Anna-Marie in Malawi

Regina

2010-05-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

My friend Duncan has started a photo project called Perspectives of Poverty. The project pairs two images: the first image shows one of his friends looking stereotypically 'poor' (the more common type of image coming out of Africa), and second one shows the person dressed to impress. He wants to change people's perceptions of Africa. I thought that it was a great project, and I inadvertently (and with much less photographic skill) conducted my own photo experiment.

Last time I was visiting Tchale village I was happy to see that Regina had learned to walk since my last visit. (She's a niece and neighbor of the Tchale family.) As she was toddling around I took a few quick pictures. As soon as I'd taken the photos her mom swooped in and it was bath time (beloved by all children). Then, Regina returned clean and dressed in her best (I've printed many of the photos I've taken in the village and given them to their subjects - so now I may have a reputation that I'll have to continue to fulfill). I obliged and took a few pictures of Regina. The differences are quite striking. Bear in mind it's the same child in the same place, only ten minutes apart.

Check out Duncan's project at: http://waterwellness.ca/2010/04/28/perspectives-of-poverty/

Rollins Chitika

2010-05-14T03:49:00.001-07:00

Next in my short series on inspiring, and capable Malawian leaders: Rollins! Rollins used to work alongside me in the M&E department (and he was invited to EWB’s National Conference in Canada). Now, he’s moved on to bigger and better things and he’s using his knowledge and skills to run an output-marketing project for VSO. Rollins is also very well educated. He has a Bachelors degree in Agricultural Science and a Masters in Agricultural Economics.

Rollins research project for his Masters degree involved working with and learning about the dairy sector in Malawi. Dairy farmers in Malawi are not very well compensated for their work because milk can be imported at lower prices and milk wholesalers have even been known to reconstitute milk powder for resale because it’s cheaper than buying and processing local milk. Rollins has had two articles published in Malawi’s national newspapers about the difficulties facing the sector.

Now, Rollins and Mathias are working together (along with a few others) set up a charity to help send children in Malawi’s rural areas to school. Their plan is to find high performing children whose parents cannot afford to send them to school. Then, they want to pay the school fees for these children and provide extra support for these children in theirs homes. They both believe in making a difference in Malawi and they both believe in the power of education to provide people with opportunity.

Mathias Mbendela

2010-05-13T07:17:00.000-07:00

Mathias works for the same NGO as I do in Lilongwe. He is a good friend and a great guy to discuss development with. He loves to read and usually has a book under his arm. His more recent books include Sachs the 'The End of Poverty', and Colliers 'The Bottom Billion'. (He was very much looking forward to meeting Robert Chambers at our recent conference, but sadly Mr. Chambers visit was prevented by pesky volcanic ash).

Mathias began his life in a village. His parents were not wealthy and they struggled to raise the money to send their four sons to school. However, they did impart a strong belief in the importance of education in all their sons. As a dedicated student Mathias won a place at one of Malawi's universities to study Agricultural Economics and after he graduated he found work with our current employer. But, he wasn't content to rest with a Bachelors degree and he applied to do a Masters of Development Studies.

When he was accepted to do his Master he founded out that he wouldn't be funded and that he would need to pay his own tuition. Despite this, he decided to leave the security of his job and to head back to school. The second year of his program required him to write a thesis based on original research. Mathias borrowed a bicycle from a friend and headed out into the villages in the south of the country to collect the information that he needed.

Mathias is a man of many dreams. I'm not sure where he'll be in the future (he wants to run his own business, do a Ph.D., write a book, and work for the UN as a program head), but whatever he does I know it will be inspiring!

Dorothy Nthala

2010-05-12T02:25:00.000-07:00

Dorothy is the wife of Village Headman Tchale. She is a very hardworking woman with ambition. Besides doing all of the chores that African women do on a daily basis (making three meals, fetching water, keeping the house and the yard tidy, and working in the fields) Dorothy has her sights set on running her own small business.

When a local micro-finance institution came to visit Tchale village Dorothy signed up, along with 13 other women, to get a small loan of $71 each (at 30% interest!). This loan allowed Dorothy and the other women to buy seed and fertilizer to plant more land. Unfortunately, the term of the loan was shorter than the maturing time for maize. So, Dorothy set about making the loan payments by baking a local bread (chikonda moyo) every morning and selling this bread in the village. She (and the rest of the group) succeeded in paying back the loan in full on time. Because of their success in repaying the loan the micro-loan foundation has granted them a second loan of $142 each (again at 30% interest).

This time Dorothy decided to invest her money in something different. During last year's growing season, in addition to working in the family's fields Dorothy planted a field all her own. She planted 1 acre with Malawi's main cash crop - tobacco. She has just harvested the tobacco and she is planning to send it to be sold on Lilongwe's tobacco auction floor soon. With the proceeds she wants to get into business. She is planning to buy and sell tobacco (there is money to be made if you can buy tobacco just after it is is harvested and wait to sell it at the end of tobacco trading season).

This captures some of Dorothy's drive and determination, but it doesn't capture her modest and joyful spirit. She's a truly wonderful woman.

Village Headman Tchale

2010-05-11T03:06:00.000-07:00

To lead off my week of strong Malawian leaders I decided to choose Village Headman Tchale.

When I visited his village just over a week ago to catch up with him and his family he had just returned from a week in Lilongwe at Bunda College. He had been called to attend a conference for lead farmers in Malawi (lead farmers are those that work directly with government agricultural extension works to disseminate the latest in agricultural knowledge). At the conference, he had been taught about the use of organic manure (in addition to fertilizer). When I visited he had already created pits near his field which he will use to make manure. He was also planning how he is going to take this message to all of the other farmers in his village, and in the surrounding district. This is just one example of his tireless efforts as village headman. When I spent time in the village at the end of last year we planted hundred of trees as part of a tree nursery program that he was masterminding after hearing from the government about deforestation and climate change.

On top of all this he is an extremely warm, patient man. When I visited he was building a maize grainery (nkhokwe), which is traditionally men's work. But, Mr. Nthala (his title is Village Headman of Tchale Village) showed me how to do the work and let me try tying the grass to the structure using string made from a plant. (This process adds stability to the structure).

This year his harvests have been very good. He is hoping to finish the new house that he is building, and to put iron sheets on it. His big dream is to bring electricity to his home.

More on Leadership

2010-04-30T04:52:00.000-07:00

The leadership conference gave me an interesting opportunity to reflect on the work that I've been doing in Malawi and also the way in which I communicate it. People doing development work often have a vested interest in communicating one side of a complicated story. They often share stories of people struggling in a difficult environment. And, there's no doubt that there are many people struggling in a difficult environment in Malawi, but there are also many incredibly smart, educated, capable people working to develop their country. The one sided reporting does attract funding to development projects, however, I believe it often reduces people's expectations for what is achievable and it often reduces the value that is placed on the people who are working in-country to implement these projects. Development funding is (rightly) targeted at the poor. However, this fact coupled with low expectations of field level implementers often seems to correlate with a lack of investment in the professional development of these staff.

If the messaging begins to change, if people see countries like Malawi as places of beauty and substantial future growth, then perhaps the valued placed on developing people within its systems will be increased. People will see young Malawians capable of changing their world. They will begin to see that the investment of building the skills, energy, and confidence of young Malawians will have significant impact on Malawi's future (think of many of the successful companies of the world and the way that they invest in their staff - for example Google).

I will try to focus on some of the most positive sides of Malawi and some if it's most high potential people in my next few posts. I look forward to hearing what you think.

The Leadership Conference

2010-04-28T03:10:00.000-07:00

I've been missing in action for the last few weeks! I've been working with three others on EWB's first leadership conference in Malawi. I think working with others to help them develop themselves is where my passion lies, so it's been a fun and extremely rewarding (but exhausting) month or so.

We brought together 36 people from many of the organizations that we work with across Malawi and Zambia. We took them all to the stunningly beautiful Cape Maclear (on the shores of Lake Malawi), and we worked intensively for two and half days. We talked and learned about project management, computers skills, managing people, setting goals, dreaming big, and much, much more. We had a speaker from a Malawian capacity development organization, and another speaker who was the former Governor of the Reserve Bank of Malawi and who is currently Group Chief Executive for a group of companies that account for 47% of Malawi’s formal economic production.

People left inspired. I left inspired.

Traditional development tends to tell its recipients what needs to be done and how to do it (without pausing to consider what people actually need and want). As a result, donors can spend a great deal of money with very little impact. My hope is that by inspiring, networking, and building the confidence of an already remarkable group of Malawians and Zambians these leaders will get what they need to become the managers, thoughtful field staff, politicians, and business people that are needed to shape the futures of Malawi and Zambia.

The Girls and School

2010-04-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Recently, I visited my old home (which is only on the other side of town - but it still takes me an hour an a half to get there by minibus). I went to see how Millyana and Madalitso were fairing in school. The reports were all very good. Madalitso is catching up with the other kids in her class (she started a half a year behind everyone else in Grade One, and she didn't get the chance to do Kindergarten). Mada's mum told me that the teacher gave Mada 20 Kwacha (about 20 cents - enough for a few pieces of candy, or perhaps enough for an egg) as a reward for good work. Madalitso drew out the entire alphabet and read them aloud for me. It's exciting to see her progress.

I didn't see Millyana while I was visiting (she was in the neighbourhood braiding someone's hair to earn a little extra money). I hear that she's doing well too.

While I was in the neighbourhood, I gave the girls some presents that friends in Canada had bought for them. They were delighted. The picture shows Takondwa with her snowman tied on her back in the same way that women carry their children. She didn't want to let him go!

