technology part II

I’m not sure if it’s ironic or not that my last post was about how great having an internet phone was since it was stolen way back in October. I mourned a little bit for my beloved Blackberry and was angry at the people who hang around the Lilongwe bus depot since this was the second (but first successful) time that people tried to steal from me. So now I am back to checking email and stuff maybe once a week and I am okay with that since I can spend more of my time not being distracted by Facebook and Gmail and enjoying my surroundings while I still can.


Life has been hectic the past few months and I cannot believe that December is already here. Before I give you an update on what I am doing now let me fill you in on what I’ve been up to the last few months…

ANAMED training-
I spent the first week of October in Dedza at an Action for Natural Medicine training. I was able to bring one of my counterparts, Jimmy, as he is the chairperson of the HIV/AIDS support group and already had a medicinal garden that he is in charge of. We spent the week learning about different indigenous and exotic plants and trees and how they can be used for medicine and nutrition. The majority of our time was spent outside identifying the plants, inside the classroom, and the more hands-on part of making teas, ointments, powders, tinctures, etc. The week was by far my favorite training I have ever attended and myself and Jimmy couldn’t wait to get back to Kapiri to start implementing what we have learned. The biggest thing that I took away from the week was that there is definite income generating potential with these plants and trees. My entire service I have wanted to do a lot with these herbal plants but doubted the market availability or demand since most people seem to want to just go to the hospital and buy their medicine there. Now that my mindset has changed I am determined to focus most of my time and energy for the rest of my service on medicinal plants.

Liwonde National Park Annual Waterhole Game Count-
After ANAMED I headed down to Liwonde National Park with about a dozen other PCVs, most of whom are in my group. Our job for the week was to sit in a hide perched above a waterhole in 4 hour shifts and count every single animal that comes to drink. So all day long from the middle of the night to the very hot afternoons we sat quietly at the hides and counted elephants, water buffalo, hippos, antelope, warthogs, zebra, sable, hyenas, and the extremely rare and ever elusive black rhino. Highlights of the week include hearing elephants eating from a tree directly above my tent during the middle of the night but being too scared to get out of my tent and run away. Monkeys and baboons were always hanging around our camp and were constantly trying to steal our food and playing with our tents. During one shift an elephant came so close to our hide that I could have literally reached out and touched him if it were not for the park guard grabbing his gun and telling us to not move.

Camp RENEW-
I then headed way up north to Nyika National Park for Camp RENEW which is a one week camp for kids in secondary school to learn about the environment. It’s so important to teach these kids about how to care for the environment since as their population continues to increase at such a rapid rate, the dependence on their natural resources will only continue to increase as well. Therefore we discussed issues such as deforestation, alternative energy, nutrition, permaculture and sustainable farming, environmental business, environmental activism, and more. Nyika was a very fitting place to have the camp as we were able to take hikes throughout the week and on the game drive through the park we got to see zebra and roan antelope.

50th Anniversary-
Peace Corps worldwide celebrated its 50th birthday this year and in PC Malawi we celebrated by having a celebratory function at the US Ambassador’s house. It was also a celebration for USAID and so we hosted a variety of government officials and people working with NGOs. Peter Mutharika, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the President’s brother, and the possible next president of Malawi came and gave a speech. Overall it was a nice affair, but then again any excuse to dress up and eat nice food is good enough for us.

GRE-
I took the GRE back in November, I had been studying for it for a while so I’m hoping to do well enough to get into the schools I’m applying for. However, I’ve been feeling lately that maybe I should put off school until ’13 since one of the things that you need before going to school is money and I certainly don’t have that after being a poor volunteer for the past 2 years. But regardless we will see how it goes…

Thanksgiving + Mulanje -
I traveled to Blantyre for Thanksgiving and spent it with a few friends from my group. I ate the best Indian food I have ever had, then we went to Malawi’s only movie theater and saw a movie called Columbiana. It was a dumb movie and we spent way too much of our monthly allowance to see it, but for two hours we got to feel like we were back in America and that certainly made it all worth it!

The next day I went south to Mulanje with my friends Bri and Amy to Bri’s site. She prepared a trip up Mulanje Mountain (Africa’s 2nd tallest mountain) with her wildlife club at the local primary school and so Amy and I helped out with it. For 2 two days we hiked up and back down part of the mountain with 30 kids in 7th and 8th grade. Aside from the rain and my sore legs for a few days afterwards it was a really great trip.

Ukwati-
Something I’ve been excited for for months finally happened on the 3rd of December… my amayi and my landlord got married. They’ve been living together for about 5 years and in Malawian culture once a couple starts living together they are seen as being (officially and unofficially) married, but since they both want to join the Presbyterian church here they needed to have an official ceremony with all the proper documents, etc.

My amayi is one of my favorite people here, she is always looking out for me and treats me as her own daughter. If I am sick she takes care of me, when I first got to site and couldn’t make a fire she taught me how, whenever I unknowingly break a cultural faux pau she politely takes me aside and lets me know, and every night I eat with her, my landlord, and some of her grandkids that she takes care of. She likes to tell people that I am her second born child out of the five kids she already has, and most importantly she is the closest thing that I have to a mom here. And for that I was excited about their wedding and wanted to help make it a special day for them.

In the few days before the ceremony I enjoyed helping the other women prepare for the reception by gathering firewood, making thobwa (a drink made from corn that they like to drink at special occasions), and cooking the food. But my favorite part was the night before the wedding when all of the women stayed up all night to dance and make bawdy jokes about amayi’s wedding night.

Their church is about 6 miles from their house and since they have very little money their plan was to ride their bikes to the church. Thinking of my amayi in her wedding dress on the back of a bicycle seemed unacceptable so I rented a 3 ton flatbed truck to take them, their family, and some of the neighbors to the church. So the 2 of them sat in front and myself and about 40 other people rode in the back singing the whole way to the church and it was great.

After the ceremony we went back to the village for the celebration. I could go on and on about Malawian weddings since they are completely different than what I am used to. Needless to say I pretty much hate weddings here, they are basically a shameless ploy for everyone to give the couple money. People spend hours just dancing around the bride and groom throwing money at them and I always felt forced to give more money than everyone else since I’m seen as the rich white girl. I normally do everything I can to avoid going to a wedding, but this one was definitely different for me.

