Malawi adventure

Malawi is know as the 'warm heart of Africa', and we were all looking forward to lazing about on the beach, sipping cocktails and taking the occasional dip in the warm water to gaze at the tropical fish...

Unfortunately we also managed to pick the week when an unseasonably bad weather front hit the region - just our luck. Rain is unheard of here in August, but as the black clouds gathered we realized the freak weather wasn't just hitting Pakistan and Russia. So instead of basking in the sunshine, we spent most of the week hiding in our tent, curled up in our sleeping bags and bracing ourselves against the wind to walk down the beach.

That's not to say we didn't have a great time though, and I would make the 2 day journey all over again. We set off at 4.30 am from Lusaka, arriving 550km north east in Chipata at 1 pm, the only incident being a bag of kapenta fish falling on Jenny's head. From there we squished into a taxi stuffed with 8 people (I had to sit on a strange man's lap) to the Malawi boarder. From there it was pretty straight forward as we hitched a ride all the way to Lilongwe with some Dutch tourists. By the time we arrived we were greeted with fairy lights and cold beer - lovely. The next day was another early start as we got a bus from Lilongwe to Salima and then a truck to Senga Bay. Our first day in Malawi and the storm began to brew.

Despite this the journey was worth it just to observe the traditional Malawian way of life - Senga Bay is still a small fishing village relatively untouched by tourism. The lake serves as the villagers bath, sink, drinking water, washing machine and provides their staple food, fish. Early in the morning both men and women would be bathing (even though it was pretty cold and I was wrapped up in my hoodie), brushing their teeth, washing the family's clothes and plates, and the men would be pushing the boats out for the day's catch. A simple, but truly relaxed, way of life.


Washing the clothes in the early morning sun




The men pushing the fishing boat out for the day, while the women stay on the shore washing


Goat and boat, both key parts of Malawian life


Traditional fishing boats made from a single piece of hollowed out wood


Lake Malawi fish being dried in the sun


Dinner


Going for the windswept look


Warming up afterward with tea at the local tea shop


Alternatively you can warm up with 'Power's No 1', which is only identified as 'dry spirit'.... Interesting, but at 41% your sure not to notice the cold

So the Malawi adventure wasn't quite what I expected, but it was certainly a memorable experience, I can't wait to go back and see it in the sun sometime soon.

For now its back to Zambia, ready to start a new adventure with Mummy and Kate in tow, bring on the safari, house boat and Vic Falls!

Last moments of Mumbwa

So the Mumbwa adventure is over. The classrooms of Makasa no longer ring with my singing (painful as it is), my hut stands empty, pit latrine unused and my many friends, colleagues and other Mumbwa inhabitants wondering where the muzungu (white person) has gone.

The last week in placement flew by, and my emotions were on some massive rollercoaster, no aided by packing stress and a massive pile of washing that took 4 hours. Seriously, someone needs to bring washing machines to Zambia. I even have washing scars now.


At Mumbwa caves with the Church youth group.

I spent the last weekend in placement visiting all my favourite Mumbwa sights, and trying to do all the typical Zambian things I can't do at home. I visited the 'caves' with the church youth - caves is rather an exaggeration, they are really a few large rocks, but they are pretty cool and give you lots of climbing opportunities. The other girls also seemed to read church youth trip as fashion shoot, so brought along a number of short skirts and slutty dresses to change into behind the bush and pose on rocks. I'm not sure where this all came from, they certainly couldn't wear these clothes out and about in Mumbwa, anything above the knee is seen as prostitute wear.


Laura, Clara and me trying to keep warm at the hot springs

We spent Farmers' Day (another of Zambia's seemingly pointless public holidays, but it gives everyone a chance to get pissed and miss work all week) at the hot springs with a group of friends from the University of Zambia in Lusaka. I don't think I've ever seem so many dead animals in one place - a huge bucket of sausages, 10 chickens and 3 goats. All carried for about 3 kms on people's heads. Unfortunatly, despite the name including the word 'hot', by early evening it was freezing, so most of the time was spent huddled round charcoal. Thank goodness for a cosy sleeping bag to jump into at home.


The Makasa teaching staff on closing day

The saddest part was saying goodbye to all the pupils and teachers I've worked with over the past 7 months. In many ways I wish I was staying for the last term to see how they all get on, even though in many ways it's time to move on. My school has now phased out of the programme, so they will no longer receive volunteers, I just hope that sometimes they remember the things we have done together and decide to continue at least some of the activities we've implemented.

