April 20I’m not quite sure where you get these types of statistics, nor how you quantify them in any way, but a study has apparently been done comparing the various walking speeds of the cities of the world. Blantyre, in all its glory, comes in at the very bottom; the slowest average walking speed worldwide. And sure, you may find many a fault in claims such as these, but take a couple of days of trying to get things done in this city and you very quickly realise that the studies couldn’t be too far off the mark.
From nonchalantly crossing the road in front of your car bearing down on them at speed or families wandering the halls of the hospital with a purposeful aimlessness continually blocking the corridors to the comings and goings of doctors, nurses, cleaners and every other hospital necessity. Oblivious check out attendants at stores lazily meandering despite queues of waiting customers, bar staff and waiters who seem like they’ve been set to slow motion on a video recorder, and even police, so keen to enforce their road blockades, who then wander out at speeds as if teasing you before waving you through with an overwhelming air of lethargy. They often say that Malawi has little that binds the people together as a nation, nothing that provides them with national unity given the varied backgrounds of so many differing cultures. I beg to disagree. Never before have I met a collective group of people who are so seemingly intent on lacking intent.
And why are they so slow you may ask? A mixture of many reasons I feel. The general lack of urgency in all aspects of life here from the top to the bottom of society, many people with very little to actually occupy their day, perhaps a lack of any definite structure or deadlines in most sectors of business, some would even say it’s inherent in the people.
From nonchalantly crossing the road in front of your car bearing down on them at speed or families wandering the halls of the hospital with a purposeful aimlessness continually blocking the corridors to the comings and goings of doctors, nurses, cleaners and every other hospital necessity. Oblivious check out attendants at stores lazily meandering despite queues of waiting customers, bar staff and waiters who seem like they’ve been set to slow motion on a video recorder, and even police, so keen to enforce their road blockades, who then wander out at speeds as if teasing you before waving you through with an overwhelming air of lethargy. They often say that Malawi has little that binds the people together as a nation, nothing that provides them with national unity given the varied backgrounds of so many differing cultures. I beg to disagree. Never before have I met a collective group of people who are so seemingly intent on lacking intent.
And why are they so slow you may ask? A mixture of many reasons I feel. The general lack of urgency in all aspects of life here from the top to the bottom of society, many people with very little to actually occupy their day, perhaps a lack of any definite structure or deadlines in most sectors of business, some would even say it’s inherent in the people.
And the best way to deal with all this? Stop rushing, this is Malawi my friend. Slow it most certainly is.
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