A bloody gooduglygreat launch!

Now that a few days have passed since the much-anticipated launch of the Children's Reading Room at Village to Village Orphanage (Thurs. 22 May), I finally have the will, strength, and courage to write about it here. Let's just say it was one of the up-and-down days, which basically started good, then got a bit ugly, but ended great.

Let's start with the good:

After the initial shock which took place on Tues. after returning from my Zambia trip and realizing at least half of the Domasi College staff had not received invitations to the launch (followed by my usual reactions of shock, panic, and frustration), I had resolved to just distribute extra invitations and then make a flier to post around campus, most of which were printed/posted on Tues. & Wed. (ooh, this sounds like a 'bad' not a 'good' --- just settin' up the 'good'). I also spent a lot of time explaining that I was not the person in charge of sending the invites. That was being handled by other parties in another office, which shall go unnamed for obvious reasons.

My own word-of-mouth and posting campaign seemed to bear more fruit than the aforementioned (I hardly ever get to use that word, so had to find an excuse, but not sure if I'm using it correctly) traditional printed invitation delivering campaign attempted in conjunction with that other entity that will remain a secret. In the end, it seemed most of my colleagues at Domasi College would be present at the launch. So, things were looking good by Thurs. morning (i.e. the morning of the launch). Ya, this is now the good part.

As a result of my own informal word-of-mouth, flier posting, e-mailing, and shouting (he he just checkin if you're still readin--only a little shouting) campaign, in conjunction with arranging the details for food, drinks, site-readiness, and the like, I woke up on Thursday morning (i.e. launch day), feeling good. Am I overusing that very vague adjective? Well, o.k. Confident. Enthusiastic. Relaxed. Maybe too relaxed, as I realized a bit later. This leads me to the 'ugly' bit.

The ugly bit:

After waking up (ya, that's always ugly), I needed to meet with the general office manager (name censored) at about 8:00 a.m. I arrived not-so-promptly at about 8:15 a.m. The reason for the visit was to discuss the purchase of petrol (actually, diesel) fuel for the large flatbed truck (allegedly suffering from an empty fuel tank) to deliver chairs for the launch event to the orphanage site, which is about 1.5 km. away from Domasi College. The college was kind enough to let me borrow about 100 chairs for the event, but asked me to provide fuel for the truck, to which I agreed. I met with said manager (or is that aforementioned? ;-) to discuss the amount of fuel I needed to buy, and that person suggested it should be 5 litres to go a total of 3 km. (to the site and back), to which I agreed.

I had a few small items to take care of in my office, and this manager then said they'd leave the 5-litre bottle at the Porter's Lodge (like 'reception' or 'lobby' back home, but outside). I later went to pick it up, and checked with the drivers to make sure it'd be enough. At first they scoffed a bit, but then when I reminded them I was buying the fuel only for transporting chairs 1.5 km. each way, they agreed that 5 litres would be fine. o.k. good.

So, off I went to Zomba to run this little errand. Since I was short on cash, I needed to stop at the bank to withdraw money from the ATM, after which I did my usual errand of buying pre-paid Celtel cell-phone cards from the lovely young ladies selling them just outside the bank property (since they're not allowed legally to sell them on bank grounds, though they usually wander in anyway...).

After buying a ridiculous amount of cellphone units since my ground phone hasn't worked for months due to phone-line thieves (won't go there now), something very strange happened. I was walking on the pathway through the lush, overly-tended garden and lawn (the only place I've ever seen a sprinkler here) in front of the bank, when an older man (maybe in his 60's) pointed at me, yelling, "What nationality are you??!!" in a very accusatory tone. Of course, I gave him that shocked, annoyed, 'Jennifer' look (those who know me well also know it well), and kept walking. He then said (in the same tone), "Are you British?" Oh, how could he accuse me of such a crime? British? Bloody Hell!! (That was for you, Tim... just to see if you're actually readin' this 'ugly American' tripe... ;-) By this point, I'd passed him, so I looked back, and calmly said, "No, I'm just me..."

I think that's when it happened. What's 'it', you ask? Keep readin...

