March 11, 2000 - Personal Web Page: Adam's Malawi Page
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March 11, 2000 - Personal Web Page: Adam's Malawi Page
Adam's Malawi Page
Adam's Malawi Page
I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Chitipa, Malawi from 1996-1998.
The following pages illustrate some of the projects I was involved with and friends that I made there. These links are photos from my time in Malawi. If you are connected to the internet at a low speed, please be patient for the images to load. You may either browse through a sequential album, or visit individual pages by selecting below.
Album - This will allow you to visit one page at a time by clicking on Next Page.
This is a pretty typical scene on our main road through Chitipa. There are many more cows than cars. The road is a dirt road all through town. Chitipa has no paved roads. The nearest paved road in Malawi is 101 km (62 miles) away in Karonga. Chitipa Bottle Store The Chitipa Bottle Store could be counted on for carrying good Tanzanian beer. They carried Safari Lager and Kilimanjaro Lager along with Malawi brewed Carlsberg. Once in a while they had Serengeti Lager. Small clothes market This is a quiet day at the clothes market, which is found outside of the main market in Chitipa. Generally, all of the wooden structures are covered in used clothes. Chitipa's market This is the entrance to Chitipa's market. The shelter in the background is where the majority of the fresh produce is sold. Tomatoes, onions, potatoes, various leaves, eggs, ground nuts (peanuts) and whatever fruit is available. Portrait of Hitler For some reason, though I still don't understand why, there was a portrait of Adolph Hitler painted on a local restaurant. The owner of the shop explained to me that Hitler was a great warrior. The owner seemed to stand alone in his perception as the more educated members of the community felt the portrait was inappropriate. Air Malawi stairs These are old boarding stairs found at Chitipa's airstrip. I don't know when regular use of the air strip ceased. The weather station is still active. Chitipa's airstrip To be fair, this picture was taken before the air strip was cleaned up and made serviceable again. The chest-high grass that had been growing was nicely cut to allow chartered planes to land.
This is the front entrance and vehicle gate to Chitipa District Hospital.
Polio campaign, 1998
National Immunization Day volunteers, 1998 Polio campaign, 1998
1996 Polio campaign
This was the NID (National Immunization Day) for Polio eradication. I was a site supervisor under the Misuku Health Center.
Health Surveillance Assistants (HSA)
(Community Health Workers)
Billy Luhanga I caught Billy by surprise with this picture, but its the best picture I have of him. Here, he's collecting vaccines for the under-5 clinic.
Charles Musyani and Martha Mwanza Charles and I shared an office (actually a store room that doubled as an office), and he introduced me to Tanzanian beer. He is Chitipa's cold-chain technician for immunizations. Martha is a hard working HSA who always impressed me.
Vincent Fweta Forget Zen, Fweta and the art of motorcycle maintenance. He was the resident speed demon (and only crashed sometimes). Here, he was showing me the intake pipes for the Chisenga gravity flow water system. Fweta is a very good community motivator.
Promise and John Chabinga A husband and wife HSA duo. John was one of my best friends in Chitipa. He is also a hospital footballer on an excellent team. John and Promise worked in adjacent villages close to the hospital.
Mrs. Sikwesi, Mrs. Chabinga, Mrs. Mbewa and Mr. Adams Mrs. Sikwesi, Mrs. Chabinga, Mrs. Mbewa and I had a short (4 km) walk back to town after the reception for my parents in Mwenifuvya.
A group of friends This was my final goodbye at the hospital.
Back row: Mr. Nyasulu, Dickson, Philip, Adam, Justin
Front row: Petros, Fweta, Charles, Mr. Mukumbwa
Mr. Mkisi in Kaseye A great picture of Mr. Mkisi, one of the hospital drivers. At the time this was taken, the ambulance was new!
Mr. Chisiza This is Mr. Chisiza, another of the hospital drivers. He was assigned to drive the truck that I used most frequently.
Group Village Headman Mwenifuvya - Timothy Simfukwe The Group Village Headman (GVH) of Mwenifuvya is a great example of good leadership.
Mrs. Simfukwe is the primary wife of the Group Village Headman. She has a wonderful smile.
Mrs. Simfukwe The Simfukwe Family This picture was taken just outside of the bakery constructed by the men and women of Mwenifuvya village. The little one with Mrs. Simfukwe is Grant, Jimmy's son. I don't remember the name of the little guy with Jimmy.
Please visit the rest of Mwenifuvya to see the Tiyezye Bakery and the Zanimuwone Vegetable Club.
