It's official I've been approved for a third year extension. I signed the contract for my third year yesterday. I'm really excited to see how I can build on the foundation I have laid over these past two years. But first I'm going on vacation! That's right I have two months of saved up vacation that I'm going to lose if I don't use it by May. So I'm blowing it all in one shot, and joining my friend WIz on his COS trip (close of service).
Our plans are vauge and the road ahead looks long, but we are determined to ride bikes all the way to South Africa. We both bought new bikes; he has a trek 3900 that has been dubbed calypso after the Caribbean goddess of the sea, and mine is a big purple GT hybrid that I bought off a German ex-pat. Wiz rode from his sight to Lilongwe, while I replaced the shifter on my bike, and made some fun modifications with Mike Fong in Mzuzu(now its the frankenbike).
I rode down the Vipya escapment to Nkhata Bay last week to get my Scuba certification. Malawi is the cheapest place in the world to learn to scuba dive, but it is also a fascinating place to dive. during our eight dives we saw all sorts of siclids; like mouth breeders which swim around with there babies in there mouth, only spitting out the school of tiny fish when they want to eat, then when a predator comes they swoop in sucking up all the little fellas...pretty awesome to see in real life. A lot of the things featured on the Lake Malawi section of BBC's Planet Earth, we got to see throughout the course. And now I have my open water padi card, so we can both go diving in Mozambique.
From Nkhata Bay I rode to Dwambwazi to stay with Alex Coburn a health volunteer who hosted me graciously. The highlight of the that ride was flying down the hills in the rubber tree plantations. there wasn't a sole for most of it, and all I could here was the wisping of the wind through trees...hauntingly beautiful. I got stuck in the rain a lot, so the next morning I took an early morning Axa bus from Dwambwazi to Salima, where I started riding again. It was a 100km ride, but the hills made it seem endless. I got to Lilongwe at dusk and took a much needed bath.
We've been here the last couple days, preparing for the journey, but now we are setting out for the big trip south to the coast of Mozambique. I'll make posts when ever I have access, but I'm sure my writing will be rushed and difficult to decipher. So bear with me, I look forward to sharing this adventure, so please check in on my blog every now and then... and enjoy!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Mama Carr comes to Malawi
It finally happened... somebody from my family finally managed to make it to Malawi. My Mom touched down in Lilongwe March 5th. Though she was only here for two weeks, I think we did a pretty good job of making an all inclusive whirlwind tour of the warm heart of Africa for next to nothing. My Mom's so sweet she didn't even want to kill me after bouncing matolas, sketchy stick bridges over flooding rivers, or the hundredth mini-bus ride.
After a couple days of rest in Lilongwe we high-tailed it all the way up to Mwazisi so we could spend my Mom's 60th birthday with my friends in Mwazisi. It was a hell of a long day of busing, but Mom took it all in stride and just laughed as she was stuffed in a minibus with 20 other sweaty passengers "This is such an adventure", she said to my relief. I had organized for my friends to greet her as she arrived on the Matola with happy birthday signs and dancing, but a couple days after I left to pick her up a friend of mine was struck by lightning, and his funeral was the day we arrived, so thankfully my friends had the good taste to cancel the celebrations. Instead we had a smaller low key celebration inside my house with some of my best friends Nya Nfuni, Nya Mbowe, Mr. Kaiyera, Nya Matika, Nya Nchese, Mr. Zgambo, and Mr. Gondwe. Those names mean nothing to most of you, but anybody who has been to my village knows that's a pretty good mixed bag of Mwazisians. We ate two chickens, a bucket of Nsima, and plenty of good Malawian delecacies. It was a birthday she certainly won't soon forget. Nya Matika's grandchildren read her a poem about motherhood, and we all sang to her which brought her to tears of joy. It was great!
