I met Chisomo during my field visit. In the Chichewa language, Chisomo means Grace. Although he was born as a person with albinism, he seems very confident and comfortable chilling out with his buddies. I can see he truly has that sparkling grace inside of him which makes all his friends enjoy playing with.
Sub-Saharan African countries possess the highest number of people living with Albinism in the world. Besides struggling with the sunlight – which can easily cause skin cancer and vision loss, they are also living in a deep fear. For the superstitious rituals, traditional healers (witch-doctors) attack and hunt people living with Albinism body parts to believe that their body can bring riches, success, power or sexual conquest.
In Malawi, many people with albinism live in remote, impoverished communities where superstitions are still there and correct information about albinism is not yet widely understood.
People in the communities indeed play very important roles to stop this and to protect people with albinism. I am so grateful that under the same sun, little Chisomo is surrounded by his friends love and protection. I hope as he grows up, he may live in freedom without fear.
For most Indonesian, Indomie may be the only instant food that can overcome homesickness while living abroad. A while ago, I cooked Indomie instant noodle for my friend Blessings Banda. It’s the very first time in his life to taste it and he apparently loves it much! (Pardon me for the rough ROFL in the video – I just got so hilarious looking at him enjoying it).
Instant noodle was first introduced to the Indonesian people in 1969 and until now the brand has been a phenomenon in the industry - not only in Indonesia but also globally. It has the presence in more than 100 countries and at least exported to 80 destination countries with 15 billion packs of Indomie were produced yearly. In Nigeria, Indomie replaces the word 'noodle' itself. It is the largest instant noodle factory in Africa with 10 factories, pulling in more than $600 million USD a year.
Yesterday was 73rd Indonesia Independence Day. Indomie has become the pinnacle of Indonesia’s most proud brand. Through ages, Indomie has successfully turned taste into a way of life that so many people wanted. It is a diplomatic tool to knit and unite a peaceful friendship across nations.
Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and onions are some common vegetables sold which we will encounter when passing the road in Malawi.
Usually, the seller will display and organize them in colorful buckets so that they attract people's attention. The vegetable prices may vary between one district and others. Often also, we will encounter many kids accompanying their parents to trade or even just enjoying the market atmosphere.
One thing for sure, although they look like a saturated market, all sellers seem happy and never have any competition behavior among them.
I know it is not easy to take a portraiture photo, especially with children.
It was a very cold day at Rumphi District in Malawi around noon on my way back to Lilongwe.
I had a pack of candies left in my car and I wanted to share it with some kids. So I stopped by at one small village where there were several cute children.
Eve is probably one of the nicest girls which I encountered that day. She looks very innocent and just wanted to have her candy from me. She does not care about anything except getting her candy and enjoy it.
If you look at her eyes in this photo, you will see a reflection of my white car.
The idea of this photo actually would like to depict that sometimes in children life they do not need any fancy or expensive stuff except just her candy that she's been longing for :)
Time has passed fiercely! It has been exactly 9 months since I left Jakarta for taking my first international role within the UN. Some of my friends have asked me what do I do actually in Malawi? Well, I know that every time I tell them my role as a U-Report Manager in UNICEF Malawi, they will frown their forehead and clueless about what I really do.
Okay, let me try to explain it succinctly here that U-Report is an opinion polling platform for young Malawians based on SMS. The main objective of this system is to give the opportunity for Youth in Malawi to voice out their aspirations through certain polling questions that sent through their mobile.
After the launch, I realized that the fastest way and furthest to reach more U-Reporters joining the platform is through SMS broadcast sent to people's mobile phone. And this will never happen without a solid partnership with mobile provider in Malawi.
So, I started to introduce U-Report Malawi to the public through one of the most well-known Football matches in Malawi called TNM Super League. At the opening launch of the match, U-Report gained its first brand awareness. A giant banner was paraded around the soccer field with more than 20,000 spectators. Players from both teams also wore U-Report Malawi t-shirts produced by TNM for the warm-up session. At the event, the MC also encouraged the stadium’s spectators to sign up to U-Report by texting the word JOIN to 1177. Four senior players also recorded video messages, encouraging fans to join U-Report.
