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.

finally, paypal + some other things

So I finally have set up paypal for those who are interested in helping out my friend Margaderina. However, I have a lot more than I originally asked for (at least $200) which is AWESOME. Thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart. I honestly believe she will be so thankful not only for the money, but mostly to know that people from all the way across the world care about her and what she is going through.

My plan when I return is firstly to tell her that my family and friends have heard about her situation and decided to help her. She doesn't know yet that we are doing this so I know she will be ecstatic, it's not every day that something like this happens. Next I will immediately set her up with a bank account as a way to safely store the money. Jealously may be a problem (as it is almost anytime someone receives some kind of help or prospers in any way, regardless of circumstances - it's a cultural thing), so I am going to sit down with the chief of my village to let him know what the plans are as far as helping Margaderina. That way if there is any issues with other villagers (jealously, people saying things to her, trying to take advantage of her) he can address it directly.

Lastly, I am going to be helping her on a month-to-month basis to see how she handles the money. I am thinking of starting out at like $30-50 per month for the first few months to see how she does. If there are any issues (which I really don't believe there will be because Malawian women are EXTREMELY responsible), I will work with her to resolve them.

I promise to keep you all up-to-date on how she is doing and if ever have any questions please feel free to ask. Also, if you ever feel like sending her a note please do, I am sure she would love to hear from the people who are so generously helping her out. You could write the letter to her and address it to me and I will translate it and give it to her. I'm sure she could really use some encouragement.

Also, I know there are some people who have pledged to donate but were waiting until I set up paypal. To you guys I want to say a very sincere THANK YOU. You have three options...One is that you can still donate to her through paypal, even though I've raised the amount I think she needs she could possibly need more (maybe in the future). The second option is to give to the women's group which she is a member of. Not only do I want Margaderina to get a bank account, but I would like the rest of the women as well to get one. If they all get accounts with Opportunity International (awesome NGO by the way) then they can apply for a group loan which they are all interested in for their small-scale businesses. The only issue is money for transport to the closest OI bank, which will be about $5 round-trip for each of them to go. So for 13 women it will cost $65. So that's another option. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, is another project I am working on right now. I just finished writing a proposal to build an Under Five Health Clinic designed to give free, vital health care services to pregnant women and young children. This project costs around $4,000 and will be funded by anyone that is willing to give. Hopefully this project will be approved by the Peace Corps asap and then the project will be posted on the Peace Corps website (http://www.peacecorps.gov/) for anyone to donate. So please be on the lookout for that.

If you decide to give, please email me to let me know exactly how you want me to use the money. I will say it again and again and again...THANK YOU.

Now I'm off to Malawi!

peace out america - take 2

Ten months ago I was running around like crazy getting ready to leave my family, friends, and all sense of comfort and normalcy to go to the strange land Malawi. I was scared, nervous, excited, and quite frankly not sure if I could make it over there. And now almost a year later I am back at home preparing to go back again.

I was extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to come home for three weeks. Before coming here originally I hadn't really even considered coming home during my service, but here I am. Some of the highlights of my trip home include...

-meeting my beautiful niece Avery for the first time
-catching up with old friends, particularly one that came all the way from Australia!
-giving a presentation on Malawi to my Nana and Pop Pop's retirement home
-spending time with a soon-to-be-married friend (congrats Melis!)
-receiving volleyballs from the GPS Crush club team for my girls volleyball club
-catching up on all the food+movies+music+tv+books I've so missed

In my group of 20 volunteers I am the only one who came home during Christmas so I feel pretty lucky. To see my family and friends has been awesome and I'm feeling so encouraged and supported by everyone here. I can't wait to take this momentum and motivation back to my village. I've got about fourteen months left of my service and it's my prayer that I make the most of every single minute over there. I am so blessed to be doing what I am, it has been great to be reminded of that these past several weeks.

All I can think to say is that God is good, so good in fact. I know I'm only doing this because He allows me to and gives me the strength to persevere through it all. And for that I am extremely thankful. I am also so thankful for my family and friends. If you are reading this you probably fall into one of those two categories so to you I want to say a big, huge THANK YOU. I've been overwhelmed by your love and support, please continue it through this next fourteen months! Please continue praying not only for me, but particularly for the people I am working and living with. Malawi is a wonderful country with beautiful, caring people but there is still an alarming amount of poverty and desperation. Please pray that the Lord will help me to meet their physical needs as well as spiritual.

