Snacks

Eating has been tough here. This is what they consider a snack. This is a stick of birds?!!? that they take off the heads, roast and eat. Feet, neck, intestines and all. Really?? This is getting a bit too much for me. The funny thing is, these guys were "above" eating the mice on a stick. I can safely say I am so confused as to what is ok to eat here and what they say they would never eat. To me, it seems like it is a crooked line.

Babies reaction from a village

Coming Home!!!!

I am coming home!!!! I will be back in the US on July 22nd. This is the kind of reception that I have gotten used to, and this is what I expect when I get home. I am looking forward to seeing my family and friends and eating 78,683,682 pieces of a NY pizza.

This was a video I took this week when visiting one of the Orphan Care Centers.

World Cup!

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I ended up in South Africa and found my way to a World Cup game. Here is some footage of the Australia/Serbia game I went to on Wednesday night. What I found most interesting is that I truly believe some people at this game were more interested in playing their vuvuzela than watching the game. I do not even think some of them knew a game was going on....they just came to play their vuvuzela. I probably would have been right there with them if this had not been my first WC game.

A Chieftress

Just me and the chiefs at a village meeting in the third picture. I am loving this front row treatment and expect the same treatment when I return home.

A few "where's waldo" for you.

Always a nice warm welcome

Again, this is something that never gets old. Anytime we go into a village, there are a group of kids who end up chasing the car and following me all around. No matter how tired or exhausted I am, this is something that always brings a smile to my face and happiness to my heart. This is always how I get welcomed and sent off. So cool.

Check out the baby's face in the front. This is classic and always is the expression from any baby. I have this sick sense of humor where I get the biggest kick out of it and it makes me laugh so hard when the kid starting crying. Whenever I see this expression, I zero in on the kid until he starts freaking out. Again, this is something that does not get old. Kinda like a bonus to the whole experience.

My work here

This week, I went to one of the villages to interview one of the orphans living there. This is how things work here. After sitting down to talk to the girl, a bunch of kids just came and sat around us listening quietly. It was hard not to get distracted by them - they are so cute. The only challenge is once I smile at one, I have to make sure I look at and smile at each one as I do not want any of them to feel left out. It is hard work here. :-) I love these moments. Interviewing kids about their life has been a very eye-opening, emotionally challenging and rewarding experience. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity.

The Good Life

One of my favorite things about Malawi is that there is always someone to tend to your needs. If you have a job in Malawi, you have to have a "house boy/girl" to do all of your chores. The cooking, the cleaning, the laundry. It has been such a nice luxury for me. I just hand over my clothes to the house boy and they come back clean and pressed. I just tell him what I want for dinner, he sets the table, serves me and then I just get up when done and he cleans the dishes. It is awesome! I have really been enjoying this. When watching TV, I just ask for tea and a scone and bam! look what I get. I could really get used to this. The reasons things are like this is two-fold. First of all, labor is cheap. From what I understand, these guys make about $35/month. But more interestingly, it is because everything is so labor intensive; you cannot have a job and accomplish these things. Laundry has to be hand-washed and pressed. They have a certain bug that can lay eggs in your wet clothes so they HAVE to be pressed to kill the eggs. As for preparing meals - forget about it. It can take forever as everything is made from scratch. Not to mention the time spent walking to the market to purchase these things. Cleaning - forget a dishwasher.

Being a house wife has a whole new meaning here. I could handle it in the US, but here, no way. It is way too much work. I cannot even take care of myself here.

Breaking Rocks

I have written before about people breaking rocks as a job. Well, here it is. All day, everyday. Can you imagine? They take them from big boulders and break them down to a powder to use as cement. In this picture they are breaking down the rocks to make a cement covering for a hole in the ground to go to the bathroom in. This is one thing I will not miss when I go home. Not for one second.

A Chicken Business

So, this guy has 19 other friends in the back. After meeting one of the kids we have in our program, I wanted to see if there was someway in which to help his family. He lost both his parents in one week last year and is now living with his grandmother. Most days, they struggle to get something to eat, let alone have any of their basic needs met. After meeting and working with the family for over 2 months on this, we have finally have started a chicken business. We purchased 20 chickens that will lay eggs for the family to sell. I can seriously say that I have learned so much about chickens, how to raise them, and how to run this business that I could start this up myself. It has been an exciting learning process and I am looking forward to having this on my resume.

It was a trip picking the chickens up - they just hand them to you one at a time. Soooooo hilarious. And then they just hung out in the back of the truck. A few were adventurous like this guy; although I did not really like this, I did respect his adventursome spirit. But, I totally freaked out when he was gutsy enough to find his way to the front of the truck between me and Mike. I had to laugh at myself after the fact as you would have thought there was a rabid dog next to me the way I was yelling at Mike to stop the car. I am not the best with animals, and I am ok with that. Keep them in the trunk for all I care.