Back in Tchale Village

2010-03-31T01:34:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago (yep, I've taken a bit of time away from the blog) I went back to Tchale Village to visit with Village Headman Tchale and his family. We wandered into the fields to check on the maize, groundnuts, tobacco, and other crops. Despite the rains coming a little later than usual VH Tchale's crops were all growing well. VH Tchale believes that the year will be good to him (he'll be able to make money by selling some maize and tobacco), and he's hoping to put a new tin roof on his house.

While I was there we chatted, ate some roasted groundnuts (delicious!), I took a lot of photos for people (I've given out some of the ones I took on my earlier visits and now my camera is in demand), and I helped Chifundo with some homework (math).

Next time a bit more about tobacco.

Blue Nsima

2010-02-24T05:03:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend we had a birthday for a friend. We 'themed' the party and ended up using some food colouring in the food. We invited our landlord and landlady to join us for the meal, and they were quite intrigued by the blue food. At some point one of suggested that we should try putting some food colouring in nsmina (the local food that is made out of maize flour). Nsima is very much the stape food in Malawi, it is eaten at lunch and dinner, and sometimes it is eaten in porridge form for breakfast.

My landlady, Mrs. Adams, loved the idea of trying out blue nsima. Thus, last night we ate blue nsima. It was a little shocking to see on the plate (usually it's white), but it was a delicious meal. Last night we ate it with beans, pumpkin leaves with groundnut (like peanuts) flour, and bean leaves.

The picture shows Mrs. Adams enjoying some blue nsima.

It's Obvious!

2010-02-19T00:15:00.000-08:00

This morning when I was running I was joined by another, Malawian, jogger. It was good timing because I'd just had a discussion the day before with my work mates about how few Malawians exercised for pleasure (or fitness I guess). And, I guess my co-workers are right, the majority of Malawians are in great shape because they work all day.

The Malawian that joined me today is used to running long distances, but this morning he was late leaving (it was already 5:30am) and he saw me and decided to run with me instead of his usual routine.

After jogging for a while we exchanged names. I went first, and then he said 'My name is Obvious'. Ok, I thought I won't forget that name (in general I'm not very good at remembering people's names). Apparently, Obvious is a fairly common name in Malawi (although I haven't run into anyone with that name before).

I'll be looking out for Obvious on my future runs.

May it Rain

2010-02-15T23:16:00.002-08:00

This was the scene outside work this morning when I arrived. I said it looks like rain, and Mathias (one of my colleagues) said he didn't think it would rain. But, we really need the rain because we've been a week without anything falling from the skies. So, he said he said he hoped he was wrong... 'may it rain' he said.

Now, it's been raining for about an hour and a half. The plants (crops) are happy, the people are happy. It's a good day for rain!

Rainy Days

2010-02-10T04:40:00.000-08:00

After a short time home, I'm back in Malawi (and I have been for a few weeks!) In Malawi, it's the middle of the rainy season right now. The rains in the central region have been fairly good and everything is beautiful and green. (Friends in tell me that Lusaka, Zambia has turned into a giant mud puddle, and sadly in the south of Malawi the rains have been very poor and the crops are dying).

It's quite a transformation since I left just before Christmas. There is maize everywhere, and I mean everywhere. The farmers fields are thick with young maize, people's backyards have become gardens, there is maize growing just behind the building where I work, and there is even maize between the road and corner shop next to my house. People are taking every opportunity to grow the food that will have to last them all year long. Since the rains have been fairly regular in the central region, farmers in the area are also preparing to grow food that will help to feed the other regions of the country that haven't been so lucky.

Update on Mada

2009-12-22T22:48:00.000-08:00

On Monday, I visited with Mada and her sister Millyanna. Mada has just passed Standard One (Grade 1). (The school year here ends in November, well at least the primary school year does - other types of schools continue to mystify me). She had a bit of extra help over the last month or so (a tutor), and she's managed to catch up with the rest of her classmates (you may remember that she started school half way through the year). Mada is just about to embark on the second year of her schooling career - in Standard Two.

Millyanna is Mada's elder sister. She is 13. She has just passed Standard Four (Grade 4). Over the past few weeks Millyanna has also been receiving some tutoring to prepare her to enter Standard Five at the same school as Mada. Millyanna's English is quite good, and her reading is very good, but she was a little behind in math. Millyanna was very excited to receive the news that she will be heading to Evergreen school.

Several people contributed to help send Mada to school. I just wanted to say thanks to you all. The girls thank you too!

Planting time!

2009-12-21T03:29:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, (my last full day in the village) we had a little bit of rest. I think I slept in all the way until 5:30 and then luxuriated on my mat until about 6 am. When I got up we went about the daily chores in relaxed way, and we didn't head to the field at all. We did a little chatting, and some more shelling of groundnuts. After lunch, VH Tchale and I headed out to do a government census of Tchale village. We visited several houses and wrote down all of the occupants for the record. As we moved from house to house the wind picked up and soon we had thunder sounding overhead in regular cacophonous outbursts. We made a quick retreat back towards the house, but as we did the rain came pouring down. It rained, and rained, and rained. I think the rain pounded the earth for about an hour (when it rains here it's serious about it). The village was delighted, because the long and heavy rain meant that it was planting time.

The next morning, we woke early and headed out to the field that we'd been making ridges in. VH Tchale headed to the tobacco nursery (see the picture on the left) to pull up the young tobacco plants so that we could replant them in the field. (Side note: I'm not sure quite how I feel about planting tobacco, but it is the major cash crop for the entire area so the fruits of my labour may help pay the school fees for the two children Ida, and Chifundo.) We planted all morning long. I was relegated to one of the easy jobs - dropping the plants at specific intervals along the ridge so that someone coming along behind me could plant the young plant. The entire job was carried out very efficiently and very exactly. Each tobacco plant was spaced 60 cm from the previous plant, and it had to be exactly upright. I was utterly unable to plant the tobacco in the right way with the speed of the others so I was happy to do my easy job.

After a quick lunch VH Tchale was back at it planting maize in another field. Rain apparently means the work gets even more non-stop! Sadly, it was time for me pack up and head back into Lilongwe. I had a quick bath, said good-bye to the family, and headed toward the road to flag down a minibus that would take me back into the big city of Lilongwe. Definitely, my week in the village was a fantastic experience.

A field day

2009-12-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

In the middle of my stay in the village I was lucky enough to attend a field day put together by my partner organization (CNFA). The field days are part of CNFA's demand creation initiative. I have attended several of these field days before, but always as part of CNFA and never arriving (and leaving) with a group of farmers. I was fortunate to have this opportunity to see things from the farmer's vantage point.

CNFA recruits and trains agrodealers to open businesses in the rural areas of Malawi. These agrodealers are set up to operate profit making businesses, however, they are also meant to supply 'improved' agricultural inputs to rural farmers. 'Improved' agricultural inputs are genetically engineered seeds, fertilizers, and chemicals (both herbicides and pesticides). I'm not educated enough to say whether in the grand scheme of things these inputs are good or bad, but I've talked to the farmers and I know that they double the amount of maize that farmers can grow in one growing season. At the very least this means that less people go hungry.

As I mentioned last time, Malawi is just entering the rainy season (it's raining as I type!). The field day was therefore held a winter garden that had been watered using a basic irrigation system. Sixty farmers from the village (the majority of them women) had grouped together to build a system of small canals that diverted water from a nearby river and the result was 15 acres of green maize at the end of the dry season. It was beautiful to see. This maize will be food and income for this group of farmers at one of the most difficult times of the year... while they are waiting for the newly planted maize to grow and mature.

The actual plot used for the field day was quite small, but it showcased the growth and yield of four different varieties of seed. The field day was attended by almost sixty farmers, who came to see which seed had performed best, and which seed they would buy this year if they could afford it. (The seed and fertilizer are expensive, and the CNFA agrodealer had helped the group to obtain a loan from a local micro-finance group in order to pay for the inputs for the winter garden. The farmers are already paying off their loans).

After the field day I talked to the farmers and learned that the farmers believe that the field day and the assistance that they received from the agrodealer are very helpful. VH Tchale listed off six varieties of seed that he had grown over the last twenty years. Each change he had made had been because of the demonstrated performance of a better type of seed. I came away with a better idea of how CNFA's programs impact the farmer, and an increased awareness of the importance of the initiative and ingenuity of the agrodealer.

A week in the Village

2009-12-13T22:14:00.000-08:00

A little while ago I spent a wonderful week in a village an hour outside of Lilongwe. I was welcomed by Village Headman Tchale, his wife Dorothy, and two of their children Chifundo and Ida. I went to the village because Engineers Without Borders highly values learning directly from the people that we are aiming to help, and because I wanted to learn exactly how the organization that I am partnered with is benefiting farmers.

Because of the fuel problems in Malawi I arrived in Tchale village late in the afternoon. I was introduced to Village Headman Tchale and his family, and shown around his compound. VH Tchale and his family are quite well off by village standards. They have a small house, a nice outhouse, and an outside kitchen. They also have 20 chickens and two pigs that they are raising to sell for meat. After my tour an a little chat we had a nsima dinner and headed to bed around 8pm. The next morning I woke a little after everyone else (around 5am) and headed to the field to get to work. In Malawi, we are in the early stages of the rainy season (although we haven't had much regular rain yet) and the family was preparing ridges (check out the picture on the left of Dorothy - the ridges are to prevent the rain from eroding the soil) for planting tobacco. I was shown how to use the hoe to prepare the ridges and I set right to work. I think I lasted about an hour and a half, and then I had to brake to sort out the five blisters that I'd managed to grow on my left hand. I consulted with my trusty first aid kit and came back to the field kitted out in many bandages.... but sadly the family had decided that I needed to sit the rest of the morning out. I was pretty tired, so I took the opportunity to watch and learn as the pros made ridges at twice the speed that I had been working.