So, I calmly walked to my car, and drove on to the BP filling station. Once I arrived, I realized that I wasn't sure whether to buy 'petrol' (bloody brit term for gas) or diesel (luckily we 'yanks' use the same word)... So, I reached for my phone, and Sh--! It wasn't there. Not in my pocket, not in my purse, not under the car seat or in the car door. Gone. At home? I was pretty sure not, but not absolutely sure. Soon after that, I filled the bloody 5-litre bottle with diesel (at that point I didn't care anymore), and headed back to DCE. This is where it got REALLY ugly.

The REALLY ugly part:

After obsessing during the entire 20-25 min. drive back to Domasi as to whether I'd left the phone at home or not, I turn onto the small road to campus, and while approaching the gate, what do I see??? No, I didn't just see that. Was that a white pick-up truck loaded with chairs for the launch, headed in the direction of the orphanage? No, it couldn't be. I'm just hallucinating. This can't be right.

Oh, no--- no hallucination. After a short trip home to check for my phone and not finding it (ya, that strange, angry, nationality-interrogation man was the decoy for the pickpocketer -- is that a word?---). AAARGH! So, there I was, getting ready for the biggest event of my stay here, with no phone, basically due to a trip to Zomba to buy fuel that apparently was NOT needed in the first place!! Grrrrrr....

Oh, ya... It was not a pretty scene... After finding a certain colleague to help me call my phone to confirm it was really lost (lovely, calm female British-accented voice saying, "I'm sorry, the number you've dialed cannot be reached at the moment. Please try again later...") For those unseasoned cellphone owners in Malawi, if you've misplaced your phone, and you manage to call your number and get this answer, it's gone. It means someone has taken the 'sim-card' from the inside of the phone and plans to use it or sell it. Say goodbye. Forever. But, I did get my revenge later. Keep readin...

So, back to the whole diesel-buyin thing... I proceeded back to the general office where I was told by the anonymous manager mentioned before that the bottle of diesel I was delivering was actually 'replacement fuel,' and that it would be put into the college bus to transport staff to the event. Very upset about this (not because I'm against transporting people, but because of the blantant and shameless deception of it all), I stormed into the transportation officer's office to confirm. This person also very calmly told me that the purpose of my trip to Zomba to buy this bottle of gas (and lose my phone in the process) was to buy 'replacement fuel' to transport staff to the event. He'd even told staff members (who were perfectly capable, willing, and fully intending to walk, as they assured me later) that I had 'arranged for the bus' to transport them to the event.

Now, I don't want to sound like a callous, uncaring person who feels that transporting chairs is more important than transporting people. The problem here is principle. I was told that the chairs could not be transported without fuel. Then, as I'm returning from purchasing said fuel, I see 1 of at least 2 pick-up trucks transporting chairs to the site. Then, I'm told that the fuel I bought will be used to transport people to the event, most of whom were able and willing to walk. Remember, it's only 1.5 km (about 1 mile) away. The managers in question, instead of just asking me whether I'd be willing to arrange for transport of staff, essentially 'duped' me into doing this, while certainly using more fuel for the combined transport of the chairs and people than they ever would have used for just the chairs. In the end, I was deceived, and the college ended up with less fuel for their vehicles than they had when this whole scheme had started. Not only was it sneaky and downright deceptive, but it was completely illogical. Ugly. Very, very ugly.

From there, things could only go up, right? Well, sort of... I proceeded to accept the situation, forced myself to calm down, remember the reasons for the event, and be thankful that enough of my colleagues wanted to come that they could actually fill a bus. That was pretty cool. Not only that, but I learned of a scheme to find the pricks who took my phone, or to at least find my phone. Focus on the positive. Silver lining. Puppies. Kitties. Deep breaths. In, out, in, out...

But, not to the 'great' ending yet. After changing into my dress-up clothes (featuring a new traditional Malawian-style blouse just tailored a few days prior), I headed down to the kitchen to pick up the cooks, 300 samosas, and about 180 bottled sodas (minerals, as they refer to them here...not sure why... are there minerals in coke? fanta? sprite? Is that a dumb question? Probably, but anyway...).