My sister bought a goat and so a few of the men slaughtered it and then some of the women made nsima and goat for lunch. It was delicious and afterwards we all danced for a couple hours. After dancing came the time for people to give money to the bride and groom. In total they managed to raise over $100 which for this time of year during the hunger season is quite a feat. Overall the day was great and I think it will be one of my favorite memories of my village.


Projects-
Most of my activities are winding down as the health clinic has finished being built and the only remaining part of my project with the AIDS support group is to buy their pigs which we will do tomorrow. I am still doing work with the medicinal plants, my volleyball club, beekeeping, the women’s group, and other things but as far as funding goes my work is done. Right now I am focusing on slowly distancing myself from the projects and to try to set up the people that I am working with to continue the projects once I leave. It’s a weird feeling giving up a lot of the responsibility as I like to have everything go only the way that I want it to, but I know that for the sustainability of the projects that it must be done.



What’s Ahead…
Christmas will be spent at Likoma Island, a tiny island on Lake Malawi that is a favorite getaway for a lot of volunteers. It’s pretty remote as the only way to get there is by a boat that comes in and out once a week or by plane. So I’m hoping to spend the week swimming, eating fish, watching a ton of movies, and trying not to miss home too much.

New Year’s will be spent in my village and I’m very excited to buy some fireworks and celebrate with my friends. I wasn’t able to be there for New Year’s last year and since this will be my last one here in Malawi I am hoping to make it extra special. I’m thinking a lot of dancing, eating rice and goat, and maybe even cooking some American food is in order.

In the beginning of January we will have our Close of Service conference at Senga Bay on the lake. Each group has this conference 3 months before they finish their service and for Environment ’10, ours has FINALLY come. Basically we spend 2-3 days talking about how to spend our last 3 months, close out our projects, talk about site replacements for those of us who want another volunteer in our villages, and most importantly we each choose our official dates to come home. It’s the last official time all 18 people in our group get together and it’s something we’ve all been looking forward to for a long time.




Well that’s about it, if you made it to the end of this very long post then I must congratulate you and say thank you for reading all of it! Check out my Facebook soon for pictures of everything I just talked about!

technology

Wow, so I just realized that I can update my blog from my phone. I live without electricity or running water, my bathroom is a large hole in the ground, and I bathe outside in a small hut while trying to fight off lizards and the occasional scorpion. But yet I can check my email and facebook, browse the web, even do some online shopping (even though it will take months for anything to get to me), and now write on my blog from the comfort of my hammock in a remote village in sub Saharan Africa. Crazy isn't it?

Crazy and yet awesome and not so awesome all at the same time. Up until about a month ago I could easily go two or three weeks without checking my email, sometimes longer. While I was training last year it was 2 months without touching a computer or internet phone. To think of having to do that now seems frightening. I love having access to the outside world, and I'm slowly reverting back to the addicted blackberry user that I am back in the States.

One of the reasons that I love living here is the slow, simple pace of life. I've come to see that living without electricity and running water is a blessing, I spend more time at the bore hole chatting with the women while we all draw water and I'm outside on my bike or working on my garden rather than being glued to a computer. It's great. I've read more books in 19 months than I've read in probably the last 5 years

However the downside of that was always the feeling like I was out of touch with my family, friends, world events, everything. It was definitely one of the causes of my frequent mood swings. I could go from over-the-top happy to sad and miserable at any time. And I think that had to do with not knowing what's going on outside of my village. But now I feel much more happy knowing what's going on in the world and with those that I care about, it helps me to live mine more freely.

I still haven't decided whether I'm better off with or without my blackberry, but for now I'm just trying to enjoy my simple and strange life here as well as trying to stay connected to home...

busy as a bee

The problem with being a volunteer for only two years is that once you truly begin to feel integrated into your community, when you have a strong idea of what you want to accomplish, when projects finally start getting off the ground, when you feel comfortable being “the black sheep” 24 hours a day 7 days a week, when you get to know the local language well enough that you can make sarcastic jokes (even though they have no idea what sarcasm is), that’s when you find you only have a short time left in your service.
Now don’t get me wrong, 2 years is a long time. And I still have 7 left which is also a good chunk of time. When I first got to country it seemed like it would last a lifetime. A lot can certainly happen in that time, but in the world of development it’s like the blink of an eye. When it comes to real change and to sustainable projects it’s extremely difficult. And that’s one of the problems we face as volunteers.

My projects are starting to move along, things that I’ve been waiting months for have now thankfully come. As great as that is I find myself slowly losing momentum and motivation as I think more and more about home, grad school, family, a job, and everything that I’ll get to enjoy in America that I don’t get to here. Even though I'm looking more and more forward to finishing out my service I am thankful especially for the friends and family that I've made while here, they definitely help me to stay happy and sane!

PROJECTS AND LIFE UPDATE:

KAMP KWACHA – I spent a week at the Lake helping out with Kamp Kwacha, a business camp for 20 kids who are in secondary school. It was the first time we had the camp and I think it went really, really well. Myself and 5 other volunteers spent the week teaching kids about marketing, accounting, risk management, networking, etc. Basic business practices are rarely taught in school or practiced in daily life here, so we taught a lot of stuff that was completely new to them and I was surprised at how much information they were able to retain. We put the kids in 5 groups and at the end of the week they presented a business plan for the company that they wanted to start. From canned fish to mobile clinics they came up with some great ideas. Overall it was a fun week and the fact that it was held at Senga Bay in Lake Malawi made it even better!

KAMERA CLINIC – the roof is built, the walls have been plastered, and now we are in the painting phase. Next week will include laying cement on the floor and starting the toilets. Got some more donations, whether it be money or seeds for a future medicinal/nutritional garden, and we are super happy and thankful about that!

WOMEN’S GROUP – finally got the oil press and so the women have started making cooking oil and making sweets and peanut flour from the groundnut press cake. Next week they will start selling the oil and the sweets and flour. They are also preparing their nursery beds to start growing paprika and chillies . This will be their first time to grow the plant and although they are a bit hesitant I am hoping that they will make a large profit come harvesting in May.

