Day 40
A day full of dread – traveling North on the lakeshore between my site to
Chintheche. To make a long story short,
I rode in exactly 7 vehicles round-trip for the 50 kilometers - no fun. However, on this adventure in horrific
transport, I was able to talk with the women’s group that makes chitenje
bags. It’s been a while since I visited
them and Beatrice, the head seamstress, and I have a pretty good bond. She calls me often asking my opinion on
certain items (mostly aesthetic opinions, I know almost nothing about business)
and we always joke in Tonga – one of the few people I feel like I can actually
communicate well with in Chitonga.
Anyway, I brought her some patterns for sanitary pads to start making
and selling in her community, as they often have scraps of fabric that can
easily be turned into something useful.
I also passed along a new idea for bags and a wrap skirt – all of which
were accepted with open arms. That’s what
I love about this group – so open to new ideas and always down for a chat.
After my visit with Luso la Manja, I continued on my way to Chintheche to
check my mail. The new mail man has
quite an attitude, but I walked out of the post office with three packages –
thanks Aunt Roxie, Aunt Nancy and Dylan!
When I got home, I devoured candy and treats and as always I am so
grateful for you thinking of me!
Day 41
Christian came to visit and after a restless day of sitting in the house,
we ventured to the market for a Coke.
Still not satisfied, we walked down the road that led to no where. It used to be the main highway (M5), however
they built a bridge over Dwambazi River and averted the highway away from the
village. The road ends abruptly one
kilometer from the market and drops you in the middle of cassava fields, but
the old bridge is still partly standing.
As the sun was setting, the bridge looked ominous above us. Christian led the way trying to get us back
to my house via some imaginary short cut and soon it was dark and we only had
my cell phone for light. We could hear
people speaking from dark houses but the road was not visible. We roamed with a purpose but found ourselves
aimlessly walking through fields until we finally turned back. Okay, so this seems simple and boring, but it
was nice to go for a walk, even at night, with Christian and with no purpose.
Day 42
My new friend, Mrs. Luhanga, has been extremely supportive of my future
plans of becoming a nurse. Today I
shadowed her at the hospital as she did antenatal care on patients. For mothers who were pregnant, we checked
vital signs and figured out how far along the mother was just by pressing your
fingers below the sternum to the top of the belly (where you could also
determine where the baby’s head versus the baby’s butt were located inside the
womb) AND I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat (it’s incredible – almost
inaudible by how quickly it’s beating – and to think a little life is inside
that swollen belly, so beautiful). While
in America they use an ultrasound, in Malawi we use this small plastic shoe
horn looking device and press it firmly beneath the women’s sternum while simultaneously
pressing our ears to the smaller end. Primitive,
but effective. For women who just gave
birth, Mrs. Luhanga watched women breastfed to be sure the baby was adequately
receiving milk. She answered any
questions the mother had and also felt inside the vagina to be sure everything
was healing properly. No one was rushed
through the office, everyone’s questions got answered and somehow I felt that
this healthcare system seemed to run much more smoothly in many cases than our
own back home.
Day 43
Market day with Ama is always my favorite day. All week we talk about the things we want to
buy and then when Friday comes along I make sure to look my best (or else Ama
Chimbutu will send me home to change or shower) and we meet up for our
ritual. We greet everyone, of course,
and Ama loves to chat loudly and with purpose.
She informs everyone that we are going shopping and we go shopping every
market day. When we get to the heaps of
clothes, many buyers are already sifting through the second-hand clothing, but
Ama Chimbutu elbows her way in and holds up clothes to show me. At this point in time, we know each other’s
styles and approximate sizes. Ama can
eyeball a shirt and tell me it will be too tight or too low-cut. I know that Ama likes black and white
patterns but also enjoys blue floral prints and long skirts. Ama knows I’m a polka dot, stripes, spaghetti
strap kinda gal. We toss each other
clothes “yesani, yesani” (try, try!) we yell over the music. I know when Ama likes the clothes when she
tries it on and starts slow-dancing while imagining where she will wear
it. When it’s not something she will
wear, she makes a face of pure disgust and tosses it back in the pile. We feed off the energy of the sellers who are
typically yelling the prices “three-hundredy...three hundredy...” and the other
women fighting to see what else is in the pile of clothes. When we have exhuasted a pile or the vendor
is just too picky with prices, we go on our way to the next pile. After a busy day of shopping, I treat us to
Cokes. Satisfied with the last drop, we
walk home with our goodies and I drop her off at her house. The sun is usually setting and I always think
“this is the happiest I could be” and it probably is.
Day 44
Another Pad Training at Dwambazi and this one is led completely by me. I was nervous to not have Elizabeth’s
expertise, but I also had my amazing girls’ group and counterpart to help lead
the morning’s training. We had 12 girls
come from the secondary school – they came in spurts, which made the women’s
health lesson difficult, however I was proud to step back and watch my girls
from GLOW take it away. They sat down
with each newcomer and gave a brief explanation of the female anatomy, menstruation
and then directed the girls in pad-making.
At first I was frustrated that everything was starting on-time, but then
I took a minute to admire my girls in action! This is what it’s all about –
guiding the girls to do something that they are passionate about and watching
them succeed. As always, they started
singing and chatting and the energy felt like nothing I’ve felt in a
classroom.
Day 45
Girls’ Club met and we talked about Goal Setting. Not my best lesson, to be honest, but the
girls were creative, as always. It’s
such a great joy to take them away from the boys and to see them in action –
they have so much charisma and they are so smart, if only they had confidence
to show off their awesome personalities all the time. That’s what Girls’ Club is all about.
Day 46
Christian and I met with the Village Savings and Loan ladies again and this
time we had a purpose. I sat back as the
women asked Christian business questions.
They gave him some of their business ideas (selling bundles of clothes
at the market, selling chickens or beef to lodges or boarding schools) and
Christian wrote out equations in the sand to show them how to make a
profit. The women seemed half-way
interested but still unsure of which business to pursue. At the moment, they have over 180,000k in a
box that is just sitting in one woman’s house.
At the very least, the ladies received some good advice that got them
thinking about more than just saving.
Day 47
My latest craze in Malawi is to be creative in the kitchen. Let’s face it, I couldn’t cook for the life
of me in the States, but here it’s a requirement and the tastier the food, the
happier I feel. To spice up the daily
routine, Christian and I made tacos, our favorite dish to make in Malawi, we
have a system to our cooking – I pre-soak and season the soya, he makes
tortillas (they’re always so perfect and round) and the pico. We grill onions and peppers (if available)
and I make Spanish rice. During these perfectly
tasty meals, we rarely speak, we only devour the amazing food before us.
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