kakunga women's netball team

This is a very special post about a very special team... Anyone that knows me at all knows that I love sports, particularly soccer and volleyball. And thankfully for me Malawians play both of these sports. But unfortunately soccer is strictly played by the boys whereas the women only play netball. Both sports are referred to as "mpila" in Chichewa, but the meaning changes as to which gender you are talking about. So to say that a girl playing mpila is actually playing soccer is very taboo. As unfair as that may seem to me, it makes me even more excited about encouraging the youth and adults to play volleyball since it is played by both males and females (but I'll dedicate more to volleyball in a future post).

What makes the netball teams in my area unique is the fact that the women play and not just the girls. Here in Malawi women do not share the same social or economic status as the men, and on top of that they carry the overall burden of taking care of their families. They do the cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids, drawing water, searching for and cutting the firewood, and even for the most part the farming. Now I don't want to put down the men, but they don't do nearly as much work as the women. Most of them are unemployed and when they don't feel the need to work in the fields, they mostly sit around being idle. This is not true for the azamayi, who usually wake up before the sun rises and are the last to go to sleep. Simply put, they work extremely hard, so that's why I love seeing them take some time for themselves to have fun and let loose.

One of the reasons this team has become so significant to me is because of the way netball has helped me to integrate into my community. Since speaking Chichewa has proven to be quite difficult and since sports is a universal language, netball has been a great way for me to get to know the ladies in Kakunga. It's also especially important since the majority of women don't speak any English because they are less likely than the men to attend secondary school. Playing netball is also a great way to remove stress whether it be from the goats eating my vegetables a second or third or fourth time in a month, feeling homesick, getting sick once again after eating okra (I never learn), and the list goes on.

So after receiving birthday money from my mom I had the idea to use the money to buy jerseys for them. I figured that since the men's soccer team has jerseys, why can't the ladies as well? They were very excited to receive them and now they are the best looking netball team in all of Mchinji! Thanks Mom!

Here are some pictures of the team...enjoy!

meeting bingu and a quick update

Yesterday the president of Malawi, His Excellency Ngwazi Professor Bingu wa Mutharika, hosted a special luncheon for all Peace Corps volunteers serving in Malawi at his residence in Lilongwe.
Here is a few thoughts that I wrote down during the ceremony…

- I saw a zebra!
- Real silver utensils
- Swan shaped napkin for Bingu
- Lots and lots of booze
- Being served 3 kinds of meat and no nsima
- “Real development occurs at the grassroots, in the rural communities” (the Pres)
- Feeling so proud to serve in Malawi on behalf of the US government
- Bingu has really soft hands
- Dancing!


All in all, it was an amazing ceremony and I was very impressed with the President. He seemed genuinely thankful for the work that Peace Corps volunteers have been doing in Malawi since 1963 and said that PC Malawi is just one piece in the jigsaw puzzle of world peace and economic development. This is a very true statement and a good reminder to me that even the smallest accomplishments are still helping to move this country forward. It was quite a special event, and since it’s not every day that one meets a leader of an entire country, I think I will remember yesterday for a very long time!



Work has been going slow and often I find myself frustrated by that and also with some difficulties I am having with a couple of my counterparts. Each PCV is issued an official counterpart who works for the government and mine works for the District Forestry Office. However, we can have many counterparts who are people in the community that we work with. One of them is extremely unreliable, he tells me to show up at his house and he’s not there, or that he will call me and he doesn’t, or that he will attend a certain meeting and of course doesn’t. He’s a nice enough guy, but just doesn’t seem to care much about working with me. Another is constantly asking me for things, whether it be for money to fix his roof, to pay school fees for one of his kids, to help him in building a fish pond at his house, and the list goes on. And what’s more, I just found out that he has two wives. Polygamy is certainly not uncommon here, but it doesn’t encourage me to want to work with him. But if this is the worst of my troubles so far I consider myself very blessed. And despite those two people, I have been fortunate to meet some other people and groups that I am very inspired and motivated by. Here are a few examples…

Mary: She is a good friend of mine even though communication is very limited for the both of us. She is 28 and has 4 kids and is one of the hardest workers I have ever met in my life. Rarely do I ever see her sit down to relax and yet somehow finds the energy to play netball with the other women in my village. She is very entrepreneurial and always looking for ways to make money to support her family.

