So, I wanted to tell a story of one of the last days at site...I went to visit a traditional healer/witchdoctor...I asked my friend, George, to take me to some in our area, so he took me to the one near the market. It looked pretty normal from the outside, just a house. We went to the back and went into the "consultation" room. Sitting on the mat on the floor, I looked around and saw his potions and magic stuff. It was interesting. George explained the purpose of our visit: to meet him and to see what he could offer me. He said that he could offer me three services: to tell me who has stolen from me (MK85) , fix any illnesses that I have (MK75) , or to fix any problems associated with my family (MK65) . Of course, as soon as I heard he could tell me who was robbing from me, I told him to help me with that.

From this point on, he went into some sort of trance thing. He started speaking to his dead mother's spirit in this gourd-like thing that had hair on it. He said that it reminds him of his mother. In order to get any information, he had to ask his mother (amayi in chichewa). He blew over the hair on the gourd before he started asking his mother for information. He kept chanting things at this object, saying "amayi" over and over until he felt satisfied with his answer. He told me that two male students from the technical college were the ones stealing from me. They come to my house only when I am not there for a few days and tell each other that information and go together to take things. They sell my stuff in the market and to people in the village. It should be easy to catch these guys because they come to my house so often to check to see if I am around.

There are three punishments towards the person who stole from you: 1)put some sort of spell on them that makes them frozen in your house until you catch them stealing from you 2) sores will appear all over the body of the person who stole from you 3) the witchdoctor can put a curse on them to kill them...sounds brutal...

There are 2 things I can do to keep them away from my house: 1) put some seeds around the perimeter of my house and when the person comes close to my house, they will just not feel like robbing from me and walk away 2) put a oil mixture on my windows and doors and will do the same thing as the seeds...I only found out the price for the seeds: MK800! Ridiculous!

After the information sharing, he described how he came to be a traditional healer. He said that in first grade, he started having dreams with his dead uncle in them, telling him what seeds from trees to collect to heal people. He kept having the dreams and by 4th grade, he decided to start helping people against his father's will. A few years later, he had another dream from his dead uncle telling him to charge people for his gift. He then explained some of his potion things and gourds: 1)Mwatida: protects a person's body if harm comes 2)Kusala: a strange gourd thing with horns or something that recognizes who is a witch 3)Mwuzayani: assists in fertility 4)Mwazangati: a stuffed snake (like what you would win at a fair) that turns into a live snake that can be sent to bite someone and kill them...

I discussed the visit with George after we left. We both agreed that he must of thought that I worked at the technical college for him to say that it was students stealing from me. I told him that I suspected my watchman and he agreed that it could be him. He doesn't really believe in traditional healers like a lot of other Malawians, so it was interesting to hear his opinion.

Well, that's it for now....will write later! Just wanted to share this quick story

Hi everyone!

Only 7 1/2 weeks until I am back on American soil! So, I have been in Zomba town since Saturday and I am kinda going a little stir crazy even though I have had internet every day and have been in good company. I am staying with another PCV, Sika. She is a nurse who teaches at the college of nursing. I came in on Saturday to meet up with her and then buy some cement and collect bricks for the guardian shelter on Monday.

Well, I showed up on Monday and they said they had scheduled the lorry to be used for something else, so I didn't get to collect stuff then. They said I could use it on Tuesday. So, I called the chiefs and let them know the change of program. I came on Tuesday and they said the lorry needed to get new tires since the tread was worn through. The tires were supposed to arrive from the supplier on Monday, but didn't and then maybe come sometime this week. So, I checked with the technical college to see if they could borrow us their lorry and they said their's was in use all week. So, then I talked to the central hospital people and they said we could use their's but that it would be postponing their programs of building as well.

On Wednesday, we bought cement and then delivered it to the health center. Then, we proceded to the chief's house. He told us that the people wouldn't be coming because they had already spent all day monday and tuesday waiting for the vehicle to come to collect bricks. They were in their fields harvesting maize...funny thing I noticed...in the fields, only women were harvesting maize and we use the men to collect bricks, so where were the men? I don't know...So, we set up to do this all over again on Friday....

Things that have been going pretty good for me lately: I taught at People Living with HIV/AIDS group how to make peanut butter as a source of nutrition. It is really easy to make and locally available so they can improve their nutrition! I also taught the female students a reproductive health lesson. They were really responsive! I introduced them to female condoms and they were so excited about them! I got 100 for them from the reproductive health NGO, Banja la Mtsogolo. While I was there, I tried to set up a system for them to bring about 100 every month when they come to do female sterilization. So, we'll see if it happens. I am so excited about the women having a choice in protecting themselves from HIV, STDs, and pregnancy. I don't know if there's any way to measure how often these girls use female condoms since sex is such a taboo issue to talk about, but it would be interesting to see how successful they are.

I have about 7 1/2 weeks left in country and about 6 weeks left at my site. It is really weird to think that I am actually leaving Malawi relatively soon. Everyone keeps asking me how I feel about it and I don't want to really think about it. It is kind of bittersweet to be leaving because I am excited to come home and start the next part of my life, but at the same time, it will be really hard to leave all of the friends I have made here behind.

I have also been dealing with not being able to talk to Paul since he is in training in Moldova for Peace Corps. It has been really hard since he is a huge part of my support system. He knows everything I am doing and gives great advice on how to deal with some things...I have gotten a few emails but no letters yet, probably because he is so busy with training. He gave me the phone number for his host family and I was able to call him this week! It was so good to hear his voice. He sounded good, but tired from training, which sounds just about right for the length of time he's been gone. He found out his site this week and this weekend was heading to see his site! I am really excited for him!

Well, that's all I've been up to lately....just trying to get through the last few weeks and wrapping up projects and hoping they get finished! Hope everyone is doing well!

Love ya,

Nikki

Hey everyone!

So, I have realized that I haven't written for a long time and its time for an update on what I've been doing since my bike accident...after some physical therapy in Lilongwe, I went to Zomba to help teach summer school with the education volunteers. It was fun and I led a goat dissection and taught genetics. It brought back my sense of longing for anatomy! I feel like the students had a better understanding of biology after their two weeks at summer school. I went back to site to find the guardian shelter not having a lot done and the students gone for break. I was only there a small amount of time and then headed up north to the Lake for Christmas.

Christmas at the lake was pretty good. I got some swimming in and eating some good food. I was more anxious about visiting the US at the end of December...

