If you decide to head off to a developing country such as Malawi, there is one word you are sure to hear! In Malawi it is Azungu, but it changes of course depending on the local language. Azungu means “white person”. I was told I would be referred to as Azungu quite a bit, but I actually didn’t really experience this during my first week. In Lilongwe there’s lots of Azungu’s around so nobody called me Azungu and Thyolo was pretty tame as well (although this is because I stayed in the Buma my first few days which is the capital of the district). But alas, I have had several experiences now being called Azungu, one of which was quite unsettling.

I have been working at the District Water Office (DWO) in Thyolo for a few days now and before I go on I must express how beautiful Thyolo is. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! It is every bit as beautiful as I ever could have imagined Malawi to be. I’m going to try and post some pictures at the bottom of this blog entry if I have time, so fingers crossed! The DWO is unlike anywhere I have ever worked. Everything moves at a very slow pace, not because people are lazy, but because that is the way things work here. On my first day I mostly just introduced myself to people, had a few conversations about the water infrastructure in Thyolo, and worked on increasing the computer skills of some of the staff. On Wednesday I got to go to the field though!

Mr. Banda, the Water Monitoring Assistant (WMA) for Gravity Fed Schemes (GFS), and I went to help out with the repair of a pipe that had been washed away when the river rose earlier this year during the rainy season. Since Thyolo is so hilly it has 4 quite large GFS’s; they consist of an intake gate at the top of the mountain where a spring is located and then the water is transported by underground pipes down several sides of the mountain. There are taps for villages located along the length of the pipes. The civil engineering student in me found it quite interesting of course! Anyways, the scheme is maintained by a repair team who collects money every month from households in every village that is serviced. As the WMA, Mr. Banda went out to monitor the repair of the pipe and I got to accompany him! It was here that I had my first experience as an Azungu.

Along the way we stopped briefly by a school so that Mr. Banda could show me the tap there. As soon as we drove past the school children started chasing us and by the time I had gotten off the motorbike there was literally about 200 children surrounding me, all chanting “Azungu Azungu Azungu” and reaching their hands out to touch me. I felt a bit like the fish in Finding Nemo that the seagulls are all fighting over, “mine mine mine”, “Azungu Azungu Azungu”. It was quite unsettling and made me wonder what a white person represents to them because my presence certainly didn’t benefit them at all. I say they were reaching out to touch me and shake my hand, but looking back they could have just as easily been reaching out for money since many children in the village where I’m staying often run up to me with big smiles and say “Give me my money”. (I don’t think that’s what these school children were doing though). I can’t decide which I prefer, the children who harass me or the children who are afraid of my white skin and run away.

On Friday, I moved in with a family from the office. I’m not really sure how permanent the arrangement is going to be, but I’ll keep you posted. I like living with a family much better than staying in a guest house. Everyone is really sweet, I’m just trying to figure out where I fit in the family dynamic. Right now I am still very much a guest, I try to help out where I can, but I’m also trying to figure out how things work within the family. One of my goals now is to help make nsima some night this week. To refresh some of you, nsima is the staple food here, it is a porridge consistency and you eat it with different relishes. The most unusual relish I’ve had thus far is fish. The reason this was unusual for me was because I was served the entire fish; face, fins, and scales! It took me awhile to figure out how to eat it. Unfortunately my body still seems to be having some problems adjusting to all the new foods and new routine. I usually go to sleep around 9 and wake up around 6.

In other news, it has rained the last two mornings I’ve been here! I thought this was supposed to be the dry season; apparently normal weather laws don’t apply in Thyolo. I was also quite excited to discover that there is a Salvation Army church here. I went this morning; it was quite a different experience to what I’m used to, and it was all conducted in Chichewa so I understood very little. But they sing some of the same songs that I sing at home, I’d never have known though if they weren’t listed in English in the songbook though because the language and tune make songs completely unrecognizable. Christianity is the dominant religion in Malawi; being asked what denomination you are is a pretty common question.

Anyways, call me up or email me this week. I’m a bit slow answering emails, but I’m usually free after 5:30 if you want to call. The time difference between Malawi and Newfoundland is 4.5 hours. So instead of chilling in the UC at 1:00 doing nothing, give me a call! I was going to post some pictures here, but unfortunately it’s WAY too slow and I’m on my lunch break. Better luck next time. Miss you all!

Much love,
Maria

Well, my shoes are caked in red dirt, I’ve gone through most of the clothes I’ve brought, and I’ve got sunscreen everywhere! That’s right, I am finally writing to you from Malawi! I’ve been in the capital, Lilongwe, for about 3 days now and so far I really like it; Malawi is pretty chill place.