Most of all I will miss the little things that make life in Zambia different and make me love just being here - the many friends I have made, who I can just sit and chat with about anything. My girls who come to me with bizare relationship issues (they think I'm somehow the boyfriend expert - how wrong you can be - haha!), and the boys who ask the strangest sexual health questions, from do you go blind if you masturbate to will you be immune to HIV if you eat chicken that has eaten ARVs (HIV treatment) - why would you feed a chicken you're HIV treatment? I will miss the many families who have adopted me as another daughter, aunt, sister, cousin... and always have a spot on their sofa/brick for me. I will miss the children who run around in the dust in rags and are always happy, I will miss them shouting 'Aunty Aaaasala' from the other end of the road, I will miss them dancing around me and playing football in the street. I'll miss evening chats around the brazier with my neighbours. Most of all I'll miss the warm smiling faces of every Zambian, friend and stranger alike.


Saying goodbye to one of my best Zambian friends, Melina


Some of the cutest, funniest kids on earth


My favourite fritter seller - 8 year old Mwansa. She sits under the tree each and every day making a few kwacha for her family. Her father is dead. Her mother has a new husband and has left her with an aunt who doesn't give her attention. It broke my heart to tell her I couldn't be her mum.


A skill I have failed to master, just one of the everyday scenes I see on my morning runs


My adopted mum at her restaurant, which serves massive helpings of traditional Zambian food


And Dad, who spends most of his time day-dreaming out the window


My supermarket



As a treat for the last day I bakes brownies using the brazier (well really I wanted to try baking in a brazier and packing was too stressful, so brownies helped avert mass hysteria). I have to say the didn't really look like the picture on the packet, but then I don't think they cooked them using charcoal, and I'm not sure they would have come out much better using an oven - my baking skills probably had more to do with the funny look. The charcoal I dropped in while taking a peak added extra crunch anyway.



So finally the day of graduation has been and gone. We all got to dress up and look pretty (OMG a mirror is a shock!), and I got to give a speech to my fellow volunteers, which was a lovely way to say goodbye. At the moment I think the emotions are too mixed to feel sad, happy or excited - there is just a sense of emptiness and a feeling of limbo, between one world and another. Its as if I'm slowly traveling back to reality, and the whole experience has been a vivid dream. Maybe it will be when I'm back in the UK, with my souvenirs and photos spread out that it will hit.


The Mumbwa volunteers proudly holding their certificates

For now the adventure continues - tomorrow I plan to head to Malawi for a few days of swimming, sun bathing (I have some very dodgy tan lines to sort out), partying and chilling out - living the dream for a while longer

Palace-Farm yard, same difference!

This week saw the last of our many events in Mumbwa, and one of the best yet. We held a community workshop for community leaders, including 7 headmen, 1 headwoman, a female witch doctor and other active community members. The workshop was held at the 'palace' of our local headman, but nothing like our western idea of lavish palaces. Just a collection of mud huts, with a large collection of animals, including dog, cats, chickens (I had to contain myself not to run away), goats (who kept trying to eat the flipchart) and cows (who wandered through the meeting without batting an eyelid). I was the only person to find this remotely funny, nobody else seemed to even notice!


Two teachers from Makasa with me and Mercy



A session on HIV myths and facts run by a local HIV activist - many of the misconceptions include that if youn wash yourself with cola or white spirit you won't become infected.




Trying to facilitate in Nyanja - basically nobody spoke English. I have no idea if they actually got what I was saying, but they were very excited that I tried.





Penlop, a grade 7 pupil, proudly wearing her peer leader badge. The school badge rules worldwide.

Nothing more very exciting to report, next week will be filled with farwell picnics and adventures, as well as people demanding I leave my phone, ipod, ALL of my clothes and numerous other belongings. I fear I'll end up travelling to debrief naked, someone has even bagsied my underwear!

July in Mumbwa

I'd been warned by most people that July would be freezing, so I dug my ski socks out of my pack, expecting the worst. In fact, July has been absolutly beautiful, with warm sunny days, blue skies and mild nights. I don't know where all this scare mongering came from.

The past few weeks have seen our programme begin to wind down in preparation for our withdrawal from the school in August. I'm not sure if the school will be having volunteers again next year, so we have to prepare the school, teachers and pupils, to run the programme by themselves. This is pretty ambitious, but I really hope they keep some elements going. One of the ways we're trying to do this is by training a group of students, 50 from grades 5 to 9, to be peer leaders to carry the work of SPW on. As well as information on HIV/AIDS, we also did lots of team building and leadership games with them, which is a novel concept for children who are used to doing anything that is asked of them, without questioning.


Playing 'ground volleyball'


Wheel barrow races - demonstrating working together





I've also now taught my last lesson at Makasa, which is really sad, but we made sure we had lots of fun. I took in crayons to the younger grades to do posters on what they have learnt, seeing their faces light up was magic! Hilariously most of the grade 5s made posters about condoms, and even drew pictures! When I asked how they knew what a condom looked like the answer was 'nikugula ku market' ('we buy them in the market'), haha!


