Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Commenting is now easier
I've been informed that commenting on this blog is kind of a pain because you have to make an account and jump through a bunch of hoops. Therefore, I've opened up the comments section for anyone. So feel free to comment if you have a comment. Just don't get too out of hand or we'll have to revert to the old ways.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Ulendo wa kwathu
I think I’ve already mentioned my trip home next month, and I now have a few more details. It looks as though I will fly out on 20 December and arrive in Minneapolis on the 22nd. I’ll then be in Minnesota until around 13/14 January. I don’t have any concrete plans at this time, but I’ll definitely be spending a lot of time with family and friends. Things I’m looking forward to include (in no particular order): going to the movie theater at least two times, getting a deep dish Top of the Line from Pizza Factory, giving a short presentation about Peace Corps to anyone that is interested at Big Lake High School, watching Bowl Games and college basketball (In the past I would also be interested in watching the Vikings, but for obvious reasons, that’s not the case this year), visiting U of M Medical School (notice-I didn’t write graduate school), not being stared at all of the time, being able to walk around without everyone around me paying attention to everything that I’m doing, drinking good alcohol and coffee, avoiding one month of Malawi’s rainy season, being dumbfounded by the fact that everything is available all of the time, and more than all of these things-seeing family and old friends (it’s certainly been awhile). I suppose there are a few things that I’m not looking forward to: bitter cold, inevitable hassles at the airport during Christmas time, repetitive questions about Africa (but don’t be shy to ask them, I’ll still answer you thoroughly and politely), and not being the most popular person in every room that I walk into (strangely enough this is also something that I’m looking forward to-I guess it will depend on the setting). Most likely, around 13/14 January I’ll be heading east (but not quite to Malawi yet) to New York City to visit some friends for a few days before I fly back to Malawi, leaving NYC on the 18th and getting back to this beautiful chaos we call Malawi on the 20th. I’m really excited about seeing New York. I’ll be meeting up with some good friends that I’ve made in Peace Corps and whomever else I might run into. Actually, I’m really excited about this whole trip. It will be refreshing to get away from Malawi for a month, just enough time for me to binge on America; get sick of it; and run back to my simple life here.
On a different note, last month I went on a little adventure with a few buddies of mine.
We climbed the highest peak in Malawi: Mount Mulanje. It was a lot of fun, with gorgeous views, good exercise, and interesting people along the way. However, it was a lot of work as well. It was about 14 hours climbing up. The first day was the hardest. What is commonly called Mount Mulanje is actually a massif, or giant plateau up in the sky. The first day mostly consisted of getting up onto the massif, climbing out of the hot plains and going up and up for about five hours, and then hiking for a few hours on rolling terrain to a nice chalet provided by the Mulanje Forestry Department. At this point, we were on the massif.
On the massif/plataue there are a handful of peaks, but we had our eyes set on one-Sapitwa. In Chichewa, sapitwa means something like “don’t go.” It’s cool to go up onto the plataue, but you’re asking for trouble if you climb Sapitwa since it is known by locals to be inhabited by unfriendly spirits. Well, the next day, going up Sapitwa, we didn’t run into any spirits (maybe my bandana and polarized shades scared them all away). I’ll admit that I feared for my life a few times. I’m not used to scrambling up mountains, but I steadily built up confidence to the point where I was a bit reckless on the way down and no longer worried about making one small mistake and falling hundreds of feet. The top of Sapitwa, which is the top of Malawi (OK, I know that’s not saying a lot), had a breathtaking panoramic view.
However, as I can imagine is the case climbing most mountains, the arrival on top was a bit anticlimactic. We took our time going down, and thanks to Newton’s invention of gravity, the descent was a lot easier (if my knees and quads had a conscience, they might not agree with this statement). There’s a nice pool/waterfall near the entrance to the park that we used, and we thought it would be wise for us to bathe our disgusting bodies in there before we returned to society. That was the end of the excitement. I then headed back north. I must say that I felt much more safe climbing the mountain than I did traveling back on Malawi’s killer highways with demonic minibus drivers, swindling bus conductors, drunken truck drivers, pot hole polka dotted pavement, and 120 mph BMWs. Nevertheless, I got back to Mitundu, with its easy-to-dodge oxcarts and bikes, in one piece-happy to be safe at home.
I don’t have much more to say right now. Work’s coming along slowly, but things should pick up a lot this month as the funding for our girl’s hostel and food security projects comes in. I’m also getting started with teaching about fifteen secondary school graduates (such as health and agricultural workers, primary school teachers, and other younger adults looking to improve their lot in life) in the evenings. The idea is that I’ll help them with a few subjects, most likely Biology; Physical Science; and Math, so that they can retake the national exams next year, hopefully do better than the last time they took it, and then ideally move forward on their career path. It might be a little chaotic leaving all this behind for thirthy days when I come home next month, but what isn’t chaotic in Malawi?
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err." Mahandas Gandhi
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Zithunzi
This one will be relatively short. I'll include a few pictures here for those of you that prefer to be entertained visually. As a reminder, if you want to look at all of my Malawian pictures, then check out the link to the left. Apparently this isn't obvious to some of you, but the password is "malawi" and the username is my email: bjvonasek@gmail.com.
Our first snap (Malawians call them "snaps" instead of "pictures," this makes me chuckle to myself) shows Bryan's new preferred way of cooking. The local name for this contraption is mbaula. It's designed to be used with charcoal, and that's exactly how I use it. As an environmentally conscious Peace Corps Volunteer, I'm supposed to be against the idea of using charcoal to cook my food. Supposedly, it uses up significantly more firewood than using firewood directly, and because deforestation is such a problem here in Malawi, we're supposed to look out for this kind of stuff. But I like it. Why? One, it's cheap. I bought all of the charcoal in the two bags below for 1000 kwacha (about USD7).
Two, once you get it started, it doesn't produce any smoke. This gives many advantages over cooking with firewood: you can cook (or warm yourself) indoors, no smoke in you eyes, you don't reek of smoke after cooking dinner. Three, it doesn't make black soot all over the bottom of your pots and pans (this is a pain when your cooking with firewood). Four, a little bit of charcoal goes a long way. For this reason, I especially like charcoal for cooking beans since they often seem to need all afternoon to cook. In sum, I say, "Srew the environment, and give me my charcoal." I don't feel so guilty when I contemplate my miniscule carbon footprint. (Guess what-I burn my trash too- good thing there's not very much of it.)
Our next snap here is Bryan's new house. Compared to the one at Chadabwa, this one is very nice. When the wind blows, I'm no longer aftaid that the roof's going to blow off. There's electricity inside (although its not completely reliable and blackouts are frequent). There's a sink,
Our first snap (Malawians call them "snaps" instead of "pictures," this makes me chuckle to myself) shows Bryan's new preferred way of cooking. The local name for this contraption is mbaula. It's designed to be used with charcoal, and that's exactly how I use it. As an environmentally conscious Peace Corps Volunteer, I'm supposed to be against the idea of using charcoal to cook my food. Supposedly, it uses up significantly more firewood than using firewood directly, and because deforestation is such a problem here in Malawi, we're supposed to look out for this kind of stuff. But I like it. Why? One, it's cheap. I bought all of the charcoal in the two bags below for 1000 kwacha (about USD7).Two, once you get it started, it doesn't produce any smoke. This gives many advantages over cooking with firewood: you can cook (or warm yourself) indoors, no smoke in you eyes, you don't reek of smoke after cooking dinner. Three, it doesn't make black soot all over the bottom of your pots and pans (this is a pain when your cooking with firewood). Four, a little bit of charcoal goes a long way. For this reason, I especially like charcoal for cooking beans since they often seem to need all afternoon to cook. In sum, I say, "Srew the environment, and give me my charcoal." I don't feel so guilty when I contemplate my miniscule carbon footprint. (Guess what-I burn my trash too- good thing there's not very much of it.)Our next snap here is Bryan's new house. Compared to the one at Chadabwa, this one is very nice. When the wind blows, I'm no longer aftaid that the roof's going to blow off. There's electricity inside (although its not completely reliable and blackouts are frequent). There's a sink,toilet, and shower (but no running water, we're expecting that sometime within the next decade). All in all, it’s handsome and sturdy, just like the one living inside. However, I’m still worried about the upcoming rainy season because I’ve heard that the roof leaks a lot, but we’ll see what happens.
