It’s been a while since I’ve written, thanks to a crazy busy schedule. I think some people have an impression that Peace Corps is like a two-year vacation, but I’ve been working just as much here as I ever did in the States! Here’s a little rundown of what I’ve been up to since July. Once you read it, make sure you click on the link to my newest photo album at the bottom of this post. And, look at the last few posts below that, just to make sure you haven’t missed anything – like the video of my mushroom group getting ready to plant mushrooms!
July – After a fantastic July 4th party at the U.S. Ambassador’s house, I headed back to my village and started working with a women’s group that wanted to grow mushrooms for extra income. We applied for a micro-loan from the local tourist lodge, Ntchisi Forest Lodge, and got busy finding materials to build the mushroom-growing house. I also did a training with a beekeeping group, teaching them to make candles out of beeswax. They were amazed at how easy it was to make candles, which they can sell, and now they’ll have a way to use their beeswax to generate income, instead of just throwing it away. I found myself back in Lilongwe (the capitol) in mid-July for a state luncheon with the Malawian president. Our Peace Corps country director had met with the president earlier this year, and arranged a state luncheon for all the volunteers, to thank us for the work Peace Corps has done in the country since 1963. After the event, I helped our country director write up a report and press release. Turns out my journalism skills are coming in handy! I also got approval to write a monthly column for my hometown newspaper, The Caswell Messenger. Each column looks at an aspect of life here in Malawi, helping to fulfill one of Peace Corps’ main goals – teaching Americans about other countries.
August – The first week in August, I went to visit the Heifer International dairy cow project in Mchinji, in western Malawi. I was really impressed and wrote about that visit in a previous blog post. Then, headed home and hosted a birthday party for one of my fellow volunteers. It was fun to have some people over to visit, and they were also able to visit the mushroom house and tour my garden, to get ideas for their sites. The next week, I took a tour of Mwera Mkaka with the Irish ambassador to Malawi. Mwera Mkaka is a milk processing group that’s about nine miles from my village. It was inspiring to see how the participants in the group have improved their lives in just the nine years or so that the group has been operating. I made some contacts there that I hope will help me with livestock projects in my area. In late August, I went to Camp Sky, an educational camp for secondary school (high school) students. I taught broadcast journalism, which proved to be a popular class with the campers. Turns out, even in Malawi where TV is a rare luxury, everyone wants to be on TV or the radio! After Camp Sky, I travelled to Karonga, in northern Malawi, for the Women2Women Camp, which helps to empower secondary school girls. I taught public speaking and listening skills, and helped with other classes on topics such as sex education, entrepreneurship and women’s rights. I was pleased and impressed with what these girls were learning, and thrilled with their enthusiasm. Women in Malawi are generally treated as second-class citizens, with their husbands and other male family members making all their decisions for them, and controlling their actions. I think the girls that attended this camp will be better able to stand up for themselves and be strong, independent women, because now they have the knowledge that they can succeed on their own. I’ve never been a champion of women’s rights, but this camp certainly made me realize how important those rights are, and how important it is to empower women who may not have a voice.
September – The first part of September was spent working with the mushroom group and a tree nursery project with the tourist lodge. Then, I went to Dedza, in central Malawi, for a two-week Peace Corps training, with all the volunteers who arrived in Malawi when I did. It was great to be with them again, and we learned about a lot of different topics, including income generating activities (such as soap-making and jam-making), HIV/AIDS education, and tree grafting.
October – I travelled south to Liwonde National Park for game count, a two-day adventure of counting wildlife in the park. The first day, I hiked 16 kilometers across the park with another volunteer and two scouts. The second day, we sat in a “hide” to see animals coming to a watering hole. We saw a lot of different types of antelope, as well as a few elephants, hippos, warthogs and water buffalo. But, we didn’t see nearly as many as we’d like – thanks a lot poachers! After game count, I travelled further south to Mulanje to visit a fellow volunteer, Amy, and the guy who was the first volunteer at my site, John Fort. I had a great visit, with beautiful views of Mt. Mulanje, the third-highest peak in Africa. John and I went swimming in some natural pools near the base of the mountain, which was amazing, and I got to see how well Amy speaks Chichewa is integrated in her community. She’s a great inspiration for me! Finally, at the end of October, I headed HOME to America. My brother got married November 6th, so I went for the wedding. While I was there, I visited the third, fourth and fifth grade classes at Stoney Creek Elementary School in my hometown and spoke to a couple classes at North Carolina State University. And, I should give a big shout-out to Ms. Johnson’s fourth grade class at Everetts Elementary School in Roanoke Rapids, NC. They’re my World Wise Schools class (it’s a program through Peace Corps). I visited them and had a great time talking with them about Malawi. The students gave me a wonderful book with all their pictures and personal stories, and I’ll look forward to keeping up with them for the next year.
That’s pretty much all that’s happened the last few months. Sorry it’s taken so long to update you. As you can tell, I’ve been busy! Now, I’m back in Malawi and ready to get going on some more projects, so I’ll have lots more to tell you in the future. Thanks for your interest in what’s going on here in Malawi, and thanks for all your support!
Malawi photo album for August - November
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Growing Mushrooms
Once again, I didn't have time to write something for you, but I uploaded a video of the women's group that I'm working with. They've built a mushroom-growing house and I helped them plant the mushroom spawn. They should be harvesting mushrooms in a month or so, and will sell them for additional income. I'll tell you more about it later. Check it out:
Mtendere Women's Group - Preparing to Plant Mushrooms
Mtendere Women's Group - Preparing to Plant Mushrooms
Friday, August 6, 2010
Video and Pics from my site!
First, check out my post below about the amazing tour I took yesterday of the Heifer International dairy project. It was spectacular! Then, check out a photo album of what I’ve been up to at my site here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=196329&id=535098122&l=3a7e23682b
And, check out a !!!VIDEO!!! tour of my home in Malawi. I apologize in advance that some of it is a bit dark – no electricity for lights here in Malawi. But, I think it will help you get a little better sense of what life is like here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOK7AygElkg
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=196329&id=535098122&l=3a7e23682b
And, check out a !!!VIDEO!!! tour of my home in Malawi. I apologize in advance that some of it is a bit dark – no electricity for lights here in Malawi. But, I think it will help you get a little better sense of what life is like here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOK7AygElkg
Cows in Malawi!!!
