I’m already almost 3 weeks in Malawi now, and starting to get used to being here. The past weeks I did get to learn a lot about the Malawian culture and customs. And yet there are things I will have to adjust to at the office. A summary of the things I have to deal with on a daily basis:

• Saying good morning to someone takes a while. It’s quite a ceremony. And you’re doing it with all acquaintances and colleagues you encounter. (There goes half your morning if you’re (un-)lucky).
• When in conversation with somebody, do not look him other directly into the eyes to often. This seems to be very rude. Look away every now and then.
• In the office there is a shortage of almost everything. There are no paper, pens, markers or other office items. Also there is no internet, no business phones, no network, no organograms, no list of people who actually work here (let alone what they do), no e-mail addresses (everybody uses a private account) and no coffee or tea. Well, you get the picture I guess.
• In Malawi there is more demand for electricity than there is production. The Malawian solution? Well, just rotate power cuts between areas a few hours at a time.
• If somebody in de village passes away, everybody goes to the funeral. This could easily take a day. You’ll have to go to (this hasn’t happend during my stay so far).
• People are more important than things. For example; if you’re in need of money, just ask somebody. You’ll pay it back when the other persons really needs the money. Why? Well, money is just a thing, it’s not important. If he doesn’t need it, then why give it back?
• People are very curious about you. If you encounter some total stranger on the street the conversation goes something like this: What’s your name? Where do you live? Where do you come from? How long will you stay here? Where do you work? Which church are you attending? Are you married? How many children do you have? Why don’t you have children? How’s your family? etc. 
• If you get ill, everybody will come and visit you. Friends, acquaintances, family and colleagues. Fortunately they won’t expect a lot attention from you. And you will get a lot of food (no flowers, for they are useless).
• “What breasts are for the European man, are thighs for the African man”. So a décolleté is not a big deal, but do cover up your legs.
• Furthermore the offices are not that clean (at all), with rags acting as curtains, and if you have glass in your window, it probably is broken. There are plenty of lizards on the walls and lots of grasshoppers, spiders and baby mosquitos, as well as the inevitable portrait of President Joyce Banda hanging above the main desk. Welcome to a Malawian office!

I think I will be able to go on for a while with this list. And I’m sure I will get more surprises every day. It keeps me on my toes I guess, and I surely will have something to laugh about. Or more likely: the Malawian people and especially my colleagues will  have plenty to laugh about. Unfortunately that will probably be me.

Tasalani bwino! (goodbye/stay well) Marije

 Hier klikken om te bewerken.

Last week (Sunday the 3th of February) I arrived (tired, but with no troubles) in Lilongwe, capital city of Malawi. VSO picked me up from the airport and the rest of the week I received an In Country Training with lessons en presentations about the Malawian culture, politics, language, VSO policies, safety regulation and practical stuff like using the public transport over here (quit a challenge I can tell you…). Together with me there were 6 other volunteers in the ICT from all over the world. 3 Philipinas who also are going to work on the climate change project, a Indonesian ICT guy, a Ugandan guy who works on HIV and AIDS education and a German, who will be working on communication. The week was quit tiresome with lessons for 8 am till 6 pm and in the evening lot’s of social events and meetings. But it was great fun as well!!

In this week we also received more information about the programme we (me and the Philipinas and later this month also and Indonesian woman and Florent a French guy will join us) will be working on.

In short. This is what it is all about:
We will work on the WATERS project (Waters Futures: Towards Equitable Resource Management). The project is funded by the Scottish Government through the Climate Justice Fund (CJF). The project goal is to link local government, civil society and community to enable equitable climate proof intergrated water management in the four priority districts of Malawi: Karonga, Salima, Chikhwawa ans Nsanje.

The project will apply an Ecosystem Servive Approach (ESAp) for water resources management which will be used, and developed, through participatory scenario building for climate adaption in consultation with local communities and stakeholders

I am be based in Nsanje, Brenda (Philipines) is based in Salima, Imelda (Philipines) in Chikhwawa, the Indonesian in Karonga and Doris (Philipines) and Florent (French) are based at LEAD-SEA and CISONECC. Two cooperating NGO’s responsible for the documentation and communication of the project.

The stakeholders of the project are:
- Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (Malawian government);
- Centre for Environmental Policy and Advocacy (CEPA, NGO);
- LEAD Southern and Eastern Africa (LEAD-SEA, NGO (CISONECC is part of LEAD));
- James Hutton Institute (Scottish Institute who will provide resources and information).

The Malawian government is sponsored by the NCCP (National Climate Change Programme).

Our roles in the 4 Districts is to make a profile of what is going on with climate adaptation and mitigation in your District. In Malawi there are a lot of (small) NGO’s working, without communication amongst each other. The sharing of information is therefor our overall focus. We have to find out what grass-rooted project are running or starting and connect these together. We actually will be like a spider in a web. Next to this we are going to give and organize lessons, trainings and meetings about ecosystems, climate change and the consequences of this for environment and biodiversity.

At the end (around 2015…) all our information and reports will be used to make a Climate Change policy for Malawi. VSO has a leading role in making this policy.

Well, that is what I will be doing for the coming year… The first challenges have already arrived: 2 or 3 powercuts a day, heavy rains (which cause flooded and destroyed roads), no paper or toner for the printers, slow internet and locals who only speak the local language (Chichewa). But happily, I do have nice Malawian colleagues to work with :-).

Tionana!!! (See you)