The next couple of days I took her around and showed her all my projects, and introduced her to enough people to make her head spin. The highlights were finding that my fish pond managed to get stocked with fingerlings (baby fish) while I was away picking her up in Lilongwe, planting trees with my wildlife club, and Mom teaching nya Nfuni how to cook eggplant parmigiana, minus the parmigiana. From Mwazisi we went to Vwaza game reserve. We decided to hire one of the local matolas so that we could bring along some of my best friends, and because I'm a cheap skate, and the truck was so big we invited anybody else who wanted to join in if they paid 200 kwatcha, which attracted about 60 people. It turned out to be another great trip to the Game reserve. We only saw a few animals (hippos impala, and kudu), but everybody really seemed to enjoy themselves. The guys played a football match against the park staff, while the ladies played netball with the wives of the park staff, and everybody got their pictures taken in front of Lake Kazuni, and the hippos. Everybody else went back on the Matola while my Mom and I got to stay in one of the park's huts for free since I have been working with the game reserve. It was surreal falling asleep to the groans of hippos on the full moon night.
The next stop was Tukombo on the lake shore, which is my friend Wiz's site. I really wanted her to see the lake, but am too cheap to stay at a lodge, so Wiz was the logical choice. He hosted us great and fed us full. Mom got to swim, and we lounged on the beach for an afternoon which was really nice.
The next day we had an epic day of Malawian transport (we'll just say it was an adventure) to get to Mua Mission, a Catholic Mission in Dedza. The Mission has been transformed into a cultural Museum by Father Paul Boudreux a French Canadian priest who really believes in the Vatican II philosophy of embracing the worlds cultures, and adapting the liturgy to each culture. He has been here for twenty five plus years now, and is an authority in Chewa and Ngoni culture. He is particularly focused on guli wankulu dancing which is sort of a secret society in chewa culture. People talk about the guli dancers in hushed tones, and tell stories about them meeting in the woods, snatching children, and generally partaking in witchcraft, but they have many improtant ceremonial dances for rites of passage, funerals, and such. One of the best things about Mua is the art, the father is an artist, so he has made the mission into a carving and sculpting center. It seemed like everybody living there was a carver, and the mission is filled with beautiful and bizarre statues around every corner.
From Mua we went down to Zomba to stay with my friend Mark who works for USAID and booked the US Ambassadors cabin on Zomba Plateau for the weekend. The cabin was great, and the plateau is incredible, we could see all the way to Mulange on the way up. There are f pine trees that were planted on top, so with the cool weather and lakes, I felt like I was back in Colorado. We just chilled out at the cabin with Mark and some other friends; Bright and Cathrine two other environment volunteers, Tim who's working for the Clinton foundation, and Justin a South African anthropologist. We barbecued rabbit and chicken, got our fill of wine and beer, and deserted on the plateau's array of strange berries. It was great to just chill out with my Mom and friends.
I had one last bash with my Mom and friends at Mufasa's bar before putting her on the plane with a headache. I think she had a great time the whole time she was here, and it was really great for me to have her. I needed a vacation, and it was great spending it with my Mom. Most of all it was just great sharing my world here with a loved one. Now she at least has perspective as to what the past two years of my life have been all about. Sharing it with her, reminded me of how lucky I have been to be where I am, doing what I'm doing. Also her amiability was an inspiration, she must be the most low maintenance person on Earth. Her ever-posative attitude was infectious, and I hope that some of her overflowing kindness wore off on me as I go into my third and final year here.
After a couple days of rest in Lilongwe we high-tailed it all the way up to Mwazisi so we could spend my Mom's 60th birthday with my friends in Mwazisi. It was a hell of a long day of busing, but Mom took it all in stride and just laughed as she was stuffed in a minibus with 20 other sweaty passengers "This is such an adventure", she said to my relief. I had organized for my friends to greet her as she arrived on the Matola with happy birthday signs and dancing, but a couple days after I left to pick her up a friend of mine was struck by lightning, and his funeral was the day we arrived, so thankfully my friends had the good taste to cancel the celebrations. Instead we had a smaller low key celebration inside my house with some of my best friends Nya Nfuni, Nya Mbowe, Mr. Kaiyera, Nya Matika, Nya Nchese, Mr. Zgambo, and Mr. Gondwe. Those names mean nothing to most of you, but anybody who has been to my village knows that's a pretty good mixed bag of Mwazisians. We ate two chickens, a bucket of Nsima, and plenty of good Malawian delecacies. It was a birthday she certainly won't soon forget. Nya Matika's grandchildren read her a poem about motherhood, and we all sang to her which brought her to tears of joy. It was great!
