Erica in Malawi

March

2012-03-22T01:54:00.001-07:00

The math teacher at Kanjiwa making a poster for his class.

A student waiting for his Malawi State Certificate Examination (MSCE) results.

students playing soccer on a muddy field

This is Grant, who teaches Biology, Geology and Bible Knowledge. He's smart, articulate, funny, supportive and perceptive and probably the person I'm closest to in Kamsonga.

This is the school secretary sitting by the second-hand computer that the school just purchased. They are trying to fix their larger generator or get solar panels so that they can use it.

Kanjiwa's library.

Ngombe (cow) road that leads to my site.

A guard in front of the Peace Corps Malawi office in Lilongwe.

One of my favorite places to relax in Lilongwe - Bohemian Cafe. It's in the same space as Land and Lakes Safaris - the company my parents and I are using to go on a safari to Zambia next month!

This is Isaac. He's one of my students and is looking for an American pen pal. Here is his introduction letter. Please let me know if you are willing to be his pen pal.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am a boy of twenty years of age. I come from Chikuse village here in Ntchisi district. I am in form four to complete my secondary school education. I would like you to be my pen pal. I will be very happy if my request will meet you in time.

Now are the questions that I have in my mind concerning your country. What is your staple food in America? Where is your homeland in America? Lastly, here in Malawi people believe in one God. What about in America?

Finally, I would like to know more about your life. How are you? I am very well here in Malawi. I will be very happy if you are fine.

Yours Faithfully,

Tadala Lodwell Isaac

February

2012-03-05T04:57:00.001-08:00

Jen and Sean. They are Peace Corps volunteers who also live in Ntchisi and I visited them at their house in February. This is a bouquet that a neighbor girl made for them.

Sean is an amazing cook. This is one of the things he made for us while I was visiting: omelets topped with homemade dill and garlic mayonaise and sauteed potatoes, beets and carrots.

Jen and Sean's house

Sean and Jen have a chicken with chicks and they made this sign for the door to where they roost.

This is the health center that Jen and Sean live right next to.

Some of the girls from Jen's girls group at a secondary school a few kilometers away from her house. We rode our bikes there so I could lead a presentation on sexual decision making.

The girls group with a demonstration penis and male and female condoms.

This is at Kanjiwa Community Day Secondary School, where I teach Life Skills. The teachers constructed a hand washing station. I donated some soap.

This is Charles. He's one of my students.

This is Dalitso. She is one of my students.

January

2012-02-14T05:38:00.000-08:00

This is Rachel, a friend and fellow PCV, with some of her students. She teaches math at a community day secondary school in southern Malawi (Zomba). I visited her and led sessions with her students about sexual decision making.

Rachel's school (St. Bridgit's Community Day Secondary School)

Rachel's house.

Rachel's site.

The penis model that I use for condom demonstations.

Friends and Peace Corps Volunteers, Dana and Cassie, at Cassie's house. She lives in Lilongwe district and I visit her sometimes.

Nala!!!

My table at home with chickpeas, sunglasses, sunscreen, cell phone, tape.

some of my students

December

2012-01-22T01:59:00.000-08:00

The counsellors at Peace Corps' Camp Women 2 Women - a girls' empowerment camp. The camp was a week long in December. It was held at a school in Mzimba - a district in the northern region of Malawi.

My group of Women 2 Women campers - the "Cool Cats."

all the Women to Women campers

I spent Christmas in Lilongwe with 12 other Peace Corps Volunteers. This was our Christmas tree with "Dirty Santa" gifts.

Christmas wreath made by my niece on our door.

Sean and Carolyn. Sean did most of the cooking and we all helped with chopping and cleaning.

Christmas breakfast - oatmeal cinnamin pancakes and fruit salad!

chopping avocados for guacamole

more PCV friends preparing for Christmas dinner

November

2011-12-02T03:19:00.000-08:00

Nala! She's my baby. Here is her song:

I love my Nala, oh yes I do.

