Opinions expressed in this blog do not represent those of the Peace Corps or the United States Government

Hello to everyone out there and a happy new day to you. It is late August here and the good times roll on. It has been almost 3 months since the return from my trip in Mozambique. Things have been well and good here for me. This is the slow season for us volunteers and Malawians who work with the department of forestry. Soon the trees will start dropping seeds again and our work will pick up but I have been trying to keep myself busy. I have had some fun times and as with everyday of life new adventures pop up and provide me with some new stories.

First off, soon after I arrived back from my trip I had some kids run up to me and start yelling about my bathroom aka my hole in the ground with a roof. Not understanding exactly what they were saying I followed them to my house and bathroom where I proceeded to hear and soon see that a baby goat had fallen in the hole and was chest high in human feces. I went and found my neighbor who was a bit drunk and we proceeded to make a nose from rope. After a few minutes we managed to get the noose around the young goat’s neck and pulled it up. For those of you not familiar with goats the sounds they make on a normal basis which are all day and loud are unique to say the least. When we were pulling this goat put and choking it at the same time you could not imagine the sounds that emanated from this beast. It safely made it out though with no injuries but we had to bath the dam thing and after a few minutes the event was over. However my neighbor and I had to strip ad bath due to the fact that the bathing process resulted in us becoming soiled and the smell was far from pleasant. Another day in Africa I guess I can say. At night while lying in bed I just started to laugh reviewing the event in my head.

It has also been fun dealing with one of neighbor’s chickens. I have a storage room lacking a door separate from my house which a particular chicken decided to lay eggs. No big deal I use the room little but I could barely go in for a month as the mother chicken patiently awaited her hatchlings. After hatching she and the babies decided to make it their permanent home. The room however is almost a foot off the ground so each day after the daily pursuit of food all chickens go through here the babies could not yet fly enough to make it up into the room (they could however jump down). The mother would go in and the babies would freak out unable to reach their mother. So for about two weeks I had a daily ritual of getting the chickens up into the room. However the 5 chicks always ran from me when I tried to pick them up while at the same time the mother would run out, puff her body, and become aggressive towards me in defense of her babies. I was successful from day to day but I often dropped them, ran around like an idiot trying to catch them, and generally looked like a fool. Those passing and my neighbors refused to help because watching me proved too humorous for them to pass up and in their place I would have done the same thing. All is well now however, the chicks have grown and now can make it up on their own.

A few of you I know saw the political and moral debate that made national news here. Two homosexual men publically proclaimed their love for one and another and desire to marry. Homosexuality being illegal here prompted the authorities to arrest them and they were eventually convicted and sentenced to jail time. This prompted international attention from major countries that provide aid here as well as some international humanitarian groups. A few countries and aid organizations threatened to cut funding which eventually resulted in the men being released from prison. It was interesting to talk to local villagers about the situation. Most thought they deserved to be in prison. They believe homosexuality is immoral more or less due what is being taught by the churches here. I did however run into a small number of people who thought that the men or anyone should be free do as they please as long as they are not harming anyone. Two men in particular supported the men I have thought from the first time I had meet them that if they were in a free country like the U.S. that they themselves would probably be living a different lifestyle that they are here. Homosexuality is still illegal here and supposedly authorities were putting in significant efforts trying to crack down on some establishments that accommodate to such peoples. This brings up a lot of philosophical arguments about countries receiving aid and the role of those providing it. For very poor countries like Malawi as well as other can almost be forced into policy being dictated to them by large donors due to fear of losing funds. I am for the right for everyone to find their own personal happiness as long as other are not being harmed. However it is kind of a tricky scenario to dictate policy to other countries and not allow them to develop socially at their own pace. I can say volunteers talk about these things a lot here along with many other topics. Often over adult spirits in heated debates which over the course of the night we solve the world’s problems. Well at least we think we have for a small period of time.

I move on to other topics and specifically our annual 4th of July at the Ambassador’s house. This year was just as enjoyable as years. Good food and drinks as well one of the few chances to see most of the volunteers at one time as well as meet tons of people working with NGO’s along with other organizations. It was also interesting because it was Ambassador Bodde’s last event to host U.S. citizens here in Malawi. As I said in a previous post Ambassador Bodde is the equivalent of a five star general in Foreign Service and he thought this would be his last post. There were very few promotions available for him so he thought after Malawi he would retire. However, Ambassador Bodde received a promotion and his been appointed the U.S. Ambassador in Iraq which is an enormous task and an honor. He will basically be responsible for the development of the country and as we all know after a prolonged war will be an enormous task. I wish him all the best. He was a very genuine and super supportive to the Peace Corps and idea the organization represents. We are now awaiting a new appointee but that may not happen until after I leave.

