More Pictures from Jack and Bonnie's Visit

P.S. Notice the slideshow to the right with our safari pictures! Yes, that is an elephant behind us in the boat picture.

Merry Christmas!

Love and peace to you all! Brian and Kristy

Bush Baby

This bush baby was abandoned by his parents and is being rehabilitated by one of the owners of the lodge we stayed at. We got to help feed him and he was soooo cute. Bush babies are primates so his little fingers were really like a newborn baby's.

Swearing-In Ceremony at the Ambassador's

J & B also experienced Peace Corps transport to the ambassador's house for the swearing-in ceremony for the new education volunteers. Our friends, Meghan and Jessica helped show them the ropes. Normally our motto is, "There is always room for one more volunteer in the vehicle". Thankfully, we weren't that packed that day.


Here we are "hob-knobbing" it with the ambassador. Don't we look important?

Performance

A youth group put together some dramas and songs for our special guests.

A Visit to Our Village

We often get special treatment as Peace Corps Volunteers in our village, but being the parents of a volunteer puts you in a whole other category! The children were very excited to "escort" them.



The reverend and his wife gave this chitenje (cloth wrap) to Bonnie. She is learning how to wear it. They also cooked an elaborate Malawian dinner for them. Actually, the most food served in a Malawian meal that we have ever seen.



Here Jack and Bonnie are with our Group Village Headman(chief of chiefs). Ours is a woman!



We are learning how rice is husked. They also pound their maize and peanuts like this.

P.S. Not only did they meet a million and a half people in two days, but they also survived the heat!

Two More Roligs in Malawi

Teacher Workshop

Some pictures from the teacher workshop I ran concurrently with Camp Sky. They observed volunteers teaching, went on a field trip to Domasi College of Education, learned the basics about computers, and as a part of our Cross Culture Exchange of Understanding theme, watched "Freedom Writers" and a CNN special on "Malawi's Brain Drain," played Jenga and UNO, and had a round table discussion about culture in America and Malawi.

Highs and Lows

Wrapping up our first year of service as Peace Corps Volunteers, we have to say that we are really enjoying ourselves. We have CampSky under our belts now. I was the headmaster of the camp which basically meant I dealt with academic, camper and staff issues. Another volunteer, Tom, was camp director which dealt with logistics, budget, etc. Perfect if you ask me because I hate that stuff and he was wonderful at it. Brian successfully completed his first teacher workshop with Malawian counterparts at the camp. While we were short on sleep for two weeks, there are no regrets. Working with this hand selected group of students and teachers was very rewarding. They come from some of the most under-resourced schools in one of the poorest countries of the world and they are our top-performing students. Very deserving. In the mornings the students had their regular examinable subjects including Maths (British English), Physical Science, Biology and English. Their afternoons were filled with elective courses in 4 different tracks: environment, health, business and arts. All of the groups took career-related field trips as well as the trip to Liwonde National Park. As volunteers we were challenged in new ways. Most unexpected was our discussion of HIV/AIDS testing. Many in our group wanted to hold an HIV testing at the camp, but some of our colleagues were opposed due to the fact that the students could potentially receive such terrible news while they are so far from home. Although no testing was held at the camp, in light of our wonderful discussions I am sure that many of us will hold testing events within our own villages.
All this activity has taken us away from our village for a while. We haven't missed the heat, but we have definitely missed the people. Having lived there a year, we feel more integrated into the community. This is a wonderful thing most of the time. However, Malawians don't have it easy and the closer we become with them the closer we feel their hardships. On Thanksgiving day while we were walking back to the Peace Corps transit house to be picked up for our feast we ran into one of our students begging on the streets in Lilongwe. I wasn't sure how to feel; sad, frustrated,guilty, mad...First of all he was far from home so it most have cost him something to get there, but also, we know the reality of this time of year. The hot season is also called the hungry season here. And of course this happened as we were on our way to gorge ourselves on good American home-cooked food.
The last couple days we were back in our village trying to reconnect with people and prepare for Jack and Bonnie's visit. While we were there we had our first rains of the year. I didn't mind getting wet at all. In fact, I walked around in my wet clothes for a couple hours. We were also able to collect water from our tin roof in buckets which is much easier than getting it from the borehole. Then this morning as we were about to push off for Lilongwe again (J& B are flying in Friday morning), I heard that one of the women in my knitting group passed away last night while giving birth. I was heartbroken to hear this. Besides the newborn, she leaves behind a husband and three other children. While this would be a tragedy in any culture at any time, it is particularly devastating here. On our way back to Lilongwe (we unfortunately had to get back here so we couldn't stay for the funeral) Brian and I were talking about the baby. How will it get fed? It is not like there is formula in the village. And if there was, certainly the family couldn't afford it. Perhaps someone else will nurse it, but I am not sure how these things are handled here. And one less adult means one less person to work in the fields and grow food. Not to mention the tremendous grief this family will feel. But that is how it is in Malawi. People are being born and dying at an exponential rate everyday. Even among developing countries, Malawi has one of the highest death rates during childbirth. Recent figures from the Malawi Demographic and Health Survey show that 1,120 mothers and 4,200 babies die for every 100,000 live births.
So with heavy hearts, we move on to our new highs. This next day and half we are making our arrangements for Jack and Bonnie, our first visitors. We are very excited for them and can't wait to blog about all of the adventures we will have!
Peace and love for now.