Ironically, at this point I was thinkin happy thoughts... nothing more could go wrong now, could it? Ha!

I arrived at the previously-arranged time of 1:00 p.m. (earlier that day when I had a phone), outside the kitchen gate, to find nobody. No food. No minerals (except maybe the iron gate). And, of course, I had no phone to call anyone. Panic started to set in, but I was running out of energy for that. I just tried to calmly look for someone, and luckily someone was around who helped me find the head cook, who told me he had no cloth to cover the samosas because his boss was not there. I'm not sure what the boss had to do with the covering cloths. Maybe they're very valuable and he keeps them in a safe somewhere. I couldn't be bothered with wondering why. Right after I headed to the trunk of my car to retrieve the windshield sun-shade to use as a cover, the head cook produced some for me. At that point, I didn't care where they'd come from or how... I just said, "ok, let's get in the car."

But oh, the minerals. Iron, zinc, copper... or was it fantas, cokes, and sprites? At this point, I didn't care anymore. But of course nothing had been retrieved from the cooler prior to my arrival (btw, showtime was 2:30 p.m., and it was approaching quickly). More time. More energy. Head cook runs somewhere to get a key. To open the gate. To open the kitchen (they had cooked in a different kitchen--the main one has no functioning stove... ya, that makes sense.). Mad rush to the cooler. Take out 8 crates of minerals. Pack in car. Everyone gets in. Samosas on laps. Off we go. Puppies. Kitties. Deep Breaths.

Once we got to the site, things were looking better, but still needed a bit of 'Jenniferizing"-- hey, I like that new-fangled-ego-crazed-verb... I wanted the event to be outside. Alfred (Village to Village Director) wanted it inside. He won. But, I got to change the direction of the chairs so they faced a better-lighted area. The 'inside' was a great hall (i.e. auditorium) that is quite dark and a bit dingy. Which is why I wanted to do things outside. But, the outside area was a bit too sunny, dusty, and informal for the big chiefs (traditional authorities) and other V.I.P's, so we had to hold the event in the dark. People who know me know I hate dark, dank, closed-in, inside places. I prefer open, airy, sunny, or, better yet, outside. Oh, well. I lost that battle, but in the end, things did get better. OK, the great part now.

The GREAT part:

The event went almost without a hitch. A good 120 or so people came, most from Domasi College (on the Jennifer-catered bus, of course), and many from the surrounding community, including some of my colleagues from Chanco. The two public affairs officers from Lilongwe (the capital) appeared impressed at what they saw, as did everyone else. There were speeches given by Alfred, myself (and I didn't totally screw it up, though my jokes pretty much fell flat--I'm blaming cultural difference and formal decorum for that), one of the chiefs, Public Affairs Officer John Warner (who, I must say, was very complimentary of the project and my efforts. Nice when that happens from someone in authority. Can be a rare occurrance, and DCE Principal Dr. Chakwera, who also was very complimentary and so gracious to agree to be our guest of honor at relatively short-notice a week and 1/2 prior to the event.

The reading room was toured by all, and all appeared impressed. Samosas were gobbled. Minerals were chugged. Faces were covered with smiles. Ya, it was a great event, with a happy ending. Except for my own cultural fau pauxes (AH! How do you spell that?), including asking everyone to get up and get something to eat in bloody yank style when I guess it's not appropriate to do so before the chiefs (decorum just makes me so bloody uncomfortable), it all went almost without a hitch. I was the only hitch. But I'm a Mzungu, so everyone here seems to have more patience with me. At least it appears that way most of the time.

And, it gets better. After it was all over, I dropped off the cooks, the empty bottles, and trays, and rushed to Zomba to see if I could report my stolen phone. Amazingly, the Celtel store was still open after 5 p.m., the ladies were very nice and told me what to do (had to get a search warrant from my buddies at the Zomba Police Station the next day--they know me by name now... lucky me!)-- not only that, but I was able to buy a new sim-card with the same phone number. However, since I'm leaving Malawi soon, I hesitated to buy a new phone, hoping to find a good used one or to borrow one.

