Out of sight, out of mind?

This morning, while having breakfast with my host brother (20 years old), I saw how smart he is, and it made me believe that Malawi have the potential to change; Malawi has amazingly bright kids. The only problems is that most of them can’t afford to go to university. He is waiting, crossing his finger to get a scholarship. He wrote the exams and applied everywhere. He is keen. I hope he gets in, in fact I wish that all the smart and motivated  teenagers would have an easier way to go to school, so that they can bring their perspective to the table, so that their point of views and ideas can be heard. I was talking to him about the lunch and learn meeting I’m preparing for my colleagues from Golder back in Canada; he asked what I was going to discuss and I listed some of the issues. I talked about my work, both here and back home and when I expected him to lose interest or not understand, he kept asking super relevant questions. We ended up chatting about the environmental issues that Malawi will be facing in a few years from now, and also about the boreholes and shallow wells issues related to installation, geology, hydrogeology, water quality. He also mentioned the salinity of the groundwater in some places and asked why that is and how contractors can avoid installing boreholes in brackish water. He was particularly interested to know about the use of fertilisers and latrines next to the boreholes and wells. He is concerned that a lot of the mutations and diseases that people in villages are facing might come from that type of contamination. He also wonders how can people stop throwing their garbage away anywhere without caring, because this is what most people do. Everything is put in a plastic bag, even alcohol shots, and often individually wrapped, once done with it, they throw it out the window and forget about it. Out of sight, out of mind! The problem is that it is not really out of sight as the garage are everywhere, but they seem to not see it, or maybe they just don’t know any better, so they get use to it: Alcohol sachets (shots that is put in a sort of ketchup sachet); the phone units (you have to buy airtime by units, the code is written on a piece of paper that is sold on the street; you buy, scratch, enter the number in your phone, and you have a few minutes of airtime!); chibuku cartoon container (beer that is fermented in a sort of milky texture. They wrap it in a container similar to the one use for milk in Canada), beer and soda’s cap, plastic bags;…everything that is not refundable will be found everywhere on the ground. Although Diew (my host brother) had never studied or read about the problems and the solutions that we use in developed countries regarding the above issues, he was blowing my mind with his ideas. He was saying that the government should get involved to regulate before it gets too late; he was suggesting that finds should be given by the government to manufactures if they dispose of their waste in the rivers and lake; he was saying that there should be communal dumps and people should pay to have someone to pick up their trash to the dump, otherwise people would be given fines; he also said that the use of fertilisers should be better supervised and that farmers should be educated about the impact of their behaviours.

My village is really awesome though, they have a holes where they put the dishes, and when full they burn and then bury. It’s not perfect, but it is better than having wrapping and food waste all over the place.

I was in the bus the other day, coming back from Machinga and I was standing up, as usual. So a nice lady offered to share her seat with me. We talked about our work and I realized that both her and her husband work in water quality and environment for the government. She works for the water board in Blantyre, Malawi. Her husband works for the national government in Botswana, with the intention of learning how they do things there to help Malawi. He went to university in Canada, in Ontario. At some point during the bus ride, she asked a man who had just thrown his plastic bag by the window why he was doing that, if he knew the impact of doing that? I was impressed by how much environmental conviction she had. I high fived her and it gave me a big smile.

…So I had a big smile on my face until the bus hit a little 5 years old boy on the side of the road. That was pretty dramatic and terrifying. We stopped to help him. Both his legs were injured, he was bleeding a lot and he also hurt his head. We took him and his father (I assume), in the crowded bus, to the closest hospital, but there were no doctors as it was Saturday, so we went to the next town. To get admitted to the hospital in case of an accident, the injured person needs to have a police report, so we had to go to the police first (weird !?). Drivers here are crazy, the roads are narrow and there are no lights at night, a lot of drivers are drink (beers, chibuku or sachets) and drive. There are a lot of pedestrians and bikes on the side, and sidewalks are inexistent.  Accidents are frequent in Malawi and often deadly. But, one problem at a time… a lot of things need to change here. I learn about them everyday. One clear trend that can be drawn though, is that there is a lack of regulations and a lack of enforcement when existing.

I guess that’s it for now on the dramatic side of things. I also have good news. I’m starting to settle in my new village. I really like it. My neighbours are nice and helpful, so is my family. It’s challenging though to have to relearn everything, like :

• doing the dishes on the ground outside, using sand, soap, a cloth and a bucket;
• washing my clothes by hands, once again, on the ground in the backyard;
• learning how to cook on the fire (on the ground of course!), with no handles or oven mits; or,
• taking a shower, using a bucket, on the ground, outside. Washing my hair is really challenging let me tell you.

But I enjoy my daily bike rides. I enjoy discovering the neighbourhood, the market, the language (most people in the village only speak Chichewa), the food, the culture! I like to go see them play football or basketball on Sunday afternoons. I like to hangout with the girls on the porch while washing our clothes. I miss a lot of things from home, I think about it everyday, but I also realize everyday all the things I’ll miss from here when I go home…I’ll miss all of this, even if it is not always easy. There is just something fantastic about this lifestyle, this culture, this language, this food, these people, their smile and joy for life…I’m slowly starting to adjust to this new life and make it my reality! Today is a holiday, and we are having Jordan and Tessa for dinner. For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, they are from EWB. Jordan was with me during the training in Toronto, we arrived here together. Tessa is another EWBer, she just joined our team a few weeks ago. They spent the weekend in Senga Bay. Forgot to mentioned they are a cute couple!! haha. Can’t wait. I went to the market this morning and got some fish, rice and veggies. I’m exited to have my first visitors.

From the bottom of my heart, I miss you guys. I do. Every day I think about you and all the things we use to do, especially on weekends.

Ge