Thursday, December 27, 2007

Happy New Year!

I know I haven't been uploading pictures of my place, so I thought I'd start with the basics: my bathrooms. haha I'll update with pictures of my house next time.



My "bafa" room
I just put a bucket of water on one side and another bucket of toiletries on the other side, and I just pour water on myself. :P



This is my toilet. I thought it best to cover the hole. You'd see the cockroaches... and the crap my night guard left on the side.




The boys from the youth group killing a chicken and cooking for the ladies.

Gender equality. :)


A Christmas feast at my house with the youth committee.


My neighbors - these are the cutest kids ever! :) (The little girl on the left is a brat though. She spies on me through my fence!) The baby's my favorite! haha
I'll be heading out to the lake for New Year's Eve. Peace out.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Why should it be MERRY Christmas?

Shouldn't it be JOSEPH Christmas? Ha ha ha
CHOSANGALALA CHOKUBADWA CHA YESU KRISTU!

Whew! That was a mouthful! I think I better to stick with saying “Merry Christmas!”

I’m sending my wishes early because I’ll be in the village for Christmas. I’m curious what it’ll be like. I heard that people are either at church all day or they drink beer all day.

I’ll be reflecting all day on this past year. The most interesting things (sorry, my life’s not that interesting here) that have happened since I’ve been in Malawi include:
-hitchhiking and riding in the back of a pickup truck for 4 hours
-an 18-second earthquake (2 missionaries from Chicago who were here were about to pack up and leave while I just went back to sleep thinking that I was hallucinating)
-a scorpion biting my in-charge, which was inevitably slaughtered by my night guard
-attending a Muslim wedding where I was kinda made a guest of honor, so I had to sit next to the best man who gave me a 10-minute lecture about giving more money during the “reception” aka fund-raising party
-a Member of Parliament who’s also the Minister of Finance came to my market for a political rally… I stayed, oh, maybe 10 minutes.
-World AIDS Day…

The youths and I walking to the Opening Ceremony

The youths who organized a drama, traditional dance, and choir

Anyway, last time I mentioned about World AIDS Day. On December 1, I walked for over an hour to a primary school where the opening ceremony was to take place. It was awesome. There were at least 500 people there. I didn’t realize what a huge deal it was, because the Senior Chief (one of several hand-picked by the president; I’ve been to his house but wasn’t able to meet him yet), other chiefs, and all the important district officers were present, as well as one of the Malawian reggae bands (the lead singer is a Member of Parliament but of course he wasn’t actually there). I had the privilege of watching my youths’ drama group perform about leadership. The story was about parents forcing their daughter to go into town to prostitute herself to bring an income into their family, but a pastor, business managers, and some others were teaching them that they cannot force her into prostitution and that as the heads of the family, they have to desire what’s best for her. Or something like that. There were a bunch of other dramas, choirs, musicians, and traditional dances too. There were a bunch of speeches too, including some HIV-positive survivors speaking about their experiences (unfortunately, I don’t understand Chichewa well enough to know what they shared). Overall, I’m really proud of my youth group, because they had put a lot of effort into their drama (the choir and traditional dance groups didn’t make it into the program).

The more I thought about leadership in regards to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, I realized that I had to be an example of good leadership and not just preach to the youth committee about leadership. So, I told them, “Ask me any questions you have about sex, HIV/AIDS, relationships, rape, family planning, etc.” I was amazed at how well it went and how much I actually knew. The questions they asked were like, “If I’m in a relationship, can I still be a good leader?”, “If someone got pregnant and married young, can she tell other girls to not get pregnant and marry young?”, “I heard that when a man and woman has sex, the woman is more likely to get HIV. Is that true?”, “If a man rapes a woman and he’s HIV-positive, can the woman get HIV too?”

Man. Those were some tough questions. But the discussions we had were really good. And I was able to teach them what I knew. Like how they can prevent HIV by getting a drug called PEP within 72 hours after sex.

The most recent question I received that really baffled me was “After a woman aborts and has sex with a man, why is it that the man dies?” (Did you notice how they didn’t ask if the man would die but why?) There’s obviously misinformation in there somewhere.

But on a more personal note, I wasn’t sure I should share this but I thought maybe I should. In light of Christmas, I hope that instead of stressing out about Christmas shopping or depressing yourself over other personal issues, maybe you can find a deeper appreciation for what you have and actually appreciate your friends and family more.

So. For awhile I recruited a student to help me with a few chores so I can pay for her education. She’s an orphan and the vice head girl (kinda like vice female president) and is extremely hard-working according to her aunt and teachers. She’s also incredibly shy. But I keep finding out new things about her that surprise me. Like how she was pregnant and had a child when she was 16 or 17. (She’s 18 now.) Most girls don’t go back to school after their first child, but her aunt really wanted to encourage her to go back to school since her twin sister also had a child and her younger sister dropped out of school. So, her aunt and her grandmother took care of her child while she went back to school. And then at the end of the term, she told me that she was sick and dropped off the face of earth without telling me another word. A month later, I found out that she’s pregnant again. Her aunt was obviously really disappointed, because she knew that I was giving her a really good opportunity.

I was discouraged, because well, her chances of going back to school after having her second child is really slim now. And she really had a lot of potential. But I’m also discouraged at how many girls drop out of school because of teen pregnancy and how difficult it is for them to pursue higher education. Usually about 1/10 girls would actually complete her secondary education. The other 9 either get pregnant early or marry early or don’t care enough about education to make it through secondary school. Malawians are shocked to find out that more than 50% of college students in America are actually females. I want to encourage girls as much as I can to complete their education and to emphasize my point, I tell people “I don’t want to marry until I go back to college again.” As for the girl I recruited, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that there will be a third chance.