If you know me, you know how much I love cows, having grown up on a dairy farm and yada, yada, yada... So, I was in cow heaven yesterday when I took a tour of Heifer International’s dairy cow project in Mchinji district in the western part of Malawi. The staff at Heifer Malawi were kind enough to set up a very nice tour for me and two of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers, and I can’t begin to adequately express how impressed and inspired we were by what we saw.
See an entire photo album of the day here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=196707&id=535098122&l=d58b84274d
For a quick summary, there were several things that really stuck out to me about the day. First, the quality of the cows that Heifer has provided to their project participants is, I think, remarkable. I spent many years judging dairy cows in the States, and I can tell you that these cows are as good as any cows on my family’s farm in North Carolina, and in a dairy show, they would stack up with the best. You would expect that cows sent to poor people in a third-world country would be second-rate, but these were top-notch. Heifer runs a classy operation. Secondly, I was amazed at the determination and drive of the Malawian participants in this project. They started their group, the Bua Milk Bulking Group, in 2005, with a vision of having a large project to bring milk cows into the area to provide nutrition and income for participants. For years, they applied for assistance and tried to find ways of making the dream a reality. Finally, last year, Heifer International decided to work with this group as its first project run out of the newly created Heifer Malawi office. The fact that they worked for four years toward a goal that must have seemed impossibly out of reach is a clear indicator of the passion and fortitude of these people. Now that the project has started, the participants are putting in countless hours to build pens, gather feed, and care for the animals. I’m inspired by the people I met yesterday and I hope that I can find that same drive in the people of my community.
You can support Heifer International at www.heifer.org.
I’m running out of computer time right now, but hope to tell you a little more about this project, and what I’m doing at my site, in the very near future.
See an entire photo album of the day here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=196707&id=535098122&l=d58b84274d
For a quick summary, there were several things that really stuck out to me about the day. First, the quality of the cows that Heifer has provided to their project participants is, I think, remarkable. I spent many years judging dairy cows in the States, and I can tell you that these cows are as good as any cows on my family’s farm in North Carolina, and in a dairy show, they would stack up with the best. You would expect that cows sent to poor people in a third-world country would be second-rate, but these were top-notch. Heifer runs a classy operation. Secondly, I was amazed at the determination and drive of the Malawian participants in this project. They started their group, the Bua Milk Bulking Group, in 2005, with a vision of having a large project to bring milk cows into the area to provide nutrition and income for participants. For years, they applied for assistance and tried to find ways of making the dream a reality. Finally, last year, Heifer International decided to work with this group as its first project run out of the newly created Heifer Malawi office. The fact that they worked for four years toward a goal that must have seemed impossibly out of reach is a clear indicator of the passion and fortitude of these people. Now that the project has started, the participants are putting in countless hours to build pens, gather feed, and care for the animals. I’m inspired by the people I met yesterday and I hope that I can find that same drive in the people of my community.
You can support Heifer International at www.heifer.org.
I’m running out of computer time right now, but hope to tell you a little more about this project, and what I’m doing at my site, in the very near future.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Community Integration - How to Win Friends and Influence People in Malawi
Three of my neighbor’s children, Enita, Amosi and Richardi (ages 12, 10 & 6, approximately), came over to my house the other day to give me a school book to study Chichewa. They’d determined that my Chichewa wasn’t good enough for a Form 4 book (fourth grade), so they brought me a Form 1 book (first grade). They were right. I eagerly looked through the book that labeled pictures of everyday household items and animals, and had sentences like, “Galu amadya nyama,” or, “The dog eats meat.” We sat on my front porch as I admired the book and thanked them for bringing it, but after a few minutes, it became apparent they had no intention of leaving. What was I supposed to do with these three children just sitting on my porch? I asked them a few questions, like “what grade will you be starting in school in September,” and “did you play soccer today?” But soon, my Chichewa was exhausted and the kids just sat there chatting with each other and folding a piece of paper into various shapes. Finally, I decided that I had work to do, and I’d go ahead and do it whether they were there or not, so I went to the kitchen and got a big bowl full of peas that needed to be shelled and sat down next to them to shell the peas. To my delight, they immediately grabbed handfuls of peas and started helping me like it was their duty. I played some Malawian music on my iPod and speakers, and we all sat there working together and moving to the beat. After a while, the Malawian album finished, and I put on a Will Smith album, knowing that would have a good beat. The kids loved it, and little Richardi even got up and danced for us as we laughed and the kids joked. Once the peas were finished, the kids said they were going and left to start chores at their house. It was so much fun spending time with them, and it was nice to feel that they were accepting me as part of their community – someone they could just hang out with.
In the last few weeks, I’ve started meeting with individual villages to learn about what problems these small communities face and how they think I may be able to help them. There are 24 villages in the area I’m serving, so it’s a bit tedious to visit each one individually, but I think it’s important to get to know the villages better, and for them to know me and feel comfortable with me. I keep hearing the same needs over and over – start-up money for businesses or IGAs (Income Generating Activities), fertilizer for better crop production, and livestock to provide money and nutrition. I’m going to try to address all of these in my time here. For the businesses, I first want to do some trainings in basic business skills. I have an idea of doing a community lecture series, covering a different business topic each week. Anyone could come to the lectures, and at the end of the series, anyone who has attended most or all of the lectures, and who submits an appropriate business plan, would get a small grant or loan for start-up money. Of course, I’ll have to get funding for those grants, but they would be small amounts, so I think it’s possible. For the fertilizer, I don’t want to encourage synthetic fertilizers because they’re very expensive here, and simply providing them wouldn’t be sustainable. I think I’ll address that need by providing training in using compost and manure, and by teaching farmers to incorporate crop waste back into the soil. Right now, many farmers simply burn leftover corn stalks or bean vines after the crop is harvested. Perhaps they don’t realize that they’re burning up nutrients the soil could use. If they could turn that crop waste back under the soil, I think they’d dramatically improve their crop yields, without expensive synthetic fertilizers. But, that would require additional labor, and it’s hard to get people to change the way they’ve been doing things all their lives, so even though it seems like common sense to us, getting people to adopt this technique may take some work. For livestock, we’re going to address that need with the big projects I mentioned in my previous post, and maybe we’ll try some other smaller side projects in livestock as well. The local HIV/AIDS support group has decided it wants to do a dairy goat project, which makes me very happy. My not-so-secret personal desire is to get someone to do a dairy cow project, but so far that’s not on the agenda.
