"CLTS yabweretsa mgwirizano"- CLTS has brought togetherness
Key learnings/realizations from today:
People will laugh at me when I try to speak Chichewa. Even if they are fluent in English, have confidence no matter what. Some people from the village we encountered do not speak English well and in order to hear their stories, learning the language is very important.
Bartering tip: say "No, I can get it over there for much less," and then offer a price.
I am officially everyone's sister- "Hey sister"
For a country without garbage collection, it's not as polluted as I expected. Garbage is gathered on the ground and burned in communities. Sometimes you drive past the odour of burning plastic and you can see fires in the distance, but the air isn't too bad and the grass is as green as it gets. My exposure to the country is not too great yet, and I'm sure I'll be talking about this more.
12% of Malawians tested for AIDS is positive. A 51 year old woman named Grace talked to us tonight about AIDS. She is living positively and is a leader in her community for admitting she's positive as there are many misconceptions and stereotypes about getting tested and being positive. She talked to us about how it is transmitted, perceived, treated and also about the ABCS: Abstain, Be faithful, and use a Condom. I left this session feeling hopeful because she is such a powerful woman who is leading by example and feeling like if there are more people like her, that AIDS can be overcome. I never imagined hearing about AIDS from an African, but it was a very powerful moment.
I am a little bit upset that I'm not working yet. We were having dinner tonight as a big group and I looked around and realized that it's almost been a month since school ended and I'm extremely eager to finish training and start my job. This is partly due to the volcano and partly due to having enough time to train the group going to Ghana, and I can totally understand why logistically this makes sense, but I want to get to work! That's not to say that I'm not enjoying my time where I am and in this company, I just feel guilty.
The market isn't half as stressful as I expected. It's actually extremely exciting.
Key questions from the day:
Why am I embarrassed when I tell someone I'm working for an NGO?
How is the water monitored and treated in Lilongwe (the capital city)?
When will people stop yelling Mzungo (white person) at me? Answer: Never.
How can I connect my chapter to what I'm doing? I ask this question every day. I'll probably sit down and do some real strategizing in a week's time when I'm in the village without electricity J. If you guys have any tips, pass them on!
What will my village be like? Who will I live with? How will I integrate? What will the food be like? Will I have my own bed?
Stories:
The market is a collection of wooden posts and tin sheets, muddled together into a configuration of outdoor shops and paths. I was walking in a narrow path on red soil and a man sleeping on a pile of blankets he was selling saw me and shot straight up onto both his feet and said "white body white body". It amazed me how fast that sleeping man stood up.
A couple stops down from his were stacked wire crates full of chickens. Some of them looked like they were in rough shape and I felt bad that they were cooped up in that heat waiting to be purchased and then… I ordered chicken tonight at a restaurant for the protein and I knew I was eating those chickens. Somehow, I don't feel too guilty about it though. Eating meat here is completely different than in Canada.
I'm feeling very happy. I've had an obsession with Africa for four years now and I couldn't possibly be happier in this place. I am in absolute heaven and can't wait to learn more of the language. Today we learned lots of Chichewa. I'll write a lesson for you, but for now, I will leave you with sigulabwino (have a good day). I am eager to get to work and a little nervous about moving to the village. I am much less nervous about meeting my co-workers and host family now that I've met a handful of Malawians and know how nice they are. I wish I could share it all with you. I am going to try!
Love and kittens,
Kate
First day in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa, World, Universe.
I was absolutely elated driving into the town of Lilongwe from the airport. At certain points, I thought my heart was going to jump right out of my chest and go running for the Malawian hills. Seeing the landscape and the women carrying baskets on their head while listening to dandy krazy in a mini-bus was so damn real. I've dreamt about this and seen it in countless images, but I'm actually in it. Indescribable.
Flying to South Africa was the incredible. I put on some African choir music (Ladysmith Black Mambaza- Greatest Hits) and watched the sun rise over the horizon for two hours this morning. As the clouds across Africa diminished, I began seeing landmasses, lakes and mountains become illuminated and it was Africa! Holy shit- this is it!!!!
I sat beside a super nice Malawian woman on the plane from South Africa to Lilongwe. She asked for extra water from the stewardess, gave it to me and told me that there will be bottled water in a larger town near Mkanda, Mchinge district and that I should stock up. I said thank you, but I'll be living with a family and doing what they do to for drinking water. She was awesome and told me all about her family which I really appreciated. I was just a nervous Mzungo (white person) and she made me feel right at home.
I stepped off the plane and ran to the washroom in the Lilongwe airport. Found a washroom with no toilet paper and realized that I'm not in Kansas anymore. Thankfully, my co-worker gave me a roll of pink toilet paper (it comes in colours here!!!) to carry with me at all times. Thanks Jolly Ann!
Six of us went for dinner tonight with a sweet family in area 25, Lilongwe. We're staying in area 3 so we drove west (towards Zambia) for quite awhile on a red bumpy dirt road. The drivers of the mini bus gifted us five long stalks of sugar cane (nzimbe). We peeled the bark and chewed off big chunks and sucked back the sugar juice and watched as the houses and people on foot and bicycle passed by. What a sweet moment in time.
The family we ate with fed us nsima and five relishes. Nsima is the staple food of Malawi and a derivative of it is found in many African countries under many different names. It is made by boiling water, adding maize flour slowly and stirring until it reaches a thick enough consistency to make into balls. You take an nsima ball and dip it in a relish to eat it. The relishes we tried tonight were beef, mustard, pumpkin and pumpkin leaf, bean and "Chinese". Not so sure what the last one had in it, but I assumed it was cabbage and kept on chewing. Beef was my favourite which is a huge surprise because eating meat was one of my biggest fears about moving to Africa (I've been a vegetarian for 4 years).
Silvia was a girl about my age and she loves to cook so we had a grade A meal. The long term volunteers told us that that kind of selection and flavour will be hard to come across in village life. One vegetable and meat relish is typical. There was also a kitten running around the house named Sasha and I couldn't keep my hands off her, even though my contract tells me not to play with animals. Who can resist a kitten?! We all had an awesome conversation about agriculture, electricity and water in Malawi, jobs, music and Chuck Norris (apparently he is a big star here).
I'm currently tucked under my mosquito bed net, thinking about the half moon that is sitting high in the sky, and eager to start another day tomorrow.
I feel so alive!
Love kate
