Sunday, June 28, 2009

On we go!











































































































































I have been at my site for about 3 weeks and must leave for my mid-service training in Dedza, central Malawi. I still can’t believe that I’ve been at my site for 1 year already and am halfway through with my service. It’s kind of a strange feeling… It’s a combination of many different feelings. I feel like I haven’t done anything in my community, things have been moving exhaustingly slow (Malawian time) and there’s just no way of speeding things up. I’m excited that I’ve survived this long and excited that I’m on my way to being home-home again. I’m also kind of sad that I will have to eventually leave this place. I also feel like time is running out to accomplish everything I want and need to accomplish before I go. Then I fall into the perpetual problem of idling, waiting for the Malawians to meet me halfway. Well, here are a few good and bad updates.

I gave Alindiyani the clothes and she fits most of them so well! The clothes stayed cleaned for about 2 minutes on her and then it was covered in dirt and snot. I gave Lumanda a thick jacket I bought from Old Navy. They were super excited and danced as I took pictures of them in their new clothes. Also, I finally know what the kids’ mom’s name is, Mary. She’s always been referred to as Lumanda’s mom. The dresses that my mom and Mrs. Shinar donated to their mom fits her perfectly. She was very grateful. The donations that were going towards this family is being planned. First and foremost, I will be having a pit latrine constructed so that they do not use the bushes nearby as a bathroom. A bath structure will also be constructed so the mother does not have to bathe at night in the dark. I am also in the process of seeing about getting her started in raising chickens for eggs and food and also a piece of land so she can farm and feed her kids. More updates on this family to come.

I arrived at my site and discovered that A, my village dog, died while I was in America. B is still around and was pregnant. She just recently (June 18th) had 1 boy puppy, C. C looks exactly like B and is the most adorable thing ever! My friend from the library committee came and helped me make a cave like hole in my backyard for mom and pup to stay. He is also helping me feed her while I’m away.


























A ground laborer, Maxwell, for the health center passed away in February. He was HIV+ and was receiving ARVs from the district hospital but continuously fell ill of pneumonia, TB, and Malaria. For some reason, everyone at my site knew about it but all assumed that I knew also. Last week, I sat in the outpatient clinic and realized I hadn’t seen him in a long time. I asked Henry (medical assistant at the health center) where Maxwell was and he told me.

The most exciting update is the roof of the library is finally finished! I used some of the money that was donated to purchase building materials in Blantyre. We purchased the roofing timbers locally to help the local carpenters and also eliminate the transportation issue. My library committee told me they would replace the rest of the roof of the library on Saturday (June 20th) and they did. 8 committee members came early Saturday morning and finished at 2pm.
















We never really fully understand the extent of how truly lucky we are until we live in a developing country like Malawi. So I went to visit my 2 VSOs (Volunteer Service Organization), Gemma and Andrew, in the district town. They have been building a playground for the kids in their community. The playground is practically finished, 3 tire swings, obstacle course, a soccer field, netball court, and 4 swings. Gemma and I were appalled at the fact that these kids did not know how to use the swings. They don’t know how to use their legs and their bodies to swing themselves. They sat on the swings and held on for dear life as the other kids continued to push them. I thought again at my childhood and the kids at home; all of whom if put on a swing, would know exactly what to do. It hit us that these kids have NEVER had a playground. So Gemma and I had to get on the swings and show them what to do. By the end of the day, maybe 2 kids understood and attempted the maneuver. It’s really amazing how many trivial things we take for granted.

One other thing that we take for granted is the quality of care and customer service that is available to us in America that is not available in other parts of the world. I see first hand the lack of care and customer service that the people here do not receive on a daily basis at my health center. Patients will wait for hours to be seen while the health workers sit around and talk or the nurse goes and buys vegetables or cooks her relish for lunch. It’s even worse when they’re in the labor room, being yelled at by everyone. I decided that I couldn’t stand to see that anymore so I haven’t spend much time there. But the other day, I decided that I was going to sit in on the labors. It was June 19th and the health center already delivered 34 babies. There were 4 women all in labor and it was a race to see which was going to deliver first. One of the 4 was an 18 year old girl with her first pregnancy. She was scolded by a neighbor and the nurse. Then the nurse slapped her. I have never seen anything like that. It was horrible! That may have been the last day that I will spend in the labor room. I couldn’t say anything because I was in shock. I can’t believe the nurse SLAPPED the 18 year old girl as she’s suffering from labor pains! I just could not believe it. That wouldn’t have happened in America, right? It’s no wonder many of these women choose to have their babies at home in the village. I would too!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Back in Malawi!

Hello!

Just letting everyone know that I made it back to Malawi with no problems. I have not returned to my village yet as I am exhausted and jetlagged with many technical issues to take care of at the Peace Corps office in Lilongwe.

I wanted to let everyone know... I submitted a proposal for my guardian shelter project right before I left for America. When I arrived in Lilongwe... I discovered about 469,045 Malawi kwacha ($3311 US) in my bank account. I was approved for the guardian shelter project building materials!!!! How exciting!!!! I can't wait to get this project started. =0)

Also, I would like to thank everyone who has donated something towards my Africa cause. Please rest assured that 100% of what you've donated will benefit the projects and the people. Check back later for updates and pictures on what your donations have done!

I never realized how much of an American I am until I came to Africa. Now, I will never take my life in America for granted or complain about anything, especially customer service! We should realize how good things are in America and know that the rest of the world does not live how we live and does not have what we have. Be thankful!

Being in America for a month was amazing! Thank you everyone that made time to see me and for those I didn't get to see... don't worry! I will be back next year before you know it!

I am taking this week to adjust to being back to Malawi and will be going back to my village early next week. Plus, the new health volunteers are arriving in Lilongwe on Sunday and I will be going with my health group to greet them at the airport!

FYI: They have added numbers to my phone numbers:
(265) 995-502-166
(265) 884-483-258

Friday, March 27, 2009

Who's GENEROUS? Please help!

