Category: Malawi-related

somehow related to Blantyre or Malawi

Calling Malawi from Switzerland

Online bookmark: Check Teltarif.ch for the cheapest telephone rate to Malawi. Yesterday I couldn’t remember the name of the cheapest Swiss “callthrough” provider… and googling for something like “Billiger telefonieren Malawi” just lists tonnes of German “call-by-call” sites. BTW, Swisscom costs CHF 1.40 per minute.

How to Resize Photos

My family’s email account in Blantyre was blocked twice in the past week, due to well-meaning but over-sized Christmas and New Year email greetings. Attachments with over 2 MBs. The family is still on a phone line with a very slow connection rate. And downloading emails with a large attachment takes forever and a day.… Continue reading How to Resize Photos

BBC on Fish Farming in Zomba

Recommended reading: BBC’s James Morgan on fish farming in rural areas of Zomba district, Malawi. It’s a perfect circle. “Or what we call an integrated agriculture-aquaculture (IAA) system,” says Joseph Nagoli, of WorldFish. “This isn’t high input fish farming. This is simple and sustainable.”

Appfrica Interview on MTN Uganda

Just a quick note to point to an interesting interview with an official of MTN Uganda at: Appfrica: Interview With MTN’s Erik van Veen – Part 1 These points caught my eye: (…) revenues per user, are very low in Africa by international standards, and require a low cost operating model if the Operator is… Continue reading Appfrica Interview on MTN Uganda

My BlogCamp Switzerland Talk

As announced on Twitter, I presented a talk on mobile technology in Malawi at today’s BlogCamp in Zurich to share what I’m learning from the African blogs and tweets that I follow on a regular basis. I started my talk with a short intro on Chiperoni (I am a bridge blogger somewhere between Basel and… Continue reading My BlogCamp Switzerland Talk

Mobile Communication for Rural Health Project

I stumbled across this blog by Josh Nesbit discussing the use of FrontlineSMS, a tool to set up a text-based communications network, in a rural health project in Namitete, Malawi. Here’s a 7 minute long interview with one of the community health worker. At about 3:00 she starts discussing the advantage of having a cell… Continue reading Mobile Communication for Rural Health Project

Biking in Malawi

stumbled across this: Malawi Travel Guide and Bicycle Touring Guide Not very detailed though. The south is less hilly than the north. Ok.

Back from Blantyre

I spent a couple of sunny, winter days in Malawi’s biggest city, visiting family and meeting friends. I’ve started uploading some of my snapshots to Flickr. More to come as I sift thru the GBs of data. Travel was uneventful, except for the fact that my luggage took 6 days to arrive in Blantyre. It… Continue reading Back from Blantyre

Radio Stations in Malawi

Bennett has listed an overview of Malawi radio stations: MBC Radio 1 (state broadcaster) MBC Radio 2 FM (state broadcaster) Capital FM Power 101 FM (Provides live internet streaming) Radio Maria Malawi (Provides 24 hr live internet streaming from Malawi. Currently my fave, because it brings me closer home when I am outside Malawi.) Star… Continue reading Radio Stations in Malawi

Malawi Blog on Learning Tumbuka

Monire monire! Muli uli? Tobias Kumwenda has started a blog to teach Tumbuka ( via Global Voices): The mission of this weblog is to teach those people who are not ChiTumbuka speakers located across the world, but have developed passion to learn this language. A great idea. Keep up the good work! See also Wikipedia:… Continue reading Malawi Blog on Learning Tumbuka

Web to SMS

for future reference: I use Twitter’s direct messages to send out an occasional text message. I’m trying to set up a Twitter account for my family in Blantyre. The idea would be to DM them via Twitter. But somehow, the cell phone authentication is *not* working. (Any ideas?) As an alternative, I found this page… Continue reading Web to SMS

CNN Report on Malawi Doctor Shortage

There’s a CNN TV report on the shortage of qualified medical personnel in Malawi. I zapped into it yesterday. It shows the dire situation at Mulanje District Hospital and in a rural dispensary. They interviewed a volunteer doctor from Uganda, a midwife who works in rural villages, a couple of Malawian doctors that are working… Continue reading CNN Report on Malawi Doctor Shortage

Director of The Fairtrade Foundation recommends Satemwa

and Lujeri Tea Estates in an interview with guardian.co.uk: My favourite hotels are… Locally run guesthouses. I stay in many around the world, but recently I was in the tea estates of Malawi and stayed at the Satemwa Guesthouse in Thyolo (00 265 1473 256; satemwa.com) and Lujeri Lodge (00 265 8 854 894). It… Continue reading Director of The Fairtrade Foundation recommends Satemwa

Floods in Mocambique and Malawi

Heavy rains are causing the Zambezi and the Shire to flood. Here’s a BBC report: Heavy floods have also destroyed homes and crops, displacing thousands of people in southern and central Malawi. The Malawian government is warning people to relocate from flood-prone areas, but many have been reluctant to leave their farms.