Around 10am we headed back to the house for a breakfast of tea and chikondamoya (a banana cake made with maize flour). It was delicious! Then VH Tchale and I headed to the tree nursery. VH Tchale has been working closely with the government extension agent in his area so he knows all about the benefits of trees and he and his village have started a tree nursery. We spent a couple of hours watering the baby trees and planting new ones (back breaking work as we were bent over planting seed in plastic bags of dirt). At the end of the planting process I was very tired and very impressed with the endurance of the people I was working with.

At about 1pm we were back and the house and eating a delicious lunch of nsima and fresh beans (I didn't know that was what beans tasted like when you ate them fresh from the plant!). After lunch, we were back to work. This time is was fairly light work... but good for my hand strength. We shelled groundnuts (like peanuts) for a few hours (see the other picture). This lasted quite a while, but it was fun and we got the chance to chat a little bit.

The sun began to set around 6pm as we sat down to our second nsima meal of the day. Again it was delicious and I was happy to eat well so that I would have lots of energy for the next morning. After dinner, we talked a little and I got to know the family a little better. We also listened to the radio for a while (no electricity so it was powered by batteries). By, 8 I was more than happy to curl up on my mat on the floor and get some sleep. A pretty fantastic, and exhausting day in the village all in all.

Fuel Problems

2009-12-02T03:20:00.000-08:00

Malawi is experiencing a few problems getting enough fuel into the country. This means that there have been enormous lines at the pumps for the past few weeks. Word gets out that there is fuel arriving at a particular gas station and within an hour the gas station looks something like this.

On my way to the village last week I got a ride with some co-workers who were headed out of town in my direction. They left to find fuel at about 9am. I walked to the gas station around noon to join them. By 2pm we had fuel. And we were on our way!

I asked my co-worker if I could take a picture at the gas station while we were waiting. He said that people wouldn't be too happy to see me taking a picture. So, I gave him the camera and he stealthily took this picture. Here's hoping we get more fuel soon, because it's making getting around pretty difficult.

Rain

2009-11-30T22:14:00.000-08:00

I've just arrived back in Lilongwe after spending a week in a village about one hour north of LL. I had a great time, worked really hard, and learned a lot. I'll be sharing more about my stay in the village in the next few days - hopefully after I revive my camera and retrieve some photos. Unfortunately (and quite humorously) I fell in a shallow well while I was in the village. The well, which was more like a hand dug pond, is used to water the vegetables during the dry season. Sadly, I had my camera in my pocket. I don't have a very good track record with cameras... but hopefully it will be ok when it dries. I'll share the pictures and stories as soon as I can.

While I was in the village the first big rains of the season came (the rain was very heavy, you might say torrential, for about an hour). The next day the air was full of flying ants. They have been especially bountiful in the evening when dusk comes. Yesterday evening, as I was walking home and the darkness was setting in the road was full of laughing children running around trying to catch the ants. Apart from providing a lot of entertainment ants are apparently very tasty. I'll let you know if I decide to try one.

2009-11-10T06:40:00.000-08:00

Hey all!

I realize that after a particularly communicative October, I fallen silent for an extended period. Part of the reason was that I was working and enjoying some time in the beautiful Senga Bay. I spent a little bit over a week at the beach, first helping to run a leadership retreat for some of our Malawian counterparts (it was a wonderful experience and I'll write more about it soon), and then I was participating in an extended meeting with my fellow Engineers Without Borders volunteers in Southern Africa. The meetings involved some pretty long days, but at least we could meet on the beach and occasionally we were interrupted by a troop of nosy monkeys.

In other news, it's really hot here. I think we're getting daily highs in the mid-30s. The beach was especially hot. I'm looking forward to the arrival of the rains... which should be starting anytime!

Lake of Stars

2009-10-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I traveled south with six other Engineers Without Borders volunteers. We were headed for Lake of Stars - Malawi's biggest music festival. The festival was started four years ago by a British man who volunteered in Malawi and decided to create a music festival. The festival is always held on the shores of Lake Malawi, and this year the venue was Mangochi. Mangochi is very (very) hot, and very (very) beautiful. The white sands are scattered with palm trees and baobab trees. The lake offers a very welcome opportunity for a swim to cool off from the heat.

The festival itself seems to be a brilliant idea (I'd love to hear other's opinions). Lake of Stars mixes Malawian artists (Lucias Banda, The Black Missionaries, Tay Grin Third Eye, and D One, amongst many others) with European artists (Sway, and The Maccabes). There was also a pretty fantastic acrobatic group from Lilongwe. The crowd was pretty mixed. There were Malawians, lots of volunteers from different places in Malawi (and Zambia I think), and there were travelers who came from England and other places in Europe just for the festival. Personally, I like to see more of this kind of thing happening in
Africa. It seemed to be a positive experience for everyone involved. It brought tourists into the country. It supported local businesses.... and I think raised a little money for a local charity.

We had a fantastic few days at the festival. I enjoyed all of the music. I finally got to see the Black Missionaries (I've heard them many, many times - especially traveling around Lilongwe on minibuses). I also heard Third Eye and D One for the first time. And, of course there was quite a bit of dancing, and some frisbee on the beach. How can you top that?

For pictures that are better than mine (and some more background if you're interested) check out the news stories below.

BBC news story

Guardian news story

Magetsi! (electricity)

2009-10-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

We had a short power outage this morning. It's not really a big deal, especially when I have my laptop charged (which I didn't this morning). It only happens now and then. At home it's a bit of a different story, we usually have two scheduled outages in the evenings every week. Anyway, today while we were waiting for the power to come back on I found out that Malawi's utility company, ESCOM, recently changed their slogan from

'Power all day, every day'

to

'Towards power all day, every day'.

Thought that might be worth sharing... (although possibly it's only funny for those of us temporarily without power).

World Cup Qualifying Excitement

2009-10-12T01:28:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I made the 5 or so hour journey to Blantyre to watch the World Cup Qualifying match between Malawi and the Ivory Coast. Sadly, Malawi had already been knocked out of a qualifying position. In fact I think that the last game, which took place in the Ivory Coast, ended with a 5-0 win for the Ivory Coast. However, the Malawians that I met on the way to the stadium were all very upbeat and many stopped to ask me if I was supporting the Flames (team Malawi) or the Ivorians (that could be my own name for them). Of course, I always expressed my support for the Flames.

The first half was pretty exciting. The Flames showed extremely good defense and the ball was in the Ivorian end as many times as it was in the Flames end. We were all pretty impressed with Team Malawi. As we headed into half-time our area of the stands was feeling pretty good. In fact, there were a good number of Malawians around us predicting a win for Malawi. However, those who knew football let the rest of us know that Drogba the Ivorian star player hadn't been played yet. (Drogba is apparently a star striker for Chelsea). So, we awaited the second half with much anticipation.

The second half started... and still no Drogba (I can only speculate that perhaps Chelsea wanted their star player played as little as possible). The play was intense for the first few minutes. And then... Malawi scored. The crowd went absolutely wild and we were all on feet cheering. There was much flag waving, yelling, and spraying of water (it was very hot so being sprayed with water was quite nice). So, now the crowd is elated and play resumes, and without much fanfare Drogba is sent onto the field. Sadly, within minutes Drogba has scored. There is no cheering, but the crowd still seems pretty happy to have seen their team score. The minutes tick away and each team holds its own. Final Score: Malawi 1, Ivory Coast 1. Happily, every Malawi that I talked to after the game was very happy with the result. And me, I had a fantastic weekend.

At home this morning

2009-10-07T23:43:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd share a couple of pictures I took this morning just after I got back from my run. The first one is just outside my house. If I gotten there a little earlier I could have captured the sun rise. As you can see it's pretty dry right now. The bricks and the sand are for a new house next door to us. The bricks are made locally. I'll share some pictures soon to show the process (it looks like hard work).

The second picture is of two charcoal stoves sitting just outside the house. They are heating water so that we could take hot baths this morning (no water pressure means no hot water at our house).

(Sorry Christie, still no pictures of me!)

Moving Water

2009-10-07T00:42:00.000-07:00

While in Zambia, I went with Hans (another EWB volunteer) to visit a medium-scale farming project called Chanyanya. The project has been set up by the NGO that Hans works with. I’m a little fuzzy on some of the details, but I believe that the NGO negotiated with local farmers to get them to sign over a large block of land. The land was then divided into a big bit, which has been designated as a commercial farm, and a small bit, which is run by the farmers themselves. A portion of the profits from the commercial farm will be paid to the farmers, until all the original capital investment (irrigation equipment, tractors, etc) has been paid off – and then all of the profit will go to the farmers. The other part of the land is being run more directly by the farmer group. They have received a loan and installed irrigation equipment (shown in the picture) and they are currently growing many (a highly accurate term) acres of wheat. On the farmer side there are two of the large irrigation systems like the one shown in the picture. It was a really interesting experience to visit the farm and to see so much greenery during the dry season. (In case you don’t know, and you’re interested, the dry season here starts around April and end around October).

I’ve started a little garden in my host family’s garden and watering is time consuming and it’s work! I’m growing some okra, pumpkins, and some lettuce like plants (rape, and Chinese cabbage). Each morning I fill my watering can two or three times and walk across the yard to do my watering. When the water pressure is low (it has happened quite a bit lately) it takes several minutes to fill my bucket. So, sometimes it takes me 10 or 15 minutes to water my little plot. It’s definitely given me an appreciation for the irrigation projects being carried out in Malawi. (Pictures of my little garden to follow – probably when it gets a little bit more impressive.)

Kamwala Market

2009-10-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

Not far from where I stayed in Lusaka was Kamwala market. It is a big market where you can get just about anything, from lunch to a tailored outfit made just for you.