Hi all! The time has finally come for you to step up to the plate and participate! So you’ve all heard me ramble on and on about my experiences here in Malawi but you’re probably still left wondering… what exactly is she doing over there? After almost 8 months at my site, I felt defeated and useless with no successful projects to show for. But now I finally feel like things are finally happening! Whew! We were just moving on Malawian time! No worries! =0) Now I’m feeling overwhelmed with multiple projects in the works. Here is your chance to help! Help me help my community. The following are current projects that need any “M” support you can give: moral, monetary, or material. Please rest assured that 100% of your donations go directly to the projects and the community.

1. Mfera Rural Library and Adult Literacy – I am working with the library committee to fix the library’s structure. The roof is made of thatch and leaks very badly when it rains. With the current funding situation, we can only afford to replace half the roof with iron sheets. The library also lacks bookshelves and books due to last year’s theft. Once the roof is fixed and the books go back into the library, we will be starting an adult literacy program to teach the adults how to read and write. All this is possible through the motivated volunteers of the community.
*Estimated amount to complete project: $250.00 (35,000 mk)

Here are your options to help:
a. Donate money towards the purchase of building materials or office supplies + chalk board
b. Donate office supplies for adult literacy class: pencils, pens, notebooks, paper, chalk, etc
c. Donate books, especially children’s books or dictionaries

2. Mfera Green Eagles Football Team – We’re talking soccer here. There is a local men’s soccer team that I’m working with to include HIV/AIDS awareness into their activities. They are the high risk group of becoming infected with HIV. There is a youth radio program on Thursdays that talk about HIV/AIDS. We listen and discuss the issues of sex, HIV/AIDS, condoms, etc. I am also trying to motivate and encourage all members to get tested to know their status. The problem is that they don’t want to know for fear of being positive. We are also trying to raise funds for various expenses like equipment and travel. As you may have concluded with all my travel horrors, transportation is a nightmare here. I am trying to get them jerseys from a website back at home called passback.com. Think about this: people live on less than 140 mk ($1) a day, and a quality soccer ball costs about 3000 mk (little over $20.00).

Here are your options to help:
a. Donate money to start their savings account or purchase equipment
b. Donate equipment: soccer balls, cleats, socks, net, equipment bags, anything!

3. Mfera Guardian Shelter Construction Project – This is the biggest and most expensive project I am working on. I live at a rural health center, meaning we are surrounded by villages and farm land. If I wanted to go to the boma (=district center) on public transport it would take about 1.5 hours one way (bicycle taxi, minibus, bicycle taxi) and costs about almost 200 mk. The boma is also where the district hospital is, with 1 actual doctor. For everyone else in the district, they are seen at their “local” health centers. My health center services more than 27,000 people from 70 different villages. The village furthest away almost 20 km. We are trying to build a guardian shelter because many pregnant women come to the health center sometime during their third trimester to wait for labor. If they wait till labor comes, it’s too late to get to the health center in time. These women usually comes during their 8th month with a guardian (mother, sister, in-law, neighbor, friend, whoever) to help with the cooking and help when the baby finally comes. Our health center does not have a facility for these people. During the day, they sit outside next to the pit latrines and my house. They also cook on a 3 stone fire on the ground next to the pit latrines. They are not allowed to hang out at the health center as the health center gets congested with outpatients during the day. At night, they sleep on the ground in the maternity wing as we only have 5 beds for postnatal mothers. The problem with this project is finding funding. I tried one grant but was denied because they don’t fund that much money. *Most expensive project: about $4600.00 (644,000 mk) for building materials and feeding the builders.

Here is your option to help:
a. Donate money, money, money! Any amount will help!

4. Mfera Primary School Safe Water Club – A big health problem in my community is diarrhea. Especially during the rainy season (now) because we are in a cholera zone. When it starts raining, the seasonal rivers fill up and people become lazy. They don’t want to walk all the way to the bore holes to fetch water. Kids also swim in very dirty and contaminated waters. We are at a 0 elevation and get the runoffs of the rain from Thyolo and Blantyre. By the time the water gets to our rivers, it looks like clay. This doesn’t bother the villagers at all. They bathe, play, wash clothes, and even collect drinking water in the river. We are hoping to teach the kids how to decrease diarrhea and encourage them to always use safe treated water. *Cheapest project to fund: maybe $50.00.

Here is your option to help:
a. Donate money for materials: cups, Waterguard (water treatment), storage buckets
b. Donate materials for the club members: toys, games, art stuff, etc.
c. Donate ideas for activities the club can do

5. Lumanda and Alindiyani – 2 malnourish kids that live next to my house. They are living with a single mom (recently divorced) in a mud hut and thatched roof with no pit latrine, bath, or kitchen. Lumanda is the older brother who is 5 years and Alindiyani is the younger sister who is 3 years old. This family has absolutely nothing and the mother has no way of properly taking care of her children. These 2 kids often go to bed hungry even though Alindiyani is on a supplemental feeding program with the health center. Alindiyani does not ever share food and cries at night because she is hungry. I have given them bread, dried fish, fruits, biscuits, corn, and even bought the little girl a used dress and her brother a used pair of shorts. I also have their mother do my laundry (thought I can hand wash my own clothes) so that I can pay her. I don’t like to do handouts because then people will think I have a lot of money (which they already think so but which I don’t have). However, on my meager volunteer living allowance, I’m not much help.

Here are your options to help:
a. Donate old used clothes or shoes for the children or mother
b. Donate money to help feed the children or as startup for an income generating activity
c. Any other way you think can help!

6. Dogs A and B – I know this is a little sad because there are children that are starving but here I am asking for help to take care of stray dogs. But if you know me, you know how much I LOVE dogs. There are tons of dogs running around in the villages. However, these are called village dogs (untamed, undomesticated, and scared of people, possibly with rabies). No one feeds these dogs and they roam around looking for anything to eat. They are so scrawny that their heads are bigger than their bodies; you can count all the ribs they have and even their hip bones. So I’ve basically “adopted” two dogs. A is a tri-color female mutt and B is a black with a few white spots (kind of like my Wop and Ally). My friend Kristen calls them ugly, but I think they’re only “ugly” because they’re starving plus I think they’re adorable. I don’t do anything with them except feed them my leftovers. Now they sleep on my front porch or on my back steps. I call them A and B because I do not want to become attached to them. Fleas/ticks are a very big problem for these dogs.