Right after leaving the store, the most amazing thing happened. I went to visit my friend Dr. Maseko (who's also buying my car) to discuss the car purchase, told him about the lost phone, and he offered to let me borrow one of his 'extra' phones until I leave Malawi!

Now, that's a GREAT ending, eh? Aren't you glad you actually made it to the end? Same phone number, borrowed phone, most of my saved contacts replaced, all's well that ends well, or so they say.

After that up 'n down marathon, I'd better save Zambia for the next post. Thanks for comin along for the ride (again) on M'n M! ;-) Tiwonana!!

Back from Zambia, head spinnin...

So, it's about one week and one day after my last post, and I'm alive to tell the tale... I had a fabulous trip, both in Lilongwe and at South Luongwa National Park in Zambia. Of course, it was a much-needed respite from the craziness that had been going on here in Domasi a couple of days prior to my escape.

For those who are wondering about the condition of things at my home, luckily Harold has not returned. However, Dorothy has continued to stay on the property with her young daughter Miracle. Her sons have been staying with her mother. Today, we talked about the situation, and it looks like she'll be moving in with her mother soon, while also working on building a house in her mother's village. Right now, Dorothy and her family are saying that Harold is no longer welcome in the family, and they are supporting an official divorce. For Dorothy's sake, I hope that this will be the case. She seems to have some good support in her family members, and I think they will take good care to make sure she and the kids are safe and healthy. I've also done my part to help her succeed as she ventures out on her own, the details of which I'll keep to myself. Let's just say with Deliwe's wise advice, we found a way to help Dorothy without also assisting her violent alcoholic husband in the process. Through Deliwe, I hope to also receive updates on how the family is doing after they go (and also after I leave Malawi), and of course, I do expect them to come around and visit while I'm still here (up to June 1, though I'm still waiting for a confirmed travel itinerary--more on that later).

Back to the story of my week away: My first night was spent in Lilongwe, catching up with Kate and her boyfriend, and meeting up with a few new people as well. I didn't realize at first how much I needed that kind of escape... just being around other foreign visitors (all I met were much shorter-term than myself), and sharing stories of African travel and overseas living experiences. It really helped to get my mind off of the upsetting events I had just experienced here.

The coolest (and, of course, most ironic) aspect of it all was the fact that I met some of the most interesting, friendly, engaging people I've met so far since I've come to this country (both in Lilongwe and during my stay in Zambia)... funny how that always happens when you're about to leave a place.

For now, I'll save the detailed stories and pix from my trip, but hopefully those will be posted by Friday. Right now, I'm very busy planning our official launch event for the Children's Reading Room Project at Village to Village Orphanage which takes place tomorrow afternoon (22 May)--which also is the reason my head is spinnin' (not to mention the fact that time is running out for all the other things I have to do--but I'll worry 'bout that stuff later).

Most of the major planning work is finished, so now I just have to do the hard part... get presentable and then present, without letting my usual stage fright turn me into a bumbling idiot... wish me luck on that! (A sidenote-- I even had a traditional Malawian dress made to wear at the occasion... had to have some things adjusted, and will go home to try it on soon...I'm a bit nervous 'bout that)

As a quick update, the Reading Room project is now up and running, and doing quite well! We officially opened on Thurs. 8 May, and are keeping regular open hours of 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. We chose 8 May as our opening date because it was just 2 days after receiving a HUGE shipment of books from Florida, sent by the amazingly generous book donations of the students from Pine Ridge Middle School!! Because of the hundreds of books they sent (a total of 12 'M' bags from the U.S. Postal Service, if I remember the number correctly), our shelves were full of books for kids of all reading levels, and we were then able to open our doors (though it did take us another full day to finish stocking the books and finalizing volunteer staff).

We have a great staff of 6 volunteers: 2 adults, including one retired primary school teacher (Mr. Chawanda-- watch for pix of him later), one volunteer teacher at Village to Village Secondary School, and 4 teenage secondary school students (one of which is Deliwe's brother Movuto, who has been a great help before and during our opening). Right now, all of our volunteers are men/boys, so we're still looking for some women/girls to help us out as well.

