A certain tolerance of (gross) imperfection

There is an anecdote recently from work that encompassed so many aspects of this feature so Malawian that I really have to elevate it to the status of case study. It is about a phenomenon that us foreigners find so hard to understand and accept. It drives us up the wall, it’s probably responsible for the majority of instances where we lose it with Malawians (and then repent shamefully for weeks!) and it certainly provides an incredible insight into the Malawian psyche, let alone socio-economic reality. It is the way imperfect results, systems, jobs you name it, are so coolly tolerated here. This will without a doubt sound like a litany of criticisms of the Malawian way of doing things. Indeed I was first to have this reaction when I landed here. But really I’ve moved from that stance to be closer to understanding what it really tells us. It tells us a lot about Malawi, the country and the people for sure, but it also tells us about ourselves quite a deal. For if tolerance of imperfection makes us flinch so much, then it somewhat suggests that we are more inclined to the opposite... and in that I read intolerance!

The story is that of a box! A box I tried to get the hospital maintenance department to make in order to enable us to run a nurse-less clinic. Indeed the situation in terms of nurse staffing is so dire at Queen’s that we run all our clinics ourselves as clinicians. Also our orthopaedic ward staffing has recently been culled such that there is now a single nurse for up to 70 patients on nights. So I devised a compartmentalised box which would contain all the materials (gloves, dressing, slings etc) we need in clinic and all the ward nurses would have to do is to keep it stocked up in between clinics. So I drew up a model of the box in the question and handed over to the maintenance big guy as I would have done in Ntcheu. To my surprise he directed me to the main guy for the specific section: carpenter. I automatically assumed that this must be a big enough unit to deal with quite a volume of work. So I gave the model to the chief carpenter and got the assurance that this is a very simple job indeed which shouldn’t take more than a couple of days to complete. So 2 days later, I drop in on my way to the clinic and can’t find the box. I find the subordinate carpenter instead who informs me the chief carpenter is on a bigger job and has delegated this job to him. But he had decided not to make a start on it until he got a chance to check on specifics with me. Fair enough! So I went through the very basic features of this simple box and got told to come back at the start of the following week. It turns out I was very busy that next week, so I gave the carpenter ample time to do the job well. Come Thursday, clinic day, I stumble by the department again and find no signs of my box yet. The subordinate, it turns out has gone off sick. Can’t help it, so I ask the chief carpenter to reassume responsibility of the job if the other doesn’t come back soon. Next week I go there to enquire and still find no progress on the box. The chief carpenter is not around, he’s gone off on another more important job again. Fair enough, the corridor connecting the surgical annexe to the main hospital has caved in! It started as a crack in the wall and before we knew it, the wall was on the ground with a big chunk of floor attached to it! So that’s another week at least before chief carpenter gets back to ‘little jobs’ again. As for his subordinate, he’s not back yet. I’ve seen it so often here and it saddens me. Young perfectly able-bodied men and women, look smilingly at you one day full of life and the next day they’re in the throes of a terminal illness, out of which many don’t make it. There’s a lot of serious infections that go round but I don’t agree that they should claim such a big death toll. Poverty among low grade health staff is really heartbreaking and results in life being, to put it bluntly, devalued. So I gave my carpenter man, now working all by himself, another 2 weeks instead of one to get back to the task. So the next time I go there, I have an OMG moment when I see him actually displaying the work he’s done. He’s come up with a list of materials that he will need to make the box and is waiting for me to provide the cash. And I find out about this 4weeks from handing the job in! So I ask why is this not covered by the departmental budget and he tells me he assumed I wanted it done quicker to save going through the procurement process. That’s when I find out that this guy is working without tools essentially. Every new job has to go through an inconvenient approval process, including the very nails he needs. Thankfully the list of things we need for my box are internally stocked and can be procured within a