Monkey Bridge

Kara is a health volunteer who lives in Ifumbo. This is a mountainous region in Chitipa that borders Tanzania. All that separates them is a rickety rope bridge called “The Monkey Bridge.” It is only used during the rainy season when the Songwe river is too swollen to cross. During the dry season people cross on ropes, hike their clothes up, or in the case of many men, merely take off their pants. During the dry season the Monkey Bridge falls into disarray. You see, the bridge is made entirely of vines and branches. During dry season, the bridge is not contained to it falls apart. It is also at least 15 feet high.

One Day during the rainy season, Kara or “Kala” as the locals call her,witnessed a common event for the first time, a very drunk villager attempting to cross the rope bridge. Clearly he could not hold his Tanzanian beer too well because he was jerking and wobbling along the bridge, which consequently made the entire bridge sway and held up traffic. Around the time he got to the center of the bridge his alcohol induced 'spins' were made worse by the swaying bridge. It proved too much for him. One extra large wobble and off the bridge he went into the river blow. He was so drunk he could not swim (most Malawians cannot swim anyway but most people tend to have the survival instinct to stay afloat). Bystanders (Lucky for him it was market day so their was plenty of people around) both women saying 'Ala!' and clicking their tongues, as well as men laughing uproariously, had to wade into the water to save the drunk. The very thing that probably made him the laughing stock of the village (It being market day so EVERYONE was around to witness his COSMIC FAILURE) was probably the thing that saved his life.

Ya win some, ya lose some.