I’ve should have shown a picture of this a long time ago, but here it is now. This is one of my most prized possessions (though it’s not really mine, I’ve have to return it to Peace Corps whenever I finish my service (if ever?)). Its handsome and sturdy, just like the one that rides it (did I already use that line?). Now that I’m not stuck at school all day, I’m riding it a lot, and I have become attached to it. I wash it religiously every Saturday or Sunday. Its been very reliable; it only failed me once when the old freewheel stopped cooperating last year and I had to push it home four miles. Most Malawians are very confused by the height of the seat, and I always fail to explain to them about the leverage of a fully extended leg.
I’ve should have shown a picture of this a long time ago, but here it is now. This is one of my most prized possessions (though it’s not really mine, I’ve have to return it to Peace Corps whenever I finish my service (if ever?)). Its handsome and sturdy, just like the one that rides it (did I already use that line?). Now that I’m not stuck at school all day, I’m riding it a lot, and I have become attached to it. I wash it religiously every Saturday or Sunday. Its been very reliable; it only failed me once when the old freewheel stopped cooperating last year and I had to push it home four miles. Most Malawians are very confused by the height of the seat, and I always fail to explain to them about the leverage of a fully extended leg."The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn’t permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him." Carlos Casteneda
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Mtako Wowawa
Last post I promised to give ya’ll a brief about what I’m doing with my time now that I’m at Mitundu. OK, here it is. Let’s start with work:
These past few weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time on my bike sweating, getting sunburnt, and covering my khaki pants in dust while moving around the area meeting different groups and trying to get a sense of what kind of NGO and governmental assistance is already going on in the area and to find out where I can help. In this area, which I can generally call Mitundu (although the geographical scope of my work has already gone well beyond the general area of Mitundu (good thing my bike’s and I are both in good shape)), there are a handful of small, semi-competent community-based organizations (CBOs) that have the general purpose of getting funding from the government and other larger NGOs (i.e. UNICEF, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, etc.) and then use this funding to help orphans, elderly, and the sick in a variety of ways. Throughout the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Malawi, these CBOs have a reputation for giving, at most, half of the assistance they claim to be giving and using, at most, half of the money that has been given to them for the purposes it was intended for. It’s easy to call this corruption and theft, but I’ve come to understand that this lack of monetary efficiency (I’ll have to go into this in further detail another time, but in short…) is do to many complicated factors such as disinterest, incompetency, and laziness by the donors themselves; a culture of skimming a little money off the top since you (the worker at the CBO) are usually almost as poor as the people you intend to help; and a general disorganization and lack of understanding between all parties involved. I’ve come to realize that not all of the blame can be put on the CBOs that are “misusing” the money.
Anyhow, during my first two years here, I didn’t have a lot of exposure to these CBOs, and now I am working with them on a daily basis. So far (keep in mind that I haven’t gotten very far yet), its become clear to me that the people working at these CBOs have good intentions and most of them actually do good work, but the general issues they have include a lack of applicable experience, guidance, and knowledge in the area of development and assisting needy people. I’m clearly over generalizing here, but life (not to mention writing blog posts that can be read in less than ten minutes and don’t put your reader to sleep) is so much easier when we over generalize. What I’m trying to get at here are two things. One: I will have a difficult time here working with these people IF (notice: IF) I find that they are more interested in skimming off the top and exploiting donors than helping people and promoting development. Two: I should try to focus on helping these organizations to become more efficient, competent, and honest.
I’ve got two projects started that look as though they may actually be successful, make me proud, and put a chip in the mountain of problems that we have here. To make things easier for me, I’ll just cut and paste the “Basic Description” of my first project, Mitundu Area PLHIV Food Security Project (keep in mind that PLHIV stands for “people living with HIV” and OVC stands for “orphans and vulnerable children”):
This project was initiated by the Grace Foundation PLHIV Support Group, requesting help for funding of farming inputs to provide food security for the upcoming year. Since the initial planning stages, the project has expanded to include five other PLHIV Support Groups in the Mitundu Area.
The basic plan is to plant a total of 12 acres of land. Three quarters of the land will be planted with maize inter-cropped with beans, and the other quarter will be planted with soya beans. The maize, beans, and half of the soya beans will be divided up between the PLHIV members at harvest. The other half of the soya beans will be sold at harvest and this money will be banked to provide funding for next years crop and to provide secondary school fees for OVC.
The training/education plan will include a coordinated effort between Mitundu Youth Organization (MYO), agricultural agents, and the Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). These PLHIV support groups are all affiliated with MYO, which is a 10-year-old CBO registered with the National Youth Council of Malawi. MYO is also the work site for the PCV responsible for this project. MYO will be responsible for assisting the PCV with field visits, assisting the PCV with communication with the PLHIV, and using these PLHIV support groups to help with community awareness and the importance of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). There are four agricultural agents in the area, and they have agreed to help us in any way needed. We have asked them about talking to the group about sustainable farming methods and accompanying us on monthly inspections of the land that is under cultivation. The PCV will be responsible for developing a business plan with various PLHIV groups, encouraging and training the PLHIV in processes to add value to their cash crops, and providing advice, especially in the area of financial management, to ensure that this project is sustainable with no additional donations in the future.
Obviously, this is a farming community, and most of these members are farmers who know their land, the weather conditions, and how to care for crops maize, beans, and soya beans. That along with the technical help of the agricultural agents gives this project a high likelihood of success.
We are requesting VAST Grant funding of $1420.67. The PLHIV groups’ contributions of in-kind and cash have a value of $2204.00. That is a 61% community contribution. Therefore, the total budget for this project is $3624.67. The time line of this project is for the growing season of November 2010-April 2011.
Compared to most projects done by CBOs, NGOs, and the government itself, this is simple and straightforward. Early on in my service, I didn’t really like the idea of handing out money (or things that are bought with money, such as fertilizer, seeds, bags of cement, etc.) to people in this manner. In my short time here, I’ve come to realize that many (dare I say “most”) development projects (from large scale things such as USAID funding the construction of multimillion dollar highway to small scale things such as the construction of a four thousand dollar community library) never get completed, don’t get used for their intended purpose, or are so poorly managed that most of the materials get stolen or never used at all (At this point I feel like I should sincerely apologize for the negative tone of this post. I’m just letting the world know what I see here. Please keep in mind that I don’t go around cursing and yelling at everyone all day, but I am actually very happy, and I strongly believe that my presence here is having a positive effect on the people I live and work with). After seeing these things, one would assume that I am now less inclined to search for donations to do God knows what. There are plenty of things that I could do with my time that wouldn’t require funding. I could teach at the school like I have been doing the past few years. I could do sorely needed book keeping trainings for the local businesspeople. I could go around preaching about condoms, sleeping under a mosquito net, and farming without fertilizer. But I’ve put a string of ideas into my head these past few months that help me to justify what I’m doing:
1) This area is going to continue to get lots of aid money for a long time.
2) That aid money will continue to be mismanaged for a long time.
3) Bryan is awesome because he works with the beneficiaries of this aid money directly, he can kind of communicate with them in their local language, and he works his ass off.
4) This aid money will be best put to use towards projects that are managed by Bryan.
5) Therefore, Bryan should try to get his hands on some of this aid money and put it to good use.
So I’ve been riding my bike around a lot lately trying to get all of these PLHIV groups on the same page and prepared so that starting around December we can start using this fertilizer and seed to produce a lot of food. This food (if God (please pray for Him to allow these things so that I don’t look like a fool) allows the rain to fall in good amounts and in good time, keeps our fields disease and pest free, and encourages thieves to stay away from our harvest) should feed these 105 PLHIV, whom will be doing the farming, and their respective families for about half of the upcoming year. In addition to this, they will be farming their own land so HOPEFULLY (notice: HOPEFULLY) they will have more than enough food this upcoming year. A PLHIV, or anyone for that manner, has a much better standard of living when they don’t have to deal with chronic malnutrition, which most of these people and their families have been dealing with all of their lives.
The other big project that I’m working on doesn’t entail handing out money and other nice things such as fertilizer for free, but instead it is centered on loans. One of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers has been working with a local private financing agency to give small business loans (we like to use the lingo “micro-loans”) to small groups of struggling women in rural areas. Last year they started with just a few groups, and they were very successful, with 100% payback on the loans. Due to this success, they are looking at expanding the project. I managed to talk these guys into including Mitundu in their area of expansion, they agreed, and now were getting started.