BEEEEEES – one of the things I have wanted to do my entire service is beekeeping. I’m not quite sure why (maybe it has to do with my Dad and his love for it), I even started a beekeeping group in my community (it pretty much failed). I think it was a classic case of an outsider trying to enforce one’s own ideals before really assessing and seeing that beekeeping is probably not what people want or even need. However, my luck has changed and this time people have first approached me and asked for help with apiculture. The request came from a primary school and I was a bit hesitant since the last project I did with a primary school (it was a tree nursery) completely failed. However, when I visited the school I was really impressed with the staff as well as the kids. For the last eight years they have been planting trees every single year and for here in Malawi that’s a really big thing since not many people bother to plant trees. About a third of the classes are taught outside and there is no housing for the teachers even though the school is in a very remote area. Therefore a lot of the teachers have to walk or bike a far distance to school every day. Instead of just requesting money to build classrooms or teachers’ housing, they found a creative solution in beekeeping as an income generator to help them accomplish those projects. No one in their area is doing it and it’s a great way to give the kids a hands-on educational experience since all of them have agriculture classes and some are members of the school’s wildlife club. So, I have a good feeling that this project will be my last that deals with writing a proposal and funding and I can’t wait to start it.

MEDICINAL GARDENS – myself and the chairperson of the HIV/AIDS Support Group wrote an application for a training at ANAMED (Action for Natural Medicine) and were thankfully one of the few chosen so in October we will spend a week learning more about herbal medicine. My counterpart is especially excited for this training and I am as well since we both have a basic understanding of most medicinal plants, but we really need to know more about how to care for the plants, what the right dosages are for making medicine, how to propagate them, and stuff like that. So hopefully we’ll be able to take the knowledge gained and apply it to the group and teach neighboring support groups as well as to start a medicinal garden at Kamera.

LIFE etc. – I’ve been more and more neglecting my house and it’s starting to show especially since the 5 puppies in my compound have basically destroyed my door. It’s my fault since I fed them a few times and now they think they own my house and backyard, so I’m trying a new technique by avoiding them and not feeding or petting them which is difficult but is best for my sanity since they constantly want to be around me.

My mom was supposed to come and visit me next month and as excited as I was about it, my friends here were even more so. The whole trip was planned out but unfortunately she broke her ankle and just this week had to get surgery. She will not be able to walk for three months and won’t be able to walk without crutches for six months. It was a serious injury and so needless to say she won’t be able to make the trip. We are hoping that she can make it in December! Prayers would be greatly appreciated for my mom that she makes a speedy recovery.

HARD TIMES – tough times just seem to get worse. Skyrocketing prices on everything, no fuel, constant blackouts for those who have electricity, no foreign exchange, and A LOT of political tension. Because of that people are once again preparing to demonstrate this month against the government. It’s hard not to take a stand on this issue especially since I am also affected by what’s currently happening. The protests planned for last month were rescheduled for the 21st and many people are wondering if it’s even going to happen. I also do not know, but looking back at July and the 20 people who died during the protests, I am hoping that this will one will at least be peaceful on the side of the government and those demonstrating.

CHICKEN!!! - yesterday I went to visit the parents of one of my best friends here at Kapiri. I had a really fun day hanging out with her two kids and her parents and sister. Most of the times when I visit people they give me groundnuts, mangoes, papaya, maize, beans, even fried mice. But Lois' family definitely topped the list when they not only killed one of their chickens for our lunch, but they also gave me one to take home. I wanted to say no at first but to refuse a gift is not very polite here so I just smiled and said that I was thankful for the gift. But the longer I thought about it the more flattered I was, for a person to give a chicken is basically like handing them money, animals here are an important source of income so for them to freely give it to me means a lot. Anyway, now I'm stuck trying to figure out what to do with it. I'd love to keep it and build it a nice home but I'm sure something will happen to it so I might just eat it. But I'm open to advice so if you have any feel free to let me know!

Lois' mom handing me the best gift ever!

another way to help

Progress on the clinic is continuing to exceed my expectations. I have not been able to visit the shelter for almost two weeks now since I've been away from site helping with a business camp, but when I was last there the builder was putting on the metal sheets for the roof. I believe that now they are finished with the roof and are currently working on putting cement on the floors as well as plastering the walls. Every single day the community is out there doing the labor to get it all done.

One of the challenges we have faced so far is that our budget did not inlude some key items that we need. This is because we were trying to make the budget to be as low as possible and also because we did not anticipate that we would need certain materials. Also, the budget was created last year and due to inflation, the current fuel crisis, and rising prices we have faced a deficit and therefore some of the things we purchased were a bit more than we had budgeted for.

I know I have bugged pretty much everyone I know for money, and yes, I am doing it again (sorry!). So maybe for all of you who wanted to give for the clinic the first time but were not able to, here is another chance. Unfortunately since the grant has closed it is not possible to give through the Peace Corps website anymore. Therefore I think the best way to give is through PayPal. It's quick, easy, and will go right to me. It won't be tax-deductible but I will be able to show you where every dollar will go to. Here's a list of the things we need...

1 table and 1 chair - $2.40

Ant Repellant - $12.10

Door - $12.10

Door Frame - $12.10

Paint (5L) - $21.20

Locks - $9

Water Paint - $21.20

Hand washing facilities (2) - $18.20

Water taps (2) - $7.30

Drug Shelves - $18.20

Curtains - $7.30

Plastic basins (2) - $6.70

TOTAL = $147.80

So there it all is. We underestimated paint, decided to put a door and locks in the front of the building for security purposes, and want to build two handwashing facilities at the toilets to encourage hygiene and sanitation, and a couple other small items. And to do these things we need your help. Yea, the project is going well and we are almost finished, but I know that having these extra materials will help it to be that much better. So, if you want to give you can easily do it by clicking on the PayPal button below. Thank you all!

just another update

First of all I need to apologize for my infrequency in posting and lack of creativity with this blog. I read other PCVs’ posts from time to time and it definitely puts me to shame. My only excuse is that I’ve been really busy lately but I promise to try harder. I know that my family and a few friends read this on a regular basis so I’ll try harder for you guys, but for now I’ll just let you know what’s been going on these past couple of months…

RUARWE

Over 4th of July I went on a vacation with my friends and fellow PCVs Twila, Bri, Sara, Amy, and Twila's friend Donny who is visiting for a few months. They are all in my enviro '10 group and even though we live spread out through the country, I always enjoy the few times when we can all get together.

