My life in Pictures (with some explanation)

Metal Day at Monkey Bay. Headbangin' for all.

I torture children and force them to take photographs with me. This is Zander, the son of Mufasa's Lodge owners Tinus and Katryn.

Zander and Darren resting whilst sword fighting with bamboo.

A very tiny Caitlin and Adam on top of the big rock at Monkey Bay.

The "half boat" that is getting worked on at Mufasa's.

C on the beach, knitting, of course.

My best friend in the village, John. He loves America.

Girls' Empowerment Day at Dwasulu CDSS. This is the Bridge activity, where girls learn about challenges they'll face in trying to reach their goals and about support devices they can utilize to get to the future they want to have for themselves. They get to balance on wood and embarass each other, so it's always a big hit.

Bridge

Girls' Empowerment in the classroom, fellow PCV Megan pumping them up Tonga style.

Lots of neighbors and mud projects. Here is a galimoto - car.

Small Update

Hey all,
My projects are moving along nicely at site. My women's group decided that since the guinea fowl weren't laying eggs, we would sell those birds and buy chickens to profit from them instead. It's a bit more common, so we won't have an advantage in that sense, but those guineas were just eating and not giving anything back! The ladies are hopeful that now they'll get some income to help out the nursery school and some elderly folks in the area, both affected by HIV and AIDS.

The building for the maize mill is completed! We're waiting to order the mill, but I am the one holding things up on that front. I've been trapped in Lilongwe on an unexpected trip for over two weeks and it looks to be close to another two before I get out of here! Since the trip was unexpected I did not bring my checkbook, so I cannot order the mill. Eek - I feel guilty because the builder and others worked hard to rush the building and now they're just cooling their heels while I figure some stuff out here in town. Cross all your fingers for me that I get out of here soon.

If nothing else being stuck in town has given me plenty of cause for reflection on how much I value and cherish my time in the village (even though sometimes I run away from the village for a few days). I miss my Ngalan friends! I miss my house! My neighbor kids! My lakeshore! Even my form 3 students - and that's saying a lot. I want to go back to the village and enjoy my final 9 months there. I hope that I can do that next week, and then just stay there for a good long while. Well, except I'll have to come *back* to Lilongwe to order the mill. Sigh! I need a car =p

Otherwise, rainy season is all but over and we're entering dry / cool season, which is a welcome change after average temps well over 100 F. Soon it will be time for Malawians to harvest all the maize they planted in December and January, and that is my favorite time in the village because everybody is happy and full and content. Unless the crops fail, which luckily, in my area, they did not. There was so much rain, in fact, that there will be a 'bumper harvest' for rice, so yay for me! I love to see my neighbors getting fat and happy and just smiling together under the mango tree, sharing a bit of food with everybody who walks by. The little boy that I named (Michael, of course) will grow quickly; in fact he's already sitting up on his own and giving me big smiles every time I visit him and his mom.

I'm looking forward to my parents visit in July! So close, and yet so far. I have some fun stuff planned for them, as well as lots of relaxing stuff, and I just really can't wait to show them what I've been talking about since I returned from Kenya in 2003. Conversely, my Malawian friends are also anxious for them to show up. It helps to prove that I'm an actual human and not some strange, pink alien ;)

That's all for now, keep reading and commenting and showing the love <3

I.O.U. 1 blog entry

Hey, two and a half months have flown by since I last posted here. Apologies; I've been letting my facebook status updates do all my work for me.

So, what's new? Well...
- I got my grant money. Yessir, the project is moving ahead. It's rainy season so I'm not sure how much construction we'll be able to do, but my village headman and my counterparts at the CBO (Community Based Organization) are motivated and anxious to get a move-on. The salesman at the mill place is tappin' his toe and my Member of Parliament is ready to deliver. I am pleased.
- The school-year calendar is FUBAR. Hence the remainder of my service will be spent (in addition to teaching and preparing for milling) searching for alternate housing for either myself or my 'replacement' volunteer, searching for something to do from August - December other than teaching, and not really getting a vaction, ever.
- My boss is retiring. Dora has been APCD for Education here in Malawi for a long time, and she kicks ass at it. She has gone to bat for me and others many times, she sticks up for us, she thinks of our interests, and we are going to miss her. Nobody will ever fill her shoes.
- My parents are talking to a travel agent about coming out here in July. The opportunity to show them where and how I live is so freakin' exciting I can't really sum it up. They will be shocked and awed and horrified and amazed as I am just about every day. Sweet.
- The transit house here in Lilongwe closes tomorrow. This is challenging because now to come to town will be much more expensive (by a factor of about 10, actually). "Secondary" projects are going to go down to nearly nada because writing a grant is a lot of work and we can't afford to stay here in town for 2 weeks while the proposal is farted around with. So we're not going to try, mostly. It also means that seeing other volunteers just isn't going to happen the way it has been. This is a bummer not just for social reasons but because I frequently get great ideas from other PCVs about how to deal with the challenges I face. So, this is another example of volunteer support failing. Sorry PC, but I think you made a big blooper this time. Time will tell!

