Letters from Namitembo

Why I Teach Social Networking

2010-04-27T14:13:00.003+02:00

The first thing I should do here is explain the title. By "teach social networking," I really just mean "show my students how to open Facebook accounts." Social networking really teaches itself; all that I do after the initial set-up is answer questions, and about every 20 minutes, I add a mini-demonstration on another of the site's features.

Why Facebook? The answer's simple: Facebook is - overwhelmingly - the social networking platform of choice for Malawians. That's really the only thing that matters. A social networking site is pretty worthless if your own social network is off doing their thing somewhere else. If Malawians were using MySpace or Bebo in vast numbers, I'd encourage my students to use those websites instead.

So, why social networking in the first place? Usually when I tell friends back home that I'm teaching Facebook, they groan and make some joke about how I'm encouraging the downfall of Malawian society via the Facebook "time-suck." Eh. I have two pretty sound reasons for doing what I do.

First off, Facebook does not have a stigma of unprofessionalism associated with it here in Malawi, unlike the US. Online social networking can be an incredibly useful tool professionally (I've never used it, but I understand LinkedIn is the "professional" version of social networking sites like Facebook - of course, again, there's absolutely nobody using it in Malawi). Over time, though, the Facebook brand has become associated with frivolity and time-wasting - not, I hasten to add, without reason. However, this does not mean that it can't be used for legitimate professional social networking purposes. And since Facebook is not automatically associated with goofing off in Malawi, its users have some wiggle room to make it into whatever sort of tool they want (to an extent, I think Facebook's silly time-wasting side is a self-fulfilling prophecy).

That's point number one, but my bigger (and slightly contrary) reason for teaching Facebook is this: People who only ever use computers for office work will never really get them, because they won't bother taking the time. Playing is good. Goofing around a little is good. If you get the idea into your head that computers are here for you, and not the other way around, that can only be a good thing. Computers are incredibly versatile tools that can be put to just about any purpose - but if you only ever use them for what you are told is their intended purpose (which is usually pretty dreary) then you will never get this, and you will never learn to love computers. If you never learn to love computers, it is certain that you will never comprehend the full extent of what they can achieve, the sorts of problems they can be put to solving.

I don't think that my students are about to have their minds completely blown from one afternoon of Facebook - let's not get carried away here. But I do think it's important that I give them a well-rounded experience, and that they not only finish my class more knowledgeable about computers, but appreciative of them as well.

Learning not to Teach the Impractical

2010-04-01T10:20:00.006+02:00

Disappointing lesson today.

The goal was to help all 13 of my students set up their own Google accounts. From there, I'd show them the ropes on Gmail, and in later lessons, Google Docs. I was especially excited about the latter; I think cloud-based office applications are fantastic, and I was really looking forward to teaching these guys how to use Google Docs' word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation programs - and most of all, Google's custom 'forms creator.'

Unfortunately - and not for the first time - Google blocked us at every turn when we tried to create the accounts. This is not exactly new territory for me. I never found Google to be obstructive back home in the States, but it really feels like the company is reluctant to offer new accounts to people living in Malawi. That could be unfair - I suppose there could be any number of reasons, it's not necessarily based on our physical location - but the fact remains that maybe 80% of the time when I'm trying to create a new Google account here in Malawi, I've been rebuffed in one way or another. I've never had this problem when creating accounts on other websites here.

Well, even a setback can be an opportunity for a lesson. I mentioned to my group that there are plenty of other e-mail hosting websites, wrote a few URLs on the board, and encouraged them to pick one. Most tried Yahoo. A couple of people went for Windows Live. None of them had any problems creating their accounts on these websites, and they're all happily sending emails back and forth as I type this.

The overarching lesson for me is that, no matter how nice my vision of teaching Google Docs may have been, it simply was not realistic. In the end, it is a waste of their time (and mine) teaching them to use one set of tools that I can't guarantee they'll have access to, when I could use that same lesson time to teach them something I know they'll be able to use.

I'm keeping my own Google account, of course. Using a Google account is not the problem; creating one is. So, I'll continue using Gmail, Reader, Docs, and Blogger, but until I'm convinced that Google will stop randomly blocking the creation of new accounts in Malawi, I'm not going to bother encouraging people here to sign up.

Further Observations in Computer Instruction

2010-03-25T09:45:00.003+02:00

After a two-week hiatus (some super-secret army training), my soldiers have returned to Namitembo for their thrice-weekly computer classes.

This time around, like the Grinch who stole Christmas, I had a "wonderful, awful idea." I switched out the mouse on one of the computers (the fastest and most popular computer), installing a horribly jerky, unreliable, often unresponsive mouse in its place. I mean, this mouse is bad. Practically worthless from the point of view of the consumer - but it's been a great teaching tool.

Right off the bat, my students asked me why I swapped out a perfectly good mouse for this piece of crap. I told them, "You need to get used to using substandard equipment - you never know what you'll be working with in the future." But that was really just my secondary objective. The true method to my madness came to light a couple of days later, after more than half of my students had tried out the mouse (always with frustrating results). I said, "Well, actually, there are a lot of keyboard shortcuts you could use to navigate around, if the mouse is causing you trouble."

So, I sat down with my students and introduced them to the joys of the ALT key (for switching between menus and programs), TAB (for going back and forth between options), CTRL and SHIFT (for highlighting), and a few others. They were psyched. I've actually never seen them more excited about a lesson. Most of them use the new keyboard shortcuts I've taught them now as a matter of course, whether they have a working mouse or not. (It helps that these shortcuts are the same between Windows and Ubuntu!)

The thing is, I've tried - many, many times, with past groups of students - to teach these things. It never stuck. Everyone liked using the mouse just fine, so they didn't really put any effort into learning these alternative techniques. I had to demonstrate to them first that if they depended on the mouse alone, they'd be helpless without a good working mouse. Once they realized that, they were eager to learn the new tricks.

I have to go - somebody's just asked if there's any way to minimize a window using the keyboard. Sounds like a job for ALT-SPACE.

Report: Male Social Networks, Key to HIV and AIDS Prevention

2010-02-27T18:09:00.002+02:00

It's nice to see research being done on HIV/AIDS transmission in Africa that seeks to include men as part of the solution -- rather than pushing the tired (and somewhat self-fulfilling) assumption that men always are, and therefore always will be, the problem.

There are a ton of HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Malawi that work primarily with women. I've seen some of these programs in action - there's really some great work being done. I've always found it strange, though, that the onus is put almost entirely on the women to try and stem the tide of HIV/AIDS. As one sociology professor in the above-linked article put it, "Although there is growing recognition that finding ways for men to reduce their risks is essential, research on innovative roles for men remains limited."

Yeah, pretty much.

Place the blame on sexually irresponsible men, if blame must be assigned. But don't then, in the same breath, place the burden of fixing this problem on the women. The men need to step up to the plate too. Bravo to the Max Planck Democratic Research Institute for undertaking the study.

Push-Broom Hack

2010-02-24T20:03:00.003+02:00

The hinge on this laptop is busted.

SOLUTION.

Hands-on Teaching

2010-02-22T13:19:00.007+02:00

I've done just enough teaching in my life, at this point, to know two things about myself:

When it comes to writing lesson plans, teaching from the book, or just generally working within a traditional classroom setting, I am hopelessly lost.
Despite this, I'm actually pretty good at teaching hands-on.

At the moment, I have a class of 13 adults - soldiers at the nearby barracks - who come for 4 hours, three times a week, to learn computers. We finished our third session this morning, and they're really coming along. I can't take credit for it all - this is an exceptional group, hardworking and professional. Still, I'm pretty happy with the philosophy that I've developed over time for teaching computer basics.

We rely on donations a lot out here, and we're extremely grateful for all of the donations that we receive. The main computer class next door has some really nice, top-of-the-line desktop PCs that were purchased for us by some generous friends a couple of years ago. These are the computers which are used by the full-time students at NAMTAS, taking their year-long course in computer science. They're the perfect machines for the job.

I work next door, in the newly-opened NAMTAS Business Centre (back home it would probably be called an internet cafe). This is where I teach the part-time class for the soldiers (in the mornings, before we open for business). Although it's not full-time, it's an intensive course; after two months, they'll be expected to know their way around MS Office, the internet, email, removable media (CDs/floppies/USB), printing, anti-virus scans, and plenty more. There's almost no lecture time, and practically no discussion of theory. It's about as hands-on as you get.

Now, our computers are not as glamorous as those next door. The newest CPU is at least four years old. Some keyboards have very faded lettering. There's a huge aesthetic difference between the shiny black-and-silver towers, monitors, keyboards and mice next door - and the hodgepodge of hardware (big/small/beige/black/gray/navy/hi-res/low-res/horizontal/vertical/American/British) found in here.

Three of the six computers are running Windows 2000. Two are running Windows 98. The remaining computer is running XP, but it's missing some key files, so I'm attempting to download a completely different, non-Windows OS for that one.

Two have Office 97, three have Office 2000, and one is running OpenOffice - also a non-windows application (though very similar to MS Office).

Four of the mice have scroll wheels, one has a freaky little center button that's like a scroll wheel, and one has just the two basic left & right buttons.

Half of the keyboards are British. Half are American (the " and @ keys are swapped, among other differences). Some have actual written labels on keys like Backspace, Enter, and Tab - others just have the corresponding symbols.

Some of the computers have floppy disk drives. Some have CD or DVD drives. One out of the six has no working USB ports. At the moment, three have working internet connections.

And there are other, smaller differences - the defaults on Office, for example, are set to metric measurement on some, and SI on others. Some automatically perform spell check (squiggly red lines) while some don't. Some have shortcuts to popular programs on the desktop, some have shortcuts on the Quicklaunch toolbar, and some have 'em in the Start Menu.

I could very easily change some of these things, to make the computers operate in a more uniform fashion. But I've decided not to - because this hodgepodge is absolutely perfect for an intensive computer course aimed at beginners.

