Peace Corps or the United States Government

Greetings
Well it has been quite some time since I last updated this blog and for those of you who enjoy reading this I send my sincerest apologies. Life has been flying by here and good times have been aplenty. I just recently finished spending 2 weeks in our training hub in Dedza. Myself along with 3 other volunteers helped prepare training for the 21 new environment volunteers that arrived from the states and we also got to spend the first week with them. We answered hundreds of questions and just sat back and enjoyed seeing their excitement and amazement as they took in the new world around them. The energy new volunteers bring in is intoxicating to be around. To think I was just in that position not that long ago and on February 22nd I celebrated my one year anniversary in country and have a little less than 13 months left. The only sad part is with a new group coming in it means soon the old environment group will be leaving. I have some good friends in that group that I will miss but with the new group I will find new people to share in this adventure here in Africa. So many amazing people I have meet here that come and go and all you can do is enjoy your moments in time with them and take those memories with you.

So since my last update was October and it is now almost April I will try to sum my life up these last 5 months as best I can. I will get to my work last and start off with good old fashion American holidays. For Thanksgiving almost all the volunteers gathered in the capital Lilongwe to celebrate the holiday at the ambassador’s house along with a few other ex-pats. The ambassador roasts a few pigs for us and the volunteers are in charge of bringing all the sides, other main courses, and desserts. I serve on a committee here which is in charge of organizing the buying of all foods and cooking of them and myself along with my friend Scott volunteered to take on all the preparation. I can tell you buying and preparing food for a 100 plus people was quite a task. He and I round around for 3 days buying all the ingredients for an abundant of recipes. Along with that we had 3 houses we went with groups of around 10 people at each house who were in charge of cooking the food. I was in charge of the group cooking at the ambassadors house which I can say is beautiful and the kitchen was amazing. The ambassador here is a gentleman named Peter Bodde and he has also been the ambassador in Germany and Pakistan. This is his 3rd and most likely last assignment and he says it is by far his favorite. He is a real down to earth guy who thoroughly believes in the Peace Corps and really helps support us a lot. We ran out of eggs during our cooking and he offered to drive me to get more and we just chatted away about his life and service. His years in Foreign Service and his rank as an ambassador make him equivalent to a four star general and here he is driving me for eggs talking about threats against his life in Germany and Pakistan along with his other life experiences. I was just laughing to myself taking it all in but I really enjoyed our conversation. As for the Thanksgiving event my buddy and I Scott pulled it off with some help from our friends and we did a dam good job. We got toasted at the dinner by a friend as well as a standing ovation from all. It was great but I hope do not have to prepare a dinner like that any time soon again.

As for Christmas about 12 volunteers met up my good friend Mel’s site which is on the lake that lucky gal. We had a fun Christmas Eve just catching up with each other and drinking some beers. As for Christmas day that was a blast. Mel prepared stockings for all in attendance which was super cool and the day just flowed from there. We started drinking beers early and of course swam in the lake. We then cooked a giant feast which chicken was the main course. We had to get the 2 chicken from her neighbor which meant catching them which was an adventure. I had already had a few beers and proceeded with her neighbor’s kids to run around for almost 10 minutes to catch the first one. It was great just running around in my bare foot with the kids laughing like crazy and we tried to catch that dam bird. It was a great African moment for me and I felt free and alive. After we got the first one my buddy John worked on the getting the second one. I carried the first one back with me and John soon joined me with the second one. He and I each killed our respective chicken which entailed my sawing the neck off with a knife I wish was a bit sharper. I was curious to how it would be but it went OK. It was a little weird to be holding his head with eyes blinking while the rest of the chicken was on the ground flapping its wings for maybe 30 seconds. I removed all the feathers and watched a friend gut it for cooking (I had no idea how to do so it was suggested I watch and give it a try at a later date) but I can say I was proud for once to actually kill my food once instead of just waiting for the end product or buy it packaged looking pretty. The feast was great and the day was very festive and although we all missed family it was a blast and a Christmas I will never forget.

