Yesterday the president of Malawi, His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, hosted a special luncheon for all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Malawi at his residence in Lilongwe.
Here is a few thoughts that I wrote down during the ceremony…
- I saw a zebra!
- Real silver utensils
- Swan shaped napkin for Bingu
- Lots and lots of booze
- Being served 3 kinds of meat and no nsima
- “Real development occurs at the grassroots, in the rural communities” (the Pres)
- Feeling so proud to serve in Malawi on behalf of the US government
- Bingu has really soft hands
- Dancing!
All in all, it was an amazing ceremony and I was very impressed with the President. He seemed genuinely thankful for the work that Peace Corps volunteers have been doing in Malawi since 1963 and said that PC Malawi is just one piece in the jigsaw puzzle of world peace and economic development. This is a very true statement and a good reminder to me that even the smallest accomplishments are still helping to move this country forward. It was quite a special event, and since it’s not every day that one meets a leader of an entire country, I think I will remember yesterday for a very long time!
Work has been going slow and often I find myself frustrated by that and also with some difficulties I am having with a couple of my counterparts. Each PCV is issued an official counterpart who works for the government and mine works for the District Forestry Office. However, we can have many counterparts who are people in the community that we work with. One of them is extremely unreliable, he tells me to show up at his house and he’s not there, or that he will call me and he doesn’t, or that he will attend a certain meeting and of course doesn’t. He’s a nice enough guy, but just doesn’t seem to care much about working with me. Another is constantly asking me for things, whether it be for money to fix his roof, to pay school fees for one of his kids, to help him in building a fish pond at his house, and the list goes on. And what’s more, I just found out that he has two wives. Polygamy is certainly not uncommon here, but it doesn’t encourage me to want to work with him. But if this is the worst of my troubles so far I consider myself very blessed. And despite those two people, I have been fortunate to meet some other people and groups that I am very inspired and motivated by. Here are a few examples…
Mary: She is a good friend of mine even though communication is very limited for the both of us. She is 28 and has 4 kids and is one of the hardest workers I have ever met in my life. Rarely do I ever see her sit down to relax and yet somehow finds the energy to play netball with the other women in my village. She is very entrepreneurial and always looking for ways to make money to support her family.
Stella: She works for an company that buys seeds yet is also very involved in community development . She is an agriculturist who believes that development should be more business-oriented instead of just pumping aid and money into the hands of the people, which is a serious problem here. She has been a good example to me of how a woman can effect change in a man’s world, particularly when it comes to agriculture. She is incredibly smart yet very humble and is very passionate about development in a holistic manner.
Tilimbike CBO: This is a community based organization that has several groups such as orphan care, HIV/AIDS support, elderly care, and a nursery school. Instead of just waiting around for help from donors or the government, as many CBOs do, they took action by molding enough bricks to build two school blocks and are continuing to build more. Also, as a way to make money, they have planted trees and sold the seedlings to help support their projects.
Until next time!
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