Of course, I've visited the Reading Room several times since we opened the doors, and things are going very well. At times, I've had to summon up (and also suppress) my 'German side' which wants to keep the books perfectly tidy at all times, but in the process, I've also managed to help instill the importance of taking care of the space and the books to the kids, which is part of this whole process. Let's just say when I came in one day to a disorderly pile of books on the bottom shelf (also the most popular shelf, as it's got the more basic-level English story books), I made sure to leave it there for the kids to straighten up, after my German side gave them a firm, but gentle reminder of how to leave the place the way they found it-- don't worry, no hitting or screaming involved... I'd had quite enough of that by last week Monday (Which is when I gave the 'the talk').

What I love about these kids the most, though, is that after I gave them 'the talk', they were very eager to clean everything up, and have since done an impressive job of taking care of their new library. They're fast learners, and very eager to please. The best part is that they're really loving their new place, and I can see the joy it is bringing them, as well as the appreciation of the community members who really seem to see the potential the reading room holds for improving literacy education in this region.

So, tomorrow we show off our hard work to the world (well, our world here in Domasi, anyway). I'll be sure to give a full report of that, as well as my escape to Lilongwe/Zambia, and of course, the pictures to go along with it all...

Tiwonana (maybe mawa)!

Much-needed escape to Zambia

Hello, again. This is intended to be a quick post to let everyone know that I'm alive and in one piece, somewhat against the odds after the ordeal I had Sunday night with the Gardener. Without giving all the ugly details, let's just say he went too far this time. How? Let me count the ways:

1) He got drunk again, less than a week after his 'sincere' promise to quit drinking after last weekend's incident.

2) He chased and violently threatened his wife into my home.

3) He chased and threatened Deliwe and I inside my home.

4) He did all of these things in front of his two sons (again, for the 2nd time in a week), whom I had to 'shelter' in my bedroom during an hour-long ordeal).

5) When I managed to get him out of the house, he harrassed us by yelling into the windows about how his wife Dorothy was 'a prostitute,' cheating on him with his best friend, and that somehow Deliwe was involved in this (clearly a bunch of nonsense induced by strong homemade liquor, a vivid imagination, and maybe some other substances--very strange, disturbing, and scary).

I managed to contact Mr. Banda (Housing Director) in the midst of all this, who brought a driver and security guard to restrain Harold and take him to the Police Station. The following morning (Monday 12 May), Deliwe, Dorothy, Harold's 'accused' friend, and I went to the police station and filed reports. I'll try to tell more about that experience in a later post. It was very interesting in many ways.

Oh, ya, I almost forgot-- after Harold was taken in, we realized his young daughter Miracle was locked inside his house and there was no key. We had to go to the police station to try to get it from him (as he had locked the door somehow during his rage--before I'd come home from the office), but he didn't have it. We ended up having to get a DCE driver to wake up the carpenter at around 11:30 p.m. to come and break into the house (since there's no spare key). Of course, Dorothy found the key in their bathroom the next morning... apparently they'd forgotten to look there the night before...

As far as I know, Harold is still in police custody. He no longer works for me, nor is he allowed on my property. Mr. Banda also plans to make sure he does not work for any DCE staff on campus again.

Needless to say, the entire thing was not only traumatic, but incredibly embarrassing for the public nuisance it caused. Please wish all of us luck in dealing with the aftermath, and in our hopes that Harold indeed stays away. We do have security guards on campus whom Mr. Banda has requested pay special attention to our property for the remainder of my stay here.

The sad thing is the kids. I'll really miss them, and I'm worried sick about them. For now, Dorothy will be staying with her mother, but likely Harold will join her again before long, and the cycle is likely to continue. For their (the kids' and Dorothy's) sake, I hope something gets done about it. Again, more later on the futility of this wish on my part.

For now, the good news is that I'm leaving town for a few days, headed to Lilongwe and then to Zambia for a quick safari ending Sunday, 18 May. I think I mentioned this in my last post. During this time, please send good vibes our way for safety for Deliwe (she'll have some friends over while I'm gone, plus our trusty guard dogs borrowed from the next door neighbor), as well as a safe journey for me.