I flew out of Blantyre (the major city in the southern region). My flight was 2 hours late, so I freaked out about getting to the US. The flight staff helped to get everything taken care of. When I got to Johannesburg, I went to the South African Airways desk and they had everything taken care of for me. I was re-routed to JFK and put on a Delta flight to Portland. It was a long haul, but definately worth it. I didn't get in until 11pm instead of 9, but oh well. Bridget suprised me with getting Paul a security pass and he was waiting for me at the gate! It was so cold when I got in! I know that it was because I am used to 85 degree plus weather year-round. Everyone thought it was really funny.

Visiting the US was really good and that deciding to go home was definately a good thing for me. It was really good to see all of my friends and family, and especially Paul. I found out that Paul is leaving for Moldova (eastern Europe) at the end of this month, so we spent a lot of time getting stuff for him to leave. It was kind of weird. I feel like I don't fit in as much with american culture and that being back for good is going to be a hard transition. Everything seems so different even though it probably hasn't changed that much, but that I have changed a lot. I spent a lot of my time going to thai food restaurants, shopping for Paul (a little for myself), spending lots of time with Paul, cooking Malawian food for my parents, and going to the mountain with my girlfriends. It was sort of hard to leave, but at the same time I was missing being in Malawi and wanted to get back to wrap up projects and say my goodbyes.

When I got back to Malawi, I spent a few days dealing with jet lag. I got back to site and was busy from the get go. I had some meetings with the head chief and set up a meeting with the local chiefs to discuss the progression of the guardian shelter. Twenty-five chiefs, technical college instructors, a rep from the district health office, and myself had a pretty good meeting. I spent the next week running around Zomba town getting lots of supplies for the guardian shelter. It took almost all week to get most of it done. However, when I returned, I found out that nothing had really been done since I left. The villagers hadn't come to start working and the technical college can't provide most of the work like they had promised. So, I have to figure out how to get the villagers to come and do the building. We'll see what happens. Before I left site, I taught the community based organization (CBO) that I am working with how to make peanut butter.

I just finished at weeklong training on Home-Based and Pallative Care. It was pretty helpful. I took two people from the CBO since they are interested in doing HBC in my area. They found it very helpful and are really excited to start doing this stuff at Nasawa! We will (hopefully) train people in our area that are interested and keep working on the peanut butter making and selling!

Well, I guess that's a semi-short wrap up of what I've been up to lately...I will try to write more often since I am outta Malawi soon-ish! I hope that everyone is doing well and healthy!

Love ya,

Nikki

Hi everyone!

So, I have been working pretty hard since the last time I wrote...I think...So, after the guardian shelter funding was approved, I worked with the technical college and district hospital to set up everything to get the foundation finished before the students left for break. I had a few meetings and everyone was really excited. I got to watch the students learn how to "set out" a foundation so we could then have someone excavate it. Just talking to the students made me really pumped to do this project because they were so excited to be given the opportunity to contribute to the community while building something so big! It was really cute actually. So, as of now, the chiefs have motivated the villagers to help pour the concrete for the foundation and it seems to be actually happening!

Let's see....since my cat, Mauwa, was run away by the new Medical assistant's dog, I ended up getting a new kitten. It is really little and cries alot because it was taken away from its mom too young. I named it "Namiwawa." It has become my oatmeal eating partner and has already proven to be a great warrior against many bugs in my house! It is a calico cat and super cute!

When I first got back to site after being sick in Lilongwe, Mrs. Mhango told me that I was no longer allowed to walk alone by myself because there were Portuguese who were killing people and taking their blood. Very interesting here in Malawi. Don't worry, we don't know anyone who has actually been killed by the Portuguese in my area, we just hear rumors about it.

On top of this fantastic story, one night when I was getting ready to go to bed, my nightwatchman called me out to the porch and showed me a "charm" from witchcraft that he found in one of the four holes dug in the four corners of my house. It had some wooden "needle" that they said was either for protection or death. Probably not the best thing that could happen. It was kind of funny because Mrs. Mhango and her kids were really worried that someone was out to get me. I think optimistically, so I of course thought it was to protect me from evil spirits! Nothing too bad has happened yet...so, we'll see!

I am actually writing this earlier than I had planned because 2 weeks ago, I was biking from my house to the tarmac and got in a bike accident and "slightly" tore my meniscus and lateral ligament in my right knee so I am in Lilongwe getting some physical therapy. I was going pretty fast and hit some loose gravel and fell to the right side. I got pretty beat up with lots of skin missing and gravel in my left palm as well as a decent amount of skin being left on the ground from my right forearm. I walked the 3-5km to the tarmac where I leave my bike with some blood flowing out of my body. I went to the health centre to get fixed...they poured sterile water and an iodine wrap on my wounds and some stuff like tylenol for the pain...right, like that was going to actually work. I went to Blantyre for a summer school meeting and went to the Blantyre Adventist hospital and they gave me some good pain killers. So, after going back to site and doing lots of crouching while bucket bathing, using the pit latrine, and washing dishes, I noticed that my knee was pretty bad. I went back to Blantyre and got some x-rays and a ct scan. Now that's why I am here...fun times...

Well, I am in for Thanksgiving, so I'm sure I will have plenty of fun stories to add on here later! I hope that you are all doing well!

Hi everyone~

So, I've been "under the weather" for the last week and have been put on medical hold until at least Tuesday...I have a horrible sore throat, cough, headache, and runny nose. It's been a kind of bad week for me. My really good friend, Brent, left the country on Wednesday and ended his contract early because he wasn't liking Malawi so much. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do, say goodbye to a great friend. At least he's from Montana and is thinking of moving to Portland, so maybe I'll get to see him when I'm done!

I said goodbye to my parents about a week and a half ago after their visit of 3 weeks. It was hard to see them go too. We had a great time, but the time went by way too fast. We traveled around Malawi (the Zomba Plateau) and at my site for the first week. It was kind of strange having them at my house and for them to see how I actually live. I'm not quite sure if they are put at ease or more worried for me now that they've seen it. I took them to a few of the youth club trainings that George and I do, as well as a community sensitization meeting. They got to meet all of the people I work with. One of the midwives wanted my mom to help her with antenatal clinic, but all we did was help hand out mosquito nets. Mom was surprised to see how little equipment we have in labour and delivery! We ate dinner with Mrs. Mhango and her children like I normally do. I think they handled that ok. They killed a chicken in honor of my parents visiting!

