I am a Malawian now.

3/3/13

This week has been busy but not particularly exciting, so I’ll try to find something to say about it.

We have decided to go to TST in the afternoons now, rather than the mornings, as there are more children about and therefore usually more for us to to. To fill this time, we have been helping out at Nama Simba more as the children usually get sent home around 1.30pm at the latest. It has been earlier this week however as, due to the maize shortage, the caregivers have only been able to supply one meal for the children, rather than two. The children are becoming more manageable as time goes on and we spend most of our time playing with them. They all love the ‘Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear’ rhyme and when we do it once the children shout ‘Ine! Ine!’ (‘Me! Me!) for a good 15 minutes, demanding their turn. Since my Chichewa has improved, I’ve been able to pass a ball around the kids. This sounds simple, but it would have been impossible 4 months ago without knowng ‘dikirani’ meaning wait, ‘ayi Iwe, apa’ meaning no you, (stand) here, ‘osamenyana’ meaning stop fighting and, of course, praise words like ‘eya, wakhoza’ and ‘zili bwino’.

At TST, we’ve been providing Maths help as usual. Juniyo struggles with writing, so I tend to get him to copy out simple Chichewa words, their English translation and draw a picture. One day he came to me looking rather dejected, which was sad to see as he usually greets me with a smile. I asked him if he wanted to do some Maths like the others (ukufuna Masamu?) but he said no and that he wanted to play a game. So I taught him a paper game, not sure what it’s called. The aim is to have won the most boxes at the end, gained by being the one to finish to box, drawing one line at a time. Anyway, he really seemed to like it, but was hindered by his desire to make the page look symmetrical. Not the most competitive kid I have ever met, but such a sweetie.

We did manage to to buy a 5 kg bag of maize flour this week, so I have been able to feed my phala addiction. As we haven’t been having lunch at TST anymore, and the lunch at Nama Simba tends to be served with this minging fish that we don’t like, we haven’t been having any nsima. I have missed it more than I had anticipated. Nothing fills you up like nsima and I’ve found that a lunch of banana on toast just doesn’t leave me satisfied. To make up for it, we cooked nsima and soya ndiwo for our dinner a couple of nights this week. It’s really tasty and filling, and we feel very Malawian for it.

I have also become quite good at balancing things on my head. The African stereotype that women carry buckets on their heads for miles and miles is bang on – it is completely sociably acceptable to cart any manner of things around on your head, even if you’ve got two empty hands and no baby on your back. The balance of the Malawian people is absolutely phenomenal; I have never seen anyone wobble or drop anything – not even very young children. I am nowhere near as good as the locals, but I give it a good go from time to time.

So, I have 2 videos for you this week! Do enjoy. The internet connection I am using is really slow, so I'll post the links here if and when they are completed.

http://youtu.be/mB1xusn-n5k

http://youtu.be/s4OwmZHjZBc

TTFN

Notable Event

This week, we went into town to shop at our favourite cash and carry, only to find it absolutely empty. We have no idea whether it has moved premises or closed down… but it makes me sad. We’ve been going there religiously for 5 months, and they had the best and cheapest pasta. RIP Sana Cash n Carry.

Rain, rain... please go away.

24/2/13

Okay, on the 17^th of February I wrote this:

“I have decided to try to continue doing a weekly blog. I have stopped writing my diary, so if I don’t do a blog post there won’t be any written record of this last week in Malawi. And I know, one day, I’ll regret that.”

Trust me to fall at the very first hurdle.

So, what happened that week? It rained.

It’s like no rain we have ever experienced before. Holes in the roof we didn’t even know existed opened up to spice up our lives. We had to spend most of a morning frantically running around the house with buckets – conveniently there is a leak right above my pillow, so there’s an upside. That day we were rained in yet again – the ground around our house turned to whirlpools as the rain came down in unrelenting sheets leaving us soaked in seconds. I wore my sandals more that week than the past 5 months combined, as it become nearly impossible to walk while sliding around trying to keep my feet in flip flops. My umbrella couldn’t deal with the stress so broke in protest, but fortunately I still had my sister’s old Berghaus jacket with a tiny hood. This has caused me to discover why jacket cuffs are equipped with velcro straps – to stop the rain from going down your sleeves as you hold your hood to your head. Unfortunately, they are not entirely effective.

We also had a couple of weeks of feeling perpetually cold. Our house seems to be unable to cope with any temperature or weather – when hot the metal roof heats us up like a green house, when windy the gaps around the windows and doors cause drafts, when cold the single glazing window panes do nothing to keep out the chill and when rainy – see the above rant. Our poor little house. It tries so hard.

So, other than the rain, it’s been business as usual here in Baluti. Oh, I forgot to mention that fellow volunteer Georgia turned 23 two weeks ago, and invited us to help throw a joint birthday party for her and two of the children she works with. There was cake, party hats, games and dancing – the children seemed to have a really good time… and so did we! Thank you to Georgia for sharing your birthday with the lovely Richmond House children – everyone had a really great day.

I am over half way through my year, so I’ve shot another video of the house. It’s changed a lot since we moved in 5 months ago. I intend to upload it… before April.

I really will try to update this more regularly – I am very disappointed in myself.

I hope everyone is well. TTFN

Notable Events

When going into town at the weekends, Lou and I walk up to the filling station to get a minibus. There are usually quite a few, each with a conductor standing outside shouting where they going. We got on one that was headed to Blantyre only to have it turn around 5 minutes into the journey and start to head in the opposite direction. We were told it was going to Chikwawa instead, so everyone got off and started back to the filling station to get another bus. This is Malawi.

This week we had carpenters and painters in to fix the roof and doors and other broken things around the house. It has basically been a week of waiting – African time means that someone will swear that there will be there ‘soon’ or ‘in the morning’ or even ‘at 9am’, only to turn up at 3pm, often with absolutely no apology. Again, this is Malawi.

Due to the excessive rain, the maize is struggling. Fortunately, the rice crops have been very successful, so prices are low. However, over the past 4 months I have become addicted to phala (morning porridge made from maize) and maize flour is now scarce and expensive. Phala has literally become my life. I used to have it 2/3 times a day before I rationed myself. I might have to go cold turkey – wish me luck.

It was very good cake.