Again, they want to start small, with two groups of about 13 women each. We will start with six days of business trainings and forming cohesive groups. Then the loans will be distributed, the businesses will begin, and finally the groups will pay back the loans. Micro-loan projects such as this have been successful in the developing areas of Southeast Asia, and they’re just starting to catch on in Sub-Saharan Africa (less so in Malawi-but it’s exciting to be on the cutting edge of something). The micro-loans are centered on the idea of using social and group pressure to encourage honesty and swift repayment of the loans. Simply put, if someone in the group fails to pay back their loan, then the rest of the group has to pick up the slack. The defaulter then has to continuously deal with their own shame since the groups are formed so that all members know each other well and come from nearby communities. The loans are small (somewhere between 30 and 100 dollars) and so are the businesses they are intended to start (such as selling doughnuts, fish, or freezies at the local market). The interest on the loans is also very small (3%). The Lilongwe based company that is providing these micro-loans already makes plenty of money, and this it like a charitable side project in which they will be completely satisfied if the investment just breaks even. To be honest, I probably won’t have a large involvement in all of this once we get it going. They already have a few guys that do a great job with the training and advising of the groups, and all of the funding will come from this Malawian (for-profit) company. I just kind of encouraged them to come out here and help us, and now I just have to put the groups together and let them know that help is on the way. The guy that’s in charge of all this beams when he talks about how honest and hard working these desperately poor women are. His other “real” clients who receive the big loans are constantly late on payments and defaulting, but these women that he has just started working with seize this opportunity and don’t mess it up. Lately, he’s been hearing a lot of stories about how the women and their families didn’t have any money for food and basic needs the previous year, but since receiving the micro-loans and getting a simple, well-run business going, they have enough to get by and live respectable lives. I’m very excited about all of this, and I think it will also work well here, but time will tell.
In addition to these two big projects, I’m also working on some other stuff on the side. The volunteer that was here in Mitundu before me had to finish her service a few months early, and she was helping the local secondary school build a small science laboratory and didn’t have time to finish the project before her service ended. I offered to take things over for her, which hasn’t been a big deal since most of the work is already done. I just have to check on things a few times a week to collect receipts and make sure that stuff isn’t stolen. Plus, I’ll get to take pictures of the project when it is all done.
Perhaps you remember that girl’s hostel that I’ve been trying to get funding for since the beginning of last year. Well, I still working on that, jumping through hoops and continually landing on my face. However, I think (pray) that we’ve finally found funding so that the project can be completed in a reasonable manner. The district government has already helped us out with about a quarter of the needed materials (things such as cement, iron sheets, nails, door frames, etc.), and we agreed in a meeting last weekend that we will start construction in the next two weeks. We will start with the materials that have already been donated. It’s still on Bryan’s shoulders to find money to buy the other three quarters of what’s needed. But we’re not worried because Bryan usually pulls through.
As for the rest of my working days, I spend my time at the Youth Organization office talking with people, talking with my co-workers about other projects we want to work on in the next year, showing them how to use cool shortcuts on Microsoft Word and Excel, getting my butt kicked at chess, and writing blog posts.
Outside of work (there hasn’t actually been a lot of this time), I’m reading a lot, watching episodes of 30 Rock on my new computer (Thanks Mom. The keys get dirty a lot faster in dusty Africa so I can’t call it “new” for much longer.), working in my garden, chatting with the endless number of interesting people in Mitundu, and cooking dinner (this takes up a lot of time, time that I didn’t have to budget for when I was at Chadabwa and had someone to do it for me).
I’ll end here. Don’t be shy to tell me what you want to hear about by posting on the comments page. I do look forward to reading those, and if you don’t tell me what you want to hear I will just babble on like I have been doing for the past two years (but perhaps that hasn’t been all that bad). BTW, I still plan to be around during Xmas, and I’m excited to see you all.
These past few weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time on my bike sweating, getting sunburnt, and covering my khaki pants in dust while moving around the area meeting different groups and trying to get a sense of what kind of NGO and governmental assistance is already going on in the area and to find out where I can help. In this area, which I can generally call Mitundu (although the geographical scope of my work has already gone well beyond the general area of Mitundu (good thing my bike’s and I are both in good shape)), there are a handful of small, semi-competent community-based organizations (CBOs) that have the general purpose of getting funding from the government and other larger NGOs (i.e. UNICEF, Save the Children, Catholic Relief Services, etc.) and then use this funding to help orphans, elderly, and the sick in a variety of ways. Throughout the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Malawi, these CBOs have a reputation for giving, at most, half of the assistance they claim to be giving and using, at most, half of the money that has been given to them for the purposes it was intended for. It’s easy to call this corruption and theft, but I’ve come to understand that this lack of monetary efficiency (I’ll have to go into this in further detail another time, but in short…) is do to many complicated factors such as disinterest, incompetency, and laziness by the donors themselves; a culture of skimming a little money off the top since you (the worker at the CBO) are usually almost as poor as the people you intend to help; and a general disorganization and lack of understanding between all parties involved. I’ve come to realize that not all of the blame can be put on the CBOs that are “misusing” the money.
Anyhow, during my first two years here, I didn’t have a lot of exposure to these CBOs, and now I am working with them on a daily basis. So far (keep in mind that I haven’t gotten very far yet), its become clear to me that the people working at these CBOs have good intentions and most of them actually do good work, but the general issues they have include a lack of applicable experience, guidance, and knowledge in the area of development and assisting needy people. I’m clearly over generalizing here, but life (not to mention writing blog posts that can be read in less than ten minutes and don’t put your reader to sleep) is so much easier when we over generalize. What I’m trying to get at here are two things. One: I will have a difficult time here working with these people IF (notice: IF) I find that they are more interested in skimming off the top and exploiting donors than helping people and promoting development. Two: I should try to focus on helping these organizations to become more efficient, competent, and honest.
I’ve got two projects started that look as though they may actually be successful, make me proud, and put a chip in the mountain of problems that we have here. To make things easier for me, I’ll just cut and paste the “Basic Description” of my first project, Mitundu Area PLHIV Food Security Project (keep in mind that PLHIV stands for “people living with HIV” and OVC stands for “orphans and vulnerable children”):
This project was initiated by the Grace Foundation PLHIV Support Group, requesting help for funding of farming inputs to provide food security for the upcoming year. Since the initial planning stages, the project has expanded to include five other PLHIV Support Groups in the Mitundu Area.
The basic plan is to plant a total of 12 acres of land. Three quarters of the land will be planted with maize inter-cropped with beans, and the other quarter will be planted with soya beans. The maize, beans, and half of the soya beans will be divided up between the PLHIV members at harvest. The other half of the soya beans will be sold at harvest and this money will be banked to provide funding for next years crop and to provide secondary school fees for OVC.
The training/education plan will include a coordinated effort between Mitundu Youth Organization (MYO), agricultural agents, and the Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). These PLHIV support groups are all affiliated with MYO, which is a 10-year-old CBO registered with the National Youth Council of Malawi. MYO is also the work site for the PCV responsible for this project. MYO will be responsible for assisting the PCV with field visits, assisting the PCV with communication with the PLHIV, and using these PLHIV support groups to help with community awareness and the importance of voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). There are four agricultural agents in the area, and they have agreed to help us in any way needed. We have asked them about talking to the group about sustainable farming methods and accompanying us on monthly inspections of the land that is under cultivation. The PCV will be responsible for developing a business plan with various PLHIV groups, encouraging and training the PLHIV in processes to add value to their cash crops, and providing advice, especially in the area of financial management, to ensure that this project is sustainable with no additional donations in the future.
Obviously, this is a farming community, and most of these members are farmers who know their land, the weather conditions, and how to care for crops maize, beans, and soya beans. That along with the technical help of the agricultural agents gives this project a high likelihood of success.
We are requesting VAST Grant funding of $1420.67. The PLHIV groups’ contributions of in-kind and cash have a value of $2204.00. That is a 61% community contribution. Therefore, the total budget for this project is $3624.67. The time line of this project is for the growing season of November 2010-April 2011.
