ per apple. We made sure and rinse a couple off (don’t want to ingest in pesticides, even organic ones) and tried them before we even left the farm. There’s something truly special about apples fresh off the tree!
Even though it was hot today in Lilongwe, there were plenty of clouds in the afternoon to give us some shade. There was also a nice breeze to help keep things cool. The are around Mbavi also has quite a few trees which was really enjoyable to see. Deforestation is a long-time problem in Malawi since many people cook with wood and charcoal. Forests are often cut down and not replaced. Land is also sold and divided up by individuals and businesses without worry for the tree population. I wonder how different the climate of Malawi would be if there were more trees planted in more areas.
We left Mbavi and again started heading towards Nkhwazi. But instead of a direct route back to the main highway we took a more rural route that passed nearby the village Kandama. This is Cephas’s home village. If you go there you can ask to meet the Jumphas. There are plenty of them there. By the way, Cephas and Patricia’s clinic which is right across the street from their home is the Jumpha Clinic. Cephas was very familiar with the area. We noted that there were plots of land all over the area for sale. It seems more and more people are dividing up their family land and selling it to people who are looking for places to call home, to build more modern houses, to grow their crops, to make some income. Before leaving the village we passed by the Sankhani Primary School where Cephas attended in his youth.
The last side quest, and many times the end game of adventures, it’s to make it home safely. For days we arrived back at Nkhwazi after dark. Today we made it before sunset! We had some time to enjoy some evening tea/coffee before dinner. And there were still plenty of those homemade donuts left from breakfast.
Just before we sat down to eat it started raining. The rain got heavier and heavier. I managed to get a video of the rain (see below). Just after we sat down to eat the power went out. It was another meal in the dark, although we had some portable rechargeable solar lamps. The only bad part of the power going out at night is the fact that the fans don’t work to help blow away the mosquitoes. Before escaping to the protective cover of the nets over our beds Patricia pulled out the cake. We each had a slice. I had the pleasure of cutting the cake which I did in the style Lena and I had picked up in Jordan where a circle is cut in the middle of the cake and smaller slices are cut from the outer edge. This way when the first round of cake is eaten there will essentially be a smaller round cake left for the next day.
Although there wasn’t any nsima to enjoy, there was still plenty to eat. It was my last full day in the central region of Malawi. Tomorrow afternoon I fly to Blantyre to see the brethren there.
-Lewis VanAusdle
Leave a Reply