Post Christmas 8 of us continued our adventure by taking a little holiday to a place called Ruarwe along the Lake Shore. We left the following morning in the rain and after taking a few buses which took the almost the entire day (transport there is always an interesting adventure in its own) we arrived a small village near the lake in the northern part of the country on a district called Mzuzu. We had no place to stay and it was still raining so we went to a police station and with his help the local minister let us stay at his church. The following morning we set off on a 50 kilometer hike along the lake shore. The hike took 3 days with a lot of pit stops for pictures and swims in the lake. It was beautiful coastal line that had small mountains and reminded me a little of the California. We would just mosey all day and sleep on the beaches at night and cook out. The villages along this area are some of the most remote in country with accessibility only by boat. I can say the Malawians in this are seemed very healthy and obviously even through agriculture is limited in the area they get to enjoy fresh fish everyday which has its benefits. On the 3rd day we were close and the group was moving at different paces my friend Mel and I decided to take a boat the last 15k instead of camping out another night. It was amazing we were on a traditional canoe made out of trees which was extremely heavy and 3 people were paddling. The sun was going down and all along the coastline while lightning bugs were everywhere giving us a show and it was amazing. We made it to the lodge and enjoyed a fine meal and some beers. I stayed for 3 days some stayed for 4 but it was just amazing there. Beautiful beyond words and the lodge owned all the in the cove so it was secluded and so relaxing. There was probably about 20 other ex-pats there from all over Europe and they were all great people. Over the course of the next few days everyone just swam, played on rock slides, jumped off decks and giant rocks in the water which were probably 30 and 40 feet respectively. On New Year’s Eve everyone at the lodge had a giant dinner together and followed by festivities of drinking, dancing, amongst other things. At midnight the bar was cleared and people where doing traditional dances from their European countries on top of it. A few of us stayed up extremely late shed our clothes and went swimming by the moon light (it was a full moon). This also included climbing up that 40 foot rock and having no sense to think twice about any of it as we descended into the water. A new year’s to remember and one of the great trips I have taken in my young life, truly amazing times. The only bummer was at the lodge my IPOD got stolen by a Malawian boy and was never recovered and on the way back down south to my village my camera was stolen and I had such amazing pictures starting from Thanksgiving which I will never get to share with you all. I am trying to recover some of them from friends but I by far took the most pictures of anyone. But what can you do life is too short to worry about little things like but for only a few minutes.

In terms of my everyday life at my village I have been plugging along the past 5 months. This is the farming season so it is a bit harder to get people to spare time for certain projects so the key is to remain patient. Our rain season here in my district as well as the last district in the country south of me has had little rains and too much sun. The farmers have been a bit sad and their yields this year will be smaller than anticipated. This could mean problems this time next year but we shall see. The last 2 to 3 months is considered the hunger season. Most people have finished most of the food from the previous harvest and are awaiting the new crops which will be harvested soon. Money is scarce and food as well so people manage to get by on what little they have which is little to begin with. However their resolve is great and attitudes and demeanor still remain high and people are still smiling everywhere. That is something about Malawians I love is their positive attitude through most things.

I continue to work with my group of women making peanut butter and we have gone through multiple business cycles which is a positive sign. They will never make millions but the money helps and I hope to expand their business to oil making soon. I have started making cooking oil at my home with a boy Joseph who helps me do some work and light chores. I am mastering the machine so I will be able to teach it soon to my ladies. I have been sharing the oil with my neighbor whom I eat lunch and dinner with her and the family. She seems to like it and says it will be marketable in the village so I am hoping for good things soon. I have also taught a second group of women to make peanut butter and a third group has requested the same from me which I will be happy to oblige.