Compared to most projects done by CBOs, NGOs, and the government itself, this is simple and straightforward. Early on in my service, I didn’t really like the idea of handing out money (or things that are bought with money, such as fertilizer, seeds, bags of cement, etc.) to people in this manner. In my short time here, I’ve come to realize that many (dare I say “most”) development projects (from large scale things such as USAID funding the construction of multimillion dollar highway to small scale things such as the construction of a four thousand dollar community library) never get completed, don’t get used for their intended purpose, or are so poorly managed that most of the materials get stolen or never used at all (At this point I feel like I should sincerely apologize for the negative tone of this post. I’m just letting the world know what I see here. Please keep in mind that I don’t go around cursing and yelling at everyone all day, but I am actually very happy, and I strongly believe that my presence here is having a positive effect on the people I live and work with). After seeing these things, one would assume that I am now less inclined to search for donations to do God knows what. There are plenty of things that I could do with my time that wouldn’t require funding. I could teach at the school like I have been doing the past few years. I could do sorely needed book keeping trainings for the local businesspeople. I could go around preaching about condoms, sleeping under a mosquito net, and farming without fertilizer. But I’ve put a string of ideas into my head these past few months that help me to justify what I’m doing:
1) This area is going to continue to get lots of aid money for a long time.
2) That aid money will continue to be mismanaged for a long time.
3) Bryan is awesome because he works with the beneficiaries of this aid money directly, he can kind of communicate with them in their local language, and he works his ass off.
4) This aid money will be best put to use towards projects that are managed by Bryan.
5) Therefore, Bryan should try to get his hands on some of this aid money and put it to good use.
So I’ve been riding my bike around a lot lately trying to get all of these PLHIV groups on the same page and prepared so that starting around December we can start using this fertilizer and seed to produce a lot of food. This food (if God (please pray for Him to allow these things so that I don’t look like a fool) allows the rain to fall in good amounts and in good time, keeps our fields disease and pest free, and encourages thieves to stay away from our harvest) should feed these 105 PLHIV, whom will be doing the farming, and their respective families for about half of the upcoming year. In addition to this, they will be farming their own land so HOPEFULLY (notice: HOPEFULLY) they will have more than enough food this upcoming year. A PLHIV, or anyone for that manner, has a much better standard of living when they don’t have to deal with chronic malnutrition, which most of these people and their families have been dealing with all of their lives.
The other big project that I’m working on doesn’t entail handing out money and other nice things such as fertilizer for free, but instead it is centered on loans. One of my fellow Peace Corps Volunteers has been working with a local private financing agency to give small business loans (we like to use the lingo “micro-loans”) to small groups of struggling women in rural areas. Last year they started with just a few groups, and they were very successful, with 100% payback on the loans. Due to this success, they are looking at expanding the project. I managed to talk these guys into including Mitundu in their area of expansion, they agreed, and now were getting started.
Again, they want to start small, with two groups of about 13 women each. We will start with six days of business trainings and forming cohesive groups. Then the loans will be distributed, the businesses will begin, and finally the groups will pay back the loans. Micro-loan projects such as this have been successful in the developing areas of Southeast Asia, and they’re just starting to catch on in Sub-Saharan Africa (less so in Malawi-but it’s exciting to be on the cutting edge of something). The micro-loans are centered on the idea of using social and group pressure to encourage honesty and swift repayment of the loans. Simply put, if someone in the group fails to pay back their loan, then the rest of the group has to pick up the slack. The defaulter then has to continuously deal with their own shame since the groups are formed so that all members know each other well and come from nearby communities. The loans are small (somewhere between 30 and 100 dollars) and so are the businesses they are intended to start (such as selling doughnuts, fish, or freezies at the local market). The interest on the loans is also very small (3%). The Lilongwe based company that is providing these micro-loans already makes plenty of money, and this it like a charitable side project in which they will be completely satisfied if the investment just breaks even. To be honest, I probably won’t have a large involvement in all of this once we get it going. They already have a few guys that do a great job with the training and advising of the groups, and all of the funding will come from this Malawian (for-profit) company. I just kind of encouraged them to come out here and help us, and now I just have to put the groups together and let them know that help is on the way. The guy that’s in charge of all this beams when he talks about how honest and hard working these desperately poor women are. His other “real” clients who receive the big loans are constantly late on payments and defaulting, but these women that he has just started working with seize this opportunity and don’t mess it up. Lately, he’s been hearing a lot of stories about how the women and their families didn’t have any money for food and basic needs the previous year, but since receiving the micro-loans and getting a simple, well-run business going, they have enough to get by and live respectable lives. I’m very excited about all of this, and I think it will also work well here, but time will tell.
In addition to these two big projects, I’m also working on some other stuff on the side. The volunteer that was here in Mitundu before me had to finish her service a few months early, and she was helping the local secondary school build a small science laboratory and didn’t have time to finish the project before her service ended. I offered to take things over for her, which hasn’t been a big deal since most of the work is already done. I just have to check on things a few times a week to collect receipts and make sure that stuff isn’t stolen. Plus, I’ll get to take pictures of the project when it is all done.
Perhaps you remember that girl’s hostel that I’ve been trying to get funding for since the beginning of last year. Well, I still working on that, jumping through hoops and continually landing on my face. However, I think (pray) that we’ve finally found funding so that the project can be completed in a reasonable manner. The district government has already helped us out with about a quarter of the needed materials (things such as cement, iron sheets, nails, door frames, etc.), and we agreed in a meeting last weekend that we will start construction in the next two weeks. We will start with the materials that have already been donated. It’s still on Bryan’s shoulders to find money to buy the other three quarters of what’s needed. But we’re not worried because Bryan usually pulls through.
As for the rest of my working days, I spend my time at the Youth Organization office talking with people, talking with my co-workers about other projects we want to work on in the next year, showing them how to use cool shortcuts on Microsoft Word and Excel, getting my butt kicked at chess, and writing blog posts.
Outside of work (there hasn’t actually been a lot of this time), I’m reading a lot, watching episodes of 30 Rock on my new computer (Thanks Mom. The keys get dirty a lot faster in dusty Africa so I can’t call it “new” for much longer.), working in my garden, chatting with the endless number of interesting people in Mitundu, and cooking dinner (this takes up a lot of time, time that I didn’t have to budget for when I was at Chadabwa and had someone to do it for me).
I’ll end here. Don’t be shy to tell me what you want to hear about by posting on the comments page. I do look forward to reading those, and if you don’t tell me what you want to hear I will just babble on like I have been doing for the past two years (but perhaps that hasn’t been all that bad). BTW, I still plan to be around during Xmas, and I’m excited to see you all.
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." Nelson Mandela
Sunday, September 12, 2010
On the Road
I’ve been moving around a lot this past month, but I’m finally settled into my new job in a new place living in a new house. The start of last month, we had our Close of Service (COS) conference. This included all of the people that I came here with back in September 2008, or at least all of us that are still around. The general purpose of the COS conference was to prepare us for the end of our service as PCVs, more specifically to show us how to fill out all the paper work, how to find a job in the empty basket we call the US job market, and how to adjust to life back in the States where everything is available all of the time and people prefer to ignore each other. Clearly most of this stuff was irrelevant to me since I will be living as a poor but happy (not to mention employed) PCV for a little over a year now, but I still had a great time at this little get-together since it was the last time all of the people in my group will be able to get together. Also, it was at the beach with perfect weather, five meals a day (I’m counting the tea breaks as meals since the tea came with food as well, such as cheese sand witches; biscuits; cookies; banana bread; etc.~always in the all-you-can-eat style), and more than enough alcohol. We were all fat and happy, and it was certainly bittersweet. I can honestly say that I have great respect for all of the people in my group, I have become good friends with many of them, and I will miss all of them dearly (although about five of us will be extending with Peace Corps Malawi-we can’t seem to get away from each other). About half of them will be leaving for good this month of September so I think I’ll be making a few trips to the airport to see them off.
