Saying goodbye to my excellent driver Kingston, and a new friend and colleague, Hewton Samuel, I made my way to the Kenya Airway counter in the Lilongwe airport. After a lengthy "discussion" with the ticket agents as to why they should not charge me extra for checking my luggage, they finally let me through without paying the "penalty" for my two light bags, and I made my way past the various check points and security check. As I took my seat I began to think of my next destination. Tanzania!

While travel can be very exciting at times there are always things that can be stressful and frustrating that, over time, can add up and cause a weary traveler to come down with a case of "culture shock", or as I prefer to call it, "cultural fatigue". Just viewing so much poverty without being able to do much about it can be very emotionally draining. But one thing that seems to always "reset my clock", is to move on to a new country. Tanzania lies directly north of Malawi and shares a small border with it. As I will be visiting the northern part of the country, flying in is a much better option then traveling 36 hours over dusty roads.

With beautiful game parks, some of the tallest mountains in Africa, (including the tallest, Mt. Kilimanjaro), and a wide diversity of tribes and cultures, including the fascinating Maasai, Tanzania has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in Africa. I have visited once before and am looking forward to seeing this beautiful land and its people once again.

The primary purpose of my stop in Tanzania is to visit a brand new infant orphanage that has just opened its doors, the Cradle of Love. With so much HIV and AIDS in Tanzania, there are many babies that are either abandoned or orphaned and this orphanage in Arusha is sure to save many little lives. I also hope to make it out to some of the projects and programs that ADRA Tanzania is conducting in the country. In Hanang, one of the poorest regions in Northern Tanzania, ADRA is conducting a wonderful program of integrated community development. I had the opportunity to see the program last time that I was here and hope to witness the progress that has been made.

With a short stopover in Nairobi, I was soon on the short flight that took me past the beautiful snowcapped peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro at sunset! The ADRA driver was there at the airport to take me to the ADRA compound that will be my home for the next week. One of the things that I was really looking forward to was the great internet connection to be found at the ADRA Tanzania compound. While you cannot call it "high speed" or "broad-band" it is definitely faster then the slow dial up connections that I was dealing with in Malawi. Soon I would be connected to the world once again!

The first time that I heard the term "subsistence farming", I thought that it had kind of a nice, romantic ring to it. Perhaps that is because I grew up in Canada during the wild and free hippie days, where the ultimate goal of many a young person was to get away from "the establishment" and go and find a place where you could "get back to nature" and "live off the land."

Even though I never did try it myself, I had a certain admiration for those that did. While there are quite a few hippies, still "living the dream" in the back woods of British Columbia, most of the young people of my generation only lasted a couple of months before they found out that "getting back to nature", was a lot of hard work that often left the muscles sore and the stomach empty! It wasn't long before the establishment didn't look quite so bad after all.

Fortunately, most had an establishment to run back to. Canada was, and continues to be, a land of wonderful opportunities. Young people can virtually write their own ticket. They can choose a career of interest, attend the university of their choosing, and be rewarded with meaningful employment with good incomes.

In countries like Malawi, there is no promising alternative that young people can turn to when the romance of "living off the land" wears thin. Subsistence farming is just a nice way of saying that a person is trapped in poverty where he is only able to grow just enough food to survive. Without cash for uniforms and books, the majority of youth do not make it to the eighth grade before they have to drop out. Any dreams that they may have had of a good career need to be put aside in order to turn their attention to basic survival. Most attempt to do it on the shrinking plot of family land that long ago became depleted of the nutrients needed to provide a good harvest.

If they do attempt to get off the farm and make a living in the job sector, it is usually only a lateral move. Without an education, skills or capital, most leave a life of subsistence farming to enter a life of "subsistence employment". Many jobs in Malawi do not pay more then 50 cents a day. Picking tea in the hot sun all day might bring you 80 cents a day, if you are a fast picker. Without the social net of the village, many young people who have left, find themselves more vulnerable to a lifestyle that is at high risk for HIV and other diseases. When they do lose their jobs and make their way back to the safety of the village, they bring their diseases back with them.

