So much has happened since my last blog post - sorry if this is a little all over the place (it's just like my adventures here).
Early in September I was able to lead a session for the Teen Group that meets monthly at my health center. The children (age 10 - 20) are all living with HIV, and to suppress the virus they are to take antiretroviral medicine daily (ARVs). To help them remember I designed a lesson where everyone could draw a reminder picture to hang in their house. The picture had to have 3 parts: a written reminder, the time of day they take it, and a picture of something they like to do (because the ARVs will help give their bodies the strength to do it. As an example I drew a picture of myself playing banjo (most of my village knows I play banjo). About halfway through the session I walked around to see what people where drawing for themselves, but to my surprise I found most of the kids drawing themselves playing banjo. Its likely that the directions were a bit lost in translation, but I like to think maybe there are a few aspiring musicians in the teen group. In either case, the session was a success (I think) and I'm excited to see if the pictures actually made it home when I see them all next weekend!
I just got back from 2 and a half weeks away from site and have been readjusting to village life. I was away for In-Service Training in Lilongwe with my counterpart, Romeo, where we began planning the projects I will be undertaking in the coming months. I knew I was lucky to have such a great counterpart and friend before IST, but after going through a training together I'm even more excited to work with him in our village.
At IST we learned a lot of practical skills that I hope to apply in my area. The most inspirational session we had was actually an after-hours session we special requested. It was about permagardening and how to design a garden that will feed a family year round. I never thought I would be so inspired by a gardening talk, but wow! It seems so strange that I never learned about this in the states - the results from the method we learned about are incredible, and by using this technique we should only have to water TWICE a WEEK (which is crazy for Africa!).
While at IST I also was able to lead a session for the other health volunteers and counterparts about nutrition. My friend did a quick lecture about nutrients, a healthy meal, and treating deficiencies with food as medicine. After she finished I shared a project I have been working on at site - a collection of locally available foods complete with the nutritional value found in each. The response from other volunteers and their counterparts was fantastic, and I hope to complete the document soon to send across Malawi! To wrap up the session I lead a cooking demo where I taught how to prepare mexican style refried beans, lime rice, and okra. Sharing delicious food with PCVs, counterparts, and staff from the office was a great way to end a great day of training.
One final bit of news from IST - I am officially a committee member of VDAS (Volunteer Diversity and Support)! This is pretty big deal for me - only 4 out of 41 people from our group were accepted, and I am the only health volunteer focusing on peer support in VDAS. This means that I will be working with a small group of committee members to help improve the overall mental health of volunteers in Malawi! This is the first time I've held a position somewhat relevant to my college degree (psychology), and I'm excited to see where it takes me!
After IST over 90 PCVs from Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, and other african countries all met up on the shore of Lake Malawi to go to Lake of Stars. Words can't describe how baddly I was missing concerts back in America, but this last weekend was just what I needed. We stayed in a beautiful house right on the lake only a short drive from the venue. The days were filled with swimming, good food, good drinks, dancing, and great friends. Its an incredible feeling being surrounded by like-minded people all living so far from home. The music was a blast, and I left the show with new friends and even closer old friends. In America people say "work hard and play hard", and after working hard for 6 months in Malawi this was a great reward for us all.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but this will have to do for now! It's been 209 days in Malawi now - hot season is here and projects are beginning. Stay in touch!
Love from Malawi~
((prepare for a mass photo dump, enjoy!))
((prepare for a mass photo dump, enjoy!))
^ Obre and his younger brother Osama are two of my best friends in the village, and they make me look like a giant haha
^ Hebra, Mphasto ("Faith"), Prince, and Fred. For the short time they were on break from school they would come over almost every afternoon to play with the toys at my house and ask "what is this" about most everything I owned. Miss seeing them everyday, but I will see them again when they return from school!
^ Liwonde National Park is only an hour bike ride from my house, and home to over 600 elephants. On my friend's last night in Malawi we went to the park and got to watch nearly 100 elephants cross the Shire River as the sun set (they were only about 50 feet away so we had to be cautious!)
All the volunteers (Peace Corps and others) near Liwonde National Park getting ready to catch the boat back to town. Many of them have since gone home, but we had so many great adventures while they were here
^ Romeo and I working in our health center's garden. After IST I've learned there is a much better way of doing this, so we will have to re-dig it all...
^ Random art project from the other day - made a paintbrush from some rope, duct tape, and bamboo. The bucket is now a planter painted to look like the Malawi flag.
^ The Teen Group's finished ARV reminder pictures! (look for all the banjo's haha)
^ My example picture for the ARV reminder project.
^ Decided to try making a soda can stove - worked out super well! It's going to help me make coffee in the morning with all the increasingly frequent blackouts
^ Harvesting honey from Liwonde National Park. Usually beehives are kept on the ground, but because of the elephants we need to elevate them so they arn't crushed
^ Helping to build a beehive; I believe this is the 6th hive we will be hanging in the park!
^ I had to post this picture - this is my friend Obre. One of the most genuinely kind people I have ever met, and has helped me out countless times in the village. The day we took this he had just gotten a new hat and glasses and demanded a picture haha
^ I was sad to see my Chichewa language tutor move to Lilongwe, but when I was traveling to IST I got to stop and get lunch with him.
^ Thought this may be cool for people in America to see; if you want to make a long-lasting poster in Malawi we use maize sacks to draw on because they are more durable than paper. This was a poster my friend and I presented for our nutrition talk at IST.
^ Bringing mexican to food to Malawi! Honestly wasn't expecting it to go over so well, but everyone really loved it!
^ One of the coolest classes I've taken - we learned about permagardening and how to design a garden intelligently. Seriously, I'm never having a lawn again - this is so easy and you can have free food year-round!
^ For Lake of Stars we had a house (not shown) and a massive lawn to cover in tents. Behind the tents is Lake Malawi.
^ Friends and music