It has been exactly 2 months 20 days since the platform was introduced to the public and I am glad that I just hit my yearly target getting 60,000 U-Reporters registered. The journey has just begun and I am enjoying what I am doing to nurture my baby's project. My biggest hope is that this platform can be sustainable and bring real impact for Malawian Youth.
It's been close to a year I did not take any human interests photo. It’s due to I have sold my DSLR camera before I departed to Malawi. As a replacement, I decided to buy a simple smart-phone of ASUS Z01 HD. The best thing about this device is its ƒ/1.7 SONY IMX362 sensor.
I never realized how powerful the photo output produced by this handphone until yesterday I took a candid photo of this little girl in Chimbiya Primary School in Dedza. I put the title “HOPE” for this photo as I can see strong hope in her eyes while at the same time her other friends seem to show ignorance towards her optimism.
I must say this is one of my favorite photo among others which I have ever captured. This photo has a deep self reminder that HOPE never fails.
#Malawi #Africa
Becoming a foreigner sometimes put me in a situation where I have to be able to represent my country well amongst the people whom I interact daily. Although, people can Google everything about Indonesia, but of course it would be more genuine if they can hear directly from my mouth.
After been living for almost 2 years in New Zealand, South East Africa is now become the country where I live. Although it is far away from my home town, I am always proud and happy to share the beauty and good things of Indonesia to all my colleagues. As an easy example, Batik would be the most obvious one. I oftentimes wear it whenever possible - either as my day to day dress or when I have particular functions.
During class time
Graduation's Gown - mixed with Batik
At the official event
For UN Malawi ID Card
Equally fun, I love to tell how youtful President Joko Widodo with his Vlogging activities, like:
Lunch time with King Salman, Catch Up with President Erdogan, a Bonjour from Emmanuel Macron and a Warm Greeting from Justin Trudeau.
But before anything else above, I tirelessly enjoy promoting the richness of Indonesia tourism spots as I believe they are something that God has tremendously given to the Indonesian people. Besides Jogjakarta, Bali, Komodo Island, Raja Ampat and Rinjani Mountain in Lombok, following are three other recommended places which have special moment in my heart.
1. Bromo
After been living for almost 2 years in New Zealand, South East Africa is now become the country where I live. Although it is far away from my home town, I am always proud and happy to share the beauty and good things of Indonesia to all my colleagues. As an easy example, Batik would be the most obvious one. I oftentimes wear it whenever possible - either as my day to day dress or when I have particular functions.
During class time
Graduation's Gown - mixed with Batik
At the official event
For UN Malawi ID Card
Equally fun, I love to tell how youtful President Joko Widodo with his Vlogging activities, like:
Lunch time with King Salman, Catch Up with President Erdogan, a Bonjour from Emmanuel Macron and a Warm Greeting from Justin Trudeau.
1. Bromo
2. Banyuwangi
3. Lombok
My biggest hope is that more and more people will have the opportunity to visit wonderful places in Indonesia. And years from now, my grand children will still be proud to become Indonesian with its lovely tourism destinations.
I am very glad reading the recent news
about Malawi as top tourism destination 2018 which written in The Times, MW
Nations, Maravi
Post and Face
of Malawi.
The Way of the Cross - Blantyre
Chagwa Dam - Zomba
William Fall - Zomba
Queen's View - Zomba
Zomba Forest - Zomba
Monkey Bay - Mangochi
Cape Maclear - Mangochi
Within this blog, am happy sharing with
you some of my photos and videos collections of my visits to several awesome spots
in Malawi - the Warm Heart of Africa. Moni - that's how the Malawian say hello, and so do I: "Moni, Malawi!"
The Way of the Cross - Blantyre
Mulunguzi Dam - Zomba
Chagwa Dam - Zomba
William Fall - Zomba
Queen's View - Zomba
Zomba Forest - Zomba
Mulanje
Monkey Bay - Mangochi
Cape Maclear - Mangochi
Lake Malawi National Park, Chembe