Game Time!

A little game here......I am posting this video and will tell the story in a few days. I want you to watch it and guess what is happening.

A. This is dinner.

B. This guy has 19 other friends in the back ready to make us some money.

C. This guy won me $50 in a chicken fight.

D. This is Mikes pet chicken hanging out with us for the day.

This video just makes me giggle watching it. I cannot get enough of it.

Irrigation pump

We visited one of the villages where we are supporting their winter harvest. They use an irrigation system because we are now in the dry season. Pictured is the irrigation pump. The crazy thing is, at home, I paid $150 a month to do this in a gym. Who would have ever thought that I could be losing weight AND productive at the same time. Now if I could only work making money into this, I would really be onto something here.

On a side note, I looked up from the planting to see these two guys on the irrigation pump pictured above. It is almost comical how anti-gay they are (sometimes I feel like I stepped back into 1952), but then they pull stuff like this. I have seen more straight men holding hands here than I have seen in the Castro or Chelsea. They think it is odd for a girl and a guy who are dating to hold hands. Go figure.

Waging War

Now I am a big believer in the old saying, "don't let the truth get in the way of a good story", but folks, I ain't lying here. I went to buy my friend a birthday card, an/;d for every birthday card, there were 100 "with deepest sympathies". Now as I have said before, I am a self-proclaimed birthday grinch, but I just did not feel the "with deepest sympathies" was totally appropriate, even though that is exactly how I feel with each uptick of that damn number.

I cannot even begin to tell you how much time Malawians spend going to funerals, visiting someone in the hospital or visiting someone suffering from malaria. It is pretty shocking. I have not gone through one week without hearing about a funeral or someone I know down with malaria.

I spend at least one day a week taking one of our kids to the clinic to get tested for malaria (we are at 100% at this point) or visiting someone suffering from malaria. I have been here long enough to see some kids on their second bout of it since I arrived. I mistaking started to think of it as if it were something like the flu as everyone I know has had it since I have been here. I had a huge reality check when we visited one of our boys in the thick of it. It was awful! I was convinced he was dying and of course mike was saying he's "just ok". I was wondering if we were looking at the same thing. He could barely breath or recognize who I was. To add to the disturbing scene, there was no adult there to take care of him in this small, dark and dusty room without any ventilation. I left very concerned, disturbed and more religious about taking my malaria prophylaxsis. I am now deathly scared of malaria, and I would say rightfully so. You should see how neurotic I have gotten when I see a mosquito. All I see is death flying around and I cannot relax until I get him first.

Pictured is how you need to sleep if you want to stay alive. If only I had video of me waking up at 3am with one in my net. It gets crazy. I would definitely again, be an Americans Funniest Videos winner no doubt.

A Shout Out!!

I just wanted to take this chance to thank everyone who has sent me a message on my blog or personally sent me an email about my blog. Your words have meant more to me than you could ever know. Thanks for all the love, support, and kind words. I am trying to pay it forward.

My new project

Currently I am working on a proposal to start a HIV+ Teen Group. Meeting with the kids, writing the proposal, researching how to run an effective and productive teen group for positive kids. This has been a very eye-opening and emotionally draining experience to be honest with you. I sat down with 5 kids last week to talk to them about who they are, their lives, when they found out they were positive and what their dreams and aspirations are. One of the kids is a lot tinier than he should be. He is about the size of my 5 year old nephew but twice his age. As he sat in the oversized chair, swinging his legs around as they were not even close to touching the ground, smiling like he just won an award, I found it so hard to ask any question related to him being HIV positive. As I would ask, I would stop myself, look at the translator and say "wait…you are sure he knows he is positive"? I found it very hard to even mention the word HIV. I stumbled around these questions, thinking how "unfair" this all is, wondering how he could even understand what he is up against. One thing I do know is that none of these kids knew anyone else who was positive. That was a killer too. How are these kids going through this without having someone else to relate to or understand what they are going through?

As we were driving home, all I could think of was "there is no way I can leave here anytime soon". How could I leave here after meeting these kids, who now have names and the cutest faces, and realizing how much they need a group like this and how much I would like to be a part of starting it for them.

A Day of Christine

I had a day of Christine the other day. A day of relaxing, a massage, pizza, getting my hair done and an afternoon glass of wine. Oh how I love these days and have not had one in over 3 months. It was great, until I started thinking about the economics of it all.

A massage is shockingly cheap here, whereas books are extremely expensive. For one massage here, I could buy two books. Whereas in NYC, one massage could buy me twelve books. A massage in Manhattan can put ten kids in school for a year. Sometimes I can get so wrapped around these numbers I just want another glass of wine. "Waiter!…"

…..there goes another year of school fees for this kid.

