Mama Cecelia in Malawi

Our group of 20 people was headed for a meeting that was described as “just near.” After about 30 miles on a dusty, pot-holed bush road I asked the man beside me how in the world they could think the meeting was “just near”. He explained it this way. “In our country our people have to walk everywhere they go. Hence everyplace is “just far”. But, when Americans come here they travel around the country in cars. That is very easy so we say the distance is now “just near.” Therefore no matter how far you must go in Malawi, if you have a motorized vehicle “just far” turns into “just near.”

Recently this same experience became reality for the children on the farms of Mama Cecelia Kadzamira near Dedza, central Malawi. It came with the arrival of a motorized Basic Utility Vehicle (BUV) from the Institute for Affordable Transportation in Indianapolis, Indiana. The day the unit arrived the distance they traveled to school changed from “just far” to “just near“. Not only is it more convenient for the children to get to school, it is now possible to get produce to market in a timely efficient way, carry the heavy bags of maize to the maize mill, and transport sick patients to a medical facility that was nearly impossible to reach before the BUV arrived in Malawi. The trading center is now “just near”, the hospital is “just near”, and the life of the village improves.