week. So next week, I drop in, you know the next bit... to check on the progress with the box. We now have the wood cut up in the component pieces and enough nails to connect them, but something else is missing. A hammer! If I had one I assure you I would have hit my own head with it! The carpenter shows me the one he’s using, which is the equivalent of a fork without prongs essentially. There’s a handle attached to a headless hammer that’s only got the nail-pulling end still on. He must have had this for years without being replaced and he still uses it to hit big things. But nailing I’m afraid can’t be done lest we want a fingerless carpenter to stick to the theme! I’m assured though that there is one that been ordered a while ago and which has been approved for external sourcing finally. Another week I say, that’s okay I’m busy anyway. So next week, (...), and I finally find a hammer next to the nails and cut up wood blocks and can only express my puzzledness to the carpenter as to why the hammer hasn’t driven the nails into the wooden blocks yet! And I’m told that he wanted to check everything with me first before ‘committing’. This isn’t amputation surgery, but I guess that when he’s handling material that’s so difficult to acquire as in this case, he wants to treat it as if it was. And indeed, upon checking, I find out my cursory initial explanation had been misunderstood, but there was no need for him to ask for clarifications then as he would have forgotten it anyway by now. This happens a lot here, for that precise reason: predictable unforeseen reasons! So one more week I delay and go back to find my man. Hallelujah, I see a box! But is has no lid. Why? He didn’t realise I wanted it so I could keep the box locked when not in use, even though it was on the drawing. So another week goes by and predictably, there’s a finished box with lid and even a lock , which I haven’t had to wait another week for. I reach out for it and realise it’s not ready yet. No! It’s yet to have the final touch applied. Polishing and lacquer. But hey, a large piece of sandpaper only cost about 25Kwacha (10p) and he can’t get it procured fast-track. So this time, I fish for the cash from my pocket and say get it when he’s in town. Next week, I find the box in the same state it was the week before. I’m told there is no sandpaper in town! I can’t believe it. But I just remembered I had some at home. This I bring to him the next day, but it’s not the right one and not big enough. So next week when I find him, no progress still! I’m baffled, not sure what the next move is. So I just leave things to move at the default pace of external procurement. Luck has it though that I had to go to town that week and in the shop where I wanted to buy paint, I find sand paper also on sale. Can you believe it? So I race back to Mr Carpenter and hand him by new found treasure. Why he couldn’t find it is a slight mystery but the following reasons are likely to be contributory. Currently a lot of shops are out of some stock or other because of the acute fuel shortage and his shop, probably the only one he’s allowed to procure from for the hospital doesn’t have it. Because initiative is not rewarded and he doesn’t dare to bypass the authority of the hospital even though I gave him the money (read job insecurity despite pathetic wages), he simply assumes the same situation applies across town. He’s probably been told that by the shop guys anyway. The frequency of stock shortage and malfunction (of equipment/ system) has over the years slowly eaten away at that vital human attribute called initiative. It is (sometimes rightfully) perceived as a waste of time, which could be better spent elsewhere. It is used by some to get on with personal errands that they would otherwise not have time to get done. Do you know that most Malawians I’ve worked with hardly ever take any holiday? They are entitled to it but because of their pathetic wages, often prefer working them so they can earn some locum money- and don’t be fooled into believing this is the same overinflated locum wages as replacement staff get in UK. This locum is a fraction of their normal wages. Each time I hear expats call Malawians lazy, I feel like suggesting to them to drop their wages to a measly £200 a month and do away with holidays for an indefinite period! Circumstances force a different work ethic within which opportunities are created to avoid burn out simply, e.g. a looser adherence to punctuality, extended lunch hours, time off for training and the all-notorious allowance culture. I’m under no urge to adopt these ‘mental-state-sustainability’ measures for I, like most expats, am only here for a couple of years and can work myself to the limit in this time. If I were told to continue at this rate for longer, I would certainly burn out.