There are a few other needs that have been expressed, including extending a water tap to a couple villages so they won’t have to draw drinking water from the river, a new wheelchair for a disabled boy, and glasses for an older man who is very nearsighted. All of these are small projects and do-able – I just have to figure out the best way to address these needs. A lot of my job is simply finding resources that are available, and bringing them to the rural community.
One additional reason for holding the village meetings is to make sure everyone in the community knows my name and calls me by it. There’s a tendency here for children to see me walking by and start shouting, “Azungu! Azungu!” This is a generic term for a white person, and they shout it because they’re excited to see me, but my counterpart and I think it’s important that the children, and everyone else for that matter, know that I’m not just any azungu – I’m a member of their community, so they should call me by my name. Of course, now when I walk down the road, the children yell, “Say-la! Say-la!” They call me Say-la, because they have a really hard time pronouncing Sara as we would. I feel a bit like a celebrity here – everyone knows who I am and they’re really excited when I come around. It’s fun, but also means that I have to constantly be “on” when I leave the house. There’s no such thing as anonymity here in the villages.
Stay tuned – I’m hoping to have a video post for you next time! Fingers crossed that I can upload video on Malawi’s very slow Internet. Please leave any comments, questions, or suggestions for me, whether about the blog, my work, or anything else.
In the last few weeks, I’ve started meeting with individual villages to learn about what problems these small communities face and how they think I may be able to help them. There are 24 villages in the area I’m serving, so it’s a bit tedious to visit each one individually, but I think it’s important to get to know the villages better, and for them to know me and feel comfortable with me. I keep hearing the same needs over and over – start-up money for businesses or IGAs (Income Generating Activities), fertilizer for better crop production, and livestock to provide money and nutrition. I’m going to try to address all of these in my time here. For the businesses, I first want to do some trainings in basic business skills. I have an idea of doing a community lecture series, covering a different business topic each week. Anyone could come to the lectures, and at the end of the series, anyone who has attended most or all of the lectures, and who submits an appropriate business plan, would get a small grant or loan for start-up money. Of course, I’ll have to get funding for those grants, but they would be small amounts, so I think it’s possible. For the fertilizer, I don’t want to encourage synthetic fertilizers because they’re very expensive here, and simply providing them wouldn’t be sustainable. I think I’ll address that need by providing training in using compost and manure, and by teaching farmers to incorporate crop waste back into the soil. Right now, many farmers simply burn leftover corn stalks or bean vines after the crop is harvested. Perhaps they don’t realize that they’re burning up nutrients the soil could use. If they could turn that crop waste back under the soil, I think they’d dramatically improve their crop yields, without expensive synthetic fertilizers. But, that would require additional labor, and it’s hard to get people to change the way they’ve been doing things all their lives, so even though it seems like common sense to us, getting people to adopt this technique may take some work. For livestock, we’re going to address that need with the big projects I mentioned in my previous post, and maybe we’ll try some other smaller side projects in livestock as well. The local HIV/AIDS support group has decided it wants to do a dairy goat project, which makes me very happy. My not-so-secret personal desire is to get someone to do a dairy cow project, but so far that’s not on the agenda.
There are a few other needs that have been expressed, including extending a water tap to a couple villages so they won’t have to draw drinking water from the river, a new wheelchair for a disabled boy, and glasses for an older man who is very nearsighted. All of these are small projects and do-able – I just have to figure out the best way to address these needs. A lot of my job is simply finding resources that are available, and bringing them to the rural community.
One additional reason for holding the village meetings is to make sure everyone in the community knows my name and calls me by it. There’s a tendency here for children to see me walking by and start shouting, “Azungu! Azungu!” This is a generic term for a white person, and they shout it because they’re excited to see me, but my counterpart and I think it’s important that the children, and everyone else for that matter, know that I’m not just any azungu – I’m a member of their community, so they should call me by my name. Of course, now when I walk down the road, the children yell, “Say-la! Say-la!” They call me Say-la, because they have a really hard time pronouncing Sara as we would. I feel a bit like a celebrity here – everyone knows who I am and they’re really excited when I come around. It’s fun, but also means that I have to constantly be “on” when I leave the house. There’s no such thing as anonymity here in the villages.
Stay tuned – I’m hoping to have a video post for you next time! Fingers crossed that I can upload video on Malawi’s very slow Internet. Please leave any comments, questions, or suggestions for me, whether about the blog, my work, or anything else.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Pictures!!!
I've finally uploaded pictures! Click the link below. You should be able to see them, even if you're not a Facebook member.
Photo Album on Facebook
Photo Album on Facebook
First Month at Site
My neighbors think I’m crazy. I don’t blame them – I give them plenty of good reasons to think it! Like earlier this week – it’s 5:30am, and I’m slowly walking down the road with a latex glove on one hand, a bucket in another, head sweeping slowly side to side. Every once in I while I bend over, pick something up to put in the bucket, and then keep going. When my neighbor asks me what’s in the bucket, I reply, “Manowa.” Yep. Manure. My garden soil is in desperate need of nutrients, and the cows and goats in the community leave these beautiful little gems of fertilizer right on the road! I figure, why let it go to waste? Of course, people here know about using manure to improve the soil, but they wouldn’t dream of picking it up off the road to use! In the States, you could just go to your local farmer and take all the manure you wanted, but here there are fewer animals, and they’re only confined at night, so there aren’t such large deposits of manure in animals pens. Plus, if I want to get manure from one of my farmer neighbors, I have to walk a long way over a hill to get it. So for now, I’ll do some small-scale gathering, early in the morning, when only a few people are out and about, so it doesn’t become a spectacle!
