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...
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)