After COS conference, I went to Dedza where they were having the pre-service training for the new education and health volunteers. Altogether there are about 35 of them, and I was mostly helping out with the training of the new education volunteers for a few days. They seem to be like most groups of PCVs: diverse, eccentric people that are a bit weird, but at the same time easy to get along with and interesting to talk to. I’ll be working with them for a while so I thought it was important for us to get to know each other and start trying to remember their names (people come and go so frequently in Peace Corps that it becomes a pain to remember people’s names, I have a hard time remembering names as it is). Another thing of note was the weather. I tried to prepare for it, but it was still a shock. That time of year, early July, is the coldest in this part of the world (the southern hemisphere), and that part of the country, Dedza district up in the mountains, is one of the coldest in Malawi. It was definitely getting down into the low 40s (I actually heard that there was snow flurries the week after I left) at night. To those of you Minnesotans, this probably doesn’t seem too bad. However, keep in mind that here in Malawi none of the houses have insulation or heating. The only way to stay warm is to sit next to a smoky fire or hide under two or three blankets. I still find it hard to believe that it can get so cold this close to the equator, but at the same time, it’s nice that that is as cold as it gets and the rest of the year the climate is relatively mild and comfortable, especially the area were I live which only has a slightly lower elevation than Dedza.
From Dedza I went back home for a few days. Most people there were aware of the fact that I would be leaving soon, and it was a little awkward delaying my farewells since I had to explain that I would be leaving again soon for two weeks, coming back again for a few days, and then leaving for good. I only stayed for a few days trying to put the finishing touches on things, getting ready to leave for Mitundu a few weeks later. But first I was going back on the road, living out of a backpack.
In developing countries, an acronym that is heard a lot is IGA, which stands for income generating activity. To me, it’s really just a fancy term conjured up by donors and different development organizations for what we know as “businesses.” An IGA is a small-scale business that can be easily implemented with low start up costs and a low level of skill. A good friend of mine was putting together an IGA workshop with a group of women that he has been working with. He invited me to come up and show them how to make “village wine.” I’ve been making a lot of this wine during my two years here, and although it’s very simple to make, I do consider myself an expert at making this low-grade, poor-man’s alcohol. The basic ingredients are yeast, sugar, and any kind of fruit (or other food with a fair amount of sugar, such as honey or tomatoes). These are mixed together with the right amount of water, left to sit in a covered bucket for about a week, filtered to separate the solids from the liquid, and then the liquid is left to sit for about another week. After these two weeks, you have an alcoholic drink that we like to call wine. It’s palatable, and it gives a pretty good buzz after drinking a few cups. I’ve showed a few people in my area how to make it, and one of them is selling it at his house and making some decent money.
Anyways, I made a trip up to my buddy’s site to teach his women’s group how to make this wine. The prominent tribe in that area, the Ngoni, are known as heavy drinkers so I had their interest from the start because they knew there is a good market for the stuff. The training went well, although it took a bit longer than expected, which wasn’t really a problem because they seemed to be interested and were asking lot’s of questions. I started by going over the economics of selling the wine in the village and showing them how much more profit it can generate compared to the other “beers” that are made in the area, and then I demonstrated the steps of making the wine. At the end, we all enjoyed some samples of wine, but they complained that there was more wine in the bucket to be drunk. I had to be honest with them and say that was the entertainment for the upcoming evening. Another buddy of mine showed up with another IGA, soap making, which he demonstrated that afternoon. That was about all we had time for, and the next morning we cut up the soap after allowing it to set overnight. Then we were out of there that same morning. Even though I’m not sure that any of them will start making and selling wine, I did enjoy going up there and hanging out. I also had a chance to visit an orphan care center that they are working with in the area, and I’m looking into implementing some of their ideas into the new work that I’m doing with the Youth Center.
After the IGA workshop, I was on the road again, heading to Camp Sky 2010. As you may recall, I was the director of last year’s version of the camp, and I was excited to help out again this year. This year I had a different role. I was in charge of the Junior Counselors (JCs). The JCs were students that went to the camp last year, and we selected based upon their leadership skills and their performance in the classroom. I was working with eight of them, all very bright and fun to be around. They had two main responsibilities: 1)Act as a sort of bridge between the PCV teachers at the camp and the 75 first years campers by organizing and keeping those students in line and basically just setting a good example, 2)Participate in tertiary education and career guidance activities while the other students were in their morning classes. All of the JCs had just finished their national secondary school exams. Being the “cream of the crop,” they have a decent chance of getting into a college/university or getting on some kind of career path that won’t lead them back to the village and the difficult background they are coming from. The problem these kids have, a problem that is common to most students in Malawi, especially those going to schools in rural areas, is that they don’t receive good advice about how to apply for, finance, and be accepted for tertiary education (i.e. colleges, universities, technical schools, etc.). If you ask a boy in secondary school what kind of job he wants after finishing school he’s most likely to answer doctor, policeman, driver, soldier, or lawyer, and if you ask a girl she is most likely to answer nurse or maybe accountant. Unfortunately, most of these students have no idea what these various careers actually entail nor do they have a good understanding about what kind of education these careers require or how get that education. With these JCs, I wanted to enlighten them about some of this stuff, and try to get them to put some sort of a plan together about what they want to do with their lives and how they are going to do it. We worked a lot on leadership skills, public speaking, resume writing, job interview skills, and goal setting. I also tried to give them access to facts about what is actually required to get the different jobs they are interested in.
I enjoyed working with them a lot, and I’m hoping to hear in the next year that a few of them have actually been admitted to university with reliable funding available to them. I won’t say too much about the rest of the camp, but it was a lot of fun hanging out with other volunteers and the kids and also doing something productive at the same time.
Camp Sky lasted for about two weeks, and then I headed back to Chadabwa. Again, I was only there for a few days, scrambling to get ready to move before the new volunteer arrived, saying goodbye to everyone, grading the exams from the previous year at school, and trying (but failing) to wrap up some side projects that I was working on. I was a little hectic, but everything worked out OK. The goodbyes weren’t too emotional because I was only moving 17km to the west, and I promised that I will be coming back to visit frequently (I’ve already been back twice). Moving day went smoothly. Peace Corps helped me move all my junk, and I didn’t break or loose anything (as far as I can tell). I lead a fairly simple life here, but I was still surprised by how much junk I’ve accumulated while at Chadabwa. It felt good to get rid of some of that crap or at least reorganize it.
Since two Thursdays ago, I’ve been living at Mitundu, working with Mitundu Youth Organization. You can read my previous post to get a general idea of what I’m doing here and what my living situation is like, and I will give you more details about all this in the future. This is an exciting place to live. There’s always lots of stuff going on, lots of noise, lots of people, and also lots of problems. It’s refreshing to be doing something other than teaching (I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy teaching, I really did a majority of the time, but what I am saying is that I enjoy change and having to deal with new situations).
I’ll have a new Macbook this weekend (thanks Mom!), and it looks like I’ll probably have internet access here in Mitundu or at a place nearby. Therefore, I should be able to write on here more often. I’ll end things here, and explain the exciting stuff we’re doing here in the next few weeks.
After COS conference, I went to Dedza where they were having the pre-service training for the new education and health volunteers. Altogether there are about 35 of them, and I was mostly helping out with the training of the new education volunteers for a few days. They seem to be like most groups of PCVs: diverse, eccentric people that are a bit weird, but at the same time easy to get along with and interesting to talk to. I’ll be working with them for a while so I thought it was important for us to get to know each other and start trying to remember their names (people come and go so frequently in Peace Corps that it becomes a pain to remember people’s names, I have a hard time remembering names as it is). Another thing of note was the weather. I tried to prepare for it, but it was still a shock. That time of year, early July, is the coldest in this part of the world (the southern hemisphere), and that part of the country, Dedza district up in the mountains, is one of the coldest in Malawi. It was definitely getting down into the low 40s (I actually heard that there was snow flurries the week after I left) at night. To those of you Minnesotans, this probably doesn’t seem too bad. However, keep in mind that here in Malawi none of the houses have insulation or heating. The only way to stay warm is to sit next to a smoky fire or hide under two or three blankets. I still find it hard to believe that it can get so cold this close to the equator, but at the same time, it’s nice that that is as cold as it gets and the rest of the year the climate is relatively mild and comfortable, especially the area were I live which only has a slightly lower elevation than Dedza.
From Dedza I went back home for a few days. Most people there were aware of the fact that I would be leaving soon, and it was a little awkward delaying my farewells since I had to explain that I would be leaving again soon for two weeks, coming back again for a few days, and then leaving for good. I only stayed for a few days trying to put the finishing touches on things, getting ready to leave for Mitundu a few weeks later. But first I was going back on the road, living out of a backpack.