I love my Nala 'cause she's so cute.

She's the cutest doggie in Kamsonga.

I'm right about that; I am not wronga.

She's the cutest doggie in the region.

If I could feed them I'd have a legion.

She's the cutest doggie in Malawi.

When people see her they say, "Oh, wowie!"

She's the cutest doggie in Africa.

Her cuteness is real; It's not a tricka.

Nala resting on the grasses for my fence.

From November 8 to 14 I went to a natural medicine training in Dedza. This is the training center where it was held.

fig leaf tea and artemesia tea

Medicinal tinctures, oils, and ointments!

Fellow PCV, Carolyn, is excited about tumeric. :)

Ginger

Thank god for coffee!

This is Elijah. I pay him to clean my house and work in the garden.

October

2011-10-20T05:04:00.000-07:00

This is Garrett, a Peace Corps Malawi 2010 EducationVolunteer, sitting on one of his kitchen tables. He lives in a district called Thyolo in the far south. I visited him in early October and taught his students about responsibility in sexual decision making.

Garrett's living room

Thyolo tea estate

Tea pickers in Thyolo

This is Gibran, a Peace Corps 2011 Health Volunteer. I visited him in the district of Zomba, which is in the southern region. This is a bridge in the Zomba botanical gardens.

Gibran's apartment complex in Zomba. He's in the last unit on the end. It's two stories and very nice.

Zomba botanical gardens

Zomba

Through the generous donation of friends, family and a spa company, the borehole at the primary school in my village is now functional!

primary school children using the repaired borehole

September

2011-09-24T02:07:00.000-07:00

Camp Sky - a Peace Corps Education Camp. I taught HIV transmission and prevention at this camp.

Lilongwe Wildlife Refuge Center

Fellow Peace Corps Volunteer and Ntchisi resident, Sara Lane's, garden and kitchen.

Sara's house

Sara's living room

egg salad! tomatoes! lettace!

Ntchisi Forest

Ntchisi Forest Lodge

rice with greens, onions and peanut flour

August

2011-08-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

Malawi Entreprenuership Development Institute (MEDI) where Peace Corps Volunteers ran the week-long Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camp. I taught four sessions: "Career Counseling," "Starting a Business," "Healthy Sexual Relationships" and "Healthy Sexual Practices."

MEDI

GLOW campers and Peace Corps Volunteers. I made the poster :)

The Queen Bees

The Clovers

Team 6-cess

Ndingathe! (I can do it!)

Ladies of Various Ethnicities (LOVE)

Precious Ambitious Girls (PAG)

Yes We Can! Yes We Will!

Performance by a drama group

GLOW resources

First Aid and Penises (the wooden penises are for condom demonstrations)

GLOWing breakfast

num num

The First Lady of Malawi - Madame Callista Mutharika - gave a motivational address at Camp GLOW.

people milling around after the First Lady's address

a break at mid-service conference in Dedza

gold shoes!

a Scrabble game with friends

July

2011-07-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

peas, onions, tomatoes, peanuts, cutting board

A family friend sent me some money to buy six soccer balls. I gave one of them to the maternity ward.

pregnant women playing with the soccer ball

Youth club with donated soccer ball and books. A group of girls and a group of boys from the group also wrote"daily activity schedules,"which we used to talk about gendered division of labor and also the best time to have future meetings.

girls working on their daily activity schedule

boys working on their daily activity schedule

A soccer team with their new ball

youth playing with their new soccer ball

Nala and Mtima sleeping on my bed

teenage boys' map of their village

teenage girls' map of their village

May and June

2011-06-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

world map on my wall

50th Anniversary Poster

papaya tree in my yard

William, a youth from the health center youth club, cooking peanuts (called ground nuts here). A fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Scheller, and I taught them to make "Ground Nut Sweeties" to sell as an income generating activity.

Maria with the finished product.

cute baby

coffee and Harry Potter

Nala with a dead mouse in my backyard. I'm not sure if she killed it or just found it.