Stella: She works for an company that buys seeds yet is also very involved in community development . She is an agriculturist who believes that development should be more business-oriented instead of just pumping aid and money into the hands of the people, which is a serious problem here. She has been a good example to me of how a woman can effect change in a man’s world, particularly when it comes to agriculture. She is incredibly smart yet very humble and is very passionate about development in a holistic manner.

Tilimbike CBO: This is a community based organization that has several groups such as orphan care, HIV/AIDS support, elderly care, and a nursery school. Instead of just waiting around for help from donors or the government, as many CBOs do, they took action by molding enough bricks to build two school blocks and are continuing to build more. Also, as a way to make money, they have planted trees and sold the seedlings to help support their projects.


Until next time!

happy fourth

While all of you in America are preparing your grills and fireworks, I am in Lilongwe for the 4th which will be held at the US Ambassador’s house. All 130 volunteers as well as all expats living in Malawi are invited to the event. The Ambassador has an amazing house which includes a swimming pool and tennis court, so I am glad for the opportunity to escape village life for a few days. I am very excited for the event since there are many volunteers I have yet to meet as well as I get to chance to reconnect with the other 20 volunteers in my group, I haven’t seen most of them for two months and I miss them greatly! Also, Malawi’s Independence Day is on the 6th so I am interested in seeing how they celebrate here. Either way, this will be a fun and interesting first 4th of July away from home!

I’ve been living at my site for two months and I am still keeping myself busy with meeting new people and getting to know the area a bit better. I’ve still been doing a lot of work to my house, I had my fence fixed and extended it so that I could include more area for my garden. I am excited because I finally have gotten rid of the goats who have been terrorizing my garden and eating everything that I’ve planted. I had a new pit latrine built and also painted the inside and outside of my house with lime. My next projects on the list is to replace the roof on my outdoor kitchen before the rainy season comes as well as to replace the wooden beams on the inside of my house, unfortunately termites are a major problem here and they have done a lot of damage to my house.

Although I am still not technically supposed to start projects for another month or so, I have been planning on several small-scale projects to do in the community. This includes several tree nurseries, business training for women, home gardens, building mudstoves, and some beekeeping. Also, the volunteer before me worked with some fish ponds as well as a primary school so I am trying to continue in helping with both. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to do such a variety of projects as well as to work with different groups and individuals. It sometimes feels overwhelming to see all the needs of the people here, but I know that as long as I am living and working here I will never be bored!

a traditional Chewa dancer, pretty scary

some of the iwes in my village

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

life and lessons from malawi

These past three months I have learned more than I could ever have imagined. I have been fortunate to grasp a better understanding of this beautiful and interesting country. Therefore, I have decided to make a light-hearted list of some of the things I have learned along the way. I hope you enjoy!

1. People will call you Madonna if you have blonde hair and wear sunglasses.

2. If you want to get chores done like sweeping, gardening, drawing water, etc. that you don't feel like doing yourself just ask the kids to do it, they will gladly do just about anything, especially if you reward them with a pencil or "masweetie".

3. The azamayi (Malawian women) are superwomen. Seriously, they can do just about anything.

4. If you want to show people that you are becoming a Malawian, tell them that you love to eat nsima (the staple food here) and that you know how to cook it, even if both of those statements are completely false.

5. If you want to cure a bad mood, go and play netball with the girls and the amayis in the village.
6. Malawians will find a way to put Obama's name or face on just about anything (skirts, bread rolls, bags, buses, tshirts, etc.)

7. There are never too many people to fit inside a car or on the bed of a pickup truck.

8. Just the sight of a white person will make some infants and toddlers either cry or scream with terror.

9. ALWAYS tuck in your mosquito net unless you want to wake up to a cockroach crawling around your face.



life in the village

For those of you who would like an idea of what my day-to-day life looks like in the village, I will give you a snapshot...