I went to the market several times with a few different EWB volunteers. The first time was with Arthur - the latest volunteer to arrive overseas. We ventured into the food part of the market and tried out some nsima. Nsima is made from maize flour, which is boiled until it can be formed into balls. The nsima itself is quite tasty, but it is primarily used as a vehicle to transport whatever else you are eating (called ndiwo) into your mouth. There are lots of excellent, delicious vegetarian options. Everyone seems to eat meat and vegetables with their nsima at every sitting.. and they eat nsima a lot. Most people in Malawi will have nsima for lunch and dinner. In fact, I've heard several people here say that you haven't eaten at all until you've eaten nsima. Me, I'm fairing quite well on one nsima meal a day.

The second trip into the market was with another volunteer, Colleen. We were on a mission to find some chitenges (colourful pieces of cloth with many, many uses). Kamwala market has several chitenge wholesalers, which meant we had an overwhelming selection of chitenges to choose from. The second part of our mission was to get some mending done. The tailors were more than happy to oblige us, and our mending was done in less than 5 minutes. Yay!

Tuesday Veg Market in Lusaka

2009-09-29T00:31:00.000-07:00

I've been absent for awhile! Last week, I prepared and helped to run a workshop on market facilitation. It was fun and exhausting, but I think that my co-workers enjoyed it.

Another volunteer and I took a long weekend and traveled north to enjoy the delights of Nkhata Bay... more on that later.

For now I thought I share some pictures from the Tuesday vegetable market that happens (strangely) once a week in Lusaka. The market was fun and delicious. There were lots of yummy spices. I had cashews for the first time since I've been here. Also, the vegetarians' delight: Chinnaka (quite possibly I've spelt that wrong). On first - and quite probably second - glance Chinnaka looks a lot like meat. When you buy it the Chinnaka selling lady slices a few chunks off a big warm block. The first time I bought it I asked several times if it was meat and I was reassured that it was definitely vegetable. It is made from ground peanuts and orchid tubers. It's delicious and to my very basic palate it tastes a lot like I think meat used to taste.

Enjoy the photos.

Close Encounters of the Hippo Kind

2009-09-15T07:06:00.000-07:00

Just got back to Malawi after spending two wonderful weeks in Zambia meeting and catching up with my Engineers Without Borders teammates and fellow volunteers. We spent four days in Siavonga (slightly south, east of Lusaka). Siavonga is a beautiful place on the shore of Lake Kariba (which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe). We spent all of our time outside by the lake. Days and some evening were spent deep in strategy and discussion, and nights were spent fireside.

On the first evening we spent in Siavonga we packed up the campfire just before midnight and the group began its slow but short journey back to the dorm where we were all sleeping. I was in the middle of the pack for this usually unexciting expedition but a few hundred meters from the dorm I caught up with the group leaders who were coming back in our direction. After a few moments I understood that there was a hippo in our path and that those who were eager for bed (and leading the pack) had almost run into it. Our group was now split into the people who sincerely wanted to avoid contact with the hippo and those keen for a hippo sighting. ('The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the world and is often regarded as the most ferocious animal in Africa.' - says wikipedia, so perhaps the hippo avoiding group had some sense). Two us ventured forward with heart racing. Sadly, hippos are quicker and more nimble than they look because we didn't see or hear the hippo again that evening.

In the morning, we checked with our hosts and found out that a baby hippopotamus was a fairly regular visitor and that it liked to come and nibble on the vegetable garden - usually around midnight. Our hosts said that the baby hippo wasn't a problem as long as you didn't startle it. Unfortunately, we didn't see the hippo again during our stay. It did make for entertaining walks to and from the fire pit though, especially when walking alone. I took to singing a little jingle that I composed just for the hippo... it went a little something like 'hippo, hello hippo, hippo, hello hippo...'

More Zambia updates to come.

Beauty in Diversity

2009-08-24T06:55:00.000-07:00

In my time in Malawi I've seen some interesting things that you probably wouldn't see in Canada. I thought that I'd share some of them...

Street Vendors: I love living in Lilongwe because most of the time when I want something it will come to me. When I first started tutoring one of the kids in the neighbourhood I decided that I wanted a wall chart that showed the ABCs. The next day at lunch I had a quick look for one in the grocery store near my work but I couldn't find one. On my way back from the store I was approached by a man selling ABC wall charts and pens. Random... and fantastic!

Street Vendors Take Two: Household pets are also available as you walk (or drive) the streets and back roads of Lilongwe. Cute puppies, kittens, and bunny rabbits (although I've been told the bunny rabbits are for dinner rather than for pets) sit sadly in the palms of the street vendors. They pretty much beg you to buy them and take them home and give them a good life (the animals that is - not the vendors). Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately because I would have a giant posse of puppies by now) my family already has 4 dogs and isn't looking for anymore.

Weird things on Bicycles: When I first got here, one of the things that immediately struck me were the men riding around with 5 to 10 chickens hanging upside down from their handle bars. Now, it's become almost normal - but I'm still struck by how calm the chickens are about it. Although, someone told me that if you hang a chicken upside down all the blood goes to it's brain and it's pretty much incapable of doing anything so perhaps it's more like incapacitation rather than a state of calm.

Weird things on Bicycles Take Two: Bicycles are an excellent way to transport things when you don't have a car (I love taking bike taxis), but sometimes I think people take things to extremes. When I saw a bath tub attached to the front of a bicycle I thought it was pretty extreme... and a fantastic workout for the rider.

Protected by the Blood of Jesus: The main way to get around here (if you don't have a car - and most people don't) is by minibus. It's actually a pretty fantastic system. It's pretty easy to get everywhere and it's cheap! Minibuses have some pretty fantastic bumper stickers. I always feel better when I'm in a minibus that's 'Protected by the Blood of Jesus'.

Football

2009-08-13T04:42:00.000-07:00

One Sunday while I was in Mzuzu I took a walk toward the stadium that is on the outskirts of town. Once I was there I couldn't resist taking a look. I paid my 100 MK without asking what it was that I was going to get to see. Once inside the stadium I found that the afternoon was to be filled with football.

The game that was playing when I got there was between two local teams. The crowd was fairly small. However, it began to grow as the game drew to a close and the main attraction drew nearer. By this time I had made some friends in the crowd and I found out that the big game of the afternoon was between two 'Super League' teams. The favourite to win was the home team called the Eagles (made up entirely of members of the Malawian Police force) and the other team was the Moyales (made up entirely of the Malawian Military). I was already excited before the teams took to the field.

As the game drew nearer the noise got louder and louder. (I don't know if anyone here watched the FIFA Cup in South Africa? It's not something I'd normally do myself but it was big time here. Well the loud horn (vuvuzela) they had in South Africa has found its way to Mzuzu.) Little kids were dancing and spirits were generally high. I bought myself a lollipop and got ready for the game.

The first half was pretty exciting, but there was no scoring. The League leaders (the Eagles) were not performing as the local fans expected, but there was a very large and appreciative complement of soliders on hand that were excited about how well the Moyales were doing. The crowd exhaled a loud 'eeee' every time anyone came close to scoring. Half time came with a short break in play and an intensification in people trying to sell us things (lollipops and candy, newspapers, bread rolls that they call Obamas, and more).

When the second half began it was only a few minutes before the Moyales scored. The soliders went crazy and a few started doing victory laps around the stadium. The Eagles fans that I was sitting with took the goal in stride. The rest of the second half ticked away until we were in the final minutes. At this point I was considering leaving before the end of the game so that I would avoid the crowds and get back into town nice and early. But, before I did there was a penalty called on the Moyales and the Eagles were given a free kick. Hope returned to the loyal Eagles fans. The kick was made... and a goal was scored. Once again the crowd went wild (we were jumping up and down at my end of the field). The soliders weren't quite as happy though and a good number stormed onto the field. I couldn't see from where I was, but apparently fist fighting broke out between the Moyale fans and the Eagles team.

The two teams represent law and order in Mzuzu, so they had to get things under control pretty quickly. We were all interested to see what would happen next. The field cleared and the final seconds of the game resumed. The Moyales took possession of the ball and made a charge down the field... and the Eagles all drifted away from their goal leaving the Moyales to score again and win the game 2-1. Excellent conflict resolution I thought!

As I was leaving the soliders and their fans were packing into the back of army trucks to take some loud victory laps around Mzuzu. Good times!

The north...

2009-08-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

During my weeks in the north I visited many, many agrodealers who are working to establish and grow their business under challenging circumstances. The ladies on the left (along with CNFA staffer Aaron) want to open a new store in Jenda. They were part of a women's group made up of nine woman who wanted to start an agrodealing business. Although groups and cooperatives are often touted as solutions in development, sometimes they just don't work. Gloria and Mafunasi have decided to open a shop by themselves and have located the building shown in the picture. Right now they grow tomatoes and onions and sell them in the market. Opening a shop will be a big jump for them. Gloria and Mafunasi have the money to rent the shop, but will be able to afford a very limited amount of stock. They have applied to get help from CNFA. Hopefully, CNFA can help them in a couple of ways. The first way would be to help them renovate the building a little so that it is ready to be opened as a shop. And, the second way is to help them get credit with their suppliers so that they can put stock in the shop.

During my weeks in the north, I also stayed in some really beautiful places. The picture shows a lake formed by a dam. I took the picture just before breakfast. The night was actually really cold (there was frost on the ground when I woke up in the morning). Because the lodge that I stayed at that night was almost full I ended up staying the hostel part of the lodge. The large room of bunk beds felt pretty much like an ice box... but I figure it's good for me. Ice boxes preserve things.. hopefully this applies to people too. The entire area surrounding the lake was beautiful. It was surrounded by forest because it's in the middle of a Forestry Reserve.

