Malawi Calling
In the office in Inverness early this morning to take a call from our producer Alice Jenner in Malawi. She - together with colleagues Phil Wells and Laura Maxwell - have been out there since the start of the week. They've been staging a series of radio training worshops for local broadcasters as well as reporting back through various ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Scotland programmes.
Laura linked up with Scotland Live this afternoon and I was moved by her descriptions of child poverty on the streets of Blantyre. Many of the children are orphans who parents have fallen victims to HIV and AIDS. They scrape by on the equivalent of ten pence a week and earn money by trapping and selling mice.
But that's not the complete story. Malawi is also trying to market itself as a tourist destination and that angle will be pursued by Out of Doors tomorrow morning. Laura will be talking to Euan McIlwraith about this. Euan has also been to Malawi and described the landscape as "magical" with Hippos and Elephants a common sight outside the towns.
The call from Alice this morning concerned our future plans to work with radio stations in Malawi. We're trying to develop a twinning arrangement to build on the links we've forged thus far.
Alice asked me what she should be saying in her farewell statement. I suggested she make it as Scottish as possible.
"How about saying we're no awa' to bide awa?" I offered.
Well, it was just a thought.
