Updates! July in Malawi

I can't believe it has been two weeks since I last posted! Many apologies for the lapse. Work has really been picking up - after a month of freaking out about the impossibility of completing my mandate, I finally feel like I have a plan that will enable me to be successful (I hope!). But it is a lot of work, and I am still waiting for my counterpart to be hired (hopefully within the month now), so I have been pretty busy.
We had donors from Australia arrive in Lilongwe on June 28. We had a meeting on the 29th (Sunday???) to explain our progress to date on our Floods Response Program with the 31 year old female representative from Caritas Australia, Sandya. The meeting concluded with a lunch of local food made by the sisters that live on-site here at the Catholic Secretariat. Afterwards, my colleagues hadn't planned anything for our donor to do, so I offered to take Sandya to the market. She was really sweet and fun, and we ended up inviting her to join us for dinner at Blue Ginger (mmm....daal makhani) and then the Euro-cup final game at Chameleons.
We met Monday morning at 9 to depart on the monitoring trip we had planned to Mangochi, Blantyre and Chikwawa. Unfortunately, Carsterns (my boss), was not able to depart from the office til 10, then we were further held up by a fuel shortage (frequent event - travelling on time takes a lot of ahead planning!). We ended up leaving Lilongwe after 11, and stopping in Dedza for lunch at around 1. We ate at a place called Dedza Pottery Lodge - I had never been there before - the pottery was amazing. I am definately planning on making some purchases when we return there on the trip I am planning for when my Mom and Megan (Regan's friend, not my sister) come to visit!!!
All this meant that we didn't arrive in Mangochi until 5:20pm rather than 2pm as originally intended, so our meeting didn't start until 6pm!!! Talk about a long day....seems there is no taboo in Malawi about expecting people to stay late with no notice. While in Mangochi, I was also able to visit the little boy who was involved in the accident and he is recovering well, though still in hospital.
The next day was the second food distribution in Mangochi (all together there are three distributions of a one month supply of food for each household). It was much more subdued than the launch I attended in Mzuzu, but it went smoothly and people were glad to get their distributions. We also toured the site of an irrigation project which was very interesting, and we were welcomed with friendly, singing villagers.
On Wednesday, we drove to Blantyre and then down to Chikwawa for a meeting. Since we arrived in Blantyre three hours before the meeting (and Chikwawa is only an hour away), we decided to use our time to find accommodation. After a couple of sketchy lodges, we passed a sign that said ‘Hostellerie de France’ and decided to check it out. Our first impression was of the toilet seats that were on the front porch. Once we entered the place, we were welcomed with a booming ‘Bonjour Mes Amies!’. The character that owns the place definitely belongs in my memory as one of the strangest people I have met in Malawi….with his moustache waxed into curls and long graying hair and French accent. We booked rooms pretty much on the basis of the owner – and also because the dining room and backyard were amazing looking.
We drove down to an uneventful meeting in Chikwawa and returned to lounge over a couple of MGTs (Malawi Gin and Tonics) while our French dinner was prepared.
On Thursday, the food distribution took place in Chikwawa. Chikwawa was the site of my first field visit and it was just as memorable on my second visit to the south. The villagers (well the female ones) danced and sang and acted for us – many of the songs were portraying the hunger people experienced and the relief brought by the program and the need to work in the fields to ensure that food will be available after these distributions are finished. Sandya also interviewed some recipients to find out their response to the program. We were disappointed to learn that the food rations were often only lasting for 3 weeks as opposed to a month (the supply is based on government guidelines about the minimum requirements of an average household).
Heading back up to Blantyre, we picked up another WUSC volunteer, Sarah to join us for dinner and I also stayed with Sarah that night – it was a blast.
On Friday morning, I was informed of a sudden change in plans – we had planned to take the donors to the lake for a relaxing end to their busy visit, but it seems that one of the vehicles had to return to Lilongwe, so I went back on Friday morning. I didn’t mind, as we had plans to go to the lake anyways, and I had missed Regan and Jules!
The change in plans enabled us to quickly pack up and get to the lake Friday instead of Saturday in time to celebrate the fourth of July with some of our American friends. Friday night was a great party, and Saturday was filled with lots of beach volleyball followed by swimming and reading by the lake – awesome. On Saturday night we braaied up some veggie sausages and then hung out with some friends. Sunday, we decided to leave in order to still have a day at home (As Sunday was Malawian independence day, Monday was a holiday).
I spent most of Monday sewing (my idea of a pretty awesome day!) after a walk in the Nature Sanctuary. In the afternoon we were invited to a last minute braai at our friend Jessica’s (she is an American, here doing PhD research). Although there was some meat (and veggie alternatives) involved, the focus was definitely on dessert as Jess’s baking is excellent! Nice way to end off an afternoon.
We also bought some videos on Sunday – if I had known these things existed, I wouldn’t have brought so many with me! You can buy DVDs with 9 – 80 movies on them (note – I have never purchased one with more than 18, though my roommate Heather has one with 63). The videos can be a bit of a crap-shoot as they don’t all work, but I think we got our money’s worth. I bought a horror collection with all three Final Destinations, all three Mummy’s and another one I was excited about at the time but can’t now remember….we also got the Tom Cruise collection – mostly for the Mission Impossibles – though it also has Top Gun…Regan got a romantic classic one with a somewhat odd collection including the Break Up and In Her Shoes…and the last one was a crime and action collection with all three Ocean’s and the Italian Job.
OK – I may be revealing a bit much in here about my love of bad movies…