Anne Dart Taylor
Malawi Memories
language
(Anne Dart Taylor Sept. 18, 2016)
Malawi Memories is an account of life in 1967-1971 in Lilongwe, then the capital of the Central Region. It is drawn from the letters written by Humphrey and Anne Taylor to their parents, in England.
Humphrey was appointed Rector of St Peter’s Anglican church in Lilongwe. His parish covered a huge area of outstations, churches, schools and political detention centres. Anne taught English and History in the Boys’ and Girls’ Secondary Schools at Likuni, a R.C. mission station five miles outside Lilongwe and, with a friend, ran a Homecraft class for African women in the Church hall.. St Peter’s Rectory was the midpoint of the Diocese, so many people travelling between the north and south, stayed overnight. Eventually, the Diocese agreed to let Humphrey build St Peter’s Guest House, which now features in the Rough Guide to Africa.
The book describes the joys of living in such a beautiful country and notes the development of the Taylors’ two little daughters, for the benefit of their grandparents in England. It records the Humphrey and Anne Taylor’s efforts to serve the disparate communities they found there and the friendships they made with both Africans and Europeans. There are accounts of the tensions of working in post-colonial Africa, with inevitable friction between the races and cultures. Visits to other countries in Central Africa, enabled them to compare their political development with what was happening in Malawi, where President Hastings Banda became ever more despotic.
During their leave in the UK, in 1970, Humphrey did an MA in African Urban Studies at SOAS. They returned to Malawi in December 1971 but nine months later, Humphrey was deported from Malawi on President Banda’s orders, because of his involvement with political detainees. The whole family returned to the UK.
However, they retained their love for Malawi and its people and in 2000, Humphrey and Anne were invited to return to take part in the Jubilee celebrations of St Peter’s Church. They met old friends, including the Vice President, a former teaching colleague of Anne’s, and were able to see how the new democratic government was working as well as to observe the impact of AIDS and the doubling of the population in a country without mineral resources.
Humphrey was appointed Rector of St Peter’s Anglican church in Lilongwe. His parish covered a huge area of outstations, churches, schools and political detention centres. Anne taught English and History in the Boys’ and Girls’ Secondary Schools at Likuni, a R.C. mission station five miles outside Lilongwe and, with a friend, ran a Homecraft class for African women in the Church hall.. St Peter’s Rectory was the midpoint of the Diocese, so many people travelling between the north and south, stayed overnight. Eventually, the Diocese agreed to let Humphrey build St Peter’s Guest House, which now features in the Rough Guide to Africa.
The book describes the joys of living in such a beautiful country and notes the development of the Taylors’ two little daughters, for the benefit of their grandparents in England. It records the Humphrey and Anne Taylor’s efforts to serve the disparate communities they found there and the friendships they made with both Africans and Europeans. There are accounts of the tensions of working in post-colonial Africa, with inevitable friction between the races and cultures. Visits to other countries in Central Africa, enabled them to compare their political development with what was happening in Malawi, where President Hastings Banda became ever more despotic.
During their leave in the UK, in 1970, Humphrey did an MA in African Urban Studies at SOAS. They returned to Malawi in December 1971 but nine months later, Humphrey was deported from Malawi on President Banda’s orders, because of his involvement with political detainees. The whole family returned to the UK.
However, they retained their love for Malawi and its people and in 2000, Humphrey and Anne were invited to return to take part in the Jubilee celebrations of St Peter’s Church. They met old friends, including the Vice President, a former teaching colleague of Anne’s, and were able to see how the new democratic government was working as well as to observe the impact of AIDS and the doubling of the population in a country without mineral resources.
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