So we went up to the northern part of Lake Malawi and stayed one night at a PCVs house who lives right on the lake. We then hiked three days/60km south along the lakeshore. It was fun but tiring and I know we were super happy to reach the lodge on the third day. We stayed at Zulunkhuni River Lodge for three days and it was absolutely beautiful. The whole trip was amazing and it was great to spend a carefree week away from cell phone reception, electricity, internet, and running water.

If you want to see some pictures of the trip you can see them on my facebook album http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.528409657352.2027305.170100061.

A NEW BABY

If you’ve read some of my previous posts you might have heard about my friend Margaderina. She’s the one who is a member of the women’s group that I work with and her husband passed away from meningitis last December. She’s younger than me and already a mother of a 2 year old and so last year when I went home for Christmas I asked everyone that I know to help her out in any way possible. Because of people’s generosity she’s been able to provide for her family through buying maize, fertilizer, soap, medicine, etc.

So, when she told me earlier this year that she was pregnant (her late husband is the father), I knew I had to try to help her again. Because of a certain person who gave $100 to me earlier (I hope you know who you are – THANK YOU), Margaderina was able to buy blankets, buckets, clothes for her and the baby, a suitcase for her hospital stay, and other essentials. And when the call came that she was at the hospital in labor, I knew she was ready and prepared to have the baby. On July 1 a beautiful baby girl was born and Margederina asked me to name her. I felt so honored to name the baby and after over a week of thinking about the right name I decided to name her….JESSICA. I named her after my sister and very best friend and it was supposed to be a secret that I was going to reveal on here but a certain someone spoiled the surprise, thanks a lot Dad. Just kidding.

**Just tried posting a picture of Jessica but after over an hour of waiting I got too frustrated...Sorry, will post pictures of her and the clinic ASAP**

THE CLINIC
As I last wrote, all the money has been raised for the clinic. And as soon as the money came in, I was able to break the news to the community and their reaction was so touching. The women and kids were singing and dancing and all the chiefs kept coming up to tell me how happy they were. This was about 4 years in the making for them and to know that it was finally happening was a big deal.

The next week the Health Surveillance Assistant and myself went to get all of the building materials and we loaded up a huge flatbed truck with 95 bags of cement, doors, lime, wheelbarrows, and other materials. We didn’t arrive at Kamera until well after midnight but even so we were greeted by everyone coming out of their houses to dance and celebrate and once again I was blown away with the excitement and motivation of the people.

For the past three weeks the community has been busy chipping in with the building. We hired a guy to be in charge of the building and so the villagers are doing everything from helping pour concrete, collect sand and stones, drawing water, and doing most of the labor. Every day they come out and the progress has been amazing to see. Already the foundation has been laid and the sides are almost completely built. Definitely by the end of August or early September it will all be finished.

Also right now I am trying to do my best to have the shelter be a place where people can get HIV testing. Since they are so far away from a hospital many people don’t even bother to get the free testing. Also, we would like to have the clinic be stocked with ARVs (Anti Retroviral Therapy) so those who have HIV/AIDS don’t have to trek the 22km just to get their meds. Additionally I am working with a certain NGO in trying to get bednets, condoms, and safe water treatment.

 

OTHER PROJECTS

The women’s group just finished paying off their first loan and went back to Opportunity International to get their second loan. It’s a great accomplishment for them that they were able to successfully pay the loan back and that they want to get another. This time most of the women will use the money to buy and sell groundnuts and a few will continue with their other businesses.

The volleyball team is on a break and will be resuming in September. Things are still moving along with the other projects and now I am gearing up for a big tree nursery project that will take place in the next few months. Also I’ll be heading back to the lake in August to help out with our first “Kamp Kwacha”, a week-long business camp for high school age kids.

THE PROTESTS

If you've seen my facebook posts last week or maybe saw it on the news, you might have heard about the protests that happened on July 22 and  23 in the capital of Malawi and a few major other cities in the country. The demonstrations happened because people here are tired of the abuse of civil rights, a lack of foreign exchange, the fuel shortages, and some other things. People aren't happy with the President and decided to demonstrate but unfortunately it got a bit violent. 19 people ended up dying and lots of shops and other things were damaged. 

Thankfully where I am things were very safe but it was still unsettling to hear about everything going on. If Malawians are proud of anything, it's that they are "the Warm Heart of Africa" in that they are extremely friendly and also that they are a peaceful people. So it's strange to see how things have been changing in the place I have called home for the past year and a half.

There are supposed to be more demonstrations on August 17 and I'm not sure if they will happen. But for now I am trying to stay quiet on all the political issues since one of our jobs as PC volunteers is to not take any sides politically.

EVERYTHING ELSE

On the home front everything is as usual. My cat Chips is extremely pregnant and any day I’m sure she’ll be popping out some kittens. Normally I’d be overjoyed but to be honest am getting tired of kittens, especially since about half of them end up dying tragic deaths before I can even give them away. Also have been making some home renovations like painting and reorganizing, I think I’ve finally been here long enough to get bored with my stuff. Lastly is that I’ve been spending a lot of time studying for the GRE which I’ll be taking in November as well as researching grad schools, however the latter has been really difficult to do here so I’m considering postponing school until ’13. We’ll see…

Thanks for checking in!

development through discos and compost

Since I am in Lilongwe and have some spare time I thought I would just spend some time to update my life since the football tournament at the beginning of May. Speaking of that, if you read my last post it might have come off as very pessimistic and while that it is still true, thankfully some good things have come out of it. The second place team continues to practice three times a week and now we are preparing on starting a team to compete in the premiere women’s league in Malawi. We are looking to recruit players from all over the area to form one team as well as to set them up with the local men’s premiere team as sort of a franchise. It’s still very new and not much has happened yet, but it’s exciting nonetheless as this was my hope from the beginning to form a premiere team in my community. Also, many other teams are starting up and I am being asked every day to give teams footballs so they can play. So although I wasn’t too happy with the outcome of the tournament, I am glad at least to see that some of the girls are continuing to play.