So even as we speak (10 weeks on), the box case ain’t closed yet, as the final stage of lacquering is still underway. But the shift of perspective it has engendered is quite apt, since I’ve literally had to think outside the box to even begin to comprehend the complexity of issues at hand here. Is there a part of it even I’m responsible for? I for all I stand: the Mauritian- African, Indian and muzungu all at once, the aid worker, the idealist, the perfectionist, each aspect coming with its own threat of interference. When so many external influences as we see in Africa more than anywhere else in the world come in conflict, one can see progress might be hampered rather than enhanced in the end. To simply bandy concepts like Dead Aid, neo-colonialism, slave trade legacy, economic and cultural invasion, global village, China in Africa and the state of international trade rules in one line is exceedingly inadequate. But for sake of illustration, it does the trick, that is to start thinking that all might not be due to the Malawian personality, including that of its leaders. Very importantly too, there’s a lesson, we, from the West, can learn from here- to be more patient, relaxed and tolerant of human imperfection. The right way is always somewhere in between.

The world is like the human body, where each part is linked and crucial to the functioning of the whole. It has been so since the beginning of times, way before anyone coined the term global village. The little toe going black is often not due to the toe having done anything wrong itself- it was dependent on blood flow to it being adequate...

Lake of Stars 2011

I am aware that most of my latest entries have borne a reference to a similar period from last year. In fact I can predict that if I stayed here once more year, the same would hold true for next year’s entries around this time. Yet this in no way makes me reluctant to write about them again for fear of repetition. This time of year is momentous for me in Malawi and each year it represents a climax, with very different elements to it. The work climax that recently was has properly made way for the post-climactic chill which could find no better embodiment than this certain festival known as the Lake of Stars. This year’s event was an entire journey starting as a post-nightshift blues on a typical sequence of public transport modalities (taxi, minibus, matola). Having worked from 7.30am the day before to noon the same day, clearing up an unexpected theatre list, I was ready for a major showdown. So was Janet, equally saturated with work over the last few weeks. Despite having had to cover the last 20 or so Km in the back of a pick-up truck in pitch black darkness, and then get accused by the driver and some drunk conductor of damaging one the windows, once we reached the place, it was like someone had reset the time to start from scratch in our minds. Within seconds, we were captured by the spirit of the festival. This remained so for the next 48hours where every minute was simply unique. Now I don’t go on describing festivals from the UK with such exuberance, despite probably being more excited about some of the main acts on show. But when you have sun, sand, a cool lake and funky laid-back people in abundance, it almost doesn’t matter what music is on offer for you to have fun. Now imagine the prospect of still having great music with all these ingredients! Could you blame me for banging on about it?! Now for the geeky bit- my favourite acts this year. Take note. From Malawi, all the regular crowd pullers were there: Maskal, Lucius Banda, Theo Thompson, Dan Lu and Black Missionaries. But it’s the new discoveries that always stand out and this year it’s a band called Mafilika that really dazzled me, not just for their talent, but for the fact that this talent was in the genre so rarely heard around here which is ROCK! Yes Mafilika rocked and indeed reassured me that somewhere in everyone, there is a dormant rocker waiting to be awoken. Another beautiful discovery was of the 79year old acoustic artist called Giddes Chamalanda, who simply eased me through a somewhat dreary mid-Saturday state of exhaustion before the major line up. His original take on classic and original rock blues was just great. My excitement at seeing the main Malawian singer I was waiting for, Maskal, was unfortunately tainted by a slight incident in which I got pick-pocketed of my phone. But that doesn’t lessen the quality of his performance, hyped by an impressive advertising build up from his sponsor distributing free T-shirts and all. And that brings me to the next band I wanna talk about: The Very Best! Not the very best name for a band by far, but the elements that made it up were fantastic, namely a Swedish DJ, an English rapper and a Malawian hip-hop singer, all complete with dance troupe. Again the publicity from free T-shirts flung into the crowd worked quite well. But above all the music was very original, and you must believe me because I am very partial with this genre. As for the international line up, this is the bit I get most excited about, because you hardly get such a diverse mix of origins in a UK festival (even though I’ve never been to Womad- so hold me back on that one). Here there must have been a good 10 countries represented, each with a special twist to their music. Rwanda was represented by Sophie, playing a string instrument called Inanga, Namibia by a troubadour reminiscent of Tracy Chapman, by the name of Shishani and Kenya by a most energetic designer/singer called Liz Ogumbo. England was definitely there in the bodies of Mercury Award winners of this year: The Foals, which is probably the longest uninterrupted metal rendition Malawi has ever heard in its history. The fact that I didn’t exactly connect with them straight away is quite telling about how distanced I’ve grown from this style in my time here. However I was reminded there about how much I do miss it. Again from England we had soul queen Beverley Knight, whom I’d never really attached any memorable songs to before... until last night of course. She was just brilliant. It makes such a difference seeing what they call a Diva performing in front of you, as compared to hearing it from a tape or disc. I now admit there is an incredible talent in getting a human voice to do such things. There were also acts from the US and France that I missed. Now for what I considered the cream of the International line up, an international band in itself, who alone would have justified my cross-countrying all that way to the festival: Freshlyground. This was in many ways a new discovery because I only got listening to them in the build-up to the festival, apart from a few faint snippets I’d had from other people’s musical selection before. The band is from South Africa and they literally took me back there in the tantalisingly electric spirit of the world cup. The musical scene I discovered there had significantly marked me and I’ve been sampling more and more music from that country. Last night’s addition will remain on the playlist for a while to come now. The band is real encounter of artists and instruments, not least of which is the amazing voice of the main singer. The guitarist, a Mozambican, particularly stood out for me and gave that final eclectic quality to the band. So look out for them if the name is new. To wrap up, I’ll just have to mention one last artist, who is not a singer in the precise use of the term, but without a doubt an expert lyricist. Lake of Stars like all good festivals had more than just music on show and the guy I’m gonna talk to you about added an incredible sense of brilliance to the poetry scene this year and he goes by the name Q Malewezi. His style is his own creation and defies any attempt at classification, however intent I might be at rounding him up with the slammers. I do insist, probably more than for the set of musicians I’ve described above, that you go and look him up! And better still watch him perform (Blantyre Arts Festival next week). So that was the Lake of Stars in a more of a watermelon- than a nut-shell! But this event is so exciting that one can’t help recounting it other than with the most elaborate descriptions. And I assure you, even so, I’ve missed out loads more. Sophie wih Inanga

Local instruments

Freshlyground

Iwes

Hattrick!!!