Tattoo on my calf of a phoenix. I got this right before I left for Malawi.

a Rasta selling crafts at a market in Lilongwe

This is a picture was drawn by a ten year old boy from Kamsonga. I use it for HIV prevention activities. The extended metaphor is that there's a flood in the village (HIV prevalence) and people can prevent getting eaten by dangerous animals in the water or drowned by using one of three boats: Abstinence (A), Be Faithful (B), Condom Use (C).

This is Anna. She's Japanese and works for World Relief in Lilongwe. I stay with her when I come to town. I met her through Nana, my close friend from college, who now works for World Relief in Japan.

Some youth with sugar cane, which Malawians like to rip with their teeth and eat straight from the stalk.

The primary school. We wrote a proposal to repair the bore hole here.

Students and teachers near the borehole we want to repair.

children coloring at my porch

bales of tobacco

April

2011-04-28T02:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some Form 3 students in their classroom.

Robert, who works at my favorite tea shop at Kamsonga Trading Center

cooking pea soup on my coal stove

Me with my friend Scheller's two dogs - Sahara and Sophie.

My cat, Mtima, with a milk goatee.

Me and my sisters - Anna and Meredith

Youth from the Health Center Youth Club in front of their new bookshelf. Thanks, Anna!!!

From April 10 - 15 I participated in Camp STAR: Scientific Thinking Achieving Results at Gwangwa Community Day Secondary School in Ntchisi. There were about 70 Form Four students participating, including two girls (Maria and Maggie) and two boys (Victor and John) from the secondary school in Kamsonga where I teach Life Skills. The point of the camp was to expand student's interest in the science subjects and also to prepare them for their national examinations. Gwangwa CDSS has a full science laboratory with things like microscopes, skeleton models, lots of chemicals, beakers, burners and the like. Most CDSSes in Malawi do not have science labs. Gwangwa CDSS also has a computer lab with about 12 computers. Morning and afternoon classes included: electricity lab, titration lab, career planning and CV writing, coordination, HIV/reproduction, biology practicals, pendulum practicals, organic chemistry, computers, mathematics, and genetics. I taught Reproduction and HIV. Afternoon activities included: tree grafting, goat dissection, and environmental science. Evening activities included: a film, a jeopardy game, a talent show and a disco. The camp was very well organized and run by Peace Corps Education Volunteers Kelly Petrowski and Jen Ludvigson. It was an inspiring and enjoyable experience for both the students and the Peace Corps Volunteers (who taught the classes and activities).

Goat dissection at Camp STAR.

The teacher's lounge at Gwangwa CDSS.

Kelly's backyard. Peace Corps Volunteer teachers at Camp STAR slept in her back yard and in her house. It was mighty crowded!

March

2011-03-25T04:52:00.000-07:00

bike repair

my library

cooking nsima, the staple food, made with corn flour

little boy in a suit

my friend Rasheed eating green beans with salt

a shop keeper in his shop

a tailer in his shop

This student and many others want a pen pal. Please let me know if you are interested!

This student also wants a pen pal. Please let me know if you are interested!

tying tobacco

February

2011-02-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

One of the shop keepers at my trading center outside his shop with his baby.

Selling "chips."

Youth selling meat.

A woman selling pastries called "mandazis."

A man selling small fish called "usipa."

Clothing and fabric for sale

My friend Rasheed. I just taught him how to play chess.

Youth from the youth club at the health center playing a dancing game. They're happy because we just got donated books for a library and decorated the room with health posters. Next step - table, chairs/benches, and a bookshelf!

Some of the form 4 students.

Nala with a new friend.

December and January

2011-01-27T06:16:00.000-08:00

Me with my cat, Mtima, and dog, Nala.

Mua Mission in Dedza

Mua Mission

My friend Scheller, who I spent Christmas with. Here she is in her garden with her dog, Sophie.