In developing countries, an acronym that is heard a lot is IGA, which stands for income generating activity. To me, it’s really just a fancy term conjured up by donors and different development organizations for what we know as “businesses.” An IGA is a small-scale business that can be easily implemented with low start up costs and a low level of skill. A good friend of mine was putting together an IGA workshop with a group of women that he has been working with. He invited me to come up and show them how to make “village wine.” I’ve been making a lot of this wine during my two years here, and although it’s very simple to make, I do consider myself an expert at making this low-grade, poor-man’s alcohol. The basic ingredients are yeast, sugar, and any kind of fruit (or other food with a fair amount of sugar, such as honey or tomatoes). These are mixed together with the right amount of water, left to sit in a covered bucket for about a week, filtered to separate the solids from the liquid, and then the liquid is left to sit for about another week. After these two weeks, you have an alcoholic drink that we like to call wine. It’s palatable, and it gives a pretty good buzz after drinking a few cups. I’ve showed a few people in my area how to make it, and one of them is selling it at his house and making some decent money.
Anyways, I made a trip up to my buddy’s site to teach his women’s group how to make this wine. The prominent tribe in that area, the Ngoni, are known as heavy drinkers so I had their interest from the start because they knew there is a good market for the stuff. The training went well, although it took a bit longer than expected, which wasn’t really a problem because they seemed to be interested and were asking lot’s of questions. I started by going over the economics of selling the wine in the village and showing them how much more profit it can generate compared to the other “beers” that are made in the area, and then I demonstrated the steps of making the wine. At the end, we all enjoyed some samples of wine, but they complained that there was more wine in the bucket to be drunk. I had to be honest with them and say that was the entertainment for the upcoming evening. Another buddy of mine showed up with another IGA, soap making, which he demonstrated that afternoon. That was about all we had time for, and the next morning we cut up the soap after allowing it to set overnight. Then we were out of there that same morning. Even though I’m not sure that any of them will start making and selling wine, I did enjoy going up there and hanging out. I also had a chance to visit an orphan care center that they are working with in the area, and I’m looking into implementing some of their ideas into the new work that I’m doing with the Youth Center.
After the IGA workshop, I was on the road again, heading to Camp Sky 2010. As you may recall, I was the director of last year’s version of the camp, and I was excited to help out again this year. This year I had a different role. I was in charge of the Junior Counselors (JCs). The JCs were students that went to the camp last year, and we selected based upon their leadership skills and their performance in the classroom. I was working with eight of them, all very bright and fun to be around. They had two main responsibilities: 1)Act as a sort of bridge between the PCV teachers at the camp and the 75 first years campers by organizing and keeping those students in line and basically just setting a good example, 2)Participate in tertiary education and career guidance activities while the other students were in their morning classes. All of the JCs had just finished their national secondary school exams. Being the “cream of the crop,” they have a decent chance of getting into a college/university or getting on some kind of career path that won’t lead them back to the village and the difficult background they are coming from. The problem these kids have, a problem that is common to most students in Malawi, especially those going to schools in rural areas, is that they don’t receive good advice about how to apply for, finance, and be accepted for tertiary education (i.e. colleges, universities, technical schools, etc.). If you ask a boy in secondary school what kind of job he wants after finishing school he’s most likely to answer doctor, policeman, driver, soldier, or lawyer, and if you ask a girl she is most likely to answer nurse or maybe accountant. Unfortunately, most of these students have no idea what these various careers actually entail nor do they have a good understanding about what kind of education these careers require or how get that education. With these JCs, I wanted to enlighten them about some of this stuff, and try to get them to put some sort of a plan together about what they want to do with their lives and how they are going to do it. We worked a lot on leadership skills, public speaking, resume writing, job interview skills, and goal setting. I also tried to give them access to facts about what is actually required to get the different jobs they are interested in.
I enjoyed working with them a lot, and I’m hoping to hear in the next year that a few of them have actually been admitted to university with reliable funding available to them. I won’t say too much about the rest of the camp, but it was a lot of fun hanging out with other volunteers and the kids and also doing something productive at the same time.
Camp Sky lasted for about two weeks, and then I headed back to Chadabwa. Again, I was only there for a few days, scrambling to get ready to move before the new volunteer arrived, saying goodbye to everyone, grading the exams from the previous year at school, and trying (but failing) to wrap up some side projects that I was working on. I was a little hectic, but everything worked out OK. The goodbyes weren’t too emotional because I was only moving 17km to the west, and I promised that I will be coming back to visit frequently (I’ve already been back twice). Moving day went smoothly. Peace Corps helped me move all my junk, and I didn’t break or loose anything (as far as I can tell). I lead a fairly simple life here, but I was still surprised by how much junk I’ve accumulated while at Chadabwa. It felt good to get rid of some of that crap or at least reorganize it.
Since two Thursdays ago, I’ve been living at Mitundu, working with Mitundu Youth Organization. You can read my previous post to get a general idea of what I’m doing here and what my living situation is like, and I will give you more details about all this in the future. This is an exciting place to live. There’s always lots of stuff going on, lots of noise, lots of people, and also lots of problems. It’s refreshing to be doing something other than teaching (I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy teaching, I really did a majority of the time, but what I am saying is that I enjoy change and having to deal with new situations).
I’ll have a new Macbook this weekend (thanks Mom!), and it looks like I’ll probably have internet access here in Mitundu or at a place nearby. Therefore, I should be able to write on here more often. I’ll end things here, and explain the exciting stuff we’re doing here in the next few weeks.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Graduation and Lunch with Bwanas
Many Peace Corps Volunteers complain about the day to day monotony of their service. Although I have felt this at times, for the most part I have found my life and work here in Malawi interesting (not always comfortable or enjoyable, but interesting). In the past month, there have been two noteworthy events. About three weeks ago was my school's graduation for our Form Four Students, and the following week I had lunch with the Chairman of the African Union (this is only a small overstatement-please continue to find out why).
Let me begin with the circus we called graduation. I have become close with these graduating students, as I have been teaching them since I arrived here. I have been teaching them Biology, Physical Science, Life Skills, and part time with Math (part time because the teacher whom is supposed to teach this subject doesn't really give a damn, and I -always with a helping hand-have started doing his job for him (Is that sustainable?)) for two full school years. There are about 40 of them, and although I certainly don't adore them (the majority are just as lazy, ignorant, and a pain in the butt as any American teen), I must admit that I did have watery eyes and goose bumps during parts of the ceremony. It wasn't easy teaching them. Most of them won't even pass their national exams (which they started this past Wednesday. The exams last over two weeks. They make the ACT/SAT look like the trivia on the back of a box of CocoPuffs-but I'll have to explain this a different time.). A majority will continue to find themselves living in the seemingly inescapable poverty found in most rural areas around here. In spite of these realities, I am proud to have had the opportunity to teach them. I feel that I have made a positive impact on their lives. No matter how large or small this impact was, it is not something they would have if I had not sowed up to teach them for two years.
As for the actual ceremony, there was a general consensus during our staff's Monday morning "caucus" that Saturday's graduation was a success-especially when we conveniently compared it to last years fiasco. However, don't get the impression that things went smoothly this year. Let's start at the beginning, which was planned to be 10 in the morning. After being here almost two years, I always laugh to myself whenever I hear Malawians planning things around the time of day. I follow up this laugh to myself with the question: "Is that African time of Real time?" This question always induces an uneasy, communal laugh because we are all aware that setting specific times to do things in the village is futile. Futile because most of the people being invited to the function don't own any device that can tell them the time of day, most come from far away on foot, and most importantly, the culture here supports being late (in some ways). With all this in mind, I showed up fashionably
(my co-workers and I)
late at 11:30 sharp. At that time, it was clear that we weren't anywhere close to getting started. No problem for me; I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day, and I wasn't the one who had a 20 km bike ride home after sunset when this event was over. So I sat around and chatted with some folks and didn't mention the fact that the clock was actually ticking as the sun moved further westward. Long story short, we finally got started at 1:30, the ceremony lasted until 5, and it was followed up by a feast of rice and goat meat (Malawian butchers are not the best at what they do for a living so I should actually say "goat bones and ligaments" rather that "meat") that wasn't going to be passed up by anyone in their right (hungry) mind. By sundown we sent the parents home on foot or on bike ("Watch out for the thieves and potholes!") while the new graduates got their groove on at the disco (we say "dance" where I come from).