I think that's all I've got for now. I hope that all of you at home are safe, happy, and warm. Drop me a comment or an email and update me on your lives.

Halloween

I'm just going to post pictures. If you want an explanation; comment. It's my way to testing to see if anybody looks at this thing anymore =P

Eep! I haven't posted since July?!

wowsa. So much has been going on since then. Good, bad, ugly, thrilling - all of it.
The big news is that the new group of Education Trainees arrived here in Malawi yesterday! So I've officially been here for a year, which is a mind warp. It's also sad because my friends who are a year ahead of me have already started COS-ing (finishing their service and going home). Luckily being in the Peace Corps and getting new volunteers coming into the country three times a year means that three times a year hand picked awesome folks arrive, the new Health group and new Environment group kick ass.
So, the new group is currently at our training location in Dedza and on Saturday will move into three different villages for their 6- 7 weeks of homestay and I'll go with them! Saturday to Thursday I'll be a "PCV of the week," hanging out with the newbs and doing my utmost to be simultaneously informative and positive. It'll be weird to be back in a homestay environment but I'll be armed with a can of doom and I will get free meals and hot bafas everyday so I'll deal :)
My women's group have finished building the khola for the guinea fowl and purchased the birds, but they're not laying eggs! This is a problem for an egg selling business. More to come as we figure this out.
I have a big old project in the works with a PLWA (People Living With AIDS) group in my village. I'm writing a grant to purchase a maize mill, which my community needs because many people can't afford the transport to the nearest mill. The PLWA group will run the mill and use all the profits for transport to get their medications, medicinal garden(s), better nutrition, and a revolving micro-loan fund for income generating activities, as well as support for people affected by AIDS such as orphans and the elderly who are left behind frequently to care for them. I'm feeling a bit daunted, it's a lot to undertake, but hey, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life so I'm diggin it, too. My community is motivated and have already started molding bricks for the building for the maize mill, the chief donated a piece of land, and I'm writing the grant and crossing my fingers. Cross yours too, if this works it will be awesome.
Otherwise, life's just life :) Hot season is upon us and we sizzle at the lakeshore (already 120 in the sun and getting progressively hotter for the next two months). I swim in gorgeous Lake Malawi everyday that I'm at site. I'm building a summer hut so I have a shady spot to sit outside since, with a tin roof, my house is literally an oven. School is going well, the Form 2's are writing their big exams that determine if they can move onto Form 3 next year, and in a couple of weeks the Form 4's will write their graduation exams. My neighbor is due to have a baby next month and I'm hoping she can't think of a name and asks for suggestions (Michael for a boy, Mina for a girl). I miss my friends and my family but I'm seeing how time flies here and know I'll be with them all again before I can believe it. Will try to post pictures next time, I haven't been taking many at all.

love to all from Malawi

Small Update

Wow, for somebody who loves to write I really (honestly) hate updating this blog. Words are never enough to really communicate what my life is like here, but pictures help, so here's a few :)

I had a community meeting in my village last Friday, where in true peace corps style I executed "paca" (participatory analysis for community action - i think) activities.

The first photo is the women drawing a map of Ngala, our village, so that they can think of what resources are available and begin to conceptualize what resources could be put to more use.

The second photo is men doing the same thing. The women's map was simple, but quite effective. The men argued for about 30 minutes over whether the bar was a place of business or a leisure place. Hmmmm....

The last photo is one of the men explaining their map to myself and the other women.

This is the sort of work that I *love* - community action, getting input from those who would be affected by any type of development work... and lots and lots of Chichewa practice!

For pictures of my sister Christina's visit to Malawi a couple of weeks ago, I will direct you to her Picasa web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/christina01/Malawi?feat=email#

Mbua Zipatso - my women's group

Our project is moving along....


Me happily giving 13,500 Malawi Kwacha to two members and their co-ordinator, Mr. Chirwa. This is close to $100 USD.

One of the members, looking very introspective.

The khola is being built! This is where the guinea fowls will live soon. These are several of the members and a few kids tossed in for good measure.

the khola sans human - these birds are going to live better than some local humans!


Two blog entries in 1 day... y'all are lucky =)