Hi friends!
First post from Mulanje, Malawi. I have been toying with the idea of beginning a blog since before I got here, but (with the help of friends) decided that it's the time to 'just do it!' (Shout out to Coach Mason) After all, goal #3 of Peace Corps is to help Americans understand the people and cultures of other countries!
So, I don't really know where to begin with everything. I've been in Malawi for over 3 months now. We spent the first 9 weeks in home stay families in the Kasungu district (central Malawi). We learned about the culture, studied the language INTENSIVELY, and also learned technical skills. As health volunteers, our four main areas of work in Malawi are HIV/AIDS mitigation and prevention, malaria education and prevention, nutrition education, and sanitation/hygiene education. We came to Malawi with a group of 37 volunteers: 16 health and 21 environment vols. After we "graduated" from training and swore in at the ambassadors house in the capital, we all journeyed out to our sites across Malawi. We have vols from the northern most area (Chitipa--right near Tanzania and Zambia) all the way south to Nsanje (surrounded by Mozambique). Malawi has about 120 volunteers total in 3 fields: health, environment, and education.
I am located in the Mulanje district, right in the foothills of Mount Mulanje. This mountain is the highest in southern Africa and the 3rd highest mountain in all of Africa. I love my site. It's considered a "difficult to reach" location according to the Ministry of Health because transportation doesn't run up to my village. So, to get to my site, I get dropped off by a mini bus at the bottom of a dirt road, and I walk about an hour up to my village. At first, I was really upset about this, but I've gotten used to the walking (it is an insanely gorgeous hike) and the only time I don't like it is when I've bought too many things in the boma, basically the district's capital city, and I have to carry it all up with me.
My village is named Bondo 1. The entire catchment area that I'm responsible for is called Bondo, and it's made up of 15 villages. I have a site mate who lives in Nessa, about an hour walk away. I am assigned to a health center, the Bondo Health Center, which serves all of these village. My job is not necessarily to WORK there, but to work in the community. Right now, I am in the process of conducting a community needs assessment. This is all we're supposed to do for the first 3 months at site. We have an In-Service Training at the end of September where we will talk about starting projects and writing grants. But for now, my job is to get to know the community, see what they need help with, and get used to living in a rural African village.
My village is on the "rainforest" side of the mountain, so we get A LOT of rain. It is dry season right now, but I've heard it rains from November-May. The village is very crowded with lots of huts on a small amount of land. It is plentiful with fruit trees--bananas, papayas, pineapples, guavas, mangos, lychee, etc. There aren't any large markets near me, but there are lots of amayis (malawian word for moms and women in general) who have little bamboo stands along the roads (and in my front yard too!) and sell tomatoes, onions, greens, and dry fish. Sometimes it feels like a wild goose chase trying to find everything I need: one house bakes bread, another sells eggs, another has the best tomatoes, another has sweet potatoes, etc.
My house is wonderful and surprisingly large (compared to what I expected). It has three large rooms and two small ones. I do not have running water or electricity, but I do have a tap in the "courtyard" area outside of my house. However, the tap only works occasionally. When it does work, water spews out and makes a small pond in my side yard because the handle doesn't turn, so I can't get it to turn off! When I don't have water, I either collect water that drips off my roof with buckets when it rains or I gather some neighborhood kids to go with me either to the river or the school tap (about a mile walk), and they help me carry it home. Yes, an 11 year old has to carry my 20 liter bucket of water on her head for me. I soak myself, and my arms get tired!
That's all for now. I am in the boma at an NGO that allows us to use their free wifi, but it's after 3PM and I need to begin my journey home. First, I have to walk to the bus depot and get a mini bus going my direction. They take a bit to fill up and then it stops all the time along the road on the way home to squeeze ridiculous amounts of people and luggage into the bus. After 20-30 minutes, it drops me off at my road. And then I have to walk all the way up. It gets dark here at 5:30 since it's cold season and the days are short (southern hemisphere!) However, I have an app for this blog on my phone, so hopefully I'll still be able to update up at my site. We'll see! Thanks for reading friends!
xo
First post from Mulanje, Malawi. I have been toying with the idea of beginning a blog since before I got here, but (with the help of friends) decided that it's the time to 'just do it!' (Shout out to Coach Mason) After all, goal #3 of Peace Corps is to help Americans understand the people and cultures of other countries!
