Happy Independence Day!

Malawi's Independence Day falls on July 6th. The week
before the 6ththese flags and signs went up
in the roundabouts around town.
The sign says, " From poverty to prosperity,
commemorating 45 years of independence."

Oh, also my roommate brought in a replacement camera,
I hope that you like the quality of the photos.

New Malawi Pictures!

Good news! I have just gotten a phone with
a camera. Hope you like the pictures!
This was taken southeast of Lilongwe. These are

very old soils of the Central African Plateau, and they
are depleted both by age and by overuse. The mountains
give a gauge of how the surrounding countryside has eroded.

A roadside stand selling sugarcane, which
is everywhere in both rural and urban settings.
Notice the blue flag coming out of the top of the tree.
It is the flag of the incumbent political party, which just
won another five year term. They are very proud, and to
be honest, they have done well for the country.


Malawi is heavily rural, but this is a shot of a street
in the business district of Blantyre, the largest com-
mercial center. The bulk of the manufacturing in
Malawi is in or near Blantyre.

More of St. Augustine's House

The deer-proof vegetable garden

The library and dormitory

Another shot of the bell tower and the fall colors.

Michigan pictures--St. Augustine's House

Last October I went to Oxford, Michigan for a chapel
dedication at St. Augustine's House, a Lutheran
Monastery. It is the only Lutheran monastery
that I know of in the US.

Glorious fall colors

The church that was being dedicated.

The bell tower for the monastery.

Sunday picture

This is the church where I go. It is called the cathedral
church, because it is the central church of the Lutheran
synod we belong to in Malawi. It is an active place, with
four choirs, a praise band, a trumpet ensemble and half a
dozen clergy. The clergy and the choirs are constantly
traveling to other churches, so most Sundays we just
look like one church instead of several.

Sad News

Hello everybody,

I must pass on the sad news that I lost my digital camera on a recent trip to Lusaka, and so will be posting less frequently for a few months. I can borrow a digital camera occasionally at work, so there should be a few posts between now and the time that I replace the camera. then posts should resume at least weekly.

Tracy

Tropical trees

I had always heard that papaya trees came in male and female. In
the courtyard of my apartments there are two trees loaded
with fruit (above), and another (below) with no fruit
at all, but loaded with flowers.

I thought that this small mango tree was young until I
walked over and looked. It has an enormous,
gnarled old trunk, with a few young branches that
have popped up