I’ve been at my site for just over a month now and am really enjoying it. There are some tough days when I feel lonely, but for the most part, it’s been fantastic and very busy. I’ve been spending a lot of time working in the garden. It’s a big garden and was neglected for about two months between the previous volunteer’s departure and my arrival, so the weeds have taken over. As I’ve pulled up the weeds, I’ve discovered wonderful surprises hiding underneath, such as pineapples, peanuts, and beans. My greatest discovery was the strawberries that I knew were there, but couldn’t find at first. Sadly, the berries are about the size of the end of my pinky finger, but they taste wonderful. I’m hoping with a little extra care and water, they’ll grow bigger and more plentiful. I have a ton of sweet potatoes that I’ll harvest in July, and tons of cassava, the traditional staple food plant of Malawi. I’m not too excited about the cassava, but look forward to making lots of sweet potato casseroles when the time comes! I think I’ll enjoy spending a lot of time in my garden in the next two years.
Here's a pic of my house, with part of the garden in the foreground. Sorry for the poor picture quality - I've been neglecting to take pictures, so snapped this quickly before I came to Lilongwe yesterday.
Speaking of food, I’ve been so pleased with what I’ve been able to cook here. I made tacos one night, including making tortillas from scratch. They were amazing! I managed to make a wonderful chocolate cake, practicing for a friend’s birthday party in August. And, I’ve had stir-fries with fresh veggies from the garden and egg and potato scrambles for breakfast. It’s been a lot of fun trying out new creations with whatever food is available in the area. Right now, there are a lot of lemons and avocados, so I’ve been having a lot of guacamole and lemonade! I also learned that you can make an amazing version of chocolate pudding by mixing mashed-up avocado, cocoa powder, and sugar. Try it – you’ll like it! I’ve also found that I actually like nsima now. I eat lunch with my counterpart’s family about once a week, and it’s nice to have nsima on such an infrequent basis. Every day is too much, but once a week, it becomes a comfort food.
As I mentioned, the first month at site has been busy. Besides getting the house and garden in order, I’ve been having three to four meetings each week with community groups and residents of the different villages in the area. In Malawi, small villages each have a Village Headman, or Chief, and then a number of villages get grouped together under a Group Village Headman. Then, a number of village groups get lumped together under a T.A., or Traditional Authority. In my area, there are four village groups, with four to eight villages in each group. I’ve decided to start my work with four major projects – one with each village group. I held meetings with each group and they decided what type of projects they wanted to try, based on what they thought would be most beneficial to the villages and most likely to succeed. Three of the village groups chose projects to raise pigs, and one group chose a beekeeping project. Stay tuned for details of those big projects as we start working on them. The big challenge will be to find funding, so we’ll be applying for grants from NGOs and other sources. After that, the big challenge will be to make the projects successful! I’ve been advised that many projects fail, but I’m optimistic that these will succeed. I’ll also be doing a number of smaller secondary projects with different groups such as an HIV/AIDS support group, a beekeeping group that funds orphan and elder care, and a women’s enterprise group. Already, the area has a number of projects going, including an impressive irrigation scheme and plans to grow macadamia and coffee trees as cash crops, and I may be able to help with some of these programs as well. There are so many ways I can get involved with the community, and I think they’ll keep me super busy!
I’m still working on overcoming a few challenges. First, I’m hoping to buy a Blackberry or other Internet-enabled phone while I’m visiting Lilongwe this weekend. I’m also hoping to buy, or at least research, a large solar panel and battery that would allow me to charge my computer at site. There’s really no way to charge it without biking 18 kilometers down the hill and back to Ntchisi, the district capital. Fingers crossed that I’ll get the power and Internet situations figured out in the next month or so, so I can communicate with you more often! There’s also a problem with transportation to and from my site. I can bike to Ntchisi, but it takes about an hour to get there, and three to four hours to get back up the hill carrying the goods I buy there. The other option is taking a matola, the big flat-bed trucks that carry goods and people. Unfortunately, this time of year the matolas are incredibly crowded with bales of tobacco and bags of beans, soya, peanuts, and potatoes, all going to market. Plus, they’re crowded with people who have money at harvest time, so they’re going to the market to buy goods. This makes the matolas dangerously overloaded, and not a fun way to get around. I’ve tried to avoid them as much as possible, but the few times I’ve had to take one, like to get to Lilongwe this weekend, I’ve climbed up and hung on for dear life, hoping I don’t fall off or that the matola doesn’t go tumbling over an embankment because it’s too top-heavy. The overloaded matola is the one thing I’ve found in Malawi that I have to say is uncivilized. I really can’t adequately explain my frustration with the danger and discomfort people have to endure just to get to their nearest market.
One other challenge – no mail. I’ve heard that apparently there was an anthrax outbreak in South Africa, so all the mail that came through South Africa to get to me in Malawi had to be sent back to the States because it might be contaminated with anthrax. This makes no sense, I know, but welcome to my world. As a result, I’ve so far received only two packages and eight letters since arriving here more than three months ago. Alas! I’m hopeful that everything you’ve sent will arrive some fine day.
That’s all for now. I hope to update you again in July. Please add any questions or comments you have here. I love reading them, and will be happy to respond as best I can in my next post. Tiwonana (See you later)!
P.S. - Check out http://www.ntchisi.com/to see the website for the tourist lodge that's about one kilometer up the road from my house. It has some good information about the area, and pictures! And, check out my new mailing address in the column to the right.
Also, here's a pic of me with my host family from training. From left to right - Lias, Heatherwick, Me, Jennifer, Jackson.
Monday, April 26, 2010
My First Post from Malawi!
This is the first chance I’ve had for more than just a few minutes on the Internet since I’ve been in country, so at last – my first blog post from Malawi! I can easily say that in the last two months, I’ve been happier than I can ever remember. Coming to Malawi with the Peace Corps was definitely the right move for me! I’ve been here nearly two months and am just about to finish training. On Wednesday, April 28th, I’ll swear in as an official Peace Corps volunteer, and the next day I’ll head to the site where I’ll be stationed for the next two years.
First, I want to say thank you for your letters, emails, messages and packages. It means so much to me to know that you care.
I apologize in advance for the length of this entry. There’s a lot to tell you! I’ll split it up into sections so you can pick and choose what you want to read.
Training:
Training was a little like being at camp for two months. We started out living in a dormitory at a forestry college in Dedza for the first week. Then, we spent five weeks living with a host family in a village near the forestry college. I was in the village of Chikanda and lived with the wonderful Madalitso family. After leaving there, we each visited a current Peace Corps volunteer for a few days and then visited our permanent sites for a few days. Next, we spent a week at intensive language training, then took our final language test, and Wednesday we swear in as volunteers.