I don't have all day to type this, and you probably don't have all day to read it (or if you do, then feel free to read it twice or even take a peak at some of the interesting links I have put up to the left), so let me summarize graduation's other notable moments. The kids made these goofy hats which were supposed to look like graduation caps.
A quarter of our staff of eight (that equals two, FYI) was wasted (What else is there to do but drink during the first week of the month, right after getting their monthly salaries?). I was sitting next to them in front of everyone during the ceremony, and they were constantly pestering me to go back with them behind the office for a drink. I resisted with my impenetrable will power, at least until the sun went down, when I promptly accepted three of their gifts. Our local Member of Parliament, who was supposed to be the Guest of Honour and make a bunch of false promises, wasn't able to come because of a funeral near his home. The organizers of this event, the Graduation Committee, failed to realize this until around noon, and this was another factor contributing to our late start. However, I must way that the replacement Guest of Honour, our zone's Primary Education Advisor, made an excellent speech and filled in nicely. One last thing that I shouldn't forget was the meal afterwards. For the sake of saving time, we were served outside, where the ceremony had taken place (which was wonderful-I didn't even have to get out of the seat I had been in for four hours.). This was fine until about five minutes later when the hungry kids across the street got a whiff of the food. They came in masses, first standing in front of us watching while we ate, second getting up enough courage to scrounge on the bits of foods that fell to our feet (eating rice with your hands is at least as difficult as eating it with chopsticks), and finally fighting with each other over the massive portions that we couldn't finish (we only ate about half the rice we purchased the day before using the money paid by the families of our impoverished students-another score for the Graduation Committee!). A year or two ago I would certainly have been horrified by all this, but as people always tell me, "Now [I] am used." All things considered, graduation made for an entertaining afternoon.
Just when I came down from the high that was graduation, I then went into Lilongwe to have lunch with the President of Malawi and Chairman of the African Union His Excellency the Honourable Doctor Bingu wa Mutharika (most African political leaders have a tendency of stretching their titles out as long as possible, much different than the "Obama" I hear on BBC).
All of us Peace Corps Volunteers, including most of the staff and some other important people, were invited to the State House (although the entire event was held in a large tent-a very nice tent with AC and chandeliers) to meet with His Excellency, his wife, and a handful of relevant members of the State Department. The main purpose of the event was to pat each other on the back and stuff like that, but I must say that it was all very enjoyable. Amongst people that actually know about Peace Corps in this country, our organization is generally very well respected. However, very few Malawians actually do know about us or what we are doing here. This event at the State House was well covered by the national media, and it gave Peace Corps Malawi a huge boost in popularity. We all got dressed up,
(my headteacher lent me that suit)
ate a nice five course meal (I'm used to eating dinner with my hands by now, and all that silverware threw me for a loop), drank lots of free wine and beer, and danced with the Prez and his lovely wife. I suppose His Excellency is the most famous person that I've ever been that close to before. Most of you back home have probably never heard of him, but he's pretty important in this neck of the woods. A teacher at my school told me that I have to introduce him to Barrack Obama now that I have shaken hands and exchanged glances with his president. I'll see what I can do.
"You see, many of the troubles going on in the world right now are being supervised by people with very good intentions whose attempts are to keep things in order, to clean things up, to forbid this, and to prevent that. The more we try to put everything to rights, the more we make fantastic messes. Maybe that is the way it has got to be. Maybe I should not say anything at all about the folly of trying to put things to right but simply, on the principle of Blake, let the fool persist in his folly so that he will become wise."
Alan Watts
Let me begin with the circus we called graduation. I have become close with these graduating students, as I have been teaching them since I arrived here. I have been teaching them Biology, Physical Science, Life Skills, and part time with Math (part time because the teacher whom is supposed to teach this subject doesn't really give a damn, and I -always with a helping hand-have started doing his job for him (Is that sustainable?)) for two full school years. There are about 40 of them, and although I certainly don't adore them (the majority are just as lazy, ignorant, and a pain in the butt as any American teen), I must admit that I did have watery eyes and goose bumps during parts of the ceremony. It wasn't easy teaching them. Most of them won't even pass their national exams (which they started this past Wednesday. The exams last over two weeks. They make the ACT/SAT look like the trivia on the back of a box of CocoPuffs-but I'll have to explain this a different time.). A majority will continue to find themselves living in the seemingly inescapable poverty found in most rural areas around here. In spite of these realities, I am proud to have had the opportunity to teach them. I feel that I have made a positive impact on their lives. No matter how large or small this impact was, it is not something they would have if I had not sowed up to teach them for two years.
As for the actual ceremony, there was a general consensus during our staff's Monday morning "caucus" that Saturday's graduation was a success-especially when we conveniently compared it to last years fiasco. However, don't get the impression that things went smoothly this year. Let's start at the beginning, which was planned to be 10 in the morning. After being here almost two years, I always laugh to myself whenever I hear Malawians planning things around the time of day. I follow up this laugh to myself with the question: "Is that African time of Real time?" This question always induces an uneasy, communal laugh because we are all aware that setting specific times to do things in the village is futile. Futile because most of the people being invited to the function don't own any device that can tell them the time of day, most come from far away on foot, and most importantly, the culture here supports being late (in some ways). With all this in mind, I showed up fashionably
(my co-workers and I)late at 11:30 sharp. At that time, it was clear that we weren't anywhere close to getting started. No problem for me; I didn't have anything to do for the rest of the day, and I wasn't the one who had a 20 km bike ride home after sunset when this event was over. So I sat around and chatted with some folks and didn't mention the fact that the clock was actually ticking as the sun moved further westward. Long story short, we finally got started at 1:30, the ceremony lasted until 5, and it was followed up by a feast of rice and goat meat (Malawian butchers are not the best at what they do for a living so I should actually say "goat bones and ligaments" rather that "meat") that wasn't going to be passed up by anyone in their right (hungry) mind. By sundown we sent the parents home on foot or on bike ("Watch out for the thieves and potholes!") while the new graduates got their groove on at the disco (we say "dance" where I come from).
I don't have all day to type this, and you probably don't have all day to read it (or if you do, then feel free to read it twice or even take a peak at some of the interesting links I have put up to the left), so let me summarize graduation's other notable moments. The kids made these goofy hats which were supposed to look like graduation caps.
A quarter of our staff of eight (that equals two, FYI) was wasted (What else is there to do but drink during the first week of the month, right after getting their monthly salaries?). I was sitting next to them in front of everyone during the ceremony, and they were constantly pestering me to go back with them behind the office for a drink. I resisted with my impenetrable will power, at least until the sun went down, when I promptly accepted three of their gifts. Our local Member of Parliament, who was supposed to be the Guest of Honour and make a bunch of false promises, wasn't able to come because of a funeral near his home. The organizers of this event, the Graduation Committee, failed to realize this until around noon, and this was another factor contributing to our late start. However, I must way that the replacement Guest of Honour, our zone's Primary Education Advisor, made an excellent speech and filled in nicely. One last thing that I shouldn't forget was the meal afterwards. For the sake of saving time, we were served outside, where the ceremony had taken place (which was wonderful-I didn't even have to get out of the seat I had been in for four hours.). This was fine until about five minutes later when the hungry kids across the street got a whiff of the food. They came in masses, first standing in front of us watching while we ate, second getting up enough courage to scrounge on the bits of foods that fell to our feet (eating rice with your hands is at least as difficult as eating it with chopsticks), and finally fighting with each other over the massive portions that we couldn't finish (we only ate about half the rice we purchased the day before using the money paid by the families of our impoverished students-another score for the Graduation Committee!). A year or two ago I would certainly have been horrified by all this, but as people always tell me, "Now [I] am used." All things considered, graduation made for an entertaining afternoon.
Just when I came down from the high that was graduation, I then went into Lilongwe to have lunch with the President of Malawi and Chairman of the African Union His Excellency the Honourable Doctor Bingu wa Mutharika (most African political leaders have a tendency of stretching their titles out as long as possible, much different than the "Obama" I hear on BBC).
