Patrick in Malawi

The Return

2009-07-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

As most of you already know, Elene and I are heading back to Canada in August after a few weeks of traveling a bit in Southern Africa (We're actually in Mozambique right now - the seafood is amazing!!!). We can't wait to see you all!!!! (We'll be in Toronto on the 1st, Vancouver on the 4th and then Ottawa around the 1st of September.)

However, I realize that most of my blogs have been about travel, so I thought I would add a couple of pictures from work for my final blog - yes, I did actually work. This is a quick one though as Elene and I are just about to head off to pick up our rental to then drive to Swaziland and then Kruger park in South Africa.

These pictures were taken from a presentation I made at the Tobacco Association of Malawi's (TAMA) AGM. I don't know if I've already talked about tobacco, but tobacco is the most important crop, by far, in Malawi - it is by far the most important crop for earning foreign currency. I was working for the Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) throughout my time in Malawi, but TAMA is a member of FUM, so I was, sort of, on loan for a month.

Yes, I worked for about a month for the main Tobacco Association in Malawi. As most of you are aware of how much I can't stand tobacco related products, this part of my work was a difficult one (at my first meeting with the E.D. there were a couple of packs of cigarettes laying on the table!), but also ended up being the most rewarding experience.

I conducted an evaluation for TAMA on their cooperative development program - for the last 5 years, TAMA has been organizing some of its members into cooperatives, and they wanted someone to take a look at the program to see how its going and to make suggestions on how it could be improved. So, I went around the country for a few weeks interviewing cooperative members and the TAMA staff responsible for the program.

It was the first time I really got to travel into rural Malawi and chat with farmers, so it was quite a different experience to everything else I had done to date. And, I was happy to see that the coops were doing fairly well and that the farmers really appreciated working in this manner. The work went really well and my presentation was well received. Overall, other than the fact I was supporting the cigarette industry, I enjoyed this project the most out of my work in Malawi.

As, this is my last blog, I thought I'd also include a few more pictures from our last adventure. Elene's family visited us - we travelled to Zambia and all around Malawi for about 3 weeks.

This is Mumbo Island that we kayaked to.

We were so spoiled - had our own chef - we purchased some fish and he cooked it up!

Little kids seemed to grab us from everywhere and not want to let go...mostly trying to get something from the Mzungu (the Malawian term for white person).

This is actually a random shot from the bridge that goes to the main market in Lilongwe.

And finally, a few pictures from our safari in Zambia. A few elephants charged our car and freaked the crap out of us - I have a great picture of Elene hiding under the seat of our safari truck!

We are really excited to see you all soon!!!!

Chickens - check one off the list of life goals!

2009-04-04T06:47:00.000-07:00

We're still searching for the right names for these chickens, so if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

I'll let my birds speak for themsleves!

Nalie, get away from my chickens!

Bunda Mountain (March 28, 2009)

2009-03-31T01:58:00.000-07:00

Another mountain that we hiked fairly recently.

This little guy was our body guard on the way up the mountain. Looks pretty serious doesn't he!

This is his brother. They were actually our "guides" up the mountain. At one point the older brother started singing, (he was singing for the entire trip) "I'm really thirsty, I'd really like some water, it'd be great if I had some water." After cluing in I offered him some water and he drank about a litre!

Malawians also like to climb these mountains as well, but for very different reasons. You can see the two unbrellas that are shading someone from the heat.

Malawians climb the mountains (shouldn't say all Malawians, but most) to be closer to god and to pray. There were about 30 people at the top of this mountain singing gospel and having a great time. They are really amazing singers - I guess they get a lot of practice!

Nkoma Mountain

2009-03-30T05:27:00.000-07:00

Nkoma Mountain is about 45 minutes outside of Lilongwe. Nkoma is actually a small town. It is a really beautiful area and the town has one of the larger mission hospitals. Actually, Nkoma, amazingly, has the only optomologist in Central and Northern Malawi (yes including the capital-Lilongwe). Elene had problems with one of her eyes and she had to come here. The doctor was great - we think South African, but maybe English - and of all things, he found a piece of organic matter, most likely maize related (typical), in her eye. After using a needle to get it out she was fine!