Food:
The food here is pretty bland and repetitive. Malawians eat a dish called “nsima” at nearly every meal. Nsima is made of corn flour and is a little bit like grits, except thicker, and molded into patties about the size of my two palms put together. Malawians have a saying that if you haven’t eaten nsima, you haven’t eaten a meal, and they’ll typically eat two or three of these nsima patties in a meal. The problem with this is that nsima contains very little nutrition and makes up a huge portion of the typical Malawian’s diet. Malawians especially like white nsima, which is highly refined – like white bread in the States. They actually spend a lot of time and energy to process the corn flour into this white, tasteless, but very creamy nsima, but at the same time they remove any nutrition that was originally in the corn. A better option is ngaiwa nsima, which is made with flour from the whole corn kernel. This is healthier, but is viewed as less desirable and something that poor people eat. I much prefer it!
In addition to nsima, a typical Malawian meal includes cooked greens and some sort of protein – often beans, but sometimes eggs or meat if it’s available. Unfortunately, the Malawian dinner plate is often covered with a huge portion of nsima and very tiny portions of greens and protein. Part of my job here will be to help educate my community about nutrition and the benefits of balancing out their plate a bit more. It will be a challenge because not only are people resistant to change, but Malawians are also very poor and in many cases, are not able to afford a broader range of food. They grow their own maize, beans, and greens, but most have very limited access to animal proteins or a wider variety of fruits, vegetables and grains. I will encourage members of my community to diversify the grains and veggies that they plant. I’m also thinking of doing some small-scale livestock projects with rabbits, chickens or goats. There’s definitely a dearth of livestock in my region.
Dairy products are very hard to come by here. You can buy powdered milk or UHT milk (the kind that doesn’t have to be refrigerated and can sit on a shelf for months) at grocery stores in the larger towns, but it’s very expensive. Fresh milk is unheard of in most of Malawi. I would consider doing a dairy project, either with cows or goats, but that would be a major undertaking, so we’ll have to see if I feel up to it, and if the community is interested and willing to put in the time, effort and resources to make it successful and sustainable after I leave.
In my own home, I hope to have a more diversified diet than most Malawians. I’ll probably eat mostly eggs, beans and peanuts for protein, since meat is so hard to get. They have soya pieces here, which are the most delicious meat substitute I’ve ever tried, so those may become a staple. For veggies, I have a garden that will provide a lot of greens and some other fun things like green peppers, onions and carrots. There are also some strawberries and tomatoes planted. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for those, but I don’t know how well they’ll do because the climate at my site is pretty cold and damp. I can also buy bananas pretty much year-round, and will be able to buy some produce from a couple farmers in the village that have it available on a seasonal basis. Whole grains are hard to come by here, so feel free to send brown rice and whole wheat pasta to me! I can get couscous here occasionally, so that’s something. Besides that, I’ll probably eat a lot of white rice and some ngaiwa nsima. I also have a small mud oven, so I plan to try a little baking. I hope to get creative with cooking and make some really delicious meals, despite the lack of ingredients!
Amenities:
It’s amazing how quickly one can get used to bathing out of a bucket and using a pit latrine. Before I came here, I thought those would be some of the hardest adjustments, but I find that they’re really not a problem. Bucket baths are actually quite pleasant, as long as the water is warm. Of course, I might change my mind about that when it gets cold here in a few months. There’s a water tap about 50 meters away from my house, so it’s very convenient, and the water is pretty clean. Also, my pit latrine is pretty clean, except for the flies that come out of the hole when you remove the lid. Plus, toilet tissue is available from grocery stores in large towns, and is fairly inexpensive, so I don’t have to use leaves as I anticipated I might.
It was a bit of a shock the first time it got dark and I realized I couldn’t just flip a switch to turn on the lights. I had to scramble to find my flashlight and light a candle. But, it was another quick adjustment, and now I know exactly where my flashlight is, and I’m ready with it when dusk arrives. The greater challenge will be keeping my laptop powered. I have a solar device (thanks CNN Money Unit friends!) to charge smaller electronics like my camera and iPod, but sadly it doesn’t charge my laptop. I’ll be able to charge it at least once a month when I travel into the capital of Lilongwe. Other than that, I’m going to investigate whether anyone in my village has a generator or car battery that I can use to recharge, and I may look into buying a car battery of my own.
Along with no electricity comes the problem of how to cook food. There’s plenty of firewood available in the forest preserve near my house, but at this time of year the wood is very wet, so it’s hard to start a fire for cooking and heating bathwater. I’m going to look into buying a paraffin stove. Paraffin is expensive, but it would be nice to have a back-up for the days when I have a lot of trouble starting a wood fire. It’s going to take a little experimentation to learn to cook well over a fire, so I might have a few poorly cooked meals before I get the hang of it!
The one other amenity that I’ll miss here is Internet. It’s not available anywhere near me as far as I can tell. That means I’ll be able to get online only once a month in Lilongwe. However, I’m looking into some options such as buying a wireless card or an Internet-enabled cell phone. Of course, I don’t have cell phone service at my house and have to walk up a nearby hill for coverage, but that’s a minor detail. Fingers crossed that I can find an alternative and update you on a somewhat regular basis!
One more note – if you’d like my cell phone number, send me a personal message. I’d love to receive calls, but we have to arrange in advance so I can walk up the hill to get reception when I’m expecting a call!
Work:
As an environment volunteer, I have a lot of flexibility to work on the types of projects I want, and to set my schedule as I wish. The main objective is to do projects that the community wants, that will help improve quality of life, that will help villagers reduce dependence on the forest preserve, and that will be sustainable to continue after I leave. Here are some of the types of projects I’m considering working on with my community:
- beekeeping (to sell honey and beeswax candles)
- mushroom farming
- fish farming
- soap making
- jam making
- cheese making
- peanut oil pressing
- permagardening (for year-round produce)
- tree nurseries and planting (both for food production & re-forestation)
- irrigation projects
- making crafts to sell (pottery, knitting/crocheting, wood carvings, baskets)
- micro-credit & other banking/finance/community savings plans
- business training
- livestock projects
- building mud stoves (for fuel efficiency & better indoor air quality)
- teaching & encouraging composting
- teaching & guest lecturing at the local high school
- running environment camp
- health education (nutrition, HIV/AIDS, rehydration therapy for diarrhea, etc.)
