A burning issue

Surely I am not the only one to find the idea of an incinerator being in a burnt-down building somewhat amusing?

Actually not that amusing, on account of the smell in adjacent buildings, and a possible health and safety issue or two.
Today the building is being demolished. A proper incinerator is being built elsewhere.
  

Germany, by Malawians

We sent four students on an exchange visit to Germany. They remarked on four things:

1. The food was very varied

2. Even though there was plenty of power, people still turned off lights. (See next post below)

3. There was no litter.

4. Germans are time-conscious.

As a blog-writer, I am reminded that what we observe may say more about ourselves...

Too much for Livingstone

From both sides, here is the Kapichira hydroelectric power station. David Livingstone tried to get up the waterfalls in his boat (before the dam, when there was water!) and failed the first time but went around it a few years later.
Now the River Shire (pronounced Shirree) is the source of 98% of Malawian electricity and this is one of three power plants on it. Only 12% of the country are connected and even those of us who are, have a rota of  8h of power followed by 24h of nothing.
So why, at work, does no-one switch off the lights when they leave the room??!!

Clean black rats, see how they run

There was I, on the surgical ward, talking to a few students about cleanliness and surgery, and saying in Oxford we would use fewer antibiotics because we were happy with the cleanliness... when I was interrupted by a large black rat running across the floor between the mats of the patients' relatives. You couldn't make it up !

P.S.  I mentioned this to a midwife who said she too had been bothered by rats running across the delivery ward, but then she came to realise the other problems in obstetrics and rats had moved way down the list, to about number 11.

To save you checking, Malawi has a maternal death rate about three times the world average.