Deforestation

A picture is worth a thousand words.  This past weekend, Ben, one of the teachers, was hiking in the rainforest of Malawi when he came across a horrible of deforestation with the illegal cutting down of major trees.  After the initial shock of what he was seeing, he snapped a bunch of photographs.

He immediately took action, by sending an email to all the staff the photos and what he had observed.  He also posted those on the Lilongwe Chat Google Group...

Fellow Teachers,

This weekend Benny, Laurie and I visited Ntichsi Forest Reserve for the first time this year.  During our hike we discovered two large areas where loggers were actively cutting down massive hardwood primary trees.  (Please see pictures in this email.)

We stopped in at Ntchisi Lodge to find out if the managers had any information on this matter. To our horror,  the managers said they had recently found 12 logging sites! They have spoken to the village chief, but thus far nothing has been done to halt the illegal logging.

Does anyone have any information on who to contact to file a report?

Time is running out on Malawi's last sliver of rain forest!

Many thanks!

Ben

It didn’t take a day for him to see his mailbox inundated with messages, from private people as well as NGOs and local wildlife groups.  It even went as far as having a reporter contact him and saying he would write a story about this deforestation case.  Now, it appears that the government is getting involved, with talks of a meeting scheduled to happen to see how those cases of illegal deforestation can be stopped and those perpetrating them can be punished. 

The hope is that the momentum remains and that real action takes place with a stop on illegal tree cutting.  Malawi is a beautiful country that should remain in its state.

Briquettes

Deforestation in Malawi is an issue, as people tend to cut down branches and/or trees to make fire to cook their food on.  It’s part of their daily life!  Sometimes, small efforts can multiply and really make a difference.  For example, Ben, one of the teachers has started the Green Team at school and their sole goal is to recycle paper by making paper briquettes out of it.  In turn, those can be used as alternative to firewood to cook food.  It’s a simple enough process that he’s teaching to his “Greenies” – and that he hopes they will repeat once at home, taking action and giving a true sense to “Pay it Forward”

Step 1: tear paper in small pieces

Step 2: Mix water to the paper and let soak for 1 to 2 days

Step 3: Mix, tear and smush the paper and water until it makes a mush

Step 4: Using a cut PVA pipe, place the soaked paper and pack it full

Step 5: After making sure your mold is full of paper and pushing some of the water out, push the briquette slowly out of the mold.

Step 6: Place the newly formed briquette out of the way to dry

Step 7: Let it dry for 2 weeks.  It is now ready to be used!

Feast for the eyes

Malawi has some gorgeous areas, breathtaking landscapes, hilly and wooded in some areas, almost desert-like in others.

 Right now, it’s the dry season, so a lot of yellows, browns and light dirty greens.  In the past month, we haven’t seen the wet stuff and won’t for about another two months, until November when the rainy season starts. At that time, we will see the Green side of G Malawi.   Landscapes don’t need much explanation…so ENJOY!

  

Roadside Markets

Anytime you drive around the countryside, it’s easy to spot stalls and wooden huts selling whatever you may need.   I love the fresh fruits and vegetables, displayed artistically and color-coded, all waiting for a good kitchen table.  The less appealing to me are the meat vendors, with their carcass hanging from a rope, under a thin leaf roof, no refrigeration and swarms of flies.  Not being a keen meat-eater, it doesn’t take much to completely turn off my appetite for meat!  Those truly do the trick!

Some of my favorites are the homemade furniture makers, ranging from wooden beds and cupboards to woven reed outdoor patio furniture.  For some, those are truly masterpieces, a tribute to the craftsmen of Malawi, who for the most part work with a VERY limited toolbox and no electric powered tools.  Oftentimes, you will find the coffin makers in that area as well…

Yes, death is a very lucrative business here, as the mortality rate is high, due to poverty induced malnutrition, malaria and AIDS.