I finally planted my trees with my village sort of. Before I get to the planting part I should say I started by making a fence from thorns. It needed to be 100 meters by 100 meters so it took some time to build. About half I built myself which required going into the bush and cutting limps from thorn trees and dragging them back to the village and stacking them to reach around 3 feet. The second half I had a few friends help me and can say by the time I was done I had scratches all over my legs and arms from the thorns but it was worth it. Getting back to plating the trees I asked for the chief’s help which he assured me would be no problem. The holes which to plant the trees require one to dig 60 centimeters in diameter and likewise in depth. The chief however failed so my neighbor and went out day after day digging a few holes here and there. With little rain the ground was tough and it was hard work lots of blisters etc. After a few days my neighbor went back to his routine of drinking all day and I went at it alone. People started to finally notice me working alone to plant trees for the community and they helped me finish. Since that time I have been manually watering all the trees once a week which means quite of bit of pumping water and transporting it but I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process and these trees are like my babies now. Goats and cows are always trying to find a way in since they like to eat the leaves so I am constantly chasing away them away but unfortunately a few trees have been eaten and needed to be replaced. The grazing of animals in most parts of Africa only adds to the problem of deforestation which is already a huge issue. The either kill or stunt the growth of so many seedlings and it would be avoidable if people would monitor where their livestock go but they just let them loose in the morning and they are everywhere all day. Another notes on trees I got a neighboring chief interested in a certain tree which actually helps raise yields in fields. The term used is agro forestry for trees beneficial fir crops for those who do not know. The tree has nitrogen rich roots and leaves so soon enough I plan on going out with some farmers in their fields after they harvest and plant some trees with them and teach them the benefits among other techniques with the tree that will help.

I continue to give out condoms and just recently hit the 1000 mark which I was somewhat excited about. They have females condoms available here in Africa so I am working on getting a female volunteer to come up and give a training on the soon. My neighbor Lucy has also agreed to distribute them from her house which I am excited about. I would do it myself but women are way too shy in this culture to come see me about such things.

Lastly work wise I fixed the bore hole in my village which had not worked in over five years. It required 2 or 3 trips to Blantyre and me spending a decent amount of my food money to get it going but it was a success. The village was excited and I was stoked to say the least. It will really help our area quite a bit and save a lot of time for the women. We were all going to surrounding villages and the wait was a bit much at times. Now I may wait five minutes at the most which is so very nice you cannot imagine. The agreement I made with the village is that I fix it with my money and soon when people start getting money again from harvesting we are going to institute a tax for those who use it and keep the money towards parts when old ones go bad. Hopefully with this system it can stay operable for years to come even after I am gone.

That pretty much sums up my life. A few quick notes I saw my first snake in my yard but as soon as I got near it slithered away so I have no idea what kind it was. Also my good friend had a baby and asked me to name it. I wanted to name him after my father but they could not pronounce the name Oscar for some reason. It just does not roll off their tongues so we settled on Christopher which is my brother’s name and a fine one at that. I did learn with however that here I in Malawi men do not even escort their wives to the hospital they have a friend take them and once born they are notified and they proceed to go and visit mother and child. Also for the first few days after the women comes home which is usual the next day or same day she is not allowed to bathe in the families bafa(which is where you bathe obviously). My friends wife want to an abandon house and used that bafa until an appropriate time passed and went back to bathing at her home. I asked what the reason was but no one really could give me an answer. Finally they usually do not bring the baby outside once it arrives home for the first week once again no one could explain why but in this case they did break custom and bring young Christopher out so I could see him. Finally my cat died. I am not sure why but he came home and he looked like he lost a cat fight one day but after that he stopped eating. He drank water and managed to hold on for 4 or 5 days before he finally died. I wanted to euthanize him but they really there is no vets here so I thought of drowning him (which other volunteers have done with pets who are suffering because of no other options) but I could not bring myself to do it. I miss the my cat but I now the year I had him he got feed and pet better than he had his entire life so that is about all I can say about that,

I know I wrote a lot and I appreciate everyone who took the time to read this. I will not let this happen again so future entries will be shorter I promise. In May FYI I am taking a 2 week trip with some friends to Mozambique which I am excited for and April 22nd will mark my one year of services for Peace Corps. I hope all is well state sides with everyone and I want to give me Pops a big Happy 64th birthday greeting from Africa. The 26th of March is his big day. I miss you Pops and love you much.
Take care all

Pat

I managed to scrounge up a few pictures and Mom there are a few of me because I know you have requested multiple times that you want to see what I look at
1. The rock slide we played on in Ruware
2. The 4 volunteers who trained the new volunteers for the first week
3. Here you go Mom me in all my glory

The opinions expressed in the blog are solely mine and not representational of the Peace Corps or the United States Government