So this is how things work here. Mike translates everything for me. I find it interesting that for every 100 words they say in Chichewa, I hear 25 in English. After a listening to Chichewa for 5 minutes, Mike will look at me and say "they are saying that they are happy you are here". hmmm.....i am pretty sure something else was said there, but oh well. The second picture is probably me doubting he is telling me everything.

Today is Not Common

I am currently reading a book by Jeffery Sachs titled "The End of Poverty". He talks about the need for developed countries to help those countries suffering from extreme poverty. He talks about economic development being a ladder in which these countries suffering from extreme poverty need help getting their foot on the first rung of the ladder, and that the only way they can do this is with the help of developed countries. They cannot do this on their own. The way I envision this is thinking about when I was a kid. When one of my friends wanted to climb a tree, we would give them "ten-fingers" to assist them in their first step to get into the tree. This is the same principle needed by these countries and it is needed at the ground level in these rural villages where the tree is out of reach. The thought is that if we can give them "ten-fingers", they can climb the tree themselves.

I feel so lucky and fortunate to have been able to witness and be a part of this process this week. Pendulum Project and Face to Face AIDS Project just gave a grant to a rural village, Chadika, to start a food security program for 40 people either impacted by HIV/AIDS in some capacity, or families taking care of orphans. They participated in a two day training on what it means to own a successful business. They have each been given a plot of land to grow maize for food as well as to sell some for a profit. I was so proud to witness this. How cool to be part of something that could potentially change the quality of these peoples lives who would otherwise not be able to do this?

As I was leaving, they were singing a song to me. Mike asked if I knew what they were saying. I think he sometimes grossley overestimates my understanding of Chichewa. They were singing that " Today is a special day, Today is a happy day, Today is not common". I could not have said it better myself. I felt the same way.

I have gotten a lot of questions about how long I am going to stay in Malawi. My original plan was to come here for two months, then travel through SE Asia. I have been here three and cannot think about leaving yet. How do you walk away from something where everyday is not common, everyday is a special day and everyday is a happy day?

Here is a picture of the training where they are learning about what a business is.

My new game

Just me playing more of my new game "repeat after me". I do not really see this one getting old, especially when I can get them to say "Christina you are great" over and over again.

A Malawian Car seat

This is how kids travel here. No joke.

One thing I have gotten used to is that whenever I hold a baby, I inevitably end up with pee all over me. The sacrifices I make for a picture. I wonder if politicians would still "hold babies" if I passed them one of these kids with chronically wet pants.

A Malawian Taxicab

I am pretty sure that I pay more in tip for a five minute NYC cab ride than this guy makes in a 30 km trip.

Let's hope the middle finger is not universal.

Hilarious

We were at Kang'oma village on Saturday with our Teen Group teaching them how to perform drama. We meet with them in a small dark and dusty hut. I needed a moment by myself, so I decided to go to the car for some time to myself. Just to let you know, it is something that I rarely get here. It is nice most of the time, but for someone who really values her alone time, this can get tough. I have completely lost my independence here. Someone is always driving me, with me, or talking to me when I am alone.

So I went to the car, the door was open, and next thing you know, 25 kids are squeezing themselves in the door to talk. You cannot get a clear view of how many kids there are, but I am sure you can hear them. I had the best time making videos of this.

As you watch this, keep in mind that these kids do not speak any english.

New Recycling Policy

Where the Malawian carbon footprint is about the size of Bigfoot due to all the exhaust from old cars and trucks, they make up for it in recycling old materials. Everything that is used has two, three or even four lives. I am pretty impressed with how inventive they can be. Do you know how many toys an empty water bottle can be? They can make the coolest toy truck out of old wires and cans for tires. Now I don't know about tetanus, but the toy sure looks cool. Here is a picture of a kite made out of a garbage bag and shopping bags. I am willing to bet that this garbage bag had another life in between carrying trash and catching wind. Maybe our new recycling policy should be to send all of our trash to Malawi. They could probably come up with some really cool inventions.

Bizarro World

It has been a long time. Sorry sorry. I have been busy living life here and have not had a chance to get online. My bad.

Sometimes I forget that I am in such a foreign place, and then there are others that is glaringly obvious. Here is a picture of us just hanging out in a friends front yard in a bus this weekend. At first, it seemed so random and funny to me, and then I thought, if I was hanging out with a group of friends at home and there was a bus in the yard, this might happen as well. I don't know anymore. I cannot tell what is normal and what is bizarre. I will say I do know I am not at home when hanging out and my friends get a plate of meat to eat. When I ask what it is, they nonchalantly tell me that it is a dove. Whoa. This might be pushing it for me. Should I tell them that a dove is the sign of peace and love? Or when they cook up a chicken and eat every part of the chicken, feet, nails and all. Gross. Now I can appreciate eating all of an animal, I actually have a lot of respect for that, but I think I draw the line at the long, dirty, crusty nails.

