In this episode Manchán speaks with Tika from in a town in the southern part of Malawi, Blantyre. Her happiest memories are of her secondary school and the beautiful places they visited, ‘like Mount Mulanje which translates in the local language as ‘you don’t go there’, as people believed there were ghosts there that used to take people. This is because you need a guide there, or you won’t easily find your way back.

She speaks the national language in Malawi, Chichewa, and a local language, ‘Tumbuka, which makes me feel connected to my tribal village in the northern part of Malawi. There was no electricity or television there, but life was so much fun compared to living in town, as grandmother would tell us stories, and everyone would do things together. In the village you have the privilege of not having to buy food, but of growing it yourself. People didn’t have proper jobs; they’d sell their farm products and then buy whatever products they might need. Whereas in town you are buying everything.’

Home Stories was funded by Creative Ireland alongside the county councils of Laois and Westmeath.