I may try to post once more before I go, but just in case, Tiwonana next week! (hopefully still in one piece)...

The good, the bad, and the ugly...

Hey! Are you all still there? The faithful? The Loyal? The not-so-faithful, nor not-so-loyal? Well, I'm still here... in Malawi, that is... Hoping to get back in the swing of the bloggin' thing soon, as finally I'm almost myself again.

Now, it's down to about 3-4 weeks left here (still waitin for official itinerary, which is the reason for the non-committal (is that a word?) time frame... Not that I'm countin the days or anything, but I must say I have my moments... the good, the o.k., and the not-so-good. Or, shall we say, the good, the bad, and the ugly... Ya, I like that. In fact, I'll make it my title now (writing title, already written by the time you see this). Ya, it's a borrowed cliche from an old Clint Eastwood western (if I'm not mistaken), but a good one for this post...

So, here it is, my life here, as of late... I'll start with the good:

THE GOOD #1:

I had a really cool visitor come to see me most of the week right after we lost Penga. Her name is Kate, and she's here on a short-term project with the UNDP (United Nations Development Program, for the international-organization-acronym challenged). Luckily, she'd been working with the USDOS (U.S. Dept. of State, for the U.S. Govt.-acronym challenged) when she'd decided to take on this small project, and they told her about me, saying something like, "I think we have an English Language Fellow posted in Malawi." (A good --well, decent-- joke about the USDOS has been recently censored here due to sensitive nature of subject and certain people formerly and currently being paid by them-- I'll just leave the last part in, and you can try to figure out the rest). Last part of censored joke: Could explain why our country's foreign policy is a complete disaster (well, besides that guy in the White House, but don't get me started)...

Eventually, Kate got my contact info, e-mailed me before coming over, and also called me when she arrived in early April. After a short stay in Blantyre, she came to the Zomba region for her research and stayed with Deliwe and I. During her stay, we had a great time, just chatting and enjoying some of the tourist attractions of the area, including Liwonde National Park (where we actually stayed at the fancy Mvuu Camp Deliwe and I wandered into during our first visit there in Oct. '07-- we also had a GREAT elephant adventure there!!), Zomba Plateau, Lake Chilwa (not much to see, but at least we saw it), and the one 'site' I've actually visited in Blantyre-- David Livingstone's mission church built in the late 1800's. That was actually the first place we visited when we met up on Tues., 22 April. Afterwards, I stayed one night in Kate's room at Kabula Lodge (very nice, affordable place with a great view, for those lookin for somewhere to stay in Blantyre).

Kate stayed with Deliwe and I for the next week, leaving early in the morning on Friday 2 May, and her stay couldn't have been at a better time, since we were still reeling from what had happened to our kitty Penga. Kate was very sympathetic to our sadness over our loss, and also a fun and interesting person to have around, so helped take our minds off of this terrible thing we'd just experienced.

This leads me to:

THE BAD #1:

Kate left. Now, we really miss her as we'd gotten used to having her around, and she also was using the room we'd kept Penga's food and litter box in... so, of course, things felt really empty and a bit sad again. Especially Sunday. Sundays are really hard for me these days.

THE UGLY #1:

The trip to Zambia with the aerobics group fell through at the last minute, leaving me to figure out a way to go on my own. I spent a lot of time/money (for phone calls) trying to find someone else with time/money to go with me. Couldn't find a soul. Kate (who'd been travellin with her boyfriend since she'd left) had gone on a safari in Zambia with her boyfriend this past Thurs. (8 May) to today (Sun. 10 May), so asking her was not an option. Which leads me to:

THE GOOD #2:

I found a way to go to Zambia on my own with the same safari group this coming week, and visit Luongwa National Park, which Kate just told me today is spectacular. I haven't seen a lion, zebra, or a giraffe in Malawi (not many here), so I'm excited for the close encounters she's told me about.

THE BAD #2:

I don't get to see Victoria Falls, unfortunately (my primary goal of this trip).