During my weeks in the north, I saw a minibus on fire! Really, I have no good reason to include this other than the titillation factor. It provided, me, my coworkers, and a big crowd of people in Mzimba with entertainment for a good twenty minutes or so. We arrived as people were throwing sand into the vehicle trying to put a small fire out (everyone was already out of the vehicle). Within probably a minute of our arrive the fire spread to the whole vehicle and every part of the vehicle that could burn was burning. At this point one of the passengers who had been trying to put out the fire went to the back of the bus and managed to open the door, carefully and quickly reached around a bit and then walked away with his bag. I thought he was a little crazy because we were all standing a good distance from the bus in case something decided to explode. In retrospect though, the bag probably contained a significant portion of his worldly belongings. Eventually, the fire died down but people's interest remained pretty high. We passed by the burnt out remains several times during the day and there were always a few people taking a look.

Finally, during my weeks in the north, there were always children. These ones chanted 'jambuleni' (picture) at me until I got out my camera and took a picture. For some reason children love to do some kind of 'kung fu' pose when we foreigners are taking pictures.

Thanks for reading all!

Back in Lilongwe

2009-08-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

I've finally returned to Lilongwe (and regular internet access) from the far north of the country. The three weeks I spent exploring the north were fantastic and I've met with many, many interesting people who are trying to make their agro-dealership business work - often under quite difficult conditions. The picture on the left is of a shop in the most northern district of Malawi (the district that borders with Zambia and Tanzania). The shop is run by a women who sells agricultural inputs and groceries. It was nicely kept inside, but it didn't have too much stock. The women who runs the shop has to get all of her stock from a larger trading area by minibus. I can't think of a nice place to go shopping. Her shop was bordered by small hills on one side and a little drop off to a beautiful valley on the other.

I promise to share more about my visits with agrodealers over the next few days, but first I thought that I'd share my journey back to Lilongwe. The exercise that I was working on wrapped up in Chitipa on Friday. Chitipa is a thriving town on the border with Tanzania. Access to Chitipa is a little difficult because the roads into and out of Chitipa are pretty terrible - there are no paved roads for at least 150 kilometers. This gives the town a kind of outback feel. So, the exercise wrapped up in Chitipa Friday and I needed to be in Blantyre (in the south) to see my host family's son get married on Saturday morning.

We left bright and early on Friday morning from Chitipa, and visited agrodealers throughout the day on our way back to Mzuzu. The dirt roads makes for a lot of fun driving, but not for fast driving. We made it back to Mzuzu around 4:30 in the afternoon. Then began my hunt for an overnight bus that would take me to Blantyre. I managed to find myself a seat on the last bus making the journey. I was pretty happy to get the bus and the seat. Several people opted to stand for the 12 hour overnight trip. I slept most of the way waking up only when we all had to get of the bus at the police road stops. By 5:30 am we were in Blantyre, which is good because I had just enough time to get myself cleaned up and to the church for the 7:30 am ceremony.

Doesn't the beautiful couple look happy.

What I've been doing up north...

2009-07-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

What am I doing here?

For the past week, I've been attempting to visit all of the agrodealers (people who sell seed, fertilizer, or chemicals to farmers) that have been trained over the seven years of this project. It's a big undertaking because over the past seven years more than 1,300 agrodealers have been trained. These agrodealers come in all shapes and sizes. Some of these agrodealers have businesses that are extremely successful, and some are still struggling to get their businesses going. Some agrodealers have received grants from CNFA to purchase equipment, or to renovate their shops. And, some have received assistance in order to stock their shops. We're trying to meet with all of the agrodealers to find out how their businesses are doing and what kind of assistance they feel they need (in terms of training and access to CNFA support).

It's been a really interesting process for me (and I'm only in week one of the three week project). I've interviewed over 20 agrodealers this week. Some of them have big shops in Mzuzu and they are open year round. Some agrodealers have very small shops and they are not open at this time of year (the main growing season will start in November when the rains come). Some of the agrodealers have received grants to purchase different pieces of equipment for processing maize and rice. We visited one maize mill in the hills surrounding Mzuzu this week (it's shown in the pictures). The maize mill processes maize into flour that is then made into nsima, which is the staple food in Malawi. People come to the maize mill and pay a small fee to have their maize ground into the flour. Without the mill, the women will spend hours pounding the maize into flour.

The mill that we visited is run by an agrodealer who is also a teacher. She has put her shop in one of the rural areas surrounding Mzuzu (this is encouraged by CNFA). Her mill has a very small shop attached. The shop sells small quantities of seed and fertilizer. Both the mill and the shop are manned by the woman shown in the photos. She keeps very basic records showing when the mill has been used and the number of electricity credits that were used. She was very happy to pose for a photo. Kids are always keen to pose when they see a camera. Perhaps you can't tell from the photos, but it's quite cold here in Mzuzu and even more so up in the hills.

I'd love to answer any questions you have... so fire away!

Indulging my wanderlust

2009-07-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

Mzuzu!

It's beautiful here in the north of Malawi. Mzuzu is the smallest of Malawi's 'cities' (there are only three). I'm told it's designation as a city was a bit of a political bribe. But, even though it is pretty small it definitely has its good qualities. I have to admit that it doesn't have the bustling vibe that Lilongwe has, but the city has a very neat and tidy feel, and the people are even more friendly and easy going than they are in Lilongwe. The market and the stores are also stocked with lots of good stuff that has come over the border from Tanzania. Lots of people speak English here too, which is a good thing for me because the second most popular language in the north is Tambuka not Chichewa (admittedly, my Chichewa isn't that good either).

Mzuzu is surrounded by forest, which is rare in Malawi because there are so many people in so little space, and wood (often made into charcoal) is the main means of heating and cooking. The forest around Mzuzu is being managed, so depletion here is a little less of a concern than elsewhere. There is also a good timber business here... sort of reminds me of home. Mzuzu is also a little higher in elevation than Lilongwe, so it's a little cold (I need a few blankets at night).

Right now, I'm staying in a little motel just outside of town. My evening journey home is my favourite part of the day. I leave the office and walk five minutes to the market. I work my way through the market picking up my dinner as I go. As I enter the market I buy an apple (a bit of a luxury here - there are local oranges, tangerines, avocados, tomatoes, bananas, and more - but the apples are brought in from South Africa). As I wind my way through the market I'll pick up some combination of popcorn, freshly roasted peanuts, bread, bananas, sweet bread with some kind of sweet topping, local banana bread made with maize flower, and/or a lollipop. I'm not sure if it's a balanced meal, but it is quite delicious and it works well with my current lack of kitchen facilities.

After, I'm finished picking up my dinner I wander across the road to the spot where the minibuses and the taxis stop. The minibuses run long distances, so I share a taxi for the 5 or 6 minute drive out of town. I get dropped off outside of the Mzuzu University (a visit to the university is in my future plans), which is the last spot that the taxis stop. Then, I walk for another 5 minutes or so to the motel. The walk is up one hill and then into a valley. As I walk, the setting sun slides away under the hills in front of me. It's a wonderful way to end the day.

Independence Day in Malawi

2009-07-10T01:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Malawi celebrated Independence Day and I went to Blantyre with some other volunteers to check out the festivities. As a side note, Blantyre is the biggest city in Malawi. It has a little bit of industrialization, and a city centre! (an exciting feature). The first President of Malawi (Hastings Kamuzu Banda - president from 1963 to 1994) decreed that there be no building taller than one story in Lilongwe (the capital city - and the city where I live). So, Lilongwe has the feel of a very, very large village or town rather than the grandeur of a capital city. All this is changing though - there is a promising amount of building going on in Lilongwe.

Three other volunteers and I headed to Kamuzu Stadium on Independence Day (Monday July 6th) to see the celebrations that had been planned. We arrived a little bit late (I think we got there around 9am) and joined one of the many lines snaking away from the building. Unfortunately, about a half an hour after we got there they closed the doors and we found out that we weren't going to get in. The stadium has a capacity of 60,000 and you can see from the pictures how many people didn't get in.

From outside the stadium, we watched the current president, Dr. Bingu Wa Mutharika arrive. He was standing in the back of a car waving to the crowds. We also saw a marching band, and some soldiers in formation. The military also put on an explosive show that was very loud (you can see some people covering their ears in the pictures). I could feel the shock waves from the explosions hit me... I guess it also helped to keep the crowd in order.

Sadly, we missed the good stuff that happened inside the stadium. We heard that there was some traditional dancing and much oration. To console ourselves we headed to one of Blantyre's ice cream shops (I think they have two!) and we enjoyed our ice cream tremendously.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Canada Day!

Madalitso

2009-06-30T00:30:00.000-07:00

Thought that I'd introduce you to Madalitso or Mada as everyone calls her. Mada is the daughter of a couple who have worked for my host family on and off over the past few years. (Mada's wearing my glasses in the picture on the left.)

Madalitso's family lived in our house while it was being built and stayed on for some time after it was completed. Mada and her sisters were part of the family for a while, and Phyness (my host family's matriarch) sent Mada to preschool. Mada really enjoyed preschool and loved to come home and share the alphabet amongst other exciting things.

Mada is seven now, and she and her family live a five minute walk from where I stay. Sometimes in the evenings after work I walk over to her house to visit. They have a small house in area that's shared with several other families. They use candles for lighting and charcoal for cooking. They have a well for water. I'm usually welcomed with hugs when I go and visit.

When Mada's family moved out of Phyness' compound they didn't continue sending Mada to school. Education is fairly inexpensive in Malawi. It's supposed to be free, but books and uniforms are necessary and they are not included in the government's free school program. Also, sometimes the education available at the free schools isn't of the highest quality because these schools have very large classes. I was talking to a primary teacher in training and he said that he expects to teach between 50 and 150 students. Imagine a class of 150 grade 1 students! Bedlam!