Nala and Mtima

Two of the teachers at the secondary school where I teach "Life Skills."

Beans with tomatoes, onions, garlic and green beans.

The room at the health center designated for youth reproductive health but is currently not being used. I have big plans for this room. Just got a bunch of books donated to create a library there. Next step - furniture. I started a youth club at the Health Center with my counterpart. Right now we're focusing on HIV / AIDS but we plan to expand to cover other youth health issues.

This is Elijah and Davis. They help me with cleaning the house and with my vegetable garden.

Nala!

Keep in Touch!

2010-12-18T17:01:00.000-08:00

While the address at the bottom of the post will still work, I will only get that mail on the infrequent occasions that I travel to the capitol. My local address is:

Erica Lucille Ward, PCV
c/o Kamsonga Health Center
Kamsonga, Ntchisi
MALAWI
AFRICA

It has been recommended that packages sent to Malawi be in padded envelopes, written in red ink, with various Biblical verses on the outside of the package to prevent items from theft.

The Peace Corps address in the capitol:

Erica Lucille Ward, PCV

PEACE CORPS/MALAWI

P.O. Box 208

Lilongwe
MALAWI

AFRICA

AIRMAIL

You can also email me at eward06@gmail.com. However, I may have limited access to the internet.

November

2010-11-27T01:45:00.000-08:00

Some patients at the health center.

My friend Noel, the Medical Assistant at the health center, in his office.

This room at the health center is currently not being used. I hope to remedy that by starting a youth health program (ages 10 - 25).

I'm helping Noel put drugs into dosage bags.

My cat named Mtima (meaning "heart" in Chichewa).

Mtima yawning.

Mtima on my lap.

Mtima sleeping on the window ledge.

Ntchisi hospital. My site, Kamsonga, is in the district of Ntchisi.

Kamsonga hill, which my house and the health center are next to.

Some of the students in the Form 3 Life Skills class that I teach at Kamsonga's secondary school. This term we discussed topics such as: physical, mental and emotional changes during puberty; moral dilemmas; roles of leaders and citizens in a democratic society; stress and anxiety management; self-esteem; and self awareness.

Stove-top popcorn.

My friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Sally's, house in Salima.

Inside Sally's house.

Cooking vegetable dumplings - yum!

Lake Malawi! We went there for Sally's birthday.

Sally with her birthday cake.

Monkey by the lake shore.

Thanksgiving dinner!

Buttered corn, mashed potatoes with vegetarian gravy, salad, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese and coleslaw!

Thanksgiving

October

2010-10-29T02:41:00.000-07:00

This is Edward Masite, my counterpart, who is helping me to get to know Kamsonga. He's a Health Survaillance Assistant. I will continue to work with him throughout my service in the Peace Corps. He is smart, hard working, has vision, and his English is very good. I am lucky to have him as a counterpart.

This is the health center. Right now I am not doing work there but I suspect that my main project will be sex education for youth ages 10 - 25 there. There is a room for youth health activities at the health center but right now it is not being used.

This is my boyfriend, George Yamikani Phiri. He's an Intern Medical Assistant (a position somewhere between a nurse and a doctor) at the Health Center.

This is the secondary school where I've started teaching "Life Skills" classes to Forms 1 and 3. Life Skills is basically civic, ethical, behavior and sexuality education. A secondary school is like a high school and there are four forms so I'm teaching the equivalent of freshmen and juniors. The Form 1 students struggle to understand my English but they are getting better.

This is the primary school and "football" (soccor) field. There are games on Thursdays (market day), Saturdays and Sundays.

This is my bike. One time I rode for 34 kilometers in one day!

These are two maps of villages I visited within Kamsonga's catchment area. The Health Survailance Assistants of those areas drew them.

This is my friend Alfred Nyasulu. He's a police officer. One of his friends just gave him this pool table!