A lot of people have asked what the night life is like here. Outside of the fact that they can move their bodies in ways that we could not even dream of, it is not that different. Just imagine hanging out in a dive bar. They dress the same, listen to the same music, and drink just as much. The only thing that gets a little annoying is that I do not think they make toilet paper, soap or hot water in Malawi. That is not that easy to get accustomed to. Oh well....TIA.

Take me Home

Now I do not understand Chichewa, but I am pretty sure he is yelling at me to take him home in my bag. He has a good argument.

Kinda like Church at home

I just figured out how to post a video. I am awesome. Alleluia. This is of a church service. Reminds me of a Catholic service in the states. :-) It is short as it takes forever to upload. Please note my front row seat. Nothin' but front row here....

Finding my long lost love....

After sitting down and talking with each kid we have on scholarship, I was amazed to hear that none of them have school books or access to them. Apparently no one in Malawi does. They learn from writing down what the teacher teaches in class, and then they study the notes. Crazy. I just think about how many bad teachers I have had in my lifetime. At first, I felt like crying each time I heard this from a kid, but then I just got fired up. This is just ridiculous. How can you expect kids to pass and get a good education like this?

So, I have spent the last month and a half trying to get my hands on some text books for our kids to be able to use. I am not exaggerating when I say I probably spent more time in the last month and a half trying to get these books than I did studying my entire senior year in college. These were harder to get my hands on than a Cabbage Patch Kid was in 1984. I am not kidding. We can not even get the books for Form 3 and Form 4 (11th and 12th grade) as they have not finished printing them yet. Um….we are more than half way through the school year. I asked why they are not out yet and they said because the demand is so low. Hmmm….I am definitely not an economics major, but wouldn't demand be a little higher is the supply was there at the beginning of the school year as opposed to the end? Sometimes I just give up on trying to understand. I have been learning to just let things go.

Hippos - Guppies - Potato - Patato

I went to Lake Malawi for the first time last weekend. It is the third biggest lake in Africa. It looks more like an ocean to me.

I have found that most Malawians do not know how to swim. I found it a little funny when we got there at night and one of the guys was scared to go in up to his calves. I kept laughing at him. Well, the joke was on me when the camp guard came down to the lake and asked if I would not go near the water as the hippos feed there at night. What the!?! Seriously?!?….that would have been nice to know that hippos live in the lake - thanks guys. They are only the most dangerous and territorial animal in the world. It reminded me about how nonchalant Australians are about having crocodiles in the water when swimming. Um….I don't even like swimming in a lake with guppies swimming around me.

I took this picture early in the morning. I was hanging out on the rocks and looked over to find a family of monkeys on the wall of the campsite. Well hello. I wish someone would have told me there were monkeys hanging around. I just think what would have happened if I greeted one on my way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. You know the scariest thing I worry about running into while camping at home is a squirrel. A little warning here would be nice. Maybe that is too much to ask.

Game on!

I have a new goal. Actually two. First one is meet President Bingu second is to meet Madonna. I think I can do it. I feel like I can do anything here. :-)

First off, it is soooo funny how I am famous here. When I visit a school, they think I am Madonna, and when I visit a refugee camp, Angelina Jolie. No joke! I am really getting a taste of what it feels like to be famous. Not just the reception from the common folk, but I get rushed into a meeting to meet whom I want, and everyone clears the way. I am in for a huge reality check when I get home.

Last night, I went to the Irish ambassadors house for St. Patricks Day. I dare someone to one-up me on this one. :-) I almost cried when the ambassador was talking about Ireland, its people and the history. These are my peeps. I felt very at home. I felt both of my grandmothers giving me their blessing.

I met this Minister of Women, Gender and Children Affairs last night- pictured above. She is the equivalent to someone in Obama's Cabinet. I am one level away from my goal and plan on accomplishing this one. The only people that believe I can do this are the ones I work with everyday here. They have my back. I have bets going with some friends here and I plan in it paying out big time.

HIV/AIDS Teen Group

Saturday we had our second meeting. My first week here, Ken with Face to Face AIDS (the organization that works closely with Pendulum Project and who is responsible for a lot of the funding of projects here) got a grant to start an Teen Group in a village to educate the youth on HIV/AIDS. I mentioned this group in an earlier blog. While here, Ken asked me if I would do the teaching and training on HIV/AIDS. Of course, I jumped at the chance, but was getting a little concerned as we approached the meeting. I have never taught teens about HIV/AIDS, let alone in a culture so different, where a majority of the kids are illiterate. I have found it tough enough to talk about HIV/AIDS to people at home as it is such a complex disease and I never know how specific or general to be to be able to be understood.