Continuing on the political front Peace Corps Malawi was invited to the State House by the president is Honorable Dr. Bing wa Mutharika. It is a rare that Peace Corps volunteers get the chance to meet their host countries president so this was a big deal for us here locally as well as Peace Corps in general. So in late July almost every P.C. volunteer in country assembled in Lilongwe and we headed for a luncheon with the president. It was an amazing day. We were all dressed to the nines in suits, dresses, etc. bought at local clothes markets (it is all secondhand clothes from the States oddly enough). We had an afternoon of good food, plenty of drinks, speeches, dances, and good times a plenty. It was on the radio live as well as T.V. here in Malawi. The president gave a speech honoring us and all our work and I have to say it was quite a unique feeling to be the honored guest of a president of a country. We had one volunteer Sarah who speaks the native tongue Chichewa really well and she gave a speech. The amazing part was that the speech she gave I got to write and my site make Jake (who is about 12k from me) helped with the grammar mistakes I often make. The Peace Corps Country Director liked it and it was passed to the Ambassador who made just a few small changes. It was incredible to have a speech I wrote read to the president. After the president gave his speech he demanded that we all get on the floor and dance (he had hired a live band). Before we knew it we were all dancing and I get to even dance with president and his wife for a few minutes. My country director also asked me to come to the table where he was eating with the president and personally introduced me to him and I got to chat for with him for a few minutes. Life always amazes me with providing unforeseen events and that day I will remember for a long time to say the least. When I got back to my village some people had heard the event on the radio and a few people who had T.V. had seen me at the event dancing with the president and so on. Everyone in my village was very excited about me being there and I had to retell the stories of that day’s events many a time since.

Back to life at the village here in Misomali and some local happenings worth mentioning. My deaf friend is pregnant but where not sure by whom. Whoever it was is not taking responsibility. She is very excited, she really wants a child and I am happy for her. She comes from an extremely poor family so every time she comes to my house I am shoving fruit down her throat for nutrition. She is in the first trimester and still helps me around my and at this point I am overpaying here quite a bit so she can use the money for food. The lone Muslim in my village who was my friend a few months back died from complications caused by being HIV positive. It is sad but death here is almost a normal part of life. The village mourns for a day and the next day everyone is back to business as usual. He was survived by 2 children and a wife. His wife is positive and since his death his 2 year old child died about a month and half later from HIV complications. It was sad but the only positive is that his first born his negative and with any hope will live a long happy life. So as of now his wife and 1 child remain. She however was just found along with another woman to be teaching witchcraft to a small group of children. The news traveled fast and was talked about for days. The punishment giving to them by the chief was the cost of transporting themselves and the kids to an herbalist who lives in my district who with his knowledge of plants and so on would make up a concoction to dewitch them for a lack of a better term. I was at a loss of words after hearing the entirety of the story as well as the punishment. Every culture is different I guess, who the hell knows. The game park next to me Majete Game Reserve also lost one of its park rangers. He was out with some tourist tracking elephants on foot and was charged by a large male bull and subsequently killed. Elephants are beautiful and amazing but to the people of Africa they are terrified and justifiably so. Elephants are extremely aggressive towards people and often break out of park fences to raid fields for food.

As for me work wise I have started a garden of moringa trees which I am growing as a food supplement. Once it reaches about 50 centimeters I will cut the trees by their base, remove the leaves, dry them, and then finally crush them into a powder. The trees once cut down near their base will shoot again and I will repeat the process 3 to 4 times a year. The powder should be taken 3 times a day in small spoonfuls and probably one of the healthiest foods I have ever come across. Researchers from the U.K. and U.S. have studied the nutritional properties and they are off the chart. Before I leave I hope to convince enough people to use it (I take it 3 times a day religiously) and I am convinced along with a lot of other people it can be a huge combatant against malnutrition. We shall see. I have been making cooking oil and from ground nuts and selling it raise money for my bore hole. I have a small machine that is hand operated which I will soon give away to one lucky motivated villager (yet to be identified) so they can make a small business of it. As for my bore hole we have had some major ups and downs. It works than breaks and the cycle repeats itself. It has been a challenge but I am working on getting money for proper training for the maintenance of it as well as money to buy some desperately needed parts. Many days recently I have been getting water from a dry river that that a hole was dug deep enough in to get water to surface in a pool which we can scoop with cups into buckets. I have also started to teach jam making. Right now the most available fruit/vegetable is tomatoes so we are making tomato jam. It is not that bad and Malawians seem to like it so it works. Mangos will be available soon so I look forward to making some mango jam. I also helped rebuild my fence at my house (dam termites are a nuisance) as well my football team has started practicing and playing once again.

In general this is the dry season and the end of our cool season. I am happy the heat is coming. With temperatures in the 60’s to low 70’s taking a bath with water near the same temperature is very cold. I try and heat with the sun but I refuse to make a fire and heat because it is waste of trees. Right now is building season also because of no rain. People everywhere are making mud bricks and some burn the brick in a type of kiln which require an abundance of trees to heat the bricks properly. As for me I am heading to the furthest district of Malawi in the northeast called Karonga. My friend Monica is hosting a camp called women to women. It is based on educating and empowering women in a variety of subjects. The reason I am going is because my friend Monica asked me to be the positive male role model for the week. It should be a blast. I think it will be around 40 girls from form 2 through form 4 (10th-12th in the U.S.) along with around a half a dozen women Peace Corps volunteers. I am excited and look forward to updating my blog with more about it in the future.

So to wrap it up life is good and I am still super excited about my work hear and the things I want to get done in my last 8 months. Life in the village is amazing and knowing my time is running short here I am trying to enjoy every minute of my adventures here in Africa. To my friends and family I miss and love you much. Take care and good times to you always.

Opinions expressed in this blog do not represent those of the Peace Corps or the United States Government