You also have the local souvenir shops, where again, amazing woodwork are on display…  chairs, bowls, masks, toys, drums, knick-knacks of all sorts…  But it can also be a pain, almost as bad as the Luxor Souk!  The vendors are quite aggressive, wanting you to visit their stall and to purchase their goods.  Being obviously not from Malawi, the prices are up, way up and sometimes come down, but sometimes not.  Those souvenir huts are grouped and it’s almost like a mini-souvenir mall.  You can walk from one to the next, the vendors opening their plastic and reed doors so you can go in, although you won’t find cash registers nor prices on any of the goods.  I will go again, but with plenty of time and loads of cash in my pockets…

Home Away From Home

HOME AWAY FROM HOME- Saturday, September 3^rd, 2011

We have found a home away from home, a refuge, a place we can relax and forget all our worries – and all that within a two-hour drive from our Lilongwe home.  Where is this magical place, the country of plenty? 

One Word: the LAKE! When you look at a map of Malawi, most of its Eastern border is made of a huge lake, some 50 kilometers wide and 350 kilometers long, truly an inland sea for this landlocked country.  And what a breath of fresh air it offers!  We honestly could not distinguish the other side and felt like we were back in Jamaica or in Sri Lanka, at the beach bordered with palm trees..

Along with 2 other families, we drove to the lake, on a nice road, going through villages and little towns, passing markets and artifact vendors.  As you can imagine, the Lake is a pretty touristy destination, for expats as well as locals. We arrived before 11:00 am, picked the most perfect spot on the beach, under a straw umbrella, our feet in the sand and our head in the palm trees.  The kids were fast at changing into their swimsuits and within 2 minutes of dropping our stuff, they were IN the lake...   Water games, snorkeling and sandcastle were on the activity card for the day. 

Since we were using the beach (for no fee) of a nice hotel, we also had access to their pool (for a little fee) and their restaurant…so after basking in the sun and playing in the water, we ordered a nice lunch that we all enjoyed pool side. 

In the late afternoon, we set back on our drive back to Lilongwe, faces happy and tired from smiling, already looking forward to the next trip to the lake!

Driving

We’ve had the Tank for over a week, but I’ve been scared to drive it into town.  This Friday, NO MORE!  I conquered my fear, asked my buddy if she needed to go shopping and I arranged for us to go together.  In all honesty, for the past month, I’ve been going shopping with her in her car and it was time for me to start returning the favors!  So, off we went shopping together.  Surprisingly, it’s just not as difficult as I made it sound to drive on the left; all I need is a constant reminder that I, the driver, must stay toward the middle of the road.  Although I’d gone to the stores a bunch of times, I still was not 100 % sure of the best route to take, and having my buddy along was helpful in giving me the confidence to find my way around town.  She was also a good sport, not eating her nails nor shifting nervously in her seat.  She even joked that she still had her nails!!!  

The TANK

22 days into Malawi and we have purchased a car, well more like a Tank, to navigate the streets of Lilongwe, but most importantly, to go on safari and camping trips!  Now, before I start talking about our car, let me tell you how differently priced vehicles are in this neck of the woods!   There are two kinds of vehicles on the market here: Duty- paid and duty free, just like people working here have different status: tax payers and tax exempt.  So, if a diplomat or an NGO buys a car, their status is tax exempt and they can buy a car without paying the duty.

The rest of us, unfortunately, are taxpayers and we have to either buy a car for which we have to pay the duty/taxes duties (huge percentage, almost doubling the car price) OR buy a car for which the duty was paid by a previous owner.  So, you can imagine that all that tax paying makes cars expensive…and therefore new cars are few and between, while older, well-kept models are what is being sold on a daily basis. 

Now, let’s talk about our new ride: we got a 1996 Nissan Patrol 4x4 V8 Diesel with about 250,000 kms on the counter.  It’s rather well-kept, considering its “grand old age”, and runs with a nice diesel engine sound…  It’s easily seats 8 or by squeezing on the front seat, even 9 with a removable third row bench.  Without the bench its nice sized trunk space will hold all our camping gear! 

So far, nothing out of the ordinary…. except that the wheel is on the RIGHT side of the vehicle, that the driver has to shift gears using her/his left hand, and that the indicator lever is on the right, with the windshield wiper lever on the left.  Yeah, I can see you trying to figure this out…it’s just the opposite of what all US, Canadian, European cars have… which means that we will turn on the windshield wipers more often than it rains in London!!!

