My first post in Malawi!

Dear family, friends, and adoring fans around the world, this is my first post of substance from Malawi. I’ve journeyed from the beautiful shores of my homeland, to the frigid land of my forefathers (Pennsylvania), to venture to a place no Engelman has ever gone before - Malawi. My goal is to bring ya’ll up to speed on what’s been going on this side of the equator. However, please excuse this missive if you find it a tad bit mechanical or sterile. The amount and variation in the emotions, misadventures, and new experiences I’ve had is too much to relay succinctly. Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to post regularly and provide detailed accounts of my activities that are informative and not so stiff.
Let’s start from the beginning, shall we? I left home on a red-eye flight on the evening of March 25, 2010 heading to Philadelphia to begin my odyssey into the unknown. The brief orientation held on the east coast was redundant and unnecessary. There was nothing said that hasn’t been repeated a million times since we arrived in Malawi. But it was the place I met my fellow trainees, ate an authentic Philly Cheese-Stake sandwich, and ate one last authentic Chinese meal in a Chinatown.
The bus from Philly to New York was far too early and the plane ride from New York was long and uneventful. But at the Johannesburg airport I bumped into a crew of Chinese people, and my suspicion about the creeping presence of the Chinese in Africa was confirmed. The flight from J-burg to Lilongwe was short and when we arrived there was a throng of Peace Corps volunteers yelling, “Peace Corps!” They were extremely enthusiastic, perhaps a little bit too much so. All of us trainees were tired and disoriented; to hit this mass of people was a bit shocking. My friend and comrade in arms, Ben Nebo, was there to greet me and it made my day. After brief introductions, we were whisked away to the Malawi College of Forestry and Wildlife.
The college was our home base for training. The first week in country we spent at the college getting vaccinations and introductions to the schedule for training. The dorm style living arrangement set the summer camp tone that would carry through till the end of training. Everyone was having a great time getting to know each other and trying to figure out what brought them to be in Malawi as Peace Corps trainees. Our new group of environment volunteers has young, energetic, positive agents of change from all over the US. It is extremely novel for me to meet people from all over the states and hear their stories. We are fairly diverse in almost all aspects except ethnicity, and it makes for a stimulating environment. But it was our similarities that brought us here. Together we hiked the hill behind the college and enjoyed the beautiful greenery of the landscape that is characteristic of the rainy season. Flora and fauna were a common point of interest, all of it new and fascinating as if we’d landed on an alien planet. The diversity on this Earth never ceases to amaze me.
After that initial week we began our home stay adventure, returning to the college every Thursday to have group sessions. The twenty-one of us were divided ten and eleven to two villages - I was amongst the ten in Mzengereza. I stayed at the home of the Chingualu family. Their compound was home to an extended family of eleven people: Grandpa, Grandma, my host Mom-Emily (26), my host Dad-Paul (30), Emily’s sister-Loveness (20), Emily and Paul’s kids- Masautso (boy, age 12), Gibson (10), Priscilla (8), Gloria (2), and Loveness’ kids Ellen (3), and Kevin (1). They have a compound with two parts, the family of the Emily and Paul in one part and then Grandma and Grandpa with Loveness and her kids in another. All the buildings were fired bricks with mud mortar, except for the kitchen that was a separate dried grass hut. Some roofs were made of tin sheets and others had straw with a layer of plastic. The floors were all smeared clay. The roof beams were raw, stripped tree branches or tree trunks. None of the houses in the village had electricity or running water. To get drinking water we had to walk about 800m to a borehole. They lived a pretty austere life, with a thin margin between them and the edge of survival.
Despite their lack of material wealth they were very nice and respectful. Emily barred with my inability to accurately communicate. The boys helped me out with my various projects around the house. The whole family was very helpful in showing me what life is like for Malawians. My only complaint was the constant screaming at the house. Since there were three little kids they could take turns to cover all my waking hours. I woke up to the sound of roosters and screaming kids, ate lunch to the ambient wailing, and drifted off to sleep with a baby wailing away. I was fairly burnt out by the end of my five weeks at their house. But as rough as I’d like to pretend it was staying at there home, the life they lived was infinitely more arduous.
