Politically and geographically, Malawi is divided in to three different regions: the North, the Central, and the South. Each region has approximately nine districts, and each district has hundreds of villages. The regional capitals (Mzuzu in the North, Lilongwe in the Central, and Blantyre in the South) act as political and commercial hubs for the regions. Each of the districts in the regions are further comprised of cities, towns, and villages. There are 28 districts in Malawi, and each district has its own capital, called a BOMA.

BOMAs are usually small cities, semi-urban towns or large trading centers. They are usually bustling with activity: large markets, small stores, restaurants, bus depots, hospitals and government offices are located in BOMAs, as are, frequently, schools. Oftentimes, but not always, BOMAs are accessed with paved roads as well as dirt roads and footpaths.

Because BOMAs are often places with significant businesses and government offices, homes tend to be larger, often made of brick or cement, and often are more crowded together. People living in BOMAs almost always have fields outside the BOMA for their crops.

Throughout Malawi, in every region, villages fill the land. Over 80% of Malawians live in villages. While they may appear to be randomly placed, often villages have family roots that can be traced back decades, and water, soil, roadways, or some other geographical feature has played a part in the village’s location.

Depending on the size, villages may or may not have a few small shops or a small market. Some larger villages may have weekly markets where business people will come to set up shop for the day. In more remote areas, some villagers may have a small shop with goods that have been brought in from town. Household items, such as cooking oil, powdered milk, soap, and candles might be sold here. Others may set up stands selling fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fish, beans or even rice. No matter, footpaths and dirt roads connect the villages allowing people to move about easily.

Home in villages are often made of mud with a thatch roof. Amazingly, these tend to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. More and more, people are trying to build homes out of brick, but this is a challenge due to the cost of cement and scarcity of large quantities of firewood (needed to fire the bricks in a make-shift kiln). Because electricity and piped water are rare in Malawi, most villagers (and often people in towns and cities) cook over open fire, collect water from deep wells or streams, and use pit latrines located away from the home.

Village life is a bit simpler, with a strong sense of community. Nearly everyone in the village is related, and the people often work for the betterment and survival of the village as a whole.

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