For the last
four days three of us expats were in Thyolo for a HIV/TB Integration workshop,
the goal is to have all healthcare centers to be able to provide TB treatment
in the ART Clinic and vice versa. TB and
HIV pretty much go hand in hand here.
Much of the materials covered are a review for me but because the
audience has different levels of training the presentation has to be tailored
for them.
After the withering heat of Nsanje,
Thyolo being in a higher elevation was heaven.
One had to wear a sweater or a scarf early in the day. The Jacaranda trees were shedding their
flowers covering the ground with their purple petals. The Thyolo District Hospital is just a few
years old, painted a reddish brown with well-kept grounds and flowers. At the back stretched a vast green tea
estate.
Thyolo is known for its many tea
estates, mahogany and cedar were sacrificed long ago, some parts of the forests
are preserved but the indigenous forests are all but vanished. There are also groves of macadamia trees in
the Conforzi Plantation producing my favorite nuts.
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| Thyolo Countryside |
On our last
night in Thyolo we went to Satemwa founded in 1923 by Maclean Kay. He was a rubber planter from my neck of the
wood, Malaya, an immigrant from Scotland and worked there from 1910. Cameron Highlands named after Sir William
Cameron built up in 1885 in Malaysia are also known for their tea estates and
the temperate climate and probably are much like Thyolo. Once one steps into
Satemwa, one is no longer in Africa.
Unfortunately we arrived at dusk so its full beauty was not revealed to
us. The mansion was built with somewhat
of a Spanish flare with wide veranda and arches. The reception area and sitting room with a
fire place were open to the outside veranda through big low windows seemingly
making the outside world as one with the inside. The small library was cozy and that led to a
dining room with a long dining table with tall candelabras and flanked by
high-backed chairs. It was opened into
the veranda with terraced steps right into the garden with a pond of reeds and
I am sure there must be fish in the pond.
We dined there that night. In the
courtyard was another small marbled pond with a tree arching over it gracefully. Another table was set for some other guests. One of the guest rooms was plainly a master
bedroom with a big bed draped with gossamer netting; bowed window in one corner
lined with comfortable chairs and at the end of the bed was a set of stained
glass windows. The bedroom had
modernized bathroom, tub and shower.
Outside was a huge lawn with two clusters
of rattan cushioned chairs, bordered by arched way of creepers and perhaps
wisteria. We picked our steps carefully
in the semi-darkness of dusk and detected the strong scent of gardenia. At one section was an antique looking
non-functioning stone fountain with a statue in a corner and then we found a
wide field of hydrangea, it must be a lovely view in the daytime.
At the Thyolo MSF expat house were
two cats, Lucifer and Zikomo. Lucifer
was slated to go to Shire House in Nsanje before Kuyvina but twice when the cat
carrier arrived Lucifer disappeared for a few days, and so he never was
available to be transferred to Nsanje, perhaps it was not meant to be.
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| Lucifer |
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| Zikomo |
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