After being tortured in the village, we headed back to Lilongwe to catch a flight to Mfuwe, the town outside of South Luangwa National Park, Zambia. It was on a small cessna, so mom had to take some meds to get through that flight! We stayed at the infamous "Norman Carr" safari place. It was really nice. The rooms were great and so was the food. Our safari driver was really good at pointing out animals! We saw a leopard hunting a puku during the day (very rare), lions hanging out on the sand banks after feeding during the day, and 2 lioness and 3 cubs at night hunting a kudu. Besides those, we saw lots of elephants, kudu, buffalo, etc! We were really lucky with everything! From there, we headed to Victoria Falls, Zambia. We stayed at this really nice place called "The Zambezi Sun". It was so fancy that I kind of felt out of place. At dinner, there were so many utensils I didn't know what to do! My dad and I did this thing called a microlight flight where you go over the falls in this small motorized parachute aircraft thing. It was amazing to see the falls that way! No one can take a picture to capture how amazing this place was! My mom and I had full body massages overlooking the spray from the falls and I had a pedicure...it was so nice to be pampered and to not have village feet!

After the fun in the sun in Zambia, we came back to Malawi on a grueling and not so fun turbulence flight and headed up north to Nkhata Bay. We stayed at Mayoka village (a favorite of mine, if you haven't guessed already). Dad and I snorkeled and got to see some great bright blue chiclids! They made some amazing food and we met some interesting random people from the UK and Australia. It seems like everyone is here in Malawi to help in some way or another. I was able to show my parents the Nkhata Bay district hospital. That was a real shocker to my mom. She couldn't believe that this is the top level and best healthcare available to Malawians. She was like I was when I first came to Malawi.

Even though my parents favorite part of the trip was going to the village, mine was being spoiled in Zambia. Its so different than village life and it was a nice break...enough so that I can make it through the next 9 months!

OH! I GOT FUNDING FOR THE GUARDIAN SHELTER! I have a real project now! It's going to be weird managing so much money and being in charge of a construction project...it will turn out amazing, I'm sure! The community is so excited!

I guess that's it for now! I miss you all and hope that everything is going great!

Hey everyone!

So, I am just getting back from spending 6 weeks of vacation and one week at Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World)...

So, let me fill you in on my vacation...I met up with Paul in Dar es Salaam and my luggage was lost by Kenya Airways...then, I find out that his luggage was lost by US Airways, so not the best way to start off our vacation...we spend a night in Dar and then my luggage shows up and we head to Zanzibar! We find out that we are luckily there at the right time (it was the Zanzibar International Film Festival). We spent a few days in Stonetown to see the sights and ate some good seafood that the fishermen sell from their days' work. Then we headed up north to Nungwi to try to do some diving, but Paul and I were unfortunately still fighting our head colds that we got somewhere on a plane...so we headed back to Stonetown and Paul was feeling up to diving and I snorkeled...he saw a sea turtle and I saw a dolphin! Heading back to Dar on a ferry, I got really sick to my stomach and felt awful...The next day, we spent 13 hours on a big bus to get to a town to stay the night before we crossed the border to Malawi. We headed to Mzuzu, Malawi the next day. After that, we went to Lake Malawi in the town of Nkhata Bay (where I was for Christmas). It was a much needed break and time for relaxing after all of our long days on public transport. After a few days at the lake, we headed south to the capital, Lilongwe for a few days...we managed to get Paul some shirts at the market (so that he had more than 2) and he got to meet some of my Peace Corps friends and co-workers. From there we headed to my site for a few days and Paul got to meet my Malawian family, go to a community sensitization meeting, meet George (the guy who I go with to all of the youth club trainings), and eat lots of Malawian food with his hands! I think he liked it!

Then came the fun travel to Mozambique...we headed to the border from Blantyre and got to the Malawi customs to find out that the Mozambiquian border 5 km away that we decided to walk (probably one of the worst decisions I've made). We took a bus to Tete and stayed the night. The next day (a Sunday) we went to the regional airlines' ticket place and they told us they had a flight to Maputo (the capital) but we couldn't get tickets because they can't print out tickets on Sundays...so we went to the airport and waited for standby. We got on and arrived in Maputo...it was like a real city in America! I ate some pizza and Thai food! It was so nice, but I was sort of overwhelmed by all of the sights! We headed north at 4am on a small bus to Praia do Tofo (Tofo Beach). It was beautiful white sandy beaches and turquoise waters. I did a SCUBA refresher course and then we did a dive on a coral reef. We couldn't see alot because of bad visibility and not a lot of animal life. We were supposed to do a 2 tank deep dive to see the manta rays (what this beach is known for), but they cancelled it because of bad conditions. So that was kind of frustrating...we headed up more north to a town called Vilanculos to stay for a few days. It was also amazingly beautiful with turquoise waters and white sandy beaches. We stayed at a really cute place. We did a 2 tank dive at the 2 mile reef off of the Bazaruto Archipelago. It was so cool. We saw a huge sting ray, devil rays, a sea turtle, lots of reef fish, and a white tip shark! For part of this dive package, they drop you off on an island made of sand dunes to eat lunch...there are no inhabitants on this island, so me and Paul were all alone for 2 hours on this beautiful island. We found this place that delivered food for free so we ate a lot of "New York Pizza" and good food from them. We ended up meeting this 50-60 year old New Zealand backpacker who we hung out with from Tofo all the way to Malawi. We traveled to Chimoio and stayed the night so that we could head back to Malawi at 4 am. It took us the whole day and part of the night to get back to Blantyre...from there, we headed to Cape Maclear for a few days in a rental car because we were tired of public transport...we did one dive in Lake Malawi at a site called the Aquarium. It was perfectly named because we were surrounded by small bright blue aquarium fish! It was a beautiful dive. From there, we headed to Malawi's premier game park, Liwonde. We camped there and did a night drive. On the night drive, we saw 7 hyenas! It was kind of scary because they got really close to our open land cruiser. We also saw lots of herds of elephants, hippos, impala, etc. We did a day drive at 6am and then did a boat safari. It was really cool and it has wetted my appetite for the safari stuff that I'll be doing when my parents come!

We spent just a day in Lilongwe before Paul flew out. It was really hard to see him get on the plane. I just wanted one more kiss, one more hug...but that won't happen. I miss him SO much. It is going to be another LONG year before I see him again. It has been hard without him, I see little things that remind me of his visit.

I spent a few days in Lilongwe getting things ready for Camp GLOW and headed up north to Kamuzu Academy to get ready for teaching and facilitating Gender and Health Days. It went so well! We had 58 girls from all over Malawi attend! I think they learned ALOT. We discussed some really important topics like: women's rights in malawi, sexual violence, male and female anatomy, addressed sexual cultural practices, and much much more! There are so many myths surrounding sex in Malawi and it was very beneficial for the girls to get some things clarified! I had a great time and all the work put into it was definately worth it! The girls were amazing and so sweet. OH! I forgot, I also taught them a hip hop dance as a morning activity and they were amazing at it! It was really cute!