All of us Peace Corps Volunteers, including most of the staff and some other important people, were invited to the State House (although the entire event was held in a large tent-a very nice tent with AC and chandeliers) to meet with His Excellency, his wife, and a handful of relevant members of the State Department. The main purpose of the event was to pat each other on the back and stuff like that, but I must say that it was all very enjoyable. Amongst people that actually know about Peace Corps in this country, our organization is generally very well respected. However, very few Malawians actually do know about us or what we are doing here. This event at the State House was well covered by the national media, and it gave Peace Corps Malawi a huge boost in popularity. We all got dressed up,
(my headteacher lent me that suit)
ate a nice five course meal (I'm used to eating dinner with my hands by now, and all that silverware threw me for a loop), drank lots of free wine and beer, and danced with the Prez and his lovely wife. I suppose His Excellency is the most famous person that I've ever been that close to before. Most of you back home have probably never heard of him, but he's pretty important in this neck of the woods. A teacher at my school told me that I have to introduce him to Barrack Obama now that I have shaken hands and exchanged glances with his president. I'll see what I can do.
"You see, many of the troubles going on in the world right now are being supervised by people with very good intentions whose attempts are to keep things in order, to clean things up, to forbid this, and to prevent that. The more we try to put everything to rights, the more we make fantastic messes. Maybe that is the way it has got to be. Maybe I should not say anything at all about the folly of trying to put things to right but simply, on the principle of Blake, let the fool persist in his folly so that he will become wise."
Alan Watts
Saturday, July 3, 2010
A Plot Twist
The tone of this post will be a lot different than the one I posted last month. That’s because the tone of my life has changed as well. To spill the beans right away (I actually did spill the beans last week, which I’ve done multiple times over here. It’s not easy balancing a boiling pot of beans over a fire with three small bricks as support.), I’ve decided that at this point in my life it makes the most sense for me to stay here in Malawi. It’s become clear to me that I really do enjoy this crazy country. I can only think of two things that bother me here. One, transport’s a pain in the butt (Today I almost went off the deep end when it took us two and a half hours to go about 30 miles on a minibus that stopped every 100 feet to exchange passengers, add gas to the tank piecemeal-as the money was available, backtrack to find more passengers, stop at road blocks to get harassed by cops looking for bribes, and find the best price for the mice that were being sold by a bunch of kids on the side of the road.). Two, this isn’t a huge burden, but these last few months at school have become a grind. I’m dealing with the same old BS day after day, and it is not as exciting as it was last year. I do still feel that the work I’m doing at the school is worthwhile and important, and I’m excited for my students, who will be writing their national exams these next two months after I have thought them for almost two years now. However, I need to find something new to do-which I have done.
Inshallah, I will be living at a new place with a new job in September. I will be living in Mitundu, a big trading center with lot’s of people, stuff, electricity, noise, and-most importantly to me-development. I’ve spent a lot of time and made a lot of friends there already because I go there a lot to see the PCV that lives there, go to their big weekly market, and pass through on my way into Lilongwe. It will be a big change for me to live there, a change I’m really excited about. I’ll have electricity in my house (!!!)-although not all of the time since blackouts are common. I’ll be living on a paved road with easy, fast (relatively speaking), and cheap transport into Lilongwe. I’ll also be around more educated people (and just more people in general, as the place is growing real fast, and it has a huge transient population-which does give security concerns).
My work will also be completely different. I’ll be loosely affiliated with Mitundu Youth Organization. This is a smaller association that I feel is about to turn the corner and expand quickly in the next few years. They have a building where youth (or pretty much anyone) can come to hang out, play board games, read books from their library, and get advice from the five or so counselors that work there. They also do a lot of outreach work in the surrounding area: assisting the elderly, orphans, single mothers, and people living with HIV; taking the local kids on field trips; training people in basic computer skills; and advising the big “local sex worker” population (when I say “advising,” I mean giving them basic training on how to use various contraceptives, but apparently these women complain about not having enough time to attend these training sessions since they’re so busy at work-they’re in high demand in Mitundu, especially this time of year when the men are selling all the crops they recently harvested, crops they’ll be missing sorely when they don’t have any food in November-but its hard to pass up a night in Mitundu at the disco/bottle store (we call them “bars” in America) with plenty of beer, hookers, and thumping Zambian music). I’m looking into setting up some after school tutoring sessions, but I think I’ll mostly be helping them expand their library (anyone want to send over some books? Keep in mind that shipping’s not cheap.), expand their computer literacy program, fund other projects such as tree planting and borehole construction, and demonstrating environmentally friendly agricultural techniques. Based on the previous paragraph, Mitundu may sound like a high class suburb, but its really more like a ghetto. Yeah, there are a bunch of well-to-do people around, but poverty is rampant, as is HIV, and there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Nonetheless, I’m pumped about this new role that I will be playing, and the next year or so of my life should be enjoyable and productive. I’ll be working with a small group of young, highly motivated people-folks that I’ve already become pretty good friends with over the past two years. Did I mention that I’ll have electricity? That’s right ya’ll, Bryan’s movin’ up in the world!
I’ve made this decision that I will be “extending,” still working under the Peace Corps and utilizing the safety net they provide to volunteers, but another thing I have to figure out is “for how long?”. If a PCV extends for a full year, they get 30 days of home leave. This entails a free round trip back home and a small allowance. If I go this route, I’ll probably take my home leave during the holidays this year, but I’m not sure about any of this stuff. Right now I’m on a different Cloud Nine.
"Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." Henry David Thoreau
Inshallah, I will be living at a new place with a new job in September. I will be living in Mitundu, a big trading center with lot’s of people, stuff, electricity, noise, and-most importantly to me-development. I’ve spent a lot of time and made a lot of friends there already because I go there a lot to see the PCV that lives there, go to their big weekly market, and pass through on my way into Lilongwe. It will be a big change for me to live there, a change I’m really excited about. I’ll have electricity in my house (!!!)-although not all of the time since blackouts are common. I’ll be living on a paved road with easy, fast (relatively speaking), and cheap transport into Lilongwe. I’ll also be around more educated people (and just more people in general, as the place is growing real fast, and it has a huge transient population-which does give security concerns).
My work will also be completely different. I’ll be loosely affiliated with Mitundu Youth Organization. This is a smaller association that I feel is about to turn the corner and expand quickly in the next few years. They have a building where youth (or pretty much anyone) can come to hang out, play board games, read books from their library, and get advice from the five or so counselors that work there. They also do a lot of outreach work in the surrounding area: assisting the elderly, orphans, single mothers, and people living with HIV; taking the local kids on field trips; training people in basic computer skills; and advising the big “local sex worker” population (when I say “advising,” I mean giving them basic training on how to use various contraceptives, but apparently these women complain about not having enough time to attend these training sessions since they’re so busy at work-they’re in high demand in Mitundu, especially this time of year when the men are selling all the crops they recently harvested, crops they’ll be missing sorely when they don’t have any food in November-but its hard to pass up a night in Mitundu at the disco/bottle store (we call them “bars” in America) with plenty of beer, hookers, and thumping Zambian music). I’m looking into setting up some after school tutoring sessions, but I think I’ll mostly be helping them expand their library (anyone want to send over some books? Keep in mind that shipping’s not cheap.), expand their computer literacy program, fund other projects such as tree planting and borehole construction, and demonstrating environmentally friendly agricultural techniques. Based on the previous paragraph, Mitundu may sound like a high class suburb, but its really more like a ghetto. Yeah, there are a bunch of well-to-do people around, but poverty is rampant, as is HIV, and there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Nonetheless, I’m pumped about this new role that I will be playing, and the next year or so of my life should be enjoyable and productive. I’ll be working with a small group of young, highly motivated people-folks that I’ve already become pretty good friends with over the past two years. Did I mention that I’ll have electricity? That’s right ya’ll, Bryan’s movin’ up in the world!
I’ve made this decision that I will be “extending,” still working under the Peace Corps and utilizing the safety net they provide to volunteers, but another thing I have to figure out is “for how long?”. If a PCV extends for a full year, they get 30 days of home leave. This entails a free round trip back home and a small allowance. If I go this route, I’ll probably take my home leave during the holidays this year, but I’m not sure about any of this stuff. Right now I’m on a different Cloud Nine.
"Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star." Henry David Thoreau
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