Friday, October 21, 2011

elephants and rhinos and buffalo oh my!!!

Hello all! It's been a lllllloooooonnnnnnng time since i've updated this... but... lots of news!!!

For starters, I've only got about 6 months to go!!!  I've been sort of feeling conflicted about this.  I really do love Malawi, and I'd love to come back, whether its to visit or to work again, but I'm at that point where I'm beginning to feel a bit burned out to say the least.  I definitely will be ready to go home in April.  In addition to that, I'm realizing how little time I have left for working in my village, seeing the sites of Malawi, and seeing friends.  Its going to require a careful balance between travel and staying at home... I have a lot of smaller project ideas that I think will be perfect for my last few months.  For instance, tree nurseries are ongoing.  Plus I helped with a business training early this month, which means I can help my groups utilize the information.  The CBO, or community based organization near me is now active and I'd like to help them with a few projects, particularly with the HIV/AIDs support groups they are connected with... So... should be a busy 1/2 year....

Last week I turned 28.  Not much to say on that besides, no... I don't feel any different!  It was a lovely birthday though.  Thanks for all the wishes.

Last week I was also a volunteer at the water hole count in the rhino sanctuary at Liwonde National Park.  The sanctuary is a fairly large area inside the park that is fenced in to keep re-introduced animals, such as black rhino and zebra, protected from poachers and the issues related to the high human population density surrounding the park.  Because the sanctuary has no natural permanent water source inside the fence, the park has created 4 artificial water holes... so... the program was to get an estimated count of animals inside the sanctuary... so we took 4 hour shift in hides (think a little shack to keep animals from seeing you) and literally counted whatever came.  I saw a ton of elephants (which I'm still secretly thrilled by whenever I see them!), bush buck and impala, sable (which are kind of shady... just kind of creep around), eland (think an antelope the size of a small horse), buffalo, ZEBRA (apparently my African spirit animal...), and a bunch of other random stuff.  Plus.... RHINOS!!!  Saw 4 (2 pairs: m/f and then mom and baby) total... at about 1:30a... but the moon was out and I was boring some really really nice high powered binoculars from a friend.  Suffice to say, the whole experience was amazing.

Biggest accomplishment for me in the last few months has been this business trainng for my mushroom and peanut butter group.  It has been soo frustrating to teach these women business concepts.  First, we have a pretty significant language barrier.  I'm pretty good at Chichewa, but obviously not a native speaker.  There are just some concepts I have difficulties explaining.  On top of that, I have repeatedly gone over some easy business strategies and they seem interested, but actual implementation is not happening... So... I approached Mobi+lise, an NGO in my area about providing some support and training... They found funding to pay trainers plus to provide a communal meal for a 4 day (2 days/group) training on business.  It was awesome!  We'd had extensive discussions about the strengths and weaknesses of these two groups, and I'd say that everything that was important was covered in depth and as long as we keep the momentum going, I think they will actually use what they learned.

My borehole is now functioning... another frustrating situation to get it working again... but more on that another day... or not...

And last but not least... Time to ask for help.  My primary school has a library that was started a few years ago by the volunteer I replaced.  Its small, but definitely has the potential to grow, and the school community really supports its continuation.  The problem is, the library is currently housed inside a classroom, and because of security of the library books, the classroom is not being used to teach.  With over 2400 students, and 23 (hopefully this is increasing to closer to 30) teachers, resources are already really scarce, and that includes classrooms (only 12 are able to be used now).  We want to build a small, separate building to but the library in, and then provide training to at least 3 teachers so they can properly manage the library.  I know times are tough in America... but please consider helping out this much deserving community.  If you are unable to donate money, please help by spreading the word to people who might be able to contribute!  One advantage to a project with Peace Corps is that you know every cent donated is going to be used for the project... no overhead costs, no salaries... just to get this done (heck, I can send you the budget and original proposal if you ask!).  Anyways... donations can be done thru the Peace Corps website.  I'm pretty positive they are also tax deductable... The link is:

https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=614-233

If you have any questions or want to see pictures, please contact me at reed16@gmail.com.  Your help is greatly appreciated!!!