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It’s been a week since I arrived in the Gulugufe (Butterfly) village. There are 14 families that reside in this village, I live in a brick house with a thatch roof, one that belonged to the Agogo (Grandparents) until I dislodged them from their home. It has 4 rooms, one of which is my bedroom, a main room and the other room is where my 14 year old sister sleeps. We’re good roomies, as most of the time is spent out of the house anyway. The village is safe and the scenery is quite spectacular, being located in a valley between two different mountains. It’s like the praries and reminds me of being in Calgary, except it’s above 23C most of the time and under the sun, well, I would prefer to not be there.
I live without electricity or running water. One of the managers from TLC visited me the other day and asked, “where’s the switch?” I asked the same thing when I arrived, but one gets use to living without electricity and running water at your fingertips. It’s actually not too bad and I’m quite surprised that a city girl like me is able to live in a village without any major problems. In fact, if compared to China last year, I enjoy staying in the village a lot more. I have had no health problems so far, except for eating a weird deep fried donut, which I picked up on my independent minibus journey to the current village. There’s a borehole about 50m away from my house that was rehabilitated by the Red Cross in 2006, that’s the main source of water and from what I experience, it’s safe to drink. At night, I can see all the stars clearly.
I’ve arrived during harvest season, this year, the farmers are harvesting very well. Partly because the weather has provided ample water, partly because of conservation farming, which TLC has implemented. I eat nsima and usually some relish, either leafy greens and tomatoes or some meat or fish. I’m fed very well here with sweet potato snacks, peanuts and sometimes oranges.
Work
My role with TLC is to help implement certain tools to help the field coordinators monitor and evaluate the projects. My experience so far has been limited as I’ve been given ample time to adapt to the village life. When I was suppose to start working, the motorcycle which my fellow extension worker rides had broken down so I’m currently waiting for the first full day to begin. So far, I’ve visited a few farmers and through Llewyllen’s (TLC extension worker) translations, I’m able to understand the challenges and the realities that these rural farmers face. It appears that the soil conservation methods such as contour ridging and the use of nursery’s really help increase the farmer’s yields. For instance, my host family is still harvesting maize (their staple food) after hauling in 3 heaping oxcarts full of maize (each oxcart is about 3m x5m x 2m) after starting conservation farming last year.
My name here is Annie Chung and people here also know me as Napiri (pronounced Na-pee-li) which means mountains. I don’t know why they gave me that name, but upon arriving into the village, that’s what I was given so I take it at face value (I know I shouldn’t).
You’re not in Kansas anymore Dorothy
Here’s a typical day in the village, broken down into hour increments. Time here, is another dimension, which holds no numerical value, so I find. It’s based on the sun, we wake when the sunrises and sleep when the sun is down and the night is cool.
5:30am I awake to the sounds of the Rooster crowing. I sometimes wish it would be quiet so I can sleep for an extra few minutes, then the sounds of the ladies sweeping their homes start and I rise from the reed mat which I call my bed. I find the exit out of my mosquito net and I enter into the Malawian sunrise, helping with the sweeping, helping pump the water, and of course, visiting the pit latrine.
7:00am Breakfast is served which consists of bread and tea. The villagers really like sugar in their tea and thinks that I’m weird by not adding 2 heaping spoonfuls into my tea.
I spend the day helping out with the chores or visiting farmers in different villages in the surrounding area. It helps that I have an awesome co-worker, Llewylen (spelling?) who picks me up in the morning or early afternoon and we ride off onto the red dirt roads on the back of his motorcycle (don’t worry, it’s pretty safe except for that one time when… )
6:00pm Dinner is served and it consists of a lot of food from 4 different families! It’s disrespectful to eat only one person’s nsima (the staple) and I’ve learnt my lesson thus far. Don’t fill up with just one family’s nsima, instead, spread your appetite around or it will hurt later on in the night (literally)
8:00pm Bedtime! I prep my sleeping area by laying out the reed mat and ensure that there are no creepy crawlies (cockroaches, spiders) that are in the room. Then I carefully lay out the mosquito net and crawl into my cotton sleeping bag liner, throw my locally purchased blanket over myself (it’s cold at night) and then proceed to sleep.
Sorry for the lack of details, I’m pressed for time on the internet. If you have any questions or comments just let me know (call me or email me) and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. I hope this post finds you well.
Anne in Malawi 