As I walked through the fields, the difference between the plots of the participants in the program and those who were not, was dramatic! Stubby little maize shoots stood side by side with fields where the lush maize was towering over the farmers heads. As I spoke to them about the things that they had learned from ADRA, it was hard for them to contain their smiles. They knew that this year, if the rains continue for just a couple more weeks, they were going to have a bumper crop! Thanks to ADRA, this year was going to be a whole lot more then just subsistence.

A sign on the studio wall said, "Free your mind, go for VCT", and "Cool guys go for VCT testing". On my last day in Blantyre I visited the radio and television studios of MBC, Malawi Broadcasting Corporation. Much like CBC in Canada, MBC is owned and operated by the government and has a wide audience throughout Malawi, especially on radio. Television is relatively new in Malawi. The last time that I visited Malawi, in 1997, there was no TV stations in the country. MBCTV aired its first broadcast about 6 years ago. However, even with this advancement, only about 30% of the country's population has electricity and even fewer have TVs. While the visual medium offers promise for the future, if you really want to reach the people the poor of Malawi, you need to broadcast your messages on radio. Sponsored by Denmark, ADRA produces programs that run on both MBC outlets. The topic? HIV and AIDS.

If it seems as though HIV and AIDS is a recurring theme here in Malawi, it is because it is one of the biggest issues that faces the country. Apart from an issue of health, HIV/AIDS has become one of the main contributing factors that keeps Malawi, as well as many other countries in Africa in a poverty trap. People who fall ill as a result of being HIV positive, are not able to work their fields, attend classes, or fill positions in the work place. Attending the sick, and the many funerals, contribute to further absenteeism. Huge investments that have been made toward the education and training of Africa's professionals, across all fields, including doctors, nurses, teachers, and technologists, are being wiped out by a disease that strikes the wealthy, educated and poor alike.


"Let's Talk", is a program that invites the people of Malawi to call in with their questions on the various issues that surround HIV and AIDS. This week's guests were two young people that had recently gone for volunteer counseling and testing. One of the important messages that ADRA is trying to get out there is the absolute importance of everyone to go in for volunteer counseling and testing, or "VCT", as it has come to be called throughout Africa. As VCT suggests, it is more then just a test to determine if you are HIV positive. Counseling is also a very big part of the program. There is counseling before the test as well as counseling after the test. For those that are negative, counseling helps to encourage a lifestyle that will help keep them that way. For those that are found to be HIV positive, counseling helps them learn how to live longer with the virus, how to live responsibly with the virus and gets them on the waiting list for the antiretroviral drugs.

For many years there has been a real hesitancy to go for testing. Because of the stigma attached with being HIV positive, people preferred not to know. Not knowing their status, the positive continued to infect others. Now, with the education that ADRA is presenting over the Radio and TV, people are seeing the benefits that go along with knowing your status, and many more people are coming in. The results are staggering. Based on recent reports, it is estimated that in the urban areas of Malawi, up to 25 percent of the adult population is HIV positive!

ADRA's "Let's Talk" programs, have become a popular starting point for discussions about the problems of HIV and AIDS. Ask anyone in Malawi, if they have heard of ADRA, and chances are they will say, "Oh yes, they have the radio and TV program on AIDS. I really think it is a good show!" For those that don't get through on the live broadcasts there is a hotline for people to call every Friday afternoon with their questions.

From the radio station we went to the TV studios where I was able to witness the live production of the "Let's talk" program, complete with an enthusiastic, studio audience. Questions were asked not only by the studio audience but by people across the nation who phoned in. While the set and productions methods may have been primitive compared to the Dr. Phil show, it was still clearly effective. Sadly, funding for these popular programs are due to run out at the end of March. ADRA Malawi is scrambling for a way to keep these much needed programs on the air.