The next couple of days I took her around and showed her all my projects, and introduced her to enough people to make her head spin. The highlights were finding that my fish pond managed to get stocked with fingerlings (baby fish) while I was away picking her up in Lilongwe, planting trees with my wildlife club, and Mom teaching nya Nfuni how to cook eggplant parmigiana, minus the parmigiana. From Mwazisi we went to Vwaza game reserve. We decided to hire one of the local matolas so that we could bring along some of my best friends, and because I'm a cheap skate, and the truck was so big we invited anybody else who wanted to join in if they paid 200 kwatcha, which attracted about 60 people. It turned out to be another great trip to the Game reserve. We only saw a few animals (hippos impala, and kudu), but everybody really seemed to enjoy themselves. The guys played a football match against the park staff, while the ladies played netball with the wives of the park staff, and everybody got their pictures taken in front of Lake Kazuni, and the hippos. Everybody else went back on the Matola while my Mom and I got to stay in one of the park's huts for free since I have been working with the game reserve. It was surreal falling asleep to the groans of hippos on the full moon night.
The next stop was Tukombo on the lake shore, which is my friend Wiz's site. I really wanted her to see the lake, but am too cheap to stay at a lodge, so Wiz was the logical choice. He hosted us great and fed us full. Mom got to swim, and we lounged on the beach for an afternoon which was really nice.
The next day we had an epic day of Malawian transport (we'll just say it was an adventure) to get to Mua Mission, a Catholic Mission in Dedza. The Mission has been transformed into a cultural Museum by Father Paul Boudreux a French Canadian priest who really believes in the Vatican II philosophy of embracing the worlds cultures, and adapting the liturgy to each culture. He has been here for twenty five plus years now, and is an authority in Chewa and Ngoni culture. He is particularly focused on guli wankulu dancing which is sort of a secret society in chewa culture. People talk about the guli dancers in hushed tones, and tell stories about them meeting in the woods, snatching children, and generally partaking in witchcraft, but they have many improtant ceremonial dances for rites of passage, funerals, and such. One of the best things about Mua is the art, the father is an artist, so he has made the mission into a carving and sculpting center. It seemed like everybody living there was a carver, and the mission is filled with beautiful and bizarre statues around every corner.
From Mua we went down to Zomba to stay with my friend Mark who works for USAID and booked the US Ambassadors cabin on Zomba Plateau for the weekend. The cabin was great, and the plateau is incredible, we could see all the way to Mulange on the way up. There are f pine trees that were planted on top, so with the cool weather and lakes, I felt like I was back in Colorado. We just chilled out at the cabin with Mark and some other friends; Bright and Cathrine two other environment volunteers, Tim who's working for the Clinton foundation, and Justin a South African anthropologist. We barbecued rabbit and chicken, got our fill of wine and beer, and deserted on the plateau's array of strange berries. It was great to just chill out with my Mom and friends.
I had one last bash with my Mom and friends at Mufasa's bar before putting her on the plane with a headache. I think she had a great time the whole time she was here, and it was really great for me to have her. I needed a vacation, and it was great spending it with my Mom. Most of all it was just great sharing my world here with a loved one. Now she at least has perspective as to what the past two years of my life have been all about. Sharing it with her, reminded me of how lucky I have been to be where I am, doing what I'm doing. Also her amiability was an inspiration, she must be the most low maintenance person on Earth. Her ever-posative attitude was infectious, and I hope that some of her overflowing kindness wore off on me as I go into my third and final year here.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Another International Steelers Superbowl
The last time the Steelers won the superbowl I was in a small town hotel in the middle of the Pyranees, yelling in bad Spanish for the night watchman to stop changing the station because our TVs were somehow channel synchronized. This time around I was in a Rumphi bar yelling at drunken rastas in moderately better chitumbuka, “chonde chiwawa!”
I was with my friend Lucy a British VSO who didn’t know the first thing about American football, but was kind enough to keep me company for the big game. I tried not to notice that she brought along a book, but I could see that she was unimpressed with the athleticism of American football players being a devoted English soccer fan. She kept commenting on how fat so many of the guys were. I could only defend them by saying, “You wouldn’t believe how strong those guys are, and they need that weight because there only role is to use their bodies to block the other team from getting to the guy with the ball.” Lucy was also utterly frustrated with how much of the time the players were just standing around between plays. Even I was surprised to hear myself explaining “Well you see football is really a thinking man’s game, and all those guys are really strategizing and trying to read what the other team is going to do in the next play.” I could see the disbelief on her face as in two seconds of action everybody smashed into each other, and the quarterback threw an incomplete pass and seemingly absolutely nothing happened.