My other issue is that my tutor, who has also been my best Malawian friend here, recently told me he wants to get tested for HIV (without any of his students knowing). I can’t imagine how nerve-wracking it can be to think that you might have HIV. It was nerve-wracking for me to think that he might have HIV. His sister actually does have HIV and it was kinda heart-breaking. The poor man has been carrying so many burdens that have angered him, broken his heart, and worried him. I wish there were more that I could do for him.

But somehow, he’s able to keep smiling without a concern and say, “It’s o.k. I know God has better plans for me.”

With that said, I hope you’ll be able to smile this Christmas too, no matter what stress or problems you have, and know that everything will get better in time. Merry Christmas! :)

My lame Rocky moment.
Sanjika Rock was where Chilembwe allegedly meditated.
It's where I go to meditate and get some privacy too away from the 3-foot spies.






Monday, November 26, 2007

Lack of Doctors and Nurses

I just read an article yesterday about the lack of staffing impeding the quality of service offered to HIV/AIDS clients. According to MSF (Medecins Sans Frontiers/"Doctors Without Borders"), South Africa's MSF has 74 doctors doctors and 393 nurses per 100,000 clients. As if that's not bad enough, Malawi's HIV/AIDS epidemic is a lot less contained than that in South Africa at its insane rate of 14% HIV positives with only 2 doctors and 56 nurses per 100,000 clients.

My health center is one of the handful of health centers that MSF has invested heavily in, so I'm priviliged to see all the goods that MSF is doing. But it can hurt your head just watching the nurses and doctors rushing about (actually, I think the doctor only comes to my site every once in awhile) and the clients waiting long hours.

Health care in general in Malawi is just bad. In my district, there are only 5 doctors, all of whom serve at the district hospital, so most villagers do not have access to the doctors. Though the health centers target the villagers specifically, the quality of health care may not be adequate enough due to inadequate staffing and inadequate supplies. In addition to lack of electricity (well, in my case, we have electricity but lots of black-outs), we cannot properly store the immunizations and medications. As for sanitation, most staff don't use gloves and have to hand-wash the bedding and sheets that women have given birth on. They dispose of syringes and other "hazardous" materials by burning them behind the health center (or in other cases, at the incinerator). Since we don't have a doctor, the in-charge of my health center is actually a medical assistant - just one notch up from nurses with just 2 years of medical education. Then, there are the 2 nurses. Well, I could go on and on, but I have to say it's pretty disappointing to see how bad healthcare is especially in comparison to America's. But I know that most people just do with what they can.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

My source of life

During my homestay at training, we worked on building a well. Here's the initial stage of removing muddied water before digging a deeper hole.










After filling up the bottom with rocks, we line the well with bricks and cement.






This wasn't in my village but this is what the final product of a safe borehole looks like. All the boreholes in Malawi look pretty much like this, including the one in my village. These are the villagers gathering around to celebrate the completion of a borehole!




But this is what happens when the community doesn't take care of their borehole well. The water from the pump drains out into another hole (thus dubbed an "unprotected well"), creating standing water, which allows mosquitoes to breed. And guess what? Mosquitoes carry the malarial virus that results in the number 2 deaths for under-5 children. See how something as simple as chlorinating your water or covering standing water can do to save lives?






World AIDS Day

This Saturday is World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is leadership. I found myself asking, how am I leading people in the fight against AIDS? How are our people leading others in the fight against AIDS?

I believe that education is the first and foremost issue in battling this epidemic. If we cannot talk openly about sex and the oppressive cultural practices, how can we fight this epidemic that’s killing off millions and orphaning millions of children every day?

One of the focuses this year is on preventing mothers-to-child transmission (PMTCT).
6 in 10 babies will develop HIV/AIDS after birth.
3 in 10 babies will develop HIV/AIDS if the mother was taking ARV medication during pregnancy.
1 in 10 babies will develop HIV/AIDS if the mother was taking ARV medication during pregnancy and stops breastfeeding after 6 months. But the most daunting issue that scares mothers is that HIV-positive mothers are encouraged to stop breastfeeding their babies after 6 months… in a place where mothers usually breastfeed their babies until they stop weaning at around 2 years old.




Here’s a picture of an HIV-positive mother with her child. I don’t know if the child is HIV-positive; I wasn’t sure if I had the right to ask her.


I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. It seems as if this information would be of more significance when told to Malawians than to the rest of the world. But I guess a part of me is tired of living in ignorance. I once lived in ignorance and I don’t want the rest of the world to continue living in that same shadow of ignorance. I know it’s so easy for us to get caught up in all the trivial issues of our lives, like what colored A&F shirt should I wear today? Or why doesn’t that person like me? Why can’t I pay my bills with my six-figure job? Sometimes we forget that there’s a tiny little virus that’s killing millions off by the minute. And at the moment, there is no cure. Even the treatments can only temporarily inhibit the virus from destroying our immune system, yet if we missed one treatment, the medication is no longer effective and our bodies will start breaking down. But the reality is that there’s no cure. People can only fight for their lives if they haven’t given up on themselves already. I’ll spare you the details of how HIV/AIDS can slowly take one’s life. But I guess my take for today is this: get educated and get involved. Don’t let yourself fall into this bubble of ignorance and selfishness. Ask yourself, if you had HIV/AIDS, what would your life be like? If your husband cheated on you and now your baby has HIV, what would you do? What’s more important to you – the $40 shirt or the $40 education fee for an orphan? What’s at the forefront of your mind – how to get more people to like you or how to give more people better opportunities to live? What do your actions reflect – empowering yourself so that only you can advance in life or empowering others to make good decisions and actions so that they too can pay it forward? What it comes down to is this... what is at the core of your heart?