Everyday the women woke up early to sweep the yards, fetch water, and start preparing breakfast. Soon after the men would rise to work in their fields all day. The children would infrequently go to an elementary school that was located 8 or 9 kilometers away. During the day the women did all different kinds of domestic work along with the children. They peeled beans, pried kernels of corn from the cob, and took the corn to the mill to make flour. This labor was all done by hand, all the physical labor makes Malawians tough. Feet that had rarely known the comfort of shoes were thick as leather and hands without gloves became as calloused as their feet. Our most basic of comforts and necessities were out of reach for them.
Education, healthcare, transportation, and nutrition are all on levels that Americans can’t even comprehend. Only primary school is free and mandatory, but the reality is that few even complete that. Schools might not be near rural communities and there is no way to enforce attendance policies. Harvest time pulls all the children to the fields and schooling is neglected even more. Clinics are free in Malawi, but they are staffed by individuals with a high school diploma and eight-weeks of medical training. There is a constant shortage of medication and they are often far away. Dirt roads, that can be seasonally impassable, will prevent all vehicles from taking passengers to where they’d like to go. This also limits the exchange of goods; people eat what is grown locally and are at the mercy of the seasons. In America, we can eat anything anytime. I never realized what a luxury having a choice in what I eat is. A common Malawian meal consists of corn flour paddies, Nsima, and a small amount of some vegetable side dish. Meat is eaten infrequently and most of it will go to the men in the household. I’m glossing over a lot of details, but basically the point is we got it pretty good in America. It gives me a stronger desire to help these people and work hard during training to learn as much as I can.
The instruction we’ve received can be divided into two parts, technical and language with culture. The technical trainers are forestry extension officers who’ve taught us about all sorts of things: gardening, composting, tree planting, bee keeping, candle making, HIV/AIDS in Malawi, mud stove making, income generating activities, and even how to slaughter a chicken. My Chichewa language teachers were Chrissy and Agatha. I spent most my time studying with Agatha and think she is an excellent educator. Class was organic and grew from our questions, interests, and problems. Because one of my classmates had serious bowel issues we thus ended up learning all sorts of potty vocabulary. He would fart, we’d evacuate the classroom, and we’d learn how to say, “Don’t fart in class!” Whenever we’d come across some kind of slightly embarrassing subject Agatha would hide her face behind the chalkboard. She was also very open-minded and we had some good discussions about Judaism and homosexuality in this conservative Christian nation. And now, for the edification of my friends who love languages, a note on Chichewa.
There are a countless number of different Bantu languages in Malawi alone, not to mention in Africa. The one I have been learning is called Chichewa, language of the Chewa people. It is completely different than any language I am familiar with. Verbs are the crux of each sentence and everything is built with them or off them. The language only has seven true adjectives, the rest are derived from conjugating verbs (EX: kukongola- to be beautiful, kokongola-beautiful). Adverbs are also either made by conjugating verbs or nouns (EX: kuchedwa- to be slow, mochedwa-slowly; Chisoni-sadness, mwachisoni-sadly). Many nouns are derived from verbs as well (EX: kuvala-to wear, zovala-clothes). Verbs are the glue that holds sentences together and all other information is structured around the verb. The subject, object, tense, and other information can be tacked onto a verb with different suffixes and infixes (EX: Munandithandize- You should have help me, the root verb being kuthandiza-to help). Another interesting, yet perplexing, linguistic phenomena is noun classes. Nouns are classified and the class of the noun will affect the conjugation of just about everything in the sentence. Noun classes don’t have a straight- forward organization, some are by sound, some are by parts of speech, and some are occupations. Most have a singular and plural form of the noun, but some only have one form that acts as both (EX: chala-finger, zala-fingers, mbuzi-goat, mbuzi-goats). The starting consonant of the verbs, adj, possessives and numerals all change to match the noun class they are discussing (Ex: chitenje changa chimodzi chokongola chili ku nyumba yanga –My one beautiful wrap-skirt is at my house, the nouns are chitenje - wrap-skirt and nyumba - house; or zitenje zanga ziwiri zokongola zili ku nyumba yanga –My two beautiful wrap-skirts are at my house). And even the class, whose nouns don’t distinguish plural and singular will identify the nouns as plural through changing the consonants of the other parts of the sentence. It is difficult for me to understand, but I’m learning. Chichewa is a common language in Malawi, but it is only one of many.
