Under the Milky Way

There's nothing like being gone from my site for a week (and being in the capital city) to make me love and appreciate my village even more!  The woman selling me produce in the boma automatically gave me a Malawian price instead of trying to up charge me. I was given the front seat in the mini bus because I had 3 bags. A form 2 boy carried one of my backpacks up the mountain as we chatted about malaria and he asked me questions and encouraged me to come to his school to help teach about malaria and HIV. My neighbor kids FREAKED OUT with excitement when they saw me walking up. My amayi friends had me come up to sit and catch up with them while they talked about how much they missed me and gifted me sweet potatoes before I left. A two yr old curled up in my arms. The gates to my fence were fixed. And most importantly--MY HEALTH CENTER NOW HAS ELECTRICITY!!!!  Aka a few houses also have electricity! This means I can hopefully  charge my phone and laptop at the health center...

Hi all!   So I just returned to Mulanje from a trip to Lilongwe for a (mini) STOMP Out Malaria boot camp. It was such a wonderful week! Kudos to Brooke Mancuso—our national malaria coordinator— for planning a successful camp! The STOMP Malaria team in Malawi has now more than doubled from 4 to 10 people. Last weekend, I traveled to Blantyre which is the nearest big city to me and a good stopping place between Bondo and Lilongwe. I met up with some PCVs there and was able to meet some of our new education volunteers along the way. We have a new education volunteer coming to Mulanje, so we’ll be a solid crew of five. I was able to explore the city some, even found some incense and a yarn store which was exciting!  When we reached Lilongwe, it was so nice to be reunited with volunteers from our H&E 2014 group—especially the ones who live far up north! We had a great time hanging out and being able to catch up all week.  Our training began with lear...

Moni onse! I don't really feel like typing up a whole long update, but here are some interesting, funny, or random things that have happened recently.... My lovely mulanje buddy, Adia, left to go home to America at the beginning of July. I was and still am very sad to see her go, but I know she's doing what's best for her. We had many hilarious memories together, as she was also my neighbor during PST, and bonding times. She was there for me through all of my struggles since arriving in Kasungu, and I'm so thankful for the time I had with her. It will definitely be different without being able to meet her in the boma to catch up and for lunch, but thank god for whatsapp! And all of the other wonderful volunteers who live in Mulanje!  This past weekend (July 12), I ran the Mount Mulanje Porters Race. I almost backed out of running it, but the guys I did the trial run with held me to it...and I'm so glad they did! We had a decent sized group of PCVs running, about 9, ...

It has been a ridiculously busy weekend. Early Saturday morning, I left to go to mbewa to meet up with some friends and run the porters race trail. When I reached the city, I took a “hitch” to Andy’s house. This entailed climbing into the back of a raggedy white truck loaded with people and bags. I had to stand up the entire ride (10km) and hold onto a bar behind the cab of the truck. I had no foot room to brace myself and felt like I was going to fall out the side about half of the ride. There were two men sitting on top of the cab right in front of me who insisted on speaking to me in Chichewa the entire ride once they found out that I was not an azungu . When I said I was a health volunteer, one began asking me all kinds of questions about HIV, condom use, contracting the disease, and if we have it in America. It was a long ride in, taking forever on the bumpy dusty roads. I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to pay since it was not a mini bus, but they still charged me 700 kwatcha ...

June 27, 2014  I woke up today with a plan. I was going to go to the secondary school’s graduation then head to the boma, use some wifi, go to the post office, meet friends for lunch, and crash at Andy’s house because we were all going to do a test-run of the porters race tomorrow morning. Well, that all changed when the graduation began three and half hours late. When I received my invitation, the deliverer said to arrive at 8:30AM and that the ceremony would begin at 9:30. I left my house at 8:15AM, expecting to be home in about 2-3 hours. I should never ever think this way while I’m here in Africa. I arrived at the school, and there was no one there except the group of students still setting up the “tent” for guests (throwing tarps over a basic skeleton of bamboo pieces). I settled myself onto one of the giant boulders in the open space by the school. A student ran over with a white, plastic lawn chair. I refused, but he sat and chatted with me while I waited. The sun w...

It's funny how me sitting outside on my front porch studying development materials can quickly turn into a gaggle of kids in my yard playing. My cute toddler friend Macy comes over to chat with her sister, a few neighbors kids join us, then she gets her "Malawian jump rope," more kids come (in their purple uniforms because they're on their way home from school), and before I know it, my yard has because a playground. Even though it can be frustrating when I actually need to get things done, sometimes being in the center of the village, surrounded by activity, a highly frequented produce stand, and children, can be a blessing. 

June 21, 2014 Well, it’s a rainy and windy Saturday morning—the perfect time to write about yesterday’s experiences. The rain is creating a soothing drizzle on my tin roof, calming me and reassuring me that it’s okay if I sit in my house all day instead of going out and interacting with my neighbors. I have my fresh, french press coffee sitting next to me. The curtain covering the window on my left is pulled back so that I can vaguely see what’s happening in my front yard. The rain is off and on, getting heavy and roaring on the roof and then dissipating off into silence every few seconds. People are running along the path in front of my house to get to their destinations—not wanting to get caught in a downpour. It’s a fitting day for winter solstice in Malawi, chilly and rainy. Although I enjoy the bright blue skies and warmth of sunny days, sometimes a relaxing rainy day is much needed.   Yesterday was nutrition day at the health clinic. There were plenty of mothers and ...