Tower of Babel

The Bible mentions God scattered people after they tried building a tower to reach him, and in order to prevent them from scheming against him, he gave them different languages to speak.

With that said, I’m absolutely baffled at how complex language can be. I’ve learned Chinese, Spanish, English, and now Chichewa. Chinese is hard because it’s the only language that’s based on pictographs, so words are interpreted based on the “pictures” that they represent. Spanish is all about male and female properties. The Bantu language has got to be one of the most complicated languages. For one thing, the “l” and “r” are used interchangeably, so I can never spell anything correctly (I used to be a Spelling Bee buff so that was driving me crazy). And the other thing is that you basically form a sentence out of ONE word. The way that I’d describe Chichewa is like this: since Spanish and French operate on male/female/neutral properties, Chichewa operates on ten noun classes. If you know Spanish, you’d know that you’re supposed to conjugate nouns depending on the male/female properties and the verbs according to I/we/he/she/they/informal you/formal you. Well, in Chichewa, there are ten ways to conjugate I/we/he/she/they/informal you/formal you and the verbs are conjugated depending on the noun subject of the sentence, so there are ten additional ways to conjugate the verbs. (All verbs usually start with “ku-“ and the “ku” is dropped when conjugated in a sentence.) Let me give you an example:

Kusewera – to play

Ndikusewera – I am playing.
Ndinasewera – I played.
Ndidzasewera – I will play.
Ndidzidzasewera – I will play myself (it doesn’t make sense technically but there’s a way to conjugate to indicate an action being done to oneself)
Tikusewerana – We are playing each other.
Mukuseweredwe – You are being played.
Akuseweretsa – They are playing (something).
Akukuseweretsa - They are playing you.

I’m pretty sure there are other rules that I haven’t learned yet or forgotten. And this is just conjugating verbs! I don’t even want to start with conjugating with the nouns.

That’s Chichewa, people. At least it’s not clicking.

Anyway, this week has been packed with activities. I feasted and played ball at the ambassador’s house (though I was disappointed that there weren’t rackets so I couldn’t play tennis… I know right? The ambassador has a tennis court too? And a swimming pool too!). Then, we played softball with the JICA (Japanese) volunteers. And let’s just say that we were SCHOOLED (I didn’t play, but of course I would’ve led our team to victory!). These Japanese take the sport very seriously! But I did get to play a bit when they decided they had enough of the slaughtering. Then, we went to a Thanksgiving Moon house party that one of the Peace Corps staff was hosting.

Come Monday, I will be returning to my rat-infested house. Welcome home.



My host family and some neighbors.

My amayi cooking in the kitchen. I probably helped build that fire. haha




My family eating lunch at home. :)



Probably not the most appropriate picture to follow... but this was my chimbudzi ("toilet" = hole in the ground).



Gule Wamgulu ("traditional dance"). Nyau. They're said to be a secret society because they meet in graveyards at night and never reveal themselves in public.

Friday, November 23, 2007

In Food Coma

FOOD!

Food was pretty awesome! I only ate half my plate (dude, I gotta eat more) and half my desserts. What a bummer. There was a whole pig laid out on a platter but I didn't get to take a picture. Sorry. The day at the ambassador's was pretty awesome. The nicest house in all of Malawi... and probably one I'll never own even in the states. Anyway, I played some pool (I sucked as usual), grubbed, and played some rough n tumble. OMG. These boys are freakin huge... 6 feet tall, 200-pounders, larger-than-average homo sapiens. One of my teammates told me, "Just stand there and look cute. They won't hit you cuz, you know, you're small." Dude, he was so wrong. These guys were like bodyslamming me! Anyway, but it was still good to let out some energy... especially after all that grubbing.


Ambassador's House

Here are some pictures of the beautiful house that I'll never own in this lifetime.
-The chair on the left is a Chief Chair.
-There's a beautiful grand piano that I so love, a volunteer playing his violin, and some volunteers dancing.
:)

Folks

Anyway, I'm in a picture with probably the cutest baby in all of Malawi (he's my neighbor)... Too bad you can't actually see his face! haha He's staring at me because he thinks I'm an alien. Well, now he doesn't. haha The women keep trying to get me to breastfeed him. No way jose.
(I'm standing in the assembly hall where the president comes every year to celebrate Chilembwe holiday. My house is right behind. You can probably even see my papaya tree.)


My site periodically receives visitors from the states, because sponsors from the National Baptist Convention want to assist the mission. The most recent were 3 men from Chicago: a retired English professor, a preacher, and a... I'm not quite sure what he was. (I think they're from Alpine Church... apparently the pastor of their church is Barack Obama's spiritual advisor.) The preacher was my age and he wanted American food so bad, so he tipped the driver to take us and my site mate to the nicest restaurant in town for a good ol' American meal. He's a funny guy. He said that his grandfather (a former congressman) never looked at the menu, so when we arrived at the restaurant, he asked to talk to the chef and encouraged him to cook real American food. haha (I captured the moment because I thought it was so funny.) The meal was pretty sweet. The best and probably only burger I'll have in Malawi. :P


These are my site mates (other Peace Corps Volunteers). Eric (on the right) is an Education volunteer who lives 5 minutes from my house. He always makes me cook the chickens. Linda (on the left) is another health volunteer from my group. The one in the middle... that's Mini-Me. :P Look below for another picture.