And some big, big news is that WE FINALLY HAVE THE FUNDING TO BUILD THE COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINIC! After a couple months of bugging my family and friends to give up some money, it has all come together and the project is about to begin. Within this week I will have all the money sent to my bank account and then immediately we’ll start buying all the materials (cement, iron sheets, trees, etc.) and hopefully it should take us about 2 months to get the structure built. I get a smile on my face every time I think about this project and I have decided to wait to tell the community until the money has finally reached into my account that the project is ready to go. I know they will be even more ecstatic than I am. Definitely stay tuned for more news and pictures on that front, and for the 1000th and not the last time I will say thank you to everyone who donated money. People’s lives will be changed and it’s because of you.

The HIV/AIDS group I am working with is still waiting to start the nutrition and income generating project, so while we are waiting this past week we made some really awesome compost to help with the medicinal garden. We made two different kinds of compost and it was a really great way to teach the members that you don’t need expensive chemical fertilizers to help these plants to grow well. The best things for these medicinal plants come right from their own homes and fields and it doesn’t cost them anything!

This week I will be spending a couple of days with at my sitemate Vanessa’s house, she is a secondary school teacher and she lives about 20 miles from my house. Myself and three other PC volunteers from my district will be assisting Vanessa with an HIV/AIDS day that she is running at her school. Not only will I be enjoying the company of my fellow PCVs and electricity for two days but I’ll also be teaching students about good nutrition and how it relates to HIV/AIDS.

The women’s group is in the last month of paying off their first loan. So far at least 7 of the 13 women are going to take another loan immediately after repaying their first one. This time most will increase the amount from an average of about $45-60 to about $70-100. We are also planning on doing some cash crop diversification since all the members have decided to no longer grow tobacco. It’s a decision I completely support not only because of the extremely low prices this year, but also because it requires chemical fertilizers and it is very harsh on the soil (and not forgetting the fact that it’s the main ingredient in cigarettes). So right now we are contemplating between growing paprika, soybeans, and/or groundnuts. I am hoping to have a mixture of the three just in case of potentially low prices next season.

I am still continuing to meet with the girl's volleyball club at my local secondary school. Although they are all busy with the end of the school year coming up, they have all told me over and over again how much they want to go on a trip and play another school. We have played a couple of other local teams in the area but I think that they want to go and play girls from another school. Of course they chose to go to Lake Malawi so they can enjoy both some volleyball and the lake. It sounds like a perfection combination to me but since there is no money we decided to do a fundraiser. So next Saturday the team will be hosting the "Kapiri Disco", and by disco I mean basically it will just be a dance party. So they'll sell tickets to get into the disco and maybe some food and drinks and hopefully the money generated from the event will help us to take a trip in the near future. Also, the girls really loved "HIV/AIDS Month" in March so basically I've just extended it and now once a week we do different activities related to that. Not all of it is directly related to HIV, some of it's also focused on helping them to become empowered, educated young women of Malawi. It's great!

On the personal front this month I'll be part of a few volunteers welcoming another new group to Malawi next week, this time we'll have 17 people who will be teachers placed throughout the country. The rest of the month of June will be dedicated to gardening, spring cleaning around my house, and trying to stay as warm as possible through the coldest month of the year. Also I'll be celebrating Independence Day on a one week hike around Lake Malawi with a bunch of friends. Very exciting!

kapiri women's football cup '11

For three months I have been planning and preparing for a soccer tournament involving only the females in my community. From finding sponsors, organizing teams, making the schedule, printing tshirts and finding other prizes, to practicing with my team from my village, I have been busy trying to put it all together as well as super excited to share my love of soccer with the women and girls. However...

From the start of the first day it seemed that everything was going to go wrong. We originally had 8 teams scheduled to play, but one team dropped out the day before the first game because the husbands refused to let their wives compete. I was disappointed but frankly not surprised, but thankfully was able to find another team that wanted to participate. But on the day the tournament started we had 4 of the 8 teams show up, and not even one came on time, not even the team from my own village who I have been asking for two months to not be late. Players, coaches, and even refs did not bother to come to the games less than one hour late, even with my strict "be on time or forfeit your game" policy. And from coaches bickering to players complaining, it at times seemed too much for me to handle. I however had a ton of help from 3 other Peace Corps volunteers in my district which was probably the only reason I stayed sane during the weekend.


To be honest I don’t really consider this tournament much of a success and I know for sure that I won’t do this kind of thing again while here. I guess I just consider this more of a learning experience for myself and hope that at least the women had fun while playing. I have learned that a lot of the things we do as Peace Corps volunteers is both very prone to failure and hard to be sustained. That’s just the nature of our service. We are here for two short years and in the timeframe of development it’s a small amount of time. So I hope to just do what I can while here and leave the rest up to them.


Although there were a lot of frustrations and disappointments, it was very encouraging to see close to 500 people show up to watch the finals. That included 15 local chiefs and other community leaders. After the championship game finished the second place team was given necklaces and water bottles and the each player from the first place team received a tournament t-shirt. Also, the MVP was presented with a World Cup ’10 replica ball. The theme of the tournament was “Mphamvu kwa Amayi” which means the strength of a woman. I don’t really know how empowered the women felt, but nonetheless I think they were happy to have a chance to compete and win some cool prizes.

If you'd like to see some pictures of the tournament you can go to my facebook album titled "projects and such" to view them...http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.519000862652.2024248.170100061#.

Sometimes you just gotta shake it off and say "zimachitika" (it happens).

april showers

Finally April is here and I am officially into my last year of service. The rainy season is slowly coming to an end and I am definitely looking forward to it. It means that I won't have any more sleepless nights as the sound of rain pounding down on my tin roof make it impossible to sleep. But anyway, projects are continuing to move along and I'm contemplating more and more about what I'll do when I leave Malawi next year. The finish line is definitely in sight!