I decided that I would help to send Mada to school because my host family said that she was very smart and that it was a shame that she wasn't going to school. Mada has started grade 1, but she's behind her school-mates who are two years younger than her. She visits me most Sundays for the little extra help that I can offer. She's learning to speak English very quickly (all school is taught in English). She started responding to my questions almost immediately after she started school (which is much, much faster than I can claim for my Chichewa skills).

She's still working on learning the alphabet and learning numbers, but there's progress. My only hope for her is that she will be able to choose where she wants to go with her life. I think a bit of inexpensive (for me) education will go a long way towards giving her that kind of choice.

Thanks for reading.

A Wedding... nope not mine!

2009-06-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

This weekend I got to attend a Malawian wedding ceremony. I finagled the invitation through other volunteers who are working in Lilongwe. The groom was a co-worker of my friend. However, despite the fact that no one knew who I was I was given 'guest-of-honour' status along with my friends -- which in this case meant that we got good seats.

That's the bride and groom on the left. Neither of them look very happy, but apparently that's part of the ceremony. I haven't managed to find out why that's the case yet. Occasionally, the groom accidentally cracked a smile though so I knew everything was ok.

There wasn't too much romance involved in the ceremony. The bride's family presented the groom's family with a hen, and the groom's family presented the bride's family with a cock. And then there was quite a bit of dancing.

The people on the left are dancing and showering the newly married couple with money. We were told to take lots of small bills to the wedding so that we could take part in the dancing and showering of money. I took lots of 20 Kwacha bills (about 20 cents) and I did some dancing. They even played special music for the 'Canadians' to dance to because they didn't think we could get down to Malawian music.

All in all it was a pretty good time.... and the kids definitely had fun.

Next up are preparations for a visit by our projectdonors AGRA. This means that I had to postpone my trip north. I'll probably head that way in two weeks time.

Happy Canada Day to everyone back home!!!

Photos and Stories

2009-06-17T01:40:00.000-07:00

Report Aftermath...
Our department is relaxing in the happy glow of a report submitted just on time. We're tidying up a few loose ends and doing a little bit of planning for the next few months.

I'm currently planning for a trip up to the north of the country next week. I'll be visiting the office in Mzuzu and spending some time in the field. I'm looking forward to some time in village. Hopefully I can shadow one of our agrodealers and learn a little more about what it's like to do business in Malawi. I might even make a trip to visit another volunteer (and good friend) in Misuku in the very north of Malawi. Andrew's working for a fair trade company called Mzuzu coffee and his placement is very remote. Apparently only Mzuzu coffee vehicles and the ambulance make trips to Misuku. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll make the trip.

Other news...
Well, in the absence of other news I thought that I'd share some pictures. The first two were taken at a big field day a month or so ago. I was a big hit because I had a camera. I took lots of photos - the problem will be if/when I see these people again and they start asking where their photos are.

The first photo is of one of the women who organized the field day. She was very insistent that I take her photo and managed to shoo away other people long enough to get a photo by herself... well mostly by herself.

The second photo is a bunch of boys at the same field day.

The third photo is of Tokafe. She lives at my home. She's belongs to Bob, the guy who cooks and cleans at our house. She isn't actually his daughter but the family looks after as though she is part of the family. When Bob and his wife married and had a child they were given Tokafe to look after. This is very common in Malawi. My co-worker Khumbo just got married and had a baby and she already has three children from her extended family who live with her. As she says, if you're doing well in Malawi then you have to look after members of your family who aren't doing as well as you are.

Tokafe is super cute and very shy. For the first month or so, she would hide every time that she saw me. I couldn't quite figure out how to make friends with her until I bought her a teddy bear (a puppy) at the market. Now we're good friends and she loves to wave at me whenever she sees me.

The picture is of Tokafe taking a bath. She's not too fond of baths at all... but she has a better reason than most. That's cold water in the bucket.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

One convention, one report, and two retreats

2009-06-15T04:02:00.000-07:00

So, I've been absent for a little while... but I do have a really good excuse - I've been busy!

A convention...
At the end of May we had over a hundred and fifty agrodealers in town for a two day conference. They came from all over Malawi (ok Malawi really isn't that big, but still) and attended all sort of workshops. We had speakers from business, banks, universities, a government secretary, and other big wigs. We had a reception (with some dancing - my first dancing in Malawi - yay!), we had an award ceremony, and we had lots of food. I think everyone had a good time, both agrodealers and CNFA staff. I was one of two people heading up planning of the convention, so by the end of things I was pretty exhausted (but happy).

A retreat...
Right after the end of the convention I headed to Senga Bay for an EWB convention. It was fun and work combined in almost equal proportion. The work was pretty easy though, the people were fabulous (20 of us from all over Malawi and Zambia), the sessions were outside in the sunshine (a good number of them were on the beach), and monkeys came to observe how we were getting along. The food was pretty spectacular. We hosted a bake off that featured pizza, carrot cake, and a mexican dinner with fresh guacamole. Mmmm....

A report...
It's semi-annual reporting time at CNFA. This means that we in the monitoring and evaluation team have been putting all of our energies into a long report that will make its way to our donor AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), which receives most of its funding from Mr. Bill Gates. Reporting is a fact of life in development - that doesn't mean that it's fun though. (I'm just about to leave work now and it's just after 8:30pm).

Another retreat...
Last weekend the CNFA staff headed off to Senga Bay (yup, I was there two weekends in a row). We spent the weekend reviewing the activities of the past year and planning for the upcoming year. I think it was a pretty productive couple of days... and I managed to sneak in a few swims and walks along the beach. I was suprised how much I missed being by the water, but hopefully I've managed to stock up on lakeside time for a little bit now.

Hope you enjoy the pictures of the lake.

Bees, Bingu, and Bee-lining it...

2009-05-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

Bingu...
I'm writing this post while enjoying the delicious bubblegum-like taste of a lollipop that came wrapped in DPP blue with Bingu's head on it. After all the speculation about the elections and instability we had a very quite election week. Even the Malawians that I've talked to have been surprised how quiet voting day and the subsequent days have been. I would call it a small victory for Malawi. Free, fair, and peaceful elections.

The victor in the elections is most certainly Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika and the DPP. He has moved from a minority government to a majority government. Apparently the DPP has been struggling to implement a lot of its plans because they only had the minority. It also seems like a lots of political old-timers lost their seats. So, Malawi is in for a little bit of a shake-up, which I think is good. (Also, I'm happy Bingu gets to stay around for a little bit longer - if only to save on the cost of photos and the like - it seems that every public building in Malawi is graced with a photo of Dr. Mutharika).

Bees...
It appears that there are a band of rogue bees on the prowl in Lilongwe. Several other volunteers managed to wander into the middle of a swarm of bees last Sunday. They were chased down the street by bees for several hundred meters and were only rid of the bees when a quick thinking Malawian sprayed them down with bug spray and helped them into the showers of the guesthouse where they were staying. Luckily, I missed the bee attack. But, I was around to go and get several tubes of bee sting cream and some antihistamines for the not so lucky ones. I got a ride with the guesthouse owner and it was a bit of a surreal experience... there were cars running in the street with their doors open (because the bees had gotten in through the open windows as the cars drove through the swarm - and owners abandoned the vehicles). This might be a little odd in Canada, but is really weird here, because everything is gated. Theft is definitely a fact of life. You don't see cars with their windows down let alone in the middle of the road with the doors open and the keys in the ignition.

We were told later on that someone had destroyed two hives without trying to kill the bees first.. thus a bunch of angry bees were unleashed on the world. There were reports of bees disrupting voting lines in Lilongwe on Tuesday, so I guess it took a while for them to get over their outrage at having been un-housed.

In case you're worried everyone was ok. Just a few stings here and there.

Bee-lining it....
Also, on the weekend I went for a little 12 km run for the Lilongwe Wildlife Sanctuary. It was a lot of fun. There were about 150 of us I think, and I would say we were about 75% Malawians, and 25% azungus (that's what they call us foreigners here). I had a great time and got lots of encouragement from people on the streets. I think the fun run is a new concept here in Malawi, but I would say it shows a lot of promise. However, if you're ever planning such a run... please don't start it at one o'clock in the afternoon.... it's just ridiculously hot (it even got to the Malawians).

Till next time.... =)

Going to the Polls tomorrow....

2009-05-18T04:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is election day in Malawi. The lead up to the election has actually been pretty exciting and full of political maneuverings. The incumbent President is Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika. He's been in power for 5 years and he seems to be doing a pretty decent job. It's pretty difficult for me to judge of course, but Lilongwe is undergoing some pretty significant growth. For example, we're getting our first big department store. It should be finished some time next year and would be the equivalent of Walmart in Canada I think. Some might not see this as a really positive step and I'm not really a fan of Walmart type stores (as those who know can testify to), but here it feels like a step forward. It means more jobs for people. There are also many other buildings and homes being built. Bingu, as he is called here, has also invested in road infrastructure. Five major roads have been built in Bingu's time, which are pretty much essential for development. Imagine a 200 km drive taking 10 hours! However, Bingu has used public funds to finance his campaign. His party, the DPP, has posters, buttons, flags, hats, and chitenjes (cloths that local people wear) everywhere. He's also used several Hummers to transport his campaigners around Malawi. The picture shows a DPP flag in one of the markets.

The main challenger for President is John Tembo. He has formed a coalition with past President Bakili Muluzi and it appears that the coalition has a fighting chance against Bingu. Muluzi is an interesting character who was president for two terms from 1994 to 2004. Malawi's constitution says that a president may only serve for two consecutive terms and Muluzi has been in the courts for the last several months trying to win the ability to run again on the grounds that he took a brake from being president and another term should be considered as independent of the previous two consecutive terms. So far, the courts have turned him down. But! he's now in an alliance with John Tembo and they're hoping to win the election, although critics say the two don't have much in common politically.

