Malawi is a country that touched us more than many we’ve been to. A gorgeous, land-locked country in South-central Africa, Malawi is one of the least developed countries in the world. With a low life expectancy, a high infant mortality rate and ranking amongst the five poorest countries in the world, life is hard. With an average annual income of only $900, the children of Malawi don’t have a lot of hopes for improving their lifestyle.

And yet, as we have often found, money doesn’t necessarily equal happiness. In our time in the country we came across so many people, especially the children, who touched our hearts and made us happy to have met them.

Much of our time in the country was spent at Kande Beach Camp on Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi is located at the edge of Africa’s Great Rift Valley and is the third largest lake in Africa at over 600km long and 80km wide with a depth of 750meters. It is one large lake. Kande camp is set on the southern shore of Lake Malawi and is extremely popular with overlanders, having a variety of camping options from tent camping next to the beach to beachside huts and has a full range of water activities from diving to sailing.

The village that borders Kande camp is filled with some of the most adorable children we’ve ever met. Oh, we did all the usual things while staying there; we sailed, lazed on the beach, spent hours drinking in the hammocks at the bar, but the highlight of our days was the time we spent in the village. We toured the school, shocked at how little these children had to work with, and yet impressed with how desperate they were for knowledge. None of the classrooms had chairs or tables and the children sat on the floor. There were hardly any books available to them but they eagerly devoured the ones they had. We were so humbled by the entire situation and found it only takes around $150 per child/ per year to give them school sponsored lodging and meals. So little to us and yet so life changing for them.

As the children took us on a tour of their village and showed us their homes and hospital it truly hit home what a desperate life they lead. The average family lives in a mere 200-300square foot home, most with no windows because they couldn’t afford the glass. There was no electricity and no running water in the village and their “refrigeration” was an age-old method using a cold pot type storage with 2 pots and damp sand in between.

The hospital was also frightening. Although they kept things as clean as possible, a hospital in this poor region has little chance of treating someone seriously injured. With only three beds and one mosquito net, you don’t want to have to end up there.

One evening we took advantage of the opportunity to pay a bit additional and have the village host a dinner for us. It turned out to be an amazing night. We arrived to the village center at dusk with some of our camp mates. Bamboo mats were laid out with plates set out at each of our “seats”.  Lanterns and torches glowed in the increasing darkness. The children helped serve us several courses all, to be truthful, pretty bad. The food of Malawi is based on bland root vegetables and with seasoning being a luxury most can’t afford, roasted root mush is a good description of it. The highlight came after we had finished dinner when the kids of the village put on a dance routine for us.

It was absolutely enchanting, sitting on the ground in the African countryside, hearing the sounds of the night all around us, while the children danced and sang. We joined in the dancing around the campfire and our revelry went long into the night. We will never forget our week at Kande Camp, for the fantastic lakefront chalets and great beaches but mostly for the children that touched our hearts with their sheer, unabashed joy and openness.