We hiked with a couple of friends of ours. Carrie (right) is a pediatrician working for a company called Bailer - they have clinics set up across Africa. She and her fiance have been in Malawi for about a year. Brandon (her fiance) works on a male circumscision project. Circumscision has been proven to help prevent HIV/AIDS transmission. Jess (left)is a PHD student also from the U.S. She conducts research projects in Malawi on savings and credit. Right now she is setting up and studying the impacts of a project that gives incentives for people to save some of their income.

Maize is everywhere!

We thought this was an amazing view, but wait until you see the top.

Don't I look so confident, but you should have heard all the complaints about the stinging nettles - I was the only one "brave" enough to wear shorts.

Here are the views from the top.

Our House

2009-03-30T03:59:00.000-07:00

This is our house looking from the back. The people who lived in the house before us put a lot of work into the yard. They essentially did everything - planting, landscaping, etc. Well, them and our amazing gardener - Harrison who also worked for them before us. Right now we have two mango trees, an orange tree, an avocado tree, two passion fruit vines, and a garden that includes maize (of course), sweet potato, carrots, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cucumber, hot peppers, different types of herbs and tomatoes. You gotta love a year round growing season! Look at that sweet RAV4!

This is a view looking from the side of the house to the back yard.

This is our staff quarters. Often staff will live in staff quarters like this with their families. We use ours for storage and for our staff to cook (we provide them with maize and tea) and put their things.

We had to give a try at growing some maize. Don't tell, but we're actually not too fond of Nsima (the main maize dish). You pretty much need to use fertilizer to grow maize in Malawi, which causes a lot of problems to the soil and it is very expensive (most can't afford it, so the government subsidizes).

This is a view of our front yard.

Lots of nice flowers.

This is our living room. A very minimilist strategy seeing as though the costs of things our here!

View to our front porch.

Our Kitchen, which houses most of our insect populations. We had at one point big ants, medium ants and cockroaches. We then sprayed to try to get rid of them. It worked! However like the drug trade, you get rid of one infestation and another takes its place - we now have little ants that have taken over as our kitchen mafia. Oh, and there are still many cockroaches.

Our roomate Heather and Vii - both also work for WUSC.

View from our kitchen door to the outside.

Our favorite place to sit and drink Malawi gin and tonics, to have Braiis, or to practice up on our Scrabble skills.

Tanzania (Xmas and New Years)

2009-02-04T00:12:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time...four friends went looking for an adventure.

We passed great obstacles...

(the speed bumps were much more of a problem than the giraffes and so were the Tanzanian traffic control police - I got a ticket for not having a fire extinguisher (what!?!?))

and shared the road the best we could.

We met some trouble makers along the way...

But also some of the wise and old.

But it wasn't all such a struggle, for the four of us in our not-so-spacious RAV4.

The picnics were plentiful...

and the scenes (yes, also the landscape) were to adore.

And in the end, after crossing waterfalls so magificent and great...

we basked at nature's wonders, as we found the great animals of the Tanzanian state.

Having survived the great adventure, what else coud we do, we naturally smiled...

and drank (and drank)...on the splendid beaches of Zanzibar - an island oaisis off the coast of Dar Es Saalam.

But through all this journey, the ups and the downs...

it was not only each other that kept away the frowns...

it was in fact the thoughts of snow, friends and family, but mostly importantly, Xmas at home.

Mangochi (December 5-7, 08)

2008-12-15T23:20:00.000-08:00

On Friday, December 4th, 2008, after months of looking, weeks of bureaucratic nightmares and an entire day of registration, insurance, vehicle checks and more bureaucratic fun, Elene and I finally got a car on the road. Oh, and it is an SUV, albeit a little one. Yes, everyone can now make fun of us hypocrites (I do really miss my bike!). I'll send out a picture of our mini RAV4 soon.