Lucy was also shocked by how much of the night we were wasting watching advertisements. Again, I felt sheepish explaining that they were seeing different commercials in America, “that are actually so good that some people just watch the superbowl to see the best new commercials.” In fact I felt like I spent the whole first half just defending football and the superbowl experience not just to Lucy but every completely uninterested Malawian within ear shot. I even started thinking to myself maybe this game I spent half of my life playing is kind of silly. But I promptly forgot those self-doubts as I became a jumping and screaming mad man when James Harrison intercepted a pass on the one yard line and returned it all the way for a Steeler’s touchdown. I shared a smile with the guy behind us as he imitated me in his Queen’s English accent, “Go baby Go!”
At halftime I moved into the connected restaurant to get away from the drunks screaming over Bruce Springsteen. I mean, come on man a little bit of respect for the boss! We watched the remainder of the game with the owner of the place, who prompty fell asleep at the beginning of the third quarter. I found myself apologizing to everybody around me, who I was forcing to watch this game that they clearly had absolutely no interest in. I tried to explain, “This would be like if your favourite team was playing in the FA cup, you’d have to watch it right?” I began to express regret for not accepting an invitation to go and watch the game with other Peace Corps volunteers, explaining “I guess you just have to be an American to enjoy this.”
Then the forth quarter came and Curt Warner led the cardinals back into the game, which became exciting enough for some of the waiters to stop sweeping and take notice. The owner was woken up by my moans of misery as the Steelers gave up a safety making the game painfully close. But now everybody was transfixed by the tension of the game as I broke down the situation between each play “OK the team in red is worried about time now, so they’ve stopped strategizing between plays and are just running play after play, in what is called a no huddle offence. “This is so much more exciting. Why do they ever huddle” Lucy asked, “That’s just a conversation you’ll have to have with Peyton Manning.” She also saw the light of American athleticism as she marvelled at the poetry in motion of Larry Fitzgerld gliding through the Steelers secondary. I had a hard time finding the beauty in it myself.
But my spirits quickly changed play by play as the Steelers marched down the field. My screams attracted the owners wife to come in and see what the crazy Azungu was yelling about. “OK OK, now all they have to do is get within that line with the 40 on it, and they can bring in the kicker to tie the game.” But after the Steelers got within the 20 everybody was asking where’s the kicker, why don’t they tie it? “If they get in the red it’s a touchdown, they get six points! THEY CAN WIN! This time when Santana Moss made a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone I wasn’t the only one yelling. My cheers were accompanied by congratulatory slaps on the back from the owner. “ I like when they score touchdowns” Lucy proclaimed, as we watched Haynes Ward run to Rothesburger with his ear to ear smile for a big hug. “I’m glad I watched the super bowl” Lucy admitted as we left, and I agreed “I wouldn’t have rather enjoyed it any other way.”
So congratulations to all you yinnsers out there in Black and Gold country. Raise an Iron City Beer for me, and know that I’ll be swinging my terrible towel the whole motola ride back to the village. I'm thinking about you Carrs, Conways, and Morans, I miss and love yins guys.
I was with my friend Lucy a British VSO who didn’t know the first thing about American football, but was kind enough to keep me company for the big game. I tried not to notice that she brought along a book, but I could see that she was unimpressed with the athleticism of American football players being a devoted English soccer fan. She kept commenting on how fat so many of the guys were. I could only defend them by saying, “You wouldn’t believe how strong those guys are, and they need that weight because there only role is to use their bodies to block the other team from getting to the guy with the ball.” Lucy was also utterly frustrated with how much of the time the players were just standing around between plays. Even I was surprised to hear myself explaining “Well you see football is really a thinking man’s game, and all those guys are really strategizing and trying to read what the other team is going to do in the next play.” I could see the disbelief on her face as in two seconds of action everybody smashed into each other, and the quarterback threw an incomplete pass and seemingly absolutely nothing happened.
