five w’s
Yesterday we arrived in Nomba to stay, not-so-fresh from Mandimba, a midsize town near the Malawi border. This city is a frequent stop for truckers whose calling cards often spell HIV/AIDS, as well as creative comebacks like the play we filmed whose theme was HIV prevention.
In Mandimba we met Legion, a local who is the director, writer, and actor for his theater troupe. Legion’s homecoming in the village of Luelele was also the debut of his play production, an act that received rave reviews from the crowd of men, women, and children who attended. Featuring music and dancing, Legion’s drama brought forward the dangers of HIV, minus “La Vie Boheme.” Creative development has a ready audience.
On the way back to Lichinga, however, what started as a blown tire off our “taxi” turned into a three-hour-long pit stop and gave us plenty of time to reflect on the Africa that’s challenged positive thinking in some ways.
To fill in the blanks, by the time we got to Mandimba, the romance was fading and the soundtrack had started skipping. Mandimba was a staring contest with Africa. Both the literal and figurative tire has blown on the way from Mandimba to where we are now. In that city we started asking “why?,” and we won’t be publishing answers anytime soon, because here in Lichinga we have been confronted with similar question marks.
For now, we’ll focus on the immediate: rice, or beans?
