for tesla june 2

To my sweet sweet electrical outlet,

How I miss when you were full and bright. Your supply, endless and reliable. I would come to you to take part in some of my favourite Canadian pastimes- listen to music, watch films and seek information. Words cannot express how much I long for you at times.

I am left with lifeless devices. After a long day of listening to Chichewa, I press the power button of my computer with the intention of writing an email (to be sent with future internet access), and the blue light remains black. When I need to go home for just 2.5 minutes to hear my favourite Canadian band, the screen of my ipod does not respond to my request. When in need of a familiar voice, my cell phone flashes battery low and its functioning stops.

I know your absence will help me integrate and understand Mkanda better, but my infrequent desire and your absent fulfillment continues to leave me disappointed.

How I wish Tesla completed his mission.

Yours truly,

Powerless

oh danny boy.

I was on the back of a transport truck, on my way back to Mkanda, and I was feeling pretty angry/upset. The owner of the truck was giving me grief for not speaking Chichewa and making fun of me in front of the other passengers and I was fed up. I can understand why they treat Mzungu's like that, but it is very discouraging.  A nice boy my age came and sat next to me and thankfully he spoke perfect English. He was moving back to Mkanda from Blantyre where he worked at an orphanage and with a lot of Mzungu volunteers. At that moment, I really needed someone I could level with.

He told me that his friend from the UK sent him an mp3 player and asked me if I knew any songs on it. The truck was driving the same red dirt path that I described in an earlier post, except this time I was sitting on a much higher truck and could see the full profile of Northern Mchinji- three massive hills and the plains in the far distance. He gave me one of his headphones and pressed play. The song he put on was Danny Boy and I told him I knew it. I could hardly keep from crying as I listened to the song that my family sings every time we gather around a piano at thanksgiving and Christmas.  I was watching Malawi pass by me but in my heart, I was in my Grandma's dining room singing with my family. He leaned toward me and said "I have taken you home".  As I try to describe to you how full my heart was at this moment, I realize that I really can't put it into words.

When I arrived in Mkanda, Mr. Katukulu , Mr. Katundu and Mr. Chinga were waiting for me in the market place. The walk to my new home was full of laughter as I attempted to learn Chichewa words on the way. Mr. Katundu (my co-worker) is a very funny man and lightens up any situation. They taught me two words on that walk home:

Jinga-bike

Jinga ya moto- fire bike (motorcycle)

I arrive the house, and Mr. Katukulu tells me to sit on the mat on the floor and he sits down with me. His grandmother comes into the room and she is hilarious. I greet her in Chichewa and she sets aflame! She howls with laughter at the new Mzungo in their home.  The conversation continues for another 30 minutes in Chichewa and I try to hang on to any word that I can. I didn't understand 99% of it. Visitors came in and out of the living room, I greeted them in Chichewa and they all laughed. We visited for another two hours in Chichewa, and then most people went to bed. I was left with a man named Blackson and Mr. Katukulu and we talked about Canada in English for the rest of the night. I told them about first nation reserves and the traditional dancing and outfits (much like what I saw at TA Zulu's funeral).  I also explained the politics around first nations and they said it is much like Malawi. I was extremely tired by the end of the night (8:30) so I went to bed and settled into my new bedroom.

I woke this morning at 5:30am to Mr. Katukulu called "nabanda". This is my new name; it means daughter of Banda and Banda is Mr. Katukulu's Clan name. He introduces me as his second daughter to most people we meet. He handed me a broom made out of sticks and told me to sweep (usessa) with his wife. We used the broom and swept their property of leaves and maize husks from the previous night. Afterwards, I helped peel potatoes (batata) with Mr. Katukulu. Mr. Katukulu then gave me a bucket and told me that I will help his wife fetch water from the "African borehole".

Mrs. Katukulu doesn't speak English but she has a wicked laugh that she uses all the time. Mr. Katukulu has the same kind of laugh. I walked with Mrs. Katukulu silently to the borehole and stopped to chat with every house along the way. Introductions are very important here. At the borehole, I dropped the can into well and Mrs. Katukulu helped me pour it into the bucket. There was a huge crowd around me laughing at me and I greeted new people as they arrived. At this moment in time, I thought to myself, "Feeling stupid" should be written in my job description.

We carried the water back to the house on our heads. When carrying the water, any small movement is transferred into the water making it spill. Perhaps my nervous energy was flowing through it as well. I arrived at the house with the front of my sweater very wet and Mr. Katukulu laughed at me. He said "Mukutungu madzi" You got water. This family is awesome.

Edina, their 2.5 year old, was very afraid of me last night. This morning, she started smiling at me and laughing. Sometimes she gets this worried look when I try to communicate with her, but I'm sure we'll be friends in no time. It is not every day that a big white monster moves into your home.