You might think that giving everyone the exact same tools would make for a better learning environment. In this case, I have to disagree. In fact, I don't think I could have designed a better classroom than this myself, even if given free rein to choose any software or hardware I desired.

One almost universal truth about computer novices is that they're terrified they'll break something or screw it up. And when something unexpected comes up on the screen, usually they think something Very Bad has happened, even if there's nothing wrong at all. If such a person learns MS Word on a non-spellchecking computer, and later tries to type a letter on a computer that automatically checks spelling, chances are they'll freak out when they see those red lines for the first time. "Oh my God, what is that...THING? WHAT IS IT? What did I do? Is the computer broken? Please tell me what's going on. Please, tell me WHY is that horrible red line destroying my letter?"

Believe me, I've seen it happen. Here, and back in the US too. Dozens of times - and with events just as innocuous as the appearance of those squiggly red lines:

"Why is the cursor arrow colored black instead of white on this computer? Is that bad?"
"This computer is making noises...the one I have at home doesn't make these noises...shit, SHIT, I need a little help here, is it going to blow up or something?"
"John! There's no tab key! There's one that's the same size, in the same place, but it has some symbol on it. Where's the tab key?"
"Why the heck does this computer have TWO shift keys? Which one am I supposed to use?"

And so on, and so on, and so on. Now, imagine what happens when somebody comes face-to-face with these little quirks for the FIRST time, when there's nobody around to explain it. That person might just assume that they screwed something up, and they'd be that less likely to take chances in the future (i.e. clicking on different menus to try and find what they need, clicking "OK" and continuing with work when an unimportant error screen comes up, etc). However, if somebody learns from Day One that every computer is a little bit different, and that sometimes you have to click around a little bit to find what you need, they're a lot more likely to see the computer for the versatile, fluid tool that it is, and will learn to adapt in order to accomplish their task at hand. I actually require my students to sit at a different workstation every day so they'll be forced to adapt.

I'm able to tell my students, "Oh, it's no big deal - on this version of Word, if you want an outline numbered list, there's an additional option for that. Try and bring it up on the screen," or "yeah, sometimes you don't find the shortcuts on the desktop...just take a couple of minutes exploring, you'll find them." A lot of future confusion is saved this way - and meanwhile, the students exercise a skill that's invaluable to computer users: they learn to adapt.

At first I was worried that this teaching style would make it damn near impossible to ensure that all the students were learning at about the same rate. What it's actually done is turned all of my students into teacher's aides; since each of them has had experience on different computers, and they're all getting used to working out these little differences in the user interface, they're able (and eager) to help each other out whenever their classmate is in a jam. Since these problems are fresh in their minds, they're probably able to explain it more clearly than I am - and by explaining it out loud, they're really keeping the lesson fresh in their own minds. This also makes for a more co-operative atmosphere in the class, which I'm hoping will prevent students from getting too far ahead of their classmates, or lagging too far behind.

It's only been three class sessions, but they're making enormous strides. I've actually started planning some lessons ahead of time (something I almost never do), built around the troubleshoot-it-yourself idea. For example, after they learn to save their work to flash disks, burn to CD, save to floppy, and to use e-mail, I'm going to assign each person a list of specific tasks centered on moving files from one place to another. Someone might be asked to move a particular image file from Computer A to computer F, an excel document from B to D, and a word document from E to C. Since each computer in this class has a unique combination of those four file transfer systems (CD, floppy, USB/flash, ethernet/email), it will be their job to figure out the best medium for the transfer, and then to do it.

(Any thoughts?)

Update on Steven and Tiwonge

2009-12-30T19:45:00.002+02:00

First off: the BBC has some good coverage of the story, including a report from the courthouse earlier today. I strongly advise you not to take the Nyasa Times coverage seriously (interesting to read from a sociological perspective, but also sensationalized, exaggerated, and possibly designed to stoke a "gay panic" among traditionalists).

Secondly, I managed to get a copy of Malawi's penal code, which had proven elusive in internet searches. The sections dealing with homosexuality are 153 and 156:

153. Any person who -
(a) has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature; or
(b) has carnal knowledge of an animal; or
(c) permits a male person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature,
shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for fourteen years, with or without corporal punishment.

156. Any male person who, whether in public or private, commits any act of gross indecency with another male person, or procures another male person to commit any act of gross indecency with him, or attempts to procure the commission of any such act by any male person with himself or with another male person, whether in public or private, shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for five years, with or without corporal punishment.

Interestingly, Steven and Tiwonge are being charged with "gross indecency," which falls under Section 156. Many news outlets are reporting that homosexuality can lead to a 14-year sentence in Malawi, which is true, but the maximum sentence under Section 156 (if the reports are correct and that is the section they're being charged under) is five years.

There's also an "attempt to commit unnatural offences" charge on the books, in Section 154:

154. Any person who attempts to commit any of the offences specified in the last preceding section shall be guilty of a felony and shall be liable to imprisonment for seven years, with or without corporal punishment.

As I mentioned to the fine bloggers over at Queerty, this case was brought to court in record time. One day after the arrest, the accused are brought to court to make a plea, and their second court appearance is set for 5 days later? That's almost unheard of... Interpret that however you will.

One final note: Yesterday's post featured a quote from Gift Trapeace, the director of the Centre for Development of People (CEDEP). Their organization has been defending Malawian gays and lesbians in the court of ideas, and rumor has it they'll be organizing the defense of Steven and Tiwonge in a court of law as well - take a few minutes to look at their website.

Making History in the Chinkhoswe

2009-12-30T06:28:00.013+02:00

By now, many of you have heard about the "gay marriage" that has taken place in Malawi, which has seen two men arrested for acts of gross indecency. Several online news sources, however, are missing some interesting facts.

First off: While undoubtedly the most high-profile statement of love by members of Malawi's LGBT community, and most public LGBT arrest in the country's history, this was actually not a wedding ceremony but a traditional engagement ceremony known as the chinkhoswe. Traditionally, during the chinkhoswe the couple is presented to the community, gifts are given, and most importantly, marriage advice is given to the couple by family and friends.

Steven and Tiwonge's chinkhoswe was held on Saturday, December 26th. Two days later, The Nation published the following article; click on the images for a larger version.

The first thing one notices, looking at the accompanying picture: one of the two men, Tiwonge, is dressed as a woman, makeup included. This could mean a lot of things - perhaps it's symbolic of the fact that this loving couple wouldn't be denied the intimacy of marriage if one of them was born a woman. But upon reading the article, that does not appear to be Tiwonge's intention. In fact, the two are not quoted saying anything political, no statement decrying their lack of rights in Malawi as part of its LGBT community. It's certainly possible the press intentionally avoided the 'activist' angle; but the overarching impression given by their chinkhoswe is that Steven and Tiwonge just want to have a life together, and are unafraid of telling the world that they love one another (which is statement enough). Of course, they did so at great cost, and they doubtless knew the consequences ahead of time...

So what's the story with Tiwonge's dress? Here are a couple of quotes from the article to shed light:

"Some lodge officials confirmed Tiwonge is their employee and that he claims to be a woman."
"The MC tried to comfort him by saying...'Don't cry Aunt Tiwonge.'"

Although the masculine "he" is used throughout the article, Tiwonge is consistently referred to as the bride, while Steven is the bridegroom. And Tiwonge, according to the article, self-identifies as a woman.

Now, in Malawi, differentiating between a gay man and a transgendered woman would probably just be seen as splitting hairs; many people here would prefer not to acknowledge the existence of homosexuality (at least in their own country), so as you might expect, gender identity is an even more elusive conversation topic. Thus, the labeling game isn't played so much - within and without Malawi's LGBT community. Interestingly, the two appear to self-identify as a gay couple, rather than as a heterosexual man and a transgendered woman; Steven says he's never been interested in women, and that he finally realized he was gay upon meeting Tiwonge (at church). At any rate, his lack of attraction to the opposite sex doesn't seem to hinder his feelings for Tiwonge.

Anyway, the plot thickens: this article appeared in Monday's edition of The Nation, one of Malawi's two daily newspapers. Later that day, Steven and Tiwonge were arrested by police in Blantyre on charges of gross indecency.

Right now, it's uncertain what exactly will happen to the two. Section 153 of Malawi's penal code prohibits "unnatural offences", and carries up to 5 years of imprisonment with corporal punishment, and Section 156 concerns "public decency," and can carry up to 14 years. (UPDATE: See Here.) They have been charged under Section 156.

I'm headed to Blantyre today, and hopefully while I'm there, I can get a copy of the penal code to study; in the meantime, I leave you with two quotes from yesterday's coverage of the arrest in the Daily Times of Malawi:

"The act is illegal. It is not allowed because the Penal Code forbids carnal knowledge against the order of nature...Police should take action because that is against the laws of Malawi."
- Mercy Mulele, Secretary, Malawi Law Society

"Unless the suspects were caught in the act the law cannot take charge against them...What these two people have done is expression of their legal rights. It is another way of testing our law which is silent on such matters. Here are two individuals who are expressing their sexual orientation as human beings. Therefore I do not see any reason why government should intrude in such an issue."
- Gift Trapeace, Director, Centre for Development of People

A short list of English cognates in Chichewa

2009-12-29T09:33:00.004+02:00

This post is mostly for (awesome) nerds like Mike who voluntarily spend hours at a time poring over their linguistics texts for fun. It's also for me, since I haven't posted in a long, long time, and I figure if I start with something mundane, it'll take the pressure off for future posts.