Although, the last few elections here have been calm this one is definitely a little more contentious than in previous years. I've heard different speculation about what's going to happen over the next few days. Everyone seems to agree that it will all work itself out over the next few days and be calm again by the end of the week. I'll be tucked away safely at home whatever happens and I'll update you soon!

Welcome back to Mulanje Mountain: The Saga

2009-05-17T05:44:00.002-07:00

We woke refreshed and raring to go after 4 1/2 hours of sleep. We weren't quite sure how far we were going to have to go or how much of an elevation gain we had to look forward to but we were excited. After a little bit of trouble finding a minibus that was going in our direction (apparently the bigger bus that we'd be planning on left at 6am not 7am) we were on our way to Mulanje. Minibus journeys are usually a little cramped (they more people they can fit into the bus the more money they make), but in this case the journey was very pleasant and broken up by people selling fresh macadamia nuts when we stopped.

Once in the village nearest Mulanje mountain we immediately found a guide to take us up the mountain. Our guide's name was
Besta and he helped us get ready for our hike. We found the local market and stocked up on excellent hiking foods like oranges, boiled eggs, and rice and we were off. We decided that we probably didn't need any of the small fried mice that they were selling at the entrance to the market. Our collective reaction to the little fried mice was mostly 'are those what I think they are'. Sometimes being a vegetarian is such a good excuse for being a coward when it come to the local cuisine.

At the base of the mountain we signed the log book and found out what we were up against. Day one: 6 km of distance and 1.3 km in elevation gain. Easy peasy! Right away climb began and my poor out of shape body started to question the whole climbing up a mountain idea. It was very hot and very steep. But, we soldiered on, took several breaks, and eventually the views started to get pretty fantastic. The pictures really don't do it justice, but hopefully you can get a little bit of an idea from looking at them. Every time we came to a stream we stopped for an extended break. Besta told us that we were 'fast' compared to his other clients but somehow I think that his strategy was that a little bit of flattery wouldn't go amiss. We finally arrived at our 'hut' just after dusk. Our hut turned out to be more of a cabin, with beds, blankets, pots, and a watchman. Quite nice actually when you're arriving after dark. We ate well that night (rice, boiled eggs, and oranges are delicious in combination) and the only sour note of the day was when Mike joked about having chocolate with him.

The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed up for another hut on the other side of the mountain. Mulanje is actually a section of igneous rock (?... I think). It started out at the same level as it's surroundings, but being harder than its surroundings, has grown higher and higher over the years. So, Mulanje is a fairly large area with several peaks. We decided to head a really interesting peak 3 or 4 hours away. The walk was much more relaxing on the second day and we walked pretty slowly and took lots of breaks to enjoy the views. We arrived at our hut around 1pm and decided to be lazy and enjoy the rest of the day at the hut rather than trying to rush and climb any of the surrounding peaks.

The hike down on the last day was probably the most strenuous day of all. The path that we took down was spectacular, but extremely steep. My legs resembled jelly by the time we were done. I would say it was all worth it for the views though. We started early and made it to the base of the mountain by 10 am. The minibus that we found for the trip back was a little bit less comfortable, I had zero mobility and Mike didn't move for fear of crushing the chicken sleeping underneath his seat, but we arrived safely back in Blantyre by lunchtime and treated ourselves to a delicious post hike lunch.

A fantastic trip all in all.

Stay tuned for pre-election coverage.

Off to Mulanje

2009-05-12T23:53:00.000-07:00

Hey All!

This blog post has been a long time coming. Although I've had the best of intentions I've been extremely busy at work and somehow posting here has kept sliding down my list of things to do. Because I've waited so long I have a lot to tell.... so I'll divide it into bite sized chunks. First up, the journey to Mt. Mulanje.

Just over a week ago, I set off for Blantyre in the south of Malawi to climb Mt. Mulanje. I left Lilongwe on a Thursday night. My travel companions were Garrett, Alynne, and Graham. Garret and Alynne have been in Malawi since November last year. They are both Engineers Without Borders volunteers working in the water and sanitation area (EWB has two different programs in southern Africa - agriculture and value chains, and water and sanitation).

Garret is working with the district government trying to map the location of all of the water pumps that different non governmental organizations (NGOs in development speak - think World Vision, UNICEF amongst many others) have installed. Maintenance of these pumps is often not properly considered when the pumps are installed, and currently no one organization knows where all of the pumps are located. I see people using the pumps on a daily basis and I know that they do really help rural Malawians, but currently only 70% of them are working.

Alynne was working with another local Malawian NGO that installed water pumps in the semi-urban areas surrounding Lilongwe. Her placement with that organization has just finished and she'll be starting work with PLAN (an international organization that has a child sponsorship program in Canada I think). PLAN is moving into the area of Community Lead Total Sanitation (CLTS to those in the know). CLTS is the new wave in sanitation work. It is pretty controversial because it involves using shame to get a community to use latrines and wash their hands. However, if you really think about why do you use a toilet and wash your hands afterwards. What techniques did your mum employ? (Or for the mothers and fathers amongst you - what techniques did you employ to get your kid to wash his hands?).

And Graham... I met Graham on Thursday night. He's Garrett's brother and he's in Malawi visiting for three weeks. He's having a great time by the way... so if any of you are pondering a trip to visit me you too could have a fantastic time.

So.... back to the actually journey part. We made our way to the bus station on Thursday night after work and we were quickly approached by the people who make it their business to get you onto their bus. We found the most full bus that was heading for Blantyre and got on to wait. Most buses in Malawi don't leave on a schedule, they start their engines and honk a lot to attract people initially and then sit and wait until they are full before they leave for their destination. We were pretty lucky on this occasion and only ended up waiting about half an hour (I've had to wait 3 1/2 hours before). So we set off from Lilongwe around 8:30pm. This bus happened to be pretty uncomfortable. For about half of the trip I only had about half a seat. However, I consider myself extremely lucky to have the ability to sleep just about anywhere, so I slept for almost the entire way to Blantyre. I was woken now and then when the bus stopped to let people off and pick a few people up. At these stops (even in the middle of the night) people come up to the bus and sell things to you through the windows. You can buy nuts, fruit, drinks, donuts, and other snacks without even leaving your seat. Convenient!

We arrived in Blantyre around midnight. We walked the short distance to the closest hostel to meet the fifth member of our party, another EWB volunteer called Mike. (As a side note, most of the other passengers on our bus stayed on the bus and spent the night there - it saved them money because they didn't have to pay for a place for the night.).

Mike is another volunteer who works in water and sanitation. He works for a rural Malawian NGO called Freshwater that provides water pumps to even more rural villages. Mike's role at this organization was to oversee a leadership transition. The founder of the organization is retiring and EWB's role is to help make the transition as seamless as possible.

We met up with Mike in the hostel where he was dozing on the couch waiting for us. After checking into the hostel we decided that an early start was in order. We decided to be back at the bus station at 7am, and headed to bed around 1:30 am for a solid 4-ish hour sleep.

My host family

2009-04-29T22:23:00.000-07:00

Thought that I share with you some pictures of my new host family... well not quite so new actually. I've been living with them for almost three weeks now. And, everything is going swimmingly.

First, the lovely Phyness. Phyness is Director of Programs for the north (the country is divided into three regions: north, centre, and south) at CNFA. Phyness started her career as a home economics instructor with the Malawian Ministry for Gender. While she was working for the government Phyness was offered the opportunity to go on several training courses. She's travelled to Ghana for training and taken a degree in Business Administration from Durham College in England (both through government, or NGO programs). In total, Phyness spent 20 years working for the Malawian government and finished her career there as assistant to the Minster for Foreign Affairs. In her various roles with the government Phyness has travelled to Japan, England, America (New York!), and throughout Africa. She's been taking very good care of me.

Next, the delightful Diverson. Diverson has become my running partner for the last two weeks. He is very kind and runs slowly for me so that I don't keel over too quickly. Diverson works for World Vision in the accounting department. He is working on his CFA (I'm not an accountant so I'm a little unsure of the correct set of letters I should put together there). Diverson is getting married this September so his attention is currently a little bit diverted from his studies. Along with the work that Diverson does for World Vision, he also raises chickens (mkuku) for meat, and chickens for eggs. Right now, we've got seven cute little chicks running around the yard (I just appreciate them now and try not to think about where they're headed).

Sylvia has quickly become a good friend, and she is an excellent Chichewa tutor (and translator when necessary). Sylvia has a degree in marketing and she has done some work at hotels in Lilongwe and at NGOs in Lilongwe. Currently, Sylvia is running her own business. She travels within Malawi buying goods (mainly clothes) where they are cheaper and then re-selling them where they are more costly. She also travels to South Africa once a month to buy clothes, handbags, and requested items for resale in Malawi (this seems to be a fairly common practise - lots of things are available in South Africa that don't seem to be readily available here). Sylvia is a fantastic cook and she wants to open her own restaurant or guesthouse some day.

Finally, Bob! Bob and I communicate in a pretty basic fashion. I speak very little Chichewa and he speaks even less English. On the days when Diverson is away (for work) Bob and I run together. Bob is even faster than Diverson (apparently he played soccer when he was younger) and so now I can say 'slowly', and 'I'm tired' in Chichewa. Bob is almost as new at the house as I am. He cooks and cleans for the family and is in general a very nice guy to be around. His wife and new baby will be coming to stay with us next week.

That's it for now. This weekend is a long weekend and I'm heading to Blantyre to climb Mt. Mulanje. It is supposed to be beautiful. I'll update you next week!