Lucy was also shocked by how much of the night we were wasting watching advertisements. Again, I felt sheepish explaining that they were seeing different commercials in America, “that are actually so good that some people just watch the superbowl to see the best new commercials.” In fact I felt like I spent the whole first half just defending football and the superbowl experience not just to Lucy but every completely uninterested Malawian within ear shot. I even started thinking to myself maybe this game I spent half of my life playing is kind of silly. But I promptly forgot those self-doubts as I became a jumping and screaming mad man when James Harrison intercepted a pass on the one yard line and returned it all the way for a Steeler’s touchdown. I shared a smile with the guy behind us as he imitated me in his Queen’s English accent, “Go baby Go!”
At halftime I moved into the connected restaurant to get away from the drunks screaming over Bruce Springsteen. I mean, come on man a little bit of respect for the boss! We watched the remainder of the game with the owner of the place, who prompty fell asleep at the beginning of the third quarter. I found myself apologizing to everybody around me, who I was forcing to watch this game that they clearly had absolutely no interest in. I tried to explain, “This would be like if your favourite team was playing in the FA cup, you’d have to watch it right?” I began to express regret for not accepting an invitation to go and watch the game with other Peace Corps volunteers, explaining “I guess you just have to be an American to enjoy this.”
Then the forth quarter came and Curt Warner led the cardinals back into the game, which became exciting enough for some of the waiters to stop sweeping and take notice. The owner was woken up by my moans of misery as the Steelers gave up a safety making the game painfully close. But now everybody was transfixed by the tension of the game as I broke down the situation between each play “OK the team in red is worried about time now, so they’ve stopped strategizing between plays and are just running play after play, in what is called a no huddle offence. “This is so much more exciting. Why do they ever huddle” Lucy asked, “That’s just a conversation you’ll have to have with Peyton Manning.” She also saw the light of American athleticism as she marvelled at the poetry in motion of Larry Fitzgerld gliding through the Steelers secondary. I had a hard time finding the beauty in it myself.
But my spirits quickly changed play by play as the Steelers marched down the field. My screams attracted the owners wife to come in and see what the crazy Azungu was yelling about. “OK OK, now all they have to do is get within that line with the 40 on it, and they can bring in the kicker to tie the game.” But after the Steelers got within the 20 everybody was asking where’s the kicker, why don’t they tie it? “If they get in the red it’s a touchdown, they get six points! THEY CAN WIN! This time when Santana Moss made a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone I wasn’t the only one yelling. My cheers were accompanied by congratulatory slaps on the back from the owner. “ I like when they score touchdowns” Lucy proclaimed, as we watched Haynes Ward run to Rothesburger with his ear to ear smile for a big hug. “I’m glad I watched the super bowl” Lucy admitted as we left, and I agreed “I wouldn’t have rather enjoyed it any other way.”
So congratulations to all you yinnsers out there in Black and Gold country. Raise an Iron City Beer for me, and know that I’ll be swinging my terrible towel the whole motola ride back to the village. I'm thinking about you Carrs, Conways, and Morans, I miss and love yins guys.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Sticken Around!
I think you all know by now by now that I am extending my contract in Mwazisi. I recently submitted my application and one of the sections asked me to explain my reasons for wanting to extend, so I thought I would post my answer to fill everybody in as to why I want to spend another year of my life in Mwazisi.
These past two years have been a whirlwind, and if I left Mwazisi right now I would consider my Peace Corps service to be a successful one. However I also feel that if I left right now and wasn't replaced then many of the projects I started with community members would most likely begin to putter out, and eventually be forgotten. This is just the nature of most community/group projects here in Malawi. Community projects designed to generate income generally need to be pushed through the first few business cycles in order to work out the kinks of working in a group, and give the parties involved enough of a taste of success to encourage them to continue the project. Peace Corps volunteers are in a unique position of being a part of the community, but also still enough of an outsider to provide a more objective perspective. We are also in a good position to take risks without getting burned both financially and socially if things don't work out.