I wake up around 5am every day just before the sun rises (which are absolutely amazing here). I then make myself breakfast which is usually coffee, oatmeal, rice porridge, some bananas, or else a peanut butter and jelly sandwich if I am lacking the motivation to start a fire on my mud stove. Then, if my two cats (Chips and Chambo) are begging me, which they almost always are, I give them some small fish. After that I sit outside on my hammock as I do devotions, journal, read, and prepare a list of things I need to do for the day. I am usually interrupted at least a few times by kids on their way to school as they peek through my fence and try to talk to me, or else they just simply stand there and stare at what I am doing. Then I do some chores such as sweeping, drawing water, doing dishes, chasing the goats and chickens from my garden, doing laundry, etc. After that I go out and chat or at least say the traditional morning greetings (it's "madzuka bwanj?" for those of you who are interested in learning some Chichewa). Also, I try every to do at least one thing that is related to my service as a volunteer. This includes visiting local fish ponds or irrigation sites, meeting community groups (ie- HIV/AIDS support groups, orphan care, youth clubs, etc.), chatting with the chief in charge of my village, going to the local primary and secondary schools, meeting with a bunch of ladies in my village who started a Village Savings and Loans group, going to farmers' fields and learning about what they are growing, working on my garden, planning for my demonstration medicinal garden, and much more! Also, I often ride my bike to the local trading center that's only about 3km from where I live and I buy vegetables and fruit that are in season as well as rice, candles, firewood, and the occasional Fanta.

My afternoons and evenings consist mostly of doing home improvements and decorating. I also try to be intentional about simply walking outside of my house and attempting to talk in Chichewa and the phrase "pang'onopang'ono", which means "little by little" has been my slogan here for the pace at which I am learning. It's the most helpful chatting with the kids sine a group of them will just sit with me and when I point at something they will tell me what it is in Chichewa. It's like a game to them and they love it. Sometimes I will play netball or soccer or else I will just chase the kids that are too little to play in the pickup games. After that, just before the sun goes down, I will take a bucket bath and then cook myself dinner. So far I have perfected cooking rice, omelettes, chips, and vegetables. I am trying to branch out but again, "pang'onopang'ono". It gets dark by about 6pm so I head inside my house to escape the mosquitoes and sit in my hammock and read. And in case you were wondering, yes I do have two hammocks, one outside and one inside, and they make life here so much nicer! I will read, sew, do some research on potential projects, write letters, journal, etc. Then by 8pm I am tucked nicely inside my mosquito net!

So that's basically my life here in Malawi so far. It will stay pretty similar to that for the next two months since the Peace Corps requires that we not start any projects during that time. The purpose is for us to focus on integrating into the area and although I know it's extremely important, I sometimes feel like I'm doing nothing here. I know that isn't necessarily the case and that I need to take the time to get to know my community, and to have them get to know me and trust me in return, to learn the language, to try and figure out what the needs of the community are, and finally how I can help to address those needs. And along the way I have met some really great people and been able to experience many things that I would have not been able to in America.

Also, I do have a cell phone and although it is too expensive for me to call America, I can receive calls for free. I suggest using Skype since that seems to be the cheapest option. If you'd like my number feel free to email me at kkutzner@gmail.com or just ask anyone in my family and they will give it to you! I would love to hear from you all!

rip zig

Not in too much of a great mood right now, but I feel I must blog
since I have the opportunity. Two days ago my dog, Zigamba, was hit
and killed by a car. I have not been in the village very long, but
from the very first time I stepped into my village he was the best
part of my site and was always following me around wherever I went. He
was my constant companion. And for those of you that know me, I love
dogs very much, so it’s been pretty rough. It’s hard enough having
something like this happen, but to have it occur in another country
where I am still learning the language and the culture, it’s been
difficult. Enough said about that.

On April 28th myself and 20 other trainees officially became Peace
Corps volunteers. We swore in at the US Ambassador to Malawi’s house
in the capital city of Lilongwe. It was a really special day as we
celebrated the culmination of our two months of training and preparing
for our service. Although all the volunteers were happy to finally be
done training, we were definitely sad to leave each other and head out
to our sites without each other.