Here are your options to help:
a. Donate money to help feed them (and feed me!) or to buy flea/tick meds
b. Donate flea/tick meds (I only brought enough for 1 dose each)

7. Kelly – I take all non-perishable foods like beef jerky, chocolate, candy, Spam, drink powders, Jelly Belly, Ramen, canned items, cheese, etc =0)



I am coming home April 22nd and will be in California through the first week of May. If you have material donations, please make time to meet with me or send it to my parent’s house. Please specify which project you would like to donate to. If not, I will choose. Here are a few ways you can contact me:

You can mail donations (material or monetary) to my parent’s house where I can pick it up when I’m home:
Kelly Nguyen
4613 42nd Ave
Sacramento, CA 95824

You can also mail these donations to Malawi. Use "flat rate" boxes from the post offices, they're the cheapest and you have no weight limit. Please do not send cash and also on the customs declarations form don’t put anything of value (these boxes tend to get opened):
Kelly Nguyen
c/o Catherine Levy, Peace Corps
PO Box E652
Post Dot Net
Blantyre, Malawi – AFRICA

OR, you can simply email sillykellynguyen@gmail.com, facebook, or call me (on skype is cheap) 265-550-2166.

Thank you so much!!! You guys are the best! Can’t wait to see you!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Worst Day in Malawi, thus far

So January was not a very good month; February has not been either and to top it off, I had the worst experience thus far in Malawi.
To start off the month, all the volunteers in the South were on “standfast” which means no traveling or leaving your site. There were election activities and rallies in Blantyre and Peace Corps was afraid of riots and violence. We’ve been locked down for 2 weeks, basically prisoners in our villages. I guess we should all be prepared for stuff like this to happen this year since it is election year in Malawi (May 19th).
Then Monday (February 9night, I woke up to chills. Mind you, I live in one of the HOTTEST districts in Malawi. I was shivering and ended up with a sweater and 2 blankets (I haven’t used a blanket since I moved to my house!). On top of that, my body ached badly. With the combination of chills, sweat, and body aches, I did not sleep very well but was too weak to get out of bed. Somehow I managed to fall asleep for a few hours and woke up the next morning feeling worse. I took my temperature and it was at 101.9. I took Tylenol like Jason told me to and started to feel a little better. In Malawi, if you have a fever, you have Malaria. I refuse to believe that I had Malaria since I take my anti-malaria prophylaxis diligently daily, and am in my mosquito net bed before the sun goes down every night. Also, signs of malaria are also signs of a common cold in America. So unless someone took a blood slide from me and checked it under a microscope, I will believe that it was just a cold. It is really sad and depressing to be sick here. Not only are you really are alone but you actually FEEL alone. It worked out well though since Kristen was coming to my house that day (though she’s not allowed to travel). It’s been really nice having her here.
So Wednesday, February 11, 2009 will go into my history book as being the Worst Day in Malawi (so far) ever. Wednesdays and Sundays are market days in my community. Since I haven’t been to Blantyre in about a month, I was running out of food. First thing Wednesday morning, Kristen and I walked to the market. On the way to the market, we took the “shortcut” through the villages and stopped at the chief’s house to say hi. She said to come back to chat with her but I told her I wasn’t feeling well so she said she’d come in the afternoon. We went to the market and bought some fruits and vegetables. Then we walked along the dirt road back instead of going through the villages. We were about 1000 feet from my health center when we saw a woman and 2 young guys (probably between 16-20 years old, a short one and a taller one) in front of us on the road. We continued to chat and walk but slowly catching up to them (Malawians walk slow). All of a sudden, they both started hitting the woman. What the h*ll is going on? I thought. Then they pushed her into the ditch on the side of the road and started to kick her everywhere. They brutally kicked, punched, and stomped on her as she laid there crying. I began screaming and yelling at them, urging them to stop. “Stop! Stop it! It’s not okay! Stop it!” I screamed repeatedly. There were a dozen people around but NO ONE did ANYTHING! I had one thought in my head- Stop these guys from beating this woman. The way they were beating her, she would have died if we ignored it. This poor woman was getting beat and was not defending herself at all. After awhile of screaming with no success, I did what I thought was the only way to stop them. I pushed them. First I pushed the smaller of the 2 off her and he stopped. But the taller one continued to beat her as if we weren’t there. I was so angry and upset that I was shaking. So I pushed him. He got angry and was yelling at us and tried to punch me. Luckily, he missed. The whole time Kristen was trying to stop them also. He also yelled at us, telling us to leave. “Go! You Go! She not your mother!” The woman finally got up since there was a pause in the beating. When she got up, that was when you can see her injuries. Her eyes were bruised and badly swollen. She was bleeding from everywhere- mouth, arms, feet, face. Then she walked across the road crying. They followed her and continued beating her. By then there were about a hundred people that gathered to watch and even more along the road. We followed the woman and continued to stop them from beating her. Kristen pulled the taller guy off the woman and I grabbed her and walked away, towards my health center. I brought her into the clinic so she could get treatment. But the nurse said no. She said that they couldn’t treat the woman unless she had a police report. So they sent her to go to the police without treating her. Oh my god! Are you serious?!

I'm so sad about my community... it's disappointing to know that they would just let someone die while they watched. I talked to my neighbors and the nurse at my health center, asking why people didn't do anything. She told me that i shouldn't have gotten involved. Then i said... what? you would just let her die in the ditch? And the nurse said "if she died in the ditch, it's not your problem." WTF is that about?! I don't care that they think i'm wrong for intervening.. i just couldn't let someone get beat like that and just walk away. I like to think that i was raised better than that. It would be contradictory of me to volunteer my time in Africa to help people if i just walked away from that. I dunno... i'm having a really hard time getting out of bed and facing my community with this newfound knowledge. Hopefully things will get better... or i move.