Wow, this is a long entry...I guess that's what happens when you haven't written in 2 months...but now I should be back on track with all of this...My parents come on Sept. 6th and leave the 25th or 26th, so I don't know if I will be able to write again any time soon...I need to get some proposals written for the guardian shelter and the TBA training (yes, I have finally gotten the 25% community contribution) and get back to site for a few weeks before I am on some more vacation! I hope that everyone is well! I love and miss you all LOTS!

Hi everyone...

Just wanted to do a quick update before I go on vacation for a few weeks with Paul...he is coming to visit me for 6 weeks at the end of June! I can't wait! I haven't seen him in over year! I am so excited! We're going to meet up in Dar es Saalam in Tanzania and then ferry over to the island of Zanzibar for a few days of diving...other planned activities include travelling through Malawi, visiting my health center and village, and going to Mozambique for some great diving as well.

So, what have I been up to lately? Well, I have met with the chiefs, principal of the technical college, and people from the district hospital to talk about building a guardian shelter for the women who come to the health center with women in labor. It is important for these women to have somewhere to sleep and eat while taking care of women who are working so hard to deliver a baby! I now have to search for funding...I think I can find some through USAID...I worked with the head of maintenance to come up with a budget based on the guardian shelter that we are copying from another health center...It sounds like it is going to be HUGE (12.5 metres x 6.4 metres, aka 23,000 bricks!). I am sort of stressed about finding the funding for it, applying for the funding, and gettting construction started and completed before the rainy season in November...since things move so slowly here, I think it might be pushed until after rainy season... :-(

So, my best friend and Malawian mom is getting transferred to another health center. She's moving about 70km away from me in the completely opposite end of the district. I am so upset about this. When she told me I didn't believe her. I felt like I got the wind knocked out of me! It is unsure when she will be transferred exactly, but hopefully not until after the guardian shelter is built since she is the main person that I am working with on it.

I am in Lilongwe now working on figuring out proposal stuff and then I will help teach the new health volunteers who just arrived in Malawi on May 31st about forming youth clubs and teaching LifeSkills. I'm really excited about that! I am also going to go to 2 other health PCVs' sites to see what they are doing at their health centers! I will then go to my own mid-service training and then head off for vacation with Paul!

I love and miss you all so much! I hope that you are all doing great!

Well, I haven't written on here in a while, so I thought I should fill everyone in on what I've been up to for the last month...Well, I spent a few weeks at site doing lots of youth club activities like teaching them about STDs and HIV/AIDS. It has gone really well! I also went to a lot of nutrition outreach clinics with the NGO, InterAide. They are an amazing organization who does more work than the district that I work for! I love helping them out because they are so genuine and really want to help the communities around my area.

At the end of April, I went in to Lilongwe to meet with a bunch of people to discuss my TBA training funding (I need to now try to find 25% community contribution which will be very difficult and more frustrating) and talk about my new involvement with a community based organization (aka a local NGO). They recently asked me to be their "Technical assistant and project advisor." I'm not really sure what all of that will entail, but sounds like they basically want me to re-organize their whole organization, so we'll see what I can help them do! I also went to the new environment volunteers' swearing in at the ambassador's house! It was nice!

I am back in Blantyre this weekend as I was asked to help facilitate a Hope Kit training for the PCVs in the southern region since I went to the Hope Kit training in February and am teaching these activities to the youth clubs at site. It went pretty good. I think I might be asked by the training staff of the new health group that comes in at the end of May to train them on the Hope Kit! I'm excited about that! I also have another Gender and Development meeting this afternoon to discuss our fundraiser of making these really cool handbags that all PCVs eventually get made on their own!

Last weekend, I met with the Sub Traditional Authority and a senior head chief to discuss another exciting project of building a guardian shelter at the health center for the women who take care of the women in the labor ward. As of right now, they cook their meals under a big tree and sleep on a concrete slab in the wind and cold (its fall here now). The chiefs seemed really excited and supportive of this project, so now they will "rally the troops" in their villages, as well as get support from other chiefs in the area! I think it will work out really well!

I guess that's it for now until the end of this month when I'll be in Lilongwe again for meetings and seeing the new health group come in! I hope you are all well! I love and miss you lots!

Hi everyone!

So, it's been about a month since I last wrote on here...let me fill you in...So, I met with the Ministry of Health's Reproductive Unit and talked with the "official" person about doing initial TBA trainings. She said that she supports them, but wishes that I would spend the money I can find on something else to benefit women. She understood why I feel it's important for these women in Zomba to be trained. That made me very happy because now I am just working on getting the budget lowered so that I can find some funding and get everything set up for this training! This is something that I have been spending the bulk of my time on in Zomba.

Another thing that I have been busy with is working with youth clubs in my area. I have gone to quite a few lately and really enjoy the enthusiasm of the youth and giving them important information about HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and how to use a condom. I did my first condom demonstration with a marker since I was unprepared. It was definately funny to watch, I'm sure! I also participated in a "sensitization" meeting with a community. It was really neat because ALOT of people showed up. The youth club performed dances, songs, dramas, and gave lots of information in exciting ways about HIV/AIDS. I took some good pictures and talked about STIs and their relationship to HIV/AIDS.

OH! Something that I am really excited about is my meeting with a women's group! I taught them how to make peanut butter from scratch and they absolutely loved it! We had so much fun with everything! I did lots of booty shaking dancing (traditional dancing) and singing. They performed a skit about santitation and hygiene and were so cute! The whole afternoon I borrowed a woman's baby and practiced wrapping it to my back. The baby was so cute...it fell asleep while on my back. Being in this country definately makes my biological clock tick just a little bit faster, but I won't be adopting or having any kids for quite some time!

I spent last week with a counterpart at an EDZI Toto club workshop (No AIDS club). It was awful and didn't really help me out with learning anything new...oh well...

Update on Camp G.L.O.W.: I am co-coordinating 2 days, health and gender, with my friend Catherine. I am excited about the responsibility of arranging guest speakers and activities for these girls! I will keep you posted!

I guess that's it for now with me! I'm headed back to site for a few weeks and then have more Camp GLOW and GAD meetings! I love and miss you lots! Fill me in on what you've been up to!

Hey everyone!

