By Julie Dunaiskis

On May 14th, we travelled to Mbidi School to continue our painting work where we left off last week. The school kids were away for a holiday so we missed having them around and hearing them playing but our work continued. Norma, our paint captain, had all our activities planned out so we could start running the minute we got off the bus and that we did! We were only 6 in number today due to a couple of people being under the weather but Norma was determined that our small number could and would get everything done. The school classroom which was being used as a storage room since the end of March when the supplies arrived was our first initiative. Norma who had cleared a path on Thursday through the lumber pile noticed that the lumber had returned and we were unable to paint one side of the classroom. Not to be hindered, she soon enlisted some locals to help move the lumber to the middle of the room. Norma, Karen, David and I primed all the walls and waited for them to dry to continue with the 2nd coat and the start of the 3rd coat. We then went to the other classrooms and started to paint the ivory 3rd coat which made a huge difference to all the rooms. By lunchtime, all the rooms had now been painted and mostly completed except for some small finishing touches. One of the schoolrooms got a new blackboard and the other classrooms got a start on new paint on their existing blackboards. Norma was so proud of what the painters had done today.

Great job, Norma!

Chris was even seen hammering some of the desks together while co-coordinating other activates. Not to be outdone, Andrew was “up on the rooftop” doing the set up for the skylights on one of the classrooms. This evening, we were treated to a speaker, Dr. Clement Chilima from the Forestry Research Institute of Malawi.

A few interesting notes:

– 34% of Malawi’s land is covered by forest – ½ of the land
-the forests supply 93% of Malawi’s energy needs
-there are 5,000 plant species and 150 of them are only found in Malawi
-deforestation happening due to population increase, poverty, wood fuel demands, market failures and forest fires (June, July, August) which are the most threat and most devastating
-Malawi is the most densely populated in sub-Sahara Africa
-there is a 1.6-2.8% decline in forests each year
-communities are trying to help out by promoting tree plantings, nurseries and provide incentives to plant trees
– with everyone’s help, the decline in forestation will be saved

By Karen Baker

While not celebrated on this particular Sunday in Malawi, there was a definite motherly theme to the day.

After bidding a sad farewell to two of our teammates, Brian and Prince, most of team ventured back to Kachere to see the home based care program first hand. The program is run by the same 15 HIV positive women who run the daycare for the orphans we visited earlier in the week. These women spend a considerable amount of their time visiting the sick and elderly who are too weak to travel to the community centre or the local clinic for care.

Splitting into two groups, Julie, Karen and Norma visited four homes and met their extended families at each stop. In the spirit of Mother’s Day we saw mothers caring for sick daughters (some of whom have lost their sons and husbands to HIV/AIDS), daughters caring for mothers and granddaughters caring for grandmothers. In all cases, despite the circumstances, the people welcomed us into their modest homes, spoke openly with us about their economic and health concerns (with the help of our translator and driver, Charles), and thanked us for coming to visit them and bringing hope into their lives. We all felt very humbled in their presence and wished we could do more than leave the few kwachas that we left with each family we visited. At one time, this program had funding support from an NGO however in their desire to become self-sufficient, the funding has been withdrawn. That means that the blankets and soaps and other basic needs that were previously funded have dried up, and these women of Kachere who operate the home based care program and the daycare, certainly do not have the time or energy to return home and earn an income to purchase these items, along with making enough money from subsistence farming to feed themselves and their families.

The other members of the group ventured in the opposite direction to meet three other members of the community, an elderly man, a young boy with a severe infection from a rash and a 12 year old girl who likely acquired HIV at birth, who had already lost both her parents to the disease. She was also suffering from malaria.

The circumstances of all of these people, while dire by our standards, are not insurmountable in their minds. They wake every day to thank the Lord for another day in which to spend time with their families and loved ones. They truly appreciate everything that is being done for them whether it is the care the women of Kachere provide or the assistance provided from their non-Malawian visitors who come to see them, taking their pictures and their stories back to their own countries to ask for any form of assistance to make the Malawian life more comfortable and joyous.

