Africa 101.1: Where is Malawi?

I have heard some say it is in the country of Africa. I laugh now, but I must admit I had to dredge up geography from grade school and junior high to recall that Africa is actually a continent. And a really big one at that! In fact, the United States, China, India, Europe and Japan could all fit into the continent of Africa. Africa is not somewhere you want to get lost in!

There are around 50 countries located within Africa (depending on who you ask and how you count), and Malawi is one of the smaller ones located in the southeastern part of the continent. Malawi itself is divided into 28 districts within three regions: Northern, Central and Southern. I traveled to the district of Ntcheu (N’chay-you), technically in the Central region (yet southern part) of Malawi, equal distant from the central capital city of Lilongwe (Li-long-way) and the major southern city of Blantyre (Blan-tire). Within each district are many villages under the jurisdiction of local chiefs, or Traditional Authorities (TA’s for short). Madzanje (Ma-dza-njee) is the village in Ntcheu where Esther’s House Orphanage is located, and the TA is Chief Kwataine(Kwa-tah-hay-nee).