St. Patricks Missionary Society Kiltegan Co. Wicklow, Work for Justice, Working for Human Rights, Lay Missionary Work, Ending Economic Slavery, Becoming a missionary

"I remember the day that Malawi won the East and Central Africa Cup by beating neighbouring Zambia. I had taken one of my class groups on a day's outing to a game park. We had a fantastic day, viewing the wildlife, picnicking, listening to reggae music and even doing a bit of dancing in the open.

On our way back that evening we stopped to finish off the picnic and listened to the match on the radio. The final whistle blew as darkness was falling, and then the party really began. There in the middle of the African bush we sang and shouted and cheered and danced by the light of the old pick-up truck's headlights.

The craic was brilliant. 'Brozee', (so nicknamed because of the way he would say 'brother') gave us a demonstration of his super-cool dancing, and we all tried, most unsuccessfully to imitate him. And there I was, in the middle of it all, trying to adapt my European dance steps to the laid-back reggae beat of the music. We drove back that night with the boisterous 'choir' in the open back of the pick-up, bellowing all the way home."

Capital	Lilongwe
Currency	Kwacha
Size	118,484 sq. kms
Population	10.7 million

Fr. Martin Smith from Deansgrange in Dublin has worked in the southern part of Malawi, which is known as 'The Warm Heart of Africa'. He says, "Coming to Malawi at first, and living in a different culture has its difficulties. Getting used to heat, a new language and different food can be quite tough, but by any standard Malawi is a beautiful country of high rocky peaks, breathtaking valleys and, in the words of David Livingstone, "the magnificent Lake of Stars", Lake Malawi.

It was in meeting and living with Malawians, particularly young Malawians, that I felt at home. And it is because of the friends that I have there that I can say... "I fell in love with Malawi; the Warm Heart of Africa."

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St. Patrick's Missionary Society - Kiltegan, Co. Wicklow Tel: 059 6473600 Fax: 059 6473622 Email: spsgen@iol.ie