What
do you do for fun?
I enjoy swimming in the lake, which is only a 20
minute walk from my house. I also like
to hike – there is a waterfall about an hour walk away from my house, it’s
beautiful! I enjoy going around to meet
people in my village. I carry my camera
with me and chat with them for a while and take some lovely candid photos. I want to bring these memories home with me.
Do
you like it there?
Very much, yes.
I have some bad days where I don’t want to live here anymore (and
usually these days involve me sitting on the side of the road for several hours
before I get a ride somewhere) but when it comes down to it, I have truly
enjoyed my time here in Malawi.
Would
you rather live at home in the US?
I think the US is where I belong, but it doesn’t
mean I did not enjoy living in Malawi.
They are two completely different places and cultures. After two years in Malawi, I graciously say
good-bye. I look forward to some of the
people and things I’ve missed in the US, but we’ll see how soon I will start to
miss Malawi once I leave.
Do
you get homesick?
Sometimes, yes, especially around holidays or
birthdays. I have made the most out of
the holidays here in Malawi, but there’s nothing like an Ackerman Family
Thanksgiving or sitting around a Christmas tree with my siblings or celebrating
the 4th of July with fireworks and a cookout. I have missed these things and all the people
I have celebrated with, but I did create new memories and traditions for these
holidays.
Have
you been courted by anyone who wanted to give your father 4 goats?
No, I have not, but I can say that this is a true
cultural norm in many parts of Malawi.
However, goats are very expensive, so sometimes people use chickens or
water buckets to symbolize a relationship.
What
is there to do?
Malawi has many great things to do! The lake has many amenities - I got diving
certified here and there are plenty of beaches to visit, not to mention
canoeing, kayaking, snorkeling, etc.
There are several national parks where you can go on safari and see
lions, elephants, zebras, hippos, and rhinos.
There are many hikes, including Mount Mulanje and Rurawe which take
several days to complete.
How
hard was it to make the change from electricity and good food to no electricity
and eating the same food everyday?
Well, I did not have electricity for the first four
months, but my house was wired and I got electricity very early on. The first four months were not terribly
difficult – I cooked on fire and charged my phone at my neighbor’s house. When I got electricity, life became much
easier. Making meals no longer took me
two hours each meal and I was able to listen to music or watch movies on my
computer, which was a nice treat after a long day. “Good food” is a matter of opinion, but I
would have to say that I was able come up with creative meals after eating the
same thing over and over. I learned how
to make different types of soups, tacos, Chinese food, bean burgers and finally
in my last few months I started splurging on meat – steaks, sausage and minced
beef. Food really improves morale so
learning how to make fun or interesting food definitely made me happier.
What is an average day in Malawi?
An average day
in Malawi for me is difficult to explain.
I have worked with many projects over the two years, but I will give you
the best description I can.
I wake up
early, usually because of roosters crowing at 4 am. I start my day with yoga (which I never
really took seriously in the States, but now I find it to be an incredible
stress-reliever) and breakfast. I like
drinking tea in the morning, even when it’s hot outside. After breakfast, I usually teach three mornings
a week. The school is 3 kilometers away,
so I typically ride my bike to school and teach two or three classes and ride
home before lunch. If it is a day that I
am not teaching, then I do chores around my house. I carry about six 20-liter buckets on an
average day and the water is kept in larger buckets until I need it to drink or
to do dishes or laundry. I sweep and mop
often – I feel like my house is never clean.
In the afternoons, I usually go to a meeting. I meet with many groups including three
women’s groups who are starting businesses, seven HIV support groups, a Girls’
Club, and a Youth Club. I try to make
myself available in the community.
Sometimes groups ask for trainings or assistance with small projects. Later, I cook dinner and I wind down at the
end of the day watching a movie on my computer or reading.
Malawian women
typically stay at home and do housework all day. They are amazing and incredibly strong. They walk half the day to chop firewood and
then carry it back to their home the rest of the afternoon from miles
away. They are usually working in the
gardens in the early morning and then set off to carry water, do dishes and
laundry, pound maize, and cook. If there
are children at home, they help their mother with some of the chores. The women who do have jobs are nurses,
primary school teachers or they own shops in my area. When women go to the borehole, they chat with
other women and that is their social lives.
Malawian men
might have jobs or they might not. Some
men in my community are nurses or teachers or shop owners. They share in some of the gardening. Some also fish in my area, since I’m close to
the lake. It is clear that they do not
do as many household chores at the house.
Often you see men playing a board game with other men in their free time.