A Short, Non-Comprehensive (or is it Incomprehensive?) List of English Cognates in the Chichewa Language:

AMBURERE - Umbrella
APOZI - Apples
BIZINESI - Business
BOKISI - Box
BOTULO - Bottle
BUKHU - Book
BULEDI - Bread
FOLOKO - Fork
FONI - Phone
KAPU - Cup
KASITOMALA - Customer
KATOLIKA - Catholic
KHOFI - Coffee
KIYI - Key
KOLERA - Cholera
MACHESI - Matches
NYUZIPEPALA - Newspaper
PENSULO - Pencil
PULAYIMALE - Primary
PULEZIDENTI - President
SEKONDALE - Secondary
SIKWEYA - Square
SITOLO - Store
SUKULU - School
TCHALITCHI - Church
THARAUZA - Trousers
THEBULO - Table
TIYI - Tea

Homework: Try and guess the original English word for each of the following:

BATIRE
DEMOKALASE
KOMPYUTA
KHANSALA
GALASI
SITHYUWU

Bonus point: identify this cognate from Portuguese:

NSAPATO

...Okay, that's all I've got today.

Yes, This is a Real Quote

2009-05-11T20:37:00.008+02:00

Malawi's Minister of Information and Civic Education, Patricia Kaliati, remains as quotable as ever...Yesterday, Malawi's Nation on Sunday ran a story confirming that over 300 million kwacha ($2 million USD) of tax-payers' money has been spent on campaign materials for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. It seems the Ministry of Information and Civic Education instructed MACRA (Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority, another government body) to pay for the printing of DPP campaign materials, including posters of Malawi's current president Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika and all the DPP parliamentary candidates.

When Kaliati was asked to comment on the story, she didn't try to deny the allegations. Her actual response? "They are not funding a party, this is civic education on how to vote and specifically voting for President Bingu wa Mutharika." It gets better. When asked why MACRA was only spending money on campaign materials for DPP candidates, she said, "Ministry of Information is not an NGO, it is a government ministry and we are supposed to support the President. All MACRA is doing is to civic educate people to vote for Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika."

Kaliati also suggested that Muluzi pulled the same tricks during his re-election campaign against John Tembo: "In 1999, these organizations were not supporting Tembo, they were supporting the ruling party."

I have one question: Even if this turned out to be true, should Bakili Muluzi's administration really be the benchmark of integrity by which future administrations are judged?

Malawi's elections are set for the 19th of May.

Computer Literacy in Malawi

2009-05-09T08:23:00.004+02:00

A little update from Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School...

We are once again looking for a new teacher in the computer science department, and to this end, the school has placed an advertisement in Malawi's national newspapers. After one week of running the ad, we have received seven responses. This is really quite extraordinary when you consider that we received only five responses last year, after running our ad for twice as long. We expect to receive letters from several more applicants as well; this application period does not end until May 29th.

So what's the story here? Well, while computer science courses are becoming increasingly popular in Malawi, the job opportunities are a bit slower coming. For now, supply is outpacing demand. This is good news for Namitembo Trade School's hiring prospects, obviously, as we have a larger pool of skilled candidates looking for work. However, as a teaching institution, it presents us with the fresh challenge of preparing computer science graduates for a more hostile job market. As a vocational/technical school, we have an obligation to our students to be honest about their prospects and to equip them with the skills necessary to get the best jobs.

This is exactly the sort of thing that makes me wonder just why in the hell some NGOs - such as the One Laptop Per Child Campaign, which I'm told is now opening shop in Malawi - are spending gobs and gobs of money flying people across the globe and paying them generous stipends to perform tasks that increasing numbers of Africans (Malawians certainly included) are perfectly capable of doing. This is especially bizarre when one considers that these short-term workers from Western nations will face a possibly insurmountable language barrier...unless extra money is spent on translation costs, of course. Why not show a little trust, and allow Africans to have a larger share in their own destinies?

PLEASE READ TJOS WARMOMG CAREFULLY

2009-04-19T20:11:00.004+02:00

I've just scanned in the first installment of what will hopefully be a long series of bootleg DVD covers sold in Malawi. The packaging on these is amazing. Just feast your eyes on the latest Jedi recruit:

Amazing. Here's the flip side:

Star Wars has really branched out these days. In case you're wondering, yes, each of the listed videos is present on the DVD, though this doesn't mean there are actually 18 separate movies; Predator 2 is in two parts, as is each installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The text at the bottom reads:

The ultra clear multi-purpose DVD single small dish broadcast time reaches as high as 20 hour

High clear picture natures, Du compares the digital encirclement sound effect. Adapts any DVD video disc player and computer DVD-ROM broadcasts

WARNING: PLEASE READ TJOS WARMOMG CAREFULLY BEFORE OPENING THE SEALED PACKAGE. By openring The copyright proprietor has licensed the film(including its soundtrack)comprised in this Digital Video Disc (DVD) for sale and private home viewing only. All other rights are reserved. Any unauthorized use includes selling, relling, supplying, exporting, reproducing, pubic performance, broadcasting and/or trading any part of this copyright material without obtaining prior written License is an infringement of copyright. Violators will be prosecuted.special Fentures and Bonus Disc Material Not Rated Dolby and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation Program content and Package Artwork:Canal+D,A.All Rights Reserved Package Design.

Don't mess around with this. These people are serious. PUBIC PERFORMANCES ARE PROHIBITED!

Both images can be viewed at full resolution on my Flickr account.

Paladin, Paladin, Far, Far From Home

2009-04-17T22:22:00.012+02:00

The big news in Malawi this week is that Paladin Africa (a subsidiary of Australian energy firm Paladin Energy) has inaugurated a 220-million-dollar uranium mine in the north of the country. Agence France-Presse reports that the Malawi government has signed a 10-year development agreement with Paladin, who will own an 85% stake in the mine.

From the above-linked article:

"The mine will generate over 150 million (US) dollars (115 million euros) in export earnings per year," John Borshoff, managing director of Paladin Africa, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony broadcast live on state radio.

"Ribbon-cutting ceremony" is an interesting turn of phrase. It's being broadcast on TVM right now, and it's certainly one of the liveliest ribbon-cutting ceremonies I've seen. President Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika is dressed head to toe in the trademark blue of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). His powder-blue jacket (and matching cowboy hat) are emblazoned with the DPP insignia, as are his campaign vehicles.

During the actual cutting of the ribbon, an azungu gentleman - presumably Paladin's John Borshoff - gave a short speech praising Dr. Mutharika's administration for its commitment to development. He then turned the stage over to the president himself, who launched into a long campaign speech in Chichewa, enumerating his many accomplishments and shouting "DPP, woye!" at regular intervals. At one point, he turned to the smiling Paladin representative, telling him, "I am saying that I have fulfilled all the promises that I made in 2003." Later, he told the crowd that the opposition leaders were "wolves" and encouraged them to vote only for DPP candidates.

Ribbon-cutting ceremony? Maybe so, but first and foremost, this is unmistakeably a campaign rally.

Does it strike anyone else as irresponsible for the managing director of a multinational corporation to attend the campaign rally of a foreign head of state, as an honored guest? Could his speech not be seen as "stumping" for Dr. Mutharika? What if you knew that Dr. Mutharika had brushed aside strong opposition from environmental, social justice, and local community groups to ensure that the mine would be built?

Malawi's elections are set to be held on the 19th of May.

Calling All Chichewa/English Speakers

2009-04-17T17:30:00.003+02:00

As some of you already know, one of the side projects I've planned for this year is a Chichewa textbook for English speakers, which I'd like to make available as a free PDF download.

I've blogged before about the some of the lacklustre resources currently out there (although, to be fair, the Chichewa Guide for Tourists isn't all that terrible at being what it is, aside from those few gems). The real problem, as I see it, is that all of the current resources are either terribly pedestrian (as in the above-linked case) or very, very intensive, as in the aptly-titled "Chichewa Intensive Course" by Marcel Salaün. Salaün's book is actually quite good at explaining the workings of Chichewa grammar; the real problem in this book is that examples are seldom given when a new concept is introduced, and where there are examples, they're usually given in Chichewa only - aiding in the confusion. The book is not meant as a stand-alone guide, and it took me nearly a year of study and practice to be able to understand half of the lessons found within. Still, it's a great reference - for someone who already speaks Chichewa fairly well.

I actually have two projects in the back of my mind here. One is to create a Chichewa textbook for English-speakers that will stand fairly well on its own (though, of course, no language can be learnt properly without practice). This one will take a long, long time - quite possibly more time than I'll have in Malawi.

The project I'm really focusing my energy on is a "Chichewa Verbs" book. Sort of like this, for Chichewa rather than Spanish. The Chichewa language has a really elegant way of dealing with different verb forms. In addition to the basic temporal tenses (past/present/future, etc.), which are created by the addition of the appropriate "infix," each verb may also take a number of different suffixes which change the meaning of the verb. In Chichewa, these are called misintho ya aneni - simply put, "verb modifiers." They usually change the direction of the action, like so:

Ndidya nsima.
I'll eat nsima.
Ndimudyetsa nsima.
I'll feed him nsima. (Literally, "I'll cause him to eat nsima.")
Mundidyere nsima yanga.
Please, eat my portion of nsima. ("Eat my nsima for me.")
Eeeesh! Anandidyera nsima ndani?
Hey, who ate my nsima? (Same form as the previous one, but here it has the connotation of theft.)
Nsima yadyedwa.
The nsima has been eaten.
Nsima yadyeka.
The nsima is edible/delicious. (This one's for you, Mike.)

These rules hold true for most verbs. -tsa is the "causative" suffix, -dwa is for passive voice, and so on. However, there are exceptions, and some of these suffixes (particularly -ra, the "applied form") are difficult to nail down with one universal rule. This is why I'd like my first Chichewa/English venture to be a reference book for Chichewa verbs and their modified forms; even if you manage to learn the root form of every Chichewa verb, you'll still have difficulty understanding the language without a good understanding of these modified forms.

I've got a few other ideas as well. In addition to translating as many verbs as possible with their modified forms, I want to provide, for each verb root, a list of related verbs and nouns, special rules for that verb (for example, many verbs tend to assume the perfect tense when we might expect them to take the present tense; no one ever says ndikutopa, "I am tired," but rather ndatopa, "I have become tired"), and examples of that verb as used in Chichewa proverbs, colloquialisms, popular Malawian song lyrics, and passages of the Bible/Qur'an in Chichewa.