It went extremely well if I do say so myself. I divided the 15 kids into 2 groups and asked one to discuss and write down everything they know about HIV and the other to discuss AIDS. I have found at home, most people do not know the difference.

Before I started teaching, I pulled Mike aside as the groups were meeting and asked him if I could talk about oral and anal sex. I wanted to make sure I was being culturally sensitive. He looked at me and told me that they do not "have that here". Oops, my bad. I totally forgot. Neither Malawi or Iran has gays. Good talk, good talk.

Seeing as how they learn through drama, I found some good exercises online to demonstrate about the virus and the immune system. Not an easy task as they do not even know what a cell is.

not the best picture, but i wanted to give you an idea. oh and that is mike translating for me

E-A-G-L-E-S

A little background. Just like many people from the US think Africa is one big country, I do not think people from Malawi know that there are states in America. It is the United State of America as far as they are concerned. I have learned to say that I am from America. Saying I was from New York City just was not connecting here.

So I found it soooooo funny last night when we were going out and the guy who was driving said " I am driving like I am from New Jersey". I thought it was sooo funny. I asked him if he even knows where New Jersey is. How did the word get over here that Jersey drivers are so bad.

This picture was taken at one of the refugee camps. Again, I found myself all alone doing the E-A-G-L-E-S chant. Come on people.

WE ARE!!!

Here is a picture of the chickens. He has about 15 chickens hanging from his handle bars. They have caught onto the fact that I am not a true vegetarian here. Busted. I had to confess that I could not get this image out of my head.

Love the PSU shirt, although he did not respond when I yelled "WE ARE" out of the car. Must be a fair weather fan. :-)

Kate Moss

I have gotten a lot of questions about what I have been eating. For the first month it was pretty much nothing. Chips and a coke. Thank god for Lays. After the first month, I started to become a little more daring. It is funny how hunger can make that happen. Although I will say I am full on back into being a vegetarian. No question. I just cannot shake the visual of the man in the street holding 2 live chickens upside down by the legs in each hand. Or the live goats tied down on the back of the bike. I saw a goat fall off of the back of a bike yesterday. Very disturbing. Good thing I am not an animal rights activist or I would go crazy here. So, no meat for me here. I have been surviving on ramen noodles and a roll they call an Obama. I have a new appreciation for Obama. Love him or hate him, I am loving him here. I might come home looking like Kate Moss if it were not for these Obamas.

When I am daring, I eat Nsima. It it made from corn that is ground down to a flour and then boiled in water. It comes out looking like piles of Play-doe and tastes something like cardboard. You take pieces of it off an use it to each the veggies and beans. All with your hands. It has not been the easiest thing for me. Both mentally and physically challenging. The one good thing is I probably eat about a quarter of what I would at home because it just gets too hard to pick up the food with your hands. I usually give up half way through. Thank god for Lays chips, Obamas and coca-cola.

I will post a picture when I have a better connection. It has been frustrating the last week. As they say, TIA, This is Africa. Ho hum.

It's Official!

I have adopted!. I know my family and close friends were thinking I would come home with a baby. Well, it's official! I have found 2 boys whom I just adore. Meet Albert and Calvin. Look at me already through the diaper stage. Heck, I am almost through those teen years as well. Thank god….that was tough. :-)

When my 6 year old nephew recently asked me if I could have babies so that he can be friends with them, I am not sure that this is what he had in mind.

Let me tell you a little bit about Calvin. Albert will follow in another blog. I met him on my birthday as we were going to visit a boy on scholarship - Calvin was there to greet us as well. He was "living with Mara". I assumed it was her nephew. He was very charming, well dressed and just so polite to me. And he continued to be every time I saw him. Always so considerate and thoughtful. He seemed so put together, so when I sat down to ask him about his story, I was shocked that he had one with so much pain and tragedy. His mom died when he was 3 months old, his father committed suicide when he was 14, he was left with his abusive step-mother when finally his uncle agreed to pay for his schooling. He failed to pass his senior year MSCE - he said they family was quarreling with him weeks before the exam and he could not focus. His uncle kicked him out and told him to go back to the village. He was so devastated that after all of his hard work, he was in the same place he would be if he never attended school. So in Dec '09, he tried to commit suicide himself the same way his father died. Whoa…pretty intense. The craziest thing is you would have no idea this boy has been through and lost so much. There is nothing about him that can tell you any of this as he is always so kind and thoughtful and "happy".

He has worked his way into my heart and I do not see him leaving.

