One of the grim realities of Malawi is the economic crisis it currently faces. Were this hundreds of years ago (actually, 50 years ago and it would still probably apply) and every citizen still a subsistence farmer, then a tough economic picture would be no big deal. Folks would grow their corn and raise their chickens and life would go on. Malawi, however, has started its integration into the global economic system and when things go south, they hit hard. This introduction is not, however, the beginning of a post on economics, rather it is a means for explaining Paul.
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| Paul digging the post holes for the fence. |
As a result of a sour economic situation, a day of unskilled labor clocks in at less than a dollar a day in the rural areas and a bit more than a dollar in the city. With such cheap labor all wealthy Malawians and foreigners have gardeners, guards, and houseboys. Because we live in a compound, the guards and gardeners are provided by the owners, but we have hired Paul whose primary jobs are to clean the house and do the laundry.
He is a charming man who comes twice or thrice a week, smiles a lot, enjoys eating my random baked goods (he took two cinnamon rolls home to his family this Monday), and helped me build the back yard fence and garden. He also calls me "Boss", I think, because he doesn't know my name.
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