And now, in my penultimate paragraph, I come to the actual point of this post, as alluded to in the title. If you speak both English and Chichewa, and are at all interested in collaborating with me on this little project, please contact me! It doesn't matter if you live in Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, or somewhere halfway around the globe - most of this work will be done online, anyhow. Just bear in mind that I plan on offering this as a free download, so I can't promise you any riches - though perhaps I can offer you the glory of co-authorship.

There you have it. Please shoot me an email if you're interested...you can reach me at duffell [at] gmail dot com. Thus far I've completed just five verbs, but I'm hoping to speed up the pace to 5-10 verbs per week. With a small team, we could accomplish much more, much faster!

The Things We Do To Save Money

2009-04-09T08:55:00.015+02:00

There are a number of people in the cities and towns of Malawi who make their living taking passport photos. Actually, it's more accurate to say that they take passport-sized photos, as the majority of them are not actually used for passports, but for school ID cards, job applications, National Bank debit cards, and the like. These people do pretty good business - most charge 300 kwacha (about $2) for two passport-sized photos. This is a steep charge, in a country where you can get film processed for about K40 an exposure (at 4" by 6") and digital photos processed for as low as K70 a photo. The main reason why passport photos are so expensive is that most are taken using instant cameras (i.e. Polaroid), which allow the vendors to offer "passport photos while you wait." The self-developing film used in these cameras is not cheap.

Interestingly, more and more vendors are investing in digital photo technology - usually a digital camera, together with a photo printer that has a card reading feature. This setup allows them the same expediency while cutting down on costs (though the initial investment for equipment is much larger). It has the additional benefit of letting the customer approve his or her photo before it's printed. Value added!

Now, although the photo-developing costs are far, far lower for those using digital technology, these vendors still tend to charge K300 per pair of photos (K250 is the lowest I've seen). Not too helpful to the average Joe, sure, but you can't blame them for making the most of new technology. Fortunately, a Joe (or Jane) with regular access to computers can benefit from his/her own technical knowledge in a similar way.

Take our little operation here - Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School (NAMTAS) - as an example. Last Friday, the assistant carpentry tutor, Mr. Nankwawa, came to me seeking advice on how to cut down on photo processing costs. Nankwawa, the chair the school's sports committee, informed me that the 2009 WorldVision Cup is about to start. To join, each football and netball team must submit an entry form, together with passport photos of all the players. Now, ordinarily, each player would be responsible for coming up with their own K300 to pay for this. However, Nankwawa and I devised a way to dramatically cut costs.

We took photos of each player in turn (I used my lovely digital camera this time, but the school has one of its own that could be used in the future). These photos will be cropped, scaled down, and placed on a 4" x 6" JPEG file with a white background. The upshot here is that we can fit six passport photos (1.5" square) onto each 4" x 6" photo. We'll just save these files onto a flash drive, head into Blantyre, and get them printed! All we'll have left to do after that is grab a pair of scissors and cut out the individual passport photos. With digital prints going at K70 apiece, this will only cost us about K23 for each pair of passport photos - a huge savings on the going rate of K300. I plan on teaching this devious little technique to every member of staff here at NAMTAS, so they can continue on doing this after I've left.

Of course, some might point out that my little fix-it plan will take business away from entrepreneurs in town. While this is true, I don't worry about it so much, for three reasons:

Somebody else would have thought of this before long. In fact, I seriously doubt I'm the first person in Malawi to do this.
The people charging K300 for digital passport photos caught onto a great money-saving strategy. We're merely doing the same thing.
Learning how to operate new technology is one thing. Learning how to make the best use of it is another thing entirely, and if people don't learn that skill, they'll end up wasting a lot of money on equipment, with very little return. The more that people in places like Malawi discover that computers are not meant simply to speed up the same old tasks, but actually allow you to work around corners in this way, the more they'll benefit from the technology.

This is really a small-scale example of the potential benefits that computers can bring to the developing world - but I am convinced that "small" fixes like this one will, in the end, be the major sticking point for Malawians and others. The computer is an amazingly versatile tool, capable of moving major obstacles and adjusting minor ones. As people stumble upon more and more of the minor adjustments made possible by this technology, demand for computers will increase accordingly, resulting in an increasingly computer-literate society, in turn driving further innovation...and so the snowball continues down the hillside.

...I hope.

Obama's Soft Power in Malawi: From Donuts to Aspiring Presidential Candidates

2009-04-08T20:25:00.009+02:00

Much ado (okay, "some fuss") has been made of Obama's soft power abroad - that is, his ability to improve America's image and increase its popularity overseas through the power of his own brand...through his words and actions, and by what his popular image represents.

I've blogged previously about how Obama's soft power has manifested itself here in Malawi: primarily through delicious pastries. But now it seems at least one Malawian politician is hoping to benefit from Obama's soft power as well. "Dark horse" presidential candidate James Nyondo, running as an independent in Malawi's coming May elections, has adopted the Obama brand, as you can see from this banner, which is currently flying in Zomba's busiest intersection:

The Chichewa phrase at the end there - "OBAMA YEMWEYO" - is difficult to translate into English, but it's along the lines of "Obama, that's the one!" or "It's Obama - none other!"

(For those keeping track, Nyondo is 40 years old.)

China's Latest PR Campaign...in Malawi.

2009-04-07T12:29:00.006+02:00

Yesterday, The Daily Times of Malawi ran a twelve-page advertising spread entitled "50 Years of Democratic Reform in Tibet." To my eye, this spread looked far more like editorial content - a newsmagazine, perhaps. This illusion is aided by the statement, which appears on all twelve pages, reading "Supplement to The Daily Times." In fact, this statement always appears inside the advertising content itself - usually incorporated into the headline artwork at the top of the page. At no point is there any indication of who wrote, or paid for, these twelve pages. It blends in so well with the surrounding editorial content, I myself was not aware that it was an advertisement at all, until I had almost finished reading it (in the header of each page, up in the corner, is the word "ADVERTISING" in block letters - you'd be forgiven for overlooking it).

I have scanned all twelve pages (each one in two parts, 24 scans overall) and I'm currently uploading them to my Flickr account here. For a little preview, here are the opening two paragraphs:

Tibet, located in southwest China, has since the ancient times been an inalienable part of China. Before the Democratic Reform in 1959, Tibet had long been a society of feudal serfdom featuring the despotic temporal and religious administration, a society which was darker and more cruel than the European serfdom of the Middle Ages. The People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, and in 1951, Tibet won peaceful liberation. The Central Government was prudent with regard to the reform of old Tibet and adopted a tolerant attitude toward the local government of Tibet. With great patience and sincerity, the Central Government did its best to talk to the upper ruling class in Tibet and waited for it to conduct reform of the old system of its own accord. However, the reactionary clique of the upper social strata of Tibet tried to preserve for ever the feudal serfdom featuring temporal and religious administration, and in March 1959 launched an armed rebellion with the aim of tearing Tibet away from the motherland. The Central Government, with the support of the people in Tibet, dissolved the local government of Tibet which rode roughshod over the broad masses of the Tibetans and resolutely suppressed the armed rebellion. At this same time, the Central Government, responding to the will of the Tibetan people, implemented the Democratic Reform and abolished the feudal serf system featuring temporal and religious administration that had lasted for several centuries. During the Democratic Reform, one million serfs and slaves in Tibet won emancipation, Tibet entered into a new era of social development, and the Tibetan people stood up and came into their own. In order to mark this historic event, the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region decided on January 19, 2009 that March 28, the day in 1959 the Central Government ordered the disorganization of the local government of old Tibet, be the "Serf Emancipation Day" of Tibet.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Democratic Reform in Tibet, this photo exhibition is held to show its great cause and the changes that have taken place to Tibet over the past 50 years; it is also aimed at helping the international community gain a better understanding of the history and present situation of Tibet.

I have been told by the paper's Advertising Manager that the Chinese Embassy in Malawi is responsible for the ad. I managed to contact the Managing Editor of the paper as well, and I asked him why they printed an advertisement designed to disguise itself as editorial content, and why, instead of clarifying that it was indeed advertising, the paper thought it necessary to incorporate their own logo into the layout of the advertising spread - thereby giving the impression that this advertising content was, in fact, approved by the Daily Times of being "worthy" of its brand. The managing editor insisted that the text reading "ADVERTISING" in the corner of each page provided all the necessary clarification.

When asked whether anyone who wanted could write up a news story - no matter its truth or falsehood - and run it in his paper as advertising, the Managing Editor told me no - there are standards in place, and each advertisement is carefully screened to see if it is worthy of being printed in The Daily Times. The Chinese Embassy's advertisement, he said, passed this test.

At this point, he began to make some accusations. He accused me of trying to get him sacked from his job, of hating the Chinese, and of being from Tibet myself (though I speak with an American accent) - or being a covert agent of Tibet.

"Were you in China at that time [referred to in the ad]? How do you know what they were doing?" he asked me, more than once. He also told me "the Dalai Lama has had his own mishaps in the past," citing as his one example the Dalai Lama's recent denial of a visa by the South African government.

I'll let you all be the judge of whether I am, in fact, a Tibetan agent. In the meantime, if you have something you'd like to say to the Editorial Office of The Daily Times, they can be contacted at dailytimes@bnl.bppmw.com.

Flickr Updates

2009-03-31T20:07:00.004+02:00

Two quick items regarding my Flickr page:

I've started a new photo pool on Flickr for those living in or visiting Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, or Mozambique. It's a "Chichewa Language" group, for photos which incorporate Chichewa in some manner. Check it out!