THE UGLY #2:

I'll be travelling alone, with one other couple whom I don't know. I hope they're cool. Chances are about 30/70, based on my experiences here so far. (30 percent that they'll be cool, unfortunately... though I have had better luck with 'travelling/temporary' mzungus here than I've had with the more permanent ones living here (one reason I'm travelling alone...It's not me, though... this I know, as I've never experienced this before anywhere else-- more on that issue another time...)

To end this post on a high note, I'll finish with a few more of the 'Goods':

THE GOOD #3 Despite what some may have believed, the investigation of the ridiculous excuse for a vet Dr. Bakili has begun. I've been in contact with certain members of the board, the 2 doctors who saw her on that horrible day filed reports last week, and the latest I hear is that the board is set to meet on the issue very soon. Keep the good vibes and prayers comin on that one... it seems to be working!

THE GOOD #4: The Children's Reading Room at Village to Village Orphanage is now open for 'business'. Most of the books from the U.S. (98% of which were from the Pine Ridge Middle School book drive in FL) came in on Tues., we stocked the shelves Tues. and Wed., and opened our doors to the kids on Thurs., 8 May. After a quick orientation to 'Jennifer's Rules,' by myself and our primary volunteer Alex (retired primary school teacher-- PERFECT for the job), the reading began. Soon I'll post some pix of the resulting happy faces. We're also planning a launch on 22 May with all the local V.I.P's (including my colleagues of course) hopefully in attendance... Whew! It's finally happening!


THE GOOD #5: I finished my class at Chanco this past Thursday, and was actually a bit sad about it, as they turned out to be a really good group. They gave me all the credit saying that I was a great instructor. It was really nice to end that on a high note, as I'd felt so badly for teaching them on such a short-term basis. In fact, I will miss them, as I'd already gotten a bit attached to this group. They were very committed students, and had great attitudes... even laughed at most of my jokes (even the lame ones) during class. Too bad the strike kept us from working together longer. Hopefully the next instructor (I'm told to be hired this week... hmmm...) will have a similar experience to mine. Good luck LAN 150 & 160! Hope your stay at Chanco is relatively strike-free and you finish within 4 to 5 years!! ;-)


So now, I must sign off, as I'm waiting for a visit from my gardener, whom I've discovered has an issue with domestic abuse (Ya, another 'ugly' unfortunately), stemming from a problem with alcohol. I came very close to kicking him off my property for good last week, but settled for a visit to the police (who told me that violence related to a 'domestic dispute' is not against the law-- ya, they got a piece of my mind that day--), followed by a serious counseling session in which he promised not to drink anymore, as this seems to be the source of his intermittent violent temper. Two strikes and he's out. I suppose this is a personal issue, so I'll just leave it at that. I have no tolerance for either alcoholism nor violence. Though I wouldn't normally write something of such a personal nature here, I feel compelled, as it's now in my backyard and doesn't seem to be going away (though up to this moment I thought everything was fine).

I'm relatively certain that deep down this man is a good person, which makes it hard to take such action. If he raises a hand to anyone on my property again, he's out (don't worry, the family can stay). By the way, this is a VERY common issue in Malawi... more on that later, too...

Wish me luck, and sorry to end with an 'ugly,' but unfortunately the timing (a phone call from him minutes ago) was the catalyst. I'll keep you posted. Tiwonana Mawa!

I'm back, but only for a moment...

I just wanted to check in to let the loyal M 'n M readers know that I'm still among the living. Life continues to hurl its euphoric (well, not completely) ups and relentless downs for me in Malawi. I had planned to chronicle it all here today, but have had a few internet/technical issues, so hopefully I can get it all out there tomorrow.

Something very shocking happened last night at my household (not quite as shocking as the Penga story, but equally disturbing). Other than that, things had been going a bit better, and we even had a lovely guest in our house by the name of Kate. She's an American here on a short-term research project with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Luckily, she stayed with us during the week after we lost Penga, so the house didn't feel so empty, and we had a great time together, seeing all the local sites together like typical Mzungu tourists. Ya, I needed that.

All the details to come very soon (and yes, those belated elephant pix!!). Tiwonana for now!