Some more of our pets...

These were actually taken at Liwonde National Park. We brought our students at Camp Sky there. The animals were really awesome, but watching the kids see them was probably better. For most of them it will be the only time they will ever see their national treasures.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We'll be missing home today for sure, but don't feel too bad for us. We are off to the ambassador's house for a feast and some swimming in the pool. It has been raining all night long (which I am not complaining about in the slightest), but hopefully it holds off for a few hours so we can enjoy the day.
Love to you all!

More Tropical Fruit

Bananas come in all sizes and colors here and are pretty much available year round. Right now it is mango season so they are practically free to us. A few weeks ago we tried making mango wine we'll see how it tastes when we get back to our site.

Camp Sky Graduation

Here we are with our students Saulos, Kumbukani and Joyce at their Camp Sky graduation.

Ambassador’s visit to Camp Sky

We just finished our two weeks at Camp Sky. It was probably the most rewarding Peace Corps work I've done. (more details and pics to come). Here is our new Ambassador to Malawi and his wife. They came to visit on the first day of camp. We will also be celebrating Thanksgiving at their house with all the other PCVs this year.

Scorpion

Another one of our many pets here.

Northern Tour

Tropics grow some tasty fruit thanks to the special fertilizer. The orange berry you see, I ate. They were growing near a stream flowing down the scarp of Nyika Plateau. We visited another married couple near Rumphi who are close to their Close of Service (COS), so we wanted to see them before they left. The temperature was cooler in the higher altitude, a good escape from the heat of Salima. Crops grow better up there, including wheat.

What I Have Learned from a Year as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi

A few weeks ago we celebrated our one year anniversary of living in Malawi. Here are some of the things I have learned (or been reminded of) in the last year:

1. Electricity is overrated.
2. Water is undervalued and overused.
3. To appreciate all the work towards gender equality of the women before me. Yes, there is still a long way to go, but after living in a place where women are second class citizens, I am inspired and appreciative of their efforts, risks and sacrifices.
4. Even the deepest freeze in Minnesota could not prepare me for the hot season in Africa.
5. Although I have used the phrase, "I'm starving" countless times, I will never know what it really means.
6. I have been privileged to have a lot of good teachers in my life.
7. Always wash your hands.
8. Reading is almost always better than TV (Peace Corps Volunteers, An MTV Generation making up for lost time).
9. Transportation is easy in America, even with rising fuel prices.
10. Fresh and homemade is always better than processed.
11. Chocolate, ice cream, sushi and red wine are all worth missing, but not as much as friends and family.
12. My comforts are usually at somebody else's expense.
13. A lot of things can be eaten as food that we don't consider food in America.
14. Knowledge is power- it is meant to be shared.
15. Nothing beats real mail from home.
16. It is difficult to be the minority, even if it is the privileged minority.
17. HIV/AIDS. Not sure what to say about it, but I thought it should put it on the list. It is still too overwhelming to wrap my brain around.
18. Being able to wear jeans and a sweatshirt should not be taken for granted.
19. Breastfeeding is normal and should not have to be hidden.
20. Always wear sunscreen.
21. It really does make more sense to carry things on your head. It even has its own verb in Chichewa- kusenza.

How to Beat the Heat in Malawi

As we have mentioned in previous blogs, we are in the midst of the hot season. This week it reached 101.3 degrees inside our house. Yes, the .3 degrees makes a difference. We now watch the digital thermometer like it is a TV and take bets on when it will go up or down. We are afraid to put the thermometer in the direct sun to check the outside temp, but a few weeks ago I conducted a “highly scientific experiment”. I put the sensor of the thermometer outside in the sun buried under some leaves. The temperature read 118 degrees. I suspect it is higher now.
Here is how we cope:

1. Wake up at 4:30 or earlier if you want to get anything done that requires moving your body.
2. Drink an insane amount of water. Put lots of sugar and salt on your food. We crave salt all the time.
3. Wear the least amount of clothing acceptable for the culture. (picture of Brian)
4. Frequently dump water on your head. (picture of Kristy)
5. From 10:30AM to 3:00PM do absolutely nothing. (picture of Moto)
6. Complain to each other.
7. Pant a lot if you are a dog. (picture of Baxter)
8. Take a bucket bath right before bed and don’t towel dry.
9. Sleep in your birthday suit and a wet bandana around your neck…not in a provocative way, just for survival.
10. Wake up at least once, if not twice, to bathe again.

Baby Goats

While goats are no longer amusing to us, and are actually quite annoying, I couldn't resist these kids. Too cute. I also thought our animal-loving neice, Annika would love them.

Why not sing while knitting?

Seriously, if this doesn't make you want to send yarn, what does? Aren't they sweet?

Brian's Guitar

Brian got creative with his teaching the other week. He played his guitar for his students. He played Redemption Song by Bob Marley. He wrote all the lyrics on the board but left out some words for the students to figure out (that is why he is emphasizing certain words on the video). Not surprisingly, the kids loved it. They were really excited when they figured out all the words and were begging him to play more. Did I mention I love this guy?


Here they are writing what they thought the missing words were.

Just Some Beautiful Things...

I took these pictures a while back and haven't had a chance to upload them.