I spent last week in Dedza with 42 Peace Corps trainnees in the health and environment programs. They are in the second half of their training and I was there for the "Health and HIV/AIDS" week. Myself and the enviro PCTs took a trip to a medicinal garden, hitched rides to the local market, discussed health issues such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, and had lots of language lessons. All the trainnees are spending their training with homestay families and it reminded me a lot of my own experience just a year ago. The five weeks I spent with my Malawian family was filled with lots of awkward cultural exchanges, silent glares due to my inability to speak Chichewa, hot bucket baths, and having all my meals cooked by my amayi. The second time around it was mostly the same but I am thankful to say that it wasn't quite so awkward or quiet. It was a really fun week and I enjoyed meeting the new guys and seeing their enthusiasm for PC, Malawi, development, and their future service.

Tomorrow I will be going back to my site and I will be diving right back in to work after being away for over a week. My biggest focus for this month is with the Kapiri Women's Football Cup which will be taking place from May 6th to the 8th. Registering teams, finding sponsors, making tshirts and getting other cool prizes, organizing the teams into brackets, convincing important community and government leaders to attend, as well as training with my own team is what I'll be doing right up until the tournament starts. Overall I am so happy as to how much excitement has been generated by the players as well as other community members and I'm really hoping this will be just the beginning of women's soccer in Kapiri. Females being empowered to play a sport traditionally played by men, wearing trowsers, learning how to work as a team, playing fearlessly against the boys, and not being afraid to throw an elbow or hip while playing is simply awesome to see.

Over $1000 has been raised so far to build the under five health clinic! It's really exciting and I'm so encouraged by the support so far, however there is still almost $4000 to go. So if you haven't given already, please do! And if you have -- thanks so much -- now please get your friends and family to donate as well! Here's the link once again if you want to check it out...https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=614-226. Also this month the Health Surveillance Assistant and myself will be doing more safe water demonstrations and selling water treatment packets since the rainy season is high time for diarrhea, cholera, and other waterborne diseases.

Last week I turned in a grant to PC for a big HIV/AIDS project with a support group I am working with. It includes pig rearing, developing a medicinal garden, an oil press, and fruit trees for the group to make fruit juice and wine. It is designed to improve nutrition of the group members as well as to give them opportunities to make money from these activities. The support members are ready and excited for this project so all we are waiting for is the funding in order to start.

Next week I will be returning to Lilongwe to meet my "shadow" who is an environment trainnee that will be placed in my district. He or she will stay at my site a few days to see what life is like for a typical enviro volunteer and then I will take that person to meet their site for the very first time. It's one of the most exciting and nerve-wracking times in a PCV's service and I'm really looking forward to meeting my future sitemate.

Lastly, at the beginning of May I will go back to Dedza to the College of Forestry for my group's Mid Service Training. It will be three days of reflection of our first year of service and preparation for our second year as well as life after Peace Corps. It will be quite interesting to hear from all 20 people in our group about the diversity of our projects and site experiences we have had to date.

update on margaderina

It’s been a little while since I have given an update on my friend Margaderina. Needless to say she is doing very well, she received a 5,000 MK loan (about $35) from OIBM and she is using that money to help with her vegetable business which she runs every day. She is also about 7 months pregnant (her late husband is the father) and at the beginning of May she will go to the hospital for several weeks to stay until she gives birth. She is being very positive throughout all of this although I can’t imagine how tough it would be to do this without a husband to help you with everything. Fortunately she’s not going through this journey alone as she has her mom and several other family members looking after her. Also, there will be some expenses for the birth such as blankets, clothes, food for her and her daughter during their hospital stay, soap, etc. Thankfully someone has recently donated some money and so all of those things will be provided for her (and to that person who donated, I think you know who you are, thank you VERY much.  I know she is at peace knowing that she has everything she needs to have this baby). So expect some more updates on her and her family in the next few months!

one year

On Monday I celebrated one year that I have been in Malawi. So how did I celebrate? Since I was in Lilongwe I made sure to eat lots of food I don’t normally eat in the village like burritos, ice cream, Chinese food, and toast. I got to see a lot of friends, particularly those in my group who have also made it a year so far. But more than the food, I was able to celebrate this milestone for three other cool reasons…


1. The project to build an under five health clinic in my community is now ready for people to donate to. So if you are interested in learning more about this great project and how to donate, go to https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=614-226. It’s a totally community supported and initiated project, my only role is to try to source the funding and to make sure the funds are used properly. So please consider giving today so that the building can start ASAP once finished the health services will be free and available for the women and kids in the community.

2. I got 8 soccer balls for a women’s soccer tournament in my area. I had the idea to start this tournament a while back and I thought it would not be very well-received since soccer is only played by men. However, with some cool prizes and a lot of excitement on my part and some other friends, we have been getting a lot of support from the community. The “Kapiri Women’s Football Cup” will be held in the first week of May and already some of the teams are practicing to get prepared for it. So these soccer balls will really help the women to train and learn how to play.

3. The women’s group finally received their loans!! They went yesterday to the bank and now they will be able to use the loans to jumpstart their own businesses. Their loans range from about $35 to $130 and will be paid back over a four month period. Hopefully this is just the first big step in enabling them to make their businesses run sustainably and profitably.


In other news...
I have four kittens! I’m still amazed that Chips was able to have that many, but now they are about 3 weeks old and soon enough they will be running around. I will most definitely make sure that no chimbudzi accidents happen like last time!

At the end of this month I will be going back to Dedza to the College of Forestry for the pre-service training of the new environment and health group who just arrived to country on Sunday. It’s a really exciting time for them and I am reminded that only a year ago I was just as wide-eyed, scared, excited, and pale as they are right now!

That's it for now, I want to say a big thank you to all who are reading this and who have been supporting me for this past year. I hope you all enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoy experiencing it!

you're not a real volunteer unless you name some babies

At least that’s what I have been thinking for this past year. I’m not sure why but I have got the notion in my head that you are not a true Peace Corps volunteer unless a Malawian does you the honor of asking you to name their baby. And with women here averaging over 5 babies in their lifetime, that’s A LOT of opportunities to name some kids. Women are constantly giving birth and yet not once in this past year have I been asked to name someone’s kid. I was honestly thinking that something was wrong with me, that maybe people here don’t really like me all that much or that I must not be a good volunteer. Plenty of other volunteers do it, but not me. It's just about the highest honor a national could give you, so I was discouraged to say the least…until now.



