Malawi Update: Kanika feedbacks on the trip
Yesterday we flew into Zambia on a tiny 8 seated aeroplane and the change between the Malawi and Zambia was immediate. The people, the welcome, the small huts in which they live, the long straight roads and the open safari truck that we rolled into camp on, was all a big contrast.
We were all eager to get out onto safari, so we directly went out onto a night time game drive with a small Zambian man and a big torch leading the way. The English zoos could never compare to seeing such magnificent animals in their natrual habitat. Leopards, lions, elephants and girafes are naming but a few and the local’s commitment to protecting the animals from deforestation was evident in the projects we later visited.
You could imagine yourself in Anita’s footsteps when all walked into the Malimba project the next day. With a huge zambian welcome of singing and funky african dancing, we were introduced to the local women who were producing a new innovative type of fuel. The gratitude of the women who knew that The Body Shop Foundation had donated vital funding was humbling.
When a strong looking head-dressed woman stood and explained in her native language how the project gave her hope for a brighter future for her impoverished village and growing extended family, there was not a dry eye.
We stood in sun later in the afternoon, looking out onto the magnificent Luangwe River, the hippos were snorting loudly and the mud was betweeen our toes. I realised in that moment how this natural beauty and peace surrounding us, was the type of splendour Anita would have wanted me to celebrate every day in store.