So, I just got back from a weeklong LifeSkills training with my counterpart, an HSA that is going to teach with me at the secondary school. It went really well. I feel like my counterpart learned alot and really benefited from this training. We learned some very interesting and exciting ways to teach communities about HIV/AIDS prevention! There's an interesting tool called "the bridge model" which visually shows how people can reach their goals (avoid HIV, get a good job, etc.) by using a "bridge" like abstinence, being faithful, etc. to get over their challenges represented by crocodiles, hippos, snakes in a river. It seems like a very effective tool that I can use with many different type of people like high school kids, women's groups, health center staff, etc.

We also learned some creative ways to give condom demonstrations, which I will hopefully be doing plenty of in the year and a half I have left here at outreach, under 5, family planning, and antenatal clinics! Something that was really funny was watching the coutnerparts reaction to the pictures of STIs and then deciding how important the use of condoms are for preventing not only HIV, but STIs as well. Another funny topic was about what goes on in the bedroom of Malawians. It was kind of funny because some of them asked interesting questions regarding American relationships, which further led to more "touchy" subjects and made everyone laugh!

My counterpart and I have planned to teach the health center staff many of the activities we learned first so that they can go out and teach their villages. I am very excited about all that was gained from this weeklong training!

So, while at the training, I found out some pretty bad news for my TBA project progression. My Peace Corps boss, Edith, talked to the Reproductive health person at the Ministry of Health and they said that the government is longer allowing initial TBA trainings. So, basically all of the meetings and work that I have been putting into the TBA training has been a waste of time. I am going to try to meet with the same person that Edith met with, but I am still waiting to hear back to set up an appointment with her. So, hopefully I can convince this person to let me do this training. I am really stressed about this and hope that it will eventually work. I feel like this is one of the ways that I can help women in this country and make a strong impact on the health of the people in Malawi.

I guess that's a quick update on what I've been up to lately...I miss you all so much. I hope all is well!

Hey everyone...

I know its been a LONG time since I updated this but now that I have some "free" time I can fill you in on what I've been up to! So, I came back from Christmas break and stayed at site for a few weeks working with the health center staff. I was really frustrated with the people I work with because no one really wants to work on improving the community and doing projects besides what is normally required of them. I have spent alot of time in the labor ward with my neighbor, the midwife, observing lots of different deliveries and the complications that come with it. My nightwatchman's daughter had a baby. She decided that I would be the chosen one to name her. In Malawi, the parents don't name the baby, someone they respect or honor gets to name the baby. So, we had the "naming ceremony" where I presented some soap for bathing and washing clothes and some money and told them her name of Alalida, which is my midwife's name. It was really neat. I am now called the "naming mother." I will go to some ceremony where they cut off the baby's hair to mark their age. I can't wait to go and tell you all about it!

So, an update on how my projects are going...The TBA coordinator has finally given me a proposed budget for the untrained TBA training that I want to help with. The only problem is that it is way too high so I have to talk to her (aka argue) about how I can't find the amount of money they want. My friend in the central region is doing the same type of training and her budget is about 1/3 of what they are telling me mine should be. I am really frustrated. My boss from Peace Corps came through Zomba on Thursday and saw the budget and said that they were just taking advantage of me so we went to the district hospital to talk to the TBA coordinator, but she was out of the office. So, the next step will be to try to see her the next time my boss comes through Zomba in a few weeks. About my mosquito net for women delivering at the health center...I am still working on finding some organization to donate nets for free, but right now there is a hold on all of the places who give out mosquito nets from the Ministry of Health...On the teaching of LifeSkills at the secondary school, I have received the schedule of classes from the headmaster and will hopefully start teaching really soon (maybe next week!)...I have started working more with the NGO InterAide (french) and have been riding my bike a lot in the field to go to youth club meetings. I am going to be more involved with that! Last week we did an HIV training that was 18km away (biked all the way there and back). It went really good!...I am holding the first Gender and Development meeting for the southern region of Malawi next Saturday so that is why I am able to update this since I am in town to figure out what I'm going to do at the meeting...I am also going to be part of a Peace Corps "camp" called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) that will be held in August. I am going to organize an entire day for the camp including guest speakers, activities, etc. I am very excited about it as well! It helps Malawian girls in their junior year of high school to see what things are available to them related to career, health, environment, etc in Malawi.

I guess that's it for now...I love and miss you all. I hope everyone is doing great!

Well, I just returned from the northern region, visiting Nkhata Bay for the Christmas holiday. It was so different from the normal Christmases that I am used to in the US. I luckily had the best weather ever given that it's rainy season and only ended up raining at night during my stay. I went with 12 other PCVs to Mayoka Village for some rest and relaxation and that I did get. We all felt like we were in a random island paradise and not in Malawi! It was ridiculous how beautiful Lake Malawi is!

I took a diving refresher course with my friend Catherine and then we went on a pretty good dive for getting back in to it. It was so much different than diving in the NW, things actually had color! I saw some blue crabs, blue chiclids (can buy in pet shops), and some mouth brooders. It was pretty cool! I also went through a thing called a swim-thru, kind of like a cave, but a little different. It was also different to dive in freshwater as opposed to salt water, I didn't have to wear tons of weights! I also liked that the temperature was warm enough to not wear hoods, gloves, or booties. It was great! We did a boat dive, which is when you have to roll off backwards into the water (I had never done this before), and we were all sort of sea sick from the waves until we got under water.

So, Christmas day was all hyped up by the place we were staying at and ended up sort of being a disappointment. They had all these random activities planned and ended up only doing one. Then dinner was disappointing because my meat had fur still on it (not supposed to) and then only had 1 out of the 3 desserts that they said they would have. Oh well. At least I only have one more Christmas to get through. It wasn't horrible, it just wasn't home.

Yesterday we traveled from Nkhata Bay to Mzuzu. Instead of taking the normal minibus, we decided to hire our own minibus to get there faster and to not be super crowded. This sounded like a great idea until all of the other minibus drivers started getting really mad at the one that we hired. They didn't want to let us in the minibus. It was pretty crazy! We did finally get in the minibus we hired and made our way to Mzuzu. We then decided to go to Lilongwe from there on a luxury coach bus line. We got in at 11pm and met up with more PCVs.

A bunch of us are having stomach problems, so we are all on antibiotics to fix that. Oh well, it happens...so, I will be here through New Year's in Lilongwe...let me know how everything is going! I love and miss you all!

Hey everyone!