For me two such projects are the continuation of the Mwazisi Beekeeper's association that I helped start, as well as several tree nurseries from Chitanga to Kwaswamesenga. Both of these projects have seen some success and are building momentum, but I fear that if I leave now these projects will stop functioning. I'm sure that a replacement would keep everything afloat, but I don't want to rely on somebody else to finish off my projects. Additionally a replacement would have the period of adjustment, learning, and finding there place in the community to go through. I will be able to just carry on with what I've been doing so far in my service and have the experience of the last two years of working in Mwazisi as a valuable tool. This experience and understanding of the community dynamics will help me to be an even more effective volunteer in my third year.
Another professional reason for me to extend in Mwazisi is the encouraging development of the Mwazisi Agriculture EPA project. I have been very happy to see how the community has come together to make our project goals a reality. I am especially impresed by the dedication of individuals who have been coming to work on the project day in and day out. For example Matthews Kavisepo Gondwe, a leader in the community came almost every single day for about three months to mold bricks, and continues to help with the construction as a builders assistant, and with digging the fish ponds. The little compensation he has received certainly is not equivalent to the time and effort he has put into the project, yet he still comes each and every day because he wants to have an agriculture office with a competent staff of extension workers in Mwazisi, so that he and his children can benefit from seeing and learning new things. I owe it to people like Kavisepo to stay in Mwazisi and see that the project is finished completely and the EPA gets off on the right foot.
In addition to seeing through our original project goals, in my third year I will also have an opportunity to build on what we have started. For example, if this year’s fish ponds turn out to be very profitable, then we will already have the know how to expand and dig more ponds next year, and we could stock them with the fingerlings from our first pond. Another example would be if the universal groundnut sheller generates a lot of income this year than we can reinvest the profits to buy an oil press to make an even greater profit from the groundnuts we buy off of the farmers. Having a designated agriculture extension area will give us a good base to start new projects like the rearing of dairy goats for a heifer project to distribute goats to responsible interested individuals. There are so many different things I would like to do with the positive social deviants I have identified in Mwazisi. Our previous experience working together will make starting new projects together much easier.
These past two years have been a whirlwind, and if I left Mwazisi right now I would consider my Peace Corps service to be a successful one. However I also feel that if I left right now and wasn't replaced then many of the projects I started with community members would most likely begin to putter out, and eventually be forgotten. This is just the nature of most community/group projects here in Malawi. Community projects designed to generate income generally need to be pushed through the first few business cycles in order to work out the kinks of working in a group, and give the parties involved enough of a taste of success to encourage them to continue the project. Peace Corps volunteers are in a unique position of being a part of the community, but also still enough of an outsider to provide a more objective perspective. We are also in a good position to take risks without getting burned both financially and socially if things don't work out.
For me two such projects are the continuation of the Mwazisi Beekeeper's association that I helped start, as well as several tree nurseries from Chitanga to Kwaswamesenga. Both of these projects have seen some success and are building momentum, but I fear that if I leave now these projects will stop functioning. I'm sure that a replacement would keep everything afloat, but I don't want to rely on somebody else to finish off my projects. Additionally a replacement would have the period of adjustment, learning, and finding there place in the community to go through. I will be able to just carry on with what I've been doing so far in my service and have the experience of the last two years of working in Mwazisi as a valuable tool. This experience and understanding of the community dynamics will help me to be an even more effective volunteer in my third year.
Another professional reason for me to extend in Mwazisi is the encouraging development of the Mwazisi Agriculture EPA project. I have been very happy to see how the community has come together to make our project goals a reality. I am especially impresed by the dedication of individuals who have been coming to work on the project day in and day out. For example Matthews Kavisepo Gondwe, a leader in the community came almost every single day for about three months to mold bricks, and continues to help with the construction as a builders assistant, and with digging the fish ponds. The little compensation he has received certainly is not equivalent to the time and effort he has put into the project, yet he still comes each and every day because he wants to have an agriculture office with a competent staff of extension workers in Mwazisi, so that he and his children can benefit from seeing and learning new things. I owe it to people like Kavisepo to stay in Mwazisi and see that the project is finished completely and the EPA gets off on the right foot.
In addition to seeing through our original project goals, in my third year I will also have an opportunity to build on what we have started. For example, if this year’s fish ponds turn out to be very profitable, then we will already have the know how to expand and dig more ponds next year, and we could stock them with the fingerlings from our first pond. Another example would be if the universal groundnut sheller generates a lot of income this year than we can reinvest the profits to buy an oil press to make an even greater profit from the groundnuts we buy off of the farmers. Having a designated agriculture extension area will give us a good base to start new projects like the rearing of dairy goats for a heifer project to distribute goats to responsible interested individuals. There are so many different things I would like to do with the positive social deviants I have identified in Mwazisi. Our previous experience working together will make starting new projects together much easier.