My site is in the central region of Malawi in the district of Mchinji
and it is in the village of Kakunga, close to Zambia. My house is
situated within a family compound and it is a brick house with a tin
roof. I have three rooms and a nice backyard and although it needs
some repair and cleaning, I have been having a lot of fun making the
place feel like home. This is the first time in my life I have ever
lived by myself, and although it is a strange and new feeling I am
enjoying it.

My day-to-day life these past couple weeks have consisted mostly of
cleaning, decorating, cooking, meeting people, gardening, reading, and
still trying to learn the language. Basically, I am just taking care
of myself, my house, and trying to integrate as well as possible into
my community.

There has been some challenging times, such as what happened two days
ago, but I am being constantly reminded of how blessed I am to be
here.  I’ve also been able to meet some great people who have made me
feel very welcome here. I knew before coming to Malawi that I would
have good days and some not so good days, and thankfully the Lord is
giving me the strength I need to get through both. That’s all I could
ask for.


“Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the
One who makes me who I am” (Philippians 4:13, The Message)



ALSO… I have a new address, so here it is:

Kathryn Kutzner
PO Box 50
Kapiri, Mchinji
Malawi

hello from the warm heart!

Hey everyone!

I am so excited to share my first blog post from Malawi! I have been here for almost a month and a half and a lot has happened since then. My environment group has been going through a ton of training and in less than two weeks we will be swearing in as official Peace Corps volunteers!

For the last five weeks I was living with a host family in a small village south of Lilongwe. I had a great experience with them and despite the fact that they spoke little English and I even less Chichewa. But, I have learned to appreciate the awkward silent moments! Other than that, my group has been kept very busy with language, technical, cultural, safety, etc. training. I am learning a lot of Chichewa and I am really, really enjoying the technical training such as agriculture/permagardening, bee-keeping, composting, mud stoves, income-generating activities, etc.

And just a few days ago I found out where I will be living for the next two years of my stay in Malawi. My site is in central Malawi in the Mchinji District in a village called Kapiri. I am replacing a volunteer and I am very excited about meeting the people and the potential projects that I may be a part of. Today I will be shadowing a fellow environment PCV who lives in my district, and after a few days I will be going to my site for about three days. Then, I will go for a week of intense language training, followed by swearing in and then moving to my site. Scary, exciting, crazy!

Well that's it for now, but I do want to say thanks again for the continued prayer and support. I appreciate it greatly and ask that you would continue to keep me in your prayers. And if you think about it, send me a letter!

peace out america

The bags are packed!

This will be my last post on American soil for a while (Lord willing of course). I will be heading out to staging in Philly tomorrow and we will be leaving Saturday morning for Malawi. For those interested in my itinerary the next couple of days, here it is...

Fri 2/26:
1pm - registration
2 to 7pm - meetings, paperwork, etc

Sat 2/27:
2am - leave for JFK airport
10:30am - flight departs for Johannesburg, South Africa

Sun 2/28 (Malawi time):
8:40am - arrive in Johannesburg
10am - depart for Lilongwe, Malawi
2:25pm - ARRIVE IN MALAWI!

I can't really explain how I am feeling since I am experiencing every emotion imaginable. And I really don't know what else to say other than that I am going to miss all of my friends and family so much! Thank you for the love and support you have all shown me this past year and a half as I have been through the grueling process of being an applicant, then nominee, and then FINALLY an invitee, and now a trainee and hopefully a full blown volunteer in a couple months. I know that I have talked many ears off either complaining about not knowing if I would even be going or sharing my excitement over each hurdle I had to get through. So if you happened to be one of those people, THANK YOU. I have an awesome support system around me and having that makes it so comforting to know that I am not going to be completely alone in Malawi.

I can't wait for what's ahead, even though I know it will be full of challenges and awkward cultural exchanges. And if you don't hear from me for a while or I am not able to update my blog, don't be worried. Just know that I will be very busy with training and immersing myself into the culture.

Well, I'm off to my Malawian adventure! Here we go...