Field Day Goodness

2009-04-28T22:51:00.001-07:00

As a little aside to begin this post... this morning I was walking to the market area near where I live to catch a minibus to get to work. On my way I walked past an open air butcher. He was preparing (the gentle way of saying it) a goat. Hanging beside the goat that he was working was a goat's head (perfectly preserved, but without a body). My soft vegetarian's heart wept a little for the poor goat.

Last Friday, I went to a pretty fantastic field day in Nkhota Kota (north-east of Lilongwe and along the shores of Lake Malawi). Fields days are intended to get farmers out and to show them how different seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides work in the area that they are farming. Each field day happens at a demonstration plot where different types of seed (usually maize (corn for non-famers like me!)) are grown. From what I can tell a field day is part marketing campaign and part educational seminar.

From CNFA's perspective the field days are to help the agrodealers in the area promote their products and increase the number of farmers that purchase agricultural inputs (like hybrid seeds). Last week's field day had about 500 farmers in attendance, and representatives from several supply companies like Monsanto (sets off alarm bells I know - but I haven't yet gathered any negative reports about them in Malawi), Seed-Co. It also had many chiefs from local villages (the highest ranking chief in attendance was a woman), and many representatives from government. Best of all CNFA didn't do any of the work organizing the day, it was all done by a the local agrodealer (this the model CNFA is trying to work towards).

I can't say that I did much that was useful at the field day, but I did enjoy myself. There were presentations, discussion, skits, and dancing. I took lots of pictures, which I hope you enjoy.

I've moved...

2009-04-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

My new place
I've moved out of central Lilongwe to Area 25 (it's what I'd call a slightly unimaginative naming scheme). It's definitely a little bit of longer distance to work now, but it the move has its perks. Chief among the perks is the fact that I'm living with my co-worker Phyness Thembulembu. She and her family have been extremely kind in welcoming me into their home. Phyness is a very successful Malawian so the house is pretty luxurious. I'll probably move later in the year so that I can get a feel for the living experience of a more typical Malawian, but for now I'm just enjoying having such a great place and great people to live with.

My host family
My host family has 3 human members, 4 canine members, 1 feline member, and an honourary member called Bob. The head of the family is Phyness. As I mentioned Phyness works at CNFA, where she is Director of the Northern Region. Phyness has four children: Nicholas, Devison, Sylvia, and Mercy. Luckily for me, Devison and Sylvia live at home so I have a bit of company around my age (Devison is 31-like me, and Sylvia is 23). Devison is in accounting and works for World Vision in Lilongwe, and Sylvia has a diploma in marketing and is currently running her own business where she travels to Johannesburg and buys goods and then resells them in Lilongwe. Sylvia in particular has been really fantastic about looking after me and helping me learn about all things Malawian.

I've also made friends with the 4 dogs whose names are Zambani, Thunder, Storm, and Black. The dogs are mostly around for guard duty I think, but they manage to sneak the odd pet. They've gotten used to me now so I'm enjoying giving out a fair number of pets and back scratches. The cat's name is Tweetie (like the cartoon). I'm not so sure I've made friends with Tweetie yet. He's cute, but inclined to randomly swat at you as you walk by. Perhaps I'm just a dog person.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly is Bob. Bob works as a live-in cook and cleaner at the house. Bob doesn't speak any English, so any communication that I've had with him has been limited to what's been translated and my extremely limited Chichewa. However, I look forward to getting to know Bob much better in the near future.

Chichewa
Sylvia, Phyness, and Devison have been extremely helpful in assisting me on my new mission to learn Chichewa. Although a large number of people in Lilongwe are very proficient English speakers (including my co-workers, and my host family) most people speak little to no English (like Bob). Most of the time if I'm speaking to an agrodealer at work the conversation has to be translated for me. Right now my learning quest has led to the point where I can competently say 'hello', 'how are you', 'I'm fine', 'see you tomorrow', 'how much is it', 'have a good day', and 'good night'. However, I'm adding to my vocabulary every day. I'm sure I'll be fluent in the very near future!

Running
I seem to have found a new running partner in Devison. I mentioned that I was interested in running in the morning to the family and they suggested that Devison would be good company.... so far Devison seems willing. The only catch is that we try to leave the house for work at 6:45 am every morning, so this means that running has been scheduled for 5:10 am. The sunrise was beautiful this morning.... perhaps the experience will convert me into a morning person. I'll keep you updated.

Kuwale Pictures

2009-04-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Time flies!

I thought I'd put up some pictures from a walk in a neighbourhood in the outskirts of Lilongwe. A better update is coming soon.Sadly, the Wisdom Shop was closed.

Work with CNFA

2009-03-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

So... first things first. Who, or what is CNFA? CNFA is an NGO (non-governmental organization) that is working to promote the presence and success of agro-dealers in Malawi. An agro-dealer is a business person who sells seeds, fertilizer, and herbicides (in any combination) to rural farmers. The idea behind the project is that the use of hybrid seeds (rather than locally produced, and often recycled seeds), fertilizer, and herbicides will boost the yields of the rural farmer and make them food secure. In fact, last year the government subsidized fertilizer for all farmers in Malawi and the country had a food surplus for the first time in many years. CNFA's work in this area is key because agro-dealers provide the link between big commercial suppliers and rural farmers.

(small disclaimer: CNFA stands for Citizen's Network for Foreign Affairs but no one here ever uses the full name so I won't either.)

What am I doing at CNFA? Glad you asked! My official title is Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) coordinator. I'm working with two other people on M&E. Our current job is to review the current system and suggest areas for improvement. The new M&E system will be used both to feed information back to the project donors and to help improve decision making within CNFA. One of my co-workers is also new to the project and specializes in GIS (geographic information systems). Part of the new system will be to generate a map of all of the locations of the agro-dealers. This map will be used to improve market knowledge and get more information to the input supply companies. Already, I've been up to all sorts of exciting activities with CNFA... but I'll save that goodness for the next post.

Thanks for reading!

Senga Bay

2009-03-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I spent a rather magnificent few days with 18 other EWB volunteers in Senga Bay on the shores of Lake Malawi. I left a little later than everyone else so that I could spend a little more time at work (I was rather new in the job at that point - 3 days in - as compared to my current mature status of 6 days whole days).
The journey began with an hour waiting for my minibus to fill up, and then a slow climb into the hills near the lake. The sun was just beginning to set when we approached the town of Salima, where I needed to transfer to some form of transportation in order to get to Senga Bay. My minibus was painfully slow at climbing each hill, moving almost at walking pace as we approached the crest of each hill and then accelerating unchecked to the beginning of the next hill. Just after dusk, we pulled into the little town of Salima. When I got off the bus I was surrounded by people trying to fill their pick-up trucks with people for the ride to Senga Bay. Problem of how to get to Senga Bay - solved. I jumped into the back of the pick-up truck and we sped off into the night. The short journey to Senga Bay was entrancing: the evening was warm, the breeze from sitting in the bed of the truck was just the right amount of cool, the company was intriguing (no one seemed to speak English), and the sky was once again full of lightening. As we were nearing the guesthouse where I was going to be staying our pick-up truck was stopped by two vans that were repairing the overhead electricity cables that provided power to a village along the road, and to my guesthouse. Getting out to investigate I was told the guesthouse was only "300m" further on, so I paid off my pick-up and started out. I was accompanied by the guy who been stopped in the car in front of us. He joined me for what I'm guessing was about a kilometer and a half walk, and on the way I learned he was a Malawian solider who'd trained with the U.S. Marines, and served in Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda. A pretty good escort I think!The retreat itself was wonderful. I got to meet all of the other volunteers working in Malawi and Zambia. I learned a little more about what everyone else was doing and how everybody's projects are related. I ate some delicious food (we had some great cooks). I got to sit in some really interesting workshops, workshops that were so interesting that we had monkeys peering in the windows trying to get in on the learning. I swam in Lake Malawi and played a little beach volleyball at the end of a hard day's learning. I'm already looking forward to the next retreat and I hope you enjoy the pictures that I took.

Thanks for reading!

Arrival

2009-03-16T08:48:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

So, I’ve been in Africa for two weeks (to the day today) and I haven’t managed to post on my beautiful new blog. Terribly antisocial behaviour I know... some people have even been asking after a blog update... admittedly a very small number of people. Anyhow, let the update begin!

I’ve had the good fortune to visit both Malawi and Zambia in the last two weeks. My first week was spent at Mabuya Camp (a hostel) in Lilongwe. The week was the ‘drop you in the deep end’ type of training that is a particular favourite of EWB. My co-trainee and I were sent out on various challenges that took us into the local markets and into the villages surrounding Lilongwe. I’ll try and write about some of the people that I met in later posts.
Then, it was off on a 13 hour odyssey to Lusaka, Zambia. I made the journey by myself, which added a small excitement factor... but everything went quite smoothly (or at least as smoothly as things go here). In Lusaka, I was met by Hans another EWB volunteer. I spent the week with him learning about what his organization (PROFIT) does. PROFIT’s project is very similar to the project that I will be working with and Hans does almost the same job that I will be doing. All in all I learned a lot and I met a lot of great people. Plus, Hans taught me how to ride a motorbike! I have video... so I might try to upload that at some later date when I have a better internet connection.

Yesterday, Thulasy (another EWB volunteer) and I made the great trek back to Lilongwe. The day before, we bought tickets for the direct bus that was scheduled to leave at 9am. Eventually, the bus left just after noon. This meant that we were still driving through Zambia after dark. Lightening storms are far more frequent here, and they last for hours. Rural Zambia has no electricity. The lightening was fantastic. Night clouds, trees, and a gently rolling landscape appeared every few seconds and then fell back into blackness.Today, I am collecting myself and resting at Mabuya in Lilongwe. Tomorrow I start work. Soon after that I will have to find myself a place to live... and then perhaps life will find some normalcy.

Test Post

2009-02-26T15:28:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

This is a test