September

2010-09-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

This is the inn in Mchinji district where I stayed with eleven other volunteers for our "Language Intensive" week. After that week we took our "Language Proficiency Interviews" at the Peace Corps training site in Dedza. We had to receive a score of Intermediate-High to be sworn in as volunteers and I got Advanced-Low.

Peace Corps office in Lilongwe.

Inside the Peace Corps office

The room I stayed in at the Peace Corps Training site in Dedza.

We saw a rainbow on the drive from Dedza to Lilongwe for swearing in as Peace Corps volunteers.

My friends Sally and Talia at the US Ambassador's residence, where we swore in.

The Ambassador's residence.

Two children coloring by my door. People here loooove sliced bread.

Children borrow books on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from the little library in my house.

Kamsonga

2010-08-20T06:39:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a five day visit to Kamsonga - the village where I'll be living for two years! I am thrilled with the people, the environment and my house. Here are some pictures of it:

This is my house!

My living room.

Spare bedroom

I have a toilet!

This is my shower but I only get cold water so I boil some water, mix it with cold and take a bucket bath in this room.

Paraffin stove under the chimney.

My cubbard. The volunteer who I'm replacing left me spices and other supplies!

This is my bedroom. I moved a bunch of these boxes into the spare room.

The PCV I am replacing started a small library.

This is the shelf near my bed.

Supplies in the bedroom.

There is a hill behind my house that I climbed. Here's a view of the health center from it. My house is right by the health center.

Images of Malawi

2010-08-14T03:59:00.000-07:00

This is the first time I've been able to access the internet since I've been in Malawi. Right now I'm in the Peace Corps office in Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi. In two days I'll visit Ntchisi for a week - the site where I will be living for two years.

I am still technically a "Peace Corps Trainee." I will be sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer on September 1 - a day before I turn 27! Our trainee group is made up of 35 future education and health Peace Corps Volunteers.

For the first month of training I lived with a Malawian family in a village called Chipazi in the district of Dedza. Eight other health trainees also lived in Chipazi and we went to language and technical sessions together. The language that I am learning is called Chichewa and it is the most widely spoken language in Malawi. In technical sessions, the other trainees and I learned about participatory community analysis tools, common health problems in Malawi and how to do simple demonstrations about things like mosquito net dipping, nutrition, water sanitation, and hygiene.

Besides this general information, it's hard to know where to begin so I'm going to let my pictures do most of the talking.

These are some of the members of my homestay family - the Jika family - posing for a picture on their property. Behind them is the dish drying rack and a shelter for animals. The woman in the front is my host mother and I call her "amayi" (mayi means "mother" and the a is for respect, like "madam"). The girl with the purple dress is my host sister ("achimwali" = sister). Her name is Talita and she's 18. The boy is my host brother ("achimwene" = brother). His name is Asaki and he's 17. I also have a host father ("abambo" = respectful term for a man and also "father"), and two other host sisters - Ana is 15 and Doro is 9.

This is Doro, my nine year old host sister, posing by the outdoor cooking fire. The main cooking fire is indoors in a mud hut.

Here is an example of a vegetarian Malawian meal. I ate this a few nights ago at the forestry college in Dedza (also the Peace Corps training site.) Rice, beans, greens, tomato sauce, and garlic hot sauce with some pineapple on the side - yum!

My host family loves this monster stuffed animal that I brought with me. They love him so much that they wrote his name on the outside of their cooking hut with a corn husk. They also often asked me questions (in Chichewa) like "How did Gumpy sleep?" and "Is Gumpy happy today?" This is my amayi (a poor picture of her) with Gumpy.

Doro stapped gumpy on her back the way women and girls strap babies.

Gumpy on the clothes line... he's my version of a "travel gnome..."

...And one more of Gumpy in the window of my homestay hut.

Here's my homestay hut's interior. It has a wooden frame, mud walls and a thatched roof.

Shoes, water filter, trash box, and pee bucket.

Paraffin (for my lantern), toiletries, medical kit, jewelery box, rain jacket.

Baby goat! Also "Irish potatoes."