Getting here was a bit of a nightmare involving 5 days of travelling, a 16 hour flight, a night in Ethiopia, and me almost getting on the wrong plane to Nigeria, but I made it nonetheless. I’ve been spending the last few days with APS (African Program Staff) Mike and Owen getting caught up on the workplan for the water and sanitation (watsan from now on) team in Malawi and the Water Monitoring System which I am hopefully going to be kicking off in Thyolo. Speaking of which, I am heading down to Blantyre tomorrow and then on Tuesday morning to Thyolo to start work. I will be staying in the Boma, which is the capital of the district. I’ve got the impression that it’s not a big place, but a beautiful one. I’m going to be staying in a guest house for the first few week, but hopefully will be moving in with a family soon after.

To check in with you guys, I must say that physically, mentally, and emotionally I am pretty content. I still have lots of reading to do so that I can hopefully kick ass on water point monitoring (WPM) and I’m a little bit nervous about starting work, but mostly excited.

Just a couple short stories and observations for you:

– Malawians are really nice! There’s a reason Malawi is the warm heart of Africa.
– Malawi is really short on fuel right now, I realized this 10 minutes after arriving when my taxi broke down on the side of the road.
– Toilet paper comes in different colours, so far I have seen blue and pink!
– Cell phone units are really expensive! I’d love to hear from you (+256 991 764 034)
– The local currency is Kwacha, it’s really inflated. 135K = $1 CAD. It’s quite weird to pay 250K for breakfast and realize you’ve only spent $2.
– I played ultimate Frisbee today with Owen and a bunch of locals, it was awesome! I was exhausted 10 minutes into the first game, but I played all 4 anyways. It was wicked fun and I got a little bit better towards the end (not much though). – Thyolo is basically the banana capital of Malawi, if you know me, then you know I love bananas. I should have brought my banana case with me, haha. Also, mango season is coming up!!! I had one yesterday, it wasn’t quite ripe yet though so I didn’t get the full mango goodness.
– I experienced my first Malawi power outage my first night here. The power just goes off every now and then.
– Summer is just beginning here, so it is going to get HOT. The temperature now is perfect for me, but it’s going to get much hotter. Luckily Thyolo is a little cooler because it’s in the hills.
– I had a grand old chat with this nice Malawian man when I was having supper tonight and found out that his brother was a priest in St. John’s for 11 years! First Malawian I met who has heard of Newfoundland. He quite enjoyed my stories about snow and called his brother up while I was talking to him so he could tell him he’d met a Newfie. Quite funny!

Anyways, I’m excited for Blantyre tomorrow and even more excited for Thyolo. I’ll keep you posted on my first minibus experience (actually I kind of had one in Ethiopia, lots of people crammed into one tiny bus, suitcases thrown on the roof and everything) and I’ll give you more info on my work placement once I get started.

Tsalani bwino,
Maria

Thyolo District

After 10 months of preparation and excitement I am finally on my way to Malawi! I left St. John’s yesterday morning at 6 :10 and I am currently in the EWB house in Toronto. I am spending 2 nights in Toronto and then tomorrow I leave for Malawi. I am flying through Washington, on to Ethiopia, and then to Lilongwe. I know it’s been a while since I have posted, so I want to check in with you all. Physically I’m a little tired but healthy; mentally I am excited to get to Malawi and start learning; emotionally I was pretty sad yesterday to leave my family and friends behind and I was a little bit nervous about the unknown, but I am finally on my way, so I’m excited!

I finally have some information for you on what I am going to be doing in Malawi for the next few months! I will be working in the Thyolo district which is in the south of Malawi. The capital of the district is also called Thyolo and there is approximately 500 000 people living within the district. I will most likely be staying in a village shortly outside Thyolo. As a bonus, Thyolo has internet cafes, a good hospital, and it is about an hour from Blantyre.

So what am I going to be doing? I will be working with the District Water Office (DWO), which is a part of the Malawian government, on a water monitoring system for the district. Basically the two main issues Malawi is facing with its water infrastructure is that many water points (boreholes, pumps, etc) are not equally distributed throughout the district and that many water points are no longer functional. Mapping the location of water points and their functionality provides the District Water Office with important information for drilling new wells and fixing non-functional ones. The software that has been used in other districts for water point monitoring is  quite interesting as well, you can read a bit about it on APS Owen’s blog.

Anyways, that’s about it for now, I’ll try and post when I  arrive in Malawi. I leave you with some interesting facts about Thyolo. It has quite alot of tea plantations and it’s a pretty hilly region which makes in a little bit cooler than other regions. I like this fact because the hot and dry season is now commencing in Malawi, so it is going to be quite warm when I get there. The rainy season begins in mid-november, so I’ll get to experience a bit of that as well.

Love Maria