7. June 2026

Permits, Presents and Power Challenges

With a lot of help from my friend (and boss) Andy, and from the ever helpful Brian from Nkhotakota Immigration Office, I now possess a Temporary Working Permit, valid until November, so my fears of being arrested for being an 'illegal' have been dispelled! Hoorah!

Presents

There was great excitement at school one day this week when I was finally able to distribute some gifts from the UK to the boarding students. My dear friend K and her sewing pals had made a wash bag for each student, and other friends in the UK had donated items to go in the bags but with over 80 students, I obviously couldn't bring over everything needed. Armed with donated cash from other generous folk in the UK, I visited a supermarket in the capital before coming back to Nkhotakota last week and purchased toiletries for them all. Thanks to everyone involved in this endeavour - the happy faces say it all!

There were other gifts too, including power banks for the teachers (gratefully received, as many of them don't have electricity in their homes and can charge their power banks at school) and football programmes. So many students have told me that they support UK teams (mainly Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool) so the MU programmes were a big hit with both students and teachers!

I've Got the Power (or maybe not)

Regular power cuts are just a part of life here, but I think this week has been the most challenging so far. Last Sunday saw hours of being off-grid, apparently due to some essential maintenance. Then there was a spell mid-week of 12 hours without power overnight, but that was simply due to a need for more credit to be purchased for the house. Several more short periods of being powerless continued over the week, but this weekend has seen the biggest challenge yet; so far 27 hours with no electricity. I'm told that someone nearby was cutting down a tree and damaged the power lines. Work is being done to repair it, but it's the weekend, so....

Thank goodness I have my small solar charger and I've been able to charge my phone, internet router and laptop (as well as some essential medical equipment I use daily). Next up for charging are my torches, just in case the situation isn't resolved by tonight. Luckily, I didn't have much in the freezer to spoil and I do have gas for cooking, so today's meals will be defrosted items, boiled on the stove. I learned early on in my stay to limit the fresh food I keep in the fridge. It's another reminder of how much I take for granted at home!

Blogging Off

In the interests of power preservation, I'll stop there for now. More next week, but in the meantime you can follow me on Instagram @malawi_enjoying_ourselves.

Thanks for reading.

Clare