- assisting with health clinics for under-5 children
- wildlife/environment club at local school
- start 4-H/FFA-type club at local school
Let me know if you have any ideas for me!
My House:
My house is a large (for Malawi), three-room structure with mud-brick walls and a thatched roof. It’s really nice by local standards, and I’m thrilled with it! I have plenty of room and an extra double bed for visitors, so make your travel plans now! I live on the side of Ntchisi Mountain, right outside the Ntchisi Forest Reserve, and about one kilometer from Ntchisi Forest Lodge, which caters to tourists. My area is called the “Scotland of Malawi,” and is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous green hills leading up to the mountain. The climate is a little cooler than most of Malawi and I’m told it gets pretty cold in July and August – perhaps even down to freezing. That will be an experience since I’ll have no heat in the house, and brought very few winter-type clothes! The two big upsides of this are that it’s not so brutally hot in the summer as other parts of the country, and there are very few mosquitoes to buzz around my head at night as I’m trying to enjoy dinner! The downside of being in a fairly remote village is that transportation to this area is a little sketchy, and in the rainy season, the road leading to the village can be difficult if not impassable.
Surrounding my house is a wonderful garden that the previous volunteer, Bright Tate, planned and implemented. There’s a huge variety of veggies, herbs and flowers. There are also four peach trees, which makes me ecstatic, although they’re young, so I don’t know if they’ll produce any fruit for me in the next two years. I have a large kitchen building that is separate from the main house and is as large as many people’s houses here. There’s also a large bafa for bathing, a large chim (building surrounding the pit latrine), a house for rabbits, and a tall reed privacy fence around the entire complex. On one side of the fence, lives a small family – father, mother and baby. The father there will help me with my garden and any fixes I need around the house. On the other side of the fence is a large family compound of four or five houses, occupied by my landlord and several of his sons and daughters and their families.
Malawi in General:
Malawi is a beautiful country and the people here are incredible. They work hard (especially the women!) and they are some of the most hospitable people I’ve ever met. Poverty is a tremendous problem here, but I believe the people are happier with their lives than most people that I know in the U.S. While they may not have the material possessions we have in the States, they have stronger ties to their families and communities, and they’re not always striving to keep up with the Joneses, but striving to share what they have with their neighbors. Malawians are quick to tell you that they’re poor, but I think they’re richer than they believe. I don’t want to change their communities, except to help them better provide for their families, so they’ll always have nutritious food on their tables and so their children will have opportunities to make what they want of their lives.
That’s all for now. I hope to update this blog at least once a month and will start including some fun stories about my experiences and the people I meet here. Thanks for all your support!
First, I want to say thank you for your letters, emails, messages and packages. It means so much to me to know that you care.
I apologize in advance for the length of this entry. There’s a lot to tell you! I’ll split it up into sections so you can pick and choose what you want to read.
Training:
Training was a little like being at camp for two months. We started out living in a dormitory at a forestry college in Dedza for the first week. Then, we spent five weeks living with a host family in a village near the forestry college. I was in the village of Chikanda and lived with the wonderful Madalitso family. After leaving there, we each visited a current Peace Corps volunteer for a few days and then visited our permanent sites for a few days. Next, we spent a week at intensive language training, then took our final language test, and Wednesday we swear in as volunteers.
Food:
The food here is pretty bland and repetitive. Malawians eat a dish called “nsima” at nearly every meal. Nsima is made of corn flour and is a little bit like grits, except thicker, and molded into patties about the size of my two palms put together. Malawians have a saying that if you haven’t eaten nsima, you haven’t eaten a meal, and they’ll typically eat two or three of these nsima patties in a meal. The problem with this is that nsima contains very little nutrition and makes up a huge portion of the typical Malawian’s diet. Malawians especially like white nsima, which is highly refined – like white bread in the States. They actually spend a lot of time and energy to process the corn flour into this white, tasteless, but very creamy nsima, but at the same time they remove any nutrition that was originally in the corn. A better option is ngaiwa nsima, which is made with flour from the whole corn kernel. This is healthier, but is viewed as less desirable and something that poor people eat. I much prefer it!
In addition to nsima, a typical Malawian meal includes cooked greens and some sort of protein – often beans, but sometimes eggs or meat if it’s available. Unfortunately, the Malawian dinner plate is often covered with a huge portion of nsima and very tiny portions of greens and protein. Part of my job here will be to help educate my community about nutrition and the benefits of balancing out their plate a bit more. It will be a challenge because not only are people resistant to change, but Malawians are also very poor and in many cases, are not able to afford a broader range of food. They grow their own maize, beans, and greens, but most have very limited access to animal proteins or a wider variety of fruits, vegetables and grains. I will encourage members of my community to diversify the grains and veggies that they plant. I’m also thinking of doing some small-scale livestock projects with rabbits, chickens or goats. There’s definitely a dearth of livestock in my region.
Dairy products are very hard to come by here. You can buy powdered milk or UHT milk (the kind that doesn’t have to be refrigerated and can sit on a shelf for months) at grocery stores in the larger towns, but it’s very expensive. Fresh milk is unheard of in most of Malawi. I would consider doing a dairy project, either with cows or goats, but that would be a major undertaking, so we’ll have to see if I feel up to it, and if the community is interested and willing to put in the time, effort and resources to make it successful and sustainable after I leave.
In my own home, I hope to have a more diversified diet than most Malawians. I’ll probably eat mostly eggs, beans and peanuts for protein, since meat is so hard to get. They have soya pieces here, which are the most delicious meat substitute I’ve ever tried, so those may become a staple. For veggies, I have a garden that will provide a lot of greens and some other fun things like green peppers, onions and carrots. There are also some strawberries and tomatoes planted. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for those, but I don’t know how well they’ll do because the climate at my site is pretty cold and damp. I can also buy bananas pretty much year-round, and will be able to buy some produce from a couple farmers in the village that have it available on a seasonal basis. Whole grains are hard to come by here, so feel free to send brown rice and whole wheat pasta to me! I can get couscous here occasionally, so that’s something. Besides that, I’ll probably eat a lot of white rice and some ngaiwa nsima. I also have a small mud oven, so I plan to try a little baking. I hope to get creative with cooking and make some really delicious meals, despite the lack of ingredients!