This past weekend, I "got out" of the mudzi and spent two days and a night in Zomba town. Now, I hardly ever take my camera with me to town - not because I'm afraid something will happen to it, but because I don't like making a spectacle of myself by snapping photos left and right. However, this weekend I spent the better part of a Sunday in Zomba, for the first time, and took advantage of the near-deserted streets to take quite a few photos. I've organized a set of my "City & Town" photos on Flickr, most of them from this weekend. Feel free to check it out...one problem I've had with my Flickr photos in the past is that they present a skewed picture of Malawi, showing the rural parts only. There's a lot to see in the villages, but that's only one part of the puzzle!

Fun Fact of the Day: Grumpy Old Men Edition

2009-03-31T14:49:00.006+02:00

Bingu wa Mutharika, the current president of the Republic of Malawi, is 75 years old. He was born on February 24, 1934.

His main opponent in the coming elections (May 19, everyone - mark your calendars!) is John Tembo, age 76. Tembo was born on September 14, 1932.

Former President Bakili Muluzi - the former "main opponent" of Mutharika (until the Malawi Electoral Commission ruled last week that he would not be allowed to stand in the 2009 elections) celebrated his 66th birthday two weeks ago. He was born on March 17, 1943 - the strapping young lad!

Now, granted, old age is not the political liability here that it is back in the States. During the recent U.S. Presidential elections, none of my Malawian colleagues could understand why McCain's age was a "problem" for his campaign. I still reserve my right to practice ageism in the voting booth...but that seems to be the (extreme) minority opinion here in Malawi. If anything, advancement in years is an advantage for politicians here.

(Bonus fun fact: When former President for Life Hastings Kamuzu Banda was forced to hold democratic elections in 1993 - elections in which he was soundly defeated by Bakili Muluzi - he was thought to have been 97 years old.)

Obamamania Meets Street Food

2009-03-19T14:42:00.004+02:00

I've been meaning to post this for a little while, ever since I first read the story 2 weekends ago. Pardon the lateness!

The "must-have" street snack in Malawi these days is a sweet bun commonly called the "Obama." They're being sold in bus depots up and down the country, and are selling like, well...hotcakes! Interestingly enough, the previous "bun of the moment" in Malawi's depots was nicknamed the "Bin Laden." Depending on who you ask, the Bin Laden bun either took its name from the beard-shaped stain left on one's chin after eating...or from the fact that they were so hard to find.

Anyhow, Obama is now stealing Bin Laden's thunder, at least in the towns and cities of Malawi. Enjoy the following article, scanned from the March 8 issue of Malawi's Sunday Times (click the image for full size).

If you're having trouble with the image, I've typed it out for you as well. I'm just that kind of guy. Note the fuzzy math...there's definitely something wrong with those monthly earnings estimates.

After bin Laden you can now eat Obama
By Agnes Mizere

VENDORS mostly plying their trade at Limbe and Blantyre bus depots claim to be making huge profits out of a bun nicknamed 'Obama' after the US president Barrack [sic] Obama.

Even though it is illegal to sell food in the open, vendors defiantly sell buns, donuts and samoosas in plastic bags.

The 'Obama' bun is fast stealing the popularity of chintuwitsa buns nicknamed 'Bin Laden' because of their milk powder that reportedly stains the chin when eating.

"I stopped selling 'Bin Laden' buns at K50, because 'Obama' buns are more popular. The Obama buns which are baked like cakes with eggs, milk and covered with sugar icing are selling fast also at K50 per bun. I can sell 800 buns a day, they're very popular," claimed Esau Moses, a vendor plying his trade in Limbe.

He said he spends K300 per 10 unit so if he can sell 800 a day that is a cool K40,000 including capital. But on average he manages to sell 300 roughly netting K15,000 including capital working from morning till late in the evening. That is roughly K60,000 monthly including capital.

Twenty-six year-old Moses insists the illegal trade helps him pay rent and care for his wife and two year old daughter as he can not get a 'decent' job since he did not go far in school.

He refuses to sell his foodstuff in available markets claiming it is easier to go to the customers though city officials chase him.

Blantyre City Assembly's Director of Administrative Services, Alfred Chanza in a separate interview said selling buns at bus depots is illegal vending and not allowed.

He said it is also not hygienic to sell food stuff in the open during the rainy season.

"Buns should be sold in shops etc. I spoke to my men and told them I don't want to see anybody selling foodstuff in the open. This spreads cholera during rainy seasons," he said.

When asked what happens to foodstuff confiscated by city officials, Chanza answered that the law always says take the person and confiscated goods to be used as exhibits in court. He said if the owner leaves the goods and runs away then its [sic] taken to their warehouse were [sic] it is thrown away once it rots.

The Pope's Willful Cultural Deafness

2009-03-19T12:11:00.004+02:00

Much has been made of Pope Benedict XVI's recent (idiotic) comments regarding condoms and the African AIDS epidemic. The Pope, on a stop in Cameroon during his current African Tour, declared that distribution of condoms "increases the problem" of HIV/AIDS, and encouraged African Catholics and others to shun birth control.

I'll let other, more intelligent and better-spoken critics take care of this one (I strongly recommend reading Bill Easterly's response, posted here on his newish blog). In the meantime, with so many people paying attention to that juicy quote on birth control, the following comment has, for the most part, slipped right by:

The liturgy occupies an important place in the expression of your communities’ faith. In general, these ecclesial celebrations are festive and joyful, manifesting the fervour of the faithful who are happy to be together, in Church, giving praise to the Lord. It is therefore essential that the joy expressed in this way does not obstruct, but rather facilitates dialogue and communion with God, attained through a genuine internalization of the structures and words of the liturgy, so that these express what is taking place in the hearts of believers, in true union with all the other participants. The dignity of the celebrations, especially when they take place in the presence of large crowds, is an eloquent sign of this.

A little long-winded, huh? Not so very "sound-byte-y," either. It's no wonder this one slipped past most of us; I myself didn't notice until my dad pointed it out to me in an email.

Any American Catholic who's attended mass in Africa (particularly a village mass, not one held at a cathedral) should get where the Pope is headed with this comment. The Catholic Mass in places like Malawi absolutely blows the American Catholic Mass out of the water. Mass is a fusion of the traditional Catholic liturgy - prayers, blessings, readings, the homily, more prayers and blessings, the Eucharist - and local cultural tradition, manifesting itself, usually, in the form of traditional music styles and dance. The result is a masterpiece, intricately woven of both threads, seamlessly enough that the outside observer can easily follow the Catholic quality of the liturgy, even if they've only been in the country for two days and know nothing of the language or culture. At the same time, the entire community is involved in the "production" of the mass celebration (in Malawi, everyone sings, and loudly - even if they're tone-deaf...the children dance between the pews, the older kids guiding the younger kids, the mothers guiding them all...community leaders go around taking up the collection for their individual communities). The masses that I attend each week are wholly Catholic, and yet uniquely Malawian. It's a beautiful thing - emphasizing the global aspect of faith, while embracing local customs and cultures, really sells the idea of universal brotherhood. This is something that religion is supposed to do, if we're to believe the warm words usually offered by leaders of the world's religions, and yet, we rarely see it in action.

Now, bearing all that in mind, what the Pope seems to be saying here is this:

"Knock that shit off, Africans!"

Now, of course, he cushions it a bit, saying some nice things about the joyfulness and "dignity" of the celebrations, but these kind words are rendered moot when he suggests that the exuberance of the celebrations may actually "obstruct" true communion with God. I am at a complete loss to understand this, first of all, because I don't see how joyous celebration is an obstacle to divine love or communion with God, and secondly, because I don't see how precision in carrying out rubrical directions of the liturgy actually facilitates communion with God - or at least, I don't see how this strict adherence to liturgy is an improvement over allowing cultural reimagination.

I was never all that religious, even as a kid, but I've attended mass regularly for most of my life. These days I'm closer to being Catholic in my heart, in some ways, than I've ever been...thanks in no part to this Pope, but due entirely to my experiences attending mass in Malawi. So this suggestion that an unconventional liturgy (by Rome's standards) prevents "genuine internalization of the structures and words of the liturgy" is bizarre and insulting.

If anything, I feel that the masses here greatly improve "genuine internalization" of the symbolic language of the liturgy, by shifting those symbols slightly to better fit the local culture. Look, the liturgy was formed in a specific environment, in a particular place, time, and culture. The liturgy that Pope Benedict is comfortable with, is the one whose symbolic language he feels most at home with. His preferred liturgy presents words and symbols structured in a way that facilitates understanding and "internalization" for his cultural background.

Is it really such a galloping shock that not every culture, that not every person in today's Catholic Church, views their faith through the very same symbolic lens as this 81-year-old Bavarian?

If this is shocking to you, I suggest you exit your enclosure, perhaps venture outside your front door for five minutes. We live in the 21st century. There are close to 7 billion people in the world, and the crushing majority of them have a different cultural background than you do - no matter who "you" are.

And now for my impersonation of the average "Nyasa Times" commenter

2009-03-14T14:24:00.003+02:00

Opening: Nyasa Times posts another story about a lawyer/banker/MBC anchor whose naughty home videos have been leaked to the internet after an IT specialist, ostensibly hired to fix their computer, "accidentally" discovers the files.

400 Nyasa Times commenters: This is disgusting! This is shameful! These people* have dishonored their families and they will rot in hell for all eternity! They must be fired from their jobs! I hope they are arrested! I hope the police beat them! And please, Nyasa Times, send us the videos so that we may know if this story is actually true!

*Those who appeared in the videos...not the IT people

Whither the Legal Experts?

2009-03-05T18:37:00.006+02:00

A thought came to me earlier today, and I haven't been able to chase it off since. The only thing I can think of is to rant about it here, and see if anyone pays attention.

Often times, when a new bill is signed into law back in the States, the major news networks call in their legal experts to talk (or argue) about its significance and probable impact. This happens all the time, of course, with federal law. But the national networks often cover state laws as well - even city or town charters, provided the material is controversial enough.

