Mwadsuka
bwanji nonse! Hello everybody!
Sorry it’s
been a while since the last blog post. I’ll TRY to condense stuff big time so
that you’re not reading looooooads but there’s so much to say this’ll probably
be our longest blogpost so far- I’ll make it worthwhile though! So here you go,
here’s an overview of things that we’ve been doing this past two weeks…
Eco-Sanitation toilet 27/02/14 – Mtachuira
One of the two reports that Nia is writing about is about Eco-san toilet constructions in primary schools. Nia and Laurie did a 2km barefooted walk through a muddy maize field trail and waded through thigh-deep swampy pools of water to get to Mgando Primary School where four Eco-san toilets were mid construction.
One of the two reports that Nia is writing about is about Eco-san toilet constructions in primary schools. Nia and Laurie did a 2km barefooted walk through a muddy maize field trail and waded through thigh-deep swampy pools of water to get to Mgando Primary School where four Eco-san toilets were mid construction.
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| Laurie soldiering through the swampy water |
Brief intro to Eco-san: The units are built around 1m above ground level so that they don’t sink and collapse in the sandy ground, and waste can be stored underneath where it will decompose for 9 months and then be used as fertilizer by the farmers. The units will have a ramp and fitted support bars to make it accessible to disabled children, and each cubicle will have a concrete basin and plastic seat. The toilets are really beneficial in that human waste is stored in a safe, hygienic way and the villagers are learning to be self-sufficient as they have to supply the building materials.
It poured down with rain whilst we were there and so the 2km walk back was horrifically slippery- so many near death experiences! But, the day was really informative and interesting and it was so good to see how beneficial these toilets will be for Mgando School.
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| construction work in Mgando school |
Jonny’s birthday – 01/03/14
Yay! Birthday boy Jonny’s turned 19! Balloons, banners, presents and a full english greeted him in the morning and then we all left for Senga Bay for a day at the pool and lake. We all had a lovely day chillaxing and relaxing and messing around in the pool with ball games. Fun, fun times J
Yay! Birthday boy Jonny’s turned 19! Balloons, banners, presents and a full english greeted him in the morning and then we all left for Senga Bay for a day at the pool and lake. We all had a lovely day chillaxing and relaxing and messing around in the pool with ball games. Fun, fun times J
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| party time at breakfast |
Kuti Wildlife Reserve – 03/03/14
Bank holiday Monday in Malawi = day off at a Wildlife Reserve yaaaaay! The drive to Kuti was beautifully green if a little bumpy and being greeted by a huge, overly friendly ostrich was an experience and a half.
Bank holiday Monday in Malawi = day off at a Wildlife Reserve yaaaaay! The drive to Kuti was beautifully green if a little bumpy and being greeted by a huge, overly friendly ostrich was an experience and a half.
We hired three bikes between the
6 of us – the other 3 walked- we didn’t think two per bike was the safest of
ideas, and were free to wonder around the reserve. Nobody else was around and
we’d been warned against some of the routes as cars had previously had to be
dug out of the mud! First moment of excitement was spotting 8 zebras bathing in
a pool of water which was pretty cool. We continued on our journey and what
greeted us by blocking our cycle path was nothing less than a 5m GIRAFFE! Aaaaa!
So exciting!!
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| Giraffe road block! |
After a top, top day walking the beautiful grounds, spotting animals such as gazelles and seeing David and the ostrich having a staring competition, we went to the sun set deck to, funnily enough, watch the sun set! The view from the wooden deck was incredible with huge, dark mountains in the background and a reedy lake reflecting the colourful, cloud patched sky. We couldn’t resist having a classic gap yah back shot from the balcony! With a cold fizzy drink and legs dangling over the edge, we all sat and watched as the sun got nearer and nearer to the tops of the mountain and the sky was a brilliant mixture of pink, deep purple and orange. We were all pretty blown away at Gods amazing creation- Fair play, He’s done a pretty good job!
Awareness Campaigns – 28/02/14 à
For three weeks, AGREDS have been running awareness campaigns on specific projects e.g Fuel Efficient Stoves and Water Quality Testing. Not all of us have attended these campaigns but from hearing what the others have said, it usually starts off with dancing, games, a comedy sketch and then a talk by an AGREDS staff and/or village chief. The performances draw a big audience and villagers are always very engaged in what’s going on. This seems to be a very good, fun way of promoting very relevant and important issues
For three weeks, AGREDS have been running awareness campaigns on specific projects e.g Fuel Efficient Stoves and Water Quality Testing. Not all of us have attended these campaigns but from hearing what the others have said, it usually starts off with dancing, games, a comedy sketch and then a talk by an AGREDS staff and/or village chief. The performances draw a big audience and villagers are always very engaged in what’s going on. This seems to be a very good, fun way of promoting very relevant and important issues
Climate Change Clubs – 05/03/14 à
Last week we started going into primary schools to introduce ourselves, ask questions, play games and sing songs – they love head shoulders knees and toes, especially when we speed it up a lot- they’re in fits of laughter! From this week onwards we will all be involved in running sessions and teaching club members on climate change issues. AGREDS are keen for us to introduce different learning methods so this could involve sketches, art, writing poems etc so this is really exciting!
