Magic Man

About a week and a half ago, I went to Mzuzu to meet up with the two new Health volunteers that will be coming to Chitipa. After meeting Kara and Briana, we travelled north together so I could show them the villages where they will be living. After that, they were scheduled to do a week of language intensive in Chitipa boma, so myself and Colleen got to hang around town and help out with the training as much as we could. It was alot of fun to get to know the two newest members of our extreme northern family, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them both. One of the cultural activities that PC had planned for them this last week was to visit a Traditional Healer in the village. In Malawi, it is still quite common for people with ailments/problems to seek the help of these healers who use a variety of secret herbal recipies and magic to help those in need. It was very interesting to talk with him and hear about the most common things people come to him for help for, such as joint pain, malaria, fevers, and also getting his help to reveal who has stolen something from them. Many people in Malawi find this practice to be quite silly, when you ask them about it, but there are obviously plenty of people still seeking help from these healers and convinced that what they do works. I found it absolutely fascinating, and I was kinda wishing something was wrong with me (physically, not mentally. we all know I'm not all there in the head) so I could get his help and see how well it worked. However, being that he caught me in between my usual cycle of sicknesses, the only thing I could think of asking his help with was my guitar playing. I finally convinced our interpreter to ask the Magic Man if he knew of something that would help me to become a better guitar player. (and yes...I too had a fleeting thought of the story of selling your soul to the devil at some deserted, dusty crossroads to become the best, then quickly tried to forget that image) So after the interpreter asks him, the Healer ponders for a moment, looks me in the eyes, and says, "Practice". I laughed so hard because I came all the way here to be told what my Mom has been telling me since I was 6. This place is awesome!