Tionana
My first impression of Malawi, as soon as the plane touched down, was that the terrain and environment were unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced. Once I got off at Kamuzu International Airport, I realised that Malawi’s landscape is predominantly sandy and dusty. The rocky terrain that accentuated the sandy texture of the country was actually bright orange in colour, giving the country the look of a rocky desert.
As part of my research with Professor Dean Karlan from Northwestern University, once I began touring Malawi to conduct qualitative interviews, I realised that the economically weaker communities there were very similar yet different to the communities that I had met during my research tour in the Philippines. Instead of squatted houses with stilts that were a fixture over there, the Malawi communities preferred to live in mud brick houses with dry floors, which were cleaner and more compact, given the rough terrain of the country.
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I began interacting with the local and small business owners there to understand the obstacles they might be facing in expanding their businesses. I realised that I was seeing the real-life occurrence of the results I had gotten from my RCT feasibility trials. I also wanted to understand whether the concepts that I had learnt in my Development Economics classroom worked or not, and if they did, the processes through which they became successful. However, it wasn’t only about economics that I ended up learning about during my time there.
I managed to make memories and gain some life experiences that will probably stay with me for a long time. I remember standing on the hills of Kunene Kude at a macadamia farm, looking at the valley and realising that I would probably never stand there again. With the soft and cool breeze blowing over me, I was left pondering over fleeting moments and how beautiful life can be if only we slow down and take the time to appreciate it.
It wasn’t all roses and sunshine there, though. Being in Malawi as a Chinese person made me realise what it means to be a minority somewhere. There were times when people would blatantly stare at me or even mock me just because I looked “different”. At the same time, a lot of the people I met had never met someone like me, so they were equally curious to know more about my culture and language. It gave me a different perspective on how all of us have unique societies and cultures that we grow up in, and likely spend a majority of our lives without getting the chance to experience a majority of them.
Malawi was a fascinating experience. I not only understood how capital grants impacted SMEs but also how my experiences and the perspectives I brought to the country as an outsider affected both the people I was interviewing and me. I would love to go back again if I can.