Malawi is a country of many different tribes, the main ones are the Chewa, Tumbuka, Yao and Ngoni. The Chewa are the largest tribe in the country and were the earliest Bantu tribe to move to this part of Africa. They wipeout the pigmy people who lived here before, but the pigmies influence can still be seen in the short height of the people and the Chewa’s symbol of bow and arrow which they learned from the pigmies. The Tumbuka are a tribe concentrated in the North of the country and are a close relative of the Chewa. The Yao are a Muslim tribe that came from Mozambique with the slave trade. The Ngoni are related to the Zulu’s of South Africa and left their homeland around the time of King Shaka and conquered territory going north. It is common for the Chiefs of villages to be Ngoni, though most the inhabitants are not. Interestingly enough, very few can speak the Ngoni language and yet they retain a tribal identity with certain cultural practices, such as dances. Despite the retention of tribal identity and culture, foreign religions are more prevalent than indigenous ones.
The majority of Malawians are religious Christians. Every Sunday the churches are filled with people praying. I went to services a couple times and I found it fairly interesting. Worship was conducted in Chichewa, but the general format seemed to be similar to that of protestant churches in the states. One of the major differences was the soulful choral prayer. With no accompaniment these guys belted out harmonies that resonate with the soul. My family also prayed before every meal and all public meetings begin and end with prayer. People are definitely very religious in Malawi.
In addition to Christianity, Islam also has a strong following in Malawi. Arab slave traders introduced the Yao, who are a Bantu African tribe, to Islam. As the slave trade pushed into the interior of the African continent the Yao moved from Mozambique and settled around Lake Malawi. After becoming a British Protectorate, many Muslims from the Indian Subcontinent started to immigrate to Malawi, now there are many Pakistani’s here. When driving along the paved roads there are many madrassas, Islamic parochial schools. Both Christianity and Islam are very visible in Malawi, but there are other beliefs in the unknown that are subtler.
Malawians are really superstitious and believe in witchcraft. They talk about witchcraft planes, stealing money with magic, influencing people with spells, stealing bones from people, criminals changing into animals to escape being caught and just about anything they can’t explain is attributed to witchcraft. The targets of these outlandish accusations are generally widows and social outcasts, similar circumstances to those of Europe in times gone by. Occasionally mobs will do physical harm to the accused, it is crazy. It seems so obviously ridiculous when I see these outlandish statements in the newspaper or hear them on the radio, but it is something people really believe in. Witchcraft is probably the most widespread local belief, but it certainly isn’t the only surviving one.
The Chewa tribe has a native religion called Gule Wamkulu. It is more of a secret society mixed with witchcraft where members dress up in costumes, wear masks, and do dances. The dances are done in graveyards (a place that no one goes) for the members only and sometimes in public for displays. Each dance and costume has a special meaning and they tell different kinds of stories. Sometimes the local Gule Wamkulu elders tell people to wear their costumes and run around their village for a day. They are said to be plentiful in the months of June, July, and August. I am told that I will be living in an area where the Gule Wamkulu are particularly active, so maybe I’ll learn more. In general, I’m learning a lot about the different beliefs and customs of the people here in Malawi.
I’ll quickly relate some of the more interesting cultural habits I’ve picked up on. There is a Chichewa phrase that goes “love is in the hands”, so people always want to shake hands. People insist on stopping and greeting each other on the way to wherever they are going. They also put the left hand on the right elbow when they shake hands to make it visible. The Ngoni used to hide knives behind their backs and stab the locals when falsely making treatises. Malawians and Americans have a different standard of what is erogenous and what is not. Women breast feed their babies in public all the time and don’t even attempt to conceal their breasts. They where very loose shirts and sometimes forget to put their breasts away after feeding. But women must cover their legs. And the last thing I’d like to relate is how bizarre the Malawian concept of homosexuality is. It is illegal to be a homosexual in Malawi but the funny thing is that Malawians don’t bat an eye to many things that set off the Gay-dar’s of Americans. Men holding hands, walking together is a sign of closeness, but doesn’t have a sexual connotation. And when dancing, the sexes dance separately, and the men do some very exotic movements up close and personal. Lots of hips thrusting, movements that seemed very suggestive, and other movements that would make most American men feel very uncomfortable.
Ok I have a ton more to say, but not enough time to say it in! So you’re gonna have to settle for this preliminary post and wait for more. I’ll be swearing in as an official volunteer and reading a speech in Chichewa in front of the ambassador on Wednesday. And I’m going to be moving to my site on the border of Dowa, Salima, and Lilongwe districts, next to the Thuma forest reserve on Thursday. I’ll have plenty of stuff to talk about. Take Care all!