As an adventurous young woman, Eva van Dijk (31) had a head full of plans to travel the world. But once in Malawi, that feverish wanderlust subsided. She found her place on her boyfriend’s farm on the outskirts of the capital Lilongwe. Devoid of luxury, came the realization: “This is our place.”
Amid the vicissitudes of the holidays, Van Dijk is spending the Christmas period with her family in Loon again after years. Although the reason for her temporary stay in Drenthe is different than the holidays. Recently, she and her boyfriend Opani became parents for the first time to a daughter.
Happiness that is also accompanied by loss. Her boyfriend could not come to the Netherlands for the birth of their first child. “Of course it is difficult that we are without Opani, that is complicated.” But Van Dijk looks at it optimistically: “I am now really enjoying my family and friends here. Of course, I miss them very much in Malawi. And I am also enjoying the luxury. Just cycling to a supermarket where everything is in stock, I really appreciate that.”
Because luxury is not what characterizes her life in Malawi. Four years ago she settled in the capital to set up sustainable agricultural projects for young people in Kenya and Malawi after her studies. “The soils have become extremely depleted and have become quite infertile over the years. In both countries there is high unemployment among young people, who all want to move to the city. But it is also very difficult to find a job there. And this country is there. The idea behind the project was to provide young people with tools and knowledge to generate an income in the countryside.”
For the project she interviews “model farmers”. One of them is 25-year-old Opani, who, like Van Dijk, had studied at an agricultural university. “Then I visited his farm. That was fun and interesting. I thought: ‘If I had studied here, I probably would have gotten along well with this boy.”
His directness especially appeals to her. “He was also very critical of the project we were carrying out. He thought I should be careful not to come to Malawi to tell how it should be done. That was not my intention, but he opened my eyes to the fact that there is already a lot of knowledge here, and that some ideas do not fit the local context. I found it very attractive that he simply said that.”
When Van Dijk later has an appointment with him again for the project, they start talking again. “At one point he said very directly that he liked me and whether I wanted to be his girlfriend.” It takes her by surprise, but his directness also appeals to her. “In the Netherlands we just beat around the bush, and he was just straightforward. So I said I would like that too, but I also thought: we should take a look first.”
But soon they are inseparable. “From then on, I came to the farm very often, and soon I was half living there. I really enjoyed coming there. It was very primitive, but I liked it.”
Four years later, she still lives there, although she and Opani are in the process of building a new house. “With a baby, the farm is just a little too primitive. The road has been flooded a few times during the rainy season. We live with solar panels. That’s fine, but we can’t keep a refrigerator running on them.”
She also lives without a washing machine or hot water, but she is used to that now. “You roll in it and I like it. I also really liked camping in the past, it suits me. And when I’m somewhere where there is a refrigerator, I really enjoy it.”
Yet she occasionally misses the comfort she found a few years ago. “I now have a new job, which is sometimes quite intensive. Then some luxury is nice. If you come home after a day of work and you are tired, and it is just a bit colder than usual, a hot shower would be nice.”
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