Proud to be a Peace Corps Volunteer Under President Barack Obama
"To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your
farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed
hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative
plenty,
we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside
our
borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to
effect. For the world has changed and we must change with it."Barack Obama
January 20, 2009
I was in Lilongwe for my group's close of service conference last week and stuck around to watch President Obama's inauguration. I watched it live at the home of the program director of USAID who is a former Peace Corps volunteer and loves watching out for poor volunteers. It was a nice quiet setting to enjoy watching such a historic event.
I'm sure you all saw it so there's no reason for me to recap what he said, but I thought he did an amazing job of capturing the ideals and history that make America such a great country. He also pointed out how we have let those ideals get away from us in the last few years, putting us into all of the problems we face now.
His speech was a call to action for us all as he declared:
"The time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to
reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry
forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to
generation; the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all
deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."
His words are rousing but they mean nothing unless we collectively decide as a country to live up to them. We all need to be prepared to start living like a country at war and in economic crisis. Gone are the days of Bush where the President deals with national crisis by telling us to go out and buy stuff: we have to learn to start sacrificing the lavish lifestyles we have become so accustomed to.
I thought his speech was also a call to service recalling to memory JFK's immortal inaugural words "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." I think now more than ever we need to look at our own lives and see what we can do to help put our country back on the right track again. No matter how big or small we should all find ways to pitch in, whether that means volunteering at the local food bank, or offering our services to teach for America. Equally important the role of child rearing; we must is to devote our time to raising our children to ensure the next generation will value the ideals that President Obama said our countries success depends on: honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism. We all have a role to play and the time to start is now, as Obama said, "Starting today, we must pick our selves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."
As I listened, I thought a lot about the people in my own life who I think live up to Obama's call. I thought about my parents who are going through hard times as my Dad was laid off last year. He has since been hanging on to contract jobs. He remains positive and tells me every time we talk how grateful he is every day that he is able to go to work. My Mom still spends every free hour she has from her job as a cook at the local golf course volunteering with the many charities she's a part of, or supporting my Aunt Kathy who suffers from MS. I also thought of my brother and his wife Meta. Mike is literally working on changing the world as a staffer for the Senate Energy Committee. He is fighting for great ideas to build a sustainable energy system that can support our need for reliable energy without destroying our environment. Meta has devoted herself to raising their two sons, is the President of Logan's Parent Teachers Association, and an all around supermom. Finally as President Obama payed homage to our soldiers saying "they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves" I thought of one of my best friends from home Bobby, who has already served in Iraq, and is now in Army Ranger training.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The Sweet Pandemonium of The Rainy Season
I love the madness of the rainy season, everyday is chaos and catastrophe. This is the one time of the year when everybody seems to be just as busy as I am. You don't see nearly as many people strolling back and forth on the road in the trading center, or the boys sitting in front of every shop either playing checkers or watching the grass grow. Now is the time when folks are busy in their fields, transplanting their tobacco nurseries, or applying fertilizer to their maize.
I've been extra busy this rainy season with the construtction of the EPA dominating the last several months, I spend each morning at the construction site mixing cement and carrying bricks for the builders. To keep up with the rainy season my afternoons are filled with a whole bunch of new seasonal projects like out planting the trees from the tree nurseries or digging our fish ponds. This also happens to be the peak honey season, so I have been helping lots of different people harvest their hives and get their honey to market.When I'm not doing these things with the community, I can generally be found hoeing in my field where I'm mostly growing rizobium inoculated soy beans and some maize along with Tephrosia Vogelli a nitrogen fixing tree to show some different ways people can regenerate soil fertility and start saving money on inputs.
Aside from busyness, the other trademarks of the rains are more mangoes than you could ever want to eat, and snakes appearing in strange places now. Every Mango tree has a growing pile of rotting fruit under it, as the kids can't eat them fast enough. And my neighbor killed a five and a half foot long cobra in his chimbuzi (pit latrine). I skinned it and stretched it out to dry in the sun, now I think everybody thinks I'm practicing witchcraft!
