Kwathu ndi ku Malawi

I've lived in Malawi for 19 months now. And today I was just reflecting on how once difficult tasks are now so easy. I was discussing with a fellow PCV about making brownies and it dawned on me how normal it felt to not even consider an oven. So here's a Q&A blog featuring 10 questions on how things get done kuno ku Malawi (here in Malawi).  1. Where do you get water? - A few yards from my house is a borehole. This is basically a long pipe reaching down into the ground that you must manually pump up and down to get water. I collect it in buckets and take it home. Most days my neighbor kids are more than happy to help do this for me. Occasionally the borehole can break down in which I would have to go about 1km to find water. Did I mention I share this 1 water source with hundreds of people in my village? The bucket lines can be long.   I have a water filter provided by Peace Corps that makes the water safe to drink once I pour it through.  2. How do y...

It has begun. Today was officially, in my book, the first genuine day of hot Malawian summer. And it is hot! But that doesn't stop us. It's really true that your second year of Peace Corps is just the best. So, as I sit sweating in my hot Malawi house, let me introduce you to Mr. Chilembwe Juma.   Juma is one of my counterparts who leads projects with me. He has been with me from the start and is a village pillar. He has gone to two Peace Corps trainings with me: Action for Natural Medicine and Behavior Change Communication/Go Girls! He is a husband, father, member of the Health Center Committee (HCC), farmer, trilingual, and knows more people than I can count. He helped me conduct a nutrition training for 10 members of a HIV Support Group, translated two 10 page nutrition guides into the local language, built a gazebo for me in my backyard, helps me teach people living with HIV/AIDS about nutrition and food groups on Fridays and lastly, he is a strong partne...

Today was a great day. One of those days in the village that makes you never want to leave. For about the past 2-3 months I have been traveling a lot and this past weekend was one of the first times in a long time I just spent in the village doing different tasks and chores.  One of those tasks was to prepare for a program I was facilitating today. Where I live in Malawi it is very flat, dusty, and hot. About 7km from my house is the huge Shire River stemming from Lake Malawi. Just the kind of place where you would expect to see elephants, crocodiles, impala, warthogs, hippos, etc. It is known as Liwonde National Park. At the end of the long, dusty street I live on you find a wilderness safari camp where people from all over the world come to stay and see animals. But since I live and volunteer here I regurarly get to visit the park for free. So any average Monday can easily turn terrific! Today I biked the 7km from my house into Liwonde Nation...