Last week we started going into primary schools to introduce ourselves, ask questions, play games and sing songs – they love head shoulders knees and toes, especially when we speed it up a lot- they’re in fits of laughter! From this week onwards we will all be involved in running sessions and teaching club members on climate change issues. AGREDS are keen for us to introduce different learning methods so this could involve sketches, art, writing poems etc so this is really exciting!
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| Laurie leading a hang man (changed to 'build a house') game |
.JPG) |
| introductions to a crowd of around 500 students |
David’s Grandparents –
grandma: 29/12/33 à 28/02/14, grandpa 10/08/30 à 11/03/14
These past two weeks have been very difficult for David as he has lost both his grandparents within the space of eleven days. AGREDS have been very sensitive to the situation and gave us a few days off work so that we as a team could spend quality time together and support David through this tough time. On one of our days off, this past Thursday, we went to Safari Beach Lodge, Senga Bay, and relaxed by the pool and lake. The location was beautiful and there were monkeys everywhere. We did have an incident where two or three big cheeky monkeys stole the bag of bananas we foolish left on our table whilst we were in the pool. Although this was incredibly amusing, we had to eat lunch with a collection of rocks on the table to throw at them as we were paranoid they’d steal our dins. David has been very strong and brave in his situation and is very grateful for the support he’s receives- please continue to lift him up in prayer, thank you.
grandma: 29/12/33 à 28/02/14, grandpa 10/08/30 à 11/03/14
These past two weeks have been very difficult for David as he has lost both his grandparents within the space of eleven days. AGREDS have been very sensitive to the situation and gave us a few days off work so that we as a team could spend quality time together and support David through this tough time. On one of our days off, this past Thursday, we went to Safari Beach Lodge, Senga Bay, and relaxed by the pool and lake. The location was beautiful and there were monkeys everywhere. We did have an incident where two or three big cheeky monkeys stole the bag of bananas we foolish left on our table whilst we were in the pool. Although this was incredibly amusing, we had to eat lunch with a collection of rocks on the table to throw at them as we were paranoid they’d steal our dins. David has been very strong and brave in his situation and is very grateful for the support he’s receives- please continue to lift him up in prayer, thank you.
Meeting Chris – 12/03/14
On Wednesday we were really blessed to have Chris Harding, a fellow mazungu from Southampton staying at Village Plaza Lodge. For the past 7 months, since August 2013, Chris has been fundraising for Kick 4 Life and cycling all the way from England to South Africa travelling east across Europe and crossing over to Egypt and travelling south through countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. We all went for a walk together and shared dinner outside and talked for hours and listening to his incredible stories. One story was when he had to spend his Christmas week in no mans land between the Ethiopian and Kenyan border as there had been an ambush with gunfire which meant it was too dangerous to continue his journey. He stayed with Kenyan police who were very hospitable and inspirational people and during that week they all ate a whole goat - brains, hooves, the lot! His story of growing in faith was incredible and he shared stories of how in desperate, near death situations he fell on his knees in prayer to God and his situation was somehow flipped over and he walked away unharmed knowing that God had protected him. This was so encouraging and we felt that it was very much God planned that we were able to meet Chris and bless him before he continued his journey to South Africa. You can follow Chris’ blog on: http://aridefortheirlives.blogspot.co.uk/ – his stories are incredible and well worth checking out (he’s also written some very lovely things about meeting the 6 of us!). We have much love for you Chris!
