Nkhuku, nkhuku, CHIMBUDZI!

Yesterday, we went to Mpemba to start the fieldwork for the Couples' Study that I will be assisting with. Basically, the study looks at the acceptability of both couples based HIV voluntary counseling and testing and couples based family planning counseling in a rural area of Malawi. We spent about a week training counselors and then took a week to prepare for the study. Yesterday, we went to the field. The study is extremely sensitive so it isn't possible for me to attend the counseling sessions. Instead, me and the other Centre for Reproductive Health supervisors found somewhere to wait in the village. While we were waiting, the children became increasingly curious about the lone mzungu. They slowly made their way over to us. Instead of staring at each other with curiosity, I decided to teach them duck duck goose- a game from my childhood. Instead of using these animals that they don't know and using English (a language that they don't know), I decided to switch the animals to chicken chicken goat. I know a little bit of Chichewa so I went ahead and translated them to Chichewa. While we were playing, I noticed my coworker snickering in the corner. I asked why she was laughing and she informed me that I was, in fact, playing chicken chicken TOILET with the kids. The words for a big goat and a toilet are extremely close and I had confused them! Haha at least the kids waited until I had left to make fun of me. After duck duck goose, I tried my best to teach them red light green light but stuck with the commands of "come" and "enough" instead of trying to communicate about traffic lights. They didn't quite understand the part where you send kids back if they move so it basically became a race. All of the big kids kept winning so I broke it down into two games- one for older kids and another for the little ones. The kids are really cute- I wish I had more games to teach them. Going to the field all of this week so I have plenty of time to think about it.

Liwonde National Park and Zomba Plateau

October 5, 2009


This past weekend I went to Liwonde and to Zomba. Liwonde is perhaps the most famous national park in Malawi in terms of seeing large game animals. Jodi (my former roommate from Mangochi) and I met up in Liwonde and decided to stay at the cheaper lodge, Chinguni Hills, instead of camping at the famous Mvuu Lodge. Mvuu wanted 15 dollars per person per night for bringing your OWN tent- which to us was a bit excessive. Overall, the weekend was good. We got there on Saturday morning and made some friends with two women and two children. The two friends had met when they were living in Zimbabwe and had since moved away from each other to Malawi and Guinea Bisseau. They were in the midst of a two-week reunion in Malawi. One of the women had two children by a Zimbabwean man and explained to us that she was now raising them on her own. It was clear that she loved her kids but it was also clear how much work it was to raise them as a single mom and so far away from family (she was initially from Germany). We went on a drive with them (in their car) and saw kudu, waterbuck, impala, sables, and a herd of buffalo. When we got back, Jodi and I offered to watch the kids to allow the two women to go on a canoe safari and have some adult time. The kids were cute but a bit of a handful. The next morning, we got up and went on an early game drive with staff from the lodge. We left at 6 and drove for quite a while without seeing much. Then, we came across about some elephants eating bark off of a tree. Our driver drove right over to them and we were SO CLOSE. We watched them for a while until they eventually decided that they had enough. As they paraded off, we realized how many there truly were. What had looked like four or five initially was a herd of about ten. There were babies as well, which was especially cute. After our drive we headed back to our homes. Jodi hitched back to Mangochi and I took a mini bus to Zomba.

At Zomba, I hired a driver to take me to the top of the plateau. The plateau has great views of the city and a superb restaurant as well. I stopped at Ku Chawe inn and had lunch and walked around a bit and took some pictures. It was really very beautiful. I had to get back though so I headed back down after an hour or two and boarded another minibus for Blantyre. I got home before too late and started to get ready for work the next day. We were going to the field so I knew that it would be a bit busy.

Overall, the trip was really empowering. It was my first time traveling alone through Malawi and the whole experience was absolutely fine. I never felt lost of anxious and everyone was more than willing to help. I now feel like I can see whatever I want and do whatever I want without worrying. I also have been getting to be quite comfortable spending time alone and even eating meals alone in restaurants. It is always awkward but I feel grown up because I am able to do it (and even sometimes really enjoy it). Jodi and I also started making plans for a trip to Tanzania, which is also really exciting. I am pumped about how I am going to spend my remaining time here. I am planning to head back to Zomba next weekend with some friends from Kabula and am looking forward to doing a bit more exploring. Til next time…