Update: the woman did come back with a police report and got treatment. i also heard that they went to court and stuff. Apparently the woman is a 2nd wife and those guys beating her were sons of the 1st wife. I really don't care what the reasons are... IT'S NEVER OKAY.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

January Update

January has been a very sad month for me. It started off with saying bye to Jason. Malawi just doesn’t seem to be the same without him. Before, Malawi had no traces of Jason… but now, everything is stamped with memories of him. I was so happy when he was here and got a taste of what it would have been like if we (were married and) volunteered together. Now I am left feeling really empty and not looking forward to my birthday. I guess if you feel shitty, shitty things will come your way. Then a series of unhappy things keeps happening. I can’t wait till this month is over.

So January started out with taking Jason to the airport. After Jason left, I did not go back to my site until the 7th only to leave again on the 9th to Blantyre. I refused to spend my birthday in the village despite many people offering to cook for my birthday. I spent that night at Mrs. Su’s house (though she and Mr. Su are in Taiwan for 1 month). I hung out with Hector, Shayla and Lu that night.

My dad was the first to call on my birthday, at 5:45am (which was only 7:45pm on the 9th). I went to the PC house and went to use the internet with Becky and Elaine. Then we went to the used bookstore called DAPP (development assistance from people to people, something like that, too many acronyms to remember). I bought Leo Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Short Stories. We had lunch at the Food Court. Then Becky and I went to the brand new (and only) movie theater in Malawi which just opened the week before and watched Batman: The Dark Knight. It was expensive but totally worth it. It made me feel (almost) like being at a movie theater back at home, popcorn and all. Even though I got to do that, I was still bummed that Jason was gone and I didn’t get to spend it with my friends back at home. I was also sad because Kristen couldn’t come.

I went back to site on Sunday, the 11th. I was also determined to stay at site for the next 3-4 weeks without leaving. I felt bad being away for so long and all the traveling was getting to me. I was exhausted and tired of living out of my backpack. Plus January was the month I needed to buckle down and get my project rolling.

2 days later, on Tuesday, I got a text message and a phone call from Moni. She decided to be medically separated and was going back to the states on Saturday or Sunday. Moni had a tough fight. Here’s a brief background about Moni: She was a labor and delivery nurse in America for over 20 years. She requested to go to Eastern Europe and asked NOT to be sent to Africa since she can’t handle the heat. She is one of our “mature” volunteers. PC Washington told her they needed her experience in Africa. Okay. She came to Malawi, only to find that without Midwifery (without the M after her RN) she could not teach at the nursing college and was BANNED from the maternity wing. Just so you know, I have NO experience in the health field, let alone labor and delivery, have seen about 20 babies being born and could have if I wanted to. The hospital attendant at my health center (who has no formal education, hired to clean and mop) delivers babies. So she was denied of her sole purpose to coming to Malawi. She also met someone, Allan (which is how I know him). Then PC decides to take her from all of us in the south and put her in Dedza in the middle of nowhere with no running water or electricity. The people at her health center do not live there so Moni ends up running the whole health center and is on call 24 hours a day. She ends up delivering all the babies and not getting any sleep. The area where is she is just as hot as where I am except she’s not Southeast Asian like me and is NOT made for the heat. She gets sick from heat and exhaustion and was taken to Lilongwe (which is why Jason and I saw her on New Year’s). So she finally decides to leave and go home. I threw my plan of staying at site away and called Kristen. Told her what happened and said we needed to go to Lilongwe to see Moni off. The next day she got a ride from her house all the way to Blantyre so they picked me up along the way. Thursday we headed to Lilongwe. Got a ride to Balaka and when they dropped us off, they asked for 500 kwacha each. Kristen was passed out and I told them we didn’t have any money and that I didn’t realize that we had to pay since we didn’t discuss this beforehand. They let us go for free. Then we were picked up by a very nice guy named Vincent. He was going to Salima first then Lilongwe and we decided that that was fine since we could see Ken while we were in Salima. I kept Vincent company since Kristen was passed out in the backseat. We got to Salima and he bought us lunch. After lunch we went to Ken’s office while Vincent had to work. We hung out with Ken for about half an hour and Vincent picked us up again. He dropped us off at the door to the PC transit house. We spent that night with Moni and also inherited a lot of stuff that she was leaving behind.

We spent Friday with Moni and she treated me, Kristen, and Cathy to a nice dinner. Allan drove up Saturday and they spent the day together. That night me, Kristen, and Cathy went out with Salima, Ken, John, and Stevie for Salima’s birthday dinner. I didn’t want to but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have anyone to eat dinner with. The restaurant was really nice but also really far away and expensive. I spent 1000 kwacha just on the taxi ride to and from the restaurant. Then the dinner cost me almost 2000 kwacha. Yea I know I complain about the kwacha a lot, but if you were only paid about 300 kwacha a day, you would too, especially if it only costs that much per week in food in the village.

Allan drove Moni, me, Kristen, and Cathy to the airport. We helped her check in and had to say bye. It was really sad to see her go. She was like a mom to me in Malawi. Then Allan drove us back to the house and pick up the (almost) pure bred German Sheppard that he was buying from another volunteer. What a sweet doggy she was!!! Kristen left Monday. I spent Monday and Tuesday getting quotations for the materials required to build the guardian shelter. I stayed at Mrs. Su’s house to hang out with Hector, Shayla, and Lu and also because I wanted to watch the Obama’s Inauguration on Tuesday. I found out that Hector was going back to the UK and then back to Taiwan. I watched the Inauguration from 4pm until 8pm then went to sleep. Wednesday I said bye (forever) to Hector and went back to site.

Feeling especially bummed, I spent about 4 days in my house. My house is a mess and my fence is still on top of the garden and I just don’t feel like doing anything. The first night at home, the electricity died. This is a normal thing. It dies for a few hours and then comes back. Not this time, it was out for almost 2 days and all my food and vegetables went bad in the fridge. On top of that, because there was no electricity, we also didn’t have any water. Good thing I had some drinking water stored in the fridge. The electricity has been sporadic since and every time it goes out, I’m afraid it won’t come back for days. It is impossible to sleep without a fan. I spent that night fanning myself with less than 2 hours sleep.