We were a little traumatized.







Mua Mission











During training, we went to a cultural museum called Mua Mission. It was gorgeous, probably the most beautiful places I've seen in Malawi. I was absolutely blessed to learn some historical and cultural issues... because unfortunately, most Malawians (the younger generations at least) don't really know the culture and history of Malawi anymore. Now I'm on a quest to find an elder and learn as much as I can to preserve as much history about Malawi as I can.

OK, that's it for today! I'll come back again tomorrow! I'll be in town until Monday...


Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!

... from a place where we don't celebrate Thanksgiving. What Malawian has heard of Puritans?






Anyhoo, all the volunteers cooked up a storm last night and I am SO ready to grub a dub dub! (Since we're on a volunteer's budget, we're not really paying for the food of course.) But it ain't the same without the Boston Market ham!




Oh Malawi...

at the border of Mozambique

















This is my new Atomic Black! Say bye to my Atomic Blue (Honda Civic '06) and hi to my new Atomic Black (Trekker)!





I've ridden it about.... 3 times? haha



I'll be riding it more often now since I'm going into the villages and district more often.






(eachpicture took 5 minutes to upload... I'm gonna be stuck here forever)





It's true when they say that distance makes the heart grow fonder... Oh, watermelons, peaches, grapes, oranges, honey dews, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries... how I miss you so!


OK, I'll be back again tomorrow! :P

Monday, November 19, 2007

Pictures!! And World AIDS Day...

Yay! Pictures can be uploaded! But only when I'm at the Peace Corps office where there's faster internet speed...






My host family... aren't they beautiful? :) My grandmother with 17-year-old Dorophy, 14-year-old Chisomo, 9-year-old Marisela, and the baby niece.










This one is the newly named "Elaine" or "Ellen". hehe Ain't she a beaut? :)





The albino chicken I helped kill and eat. It was delicious. :P I'll try to post the video when I can... will probably have to do it from the U.S. via my brother.



This is my site... Providence Industrial Mission (PIM), the home of the revolutionary fighter, Chilembwe. I'm trying to figure out which village he's actually from. This is the PIM Church he built... The original one was destroyed but some of the remains lay maybe 100 meters away. I'll try to post a picture of my house next time... or should I say "half house"?


Last picture for the day... It took me over an hour to upload these pictures and send my emails. Hopefully I'll have more time this week to upload more pictures.


He was my host nephew... Lumen... He's a cute lil' brat! :D


Anyway, o.k., I will finally talk about what I’ve been working on. For the last few months, I didn’t really know what I was gonna do. But now I have an action plan. For the next few months, I’ll be working on nutrition programs for children, increasing the distribution of immunization to Under-5 children and mothers, planning with OxFam (a UK aid agency) on health and environmental programs, establishing links between youth groups and PSI/Malawi (Population Services International). The youth group I’m working with (comprising of 18 villages from OxFam’s catchment area) are preparing a song, a drama, and a traditional dance for Chiradzulu’s opening ceremony for World AIDS Day (December 1). This year’s theme is leadership… I honestly believe that these youths are the leaders of our future, because they serve as role models to the kids and as comforters to their parents (or grandparents for those who’ve lost their parents to HIV/AIDS).

So, in light of World AIDS Day, I’d like to dedicate the rest of this post to HIV/AIDS. Sometimes, we get so caught up with our own lives that we forget the impact that HIV/AIDS can have on people. I start to lose sight of its reality when I get used to the people who travel up to 2 hours to come to my health center for ARVs twice a week.

But then I’m reminded by the skin thrashes… the swollen ankles… the weight loss… persistent coughs (usually TB)… just the overall weakening of the body and even their soul sometimes…

Nothing can sober you even more when you realize that among the people milling about waiting for the routine check-ups and ARVs are actually your own co-workers and people from your community.

And when I see the kids and the babies, I think that sometimes life’s just not fair. What if they don’t grow up to see their own children grow old? What if they die before their parents would? I can’t imagine the guilt the parents feel… Sometimes it might take just one act of infidelity to infect the whole family.

Here’s the reality: 14% of Malawians are HIV positive, but I think realistically, the rate is higher… maybe even closer to 30%. I say this because every single village I went to are dealing with deaths, loss of production, orphans, youth drop-outs to provide for their families, etc. My district probably has one of the highest HIV rates in all of Malawi (20-something% compared to Malawi’s overall 14% rate). During the National Testing and Counseling Week, my district rated the second highest of HIV positives, most likely due to the close proximity to town where girls can prostitute themselves, the high population of the villages that allows for infidelity, and I think it’s one of the poorest districts since people often commute to town to sell their crops leaving our area at a low development rate (also has a problem with the highest malnutrition rates). Many of the youths here face the pressure of preserving their “cultural traditions”, such as sharing the same blade for circumcision during initiation rites, polygamy, wife inheritance, “hyena” death cleansing (a widow is to “cleanse” of her grief by having sex with a man the night of her husband’s death), fisi (a woman is to “cleanse” herself by having sex after she gives birth), having sex with as many men or women to achieve “adulthood”, etc. So, you can see my work is cut out for me.

