Nigel writes:
Mrs Muntala was quite an extraordinary woman. She was the sister (UK title for "nurse") in charge of the operating rooms in Malawi’s Cure Hospital where I worked for 3 months. We became very good friends after a rocky start.
I had not realized that it was custom to greet those women older than you as ‘Mrs’ – a cultural mistake on my part but I soon rectified this. Mrs Muntala was often a little grumpy and would complain about all sorts of things though her work did seem impeccable. I managed to find the knack of making her smile and even just my saying "good morning Mrs Muntala" made her beam from ear to ear.
I soon discovered that she had a very sweet tooth, like most Africans, and was very partial to a piece or two of Michal’s banana cake. She would carefully divide it up so that each person had a piece and have a few extra pieces for herself to take home! She made us laugh.
I had not realized that it was custom to greet those women older than you as ‘Mrs’ – a cultural mistake on my part but I soon rectified this. Mrs Muntala was often a little grumpy and would complain about all sorts of things though her work did seem impeccable. I managed to find the knack of making her smile and even just my saying "good morning Mrs Muntala" made her beam from ear to ear.
I soon discovered that she had a very sweet tooth, like most Africans, and was very partial to a piece or two of Michal’s banana cake. She would carefully divide it up so that each person had a piece and have a few extra pieces for herself to take home! She made us laugh.
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