![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.faceofmalawi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/biketown_africa.jpg\" "\\"biketown_africa\\"")
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O<\/strong>ne very early morning, a cup of coffee, a bloody Mary and three airports later we arrive in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa. \u201cReason for entry to country?\u201d I jot down on the funny yellow piece of paper that we are here to do a bike donation for BikeTown Africa. Of course, this reason does not \u2018fly\u2019 so well with the official at Customs. \u201cHow many days do you want?\u201d I respond, seven days please and put on my best Sunday smile. Finally after a few minutes of explaining and a joking promise of a bike donation to the official, we are legally allowed into Malawi, with a warm inviting smile.<\/p>\n As we are driving to our hotel in what seems to be a brand new UNICEF double cab \u2018bakkie\u2019, I realize that Malawi feels strangely familiar. Not knowing what to expect of this adventure, I felt completely foreign, yet comfortable and a sense of home in the dusty hot air. The landscape reminds me of a non-existent place between Mid-Rand and Pretoria in South Africa. The areas are vast and spread out here. Fresh lilac flowers of the Jacaranda trees in bloom give me a sense of comfort and hope of rain. Many farmers in the rural areas are waiting for the rains to help them feed their families and to generate some income.<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The warm heart of Africa, this is what Malawi is referred to, partly because it\u2019s so hot here but mainly becau<\/p>\n se the Malawians are such a genuinely friendly nation, they are real people with real problems but this is no discouragement to them. Your smile is always returned and no matter how frustrating a situation may get, one smile can turn it all around, even if it\u2019s someone else\u2019s. There is a sense of innocence and purity about these finely featured and small in stature people, they have respect for one another and yet most live in total poverty. With the better part of the population under 20 years of age, it makes you wonder and grateful for things you previously took for granted.<\/p>\n But back to our reason for entry, the bike donation and the Baylor Pediatric Hospital. The Baylor Hospital is jaw-droppingly impressive. It looks brand new every day I see it. Clean, professional and with a collection of local art that anyone would envy. It is equipped with its own laboratory and functions completely independently from government. All the medicine, re hydration salts, food supplements etc are given to the patients for free, \u2018mahala\u2019, nothing. The Doctors who work there are primarily from the US as the hospital does not want to take local doctors away from an already impoverished\/malnourished health care system. It was truly amazing to meet these saint like and highly qualified doctors. It was an honor to see what they are doing for expecting mothers, children and infants alike.<\/p>\n\n
<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/a>A bicycle can serve as more than simply a mode of transport <\/p>\n<\/div>\n