And so on Friday we also went on our first road trip - yahoooooo. Mangochi is about 3 hours South of Lilongwe and is on Lake Malawi - yes, another beach weekend! Here is a bit of a dorky picture of me in Mangochi.

And we weren't alone - our little RAV barely fit 5 of us, but we made it. Here are our friends Janna, Jules and their daughter Regan. Jules works with me at the Farmers Union, but is leaving back to Canada in January.

These are the "tents" we were staying in, which included electricity and beds. The main lodge cost about 120 CAD a night. These tents are usually where the "drivers" sleep, but at the right price, us Canadians will sleep anywhere!

Pretty amazing scenery!

Rough day on the beach.

Someone asked if we'd seen any animals yet, and this was the first big one. This "bug" was bigger than the size of my hand. There are a lot of interesting and scary critters in Malawi!

But we actually saw a few other more friendly creatures.

It was a great weekend and was really nice to get out of the Lilongwe. Hope everyone isn't freezing too badly in Canada (not trying to rub it in or anything)! Will send out another note before Xmas soon. Miss you all!

Salima (November 9-14, 08)

2008-11-25T04:08:00.000-08:00

The above video is a collection of pictures and video from Elene and my trip to Salima - a kind of beach town about 150kms from Lilongwe. We went to Salima for a workshop on cultural and language training, but as you will see we also had time for some beach fun. It was a great trip, although a little hot (around 40 degrees - parts of the lake felt like a warm bath!). Our Chichewa (the national language in Malawi) is a little better, but needs a lot of work! We also visited one of the biggest monasteries in Malawi, which is headed by a Quebecois priest who has been living in Malawi for about 25 years. He apparently is quite an interesting man (likes to swear and smoke a lot) and is doing a lot of work on promoting indigenous culture in Malawi. At the monastery we were given an amazing show of traditional Malawian dances, one of which is highlighted in the video. There are approximately ten main tribes in Malawi all with a very diverse set of cultural practices including dance. All of the dances have some sort of meaning or lessons attached to them (such as fertility, don't cheat on your wife, bring a new child into the world, etc.). Hope you enjoy the video!

NGOs, corn and sunshine

2008-11-04T03:40:00.000-08:00

Lilongwe is similar to what I imagined it would be, but also very different. I was told that when you arrive in Lilongwe (the capital of Malawi) you are more likely to see cornfields than skyscrapers. This is true – the building housing the ministry of finance is about 12 stories high, but I don’t think it quite reaches the Malawian sky. However, there do seem to be fields around every corner waiting for the rains to sprout this year’s crop of maize, the lifeblood of the Malawian diet and economy.

To my surprise, however, Lilongwe in fact is not just a rural town. Along with the dirt roads, shack-style vegetable markets and chickens running about, is a pack of another type of wild animal. Much more dangerous than most other wildlife that roams this city (including the nasty hyena), this rare species known as the SUV seems to fill every stretch of Lilongwe’s well maintained cement road infrastructure. Moving quickly across the road only seems to provoke their innate instinct to accelerate right towards you, so it’s best to keep a safe distance, rather than to approach these creatures.

Yes, in this rural town you actually get stuck in “rush hour” traffic quite regularly (which is shocking considering how really rural Lilongwe is!!). Lilongwe is not the business capital of Malawi. Blantyre, located in the South, is Lilongwe’s business brother. But, there is money in Lilongwe; not so much from business, but rather it actually comes from you – your Canadian aid dollars, along with the numerous other donors that are injecting significant resources into Malawi. The majority of it starts in Lilongwe with a local NGO (non-governmental organization), a government agency, an international organization, and of course, a massive SUV that is needed to navigate rural Malawi’s dirt roads. The presence of donor money, as seen through the acronyms (UNICEF, DFID, FUM, CDC, WV, etc.) decorating these SUVs is what I did not expect. The NGO that I’m working for – the Farmer’s Union of Malawi (FUM) – doesn’t own an SUV, rather we use two F150 pickup trucks. Sweet!