Not once, but twice in two days this past week have people asked me to name their baby. The first one is my amayi's (my Malawian mom) neice who just had her second baby. When I casually asked my amayi what the baby's name was, her reply was, "no, he's only 2 days old, duhhhh" (ok she didn't say "duh" but it was definitely implied). Some people here apparently wait even a month or two to name their child. And then after that she asked if I wanted to give her neice's son a name. I tried to casually say yes to hide my excitement but I don't think I did a good job.



Immediately after agreeing to name the baby I became nervous because now I am responsible for actually...naming...a...baby. That's a big responsibility. This kid will be called whatever name I choose for the rest of his life. What if I choose wrong and give him a really stupid name? So for a day and a half I thought carefully about a name that would fit this kid.



I came up with Isaiah because his family are all Christians and I love the passage in Isaiah 6 where when God asks who will be His messenger Isaiah emphatically says "here am I. Send me!". He was an emphatic servant of Christ, even though his job was not very well received by others. Also, I don't think it's possible to go wrong with a good, strong Bible name. Thankfully his family seemed to approve of his name.

meet Isaiah

my amayi with Isaiah

baby Isaiah's family + me



The day after naming Isaiah I met with my friend Foster who told me that he and his wife just had their first child, a daughter, the past week and he asked me to give her a name. With one successful baby-naming under my belt, I felt confident I could do it again. Almost immediately I had a burst of inspiration hit me and I knew there was only one name I could give her...Mia.

Mia Hamm has been my biggest role model since I was 10 years old I when I went to see the US Women's National Soccer team play for the first time. Ever since then I have been in awe of her as she is the greatest women's soccer player of all time. Not only has she scored more goals internationally than any man or woman, she also was a pioneer not only for women's soccer in the US, but for women's sports in general. Needless to say she has been my hero for a long time and I finally found a good opportunity to pay tribute to her. So I hope that Mia Kamsonga will grow up never believing that she is unable to do something simply because of her gender and that she will be unafraid and empowered as a woman, and if she turns out to be a good soccer player that's great too!

So I'm happy to finally feel like a true PC volunteer, and it's exciting to know that even long after I leave here I will have little Isaiah and Mia to remind me of my service and time here in Malawi and that's pretty awesome...

kapiri secondary school girls volleyball club

Since October of last year I have been working with high school girls at Kapiri Secondary School. From almost the first day in country I knew that I wanted to be a part of something specifically designed to empower teenage girls. And since I love volleyball I thought that to start a club where girls could learn about life skills, gender development, the environment, HIV/AIDS, nutrition, career development, etc., as well as play volleyball, it would be a good fit.

At Kapiri Private Secondary School there is about 250 students from Form 1 to Form 4. The school is operated without electricity, without running water, without access to many textbooks, and with no female teachers. Some of the students live at the school in hostels while others are day students who go home after classes are finished each day. Since most of the girls live at school they have a lot of free time between their classes to meet with boys, go to the local market, or just be idle. As you can imagine teenage pregnancy, spreading of HIV/AIDS, and even dropping out of school early to get married is a very common thing. So to have this club twice a week hopefully gives them a fun alternative.

The club meets for about 2 hours and the first hour is usually spent inside the classroom. It’s there that we discuss the theme for that month as well as to give the girls an open forum to talk about classes, life, music, family, boys, and anything else they want to share. The next hour is spent outside playing volleyball. I started out with the very, very basics of passing, setting, serving, etc. and now we are working on refining those skills as well as playing some scrimmage-like games.

The first two months of the club were at times difficult, I think for myself as well as for the girls. First of all, English is not their native language but since they are supposed to be learning it in school, I have the rule that the girls must speak in English while we are meeting as a club. For them to get a good job, to go on to university, or even to get a good score on their exams in school, they must be able to speak English. But getting them to actually speak it and for them to understand me when I am talking can be really challenging. Another frustration is through our difference in cultures. I have been taught to be confident in my God-given abilities, to believe that women have just as many rights as men, to not be afraid to voice my opinion, and to try to achieve anything I set my mind to. This however is not how girls and young women are raised. Malawian girls tend to be shy, quiet, submissive to men, and adverse to taking risks. So it can be really hard for me to relate to them as well as them to me. But we are getting there.
 
The last challenge was because of equipment. I only brought one volleyball with me to country, but thankfully my mom sent me an outdoor net and a volleyball early on in my service, thus giving me two volleyballs and a net to play on. And if you know anything about coaching, you can understand that trying to teach 40+ girls with only two volleyballs is not easy. It’s tough trying to teach them the skills like passing and hitting without having three quarters of the girls sit on the sideline just watching.

Therefore since I knew I was coming home for Christmas, I decided to contact my high school volleyball coach Margie Arm and her teams, the GPS Crush and Central Bucks East volleyball teams. Not only did I play volleyball for Coach Arm in high school, but I had the opportunity to coach club alongside her for three years. Needless to say I have learned so much about playing and coaching volleyball from her and I have a great deal of respect for her. She is a great coach and friend and has been very supportive of me in my PC service. So, I told her the situation and asked her if her teams would be willing to help the club out with about 20 volleyballs. Thankfully, Coach Arm agreed and I traveled back to Malawi with a suitcase full of balls. Not only that, but I was able to share with the two teams a little about the girls in the club, life in Malawi, their culture, etc. We swapped pictures and letters of the teams and I hope that in the future there will continue to be communication between my club and Coach Arm’s teams.

In the coming months I hope to take the girls on a field trip to Lilongwe where they can see the Malawi Women’s National Volleyball team play or even to take them to other schools to compete. And a concern of mine is sustainability so that when I leave the club will continue on. Therefore I am trying to find someone to help coach with me and then eventually let that person take over the club as I prepare to leave. But all-in-all the club has been a great experience so far despite the challenges and I hope that the girls as well as myself continue to learn from each other and have fun playing volleyball. Because that's what it's all about!

sunday tea and dance parties

It’s been about a month that I’ve been back and I knew that once I returned to my site that I would have to hit the ground running. It hits me almost every day that I will be leaving this place in a little over a year and it pushes me to work hard to complete the projects I have set out to. So here’s an update on my projects….