But I just gotta take one step at a time right? Sometimes I think it’s so hard to think that anything I do can make any kind of impact… but who am I to think that anything I do can make an impact? Come December 1, I’m going to remember why I’m here and what I’m here to do and most importantly… that none of it’s for me.

Rats, rats, go away, don’t ever come back another day!

I hate rats. With passion. They stress me out. Even more than the begging.

That’s it! I’m getting a cat. At first, I didn’t want a cat, because I thought they’d be more cumbersome to take care of than the rats. But I don’t want them to keep breeding and chewing on all my plastics (and eventually my clothes). And I figured, I’d probably miss the cat more than the rats when I leave. Maybe it’ll be good to have a cat. I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a cat (where the heck does it defecate?!). Maybe it’ll be good for me to take care of someone… or something. I don’t even know what to name it. Maybe I’ll just call it “Pussy” (Chichewa for “cat” haha).

As trivial as it sounds, the rats are probably one of the most stressful issues here.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Happy OINK OINK day!

All yall may be feasting on that fatty pheasant for the holiday...

I'll be grubbin' on a FATTY MS.PIGGY at the US Ambassador's house! Arkansas style! Yeah! (whatever that means)

And hopefully I'll get to play a lil' football to let out some of that rage in me.

OK, will update soon when I have access to free internet!

Happy Zikomo-day! :)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

WAWAWAWA!

I'm back in Lilongwe for a 2-week training.

So...

let's see...

You know how I usually love kids? I hate them here... or at least just the primary students (the ones 6-14). Why? Because they're punks. I don't know how to explain it... but they frustrate me here. Just try to imagine 50 kids swarming around you every single freaking day, staring at you, calling you "azungu" (which is more of my first name than my second name now), laughing at you... every single freaking day. And their parents don't teach them how to do right, because they don't listen to their parents, so they especially won't listen to anything I say... like "stop asking for money" or "stop calling me 'azungu'", which is pretty much equivalent to calling a black person "nigger" or a Chinese "chink" or a Latino "sic". I know it's vulgar, but that's exactly the kind of feeling it provokes in me every single day. I could start a whole essay on that alone but I won't.

I've concluded that I only like babies. Just babies. The wee ones that don't speak. Because they never ask anything from me. The adults always ask me for money. The kids always ask me for sweets. The babies just smile (or cry haha)! :D

O.K., I know I gotta do a better job at describing my African life here. Umm... I don't even know how to begin... I just sat here for a minute not knowing what to type...

I greet about 50 people a day with "Mwadzuka/Mwaswera bwanji?" (I hate greeting. I'm so anti-social. haha)

Uhh... o.k., I'll start with my health center. It's this tiny little place - not really a hospital - with a maternity ward, a female sick ward, a male sick ward, and a consultation room. It's actually kinda nice because it's like being an outdoor center, so I'm not in some enclosed building. Then, there's the Under-5 Clinic room (about 10 feet x 10 feet) where all the government health workers work (which is where I'm supposed to be too). Every morning, the mothers would come to the clinic, line up to weigh their babies, and get the immunization shots (DPT, Polio, BCG, measles, TTV). As for the babies, they just wrap them with a chitenje (a piece of cloth) and hang them off a weighing scale... meaning you can drop them if they're not tied appropriately. (I haven't dropped one yet... knock on wood.) Then, they go into this tiny little room to get their shots (I'm not allowed to give the shots for liability reasons). And they'd just record the data in a book (record-keeping is really poor here and incredibly inaccurate). I've also been going into the villages for the first 2 months to evaluate and assess their problems and needs, as well as developing an action plan before submitting them to OxFam. Just this past week, I went to the villages for a home-based care training (groups of people who take care of the sick in their villages) on soya beans. (I was drooling sooo much when they made soya mince and fresh soy milk from the soya beans but I was too weak to ask to try it!!!)

(I miss fruits sooo much. :( But I heard there are watermelons in April! And I'm starting to see peaches!!)

Yeah, sounds fascinating, right? That's why I don't really bother trying to type up what I do. haha

Well, here's an interesting fact I learned awhile ago regarding natural medicine. Sesame is known to help treat sterility. SO... every time you consume sesame (seeds, oil, etc.), just think, you become more fertile! HAHAHAHA And I found out that turmeric treats flatulence, so you know exactly what you need when you get a case of gas! (You know who you are! :P)

Umm... let's see... I still don't really know what I wanna do yet. I've been focusing a lot on this newly developed youth club that involves 18 villages in my area, so that has been pretty awesome. The most difficult part is not being able to speak the language, but I'm trying everything I can to learn their language so I don't have to rely on the few youths that speak English or even just on my co-worker to translate. But they're worth it, because they're the ones that are always overlooked. The adults are always trained in caring for the sick; the children get all the free immunization, free education, and free food; the youths in school are getting an education. But the out-of-school youths are stuck with unemployment, prostitution, and pressure from their parents to engage in early marriages or cultural practices that lead to unwanted pregnancies and HIV transmission. I've been working mainly with the committee on leadership. I'll talk more about that later.

I still feel like a celebrity.

And it sucks.

I hate being a celebrity. I hate the fact that my status of beauty and my status of wealth is determined by one factor: the color of my skin. I hate the 50 pairs of eyes staring at me everywhere I go... to the market, to work, to my home. But even then I don't even want to go home because there are a couple pairs of eyes spying on me through my grass fence (those darn kids). I don't get any privacy here. I hate it when people ask me for money or food or sweets or just anything I have or even just to take them back to America. Even though some of them are living better off than me. I hate being in this weird position where the people I work with think I'm some kid so they don't treat me seriously, yet people of high positions treat me like I'm some goddess (even better than they would a chief). I hate how the men treat women here.

