K, I don’t even know where to start to catch up. There’s just no time to write blogs. When I splurge for internet access I’m way too busy in the hour I allot myself doing other things to write a post. When I’m at site its only so often that I can charge my computer. And with the charge I’d much rather watch a movie for a blissful two hours with a pot of mac and cheese on my lap and a dog waiting for me to finish so he can lick the bowl than write.
So I’m in my fifth month in Malawi. That’s crazy, time flies and crawls. I’m kind of in a weird spot. I love being in Peace Corps Malawi, but (at least right now) I am not impressed with Malawian culture and Malawians. There’s a lot I can’t write here. Like, most of it. Like, all of it. Mom and Dad got the phone-version rant of it last week, so if you really want to know, ask them. There are just so many parts of the culture that get me so FRUSTRATED! It seems to be an inherently nosy and invasive way-of-life, they take liberties with each other’s [my] stuff and food. And in a socialist-what’s-mine-is-your’s kind of way it makes sense and is acceptable. But it’s NOT my culture and it’s NOT what I’m used to [yet?] or comfortable with and to me it’s RUDE! It’s just rude. And then there’s the forced politeness and the rolling-over-and-taking it aspect. And the constant cheerfulness even if you feel anything but. And that’s all I can really say about it on a public blog. My interactions with PCV’s who have been here for a while just confirm my initial impressions, which is disheartening. Apparently, for many of them whom I have spoken with (I am in no way speak for all of them) their opinion of Malawians and the culture just solidify into non-respect and distaste for the people entirely. I really do hope my attitude about Malawi changes eventually, because right now, I’m just not a fan.
So moving on to my favorite subject: Doug. He’s all better now, thank the stars. After a solid week of not eating I “rushed” him (Africa-style) to Mzuzu, where he was subject to eight shots (by, lets be honest, a completely incompetent veterinarian, but options are nonexistent) and he wouldn’t speak to me for awhile after that. Now he eats everything. He can down nsima like the best Malawian. He’s getting really big. I remember when I could hold him in one hand and bopa him around Nkhata-Bay like a doll. Now he’s tall enough to jump through my open window, which we use as a dog door, and I have to sit on him in order to get his chain on whenever I leave site on my bike. We’re still stuck on “sit.” Little brat is untrainable. He’s so freaking cute though. His little ears stick out like Pippie Longstockings’ braids and he always looks like he’s about to take flight like Dumbo.
The other Azungu in my village is making me look bad by being a superior volunteer. She is a Canadian Engineers Without Boarders volunteer on summer vacation from McGill. She’s doing a follow-up survey on a UNICEF sanitation project triggered in Chikwina a year ago. She’s only here until the end of August, which probably explains why she’s been a more effective volunteer. If I only had three months in Malawi I probably wouldn’t be such a bum half the time. But she really is a great resource and Azungu-outlet for me. Engineers W/out Boarders trained her really well before she came on how to ask villagers the right questions and how to get them to answer with any sort of honesty and useful information. I’m learning a lot from her about development work. Somehow, we missed that session during Peace Corps training. Rant about ineffective development work in Malawi to come if I can phrase it without getting in trouble.
In the meantime, here’s a fun story about said ineffective development work: There is a very active NGO in my area, which shall remain unnamed because I have to live there with them for the next two years. Just know that they are a large well-known worldwide organization. Not UNICEF, you guys are still ok in my book. This NGO started a water project in Chikwina some 6 years ago. Well, I’ve heard 6 years and I’ve heard 2 years and I’ve heard a million years, who knows, it all gets lost in translation. Anyway, the water project would bring water from 4 huge water tanks from a river source high up in the mountains all the way to my health center and to all the villages from the source to Mphamba, the trading center 20km down the mountain from my site. It’s a huge project that would benefit a whole bunch of people and is VERY ambitious. So ambitious, that it’s never gonna work (my opinion). For one thing, because of the tradition of being offered incentives to work with development workers, few Malawians in the area will help with the labor because they won’t get paid (uh, duh, except in consistent running water when it’s finished). For another, this is Malawi, and nothing is ever planned to the finish and thus, nothing ever gets finished. And another, this NGO is slated to pull out of the Chikwina area within two years. I just have very little hope this project is going to go anywhere, at least it won’t go anywhere sustainable.
Anyway! The headquarters (hint: based in Seattle, WA) sent a team of their people to come film a promotional video of the projects the NGO is doing in southern Africa to get donors to cough up some good ol’ American dollahs. The week before these people came, the NGO workers in-country (all Malawian) were going CRAZY trying to get a water demonstration put together to show the visitors something when they arrived. They desperately completed-ish one section of the piping to hook up one of the taps in the village of Komphomobo to one of the water tanks. They were working literally until the last minute when the visitors showed up with their cameras and their desire to be lied to (yep, they really wanted to believe they were doing really good, lasting work in a developing nation – the bane of all foreign aid). So after a few tense minutes of holding our breath (at least, everyone who knew what was really going on) the workers turned the tap and out poured fresh water direct from the source. The villagers, who knew how to please Azungu aid workers, danced and sang and posed for pictures with water buckets on their heads and praised the work the NGO was doing and thanked God and professed their gratitude that they would no longer have to trek to a far-away borehole (which is really a few meters down the hill). The children took pictures pretending to drink the water out of their cupped hands, while their parents warned (in Chitonga) not to actually drink the water because they knew the river water was unsafe to drink untreated. The NGO representatives got their footage, packed up, and a week later they were in Tanzania filming barefoot children with flies on their faces to get fellow Americans to get out their checkbooks to open a branch of the NGO there. Meanwhile, in Komphomobo, the tap was turned off, because it was just a demonstration, and work on the project returned to a snails pace.
I’m not saying that the work the NGO is doing is bad. It’s not, if it works out on any level it will do a world of good in Chikwina. I’m also not saying that the visitors are bad. They really are here to help, but they are completely ignorant about the real problems of what they are throwing money at. They didn’t stay long enough or ask questions or try to get the truth about the real progress of the project or the background or have any understanding of it whatsoever. They really did want to believe their funds were working. However, I do believe their filming in Tanzania is exploitation and will be mostly fabricated and give an entirely false impression of the poverty in that country. From what I can see in Malawi, these people in southern Africa know how to survive just fine. They know what’s up, they’re not as helpless as propaganda would make them out to be. Film can make anything look like anything. In my honest opinion, foreign aid is the real problem. I think we all just need to leave the country entirely and let them figure it out on their own instead of letting them let us think for them. We’ve all been here long enough. I really think most of their problems stem from too much foreign aid.
When you have time, electricity and internet, you might enjoy Stuff Expat Aid Workers Like: http://stuffexpataidworkerslike.com/.
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