1. Kamera Under Five Health Clinic - the proposal is written and submitted, now I am just waiting to hear from the PC office as to whether or not it is approved, which will then be sent to Washington so that they can post it on the Peace Corps website for people to donate to. Also, I visited Kamera last week so that we could start outplanting the moringa seedlings as well as to teach them more about the nutritional benefits of the tree. Plus I gave the women’s netball team a netball for them to play and they were so excited about that! Every time I visit this community I just get overwhelmed by their support and enthusiasm.


2. Tree nurseries - the seedlings are finished in the nursery stage and are now ready for outplanting. Between all the nurseries there is over 12,000 trees to plant which will take some work. At least 60% of the trees are moringa so there has been a lot of discussion and sharing of information about the tree. And in the next week I will start demonstrating how to process the moringa into powder so that the families can start using it.

3. Kakunga Village Savings & Loans group - the group has been meeting with a loans officer from OIBM who helps them to understand the basics of loans and savings as well as he determines whether or not the group is fit for a loan. He met with the group three times and now they have gone to apply for a loan. Most of them are requesting about 5,000-10,000 each in Malawi kwacha which is about $35-65 and will be repaid in four months at a reasonably low interest rate. Also, their one acre of groundnuts is doing well and hopefully in early March they will harvest, so soon enough they’ll be starting their group business!

4. Nutrition Project - For a while I have been working with an HIV/AIDS support group on making jam, using natural medicine, composting, doing a tree nursery, etc. Now we are planning on doing a nutrition and wellness project that will consist of 3 things: 1. to develop their medicinal garden; 2. to raise pigs; 3. to get an oil press. Currently we are working on the design to build a shelter for the pigs as well as to finalize the budget.

5. Volleyball club - things are really looking up now that we have plenty of volleyballs, so I think the key is to get the girls involved in playing against other schools. Also, after talking with my “assistant”, Agnes, we decided that March is going to be our “sexual health” month. The more I learn about these girls and some of the challenges and issues they face, I realize now more than ever that we need to talk about abstinence, safe sex, prevention of HIV/AIDS, and all that stuff. However, I am scared out of my mind to deal with this very important issue. So please be praying for the girls as well as myself.


Other than that, things are slowly getting better here. The first couple weeks being back after the holiday were a bit rocky, mostly because of some deaths and sickness in my village as well as having to deal with some tenuous relationships between my neighbors. But life is basically back to normal and I am trying to enjoy the little things about being here. One example is this past Sunday, which is probably my favorite day of the week in the village. In the morning I had a tea party with the neighbor girls (the boys were not invited), did some work around the house and garden, then went to a friend’s house to hang out and cook spaghetti for his family. Sunday afternoons is when I always meet with the women’s group and I love spending time with them because they are always laughing and having fun together. After the meeting we decided to play netball so after slipping and sliding in the mud for two hours we ended by getting into a circle and dancing. Now the women here can really, really dance. They shake their entire bodies in a way that doesn't even seem physically possible. Even the girls and the kids who can barely walk can do this, it's crazy. It’s a lot of fun to watch, but not as much fun when they shove you into the middle of the circle so that you have to dance all by yourself, then they all laugh at the fact that the white girl has no rhythm, what a surprise.

pobwerera ku mudzi

My three week trip to America has come and gone, and although I was very sad to leave my family and friends, I was extremely excited to get back to my house, my friends, my cats, my garden, and the projects I am working on.

bike taxis come in very handy when you have too much luggage to carry yourself

My excitement quickly vanished when I returned to my house to see that my backyard and garden has basically become a jungle. It's quite amazing to see how much things can grow in as little as three weeks, especially during the rainy season. My watermelons and pumpkins have basically overtaken my garden and the passionfruit growing along my fence and kitchen have finally started to bear fruit. I can't wait to be eating all of those very shortly! However, there was grass and weeds up to my waist everywhere and that made me nervous because that often means snakes (which I've already seen twice in my garden), bugs, and mosquitoes will be living there.

 my backyard did NOT look this way when i left

passionfruit

Also, I was not too pleased to walk into my house to find that my cat had been locked into my house for three days (it's a long story). And not only that, ANOTHER part of my fence has fallen over. It's the part of the fence that stops my neighbors from being able to see my pit latrine, so needless to say going to the bathroom was a bit awkward for a few days...

chips was not too happy with me for a few days...

i can see into my neighbor's yard... that might be a problem

I was only at my house for about 5 minutes but I knew I had to leave because I was too frustrated with the state of my house to stay, so I left to go vent to my closest friend in the community, William. I was angry, tired from a stressful few days of traveling, and frustrated. But I walked into his house to see that him and his family had decorated it for me as a homecoming. Wow. That helped me to feel a lot better and to remind me that I shouldn't get all bothered about things since I've got great friends and support here.

 a "welcome back" surprise

 they're the best

 

After only a few days in my village one of the young girls who lives in my compound, Rachel, passed away from malaria. She just started primary school last year and became sick at the beginning of the new year. Her condition worsened to the point where she wasn't eating or drinking and that's when she was taken to the hospital, and by then it was unfortunately too late. So, for two days my neighbors and people from all around the community gathered for her funeral. It was incredibly sad and it's still a bit strange not to see her around my house every day playing with the neighborhood kids. So please keep her family in your prayers, especially for her sister and two brothers.

Rachel (in the back row, second from the left)

After a difficult few days there was some good news, which is that the Kakunga women's group opened their own savings account at Opportunity International Bank of Malawi. We all took a trip to the bank where each member not only opened an account, but was given some money to start their savings (which is in thanks to all those who donated while I was home, so thank you!). It was like going on a field trip for school, you could just feel how excited the women were. For the entire 40 minute ride there and back they were singing and dancing. And later this week they will be opening an account as a group so that they can be applying for loans in the future, especially as they are beginning to prepare for their cooking oil business. Very exciting!

 

the Kakunga VSL ladies on their way to open their bank accounts

The last update I have is about Margaderina. I was so encouraged to find that while I was gone she had been very busy with her own business of selling vegetables. And when told that people from America were not only thinking and praying for her, but that they wanted to help her out financially, she was very surprised and thankful. So currently she has been able to buy fertilizer, enough maize to last through this hunger season, soap, and a few other necessities. And even though she still has a long journey ahead of her, I can tell that she is feeling a bit more hopeful about her life and her family's which is a great thing.