Tuesday, June 24, 2014

BRRRR It's Cold??

Slight Dramatization 
We're about a month into winter now, the shortest day of the year just passed us, and it's a tid bit...chilly. We're in the mountains and it is gorgeous but man is it brisk! Of course, it's not cold and we are in no way in danger of a frost, however, we wear long sleeves and blankets during the day. We've been measuring the temperature with a meat thermometer left by the previous volunteers and during the day it is mid to upper 60's and at night it has been low 60's upper 50's....and it will only get colder.

This wouldn't be so bad if the wind didn't feel like it would blow the roof off and better for me if trousers were more acceptable. We are situated right in a beautiful valley, however, the wind gets caught in the valley and rips through everything. At times it can be quite miserable. For women, it is culturally more acceptable to wear skirts which is kind of a bummer when it's 57 and windy.

Every detail here seems to have some sort of cultural implication. There is no climate control, no window panes, no insulation, and no indoor fireplace...even the kitchen is outside. So, at night it gets cold. Many families have limited resources and this can include having few warm clothes and blankets. What this implies and what most seasonal calendars show is that in about 9 months the birth rate will be much higher than it is now!


Recognizing this trend can help curb the birth rate by introducing heavier family planning education. However, mostly it shows that most of the things/issues/challenges we will encounter here have a deeper root. These challenges and ways of life did not just appear one day. They have come from somewhere else. In reality, our biggest challenge will be discovering the cultural implications that lie beneath the surface. In the long run this will help our impact last much, much longer.  

Care Packages


We have received so many questions concerning what we could use in Malawi, what are we missing from the US and can it be sent to us. We are so touched that you miss us and are thinking about us! This post, in no way, means that we think you should send us something and we are in no way expecting anything on this list! E-mail and snail mail are super appreciated and loved!!

Tips for sending us mail:
Padded envelopes seem to send faster than boxes but boxes have just as high a retrieval rate. The postal system in Africa is not always honest. I would be very wary of sending anything that is expensive and many people find that it helps to wright some sort of religious quote or “religious materials” on the package so that it lessens the chance of being tampered with.
If you are sending multiple letters, numbering them will help us to know if all of them got to us. Sometimes delivery dates vary!! We have gotten some letters in 10 days and others in 20...

Items that would help to improve our health:
As we have mentioned before, finding fresh food here has been difficult so staying healthy is sometimes a challenge.
  • Soups with dried vegetables
  • Spices—Not Curry...we have a lot of curry. Paprika, pumpkin type spices, cardamom pods, anything not curry :) we LOVE spices!
  • Nutritional Yeast!--this can be found in most health food stores. It is delicious, high in B12, and tastes like cheese!
  • Herbal Teas
  • Women's Mulit Vitamins—These are invaluable! PC does not supply them and what we can find in country is poor quality. And a women's vitamin will have extra iron!
  • Emergen-C
  • Dried Fruit
  • Nuts—We have plenty of peanuts here
  • Seeds—Flax, sunflower, chia
  • Seeds for Planting—Mostly herbs, or something yummy from your garden :)
Items we miss or are for fun :)
  • Powdered Cheese
  • Chocolate!-- Reeses, Dark Chocolate, oreos (off brand too, not picky!) Chocolate!!
  • Fig Newtons
  • Granola Bars—or those yummy energy bars like LarBars or Earnest Bars
  • Fruit Leathers—or fruit snacks, these make great bubble wrap replacement ;)
  • Packets of Soy Sauce from restaurants and such.
  • Nutella
  • Anything with good taste!!
  • Pelleted Hopps for Beer Brewing
Items for Hygiene:
We can find some of these things here but they are expensive.
  • Liquid Castile Soap—Dr. Bronner's or Camp Suds are great brands
  • Tooth Brush
  • Waxed Floss
  • Small, Pretty Smelling Lotions from Hotels :)
For fun and leisure:
  • Books—read a good book? Let us know!
  • Media—flash drives full of movies, books, pictures, kid's recitals/awards!
  • Old Magazines :)
Make the Iwes (children) Our Friends!!:
All of these things will be destroyed, so please nothing expensive or high quality. Also, something expensive might lead to fights among the children.
  • Dollar Tree/Penny Toys—nothing big or fancy, party favor type toys. No guns or things that look like weapons.
  • Crayons/Coloring Books!!!!
  • Craft Supplies—Mostly glue and glue sticks
  • Little Individually Wrapped Candies—Hard Candies and such

Again, thank you all so much for the interest and wanting to show us support in this way. Please do not feel obligated to send us anything!!

And we promise if you write us, we will write you!!! :)



Friday, June 6, 2014

Shocked with Culture!


We knew this would happen. As you may have guessed, Africa is different than the US and rural Malawi is way different than we imagined! We felt pretty prepared for our living conditions. We've cooked plenty of meals over fire, bathed outdoors in 30 – 40 degree weather, and to U.S. Standards have lived relatively primitively and rural.
The things we were not so prepared for include lack of access to food, the nightmare that is transportation, and feeling really REALLY out of place. We will definitely expand on these topics in later posts.

The food variety here is grim. The cuisine consists of very few vegetables and a domineering presence of carbohydrates. The worst part is that our transportation to good food is expensive and hard to get a hold of! Our options are either walking an hour up and over a mountain to buy tomatoes, greens, and potatoes at the weekly market, or take a two hour matola (flat bed truck) ride at 3 or 4 AM to go into one of the cities to buy staples like rice, and vegetable variety like eggplant, or onion. The price of this trip is not very cheap either.

Then there is the 'Azungu factor.' We, for obvious reasons, STICK OUT! Everything we do is hilarious to Malawians. Especially when we speak Chitumbuka, that's a side splitter. The children especially get a kick out of us, or are terrified of us. It reminds me of the time I was the Easter Bunny at the mall. I was the best, most awesome stuffed animal in the world, OR the things nightmares are made of. Its a hard line to straddle. While I was helping at the clinic I literally made a child pee his pants from the shear terror of being near me... We stick out … one of these things is not like the other... hopefully these things will come to belong.

For all these things we were unprepared for, we also weren't prepared for the absolute beauty of everything! Even the grasshoppers are beautiful, and when flying are commonly mistaken for butterflies. Our site is nestled into the valley of about five mountains so the view is breathtaking.

As Malawians get to know us they stop asking for money and start inviting us for dinner. Everyone here smiles, and dances. It's awesome. While this does not feel like 'home' yet I think we can make it a nice home. We have already started a garden to combat our food dilemma and we are becoming more accustomed with the transportation. We may never NOT stick out, but I think we will slowly begin to fit in. There are certainly things we miss about thee US but there are things we are learning to LOVE about Malawi.
Passion Flower on our porch.