Again, thank you all. I can't wait to see what will come in 2011! May you have a blessed New Year's and beyond!

my archenemy is a goat

Do I believe in animal cruelty? Absolutely not. However, I do admit to throwing rocks and other various small objects at the goats, pigs, and chickens who like to wander into my yard and eat from my trees and garden. I don't really try to hit them, but more so just scare them away. That's what most Malawians do so therefore I feel like that's just a part of the integration process here. And if one of those rocks might happen to actually hit one of them, well then I just say "zimachitika" ("it happens"). Especially when it comes to Beardy.

Beardy is my nemesis, my archrival, my foe. And she just so happens to be a goat. I call her Beardy since I think it's strange that she is a female and she has a long beard. Not a very creative name but I think it fits. From the very first day that I moved to Kakunga she has been continuously finding ways to sneak into my yard and ruin everything. Before I fixed my fence in July I had to plant and replant everything in my garden about four different times. Needless to see I was very frustrated before I was able to have my fence fixed.

I thought that after my fence was finally repaired that all my problems would be over but alas, no. Beardy and her friends thought that since they were no longer able to enter that they would just climb on the outside of my fence and eat from my passionfruit vine, breaking down my delicate fence made of reed-like grass. And they still enter from time to time when some of my neighbor kids enter and forget to close the fence properly.

But last week Beardy really topped herself when she realized that she could climb onto my fence and get on top of a very narrow brick wall that acts as a barrier to my chimbudzi (as shown in the picture above). Who even knew that goats could climb or that they could balance themselves so well? But she has, and she has once again broken my fence in the process.

Whoever said that goats aren't smart hasn't met Beardy. And I don't know if there is some sort of moral to this story or life lesson that I am supposed to take home with me when I finish my time here in Malawi. Maybe it's that animal cruelty is sometimes necessary. Maybe it's that you know you have too much free time when you spend large amounts of your day trying to outsmart a goat. Maybe it's that I should learn to be persistent and to never give up even when facing obstacles, just like Beardy. Who knows. I just know that as long as I am living in Kakunga that Beardy and I will never be friends. I am okay with that, and I am pretty sure she is as well.

help for margaderina

Most of my posts so far have been about certain events, projects, stories, and pictures of things that have occurred during my 9 months of service so far. However, this one is different. One of my friends in my community is a 21 year old woman named Margaderina who is married with a one year old daughter. She is an active member of the Kakunga Village Savings and Loans group, a group of 13 women who lend money to each other to support their own small scale businesses. She also plays on the women's netball team, in which both groups I have been working with. She is a very kind, hard-working young woman. That being said, two weeks ago her husband died suddenly of meningitis.

(This is a picture of Margaderina during a peanut butter demonstration with the Kakunga Village Savings and Loans group)

Taking care of a family in Malawi is difficult, even with two parents. But now as a single mother it's even more challenging. Since most Malawian families rely on agriculture for food and as well as income, she will be forced to do the work of farming herself. It's incredibly labor-intensive, and coupled with the day-to-day responsbilities of women (see my past post, "kakunga women's netball team" to learn just how hard Malawian women work every day), it will be an almost impossible task.

That's why I have decided to fundraise some money for her. I am hoping to raise at least $200 for her and her daughter. $200 is roughly equal to 30,000 Malawian kwacha, which will be enough to see her through this next year, particularly until the end of the hunger season. The hunger season starts in December and lasts until just before the harvest which is in February/March. It's during this time that people begin to run out of maize as they wait until the time when they can harvest and sell their maize, tobacco, groundnuts, etc. It can be a very difficult time for families since if the food runs out they have no cash to buy food or other essentials. This money will help Margaderina to buy vegetables, fertilizer for her crops, soap, medicine, or any other necessities.

The plan is to set her and the rest of the women from the Kakunga VSL group up with a bank account at Opportunity International Bank of Malawi. Any money donated will be put straight in her bank account so that she can access it when she needs to. Since most people in my community do not have bank accounts, I will be working closely with the women, particularly Margaderina, to make sure they understand how to bank properly. So you can be rest assured that the money is safe and will be used only when she needs it.
Therefore, if you are a friend or family member reading this, PLEASE consider donating. I don't care if it's $1 or $5 or $100, anything honestly will help this young woman out a lot. If I will see you when I am home for Christmas feel free to give me then, or else email at kkutzner@gmail.com for more information on how to give.
Again I am asking you to please consider giving to this woman and her child. I know that typically Americans are inundated with requests to give to charities, special causes, fundraisers, etc. But just know that 100% of what you give will go directly to this woman and her child. Think about it...help a family in need!