For those who cannot hear me talking in this, I am just talking about adopting them in my heart. Just to be clear. :-)

In these pictures, Albert is on your left, and Calvin is on your right.

HIV/AIDS Teen Group

I had another amazing day this weekend. On Saturday, we went to Kang'oma Village to start up a Teen Group focused on learning about and educating their peers on HIV/AIDS. Just to give you an idea of how into it these kids are, they had already picked the chairman, vice-chirman, and secretary and all the the dates to meet for the next 8 months before we left after initially talking to them about potentially having this group. We were not able to meet them on the first date they had picked, so they met without us. How adorable? Have you ever heard of teens being so eager to get together to discuss HIV/AIDS. I asked one of the boys what they did at the meeting and he said " we figured out with did not know anything about HIV/AIDS". I did not realize the depth of what he meant until we met the group. Most if not all of the kids in the group have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. They have lost a mother, father, both, or are living with someone who is infected. They have been first hand witnesses to the devastation that this disease can cause a person, a family and an entire community. I think that is why I was so shocked to hear from them that they did not know anything…..what is HIV/AIDS, how do you get did, how do you keep yourself from getting it, can you get married if you are positive, can you get it taking care of someone who is positive, is there anything that can even be done if you find out that you are positive? I was just blown away with how hungry these kids are for information, yet have none. Not to mention a lot of what they do hear, is all hearsay. Amazing. Truly amazing when you can visibly see the impact this disease has had on their community. I was so moved with how big of an impact this could have on them and on their community. Being educated on this disease can have such a big impact on reducing the rate of infection and reducing the death rate. This is the stuff that can make a difference. I feel so lucky to be able to be a part of this.

This is a picture of the Teen Group after we met.

Just hanging out a my place

I had such a fun day here today! It is Friday, and on Fridays, we "knock-off" at noon. I love it! I am going to try and bring this back to the states. It is so fun in the office because there are people constantly stopping by. I would say at least 15 people stop by in a day. It has really helped me to get to know people and see them frequently. After work, we went to my place and meet another friend there. It was so nice just to hang out. Just like with friends at home. I find it so funny how a sense of humor can be so universal. I am really enjoying this as I can totally be myself. We laugh a lot. I was also just sitting there taking note of the fact that where ever I go, I end up hanging out with a bunch of guys. I am not sure why this always happens, but I really enjoy it. It always makes for a good time.

Happy Friday!!!

Let's get down to the nitty gritty

It has been a few days since I last updated primarily because I could not bring myself to write about what I am seeing and hearing, but at the same time I could not avoid writing about it; it has been too much of my experience here.

I have been caught by surprise with how much I have been connected to, intrigued by, moved and impacted by are the kids in their teen years. They are old enough to know the tragedies they have gone through and the struggles they must face, but young enough to be needy of love, guidance, support, and to hope for a better future. They pretty much represent everything that touches near and dear to my heart. I have struggled to write about this part of my experience because the stories sound so trite and trivial when I put pen to paper. I have not even been able to write about some of this stuff in my journal yet.

How do you even begin to understand what a child must be going through who lost both parents last year, goes to school most days hungry, oh yeah, without books and when I asked why he failed to pass last year… because you know…"the funerals". And it is just story after story of this. I have met with most kids on scholarship at this point and it has been almost too much to process. I cannot even understand what all of this must be like to go through for each kid, let alone write about it.

The more I ask them, the worse it gets. How old were you when your father died? and your mother? who do you live with now? does your Aunt breaking rocks make enough money to support you and your 4 other siblings? do you have anything to eat? how many days a week would you say you go to school hungry? when was the last time your saw your sisters? and how are you studying without any books?

oh, you walk 3 hours to school when some teachers do not show up, ok, so you cannot study because you cannot afford the candle needed to study after you do all the housework in a home with no electricity, oh ok….so you are 18, never went past the first grade because you had to stay home and take care of your dying mother….ok, and then you you took care of and watch your father die….and now you are….ok….taking care of your 5 siblings as you are the first born. Without an education or hope for one.

Some of these meetings I go through without letting too much in, but most of the time, I cannot stop that. And there are times where just one of the things one of the kids says is just too much for me to handle. And then I get more upset thinking about how I am crying just listening to what they are going through….how do they even feel or go on living through it.

Wow….this is the first time I have really let myself cry cry since I have been here. Good thing I am in a nice and busy hotel lobby. Sweet. Just another day.

My Hut

Contrary to what most people might think, I am not living in a hut. At the risk of losing some credibility, I am posting some pictures of where I am staying. :-) I even have a tv, which only carries CNN and the Hallmark channel. I have never been more up on current events.

