One night in Malawi I cried myself to sleep because I felt like a spoiled brat: here I was whining about taking so long to get to our destination while we witnessed utter poverty; I just wasn’t enjoying all the endless driving and searching for the best place while I felt uncomfortable seeing all the poverty along the way. Malawi was and is still one of the poorest countries in the world and to see the poverty broke my heart. Malawi is also known for its friendly warm-hearted people with a big welcome and to see their happy faces spoke to my ‘western first world mentality’; their happy satisfaction in the face of all odds was glaringly different to my spoiled wealth and luxury of having a car, time and money to go on a trip such as this. It hardly felt fair.
Mountain vies in Malawi by M Noffke. 
Subsistence farming along the road in Malawi by M Noffke.
Roadside farm stall, Malawi by Morag Noffke. 
Malawi by M Noffke.
It is easy to view such a country with romanticism and close one’s eyes to their plight but under the layers of the beautiful rural scenes and basic style of living the poverty was evident in so many different ways. Most people cycled or walked which to my environmental values sounds so appealing but it impedes the economy. We struggled to find petrol stations as a result. The shops in the rural areas were stocked with essentials only; essentials that we as first world countries would not relate to. We struggled to find an ATM as a result because people don’t have that kind of money.
As we left Pottery Lodge we were told that the only ATM we would find was on Illovo Sugar Plantation. It was a beautiful drive and a wonderful experience driving through the privately owned plantation looking for the ATM.
Illovo in Malawi, by M Noffke. 
Roads on Illovo plantation. Photo by M Noffke
Illovo Plantation, Malawi, by M Noffke.
Illovo factory, Malawi, by M Noffke.
Illovo is Africa’s largest sugar producer; we have sugar in South Africa as well but not where I come from so I have never seen a sugar plantation before. The roads were gravel and smelled very unpleasant as they were coated with a sugar by-product much like treacle to keep the dust from lifting as we drove. We eventually found the ATM and Derek queued with all the farm labourers to draw money. He felt embarrassed because they each withdrew 2 notes while he stood and withdrew a whole wad of notes; it was apparent how little they had compared to him. He too felt the great divide of poverty and compared to his own wealth.
Malawi, by Morag Noffke. 
Malawi, by M Noffke.
Visiting Malawi and seeing the poverty was as much a life changing experience as discovering that I had cancer the year before. I am aware of the blessing life has to offer me and it is not something I take for granted; not even the use of an ATM.
Peace and love till next time.
Morag Noffke 
Beautiful reflections … I think self awareness comes with age doesn’t it? I remember working and living in my 20’s in the Caribbean, places like Antigua full of poverty and corruption ( although probably not as extreme as Malawi) and me not really paying attention. I remember feeling very upset when my Christmas presents were all unwrapped at the post office and checked for example. I didn’t appreciate how lucky I was.
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Thank you. It is true. Awareness does come with age 😁🤗
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Thank you for sharing your experience too.
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Thx for sharing…I enjoy being back on the trip…:-)
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I so glad xx
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People living in such poor conditions also upsets me when we travel … and every time I have the same thought: How can they be so friendly and smiling when they literally have nothing (compared to my western standard)?
By now, I know it’s not the “stuff” that makes us happy, but more simple things in life … like a bed, running water and food … but these poor people sometimes don’t even have that 😔.
All I can say is, I admire the people of Malawi (and all other people that are living in harsh conditions) and still have time to smile at another human being.
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Yes that is very true ❤️
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