My favourite poster - a condom and the Zambian flag


Me, Mr Mwamba the grade 7 teacher, and Mercy


Grade 8 at Shimbizhi Basic School


Mapalo, umbuya (grandma) and Emmanuel. Umbuya lives at the school, unfortunatly she only speaks vernacular, so our conversations are pretty limited to greetings and me trying out the new words I've picked up that day. Although she looks ancient, she's probably only about 45.


Mapalo (3 years old) and me - we are now best friends, she even came with me to a meeting with the village headmen! Also supporting the hippy chic look with braids - they took 10 hours! It got a lot of respect from everyone here though, who couldn't understand why we don't always braid our hair. Lots of people also though I was a coloured, and it created much confusion. My hair is still recovering from 2 weeks without a wash - ming has reached a whole new level.


This is Mrs Chansa, a teacher, and her new born baby girl and 3 sons. Listening to her traumatic experience of giving birth was a shocking reminder of how undeveloped Mumbwa is. The baby decided to make an appearance late at night, and the family couldn't contact any taxi drivers. They live in a compound the otherside of the boma to the hospital. She had to walk for an hour and a half to the hospital, arriving just in time to deliver. By 4am she was back home, and by 5.30am making breakfast and sweeping the yard. With the family resting entirely on her she has no other choice.

Just last weekend one of the male teachers from school passed away, from what was suspected meningitus. He was just 29 years old. His widow was a volunteer at the school last year (big scandal - another long story), but is only 19. Life expectancy here is 32 years, but many people never reach past their 20s. In true Zambian fashion the screams of the widow and female family members carried on the whole weekend and through the funeral. I think it is my British stiff upper lip showing through, but the panic attacks, wailing, falling over and having to be dragged from home to church to burial of the women was disturbing to say the least. It seems so undignified, and such an unnatural way to grieve, but I guess if there's not that display people will be curious of why you're not following tradition.

On a slightly lighter note, we made a trip with some friends to explore the hot spring of Mumbwa - which is used as a bathing spot for guys. I was impressed though - bath warm water bubbling up in a small stream, and a some nice views of the area too.




Trecking through the mud




Mercy and Soulent


The adventurers - me, Chris, Mercy, Dora, Laura and Soulent


The hot spring of Mumbwa


Unplatted - and supporting a HUGE afro!

SPW Mumbwa Community VCT Day 2010

The past 2 weeks since I last wrote my blog have been crazy hectic organizing for our community event, which was last Friday. The event was a community Voluntary Counseling and Testing day, so encouraging people to get tested for HIV and providing testing on site. The theme of the event was 'know your status to access care and support'. It's a really important issue as only 28% of Zambians know their HIV status, potentially hiding the true extent of the pandemic.


Performing Dance4Life with some pupils - cheerleading Zambian style!


Picnicing on nishima

The morning was taken up with drama from an HIV support group from our community, choir, dancing and poems from pupils from 7 local schools, speeches and talks on VCT by local leaders and testimonies from 2 local people living with HIV.


HIV/AIDS support group perform a drama on the importance of going for VCT and knowing your status.


Two community members giving testimonies on how they live with HIV. Their courage to stand up and speak in front of other community members was inspirational.




Village headmen listening to the debate on VCT. Having their support for our programmes is crucial in getting people involved.


The condom distribution point, run by Yukiko the JICA volunteer, and 2 community members. About 1500 male and female condoms, as well as leaflets showing how to use them, were distributed over the course of the day.


Going for VCT myself. Although I'm smiling its actually quite nerve-racking when they ask you how you would react if it was positive. How would you react? In all 50 people went for testing at the event, which was a great start.


The winning netball team from the Network of Zambians Living with HIV - showing even with HIV you can be winners.


The winning football team with their new ball and condoms.

After all the stress of organizing an event for about 500 people I was ready to curl up in a ball and sleep forever, but my friends in Lusaka had other ideas. As it was a bank holiday we headed to town to enjoy proper food, a bed, a few drinks (some more than others...) and a weekend at a nearby lodge.


Party time in LSK


One of the Zebra family wandering round outside


Grubs that hide in trees - also a Zambian delicacy when fried!


Some friends we met while going for a wander out the back of the lodge. It was great to just walk out and have so much wildlife just chilling.


Ash and me, and in the background, some giraffe.


Laura, another volunteer from Mumbwa, and me at Radio UNZA (University of Lusaka) doing an interview on living in a world with HIV. The programme is a weekly talk show on issues surrounding HIV and is broadcast across Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, so it was a great opportunity to directly talk to a wide audience on the importance of knowing your status and living positively.



So thats it for now. Just another month in placement, and so many things to do before we finally leave, including a peer leader training at school, a community workshop and a teachers' workshop, so its all guns blazing until August. Wish me luck!