The good thing about the TANK is that it’s SO big , cars will move out of its way on narrow roads, a perfect set-up for us, as we’ve just started driving on the WRONG side of the road…  I still have to think where I’m to drive the car…  Only way I know is that, as the driver, I should be closer to the middle of the road than to the edge…  Can’t wait for the weekend to go for a drive… IF we can get diesel to fill its tank up!  But that will be another story…

Love at First Sight

Our housekeeper Annie has been working in our homefor 17 years and today she experienced love at first sight!  I was observing her sweeping the floors, literally moving the dust around!  Knowing that our vacuum cleaner from Saudi was in the pantry, I pulled it out of storage, brought it to her and ask her if she wanted to use the vacuum.  She looked up and told me she had never used one.  So, I showed her how to plug it in, how to sweep the floors and then let her have a go!

Annie started giggling, giddy with happiness and utter glee.  So, as a good lady of the house, I went back to the Monopoly game we were playing and she went on with her first vacuuming!  We could hear her giggle and laugh by herself!   At one point, she saw Francisco, our gardener and called him in, to show him the vacuum.  Again, we heard laughs and giggles!  They started admiring the vacuum sucking up the dust.    Francisco stayed in, to watch her vacuum.  He even had his try with the machine.

I had never considered that some people had never used a vacuum cleaner, but seeing Annie and Francisco laughingly use it to clean the house probably was one of the best sounds I had heard!  The giggles and laughs of adults discovering a helpful technology tool!

Lilongwe Hash

There is a Hash House Harriers Group in Lilongwe and we finally were able to join them, as this Monday the meeting point was less than 10 minutes walk from our house…and walk is what you do when you don’t have a car!  It was quite different from the Riyadh Hash, that’s for sure.  No need for sponsor, no cryptic map, no circle before the run, no Allen ;-( as RA…  The people we met were rather nice and welcomed us openly.  It just was so different!  We walked along the river in fields and then along the Lilongwe Golf Course, at a rapid pace. Could hardly keep up!  The Runs take place on Monday early evening and start at one person’s house, taking the group through various areas of town.  Therefore after the run, we all gathered at one house, were served pizza and could purchase soft drinks and beer.  After some socializing, the circle was called;  returning members and visitors were recognized and had a down-down.  Two were punished, one for getting his car stuck and one for driving to the hash, when her house was 3 houses down!  Overall an interesting way to spend a Monday evening…

Starting at a new School

Mid August start of school, in winter crispness as we are in the Southern Hemisphere…  Sweaters needed in the morning as it’s pretty cool…but by the time 9:00 am comes around, we shed them willingly!   Emma has started in Year 6 in Mrs. S’s class, an American from Minnesota, the last year of the primary years and Alex is in year 4 in Mrs. D’s class, a Brit married to a Portuguese who has called Malawi home for over 20 years, after a stint in Zimbabwe. 

Our new school is on a sprawling campus, including trees, lots of grass, a full size football pitch with tracks all around, a netball field, tennis courts, two pools, a fill size gym with stage and classroom buildings all over, as we start in Reception, the equivalent of Pre-K or KG1 and go to year 13, the equivalent of Grade 12.  The admin and some teachers also live on campus.  This is truly a school community! 

And with a whole bunch of teachers living within walking distance of the school, it’s quite convenient.  We’re barely 5 minutes walk from the school gate…  great thing right now, as we still don’t have a car!

The school is an IB school, with PYP and DP already authorized and currently implementing the MYP, making the transition from the British Curriculum to the IB.  We are starting along a new director whose vision is establishing and confirming a school identity and striving to implement the highest standards in education.  I think I can live with that and work along just fine! 

We had a full week induction/training/classroom readiness time… before welcoming the students on Monday, August 15^th, unfortunately for only 2 days as calls for protests forced us to close the school for 2 days in its first week.  Better be safe than risking students’, staff and parents’ safety and setting ourselves as an unnecessary target!  So, We had school Monday and Tuesday, school is closed Wednesday and Thursday and we are reopening on Friday!  Kind of a strange way to start the year, but we are dealing with it!