Some children in the village.

More Chipazi children.

A child taking the kernels off corn with the strange orange creature my mom bought at Target on her lap.

A calf that the Jika family owns.

The Jika's cows.

The Jika's hog.

Adorable piglets resting in the sun.

My clothes on the clothesline.

The village farewell ceremony. The Chipazi women are dancing. My amayi is the one with the American flag socks on.

A dancer in the "Guliwonkulu" (big dance) in Malawi. These dancers are called "animals." They danced for our village farewell ceremony.

Another dancer.

I think this guy is supposed to be an owl.

More dancers.

This was the finale - a two person goat costume.

2010-06-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

I may not be able to access the internet until I complete training on September 1. I will write letters and look forward to updating this blog as soon as possible.

Welcome Letters: Daily Life

2010-06-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

The following excerpts are from Volunteers who currently serve or recently served in Malawi.

"In no time you'll be able to use a chimbudzi (pit latrine) with the most accurate aim, master the art of bucket-bathing, and prepare your favorite American dish over a three-stone fire." - Jake Farnum

"I remember hearing this and not believing it, but it's true: You don't need to pack a lot of clothes. You can always get things here (especially if you love the adventure of open-air thift shopping). Also pack tons of underwear, a swimsuit, and that one outfit that makes you feel 100 percent cozy and 100 percent you."   - Patricia Wundrow

        "The intensity that I experience here on a daily basis is much stronger than anything I could have imagined nine months ago, when I too held a Peace Corps manual in my hands and tried, somehow, to prepare. But there is a lighthearted side to all of this, also.
        Malawians, as a whole, are very friendly, happy people. We are always laughing - at and with each other. Everything that I say is listened to and everything I do is observed. Everything. This is part of being a Volunteer in Malawi. Just as I laugh out loud when I pass a muscular young man wearing a frilly pink T-shirt that says 'Mom to be,' I hear people laughing at me. What am I wearing or doing that seems so humerous to these people? Have I become such an odd creature overnight? No. I am just a person from another country that is very, very foreign to my new friends and neighbors. When we discuss 'America' they shake their heads and say: 'Ah, it is a very strange place, madam!'" - Debbie Gordon

"Your life will probably be much more relaxed now. My days revolve around clean laundry and going to buy vegetables. Life is calm and happy in Malawi." - Naomi Bremer

"The people in my community have been my family; we have laughed together and we have cried together. The chiefs and the villagers around Vwaza have been my friends; we have planted maize together, harvested termites and caterpillars together (and then we ate them), and searched for shooting stars together. And the children are my entertainment; some of my best memories are sitting on the stoop outside my hut chatting with 'my Kazuni kids' under a full moon."  - Stephanie Jayne

Welcome Letters: Life Issues

2010-06-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

The following excerpts are from Volunteers who currently serve or recently served in Malawi.

         "Think about the images that you have of Africa and where they come from. The media often gives us a very skewed and negative perspective of African life with its portrayal of wars, pestilence, disease, famine, or starvation. What we don't often see is what you will experience by living in Malawi. It is a peaceful and wonderful place to call home. The larger cities have the things that you would find in America... grocery stores, Internet services, restaurants, etc. Day-to-day living comes with its own unique circumstances, and like every country in the world, Malawi is working to address the problems it faces.
         Your skills as a Peace Corps Volunteer can be a valuable contribution to the country's progress. If you are willing to avoid making opinions of life in Malalwi based on Western concepts such as material resources or money, and instead focus on the things that really matter in life, you will quickly realize that you are living in one of the richest countries in the world."   - Kristof Nordin

"Your life will be very different here; face it. But that's part of the reason you're joining the Peace Corps. And you're going to go through some changes. But be yourself, read a lot of good books, write your daily thoughts frequently, take a walk, a bike ride, chat, or play cards, and don't forget why you're here or who you are." - Angie Sanders

"I am representing what people know/think about the United States, so my actions have to be carefully thought out." - Jake Farnum