But I don't hate being in Malawi. I know I have much to learn and much to gain. I've met few people here who amaze me and bless me. There's an 80-year-old lil white lady living near me who's originally from South Africa, had 11 kids, and lost 9 of them to malaria here. Oh yeah, and she killed 2 chickens for me. haha She's sweet. :) Then, there's my Chichewa tutor aka my best friend here aka my only Malawian friend. He is nothing short of amazing yet I know few people recognize how truly amazing he is. He's one of the people that I know will succeed in every way in this life despite all the obstacles he had to go through in this life (and there's a lot, believe me). Then, there are a few people I work with who are truly hard-working and gentle people. They've helped me out so much and been so patient with me for learning everything so slowly. Then, there's the baby. His name's Hope. He's my substitute for Joshua Lee (but definitely not his replacement!). :P He's sooooooooo cute. Everytime I see him, he makes my day better no matter how crappy the day was.

And... that's about it.

Monday, October 22, 2007

ZABOBO!

Dude. I am so fluent in Chichewa.

*cough*

Yeah right.

But I'm getting there! Everyone thinks I'm learning Chichewa because I wanna get married here.

"So, do you have any promises?"
"*cough* Are you serious?!"

OK gotta jet. Tiwonana!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

A Malawian Romance

One more shot at this thing called technology.

I’m gonna try to write this update offline again and hope that it’ll work at the internet cafĂ©.

So, before I start off on another anecdote, I wanted to shout out to the awesome people who sent me packages! J My mom knew exactly what to send to satiate my sweets and salts cravings. Daphne and Pedro (and LW) – dude yall just doubled my closet and desserts! haha Jennifer and Mark – thanks for the goodies! haha It was truly a nice surprise that made a better present than the pink shirt that Mark got me! haha (I ate a big of chip and ramen for breakfast yesterday! :D)

A Malawian Romance.

Once upon a time, I (or me) am walking down a dirt road in the sweltering heat. While the sun is scorching my skin to a dark clay red, I’m desperately trying to find Chimpesa village. All the while I’m thinking, why didn’t I just rebel against the Peace Corps rule for once and just hop on that motorbike?

Then, a guy bikes up next to me and greets me. He’s wobbling on his bike because he’s trying to keep up with my slow pace up the hill. Eventually, he gets off his bike and starts walking next to me. I’m doing my best to hurry up and find this village. In the meantime, he asks for my name, where I’m from, what I’m doing in Malawi, etc. And I don’t think he even told me his name.

Then, he cuts to the chase, “Have you married?” Uh oh.

“No.” Why didn’t I say “yes”?!

“Why not?”

“Sindikufuna kukwatiwa.” Because I don’t want to. Well, it’s not a fib… kinda. Then, this guy gives me a 10-minute lecture in his broken English about why I can’t just say “I don’t want to” when someone asks me if I’m married. Something about it’s everyone’s purpose in life to marry. Or something like that.

“Right.” Where is this village?!

Finally, he asks me where I live.

My response is, “Oh, in America.”

Then, he desperately tries all the different ways of finding my location of residency: “Where do you put up for the night?” “Where do you sleep?” “Where do you wake up?”

So, I play dumb and innocently respond, “I don’t understand.”

Despite my annoyance, he continues asking where I live.

“Oh, I sleep in my bed.” Can you tell I’m trying to stall?!

Finally, he cuts to the chase and after a moment of suspense, he says, “Should chance you fall in love with me?” *cough* What a way to kill the romance buddy. What was your name again?

So, I say again, “Sindikufuna kukwatiwa.”

“I mean, can we be friends?” Poor kid, he’s gonna get his juvenile little heart crushed.

“Sure. Everyone’s my friend. That guy can be my friend too,” I respond and point at a 5-year-old kid. Hey, I’m trying to be nice!

Then the guy tries to find out where I live again when I hear my name, “Ellen!” I turn to find a guy I worked with. Relieved, I darted without looking back. Sorry kid, but it just ain’t meant to be!

Lesson learned: I need a picture of Ryan Phillippe pronto! Wouldn’t it be awesome to flash his picture and ask, “Isn’t he the most beautiful man in the world?” and blind them with a huge rock on my finger. Or maybe I could tell them that they’d have to go to America and Asia to ask my parents for my hand in marriage. Or better yet, I could tell them that my bride price is 1,000 cows, 1,000 chickens, and a land the size of Texas.

O.K., I’m not that ruthless. I could just stick with saying that I’m married and walk away. But hey, maybe one day Ryan Phillippe will come to Malawi, and someone will point out that he has a short Asian wife. And he’ll realize that I was the love of his life that he was looking for all along.

O.K., snapping back to reality. But on a serious note, even though it’s amusing to receive all these random marriage proposals and awkward compliments, I’m becoming more and more annoyed. Unfortunately, I’ve become more obnoxious too. A student asked me if I were married, I responded “No, and I don’t wanna marry in Malawi.” I realized how obnoxious that sounded without really trying to, so I didn’t bother trying to argue when a teacher responded, “You never know what God has in store for you.” Instead, I told them that I had received marriage proposals, and the teacher asked, “Oh? What did you say?” Uhh… what else can I say?! Yes?! And marry every man that asks me?! “Oh, I just say ‘no’.”