Malawian
children can attend primary school for free, but secondary school requires
fees. Many students drop out before
secondary school because they are needed to help with chores or gardening. It is very competitive to get into university
in Malawi and there is a lot of political reasons for it, so many students are
bitter about going to school and getting decent grades but still not getting
accepted into college.
How
do you feel about the equality between men and women in Malawi?
It’s difficult to see the inequalities here in
Malawi. It makes me appreciate the
respect women get in the U.S. I have
experienced many sexist remarks from Malawian men who do not think it is my
place to be offering advice, especially as a young, unmarried female. It has put a toll on my working relationships
with people and many projects were not completed because of it. There was an unfortunate incident last year
where a gang of men in Lilongwe began undressing women in the middle of the
street in the middle of the day if they were wearing trousers, instead of long
skirts. It did not last long, as the
government stepped in, but it was a scary couple of weeks.
I can say this: Malawi is starting to close the
gap. Slowly at first, but women are
starting to make an impact in the working world. Currently, Malawi has a female
president. And more recently, the
American embassy sponsored a business seminar for 30 female entrepreneurs in
Malawi. Women are getting more
opportunities and I think it would make for a happy, healthy Malawi if they had
more women invested in their programs, politics and businesses. It’s good to have diversity and different
opinions – it’s how we grow.
We
learned that men buy their wives for 4 goats, does that mean women do not have
a choice in who her husband is?
While this is a practice in Malawi, I would not say
it is a common one. For the most part,
in my area, women have a choice in who they marry. In more rural areas I think that marriage is
used to gain things rather than true love.
Again, it depends on where you live in Malawi.
Are
women looked down upon in your area?
In the north, the tribes are very matriarchal so
women are not exactly “looked down upon” but respected. However, women still do most of the house
work, while taking care of the garden and the children while men often have an
outside job, or play a marble game called bao.
There is a lot of sitting under mango trees and I would say the
housework is uneven. This is purely my observation. I am not trying to disrespect anyone and I am not saying that it is every where. It's just something I've noticed and the girls in my girls' club have mentioned quite often.
How
are Malawians different or alike to Americans?
Well…that’s difficult. How about I just describe Malawians and you
can figure that out.
Malawians really enjoy American culture. They watch American movies (but they really
love kung-fu films), dress like Americans (mostly in the cities) and enjoy
American pop music, especially Celine Dion, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna,
Lady GaGa, and Michael Jackson.
Malawians are more communal than Americans. Americans like their privacy and hardly know
their neighbors, whereas Malawians adopt everyone into their family. They share food from the same plate and eat
with their hands. They attend funerals
of people they have never met.
Malawians are very dramatic. They love to act, sing and dance. They also laugh constantly at
everything. At funerals, they cry loudly
for days. Every experience is shared in
a public way.
Have
you seen any cool animals?
Monkeys live in the mango tree behind my house
(quite often I fight them for fruit) and last November I went to a Liwonde
National Park and saw elephants, zebras, water buffalo, hippos, crocodiles and
impala. One time I saw a black
mamba. Not cool. Animals don’t really roam around Malawi
freely. They stay in protected game
reserves throughout Malawi.
How
much has it changed your life?
It’s hard to say.
I’ll let you know when I get back and notice the changes. I think for one, I have changed my views on
aid work in Africa. Some of it works but
a lot of it doesn’t and it’s difficult to pinpoint the real issues behind
it. In any case, I feel more confident
in my abilities to do public health work and I know I am a strong, confident
woman after I have faced so many challenges.
What
is the main form of religion?
I think 95% of Malawians are Christian (Catholics,
Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterian, Evangelists). The other 5% includes a breakdown of Muslims
and tribal religions that I do not know much about.
Do
you have a lot of spare time?
Some days, yes.
I did a lot of reading in the beginning of my service. Now I’m trying to find time in my day to do
laundry, say good-bye and write reports for Peace Corps. I think my second year got a lot busier once
I found my groove in the village. I
think that is the way for most Peace Corps Volunteers and that is why Peace
Corps is a two year commitment – you find your way second year.
Are
the schools teaching the basics or do they venture into higher learning?
Typical classes in a public secondary school
include: English, Chichewa, Mathematics, Science, Bible Knowledge, Social
Studies, Agriculture, and Life Skills.
Some of the expensive private schools offer more classes, such as French
and Latin and computer skills.
At my school, there are four classrooms. Each classroom has anywhere from 120 students
(freshmen, Form 1) to 50 students (seniors, Form 4). Teachers walk from classroom to classroom
depending on the period. Students sit on
benches or share desks. Since there are
so many students, so few teachers and very little resources, it is difficult to
venture into other subjects.