"AIDS is huge. You'll see it everywhere. One of the teachers at my school died during my site visit after suffering for several months. Perhaps you should study up on HIV/AIDS before you come and be prepared to help educate your community." - Allison McGough

"As I prepared to enter the Peace Corps, I heard various stories about life in Africa for African Americans. Some positive, some negative. Well, I probably have a slightly different cut from any of the stories. I have uncovered a special sense of pride in being African American. It is now clear that though I am of African heritage, in the absence of tribal and/or country identity, that heritage doesn't mean much to anyone except me (and other Americans). But as I am more conscious that I am 100 percent American, it does not trouble me to not know the particulars about something I cannot know. Instead, perhaps it gives me a special flexibility." - Ella Lacey

"Malawi may be the 'Warm Heart of Africa' but it sure isn't for the 'Faint of Heart!'" - Patricia Wundrow

Welcome Letters: Getting Started - Training

2010-06-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

The following excerpts are from Volunteers who currently serve or recently served in Malawi. These excerpts are about the training period, which I will go through from July 3 - September 1.

"An overwheming period - new culture, new language, and new people. Living with the host family is as hands-on as it gets in order to practice everything learned. An opportunity to get to know your fellow Volunteers, because soon after, you may be a two-day mini-bus ride away from each other." - Jake Farnum

"Don't worry about the language - you'll learn it. Don't worry about the culture - you'll find a way to accept it, and it will accept you. Malawi is a wonderfully welcoming place and you'll grow to love it! It is a good idea to bring some fun things to do with your host family like Frisbee and cards, and pictures of America and your family to share." - Laura Lanwermayer

        "It is important to remember that the 'Getting Started' process may seem slow by the standards that you have set for yourself. It is normal to enter your time of service with a lot of enthusiasm, energy and willingness to 'get things done.' Keep in mind, however, that you will also need to have an initial period of gaining the trust of your community, adapting to a new culture, and learning a new language. These things take time and patience, but they are essential to a successful assignment.
        Your pre-service training will help you to gain the skills that will be necessary for this process.  If it feels like the beginning of your service is getting off to a slow start as far as 'work' is concerned, remember that you are doing some of the hardest and most important work of your two years. When you enter your community, take the time to learn about yourself and those around you. It makes a world of difference, and eventually it can make a difference in the world." - Kristof Nordin

"Training prepared me well for life in Malawi, especially living with my host family. This is a very intense period.  Before I left the States, I left self-addressed stamped envelopes with my family and friends and stressed how much mail I'd need at first. Don't expect to be in touch with people via telephone during this time." - Naomi Bremer

"Brace yourself. Training is a challenge! But...your days with your village family are a once-in-a-lifetime experience and will form some indelible memories.  How will I ever forget that one evening when my village family and I playfully balanced mangoes on our heads while walking home along the dusty path in the fading colors of the day?  Believe me, the challenges are well worth the journey. Just open yourself to the experience, let it happen, and you'll know what I mean."   - Patricia Wundrow

Geography and Climate

2010-06-28T08:19:00.000-07:00

Malawi is south of the equator, so the seasons are opposite of those in the United States. In June, July, and August the temperatures range from 35 degrees F in the higher elevations to 60 to 70 degrees near the shore of Lake Malawi. The hottest months are October, November and December. Temperatures range from 70 degrees F in the high elevations to around 90 to 95 degrees F in the lower elevations. The rainy season starts in November or December and lasts through April. The rest of the year is quite dry, although rain showers are possible throughout the year.

The geography of Malawi is dominated by Lake Malawi, which stretches down most of the eastern side of the country. The lake is a beautiful setting for many activities and also provides approximately 85 percent of the fresh-water tropical aquarium fish in the world.

Erica in Malawi

March

February

January

December

November

October

September

August

July

May and June

April

March

February

December and January

Keep in Touch!

November

October

September

Kamsonga

Images of Malawi

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