The legal experts aren't just called in to discuss American laws. International law is occasionally debated as well. We hear about the internal politics of the E.U., Russia, China, Middle Eastern countries, and other nations and regions that regularly interact, in one way or another, with the United States. We watch the legal experts debate these arguments on television, we read their op-eds in our newspapers, and we hear them speak on the radio. More than anywhere else, we find these debates taken up on the blogosphere, where they are discussed by experts, so-called experts, self-proclaimed experts, crazy people, and crazy experts.

So here's my question:

When was the last time you heard a high-profile "legal expert" talking about new developments in the legal codes of African nations?

And when you think about it for a minute and answer "never," or, perhaps, "a long freakin' time," I have to ask: What gives?

For sure, if you scour the blogosphere for hours (as I have been doing), you're bound to happen upon a few nuggets of legal expertise focused on this continent, which one billion people call home. But you won't find nearly as much information as you'd think.

Good Lord, why not? It's not for a lack of legislative activity around here. If I decided to start writing about legal developments in Malawi alone, I'd have more than enough material for one blog.

It's certainly not for a lack of interesting stories. The stories that grab our attention in the West are found out here too. Affirmative action? Check. Most African nations have struggled with this one, as they deal with different tribal populations - many of whom have been put at a disadvantage by state policies dating back to the colonial era. How about gay rights? Big time. You're not going to hear too much about gay marriage out here (other than in South Africa), but you'll hear plenty about the illegality of homosexuality, itself. "Homosexual acts" remain illegal throughout most of of the continent. However, some African nations have decriminalized homosexuality in recent years, and several more are debating the merits of doing so (homosexuality remains illegal in Malawi, carrying a sentence of up to 14 years in prison, though gay rights advocates had reason to celebrate in 2008 when this country's first ever gay rights organization announced itself to the public). OK, here's another one - separation of church and state. It's not nearly as cut-and-dried in most countries as it is in the States. All of the sexy issues are here, folks - and I promise you, it's not dull. Particularly when you consider the number of foreign governments, multinational corporations, and ostensibly well-meaning aid agencies that try and wedge themselves right in the middle of it all. It's like a big party...with lots of drunk relatives.

Finally, this dearth of discussion is certainly not due to a lack of issues that are applicable to our own interests in the West. For just a moment, set aside the fact that the U.S. and Africa are major trading partners, and think of the billions of dollars in aid money that we (Americans) spend on Africa each year - coming from the U.S. government, American businesses, charities, and churches, and individual donors.

What do we think - does our money work like magic? Any American dollar given through any organization, in any fashion, for any project, to any developing country, guarantees "one US Dollar's worth of progress"? Exactly $1.00 worth of aid and development? Um, no. The truth is frankly more complicated than I could ever hope to understand, even in part. We have to consider the efficiency of the aid organization in question (including, for one, their overhead costs). We have to look at the nature of the project. We have to understand the local culture where the project is taking place. And, we had damn well better know a thing or two about the legal background of the country where our money is being put to use, if we want to be at all effective in implementing aid! Which countries are considering a more conservative approach toward teaching birth control in schools? In which countries do aid workers need to think twice before criticizing the local government's policies, for fear of facing arrest? Which countries have not yet taken old laws against witchcraft off of the books, and which countries are still enforcing those laws?

Our aid investments...one big reason why the laws of African nations are applicable to our own interests as Americans. And, come on, what about general human interest? It would do us good to be a bit more "in the know." Many otherwise well-informed, well-read Americans are embarrassingly ill-informed about the day-to-day goings-on in this part of the world, going so far as to assume all of Africa is one homogeneous mass of starving orphans. And lions.

Wow, I got on a tangent somewhere and I never got off. Where was I? Lions? No, okay, I remember. The legal experts. Basically, I'm saying that someone with a law degree, who actually knows what they are talking about, should educate the West about the latest legislation coming out of the continent of Africa, and what it means for America...and the wider world.

Thank you very much.

OK, this right here is a textbook example of the problems with ranting. Even if you have a good point, you are shouted down by your inner stupid.

A Slice of Life

2009-02-22T20:04:00.002+02:00

For reasons unknown, I elected to wear a blue do-rag (a napkin in its previous life) on my head this afternoon. I had a lot of little girls laughing at me as I went outside, calling "Mwatchena!" ("Looking good!" ...to be taken with a grain of salt). "Ngati mayi wakupemphera ku mzikiti," I responded ("Like a woman praying at the mosque"). Small headscarves, not much larger than this, are the head-covering of preference around here.

I walked past my friend Miss Mwafulirwa, the NAMTAS tailoring tutor. She looked up at me, then pursed her mouth into a smile and shook with quiet laughter. Finally she shook her head and said, "So American today!"

Maize Distribution in Namitembo

2009-02-16T18:33:00.003+02:00

And now, to clarify something I just mentioned in that last post:

2008 saw one of Malawi's poorest harvests in recent memory. Yes, I know some of you saw a special report on NBC which said that, due to expert planning by Malawi's Ministry of Agriculture, hunger has been forever eradicated in our little Warm Heart of Africa. Would that it were so! Sadly, the fine minds at NBC are not really on board with reality.

The Malawi government has done some good work on the issue of food security. Their fertilizer subsidy program notably received a glowing review in the New York Times; Bingu wa Mutharika's administration managed to boost crop yields throughout the country through the distribution of fertilizer coupons, against clear advice to the contrary from World Bank officials. Malawi experienced bumper crop yields in 2007, thanks in part to this program (we've estimated the 2008 harvest in Namitembo at about 40% of 2007 levels).

Thing is, fertilizer works just fine in a year when the rains are regular and reliable - a year like we had in 2007. 2008, however, was a problem year. The rains did not come pang'onopang'ono in Namitembo during the growing season, but beat down hard on the crops and washed away the soil - and quite a lot of fertilizer with it. Some farmers even had to replant their crops. As if that weren't enough, the rains came to an early end, leaving behind fields of stunted maize plants.

Unfortunately, the Malawi government promotes the fertilizer subsidy program as though it is the end-all-be-all solution for food security, conveniently forgetting the following:

Chemical fertilizers are a terrible long-term solution. After years of repeated use, they leave the soil completely devoid of nutrients. There are several natural alternatives, such as nitrogen-fixing crops, which not only provide a boost to soil health, but do so in a sustainable way (even subsidized fertilizer costs the farmers some money each year, and it certainly costs the government).
During a year of irregular or insufficient rainfall, all the fertilizer in the world won't get you enough food if you're not able to get water to your crops.

Malawi is blessed with freshwater. Not only do we have Lake Malawi, but there are several smaller lakes, rivers, and streams (including the Shire River, which forms a border of Namitembo Parish). Yet even on the shores of Lake Malawi and on the banks of the Shire, farmers' crops dry out during drought years. There are some government irrigation schemes - but far too few, in my calculation.

Remember the big picture: If one thing has become clear, global climate change is not a matter of small, gradual changes spread evenly throughout the world. We can talk in terms of average yearly increases and trends, but when we're dealing with regions, countries, districts, villages - the changing climate is going to take away any semblance of predictability. It will be increasingly difficult to forecast, with any degree of accuracy, what the next year's rainfall figures will look like.

Now, as usual, I've gone and strayed off my original point. The point is this: Not every family in Namitembo has been affected equally by these problems, but everyone has been affected to some degree. A number of kind donors back at St. Bridget have stepped forward to provide famine relief to the people who've been hit the hardest. Now, you might be wondering just how this is done. Who gets to decide which families are most deserving of aid?

In the first place, the decisions are made with as much transparency as possible. Leaders from each small faith community (out of more than 70 such village-sized communities in Namitembo Parish) have decided who among them, Christian, Muslim, or otherwise, has the greatest need. Everyone from within these communities were invited to contribute their suggestions or criticisms at this stage. After the initial decisions were made, the names were read off during Sunday mass throughout the parish, and again, all were invited to share their remarks. This made it very difficult for those who are well-off to receive assistance...I'm sure a few people, here and there, managed to slip through the cracks - but you can never hope for 100%, and this system seems to have worked very well.

Anyhow, from that list of names, we wrote out tickets - more than 1700 of them, on uncopyable paper, each listing the name and home village of a maize recipient. These were distributed to the community leaders, who in turn gave them to those who had been selected. They were instructed to come to the Namitembo Parish offices on a specific date (we distributed the maize on Thursday the 12th of February, and Saturday the 14th - Valentine's Day). The whole exercise was really quite orderly, and was over fairly quickly on both days. We hope to do this again, once or twice, as long as the funds will hold out (in the meantime, do check out those photos).

On a final note - over the years, the main focus of the St. Bridget/Namitembo connection has been on long-term, sustainable solutions for the community. This includes a number of interesting projects on food security, which I'm sure I'll get into another time. This food aid is in response to an emergency, to assist those in the greatest need (and the need really is great). In no way is the focus shifting away from long-term fixes. You'll hear all about the treadle pump project, and the agroforestry initiatives (nitrogen-fixing the soil, grafting fruit trees, and so on) another time. Until then, tsalani bwino, and don't forget to write!

Just in case...

John Duffell
Namitembo Parish
Box 545, Zomba
Malawi

Pictures from Namitembo

2009-02-16T18:27:00.007+02:00

Hi all,

Just a quick update to let you all know that for the first time in weeks, I have uploaded a new batch of photos to my Flickr account. Many of these are snapshots of people from around Namitembo waiting outside the parish offices for food assistance. Anyhow, you can see the photos at the link above, or in the slideshow on the right-hand side of this blog.

A Belated Welcome

2009-02-11T17:47:00.001+02:00

By the way: Welcome to my blog! Thanks for stopping by. Allow me to introduce myself, in case you don't know me, which, if you're reading this, you almost certainly do.

My name's John Duffell. I'm 24 years old. And a half. Almost. For the last year (and then some), I've been living in Namitembo, a village in the rural south of Malawi, just over the mountains to the west of Zomba. It's a nice little place, Namitembo, with lots of good country feeling...I've had my fair share of adventures and learning experiences in my time here, experiences which have, perhaps, made me a little wiser, a little more weathered. Maybe. But one thing I have clearly not become is "more mature." I mean, for crying out loud, people. I'm still counting my age in half-years. This is not an encouraging sign.

