The Girls and School

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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!