Tawonga Msiska’s Reflections
By: Tawonga Msiska
When I first got the job of being an enumerator/researcher for Bikes for Borders, my thoughts were of how easy the job would be. To enumerate-to simply list down what others would be telling me was just going to be easy money. Little did I know that my first week as an enumerator around Zomba would turn out to be surprisingly different from what I had expected.
Likangala Health Centre turned out to be such an enlightening and humbling experience. The CBOs are very hard working and are devoted to helping the people in not only their villages, but neighboring ones as well. They give so much of their time and energy by counseling others and giving out medicine to those that are sick in the villages. Sometimes, they even help in bringing those that are urgently sick to the health centre using any means of transportation that is available at the time.
A fifty seven year old respondent smilingly told me of how he visits people in the villages around the health centre by foot. He walks for miles on end providing advice on health, soap and sometimes medicine to those that are sick but cannot reach the health clinic. He has been doing this for over 12 years. Having had his bike spoiled years ago, he has no choice but to walk. Despite this fact, this man is still willing to help in spite of his situation and age. I found this to be quite humbling for a man who has almost nothing to be able to give almost everything.
Chamba Health Centre turned out to be almost as astounding as the one before. With so many volunteers helping out at the health clinic in serving the people that are sick by travelling such long distances of sometimes even fifteen kilometers from the health centre using oxcarts, bicycles and sadly sometimes by foot.
As it turns out, bicycles are such a major part of the transportation system in Malawi. A lot of people rely on riding a bicycle in order to carry out their errands and business’ allowing them to reach the most essential and remote places. One of the cyclist respondents that I met in Mpyupyu, Zomba, travels to Chinamwali market everyday, a distance of over 12 kilometres, in order to sell fruit for his livelihood. As I approached the man with a friendly and informative greeting about what why Bikes Without Borders wanted to talk to him, he was eager to participate and answer my questions. I was polite and friendly but informative about the intentions of BWB. He listened attentively and answered each question with careful consideration since the topic of transportation concerned him greatly. By the end of the interview, I had not just met a respondent but made a friend as well.
This experience has taught me how much there is to learn not only from the respondents but from the people I work with as well. Our leader Kristen has encouraged me to grow as a person and with her and the other enumerators help, this survey has proven to be a very informative process of how people in Malawi are living their lives while improving mine as well.
All in all, my experience with BWB has really been a great one! Tawonga Msiska was one of ten Chancellor College (located in Zomba, Malawi) graduates from the International Development program hired to conduct research.
