The First Seventy Years: Chapter 48 - Satisfying Swings
...I ventured up to the Forestry Commission depot part way up Ndirande Mountain. I acquired some tree trunks about 500 millimetres diameter. I also got hold of two old car tyres and some strong rope and some nails. Borrowing a spade from the Polytechnic I took out sufficient earth into which I could sink the tree trunks.
Over a period of a few weeks I succeeded in getting the swings up and derived great satisfaction from watching the children enjoying themselves....
Eric Biddulph dedicated himself to helping others while working in Malawi.
To read earlier chapters of Eric's lifed story please click on http://www.openwriting.com/archives/the_first_seventy_years/
The first major sign of the impending Malawianisation of key posts within the Polytechnic. Most of my activities in Malawi with the exception of cycling were non-physical. I did however, have a spell when I applied myself to a spot of sawing and hammering. I decided that I would erect some swings near the flats.
I ventured up to the Forestry Commission depot part way up Ndirande Mountain. I acquired some tree trunks about 500 millimetres diameter. I also got hold of two old car tyres and some strong rope and some nails. Borrowing a spade from the Polytechnic I took out sufficient earth into which I could sink the tree trunks.
Over a period of a few weeks I succeeded in getting the swings up and derived great satisfaction from watching the children enjoying themselves. I later added a single tall trunk with strong nails protruding to provide a climbing pole. It was however, of less benefit to Malawian children because most of them did not possess any shoes.
Those Malawians who were lucky enough to have a regular wage usually had a fairly predictable scale of priorities on which to spend their earnings. Food was, of course, the premier preoccupation whether acquired with earnings, subsistence activity or a mixture of both. A steel framed bed tended to be the first major item to be purchased. A bicycle also ranked high in priority particularly if the male wage earner had to travel some distance to work. A radio, a watch and paraffin lights were also important.
Tin cans, once emptied of their contents retained an economic value. Goodwin always took our cans home with him to either use or sell. He went through a traumatic phase in his private life and this affected his work. It was only in retrospect that I learned of his problems and to my eternal shame I dismissed him for a time. His replacement was not in tune with us as a family. In particular, Paul could not develop a rapport which had been so successful with Goodwin. A chance meeting with him in Blantyre gave me the opportunity to ask him if he would like to return to work for us. He gladly accepted and stayed with us until we left Malawi.
Living in Blantyre we were blessed with the benefit of a regular electricity supply and clean drinking water. Lying a thousand metres above sea-level on the Shire Highlands we enjoyed a pleasant climate. The Shire River, a tributary of the Zambezi was the scene of a hydro power plant which provided a constant supply of electricity to the urban dwellers in Blantyre, Limbe and Zomba.