The fact of the matter is that when these guys see me (or any other light-skinned person), they see dollar signs flashing. But what really agitates me is how quickly they judge me because of the color of my skin. I was reminded of the way that women – Asian women in particular – were portrayed historically. They were the “exotic” ones – the sexual objects of every man’s affection. Who were to be the geishas, the comfort women of WWII, the prostitutes in Thailand/India/Cambodia/etc., and hey, who played the illiterate but sexy women in Western movies? Foreign women in Malawi are portrayed in much the same way. I’m sorry, but I’m not about to be objectified.

And to be honest, it really frustrates me at how Westernized Malawians’ standards have become. The lighter your skin, the more beautiful you are. The more you dress like Beyonce, the more attractive you are. I can’t say that I’m exempt from such mentality (I once thought that to be blonde-and-blue is to be beautiful), but the more that I see how ridiculous it is, the more I wish that I could un-brainwash them and show these girls how beautiful they really are. And that they don’t have to be subject to such ignorant expectations. And that they don’t have to sleep with a boy everytime he says “I love you” or when a sugar daddy entices them into their home for a little “something-something”.

I know that’s “just how things are”, but man, my heart goes out to them. But I just gotta take one step at a time, right?

Wow, that sounded like a bitter entry. haha That wasn’t my intention at all! I’ll update with more light-hearted entries tomorrow… if this entry successfully makes it into my blog. After that, it’ll be another month or so before I’ll update again.

Until then… tiwonana!

Saturday, September 22, 2007

A funny lil anecdote

So I'm sitting in this HIV support group... absolutely bored to death while they're figuring out logistics and collecting money...

I'm entertaining myself watching these two toddlers play around... One girl keeps covering herself with a chitenje and falling flat on her face and laughing at herself... The other kid's crying for some reason and pees on the ground. So, the girl goes over to him and bends down scoping it out. She sniffs it, then starts lapping!

His mother doesn't do anything.

THEN, she smears it around and continues to drink from it!

And still, no one does anything!

By then, my site mate and I looked at each other in disbelief (he said it was one of the grossest things he's seen in Malawi - probably after killing a chicken). And I couldn't stop laughing just cuz that was the funniest sight ever.

That's how bored I get here I guess.

But on the other hand, it's not that gross to me... because I weigh babies at the clinic... and let's just say most of them don't have diapers.

Anyway, my favorite thing about Malawi: the Gerber babies! :) I don't think I've seen so many cute babies in my life before!

And the sunrises and sunsets... never seen a sun so orange before (except in switzerland once).

My least favorite thing about Malawi: battling the rats and bugs. I've made enemies with the rats. I must avenge Mr. Empty Plastic Bottle and his offsprings Plastic Bags that the rat(s) have so ruthlessly slaughtered! Just kidding. O.k., but seriously though, it annoys the crap out of me. My coworker said it must be so hungry if it's eating empty bottles. Hey, here's a better idea, rat, why don't you just go somewhere else? (It's so hard to not get that image of the Master from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! If only I could admire them so!)

And the bugs. The grossest thing I've seen is probably the cockroaches in my chimbudzi ("toilet" = hole in the ground). AGHHHHH!!!!

Only in Malawi

Only in Malawi do strangers sit in my lap (a few volunteers have had the privilege of my cushiony bootie)

Only in Malawi are chickens passengers sitting next to me

Only in Malawi are goats the back-seat drivers

Only in Malawi would the window sill of the minibus (a toyota van) become a passenger seat

Only in Malawi do doors come on and off the minibuses while in motion

Only in Malawi would high school boys try to hit on me ("hello madam, are you married?")... o.k., granted that most of them are my age or older!

Only in Malawi would I help kill a chicken (will post the video if I can)

Only in Malawi would I hitchhike

Only in Malawi would I wear clothes I'd never wear

Only in Malawi would someone say "You look fat" and mean it as a good thing

Only in Malawi would I feel so used and useless haha

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I'm a Peace "Corpse" Volunteer

no silent p's. I'm a corpse.

This sucks. I had spent like an hour yesterday (re)typing up a really good blog update for yall (with stories and theses about feminism and environmentalism and hygienism and pictures too!) offline, but for some reason I can't pull it up (even though I can with other files) at the internet cafe! I can't upload pictures either.

Internet here sucks. I give up.

My mom called me and was freaking out about marriage proposals. No worries people. It's a common phenomenon here for foreign women. Just imagine that I'm Angelina Jolie... except short and Asian and doesn't and act and is in Malawi! haha I hate being a celebrity.

Friday, August 24, 2007

A long overdue update...

that will continue to be overdue... I had an update (a really good one too) all typed up and ready to go... but then somehow a virus got into my flashdrive and I can't view it at the internet cafe. So... I'm sending my apologies from halfway around the world at an internet cafe with the inverse speed of light.

I've finally moved home (in Malawi)! For those who are committed to the lost art of snail mail, you can now mail me at:
Elaine Lo
PO Box 74
Chilembwe, Malawi
Central Africa [although I think it might be technically considered South Africa]

(And look for my number from the previous post.)

I'll probably check my email once or twice a month... so feel free to email me at elaineheartsyou@gmail.com and let me know how you're doing! :) If you want me to mail you, you can either mail me first... or email me your address and an update so I have something to respond to you.

A lot has happened in the last 3 months from marriage proposals to hitchhiking... but I cannot adequately describe anything at this internet cafe (I've already been here for over an hour). I'll just give brief updates.