On Wednesday we were really blessed to have Chris Harding, a fellow mazungu from Southampton staying at Village Plaza Lodge. For the past 7 months, since August 2013, Chris has been fundraising for Kick 4 Life and cycling all the way from England to South Africa travelling east across Europe and crossing over to Egypt and travelling south through countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania. We all went for a walk together and shared dinner outside and talked for hours and listening to his incredible stories. One story was when he had to spend his Christmas week in no mans land between the Ethiopian and Kenyan border as there had been an ambush with gunfire which meant it was too dangerous to continue his journey. He stayed with Kenyan police who were very hospitable and inspirational people and during that week they all ate a whole goat - brains, hooves, the lot! His story of growing in faith was incredible and he shared stories of how in desperate, near death situations he fell on his knees in prayer to God and his situation was somehow flipped over and he walked away unharmed knowing that God had protected him. This was so encouraging and we felt that it was very much God planned that we were able to meet Chris and bless him before he continued his journey to South Africa. You can follow Chris’ blog on: http://aridefortheirlives.blogspot.co.uk/ – his stories are incredible and well worth checking out (he’s also written some very lovely things about meeting the 6 of us!). We have much love for you Chris!
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| Us with the bearded legend |
Lilongwe 01/03/14 à 02/03/14
Catching a mini bus from Salima to Lilongwe is an experience and a half! Patience in Malawi is vital, without it you’d be tearing your hair out. You get onto a mini bus and sit there sticky and hot waiting for an hour for it to fill up and leave. The mini bus gets filled up as much as possible- 5 people sat on a 3 person row and what’s even better than being sandwiched between strangers is having the bus filled with the delightful smell of fish! In order to try and fill the mini bus the driver drives the bus in a miniature circle whilst his friend dangles out of the door shouting “1,2 Lilongwe! 1,2! 1,2 Lilongwe!” We like to call this stage ‘strolling and paroling’ or ‘holler doller’. It is very, very pointless.
On Saturday we visited Lois’ family friend, May Machemba, who is a vicar in Likuni and he was very hospitable and we were well fed. Laurie had the head of a cooked chicken on her plate- beak and all included- she didn’t however fancy eating it!
Lilongwe is very different to Salima and nowhere as pretty, infact it’s a very ugly city with piles of rubbish everywhere and areas of very pungent, yucky smells. However, it’s very interesting and the buzz of the city makes it a really enjoyable experience. The streets have people sat on the edges with huge piles of clothes or plastic shoes or very offwhite underwear for sale and markets are full of fruit, vegetables and even cooked crickets!!
On Sunday we went to the craft market where we were swarmed by sellers enticing us to their stand: “Sister, sister! You come and see my paintings”, “It’s free to look, free to touch.” Surprisingly, haggling is quite enjoyable and although the sellers can be quite pushy, they’re polite and friendly, wanting to shake your hand and find out where you’re from. We were able to buy some really nice souvenirs and we’ll definitely be returning next month.
Catching a mini bus from Salima to Lilongwe is an experience and a half! Patience in Malawi is vital, without it you’d be tearing your hair out. You get onto a mini bus and sit there sticky and hot waiting for an hour for it to fill up and leave. The mini bus gets filled up as much as possible- 5 people sat on a 3 person row and what’s even better than being sandwiched between strangers is having the bus filled with the delightful smell of fish! In order to try and fill the mini bus the driver drives the bus in a miniature circle whilst his friend dangles out of the door shouting “1,2 Lilongwe! 1,2! 1,2 Lilongwe!” We like to call this stage ‘strolling and paroling’ or ‘holler doller’. It is very, very pointless.
On Saturday we visited Lois’ family friend, May Machemba, who is a vicar in Likuni and he was very hospitable and we were well fed. Laurie had the head of a cooked chicken on her plate- beak and all included- she didn’t however fancy eating it!
Lilongwe is very different to Salima and nowhere as pretty, infact it’s a very ugly city with piles of rubbish everywhere and areas of very pungent, yucky smells. However, it’s very interesting and the buzz of the city makes it a really enjoyable experience. The streets have people sat on the edges with huge piles of clothes or plastic shoes or very offwhite underwear for sale and markets are full of fruit, vegetables and even cooked crickets!!
On Sunday we went to the craft market where we were swarmed by sellers enticing us to their stand: “Sister, sister! You come and see my paintings”, “It’s free to look, free to touch.” Surprisingly, haggling is quite enjoyable and although the sellers can be quite pushy, they’re polite and friendly, wanting to shake your hand and find out where you’re from. We were able to buy some really nice souvenirs and we’ll definitely be returning next month.
This week
This week we will be more involved in teaching at school climate change clubs and will be continuing with our report writing which need to be handed in for printing by the end of the month. The reports are going well so far and writing them has made us more appreciative of the work that AGREDS are doing and the impact it’s already made in local communities.
This week we will be more involved in teaching at school climate change clubs and will be continuing with our report writing which need to be handed in for printing by the end of the month. The reports are going well so far and writing them has made us more appreciative of the work that AGREDS are doing and the impact it’s already made in local communities.
Thank you
for your continuous support and love.
The Malawi
famalam x