So, I just got back from teaching a few days at the Peace Corps summer school program...It went pretty good! I taught some genetics and immunology. The students were very motivated and asked some good questions that weren't just about surface information, they actually were comprehensive! Although there were the occasional funny questions like, "If I go to the traditional healer, can I get medicine to make me have a boy baby?" I feel like this gave me a good idea of what to expect if I want to teach at the secondary school near my health centre. I think I did a good job, for the most part...I am considering teaching maybe a few days per week in biology or life skills. Who knows? I have decided that the northern region so far is the most beautiful part of Malawi...It has many mountains and trees and is very GREEN! It reminds me of Oregon. There was a very funny sign that said, "Vasectomy: For men who love their spouses." I thought that was funny because here in Malawi, men have no idea what vasectomies are, and if they do, they still think that outpatient female sterilization is much easier...of course, it's not happening to them! Other things about the north...I went to the Tanzanian fabric market in Mzuzu...amazing! I bought some beautiful fabric and had a skirt made out of some of it. It turned out really pretty. I love it...just another reason for you women to come and visit me, get fantastic fabric and outfits made! I went to Nkhata Bay with my friends Annie and Heidi. It was really beautiful too! We stayed at a cute sort of backpacker's lodge called Mayoka Village. They had cute cottages that overlooked onto the lake and were super cheap. I was able to use their snorkeling equipment for free and saw some pretty bright blue fish! The food there was really good and I can't wait to go back for Christmas! I am headed back to Zomba to work for a few weeks before Christmas and then will head back up north. It is cloudy and humid because there was lots of rain earlier today. Well, that's about it for now...let me know how things are going! I love and miss you all! I tried posting pictures but the internet is running too slow and won't download them...I'll try again when I'm in Lilongwe in a few weeks!

Well, it's Thanksgiving in "the warm heart of Africa" and it's actually kind of weird to be thinking about Thanksgiving. I have never experienced hot weather and the opportunity of swimming at the US Ambassador's house on Thanksgiving. The funny thing is that we are NOT having turkey, but have instead decided to roast a gianormous pig. It is kind of disturbing to me to have to go through this...oh well. So, I baked ALL day yesterday at the country director's house. Let's just say they have it a little bit better than us volunteers! The country director's wife was definately a firecracker. She was very nice and entertaining. Since it took a lot longer than we expected, their housekeeper/cook made dinner for all of us. We made lots of desserts from apple cobbler, pound cake, pecan pie, chocolate chip cookies, and snickerdoodle cookies. We ate lots of cookie dough and everyone loved the cookies that I made! I have been in town since Friday because it is pouring at my site...the rainy season has definately begun! I wanted to make sure that I would be able to get out of my site with all the rain and mud. The first rains began 2 Saturdays ago. It was the most unbelievable storm I have ever experienced...it was so rainy and windy that when I was standing on my porch all I saw was sheets of white. I put out an 18 litre bucket to catch rain from my roof and it was filled in about 1/2hr! Due to the rain, my fence has completely fallen down and looks pathetic! Oh well...Three power line poles also fell down, so it was fun watching them put it back up on Sunday! On to other things...I have talked with the Traditional Birth Attendant Coordinator at the District Hospital and it sounds like alot of work...she wants me to set up trainings for the entire district! I hope she can help me fight the district on gettting funding for this! I also spoke with the Malaria Coordinator and they are going to get mosquito nets for the maternity ward! I just have to find funding so that we can give the women leaving the maternity ward a mosquito net to use at home! If you have any ideas of where to get this funding...LET ME KNOW!!! Well, I love and miss you all and wish that I could be eating some turkey and pumpkin pie in the rain with the rest of you! Keep me posted on all the fantastic things you are up to in the US!

Hello everyone!

So, I have made it through the first 3 months at site and to celebrate/conclude that little benchmark, Peace Corps has a 2 week training in Dedza, where we had our Pre-Service training. It went pretty good. We went over ALOT of stuff including: natural medicine, proposal and grant writing, how to start income generating activities for groups like women's groups and People Living With AIDS groups, field trip to an awesome cultural center, learning that we can get into good grad schools, and how to come up with project ideas. It was weird having the counterparts (people we work with at the health center that we had to bring) for the second week of training. The only thing about my counterpart was that he is the boss of the other HSAs (health surveillance assistant) and is really smart and motivated. So, we had to come up with a 3-6 month "action plan" and I think we came up with some pretty good ideas...so, I will try to start both a women's and girls' groups for empowerment, get mosquito net incentive program in the maternity ward where the women get to take the mosquito nets home with them, and try to find out how to get untrained traditional birth attendants trained so that baby delivery is better in the rural villages. It sounds like a lot, but hey, I'm here for 2 years and that leaves alot of time to get a lot of things accomplished. I am very excited about trying to get the TBAs trained and how to improve the health status of women and children. I am excited to see my kitten, Mauwa, and to see if any chicks have hatched and how many there are! I will finally get to check snail mail at the end of the week in Zomba! I will be back the week of Thanksgiving for some oh-so-fun physical therapy for my torn ligament in my ankle and for some good food and then I head north to help teach biology at a Peace Corps summer school program! I have alot of stuff going on and if you have questions, feel free to ask! Hope all is well for you! I love and miss you all LOTS!!

Here's a pic of me and Kris kissing a Malawian mask at Mua Mission.

Here's a picture of a boy attending a wedding and decided to watch us for a while and a woman wrapping a baby to her back like normal...I can't wait to do this in the US when I have my own babies!

Here's how we celebrate Halloween in Malawi...throw our own party and dress up from "Napolean Dynamite." I'm "Deb", Brent is "Kip", and Annie is "LaFonda." It was different celebrating here than in the U.S., but its how I have to do it for the next 2 years...

So, its already been 3 months of me being at site, so it's time for me to have some training with Peace Corps! I am really looking forward to it since I haven't seen most of the people in my group for those 3 long months! I can't wait to hear all of their stories and to see if they've changed at all! Things have been going really well at site. I am learning more about the birthing process. I did a night duty shift at the health center in the maternity ward and learned how to do a vaginal exam to see how dialated the woman was! I know it sound gross to most of you, but I thought it was super amazing! Lack of technology doesn't seem to be that bad when you are delivering! It is amazing how well you can adjust and function with such little amenities! I brought Mauwa, the kitten, back to my site and she is doing really good. She is becoming an awesome hunter...she's killed many lizards and a mouse so far. She is growing pretty fast. She always goes to sleep in my lap whever I am sitting at my table. She's become very cuddly too! I also decided since who knows when I would ever get to do it again in my life, I bought 2 chickens and named them Thelma and Louise! They are both laying eggs right now! I will let them get to be chicks and then hopefully they will produce me some good eggs as a source of protein! They are pretty enteraining! I am excited to start some projects when I get back to site after training and talking to my boss about what I have seen in my health center. I am interested in getting fuding for mosquito nets in the maternity ward, starting some more women's groups, figuring out how to train traditional birth attendants, and getting condom use to be practiced more. It will be fun to see how all these things play out in the next two years of my service here...I have decided that I would never want to be a celebrity. I am constantly stared at and get lots of attention, both postitive and negative, and its sometimes hard to deal with...So, on the Madonna adopting a baby here thing...it seems like some Malawians agree with her and some think the baby should have stayed here. It's kind of sad that now the reason people know about Malawi is because of Madonna coming here. Well, that's about it for now...I am going to be back for Thanksgiving and then will teach some biology and biology lab in the North for a Peace Corps summer school program. I love and miss you lots!