Sunday the 25th came, and I decided to go to the market with Hilda (my neighbor). As we were walking to the market, I tripped on a tree root and fell hard on both my knees and both my elbows. We (non-Malawians) call those things “Azungu traps” (azungu=foreigners, anyone not Malawian). Those random things sticking out of the ground or random holes in the middle of a sidewalk that only “azungu” fall in or trip on. What a sight it must have been for the villagers! I’m usually really good about watching the ground because I don’t want to step in animal poop. Well, the split second that I did not pay attention, I ate it real good. At the market, I bought a few vegetables and fruits. Then Hilda and I decided that it was safer to take a bike taxi home. As we began to go with me in the bike in front, I heard a loud scream and turned around. Apparently Hilda’s bike taxi hit a little girl about 7 years old. All I saw was the bike stopped and a little kid under the front tire. I guess when he rang the bell, the girl got confused and didn’t know where to go, staggered and the bike taxi guessed wrong. That was a first. Kids are usually really good about scattering when they see a moving vehicle.

Well, to top off this bad luck month, I got a text message from my friend Dan, who works for World Vision at the district, telling me that my friend (and also his) Ulemu (her name means “respect” in Chichewa) was in an accident and died. I couldn’t believe it. He’s kidding right? Then he called to confirm. I still couldn’t believe it. I always make it a point to see her when I go to the boma. She was a good friend to me. She worked for CAVWOC (Center for Alternatives for Victimized Women and Children), an NGO in boma. I was going to see her on Friday and to return a Tupperware she put mandasi (similar to donut holes) she made for me. I’ve kept that container for about 3 months now and it was time to return it. She told me she was going to Lilongwe though so I figured I’d give it back next week. He told me that she was on an AXA bus from Lilongwe back to Blantyre. It was raining and the bus was going really fast; it flipped and rolled. A lot of people were injured but she was the only one to die and on the spot. Everyone else is at Kamuzu Hospital in Lilongwe with injuries. I am still in total shock. She was my age, so young, with so much ahead of her. I am really going to miss her. RIP Ulemu

So to wrap up this month: it has been shitty. They tell us we will go through cycles of emotion throughout our service here, kind of like the economic cycle with peaks and valleys. Well, I am in the total pits right now. I know that this is just a phase and that it will pass. I really miss home and my family and friends. The 26th is the Lunar calendar New Year. Hopefully everything will pick up from here. Happy New Year everybody.

November December Updates

So sorry for the lack of updates… I’m sure some are dying to know how I’m doing and what I’m doing… I’ve had a lot of things that’s happened. Some are good and some are bad… November was indifferent. December was a good month despite some not so great situations. Here’s an extra long update from the last few months.

I spent November in Dedza for 2 weeks of In-Service training with a week break and then the last week we had language intensive training. The first 2 weeks consisted of the normal group work and different sessions regarding IGAs (income generating activities), funding sources, nutrition, etc. The first week was for just the volunteers; then the 2nd week each volunteer brought a Malawian counterpart. It was a way for Peace Corps to explain and show the counterparts the role of a PC volunteer and also how they can help their volunteer. It was interesting to see the other volunteers’ counterparts. The 2nd week when the counterparts were there, Stevie and Theresa (2 volunteers) had a big fight. Theresa (who was having lots of issues medical and social) was requested by the Country Director of PC to be medically separated. She flew home during the 3rd week of November. Being medically separated a probably the best way to go home since you get all the benefits that comes along with being a volunteer. It’s like being honorably discharged of military service. It was really sad to see her go… a lot of volunteers in my group did not like her but I did. She was friendly and generous to everyone and I enjoyed her company. Our group of 22 became 18.

During our week off, I went with Cathy, Sophie (Cathy’s dog), and Kristen to Cathy’s site. The travel to her house was so exhausting. It was a really bad hitch-hiking day, especially with the dog. We also ran into Stevie and her dog, Sparky. So there were 4 girls and 2 dogs. Hitching was almost impossible. We sat on the back of a pickup for 1/3 of the way then were dropped off in the middle of nowhere to find another ride. It took awhile but 2 pickups stopped for us - me and Kristen in one, Cathy and Stevie and the 2 dogs in the other. When we got to Salima, Stevie and Sparky went to see Ken who lives in the boma (=town). Stevie had to take 2 bicycle taxis (1 for her giant backpacking backpack, 1 for her and Sparky). Luckily, I, Kristen, Cathy and Sophie ran into an ambulance for Cathy’s health center. They drove us all the way to her house! The poor girl lives in an old house with no running water and no electricity. She is having the real PC experience- carrying water to her house from the bore hole, cooking with a paraffin stove and using a pit latrine. I feel bad for her but extremely grateful for my situation. However, she is making the most of the situation and dealing with it. She is the easy going type, goes with the flow, and has adapted very well to her community. She also speaks Chichewa way better than I do. Cathy’s a real trooper. =0) We spent one day at her house, seeing how she’s living and meeting some of her neighbors. Then the next day, we stood on the side of the tarmac road for about an hour trying to find a ride to the Salima boma to see Ken. 4 freezies (cold juice in a plastic bag sold on the side of the road) each later, we paid a minibus. We hung out with Ken at his office and then went back to his house. He lives in a really nice house with running water and electricity… but the 1 night we spent there… there was no electricity or running water. His house is surrounded by a brick fence with 1 neighbor inside the fence also. We made cheese sandwiches over a paraffin stove and sat around and talked. The next morning it rained really hard but still no water from the tap, Kristen and Cathy decided to brush their teeth and wash their hair in the rain water coming down the roof. Boy, how our hygiene standards have lowered since being here. We hitched all the way to Nkhotakhota Pottery (almost to the northern lakeshore) where we met with Jill, Katie, Jen, and Brian who were already there. Brian left that day and left me his tent. Kristen and Cathy shared a tent. This was my first time to the lake and man was it beautiful. We lounged around all day. I sunbathed and read on the beach. I didn’t want to go into the water since bilharzias (shistosomiasis, sp?) is present in the water. It was so nice and relaxing. It was kind of weird to be at a vacation resort made for foreigners but when you walk farther down the beach are at a village. There are villages all around the resort. Women go to the beach to collect water and carry the buckets of water from the lake back to their homes. It was hard to see how close these people live and yet how different they live. We spent 3 days there and then went back to Dedza. Language training was tedious and long. We had 3 days of training and then it was Thanksgiving. We had Thanksgiving lunch at the US ambassador’s house in Lilongwe. There was no turkey or stuffing. It was really sad. I had no turkey this year. We had 2 roasted pigs instead. I miss the 2 Thanksgiving meals I use to have with Jason’s families. I even had turkey last year at Limandri’s office! It just wasn’t the same.