A Village Christmas
It never ceases to amaze me the generosity of poor people. Famalies who have almost nothing to give are ussually the most eager to share what they do have. My Christmas in Mwazisi is proof of that. For Christmas I was given a massive bag of Mangoes, a bundle of bananas, copious amounts of honey from two different beekeepers, a Guinea Fowl, and enough rich food and meat to put my stomach in a rough state on through New Years.
Sharing food is a very important part of Malawian culture, so all of the people who had me over to eat and chat on Christmas really made my holiday. These last few months I have felt like I've been running around like a mad man trying to keep the EPA project on track while always dealing with the chaos of keeping up with farming in the rains. So it was nice just relaxing and hanging out with friends for a few days.
I went to Davey Nysulu's place in the afternoon on Christmas Eve to see his daughter who I named this time last year Patti Mtende Nysulu. They insisted on giving her an American name so I named her after my Mom and gave her a Timbuka middle name which means Peace. I brought over a bag of porridge flour for Patti and a couple children's books sent by my aunt Kathy for the rest of the children. Davey played some Christmas music for me while his wife served me tea, and rice with honey on it, along with chidongwa, a locally made sweet beer made from millet and maize flour.
That night I had dinner with Nya Nfuni and her son Kazito. Nya Nfuni is my neighbor who cooks for me. Usually I buy her food and she just cooks extra of whatever she makes for her family, she brings my food over to my house because she's married and it's not really proper for me to eat over there all the time. Nya Nfuni is by far one of the people I love most in Mwazisi, so I was really happy to spend christmas eve with her and Kazito. We had a good meal of Nsima with eggs cooked in tomatoes and onions as well as my favorite village green, pumpkin leaves cooked in peanut flour. After dinner i pulled kazito on my knee and read t'was the night before Christmas. He enjoyed the pictures but asI tried to translate, i also had to explain why it wasn't scary that this strange man would sneak into your house while you were sleeping. Then i played some Colorado Christmas music my Mom sent from KBCO while we made a stocking for Kazito with a blue sock and decorations and glue that Corie sent to make Christmas crafts. To comfort Kazito I hung the stocking in the kitchen outside so Santa didn't have to come into the house. The next morning Kazito came screeching over, "Santa apokala chawananga!" Santa filled his sock with sweets, biscuits, bananas, and Colorado playing cards...Fancy that!
I went over to Benidicto Gondwe's house for Christmas morning breakfast with his present on my head, a top bar bee hive I made for him. After having tea with his wife's prize Chigondamoyo (a sweet corn bread with sunflower seeds and honey mixed in.... so damn good!) Benidicto gave me a Christmas box with a jar of honey and about 2 KGs of goats meat.
I went for church services at the Catholic Church where Devin a volunteer in Kapenda (within biking distance) found me. I invited him to come down and watch the big football tournament called the Christmas Bonanza. But most of the teams hadn't come yet so they didn't start until the day after Christmas. It was a fun three day tournament that people came from all around to watch. The pitch was packed with folks who carried their lunches and hung out all day watching 6 games a day. Mwazisi's Gam United made it all the way to finals and lost to the town stars in rainy muddy mess that ended in penalty kicks.
Devin and I had our Christmas dinner with the EPA project's chairman Cuthbert Kachali and which turned out to be another stuffing meal. Cuthbert slaughtered a sheep, and his wife Queen must have spent the whole morning cooking, because there was about 6 different pastries and African cakes she baked dutch oven style. After the first few courses I was uncomfortably full, but Queen force fed me untill I think she must have gotten full from watching me eat. The Kachalis live a bit far from me so I stayed the night there after also making stockings with his kids. This time Santa brought balloons, more sweets and Colorado Key chains...Whoda thunk it!
The next morning Cuthbert's son Geoffory, Devin, Cuthbert and I took a hike to check some of his hives. The mountains behind his home were beautiful, and the forest's back there still look pretty virgin, it was a great way to hike off some of the overeating of the past few days. Cuthbert sent me back with an entire sheep's leg which Devin and I butchered and smoked over a fire while we gazed up at one of the best starry night skies I have seen in several months. I couldn't help thinking of how lucky I am to be here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