After returning to Annie’s Lodge for a quick refresh, the entire team was treated to a wonderful dinner at the home of our Emmanuel hosts, Paul and Helen Jones. We again had a chance to visit with Teferi and Vanessa from Dignitas and also met Lisa who is a PhD candidate from U of T who is conducting research with Dignitas. Conversation ensued on the activities of the weekend and what we had been up to since we visited with Dignitas last week. It would seem that everyone is enjoying their time and learning in Malawi and are anxious to continue to make whatever difference they can. In the spirit of Mother’s Day, we are all working to improve the lives of the world’s children.

By Julie Dunaiskis
On May 11th, we left our regular routine at Annie’s Lodge (7 a.m.) to travel to Liwonde National Park for a weekend safari. Despite a brief stop at a police spot-check and rescue from certain death of a poisonous puff adder snake (by David), we arrived at the boat launch and took a quick trip across the Shire River to Mvuu Lodge. The welcome was wonderful with the offer of a local drink and it felt like being in paradise. The immediate recognition of the peace and serenity was instantaneous. The only rule was “no cell phones on the property” except in the cabins. Once settled into our quaint open air cabins (with resident monkeys as visitors), we climbed aboard the boat for a 2 hour cruise down the Shire River. It was a gloriously warm day. We saw many animals along the way – cormorants, ibis, kingfisher and egret birds, hippos (eyes and ears only), crocodile, water buck, elephants, monitor lizard and sausage trees. When we approached the elephants, we had to whisper which was very difficult for some of the team members (sorry no names). We then had a delicious lunch and after Chris and David took part in swimming activities at the pool, others tested the sleeping quarters. At 4 p.m. we set off on a jeep safari through the park. Again we saw many impalas, a great kudoo bird, baboons, guinea fowl, a Jesus bird (who walks on water/lily pads), a stork, candelabra trees and a python tree. At 5:30 p.m. my “Africa moment” happened when the jeep stopped at a beautiful bay overlooking the Shire River with 3 palm trees in the background. As the sun was setting, the sky was turning a beautiful red, we all picked our favourite drink and took in this very special moment. But not to be outdone, Prince, Brian and David decided to take a long dark walk with one of the guides to the fright of the other guide who was afraid of an animal appearing unexpectedly. Gladly everyone arrived back in one piece. As nightfall began, we could hear only the sounds of the wildlife of Africa. It was a beautiful moment. Our jeep continued through the park using an infrared light to see the nocturnal animals. Just as we turned a corner, we came upon a pod of hippos (baby included) that had come out of the water. It was amazing to see something so close. We then stopped at another point to look at the stars and got a quick lesson on astronomy from our guide, Duncan. A perfect end to a perfect day!

On May 12th, some of the group (excluding Abi and Karen who wanted to rest a little later) got up at 5:00 a.m. for a 6 a.m. walking safari. There was some debate amongst the group whether there was a hippo or an elephant in our sleeping compound last night but I thought it was my roommate (no name attached). The hike began with an armed guard keeping watch over us. He was to fire in the air should a pack of elephants decide to charge. We saw fresh animal droppings along with our friends the warthogs and many species of birds. We heard the elephants but never saw them. Came back to the lodge for scrumptious breakfast. After breakfast, most of the group took a different jeep ride. We found a herd of elephants with the mountains in the background. Amazing sight to see! We stopped at a large balboa tree that is big enough for a person to stand inside(only David, Chris, Norma and I squeezed in). We continued on our way (almost leaving without Andrew who was chatting with the locals). Once everyone was accounted for, we searched for zebras but they were much smarter than us and we failed to see them this time. We arrived back at the lodge hungry for lunch and our departure by boat back to Zomba. Sad to leave but we will continue our work on the school this final week. Along the road back to Annie’s Lodge, we stopped in at a village cotton collection house and saw bags and bags of cotton ready to be picked up for manufacturing. Chris even tried to pick up one of the bags but was outdone by the local young lad who was working there. The going rate for cotton was 110 Kwachas/kg (about 40 cents in US $). We next stopped at a local village market to pick up some more wood carvings which family and friends will be able to enjoy very soon. Our week will be winding down towards our homeward journey but we are excited to get the school classrooms finished and see this wonderful project completed. Watch for updates!