Amenities:
It’s amazing how quickly one can get used to bathing out of a bucket and using a pit latrine. Before I came here, I thought those would be some of the hardest adjustments, but I find that they’re really not a problem. Bucket baths are actually quite pleasant, as long as the water is warm. Of course, I might change my mind about that when it gets cold here in a few months. There’s a water tap about 50 meters away from my house, so it’s very convenient, and the water is pretty clean. Also, my pit latrine is pretty clean, except for the flies that come out of the hole when you remove the lid. Plus, toilet tissue is available from grocery stores in large towns, and is fairly inexpensive, so I don’t have to use leaves as I anticipated I might.
It was a bit of a shock the first time it got dark and I realized I couldn’t just flip a switch to turn on the lights. I had to scramble to find my flashlight and light a candle. But, it was another quick adjustment, and now I know exactly where my flashlight is, and I’m ready with it when dusk arrives. The greater challenge will be keeping my laptop powered. I have a solar device (thanks CNN Money Unit friends!) to charge smaller electronics like my camera and iPod, but sadly it doesn’t charge my laptop. I’ll be able to charge it at least once a month when I travel into the capital of Lilongwe. Other than that, I’m going to investigate whether anyone in my village has a generator or car battery that I can use to recharge, and I may look into buying a car battery of my own.
Along with no electricity comes the problem of how to cook food. There’s plenty of firewood available in the forest preserve near my house, but at this time of year the wood is very wet, so it’s hard to start a fire for cooking and heating bathwater. I’m going to look into buying a paraffin stove. Paraffin is expensive, but it would be nice to have a back-up for the days when I have a lot of trouble starting a wood fire. It’s going to take a little experimentation to learn to cook well over a fire, so I might have a few poorly cooked meals before I get the hang of it!
The one other amenity that I’ll miss here is Internet. It’s not available anywhere near me as far as I can tell. That means I’ll be able to get online only once a month in Lilongwe. However, I’m looking into some options such as buying a wireless card or an Internet-enabled cell phone. Of course, I don’t have cell phone service at my house and have to walk up a nearby hill for coverage, but that’s a minor detail. Fingers crossed that I can find an alternative and update you on a somewhat regular basis!
One more note – if you’d like my cell phone number, send me a personal message. I’d love to receive calls, but we have to arrange in advance so I can walk up the hill to get reception when I’m expecting a call!
Work:
As an environment volunteer, I have a lot of flexibility to work on the types of projects I want, and to set my schedule as I wish. The main objective is to do projects that the community wants, that will help improve quality of life, that will help villagers reduce dependence on the forest preserve, and that will be sustainable to continue after I leave. Here are some of the types of projects I’m considering working on with my community:
- beekeeping (to sell honey and beeswax candles)
- mushroom farming
- fish farming
- soap making
- jam making
- cheese making
- peanut oil pressing
- permagardening (for year-round produce)
- tree nurseries and planting (both for food production & re-forestation)
- irrigation projects
- making crafts to sell (pottery, knitting/crocheting, wood carvings, baskets)
- micro-credit & other banking/finance/community savings plans
- business training
- livestock projects
- building mud stoves (for fuel efficiency & better indoor air quality)
- teaching & encouraging composting
- teaching & guest lecturing at the local high school
- running environment camp
- health education (nutrition, HIV/AIDS, rehydration therapy for diarrhea, etc.)
- assisting with health clinics for under-5 children
- wildlife/environment club at local school
- start 4-H/FFA-type club at local school
Let me know if you have any ideas for me!
My House:
My house is a large (for Malawi), three-room structure with mud-brick walls and a thatched roof. It’s really nice by local standards, and I’m thrilled with it! I have plenty of room and an extra double bed for visitors, so make your travel plans now! I live on the side of Ntchisi Mountain, right outside the Ntchisi Forest Reserve, and about one kilometer from Ntchisi Forest Lodge, which caters to tourists. My area is called the “Scotland of Malawi,” and is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous green hills leading up to the mountain. The climate is a little cooler than most of Malawi and I’m told it gets pretty cold in July and August – perhaps even down to freezing. That will be an experience since I’ll have no heat in the house, and brought very few winter-type clothes! The two big upsides of this are that it’s not so brutally hot in the summer as other parts of the country, and there are very few mosquitoes to buzz around my head at night as I’m trying to enjoy dinner! The downside of being in a fairly remote village is that transportation to this area is a little sketchy, and in the rainy season, the road leading to the village can be difficult if not impassable.
Surrounding my house is a wonderful garden that the previous volunteer, Bright Tate, planned and implemented. There’s a huge variety of veggies, herbs and flowers. There are also four peach trees, which makes me ecstatic, although they’re young, so I don’t know if they’ll produce any fruit for me in the next two years. I have a large kitchen building that is separate from the main house and is as large as many people’s houses here. There’s also a large bafa for bathing, a large chim (building surrounding the pit latrine), a house for rabbits, and a tall reed privacy fence around the entire complex. On one side of the fence, lives a small family – father, mother and baby. The father there will help me with my garden and any fixes I need around the house. On the other side of the fence is a large family compound of four or five houses, occupied by my landlord and several of his sons and daughters and their families.
Malawi in General:
Malawi is a beautiful country and the people here are incredible. They work hard (especially the women!) and they are some of the most hospitable people I’ve ever met. Poverty is a tremendous problem here, but I believe the people are happier with their lives than most people that I know in the U.S. While they may not have the material possessions we have in the States, they have stronger ties to their families and communities, and they’re not always striving to keep up with the Joneses, but striving to share what they have with their neighbors. Malawians are quick to tell you that they’re poor, but I think they’re richer than they believe. I don’t want to change their communities, except to help them better provide for their families, so they’ll always have nutritious food on their tables and so their children will have opportunities to make what they want of their lives.
That’s all for now. I hope to update this blog at least once a month and will start including some fun stories about my experiences and the people I meet here. Thanks for all your support!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Leaving Tomorrow!
After more than a year of waiting, the time has finally come to leave for the Peace Corps. I fly from Raleigh/Durham to Philadelphia tomorrow morning for staging, which is basically orientation. Fingers crossed that the snow storm doesn't delay or cancel my flight!