I live in the southern part of Malawi at PIM (Providence Industrial Mission), home of the revolutionary who fought for Malawi's independence. Chilembwe was the George Washington of Malawi and I live only 5 minutes away from the church he built, the rock where he meditated... and probably the hole he defecated in.

I have electricity (with blackouts every other day) but no plumbing or running water.

I think I have bats in my house (there's loud banging on my roof).

I built fire for a week. And nearly died doing so.

I carried water on my head. And nearly broke my neck doing so (and embarrassed myself in front of a group of American tourists here).

I miss my host family. :(

I'm in love! ....with the babies! :D

I've had 2 babies named after me - all within a day or two they were born! :) (I'll try to post a picture whenever my drives are free of viruses.)

OK, that's all I can give for now... Sorry. :( I'm going to visit some street kids in about an hour.

Tiwonana!

Under construction

I'm trying to move my site to a different account...

My previous updates (minus some)...

"My name is Ellen"

So, apparently none of the Malawians can call me by my name, so I'm now "Ellen"."Ellen who?""Ellen Lo."I'm also called "azungu", which means "rich white foreigner". And "Madam" (at my last job, it'd be female dog). And "Hey, are you married?"I hope these pictures will capture the beauty of Malawi. And of the Malawians. :) (I have a really beautiful neighbor, by the way. I think he should be a model.)*I can't post pictures for some reason... I'll try again later.

"Moni from Africa!"

Show me the MONI! yes, I am still alive... and well! :) I've been living without electricity, running water, or plumbing for the past month... and I had to bathe outdoors with a bucket. I'm sure that'll probe a lot of questions... but maybe I can just show you pictures when I get the chance? (except for the bathing part... I'll just show you my bafa) My host family was my widowed 59-year-old amayi, 17-year-old sister Dorophy, 14-year-old brother Chisomo, and 9-year-old sister Marisela. My sister can carry my 30-pound luggage on her head. haha I don't think I can ever achieve that in my 2 years here! My sister also taught me how to do do laundry here, how to carry water on my head, how to cook over a fire... One thing I wouldn't learn to do was eat mice or termites. But they are really amazing people and I really miss them. :( Being here has taught me a lot about what I take for granted as an American. What would only take a second to push/pull a faucet to get drinking water requires 5-15 minutes of walking to a protected well to draw a bucket of water, 20 minutes of boiling water, and 30 minutes to chlorinate water here. What would only take a cup of detergent, a button to push, and two hours to do laundry requires 3 buckets (1 for water, 1 for washing, 1 for rinsing), lots of energy for scrubbing, and a few days to dry. And those are just some of the things that I've had to experience. Malawians here are awesome and so kind and generous. Yet they're so poor. Unbelievably poor. They make an average income of $150 a year, yet my family couldn't even afford to buy chlorine ($1 per bottle) to chlorinate their water (a problem that many Africans face that result in water-related diseases). The village is so poor that the village of 350+ had to share one protected well that was originally intended for the school. Due to water shortages throughout the year, they had to resort to using unprotected water, which often result in water-related illnesses and deaths. The good news is that one of our projects in the village was to build a well, so we got to watch first-hand and participate in the construction of a well. :) But even in their poverty, my family was giving me so much. They were almost in tears when I gave them a lantern, a knife, soap bars, and food. It was like Christmas. :) (My brother and sister were so excited when I gave them marshmallow and candy. :D) But I wish I could give them so much more cuz they've just been soooo good to me and they deserve so much more. And I think I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. I've been eating french fries (chippies), potatoes, eggs, and carbs (nsima - some hard corn porridge) every single meal. And for the first time in my life, I was actually craving candy and sugar, so I think I was really deprived of sugar and I'd binge on candy when I have the chance. I really really miss Chinese food (especially Mom's!), bok choys, noodles!!!!!!, juice, and fresh fruits!!! I love the kids here though! They love to just sing and dance... and stare at me. And laugh at me. A lot. But they're absolutely adorable and take care of me so well! :) There's so much I want to share... and I will. I want to say that I miss you all very very very much. It has been good to finally know what's going on in the world (like how Trinidadian terrorists tried to blow up JFK airport a few days after we left... what the heck?!). (I'd love to get Time or Newsweek articles btw...) But most importantly, it's good to be able to get emails and know what's going on in YOUR life. Oh, and I got a phone! My number is 011-265-09476754. (You can get a cheap phone card at www.enjoyprepaid.com.)Feel free to call me or text me!!! :) And write to me! Every letter is like a Christmas present to me! Or actually, even better than Christmas! I'm on my way to my permanent site for a short visit in Chiradzulu. Until then... Tiwonana! P.S. In case you don't already know, Malawi is in Africa. Yes, it's the country where Madonna adopted a child.

"Uhhh I don't remember the title"

It's funny how when you leave for 2 years, you think of everything in "final" terms like... my last supper was a $20 pork tenderloin with mango BBQ sauce...my last dessert was tiramisu ("come home soon!")...my last lunch was Sbarro's spaghetti with chicken parmigiano (I really wanted noodles and meat)...my last sight of America was New York... my last church service was at some chinese church in Philadelphia... my last movie was "Blood Diamond" on South African Airways...my last shelter was at Sheraton and now Southern Sun in SA (both first class hotels)...BUT I'M FINALLY ON AFRICAN SOIL! :) We stopped over in Johannesburg, SA, and will fly to the heart of Africa - that is, Malawi - tomorrow morning. Missing you all!!!

P.S. I was reading People magazine and discovered my former co-worker is now engaged to The Bachelor! I have no idea what to say...