Hey everyone! I am in Lilongwe for a few days and figured I should update my blog. Well, things have been going pretty good lately. Last week, the Peace Corps doctor and new country director came for a site visit to see how my house is and for me to meet the new cd. It went really good. The new cd seems really nice and ready to tackle the job of handling 120 PCVs in Malawi. It was good to tell them about all the thigns I've been doing over the last 7 weeks. I guess I didn't realize how much stuff I've done until I talked with them! I've been busy "going out in the field" as they call it, riding my bike many kilometers to outreach clinics and the like. The roads are all dirt, rough, uphills and downhills, and sometimes just kick my butt! I've visited a trained traditional birth attendant. She delivers babies at her house where women come to see her since the health center can be too far. It went well, she liked me alot! I went to a sanitation platform training with Interaide, a French NGO. They taught a bunch of chiefs, village health committee members, and me how to make these concrete platforms to put on top of pit latrines. It is a lot more sanitary than just a hole in the ground! I finally got furniture on Wednesday of last week! I have a bed, table, and two chairs! No more sleeping on a mattress on the floor! I actually feel like I have a home now. The nurse midwife that lives next door to me came back from her leave at another health center. I was very excited to see her! She said that she missed her daughter (talking about me!). I have been "adopted" by her and her 4 children. I eat dinner at her house every night. I buy some veggies to contribute and they teach me how to make Malawian food! They taught me how to make phala (porridge) which is sort of like cream of wheat so that I can make it for breakfasts for me and my kitten! I've been doing the usual outreach clinics and clinics at the health center. I have rode to Thondwe 3 times. It is a tough 16km to get to the paved rode! Hopefully the more I do it, the easier it will get. The hot season is quickly approaching as I noticed that I am sweating more and drinking lots of water. I get into town about once/week to check mail and emails, so keep them coming. I have about 1 month until reconnect and training when I will get to see all of my fellow 1st year health PCVs and hear how their 1st three months at site has gone! I get my kitten, Mauwa, this weekend! I am very excited to finally get her! Hopefully she will be an excellent mouse hunter! Well, that's it for now! Love and miss everyone lots!

Hey everyone! I wanted to let everyone know that I am doing good! I have been really busy with stuff at the health center...I have so far gotten to see 2 deliveries! It was so awesome! I can't believe how easy these women make it look, makes me wonder what us americans are doing that it takes hours of pushing instead of the 5 minutes I saw here! Other things that I have been doing: had a community meeting on Monday to discuss Malaria, family planning, and voluntary counseling and testing for HIV. It was really good. There were about 120 people in attendance! I have been going to outreach clinics that are anywhere from 2-12 km from the health center that I bike to on every Wednesday. There are always lots of women and children. These are the under 5 and family planning clinics. I have also done some village inspections where we see what sanitation and hygeine things are or aren't missing like a pit latrine, kitchen, drying rack, refuse pit, bathing room, etc. The weather has been unseasonably windy, cloudy, and cold. Its very weird as we are supposed to be headed into the hot season this month! I will be in Lilongwe at the end of the month to see the new education volunteers and to try to download some pictures. I will keep you posted! Let me know how things are going! Oh, everyone wants to know if I like nsima (I do!) and if I know how to cook it! My neighbor, a midwife, is on leave for one month at another health center. I have been eating most dinners at her place with her kids! I seem to have gotten my own Malawian family!

So, I am heading to Lilongwe today to do some more recovering from having more gastritis. I feel awful and got some antiobiotics yesterday, so hopefully I will be feeling better soon. I will get to be full of rest and around running water, electricity, and toilet paper! The transit house here in Blantyre is closing today because of electrical problems, so its good that I am leaving today. I hope everything is going well in the U.S. I miss all of you lots!

hey everyone,

I am in Blantyre until Saturday meeting up with other new PCVs that have been at site for the last 3 weeks. So, my new site in Zomba is really good compared to the last one even though I don't have running water or electricity...let's just say for the first few days I was eating papaya and peanut butter and honey sandwiches...I'm getting better at getting my charcoal burner to work, but it still takes a lot of prepping to get it ready. I am still eating the staple meal of peanut butter and honey sandwiches so that I don't have to cook in the heat! It has started to warm up a bit and will continue to do so until it peaks in October...can't wait...So, my house has 3 bedrooms and a sitting room with a separate structure for the baffa and kitchen, then my chimbudzi (pit latrine) is behind that in its separate building. I am in the process of having a grass "security" fence built. I have a night watchman for security purposes. I have gotten to learn how to do antenatal exams of palpatations and listening to the heart beat. It was so cool! I can't wait to actually be doing this for my job, I would love to be a midwife! I rode my bike to a outreach clinic yesterday...it was 25km round trip...my butt really hurts from my bike seat...I got to help weigh under 5 children and record it. I know, not too exciting, but it was good to do for me! Not too much else going on, my site is 15 km off the tarmec (paved road) and it takes 1 1/2 hrs by bike taxi to reach my house! I am definately living in the bush! I will try to post pictures when I get a card reader. Let me know how you are doing!

