Day's Diary

January 20, 2007 ~ Tires and Poles

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Saturdays were designed for children to play, especially after a week in school, at least that is the perspective of the children I know, and here in Malawi is no exception. Friday afternoon and evening it rained, in torrents. (That is a topic for another time.) Saturday afternoon the sun came out and so did the children. Now, play in Malawi does not include Play Stations or the like. It is outdoors, using what is available and some good imagination and ingenuity. Available were some old car tires and some bamboo poles, each about a yard long. One tire and two poles and there is fun to be had. Several of these, and the fun gains Olympic proportions.

There is one road that weaves its way through the college campus from the front gate, past student housing, around the administration building and past the library and chapel, then down a slight grade, past staff housing, including mine, and around and out the back gate. The road is really a dirt path, wide enough for one vehicle to pass. The path is a typical dirt road, with ruts and gullies, some of which have been filled over time with bricks, to smooth the way, others freshly formed by the recent rains, some still filled with water from the overnight rains. The area of the road that sports the incline was just the ticket for tire races, and so the races began. The idea was to be the first to guide your tire, using the poles, down the grade to the bottom. The lineup began at the end of the chapel building and, on a word, the race began. Now this is not as easy a task as it may seem. Tires do not go in straight lines, at least not when the road is uneven, so guiding them takes some skill and this skill is only learned by trial and error. I have a fence around my yard, so my yard was protected, but not so the neighbor above me. This is Rev. Katundu’s home and his front yard and his wife’s flower pots were in danger the entire time. But because of the incline and the pitch of the road, my fence was the primary striking zone for the tires. There were great squeals and groans as tires careened out of control and into my fence. Better the fence than the yard. Now, as the noise of the race increased, so did the spectators, other children, especially girls, not fortunate enough to have their own tires, who gathered to cheer on the racers and offer advice on guiding a tire down the road. At one point there were about 15 children of all ages enjoying the Olympic event. Among them were Silas Ncozana’s two grandchildren, Sepo, who is now 11, and Grace, who is 6. They had stopped to visit me while they were on campus with a cousin. They heard and saw the fun and stayed only long enough for a piece of candy and they were out to join the races. Sepo is quite good at handling tire and poles. His experience shows. Once the race ended at the bottom of the incline, the next event was racing with the tire to the top, an equaling challenging task. This kept up for several runs, up and down the road. After a while, they tired of this event and moved to the open field behind the chapel to play stick ball, using the bamboo poles now as bats. Versatility is the key. It was all great sport for a Saturday afternoon, and at no great expense.