Just waiting to see Tiger....I am just hoping they are carrying him on CNN. I am craving a good scandal here. I need something a little more mindless. I am pretty bummed about the Olympics as it looks like they do not have any rights to any of the video. I am catching the Olympics in still shots. It just doesn't have the same impact. :-)

Doreen

So it would not be entirely true to say that I am making ALL babies cry here. It is only sometimes. :-) We visited one of the Orphan Care Centers on my birthday and when we pulled up there were 2 kids there - the others must have been in school. One of them just happened to be the one who I dubbed "the cutest girl in Malawi" the first time I met her - her name is Doreen. This was the second time meeting her and I was psyched that she was there. When I got out of the car she came walking up to me, arms stretched out wide for me to pick her up. I kept telling her how cute she was and she was just smiling so big and laughing at everything I was saying. It dawned on me that she had no idea what I was saying. I found it interesting how praise, love and attention sometimes have nothing at all to do with what you actually say. It is how it is said.

I carried her into the meeting with the director and he said…"oh…she is better" and I asked if she had been sick. He looked at me funny and I said "oh…she is scared of white people". I was so touched and honored that she had changed her view when only meeting her one time before.

Thanks to my most favorite little people in this world, my nephews, I came with a box full of children's books to give out. I had not given any out yet as where you find one kid you find fifty and I don't have that many books. So I was so excited to be able to give her and another little boy two books from my nephews - Nemo and Monsters Inc.. Who doesn't love those?! Right after I gave it to them, they sat on the wall and just flipped through the books staring at each page. I loved watching it. I have seen enough here and spent a lot of my leisure time reading autobiographies of kids growing up in Africa to know how coveted a book is. Something so hard for us to understand. Add that to the list.

Just making people happy here….one baby at a time

This is just one of the reactions from the babies in the village. The baby was sitting pleasantly on the ground when I came up and he burst into tears and begged another little girl to pick him up. Not really used to white people around I guess. A few moments later I was coming around the corner of a hut and I "bumped" into another little baby walking. I would have scared anyone, but this kid freaked out! I mean freaked out!!! I have never seen such terror in someones face before. Like he had just run into a ghost. (save yourself the time on making a comment on this….I can already hear them) It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I just wish I had it on video. Come to think of it, I would have been an America's Funniest Videos winner no doubt. Maybe I will just start popping out of nowhere and film little kids reactions. Classic. Wait, I might be onto something here……seriously.

Bring it on 35!!!!

Today is my 35th birthday! It has been a great day. A birthday unlike any other and one which I have always wanted. I am enjoying the day personally, treating myself in ways (an extra granola bar if I would like!), and just enjoying each moment of the day for myself. I purposely planned this adventure to fall on my birthday as I wanted to greet 35 in a special way; open to the future and the adventure of life while enjoying where I am in the moment. I feel that I have accomplished this and I am so happy about this.

I received a call from my parents at 9am (2am their time!!) They woke up to call me and sing Happy Birthday to me! How cute are they? You just never out grow somethings. My family also sent me with a birthday card from each of them to open on my birthday. They said the nicest things. Such a cool way to start a birthday.

It has been such a great day as I did not tell anyone that it was my birthday. I just wanted to make sure I did things I wanted to do and just take note of the cool things that happen to me in a day. So many cool things, and soooo many kind people. The kids just topped it off. I just heart them all. I am a self proclaimed birthday grinch (as well as a new years eve grinch) so I feel so lucky to spend such a huge birthday in anonymity. Who gets to do that? You have to go to Africa to be able to get away with something like this. I consider this my birthday gift.

Some of the stories of today will follow in another blog. I am heading to enjoy a glass of wine or two! :-P

PS. I decided to post a picture of the cutest boy in Malawi today. I just can't handle posting another picture of myself right now.

Aubrey

This might just stand out as one of my favorite moments here. Meet Aubrey. He has been supported on a scholarship from PP for 5 years. He entered the program as his mother (the night she was dying) begged someone associated with PP to help her son get a good education. He was left living with his two brothers who created a terrible home environment for him to succeed in. They were big time thieves and drug addicts. He was an orphan at 13 years old.

I heard about Aubrey before I met him. He sounded like such a great kid. He just completed his senior year and took the MCSE (a national exam) to see if he passed to go onto college. While he was waiting for the results, he has worked everyday. Hard labor. He gets up at 6am every morning, travels 7km to the market to purchase a cows head. He then lugs it home and spend the whole day making stew with the head. He carries the stew (about half a trash can) 2 km to a market that is located between two bars. He gets harassed nightly by drunk men giving him a hard time. He returns home at 11 at night to start it all over again, for less than $5 a day. It just breaks my heart.

