Another day at the office

Yesterday I got back from dropping some people at the airport and Brett says to me "there has been an accident, can you go and collect some guys, they're waiting at the side of the road to go to Malazza?". No problem says I, hopping back into the van and beetling up the road. At the corner Yottam, one of the waiters, shouts to me as he's running up the road behind me. He's coming too, and is going to help me find the guys. No problem I say. "So what's happenned?" I ask Yottam. "Oh, this guy's has been very sick for some time, we're taking him to his father who's a traditional doctor." "Oh" says I. At the fork in the road Yottam goes to fetch the sick man. After about 10 minutes he comes back telling me they're on their way. "No problem" says I. "Here they come" he says, pointing up the road at a group of about 10 women, most of them chatting and laughing, a couple of them wailing and crying. ok. "here come the guys as well". The women are stationed under the tree by the van. One wails and buries her face in her hands, another grins and puts her thumb up at me. Along comes a group of about 10 men, several of them bearing aloft a stretcher. Hmm he's more sick than I thought. Yottam begins to try to collapse the seats so we can put the sick man in the back. Soon everyone is pushing and shoving at the chairs and paying no attention to the aproaching parade. We manage to get the seats lifted up, but not collapsed. I can see what is coming, knowing the Malawian attitude to car safety. "no problem, no problem, I'll sit in the back and hold the chair up so it doesn't fall on him" says one man. By this time the sick man has arrived and has been posted into the back of the van, one pair of wrapped up feet shoved under the rather heavy seats. I ring brett and explain, we decide to swap vehicles. "It's no problem, I'll hold up the seat" the man says again whilst everyone else piles into the back around the sick man. "I think it's too dangerous" I say, knowing how heavy the seats are and how bumpy the road is "what if it fell and broke his leg? we'd better swap vehicles". He looks at me as I'm a bit soft in the head but begins chatting to everyone in chichewa and the man is brought out of the van, bundled up feet first. Hang on, weren't his bundled up feet at the other end? oooh. He's more than a little sick. A man who is swathed in a thick blanket at 30 degrees is probably past caring. A few pennies fell into place.