Then December came. December was a good month. I think it’s because I was in high spirit, knowing that Jason was coming to see me on the 22nd. My countdown for Jason’s arrival began on October 2nd (when he bought the ticket). I returned to my house fearing that I would find that the bats have taken over my house. To my surprise, there were none. However, I think they poked a hole through my roof and now I have a leak in the living room instead. I guess I would trade the bats for a leak.

I was at my house for about 5 days when I got my first ever visitor on Friday! Tracey had come to stay with me for a night and we would proceed together to Kristen’s house for her birthday the following day. Kristen is probably one of my favorite volunteers in PC. She lives down the same unpaved crappy road about 55 km from my house. I took Tracey to meet my village chief, Chinkole, who does not speak any English. I think the chief likes her better since she speaks better Chichewa than I do. In my defense, Cathy and Tracey both are surrounded by people who know little or no English at all so they’re forced to speak it. Everyone that lives around me, speak English very well. We were stuck at the Chief’s house for like 3 hours because she would not let us leave! She wanted to chat with us. But it was then that I decided that I would visit the chief more often to force myself to speak Chichewa. Anyways, on the 6th of December (Kristen’s bday), Tracey and I got up early and went take a matola (truck that carries 50+ people along with luggage, livestock, and everything else on the back) which is the only way to get to Kristen’s house. I asked the driver multiple times to make sure he was going all the way to Kristen’s site. Each time, he reassured me that he was. 500 Malawi Kwacha to get us there. I even had a traffic police ask to be sure! We waited on the truck from 7am until 9:45am when the truck was finally full with people and crates of Chibuku (local beer sold in milk cartons). Let me remind you that the road is as bad as can be so we’re going really slowly. We are also making a million stops to let people off and to pick up people. 2 hours into the ride, we’re still about 20 km from Kristen’s, the driver tells us (in Chichewa) that he wasn’t going any farther because he wanted to go back 20 km to transport maize! He wanted to charge us 500 kwacha for both. After bargaining with him for about 10 minutes, he finally kicks us out for 400 kwacha. Bike taxis wanted to charge us 400 kwacha to go the rest of the way. I laughed at them! It was only supposed to take us 500 kwacha to get all the way on a vehicle. Little did I know that it was big mistake to try and save about $3 US! Thinking that there would be other transport options along the way, Tracey and I started walking. I had to carry Kristen birthday present, a grass mat. There were no other means of transport that day. We kept asking people along the way how much farther. The answer was ALWAYS the same: pafupi (=close). I was tired and cursed Kristen the whole way. We walked from noon until 2:30pm, the hottest time of the day, in Africa. Some nice guys stopped and talked to us as we rested under the shade of a tree. They offered to bike us to the next village. We still had about 10 km left to go… both are exhausted. There were no bike taxis to be found and not one car passed us. Feeling really hopeless and not having any other option except walk. A minute later, we hear a vehicle! We waved them down. It turned out to be a bakery truck but there was no room. It was a boxed truck with only sitting room in front with the driver and the passenger. There was a middle space, which Tracey took. I was left sitting on the passenger guy’s knees! How awkward and uncomfortable! But we were excited to have a ride. We get dropped off at the turnoff for the lodge when we ran into Katie who was also attending the birthday. She had NO problems getting there. We walked the 1 km to the lodge and when we finally arrived; I realized that I had left the grass mat (which I lugged for 2.5 hours) in the bakery truck! Those guys were really nice and drove the mat all the way up to the lodge for me. We left my house at 6:30am and finally got to Kristen around 4:30pm. It was a horrible day. But once we got there, everything else was fine. There was Kristen, Ross, Becky, Cathy, Katie, me and Tracey. It was a lot of fun. We played games, talked, and had a nice dinner. The lodge was really nice too which is really random. Who would stay there? There’s nothing around for tourists to see, only villages in the middle of nothing down a really bad road. The next morning, Cathy, Katie, me and Tracey woke up at 4am to get on the road to go home. With no luck, we ended up going to Kristen’s house and spending a night at her house until Monday when the ambulance for her hospital goes to Blantyre. Besides the transport issue, everything else was fine. In Malawi, transportation is ALWAYS an issue.

I had a few meetings with the District Commissioner, District Health Officer, a CBO (community based organization), and local leaders to begin the project of building a guardian shelter for the health center. One of the HSA (health surveillance assistant) for my health center, Mr. Manjolo, came and helped me start a garden. I finally got a grass fence put up and was excited to have a garden. Without a fence, the goats, pigs, and cows would eat all your plants. We planted: tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, broccoli, watermelon, cabbage, and sugar cane. A few days later, it began to sprout!

By the 18th, I was too excited to think about or do anything because Jason was coming in 4 days. So I left my house and went to Blantyre and then was in Lilongwe by the 20th, just sitting around waiting to pick him up. I made arrangements to get to and from the airport and also bought our bus ticket from Lilongwe to Blantyre.