To give you an idea of what I'll be doing in Malawi, I'm going to be an environmental volunteer. I'll probably be stationed in a village near one of Malawi's national parks or forest reserves, and will work with the national parks or forestry department, or an NGO, to deal with deforestation. That will be my primary job. I will also probably find secondary projects to do based on the needs of my community. For example, I may help improve agricultural productivity in the village, help a women's group start a small business cooperative, or work on AIDS prevention and treatment. There are many possibilities for what I'll be able to work on when I'm there, and I'll decide what to do after I talk with community members to see what they need.
One of the keys in Peace Corps work is to develop sustainable programs for the communities in which we serve. Anything I do will be done in a way that it can be continued by the host country nationals after I leave. I hope that I'll be able to make a lot of positive changes to help community members eventually pull themselves out of poverty and have a better quality of life. That said, I've also been forewarned that this type of work is often slow, and it can be difficult to acheive results. One thing I'll need to work on while there will be managing my own expectations, and being a little more laid-back about the way I work. We'll see how that goes!
In addition to my Peace Corps job, I also hope to do some writing while I'm there - personal writing, journalism, and maybe some sociological study. I'm taking a Flip video camera with me as well and hope to put together some pieces. I don't know how much I'll be able to post here because of slow Internet speeds, but I'll try to get some things up over the course of my time there. Let me know if there's anything in particular you're interested in seeing or hearing about.
I'm off to finish some last-minute details and finalize my packing arrangements. Keep your fingers crossed for my on-time departure tomorrow!
This may be my last post for a couple months, since I won't have Internet access at all during our initial training. But, I'll update again as soon as I'm able. Until then!
To give you an idea of what I'll be doing in Malawi, I'm going to be an environmental volunteer. I'll probably be stationed in a village near one of Malawi's national parks or forest reserves, and will work with the national parks or forestry department, or an NGO, to deal with deforestation. That will be my primary job. I will also probably find secondary projects to do based on the needs of my community. For example, I may help improve agricultural productivity in the village, help a women's group start a small business cooperative, or work on AIDS prevention and treatment. There are many possibilities for what I'll be able to work on when I'm there, and I'll decide what to do after I talk with community members to see what they need.
One of the keys in Peace Corps work is to develop sustainable programs for the communities in which we serve. Anything I do will be done in a way that it can be continued by the host country nationals after I leave. I hope that I'll be able to make a lot of positive changes to help community members eventually pull themselves out of poverty and have a better quality of life. That said, I've also been forewarned that this type of work is often slow, and it can be difficult to acheive results. One thing I'll need to work on while there will be managing my own expectations, and being a little more laid-back about the way I work. We'll see how that goes!
In addition to my Peace Corps job, I also hope to do some writing while I'm there - personal writing, journalism, and maybe some sociological study. I'm taking a Flip video camera with me as well and hope to put together some pieces. I don't know how much I'll be able to post here because of slow Internet speeds, but I'll try to get some things up over the course of my time there. Let me know if there's anything in particular you're interested in seeing or hearing about.
I'm off to finish some last-minute details and finalize my packing arrangements. Keep your fingers crossed for my on-time departure tomorrow!
This may be my last post for a couple months, since I won't have Internet access at all during our initial training. But, I'll update again as soon as I'm able. Until then!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Getting Ready to Go
I've created this blog to keep my friends and family updated on my adventure with the Peace Corps in Malawi. I hope you'll enjoy reading it and will find it informative and interesting.
Since leaving CNN of February 5th, I've been running around, trying to get myself ready for this trip! Between shopping, packing, handling financial and legal matters, and unwinding from my previous career, it's been a busy few weeks! Now, I have just two days left to finish everything, and then it's off to the Peace Corps!
On Friday, Feb. 26, I'll take an early flight to Philadelphia for "staging," in which my group of trainees will get a brief introduction to Peace Corps. Then, we leave at 1:30am Saturday for our flight from JFK to Johannesburg. After a brief stop-over in South Africa, we'll arrive in Lilongwe, Malawi on Sunday, Feb. 28th. Then, we'll go to Dedza, a town in the south of Malawi, where we'll complete two months of training in language, culture, development work, and health and safety concerns. I'll be staying with a host family for most of the two months, and I'll have no access to Internet or phone. For the first two months, at least, snail mail will be the best way to reach me.
My chief concern for the next couple days is to finish packing for the trip. We're allowed 80 pounds of checked luggage, with no bag weighing more than 50 pounds. I got my large suitcase packed a few days ago, but it weighed about 65 pounds, so I'll have to work on rearranging some things. I have a 5-page-long list of things I think I should take, but it may have to be scaled back a bit. The most essential items: tent, sleeping bag and mat, netbook, pressure cooker (for quicker cooking of beans), and solar backpack (which I hope will charge my netbook, iPod and a few other devices).
I'll leave it at that for now, but plan to make one more post before I go silent for two months!
Since leaving CNN of February 5th, I've been running around, trying to get myself ready for this trip! Between shopping, packing, handling financial and legal matters, and unwinding from my previous career, it's been a busy few weeks! Now, I have just two days left to finish everything, and then it's off to the Peace Corps!
On Friday, Feb. 26, I'll take an early flight to Philadelphia for "staging," in which my group of trainees will get a brief introduction to Peace Corps. Then, we leave at 1:30am Saturday for our flight from JFK to Johannesburg. After a brief stop-over in South Africa, we'll arrive in Lilongwe, Malawi on Sunday, Feb. 28th. Then, we'll go to Dedza, a town in the south of Malawi, where we'll complete two months of training in language, culture, development work, and health and safety concerns. I'll be staying with a host family for most of the two months, and I'll have no access to Internet or phone. For the first two months, at least, snail mail will be the best way to reach me.
My chief concern for the next couple days is to finish packing for the trip. We're allowed 80 pounds of checked luggage, with no bag weighing more than 50 pounds. I got my large suitcase packed a few days ago, but it weighed about 65 pounds, so I'll have to work on rearranging some things. I have a 5-page-long list of things I think I should take, but it may have to be scaled back a bit. The most essential items: tent, sleeping bag and mat, netbook, pressure cooker (for quicker cooking of beans), and solar backpack (which I hope will charge my netbook, iPod and a few other devices).
I'll leave it at that for now, but plan to make one more post before I go silent for two months!
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