Mr. Katukulu escorted me to work this morning. It took 30 minutes to get here and we stopped at many places along the way. He constantly tells me Chichewa nouns and sometimes I think my brain can't hold anymore in. This morning I learned toothbrush- useche, garden-munda, semana-afternoon, muez-moon. Oh boy. I am going to take some time during my work day in the next two weeks to teach myself because when CLTS meetings begin, I will not be able to contribute. I also can only communicate with Mr. Katukulu right now and I'd love to get to know his wife, daughter and family.

I am at work now and will be smearing my home this afternoon when I return for lunch!

I have decided that I'm waking up earlier when I return to Canada. You can get a lot accomplished by 8am!

Tiwonana posachedwa (see you soon).

Love kate!

last time on the internet for a while.

Mwadseka Bwanji? (your morning how?)

I've stayed in a rest house the past two nights in Mkanda because I didn't have a family to live with but now I do! My co-worker, Mr. Katundu (Mr. luggage), took me under his wing and found me a nice family to live with and I am moving in tomorrow night. I am living with the Traditional Authority's (TA- the chief of the zone) nephew who is regarded as a TA. I gathered he was an important man because his phone was ringing every 10 minutes when we were with him. I'll be living with him, his wife, sister and 2.5 year old daughter. I'm stoked to be living with a wee lass of 2.5 years.

Tomorrow night, before I officially move in, I have to smudge my room in front of who knows who! Smudging is when you take sand, add some water and rub it all over the floor. Then, you take a rock and scratch it into the floor. This is to make the room "smart and clean" or so Mr. Katundu told me. He's insisting that I do it so I can get the most Malawian experience. Jolly Ann and I made it super clear that I wanted to get a Malawian cultural experience to my co-workers and family so many people are going out of their way to help me learn the Malawian way. For example, last night, we went for dinner at another one of my co-workers house. He came with me to the bore hole and I carried water back to his house on my head. Children laugh at me all the time. I freakin' love the kids.

Flag is the guy who had us over for dinner last night. His real name is Chipi Mbendera, but mbendera means flag in chichewa and EWB volunteers have called him that since the beginning of time. He is a UN volunteer and is probably about 25. When we were at his place, I felt as comfortable as I would in a Canadian living room. He is highly educated and keen to learn about everything. He digs science like I do and we talked about fire for a little while. I'll be riding on his motorbike next week to visit different towns around Mkanda to meet extension workers.

I figured out what my job is today. We had a meeting in the morning and outlined my employee's expectations and mine. There are five tiers to the CLTS system in Mkanda. There is

1.       UNICEF who gives money to the government

2.       The district government (the district assembly)

3.       The "task force" of Mkanda, who organize all CLTS doings in the region

4.       Facilitators of CLTS, who are health workers paid by the government

5.       The villagers

Mkanda is the first district in all of Malawi (and the world) to start a task force. The task force is about 5 or 6 members of the community who organize and drive CLTS in the area. Because this is the first one ever, we want to make sure they are supported and reaching their objectives, to make model task force for other districts to copy.

My job is to work with the district assembly, the task force and the facilitators to make sure the CLTS program in Mkanda is running efficiently and everyone has the skills they need to reach their objectives. I'll spend the first few days getting to know the task force. I'm hoping to meet with every member to talk about their relationship with the district/extension workers and figure out how they operate as a team. Then on Wednesday of next week, I jump on a motorbike to meet all of the facilitators and figure out the support they receive from the task force, the challenges they're facing and the skills they feel they need to be better at making communities open defecation free.  

I'll only be living in Mkanda until July, so I have a lot of information to gather and workshops to plan before then. Eek! But I'm super excited about it, so it's not too stressful. I'll move to the boma (the city) after that and work directly with the district assembly to work on their management skills.

I hope that gives you an idea of what I'm going to be doing. I'm only just figuring it out myself.

The TA Zulu (chief of the Zulu zone) died last week so tomorrow I'm in the boma for his funeral. This is a rare occurrence so it's a unique cultural experience that I'm going to check out. A nice family I had dinner with last week said that I was welcome to attend and I could bring my video camera if I wanted. I don't know if I'll have the guts to get footage but I'm definitely attending. Apparently, when a chief dies, he is placed standing in the corner at the back of the funeral service and then is buried sitting down. I imagine the service will be hours long, so that is what I'm doing all afternoon tomorrow.

I'm feeling very happy. I love Mkanda and the people I'm working with. I'm struggling a little bit with the food, but I expected that. I'm going to coat everything in hot sauce from now on to mask the flavour. Language is a minor challenge but I will learn very soon. I know that I'll be able to connect to people so much more if I start understanding and speaking Chichewa. I've arranged for a school teacher to teach me every day. I need to learn the language fast because I am missing out on conversations every passing day! These are just minor things.

What I love most about living here is that everyone visits all the time. Nobody is ever alone. Families are so big and communities are so close that visitors pop in and out, conversations are happening everywhere on the road and you can hardly get to work without being stopped 5 times for a conversation. I love it! I hope to bring this way of life back to Canada. This is the kind of community Canada needs more of!

I should hit the sack because I'm waking up at 5:45am to leave for the boma.

Pitani Bwino (go well).

Love kate