Finally, the day I have been waiting for came. It took Jason 3 days to get to me. He drove 14 hours from Missouri to DC since flights through Chicago were delayed or cancelled. Then he flew from DC to Rome, Rome to Addis Abba with a 14 hour layover in Ethiopia, then the next day flying to Lilongwe. Along with many hours of travel, he lost 8 hours because of the time difference. Poor Jason! He was exhausted! He arrived with 2 extra large luggages, all for me! We were dropped off at the Peace Corps office and I showed him around the office and he got to see a little bit of Lilongwe since our bus to Blantyre wasn’t leaving until 4:30pm. We arrived in Blantyre around 9pm and were picked up by Allan (my Malawi dad- note that he’s not a Malawian dad because he’s from Mauritius but lives here). He took us to the Food Court for dinner. We spent the night at Allan’s nice house because Allan was driving us to my house the next day with the entire luggage along with a used full size refrigerator which Jason paid for. Trust me, if you came here, you’d understand why the fridge is very necessary. It was hot and dry before but it’s rainy season now so it’s hot and unbearably humid. We spent the day around Blantyre, waiting for Allan (a very busy man) to take us to my site which is about 1 hour drive from Blantyre. We finally arrived at my house around 5pm and were greeted by about 15 health center workers. They all helped carry the luggage and fridge into my house. We made dinner, ate, and then I unpacked the 2 luggage of things for me.

On Christmas Eve, I bragged about my garden and showed Jason all the sprouts that were growing in. Then I took him to the Chief’s house and then to the local market, which happened to be Market Day. Then we walked back from the market so he could see the village. He also got a tour of the health center. That evening the rain began to pour. It wasn’t just rain, but a heavy storm.

On Christmas day, I woke up to find my fence had fallen over during the night. Worst of all, It fell on top of my garden, killing everything! It would have been a really sad Christmas if Jason wasn’t here. We just spent Christmas together at my house. He needed the rest from all the traveling plus I had the best present ever (Jason) along with bits of home like SPAM, Vienna sausages, Mac & Cheese, shampoo, jammies, shoes, my Chucks, new backpack, a camcorder, etc!
After Christmas was when our Malawi adventure began. Jason got his first bike taxi ride as we left my site. The poor Malawian taking Jason was smaller than him and couldn’t make it all the way to the road. Jason wanted me to tip them each 50 kwacha (the ride is only 50 kwacha each) making it 100 kwacha each. But I couldn’t, I have to live here and I don’t want them thinking that I was rich and expect a tip every single time I get a ride (which is quite often). He insisted and I gave them each 80 kwacha. We were picked up by a German guy, Bert, working for Illovo (biggest sugar company in Malawi). He was very nice and told us about how he was bitten by the Malawi bug and have been here for 20 years. He dropped us off at Mrs. Su’s house (lady that is in charge of the construction project at the Buddhist temple/orphanage in Blantyre). She’s from Taiwan but has lived in Malawi for 30 years and has a business. She has basically adopted me. Every time I’m in Blantyre, I eat and stay at her house for free. She’s even loaned me a rice cooker. I’ve gotten to know everyone at her house (Mr. Su, her niece Shayla, Hector (her children’s friend doing his PhD in the UK), her nephew Lu, and all her house workers) very well so I wanted Jason to meet them. All her kids live in the UK, either with PhD or working towards one. We stopped by and had lunch with them. Then Lu dropped us off at Doogles, a backpacker’s hostel, where we were staying for the night.

The next day, we took a minibus to Zomba and hiked up the Zomba Plateau. It was horrible. Well, maybe just that I’m out of shape. Mind you, I live at sea level which means 0 elevations. I huffed and puffed and we had to stop many times so I can rest. About 2/3 of the way up, I abandoned my backpack. Jason ended up carrying his backpack, my backpack, the sleeping bad, and tent while I carried a water bottle and a Malawi guide book. I don’t think I would have made it up any other way! After 3 hours, we finally arrived at the top and went to the Ku Chawe Inn (fancy shmancy hotel/resort on top of the plateau) for lunch. We weren’t staying there. I ran into a Peace Corps Response volunteer (PC volunteer before but rejoined PC for different type of assignment), Sarah. After lunch, Sarah took us to her campsite, The Trout Farm. It was really cute so we camped there. A few hours into the night, it began to rain. I woke up because the inside of our tent was wet! We were on top of a puddle and the water was seeping into the tent from the bottom not the top. I had tested the rain flap before, it was good. I woke Jason up and we had to move the tent. We moved it under the gazebo thing nearby. The inside of the tent was wet and so was the sleeping bag. I’m lucky to have such an awesome boyfriend. He took his clothes and dried the tent. Then he went right back to sleep.

The next morning, we hung everything out to dry. Sarah left for Cape Maclear and we told her we’d meet her there the next day since we were heading there anyway. We met the couple camping next to us. Nice folks from South Africa. They told us they were driving around the whole plateau that morning before lunch and that we were welcome to come. After the hike up and the tent situation last night, I took the offer immediately. Zomba Plateau was amazing. We got to go a little off-roading too since the guy was a hardcore 4x4 enthusiast. We took a lot of pictures, at the very top, Chingwe’s Hole, William’s Fall, and everywhere else. We had lunch with them at Ku Chawe and I ran into Mrs. Su and her actual children who were visiting from the UK. That night we dried our clothes with the fire we made. It rained again that night but we were safe under the gazebo.

We left the Plateau in the morning and hiked down. It was a lot quicker going down, only 1.5 hours. We barely made it in time for the only AXA (bus company) bus going to Cape Maclear. These big buses are cheaper than the minibuses. They are the big charter buses that also take standing passengers. We stood for awhile until people started getting off. About halfway through the ride, the bus comes up to a truck going very slow. He decides to overtake the truck, but side swiped the truck in the process. We stopped to see if the truck was okay. They were carrying maize and it was spilling on the side. The bus driver picked up a side piece of the bus, stuck it in the luggage compartment and continued on. We were dropped off at the Cape Maclear turnoff and got on the back of a pickup with about 15 other people and a ton of boxes and luggage. We were barely hanging on and they stopped to pick up more people and more luggage. A car came with an older couple and I flagged them down. They asked where we were going and I told them, Chembe Eagle’s Nest (highly recommended by the South African couple). Lucky us, they were staying there also! Hop on! When we arrived, they told us they were taking their boat on the lake that afternoon, if we were interested. Interested? I was ecstatic! We found Sarah and then pitched our tent (praying for no rain). We had the sweetest tour of that part of the lake. Jason even got to fish a little. It was absolutely beautiful there. We enjoyed 2 relaxing days at the lake and eating good food from the restaurant that was there. Jason read and I flipped through celebrity magazines and played Sudoku on the beach.

