Planting time!

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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