A little background. Malawi is a country of approximately 14 million people, most of whom are rural farmers. There are four major cities – Lilongwe (700,000), Blantyre (700,000), Mzuzu and Zomba, but as described above there are more corn fields than sky scrapers. Lake Malawi, covering approximately a third of Malawi’s geography, is the third biggest lake in Africa and the 11th largest in the world.

Maize – maize is life in Malawi. The vast majority of the population grow maize for food consumption (i.e. survival). Some do sell a little of their crop, mostly to buy fertilizer for the next year, but unfortunately 95% also have to purchase maize in order to feed their family for the year (i.e. Malawians are not food self-sufficient). Other important crops for the average Malawian include legumes – peanuts, beans, soy; cabbage; potatoes; and other simple garden vegetables. They will of course eat meat and fish if they have access to it, but most don’t.

Besides maize, tobacco is the 2nd most important crop for Malawians. Others that are significant include tea, sugar, coffee and paprika. But really, tobacco is Malawi’s lifeline to foreign currency. There is some manufacturing in Malawi, but not a lot and it is not a very significant part of the economy.

FUM (the Farmer’s Union of Malawi) is the local NGO that I report to, but I’m actually paid by a Canadian NGO, World University Services Canada (WUSC), which gets the money from the Canadian International Development Agency (i.e. you). FUM is a new organization that was started in 2003. It was the brainchild of the Swedish Co-operative Society which felt that farmers needed representation at the national level. FUM thus aims to represent farmers’ interests by conducting research on farming policy, advocating the national government, strengthening farmers’ ability to advocate at the district and village level, and strengthening farmer producer organizations across Malawi. Currently FUM has a staff of 11 – an Executive Director, two Program Directors, one Finance Directors, an IT Officer, two office assistants, a driver and three international volunteers (two of which finish in December).

My role with FUM is to help them answer a very simple question, “is FUM achieving what it aims to achieve (help farmers to have a greater voice in the decisions made in their country, and in turn, improve their standard of living) through its work in research, advocacy, and supporting farmer organizations. And if so, why? And if not, why not?” For the year I will be working in Malawi, I will support FUM to develop a monitoring system so that they will be able to be able to answer these questions, and others, on an ongoing basis. This will help them to improve the work they do, and to assure their constituents (i.e. farmers) and their donors (i.e. you) that what FUM is doing is worthwhile.

General Impressions of Lilongwe and Malawi (keeping in mind I’ve only been here for three weeks!):

Jobs in NGOs, not the private sector or government, are the most lucrative in Malawi. When Elene and I ask what people are studying – the vast majority say accounting. All NGOs need to account I suppose.

Friendly, friendly people who are willing to go out of their way to chat, or give you a hand (other than two very cute little girls that followed Elene and I yelling, “go home whites!”)

Really wealthy people in walled compounds with electric fences, dogs and guards. Yes, we will also be one of them soon. We found a great place that we move into January 1 – it has a nice high wall and we plan to employ two night guards. The house also has a beautiful garden, small staff courters and a great patio. Unfortunately, Malawi has one of the highest inequality ratings in the world, and this most definitely contributes to the high incidence of house break-ins – hence the need for fences and dogs.

Lilongwe is really expensive. Malawi is approximately the 5th poorest country in the world. A crappy car in Lilongwe costs about $2,000, but a half decent one costs at least $5,000. If you used a cell phone regularly, it would cost probably close to $5 a day. Food is pretty close to Canada, although you can get almost anything that you can get in Canada. A taxi is also about the same as in Canada, however, gas is about twice as expensive.

Malawians use unique surnames – Master, Precious, Brilliant, Fantastic and Blessings, but also more common names such as Fred – the manager of our hostel and also just a great, smart guy.

And the weather – pure sunshine!