We left Sarah on New Year’s Eve. We left Eagle’s Nest at 6am and walked through the village to catch a matola to Monkey Bay which was where the AXA bus was leaving to go to Lilongwe. We were going to Dedza Pottery in Dedza which is on the way to Lilongwe (depending on which road you take). The matola was packed with people and a ton of stuff, especially dried fish. Jason stood in front with the men, catching wind with their faces while I was in the back with the women, sitting on top of dried fish. We get to Monkey Bay just in time for the AXA bus to leave. I assumed we were going to the M1 (the main tarmac highway in Malawi, going from the very north all the way to the very south) which would take us right to Dedza. We got to Golomoti (where we were supposed to get off), one of the back tires of the bus blew, making a loud boom. With all the commotions, the conductor forgot to tell us to get off. We ended up taking the M5 (other highway) towards Salima, which is the wrong/long way to Dedza. I will never assume again. It was too late when we found out. So we decided to go to Lilongwe, stopping in Salima (where Ken lives) and then Dedza. I called Ken and he met us at the bus depot and met Jason. Then he left. We were at the bus depot for 3 hours while they fixed the tire on the bus. After fixing it, they told us they sent for another bus and so we had to wait. It was already 2pm and we were still an hour and a half away from Lilongwe and Dedza was another hour and a half to two hours from Lilongwe. I decided to talk to the supervisor of AXA to refund our money from Salima to Lilongwe so we can find other means to get to Lilongwe. He was very rude and would not give me the money back and just told us to wait, that another bus was coming. After waiting for 3 hours, I was not going to wait any longer. I wanted our money back because if we waited, by the time we get to Dedza, it would be dark. He was very rude and said “I don’t want to talk to you because you’re a women, I want to talk to him” and pointed to Jason. Oh my gosh! That made me so angry! He outright discriminated against me because of my gender. This is normal in their culture. But if you guys know me, you know that I would not allow that to happen. He tried to pull Jason aside and I was not having it. While Jason talked to him, another bus coming from Nkhata Bay (the north) arrived. I told the AXA guy “Don’t you ever disrespect me because I’m a woman. What is your name?” I pulled his name tag out of his shirt pocket, read his name and said “I will complain to AXA about you. You don’t disrespect me because I’m a woman.” Then I threw his name tag back at him and walked away. I was so angry; I could have punched him in the face. The next part was all too fitting for Malawi. There was a bus load of people trying to get off the bus and all the people from our bus trying to get on. There was absolutely no order to this. People pushed and shoved. There were security guards and AXA employees that did nothing. Jason and I were crammed and squished in the middle. Luckily, in a crowd of all Malawians, we were pretty easy to spot. Our conductor grabbed my hand and pulled and Jason pushed me into the bus. It was horrible. That whole process took about 45 minutes. We finally arrived in Lilongwe about 3:30pm and had to catch a minibus to Dedza. We sat on the minibus and waited for it to fill up for about half an hour. Now that I was sure we were going to Dedza, I called Dedza Pottery to book us a room there for the night. During that half hour on the minibus, people selling things would come up to your window and offer to sell it to you for a good price. We were offered everything you can think of, from combs, to tooth brushes, to hard boiled eggs, to belts, passport books, calendars, DVDs, sodas, silverware and dishes, toys, firecrackers, jewelry, etc. EVERYTHING! We were dropped off at the turnoff around 6pm, the sun had set and there was little light left. We had to walk another half an hour to get to Dedza Pottery. By the time we got there, it was pitched black. If you look at a map, from Cape Maclear to Dedza should not have taken 12.5 hours!

I was so glad to finally get to Dedza Pottery. This place is exactly like Nkhotakhota Pottery, owned by the same guy. They make all kinds of pottery, clay and ceramic things. The room we got was very nice; it even had a heater on the wall and a mini bar. We had dinner there and went to bed. It was New Year’s Eve and we were both exhausted and did not wait to countdown. We were passed out by 10pm.

On New Year’s Day, Jason bought a ton of pottery as souvenirs for his family and friends. Then we walked to a few local art shops on the way to road. We didn’t even get to the road before a couple from the Netherlands (I think) in an ambulance offered us a lift. After the horrific travel the day before, I was very grateful. We talked to them and found out that they were staying in the same hotel we were in Lilongwe so we got a ride all the way to the hotel. Since Jason was leaving the next day, we had a ton of things to take care of. We had to drop off the tent and sleeping bag at the transit house and so he can see it. To my disbelief, the guard would not let him in. I was told that I needed to have a letter from the PC office for any visitor to go into the house but I was never told this before. David, the guard, made Jason wait on the street. David is now on my Black List. We stopped at the Curio stand and ordered wooden keychain engraved with names and also bookends engraved with Jason’s last name. Then we went to the PC office to use the computer to transfer pictures from our cameras onto the hard drives so Jason could take both sets of pictures home. To no surprise, all the computers were taken and with a long waiting list. We left and headed back to the hotel and ran into Moni who I was really excited that Jason finally got to meet! We had pizza for dinner and talked in the lounge at the hotel with Moni.

And finally, the day I dreaded came. On the 2nd of January, we had breakfast with Moni and found that the people across the hall from us were going to the airport that morning. Though Jason’s flight wasn’t until 1, we took the 8:30am free ride to the airport anyways. Our adventure was over and I sat with him at the airport until he went to the departure gate.

Despite some unwanted yet not totally unexpected experiences, we had a great time. Malawi was so much brighter, happier, and more beautiful because of Jason. I had a great end of 2008 with him. He also enjoyed himself and got the REAL Africa experience. =0)

Friday, January 16, 2009

I'm a total slacker..

I'm such a bad blogger...

Happy 2009! Hope everyone is doing well and had a wonderful holiday season. Sorry no updates yet... but I promise (my new year's resolution) to write more and update you. I am healthy and doing well. =0) Real updates next time! I promise!

Love,
Kelly