Kamuzu Academy
Andermas
The old (Church) year was seen off with Gule, of course, but it is appropriate to record here the manner in which Advent Sunday was marked. My colleague T. arranged for a service of Choral Evensong in the Kamuzu Academy chapel. Such rites are seldom performed in a chapel inspired by Presbyterianism and inclined…
Read MoreWords lead to Deeds
I return to Nampula, in the north of Mozambique, which I reached once, long ago, by boat and lorry, but most recently en route to Nairobi (and Kigali) by air. It seems an act of supererogatory grace that I am enjoying the relative comfort of Business class: by a quirk of Kenya Airways the…
Read MoreMalawi in the Time of Covid
It is possible, once again, to consider travel ‘beyond the Lake’. If God and Kamuzu Academy allow, Tuesday will find me in Nairobi and Wednesday in Oxford. It is appropriate to reflect on what has passed since last I left Oxford on Saturday, 4th January, 2020. I recall that Lent Term well. I wondered…
Read MoreAt Dedza Pottery (again)
Hence up country (with the customary measure of diffidence) again. It is necessary to set aside the usual standards by which one marks ‘the Days on the Year’. One recalls from Oxon. with fondness the beauty of the Mass of Christmas Day at the Oratory; and the time between Christmas Day and the Epiphany…
Read MoreChristmas Day
For Christmas Day… White egrets perch atop the papyrus at Kamuzu Academy’s ornamental lake. They are the harbingers of rain. White lilies spread over the waters of the lake. Cyperus papyrus
Read MoreThe Immaculate Conception
For the Immaculate Conception… Two bead trees (Adenanthera pavonina, also called false red sandlewood) flank the entrance to Kamuzu Academy’s library. They are native to India. It is alleged that their seeds were used once to weight gold: 30 seeds = 11.5 grammes. A. pavonina
Read MoreGreek in the Tropics
We have just awarded the Kamuzu Academy Lower School Certificate in Greek for the second time. The survival of the Classics in the Malawi bush is due perhaps more to the life support of presidential mandate and institutional inertia than to any respect or understanding that they command among either colleagues or pupils. There…
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