So, I don't really know where to begin with everything. I've been in Malawi for over 3 months now. We spent the first 9 weeks in home stay families in the Kasungu district (central Malawi). We learned about the culture, studied the language INTENSIVELY, and also learned technical skills. As health volunteers, our four main areas of work in Malawi are HIV/AIDS mitigation and prevention, malaria education and prevention, nutrition education, and sanitation/hygiene education. We came to Malawi with a group of 37 volunteers: 16 health and 21 environment vols. After we "graduated" from training and swore in at the ambassadors house in the capital, we all journeyed out to our sites across Malawi. We have vols from the northern most area (Chitipa--right near Tanzania and Zambia) all the way south to Nsanje (surrounded by Mozambique). Malawi has about 120 volunteers total in 3 fields: health, environment, and education.
I am located in the Mulanje district, right in the foothills of Mount Mulanje. This mountain is the highest in southern Africa and the 3rd highest mountain in all of Africa. I love my site. It's considered a "difficult to reach" location according to the Ministry of Health because transportation doesn't run up to my village. So, to get to my site, I get dropped off by a mini bus at the bottom of a dirt road, and I walk about an hour up to my village. At first, I was really upset about this, but I've gotten used to the walking (it is an insanely gorgeous hike) and the only time I don't like it is when I've bought too many things in the boma, basically the district's capital city, and I have to carry it all up with me.
My village is named Bondo 1. The entire catchment area that I'm responsible for is called Bondo, and it's made up of 15 villages. I have a site mate who lives in Nessa, about an hour walk away. I am assigned to a health center, the Bondo Health Center, which serves all of these village. My job is not necessarily to WORK there, but to work in the community. Right now, I am in the process of conducting a community needs assessment. This is all we're supposed to do for the first 3 months at site. We have an In-Service Training at the end of September where we will talk about starting projects and writing grants. But for now, my job is to get to know the community, see what they need help with, and get used to living in a rural African village.
My village is on the "rainforest" side of the mountain, so we get A LOT of rain. It is dry season right now, but I've heard it rains from November-May. The village is very crowded with lots of huts on a small amount of land. It is plentiful with fruit trees--bananas, papayas, pineapples, guavas, mangos, lychee, etc. There aren't any large markets near me, but there are lots of amayis (malawian word for moms and women in general) who have little bamboo stands along the roads (and in my front yard too!) and sell tomatoes, onions, greens, and dry fish. Sometimes it feels like a wild goose chase trying to find everything I need: one house bakes bread, another sells eggs, another has the best tomatoes, another has sweet potatoes, etc.
My house is wonderful and surprisingly large (compared to what I expected). It has three large rooms and two small ones. I do not have running water or electricity, but I do have a tap in the "courtyard" area outside of my house. However, the tap only works occasionally. When it does work, water spews out and makes a small pond in my side yard because the handle doesn't turn, so I can't get it to turn off! When I don't have water, I either collect water that drips off my roof with buckets when it rains or I gather some neighborhood kids to go with me either to the river or the school tap (about a mile walk), and they help me carry it home. Yes, an 11 year old has to carry my 20 liter bucket of water on her head for me. I soak myself, and my arms get tired!
That's all for now. I am in the boma at an NGO that allows us to use their free wifi, but it's after 3PM and I need to begin my journey home. First, I have to walk to the bus depot and get a mini bus going my direction. They take a bit to fill up and then it stops all the time along the road on the way home to squeeze ridiculous amounts of people and luggage into the bus. After 20-30 minutes, it drops me off at my road. And then I have to walk all the way up. It gets dark here at 5:30 since it's cold season and the days are short (southern hemisphere!) However, I have an app for this blog on my phone, so hopefully I'll still be able to update up at my site. We'll see! Thanks for reading friends!
xo