So, anyway, my dad is a Catholic deacon, out in that crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest, ~~Vancouver~~ Seattle. He's a good deacon. A great deacon, actually. He loves his job and I happen to think he's very good at it. My little secret (not actually a secret at all, really) is that I've never been too much of a churchgoer...but seeing as my dad's a deacon and all, I've always been kept up-to-date on the goings-on in North Seattle's Catholic community.

It was 11 or 12 years ago that my father's parish, St. Bridget, started up a sister-parish relationship with the Catholic mission at Namitembo. I kept hearing stories, time and time again, of the good work that was being done...fixing up the primary and secondary schools, building and repairing teachers' houses to attract "town-y" schoolteachers to this fairly isolated spot, even fixing up a youth centre where the local kids could come together a few times a week and listen to music (and occasionally organize fundraising dances for their football* team).

Eventually, the people of St. Bridget decided that they wanted to do something bigger. After consulting the parish priests at Namitembo, the bishop of Zomba, and discussing it among themselves, the steering committee at St. Bridget decided to shift their focus to the construction of a school. Having already done extensive works at the parish primary and secondary schools (including the ground-up construction of a new secondary school), it was decided that this new learning institution would be a technical college. Until this point - as far as we know - technical education had only been available in Malawi's towns and cities. This new school would be (and still remains) the first trade school in rural Malawi. Obviously, this was a huge commitment on the part of St. Bridget.

This was about six years ago - right around the time I myself was starting college, at the University of Washington. Little by little, the school was built, the classrooms were furnished, and more teachers were hired. The school eventually offered classes in four departments: bricklaying, carpentry and joinery, tailoring, and computer science. Most of the students were coming from the towns and cities in the first few years - few of them were locals. Still, the student body was growing with each new term, and the classes were slowly filling up. This was the scene in the summer of 2006, leading up for my fourth and final year at college. I had just spent a year on exchange at the U of Edinburgh, and was getting ready for the requisite "try frantically to see all of Europe in 21 days" trip. Just a few weeks earlier, Dad told me he was making a visit to Namitembo in July, and offered to pick up the tab if I was interested in joining him. Not having any clue where this was headed, I accepted.

Funnily enough, I barely remember that 3-week visit**. I remember liking Namitembo. I also remember feeling pretty overwhelmed by all the big (and little) differences. I definitely remember Fr. Owen extending an open invitation for me to come and stay. At the time, I was considering joining the Peace Corps, but was a wee bit daunted by all the red tape - Namitembo seemed like a pretty smart choice. I knew that I'd have a community all set to welcome me in, and that I'd find something useful to do before too long. I also knew that my BA in Comparative Religion would not provide me with a plethora of job opportunities upon graduation. At any rate, I still had a year left at the U, so I just filed the invite away in my mind.

My line, upon returning to Seattle, was that I would "definitely" be returning to Malawi to do some work, someday. I repeated this refrain to most of my friends, until finally, one of them asked me what "someday" meant - and why, since I had no plans for my immediate future, I couldn't just leave following graduation. That deflated me a bit. So first time, I actually started thinking seriously about going to Malawi sooner rather than later. The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea - so, long story short (too late), I set myself a schedule that had me departing in late 2007 and staying in Malawi for one year, and I bought my airline ticket.

I spent my first night in Namitembo on December 1st of that year. Within a few months, having realized the immense investment of time required to get any real work done out here, I decided that one year wouldn't be enough. Actually, one year seemed laughable. Incredulous. Eventually, I did start to get a few things done - though not nearly as much as I'd hoped - and now that I'm a month into Year Two, I'm confident (five days out of seven) that signing on for a second year was the right thing to do. Though I'm more realistic now about the kind of impact I'll have, it's clear that I'm going to get much, much more done this year than the last.

There you have my grand introduction. I have a few other things I'd like to post about over the next few days as well...big plans. So stay tuned. Wired in. Blogged. Stay Whatever-They-Call-It when you keep checking my blog every 5 minutes. Because I'm worth it, dangit!

*as in soccer.
**It was actually more like two and a half weeks.

A Chichewa Guide to the "Chichewa Guide For Tourists"

2009-02-09T07:16:00.003+02:00

So there's this book. It's a little thing, a booklet really. On the cover is a long-haired, bearded azungu wearing shades, and next to him is a Malawian fellow holding a clay pot. The two are clearly haggling over the price. The name of this book is "Chichewa Guide For Tourists."

For the most part, the book is innocuous enough. A few tips on courtesy here and there (calling "Odi" or "Zikomo" to ask for leave of way when crossing somebody on a path, that sort of thing). There are a few short guides to common conversations (booking a room, asking directions, and so forth). But every now and then, we find something that's just special.

Here's an excerpt from page 21:

"...it must be mentioned that for the visitor it is necessary and, indeed, wise to avoid abusing elderly people and women."

You don't say! What else have you got - oh, let's say on page 39?

"Most utensils bear the Chichewa version of the English words, and any good servant will understand them without difficulty."

Nice. That's classy. I wonder if you have any good Chichewa conversation tips for us!

- Mnyamata, tabweretsani tiyi.
- Inde, bwana.

This little "slice of life" conversation is translated for us in the book as follows: "Young man, bring us some tea, will you?" "Yes, sir."

Almost. That's almost what it says. Except that mnyamata really doesn't mean "young man." It most definitely means "boy." Yes, "boy." As in, "Boy, fetch me some tea." Also, bwana does not mean "sir." That would be bambo. Bwana means "boss." Or "master."

The Chichewa Guide For Tourists, ladies and gentlemen!

At Last, My (Semi-)Completed Weekly Schedule.

2009-02-08T15:23:00.001+02:00

Woo! It looks like I've finally got a weekly programme* sorted out here, folks.

Right now at the trade school, there is one full-time tutor who is attempting to teach the first-year and the second-year students day to day. Turns out, this is not so simple. The first and second year students have completely different syllabuses**, and thus cannot be taught as one group for really any of the course modules. This means our Mr. Ching'ani would have to teach for 56 hours a week if he wanted to give all of the students their recommended dose of weekly learning. Considering that would have him teaching for 12 hours a day Monday-Friday, not to mention he's being paid for just 28 hours of instruction per week, the whole "56 hours" thing probably isn't going to happen.

We're currently working through the politics (mostly budgetary concerns) of hiring a second full-time computer tutor, but in the meantime, the students really need to be getting their requisite weekly hours of computer time. After looking at the syllabuses***, I figured that I'm qualified to teach about 12 hours' worth of material per week. Adam Maines, a Peace Corps volunteer living nearby who just happens to be a programming whiz, has volunteered to cover another 6 hours each week, and the trade school administrator, Mr. Nkhoma, will be teaching 2 hours of Business Communication (a required section of the computer curriculum) each week. That's 20 hours, plus 28 from Ching'ani, bringing us just 8 hours shy of our golden number (8 hours total means just 4 hours for each group). 24 out of 28 hours is more than fair, when you consider the following:

The groups are very small (There are 4 Year Twos, and at the moment, 6 Year Ones, though it's possible more will arrive), so we're getting much more from each hour of instruction than we would with a larger group.
The students will still have use of the computers for the left-over 4 hours - they just won't have a teacher in the room with them during those hours.

So that's Thing Number One.

I've also started teaching the parallel program again, three days a week. Thing Number Two.

In other (computer-related) news, Mimi and I have worked out a little program to teach computers to the Form 4 (Senior Year) students at Namitembo Secondary. I'll be working with a group of them every Friday afternoon for 2 hours, starting with the basics of how to work with Word, Excel, etc., and eventually moving into how to type up a business letter or a C.V.**** If we have time, we may even move on to the internet. Who knows? ...Thing Number Three.

This really is the Year Of The Computer for me. Thing Number Four will be a series of advanced classes for the trade school tutors only. I'd really like the entire staff of the trade school not to be simply computer literate, but to have an advanced working knowledge of computers, of the internet, and a solid understanding of just how this technology can be useful to them. It's not just because I want the best for the trade school. It's also that, without exception, I really like the tutors here. They're my colleagues, and have become my friends as well. I know they won't be working at NAMTAS forever, and I would really like to help them out by equipping them with skills that will serve them well for their entire lives, as long as they really apply themselves (which I know they will!). Anyway, I'm starting "open hours" from 8-9 in the morning, four days a week, when any tutor who has free time can come and get some one-on-one help. I'm also offering a weekly class on Wednesday afternoons so that I can teach all the tutors some new skill, as a group. Last week I showed them how they can find the publishing information and ISBN numbers of the textbooks they need on the web, so that they can track down the books more easily at the shops in town. This week, I'll help them search for free e-books, tailoring patterns, blueprints (for bricklaying) and design schematics for carpentry on the internet.

Okay. Thing Five: Private computer lessons. Twice a week, I'll be going over to the Nkhomas' house to teach Mrs. Nkhoma's young brother (20-something), and her two daughters (aged 20 and 12), on a laptop PC. In exchange, Mrs. Nkhoma will continue where we left off last year with my Chichewa lessons (once a week). I'll also be teaching Vincent Lameck, who works as a cook at the mission, once a week.

Quite a full schedule! It's got me working 5 days a week (Tuesday-Saturday), and a tiny bit on Mondays as well. But I'm excited for it. Feels like I've got a year with some purpose ahead of me!

So, to sum up:

Tuesdays, I have my open hour at the trade school from 8-9am, I teach NAMTAS computer students from 10:30-noon and again from 1:30 to 3:30, then I do my parallel program from 3:30 to 5.

Wednesdays, I have my open hour from 8-9, I teach at NAMTAS from 10:30-noon, I teach at the Nkhomas' from 1 to 3, and I teach my weekly computer class to the NAMTAS tutors from 3:30 to 5 or 6.