hey everyone,

So I am in Lilongwe now until Peace Corps finds me a new site. My house was not so good to say the least. It was infested with tons of mosquitoes and mice, besides being utterly disgustingly dirty. The woman who lived there before me literally moved out the day before and didn't have time to clean it. I arrived on Monday to find no furniture, so I had to argue with my MA (the head of the clinic) about it. They signed an agreement with PC that they would provide the house, a bedframe, a table, and chairs. He said that they didn't have enough funding to get me the furniture. That was just the beginning. I needed screens on my windows and he said they couldn't pay for that either. So, I had to call my boss, Edith to tell her about it. She came on Wednesday to see how bad the house was. She said that she would talk to the health center and discuss who should pay for repairs and if they couldn't come to an agreement, I would be moving. I figure that I should be living at the same standards as the rest of the health center staff and they don't have any of the problems that I have. I spent all of Tuesday scrubbing my toilet and bathing rooms, but unfortunately they still look really dirty because they are stained with dirt from the previous renter. Absolutely disgusting! I freaked out on Thursday from all the problems and told Edith that I can't live here anymore. She said that we would discuss a new site location for me on Monday. I will let you know how that goes. I ended up staying the nights at my wonderful neighbor's house because I can't sleep with mice running around. She was so amazing, she made me dinners and breakfasts. Malawians are so hospitable its ridiculous. You would never find that in the states. So, I am now in Lilongwe after a long and hot 5 hour minibus ride from Liwonde. I hope that everything turns out for the best, I know it will! I will keep you posted...until then, send me stuff to the Lilongwe address! I miss everyone lots and can't wait to hear how you are all doing!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to let you know that I am leaving for my site tomorrow morning! I will not have regular email access, so its back to letter writing or buying the 4 cents/minute phone card (at www.speedypin.com) and calling me! I will start my community assessment which I will be doing for the next three months at site. I will not being doing any really medical stuff yet, just finding out what my community needs. I will hopefully see many babies being born at my health centre, I will let you know how that goes! I am excited, nervous, and everything in between. I can't wait until I have my house as my house and everything is in place like painting, my garden, my fence, furniture, etc. I am planning on painting all of the inside of my house and planting a decent sized garden. I will take some before and after pics for you to see the difference!

So, I spent all of Friday and Saturday at the markets arguing with people selling me stuff that was overpriced. I have gotten pretty good at bargaining down with my Chichewa. I got a broom and mop for only K300 with a starting price of K800. Maybe when whoever comes to visit me, I will help you get stuff for the Malawian price instead of the azungu price.

I am guessing that everyone is trying to figure out what Chichewa is like, so here are some common phrases: Muli bwanji? (How are you?) Ndilil bwino, kaya inu? (I am fine and you?) Kodi, muli wokwotiwa? (question, are you married?) Ndimagwira nchito ya ulangzi wa za umoyo. (I work as a health advisor.)

You can reach me by mail, maybe email, and my cell phone from now on! I hope everything is going good in the US! I will write when I get a chance! I miss you all lots!!

Hey guys! I was sworn in yesterday as an "official" first year health volunteer for Peace Corps! It was kind of weird and very much like a government ceremony. It was very cool to be sworn in! It was at the ambassador's house, which was basically a mansion with tennis courts, basketball court, swimming pool, koi pond, and lots of land! Just another reason why I would love to figure out how to become an ambassador! I've been busy buying stuff for my new house, but its very difficult because you have to argue over eveything! It is such a hassle to argue about the price of a scrub brush! I am picking up 2 skirts and a shoulder bag that I had made at the tailor's for only K1300 (about $11 USD)! Absolutely amazing! I can't wait to see it! I have no idea what to expect! If you come visit me, expect to go to the market to buy fabric and then I will take you to a tailor to get some thing "african" made!

Let's see, what else.....nothing much but getting ready to leave for site and have no access to other Americans for a least one month or more. Who knows if I will have internet access. I will be hoping for some mail with my new address....it can probably get pretty lonely out in the African bush all by yourself...I will try to post some pictures from swearing in, but I don't know when that will actually happen! I will let you know! Hope everything is going good in the US! I miss the cheesecake factory so much!!!!!! I miss all of you lots!

So, I am in my final week of training...thank God! It has had its ups and downs, but overall was a very good experience! I stayed in a village for four weeks without running water or electricity and lived with a family that spoke absolutely NO English...only Chichewa. I think that helped me out a lot since I had to really work hard to communicate with them. It is definately an experience to pee in a pit latrine and bucket bathe! I am glad that at my site I will be lucky enough to have running water (cold) and electricity! Downsides about homestay: I got bacterial gastritis, aka awful diarrhea, which I had to take Cipro, an antibiotic, and drink Oral Rehydration Solution for about 5 days. Absolutely no fun, I am happy that I have killed off the extra 1 million and a half bacteria that were taking over my intestines! Hopefully now I have guts of steel! I guess I got sick from untreated water or poor sanitation when my host family was making my food and getting my water. Things are a lot different here than in America. People literally live in mud huts with thatch roofs and are very poor. The exchange rate is $1USD to K146. The currency is called kwatcha. For example, I can buy 6 bananas for K5. I also can buy drinking yogurt for K60 and cookies for K36. Things seem cheaper here, but when you live at the same level as your community, it is a treat to spend more than K60 on something! It is very weird to start thinking in terms of Malawian money instead of thinking how little US dollars it is. The staple food of Malawi is nsima, or a corn flour/water mixture that is like cream of wheat with too little of water, so its paste-like and has no flavor or nutrition whatsoever! It is thick enough that people roll it into a ball and use it like a spoon to grab other things like chicken pieces, greens, etc. It is not as bad as it sounds, in fact, I kind of like nsima! I really liked eating without utensils (minus the whole not using soap to wash my hands), but of course, I am American and won't ever do that at my own place unless I am desperate! There hasn't been much culture shock...just interesting to be called "azungu" or rich foreigner, and having to cover my thighs because they are sexual here. It is hard to see the women do pretty much everything at the house from chopping wood, gathering wood, carrying it on their heads at about 200lbs, carrying buckets of water on their heads, cooking on a three stone fire, handwashing every piece of clothing, all the while having a baby wrapped to her back. The fathers don't really do much except for working in the fields and the occasional re-thatching of the roofs...It is hard to see the huge gender inequality. :-( I am learning Chichewa pretty well...I scored the highest on the Language Proficiency Interview out of my entire training group!!

I just got back from seeing where I will be living for the next two years, it is gorgeous! I have a beautiful mountain in the back of my house and a banana tree and papaya tree orchard in front of my house! It has 3 bedrooms, a living room, dining room, kitchen, toilet room, and bathing room! It is brick with a tin roof....basically an oven for me during the hot season! Wish me luck for that! My village speaks Chichewa as well as Chiyao, so I get to learn another language! I will get a tutor so that I can get good at it! I can't wait!

Everyone in Malawi is so nice! They all tell me, "you are most welcome to be in Malawi." Culture here is different because people will actually STOP what they are doing so that they can ask how your day is, where you are going, where you are coming from, and what is new. They are never in a hurry to hear your answer either. They are definately the warm heart of Africa. I can't even begin to describe how welcome I feel here and how privileged I am to be serving in Malawi.

Well, this is long enough for now...I will write more later! Here is a link to a fellow trainee's online photo gallery since I accidentally erased mine off my digital camera :-(

www.flickr.com/photos/ladyofthelake