So the morning I met him he told us that the exam scores were out. They announce all the names of people who have passed the exam on the radio. 45,000 names!!! It takes them 3 days!!! What the......

So we worked and worked to find a way to see if he passed. We finally got in touch with his school who told us he passed with excellent results!!! It was so exciting! Only 50% of the kids pass this exam. After all their handwork and money spent. Needless to say, I cried. I was so happy for him and for all the people at PP who made this possible for him. There is noway this great kid would have made it anywhere without someone supporting his schooling after his mom passed away. These are the stories that keep you going when you see and hear so many heartbreaking stories of pain and suffering to such good people…..

This picture was taken right after he found out he passed. How cute is he?!

Part of the work here is to help get the PP office in Malawi running efficiently.

I get back to the office after a shopping trip, and there are about 7 other Malawians in the office. People associated with PP in some capacity, a girl who is home sick from school and a carpenter. I am typing up a project proposal and just look up now and then watching the discussion. I have no idea what they are saying as they are speaking in Chichewa.

After a while, Mara (the one who runs the office), looks at me and says…..Christine….we need to to go look at a bookshelf that they found - it was $340 . We need you to tell us whether or not to buy it. I was laughing in my head wondering what do I know about any bookshelf?! And what I am I supposed to say…yes…this bookshelf you picked out looks great??!

So we go, Mike, Frazier and I and I am shocked with how shotty these bookshelves are. After sitting in on the board meeting last week and realizing how tight money is, I was thinking "no way". This could put a kid through school for the year. I had them take me to many other stores, a random carpenter on the street…..

I ask Mike if he knows any friend or someone outside of the city we can commission to do this. After a while, he remembers a coffin maker who has skills. We drive out to an Area, and they think it is best if I talk to him. The quality would be better for a white person. We find the guy in a bar and I have to ask him to come out to do business. I tell him the measurements, the price we are willing to pay, measurements, and I go through all the wood selecting the quality we want. He said he will do it for $80!!!

All I kept thinking was how funny this all is. I never know what I am getting into and have had to become an "expert" on so many random things. I think that is what I like best about being in this role. I am learning so much about random things. Two days ago I was talking agricultural practices on how to have a better corn harvest and today I am in a coffin shop wheeling and dealing with the quality of wood. Just another day here…..

Damn Casual Friday

I went to work today in my new most dressy outfit and what do you know…..they have causal fridays in Malawi!! Dammit. Oh don't you worry, I can beat them in casual friday any day of the week. I have 25kg of casual clothes. Bare with me here as I have a lot of time on my hands in the evenings and have been thoroughly entertaining myself with my new camera and laptop. I will get to more of the stories of what I have seen and experienced (as opposed to how I am deciding to pick out my outfits) later. I have time. I figured I would post another outfit due to the overwhelming requests….or maybe it was just one email from my sister. Potatoes Patatos....whatever.

Is this what you thought you would get from my blog from Africa? :-P

One step closer to blending in (as if my skin does not shout it)....

So day 1 in the office. I was sitting there talking to the two women saying that enough is enough. I need to go shopping. I have been being feeling really uncomfortable about how casual my outfits have been when they all look so nice. They take such pride in how they dress and we (I am talking about any white person here) look like park rangers. I met the ex-vice president of Malawi yesterday and I was not cool with the casualness of my dress while he was dressed to the nines.

So Miriam and I took a mini-bus (an amazingly efficient mini-van that packs people in) to some shops. For any of you that have shopped in a foreign country, you know how it feels to lose your own sense of what you see as normal. I continued to fight the "ok this is cool" by thinking…..european vacation…..i kept repeating this….european vacation, european vacation every time i thought….this is cool.

So I thought about putting up some thumbnails of all of my new outfits. If not for anything other than a good laugh, but I think I did pretty good. I kept thinking….would I wear this at home? I definitely pushed that limit, but feel I am in better shape than my khaki's, tank-top and flip-flops. You be the judge.

When I came back to the office bragging that I am going to look like them they said to each other "have your camera batteries charged tomorrow" . I am screwed from either continent. For me, a laugh is worth more than my pride…..I guess :-)

So today in my new outfit my friend Mike said the girls where we ate lunch were asking him where I go my outfit. They wanted to know if it was American or if I got it here. They could not figure it out. Bingo Bango. Mission accomplished. I am in!!

An Area

A few more pictures to give you an idea of what an Area is.

The top picture is the new office for Cedor Orphan Care (one of the projects that PP supports). I was shocked to hear that they do not even have one pen or a piece of paper to conduct business. This is what I mean by extreme poverty. It is hard to imagine that an organization that takes care of 300+ orphans cannot even afford a piece of paper. This is so far from my reality it is hard to understand sometimes.

One of the shops (Hardware) in an Area just outside of city center.