Thank you!

moringa moringa

Ever since arriving in Malawi I have heard about this tree called Moringa, which in Chichewa is referred to as “chambwamba”. Many people call it a “miracle tree” because of the many benefits of it. Since nutrition, working with people living with HIV/AIDS, and tree nurseries all have been a big focus of the projects I am doing so far, it only seems natural that I include moringa in what I am doing. So, here is a brief description of moringa and the many benefits of it…

Origin:
It comes from Asia and has been around for centuries, although it is fairly new to the United States. Although there are many species , the tree I am referring to is Moringa oleifera


Different parts of the tree and its uses:
Leaves- contains a variety of important vitamins and nutrients
Seeds- can be used for purifying water, making soap, cooking oil
Roots- has some medicinal purposes
Branches- cuttings from the branches can be taken and planted and will grow into a new tree!


Other advantages of Moringa:
Easily intercropped with other food crops and trees
Fast growing, tolerant of droughts
Very good agroforestry tree (can be used as a live fence, it fixes nitrogen into the soil)
Potential income generating activity from leaf powder, oils
Wood can be used for firewood
Leaves can be used for animal feed


Nutrition of 50grams of leaf powder:
7 times the vitamin C of oranges
4 times the calcium of milk
3 times the vitamin A of carrots
2 times the protein of milk
3 times the potassium of bananas

The potential for using Moringa in projects is practically limitless and I hope that as these trees mature and more people are aware of this amazing tree I will be able to do more projects with it. But for now these are the ways that I am currently working with moringa…

1. Tree Nurseries- I am working with a variety of individuals, groups, and one primary school right now on planting several tree types, one being moringa. Most of the tree types will be used for reafforestation, however I am incorporating nutrition and food security as we are also raising moringa and fruit tree seedlings. What each group does is plant several seeds into a small plastic tube and after much care, watering, weeding, etc, the groups will plant the "seedlings" into a designated area (ie- woodlots and homes) after about 10-12 weeks. Most of the groups are raising between 2 to 6 thousand seedlings.

(The community members of Kamera where we are trying to get an under five health clinic built, they are raising seedlings to replace the many trees that were cut down in order to burn the bricks needed to build the clinic)

(Nkumbi Community Based Organization- a group of volunteers that work with orphans, people living with HIV/AIDS, elderly, and the youth - they are raising moringa, papaya, and several agro-forestry trees)

2. People living with HIV/AIDS- since nutrition is a critical part of staying healthy for those who have HIV/AIDS, I am working with an HIV/AIDS Support Group in encouraging traditional/natural medicine.


If you are interested in learning more about moringa and how it is changing people's lives in developing countries here is a couple helpful links...

1. http://www.janeemo.org/ - I HIGHLY recommend clicking here to learn more about this innovative NGO operating in Malawi. They use moringa and two other useful trees (jatropha and neem) to encourage people living in rural activities to use moringa as a natural medicine and income generating activities as well as some other really cool projects. Please check them out!

2. http://www.treesforlife.org/our-work/our-initiatives/moringa - another cool NGO that does work all over the world

what you've all been waiting for...

Maybe not all of you have been waiting, but I have received some requests for pictures of my house. The reason why I have waited six months to share pictures of my humble abode is because there was very little to be desired about the house when I first moved in. It was messy and there was a ton of work and cleaning that needed to be done, so to be honest I felt a bit ashamed of the place. However, my attitude quickly changed when I realized that it simply meant there was a lot of things I could do to make it my own. That's a big deal for me since I have never lived by myself before. The whole idea seemed very intimidating, especially knowing that I had to have a new bathing area built, a new pit latrine built, to replace my roof, to fix my fence, to replace my outdoor kitchen roof, plant the garden, and the list goes on. So I kept figuring that I needed to wait until ALL of those things were done and until I could finally be proud enough of it to show my family and friends. Well, I now believe that's a silly idea, especially since each different home project takes a long time to do, I know that I will be repairing and maintaining the place right up until I leave Malawi. And just like everything in this country it seems, things take a while and it's all a process, so you might as well get comfortable and, as my blog title so appropriately says, love the journey. Yes, it's something I am learning every single day here and I am very thankful for that.

So, just click on the link below and you will get to see where I live, laugh, cook, cry, sleep, and everything else in between. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024770&id=170100061&l=68e81ea457