Thursdays, I have the open hour from 8-9, I teach at NAMTAS from 10:30-noon and 1:30-3:30, and I teach the parallel program from 3:30-5.

Fridays, I have my open hour from 8-9, I teach at NAMTAS from 10:30-noon, I teach the Form 4 students at Namitembo CDSS from about 12-2 (late lunch!) and I teach computers at the Nkhomas' from 3 to about 5.

Saturdays, I have the parallel program from 8-noon, and at 2-ish I have my Chichewa lesson with Mrs. Nkhoma.

Sunday, I relax. I go to church, then I eat, then I lounge about, and finally in the evenings I have my weekly Sunday dinner with Mimi at her place.

Mondays, too, I relax...but somewhere in there, I'm going to try and find time to work with Vincent on the computer.

So there you have it. This truly is the Year of the Computer for John. I have another theme going for this year, too, but I'll save that for another post.

By the by...when things at the trade school quiet down and we've managed to hire another tutor, I want to kick my "(occasional) traveling computer teacher" plan into gear. That, too, is something I'll talk about in more depth later.

Okay. Peace out.

--John

*Yes, I know, I'm well British.
** syllabae?
***Seriously, that cannot be right.
****That's a "resume," for you YANKEES.

Plans for 2009...Roughly.

2009-01-24T15:49:00.000+02:00

Well, it's been two weeks now since I got back into Malawi, and it's been pretty eventful in that short amount of time. I spent a week in Lilongwe with my lovely girlfriend Salima (a Peace Corps volunteer I met at a Halloween party last year...but that's a story for another day), I've been in a highway accident (slow but destructive - to the vehicles only, thankfully. Few injuries), sat in a few planning meetings for upcoming projects, shown the new volunteers around Namitembo, and had my first serious car-stuck-in-the-mud experience since coming to Malawi in 2007 (you can read about it here).

Still, I can't help this feeling that I've been drifting. I know I've only been back in the country for a couple of weeks, and in Namitembo for half of that time, but I'm going a bit stir-crazy here. Maybe it's because I'm coming directly from the States, and I'm still adjusting to "Malawi time." Maybe it's the Malawi rain, and its ability to stifle the best-laid plans (particularly those involving travel). Or maybe it's the fact that I don't (yet) have a daily job for 2009. Probably a combination of the three - but particularly that last one.

I'm working on it, though - and if last year has made anything clear to me, it's that my work in Malawi will center on computers and internet - and, possibly, mobile web. Let me back up for a moment here. As a primary school teacher, I was so-so. I think my particular skill as a teacher is my ability to clearly and patiently explain concepts, moving step by step logically. However, I have practically zero classroom management skills. This is why I was far more successful as an after-school math tutor (taking only those students who were truly interested) than as a classroom teacher with some 65 students. It's also why I think I was a good computer teacher for the NAMTAS parallel program.

I started this program in April 2008, shortly after NAMTAS (that's Namitembo Trade and Agriculture School) finally got internet access - satellite broadband! It seemed a shame that the trade school's computer students only used the computers 5 days a week, finishing at 3:30 (at the latest) on weekdays, and yet here we were, paying for 24/7 internet access. Together with Mr. Nkhoma (the trade school administrator) and Father Owen, I worked out a plan to offer optional classes in computer basics and internet to anybody in the Namitembo area who was interested in learning. Each course lasted for one month, three classes per week, coming to 30 hours of instruction altogether. We set a fee of 500 kwacha - about 3 US Dollars, pretty much a cursory expense - to ensure that we only got students who were serious about learning. After seven months of the class, I managed to train nearly 70 teachers, health care professionals, small business owners, and others in the use of the computers - starting from the basics (how to turn the computer on and off, the proper way to hold a mouse), moving through word processing and spreadsheets (and talking about the possible applications of both in their own work and daily lives), touching upon printing and CD burning, how to navigate and search the web, and finally, each student was provided with an e-mail account and shown how to use it.

I spent a lot of 2008 twisting around, trying my hand at a number of small projects. Most of these projects fizzed out. In the process, though, I found something that I genuinely enjoyed, and turned out to be pretty good at - computer training. I'm really quite pleased to report that more than a few people have asked me within the past week when I'm starting up my classes again. So, I'm proud of the work I've done so far, and I'd really like to expand it in 2009. I've got a few ideas...

One of the things that interests me most about this work is its adaptability. I've managed to tailor my classes each month based upon the interests and professions of that month's intake of students. In that same spirit, I'd like to offer a series of classes aimed at specific groups of people. For example, teachers at every level - primary, secondary, tertiary - could benefit from computer workshops on creating learning aids using Microsoft Word, or on organizing attendance sheets and grades with Excel. As for the internet, an ever-growing number of websites offer free downloadable lesson and activity plans - mathematics worksheets for all levels of instruction, short plays for English class, ideas for easy-to-recreate science experiments - you name it. Some school supplies can even be downloaded and printed. When I discovered that only a handful of my students had protractors last year, I downloaded and cut out enough copies for everyone to use, at very little cost (63 students without protractors, 3 protractors to 1 sheet of paper, 4 kwacha to the page = 84 kwacha, about 50 cents, to cover everybody). Clinicians could benefit in the same way, as could workers in the government's aquaculture projects, electricians, plumbers - you name it.

Okay, I have a tendency of getting off-track when I start thinking of the possibilities. Anyway, here are a few things I'd like to do with the NAMTAS computers:

Continue last year's parallel program.
Offer specialized classes for teachers, clinicians, and the like.
Offer trainings for people interested in using the computers to generate income as part of a small business (could get tricky, but I have a few ideas).
Sit down weekly with all of the trade school teachers to give increasingly advanced computer lessons, so that they can maintain the soon-to-be-published NAMTAS website after I've gone.
Bring in Namitembo Secondary School's Form 4 students (seniors) for computer classes on a regular basis.

I probably won't get to all of these things, but if I can nail down a few of them, I'd be pretty happy. The real boost will come when NAMTAS gets its computer/internet cafe set up later this year - I'm hoping that we can keep the users' fees pretty low, so it will be realistic for local people to use these computers to do business for themselves, or for their school, or clinic, or what have you.

The other idea that I've been ping-ponging around inside my brain is traveling around Malawi a bit and offering my services as a trainer, particularly to NGOs, hospitals, and some government agencies. Many of these institutions have purchased, or have been given, computers - but have such a small training budget that only a couple of employees know how to use the computers, or have no training budget at all. I'm willing to come in as a volunteer, which is to say, I wouldn't ask for any personal fee, but I would require room and board, and I'd need my transportation either to be provided or reimbursed. I've been in contact with a couple of NGOs in Malawi, but haven't set any dates yet for training. I will, however, be going to Changalume Barracks, the local army base, to train the officers' clerks sometime in February or March.

That about covers my plans for the year. There are a few other little ideas flitting about in my mind (like pesky moths), but for the most part, I think I'm going to try and focus on the task(s) at hand. I'll let you all know how it goes!

My New Hobby

2009-01-22T17:10:00.000+02:00

About two and a half weeks ago, on the last day of my visit home, I got myself a new pair of glasses. The frames broke on my last pair, more than two years ago, and I never got around to buying another set. My eyes have worn down quite a lot, though - especially during the last year here in Malawi - so during my big holiday in the U.S.A., I got myself a new prescription and a brand new pair of glasses.

I'm wearing these handy new things most of the time when I'm out walking around in Namitembo. Everything's in sharper focus, and best of all - no squinting! No headaches! In spite of all this, one of my latest hobbies is...taking off my glasses.

That probably seems strange to you for any number of reasons. You might question whether "taking off my glasses" is actually a legitimate hobby. Or, perhaps more likely, you may wonder why I enjoy doing this in the first place. And why I'm bothering to spend the better part of an hour blogging about it (I guess you've got me on that one).

Anyone who's spent ten minutes in Malawi (particularly during the rainy season) knows its beauty. Right now in Namitembo, the mountains to the east are rippled with unknown shades of green. The sky is turbulent - shades of grey bruised with navy. Even the roads, washed away by the rain, are riverbanks of pistachio mud streaked with pale sand and jet-black silt, smeared with half-baked clay and diverted all around by jagged stones and tiny constellations of pebbles.

It seems incredible, then, that after just a couple of weeks, I take all of this beauty for granted. In almost no time, I pick up and move my reference points so that these humbling surroundings, which made me feel so small when I arrived, appear "normal." This is such an unfortunate reality - but I suppose we are not designed to feel childlike wonder every day of our lives.

Now, then. My glasses prescription corrects a mild-to-moderate astigmatism in both eyes. It helps me to read and focus on things without squinting, but it also causes my perspective to go a bit cattywompus, since my eyes have become rather used to adjusting for their shortcomings automatically. Basically, my eyes are not as spherical as they ought to be, which causes them to try and focus on two points instead of one, making my eye muscles work overtime to try and compensate. After wearing the specs for about ten seconds, the odd crooked feeling goes away, and the longer I wear my glasses, the more "normal" it feels to wear them.

However, when I take my glasses off after wearing them for an hour or so, I have just a few disorienting moments. For just 5 or 6 seconds, my surroundings look totally unfamiliar and new. The mountains loom at twice their normal size. Bluegum trees pop out as me as though the space between us has simply slipped away. Everything is fantastic and seems more real than it ought to be. In the time it takes me to breathe in and out just once, I am able to recall my first days of heady high in Malawi, and when it's over, my feelings seem immature and inappropriate - as though I'm trying to grasp onto an idea of Malawi that isn't actually true, something built up in my own mind over time, self-delusion heightened to a need to feel enthralled that seems almost desperate.

Then again, I've had a lot of gin tonight, so I'm probably reading way more into this than I ought to. Only time will tell. I'm also aware that this whole thing makes me sound like an oddball, but I'm okay with that.

A year in this country will do that to you.