\ch[Line}This is the foundation for the Tiyezye Bakery. The men's group assisted the women's group during the construction of the bakery. In the background are the 21,000 hand molded bricks prepared by the community. partially built bakery A number of men, including the GVH, pose in the partially constructed bakery. Mr. Mwiba shows the double drum oven Mr. Mwiba shows us the double drum oven. It is heated by firewood or charcoal, fed into the oven from the back, outside of the bakery. This reduces (almost eliminates) smoke in the bakery. bakinglesson.jpg (48801 bytes) Here are the women of the Tiyezye Bakery Club preparing more loaves of bread for sale in town. This was their first day of business. The Tiyezye Bakery Club These are the women of the Tiyezye Bakery Club. Their hard work made the bakery possible. This was their first commercial loaf of bread. Adam at the Tiyezye Bakery Here I am outside the finished bakery. The women were inside baking. Tiyezye translates to "we will try", which captures the attitude of the women in this group.
These are some of the original members of the Zanimuwone Vegetable Club. Zanimuwone translates to "come and see". Mom and Dad with Mwenifuvya community Mwenifuvya village had a beautiful reception for my parents when they came to visit. Here are my parents, some of the men from Mwenifuvya and some HSAs (community health workers) at Mr. Kuyokwa's fish pond. Vegetable Club's farewell party This was the Vegetable Club's farewell ceremony for me. It was a special day, and is a great memory. gardentour.jpg (50638 bytes) In this picture, my parents are taking a walking tour of the 10-acre vegetable garden. Notice the height of the rows for planting.
Mwenemisitu Village My primary project in Chitipa became the construction of shallow wells with rural communities. All of the wells were hand dug, and ranged from 2 - 6 meters (6.5 ft. - 20 ft.) in depth. All of the wells were constructed during the driest part of the year to ensure that water would be available throughout the year. The water table does fluctuate from year to year, so we did our best to provide water even during the dry years. The process is not perfect, but it serves many people, and provides a protected water source. Namayanga Village During my first year (1996), the Church of the Central African Presbyter (CCAP)-Livingstonia provided us with materials to construct 25 shallow wells. All materials for the 1998 shallow well project in Chitipa were supplied by the Marion Medical Mission (over 100 wells were constructed!). Mwenefuvya Village Katatula Village Mwenempapa Village Kaseye The project has each community provide all the locally available materials, while they supply the cement, pumps, technical and logistic support. In addition, they train a member of the community, selected by the community, to maintain the wells within an agreed upon radius. Each community contributes one 90 kg bag of maize (the primary crop) or its equivalent, per year to support all of the maintenance for one full year. This type of project was unprecedented in Chitipa.
Mafinga Hills Chitipa had some of the most beautiful scenes that I have ever seen as I traveled along the roads. This was taken approximately 25 km south of Chitipa. The mountain range is known as Mafinga Hills. They boast the highest peak in Zambia. The mountains are split between Malawi and Zambia. Nyika's rolling hills This is the Nyika Plateau. Nyika is enormous with beautiful rolling hills that go on and on. There is wildlife on the Nyika Plateau, but animals are rarely seen along the road. This was the less traveled road out of Chitipa, presumably because very few vehicles pass this way and if the vehicle broke down, it could be some time before help arrives. Road through Misuku This is the road through the Misuku Hills. These hills are rolling and beautiful, but treacherous for driving. I don't know if a two-dimensional picture can come close to doing this justice. This was the main road to and from Chitipa. This bridge wasn't much of a problem when it collapsed because the river was very shallow and could be driven through even in the rainy season. However.......... Adam, Scott and Edith by broken bridge Truck hanging from bridge this bridge posed a major barrier. For over seven months we received no fuel in our district. Our electricity and water were powered by diesel generators, so this meant severe rationing of fuel, water and electricity. Driving through this river is both frightening and dangerous. We learned to do it, anyway.
Scott (left) discovered a visitor coming into our house during lunchtime. The panga (machete) in his right hand was the major implement of destruction for the unfortunate Egyptian cobra.
On the right is a better picture of both the cobra and the panga. Both of them can be scary. Decapitated cobra Scott with dead Puff Adder Here's another Scott and another dead snake. This Puff Adder was killed by villagers on the road to Mwenifuvya. We thought we may have a use for it.
Someone had the great idea that this adder would make a good meal. Katherine took on the role of head chef and made a Puff Adder pasta sauce.
Dennis and I had some fun trying to accompany each other on our guitars. This was in my livingroom. Adam and Chaucer Majonga Kids are great. This was my neighbor Chaucer. He was so afraid of Scott and me when we first arrived in Chitipa because we were azungu (white people), but he got used to us and we had some fun. Basketball game Chitipa had two basketball teams. The Town Dunkers and the Secondary School. I played for the Town Dunkers almost every weekend. We had a dirt court with plywood backboards and some fairly abused basketballs. I was very happy to find basketball players in a country of footballers (soccer players). Duke and Austine Left, Duke, with a quick first step, leaves Austine behind on his drive to the hoop.
Right, Duke sends Dizzy's shot way out of bounds. A monstrous block!
John and Philip Chabinga John and Philip Chabinga (cousins) try my first attempt at bean burgers. I beleive it was the first time John had ever had a sandwich (made possible with the Tiyezye Bakery). This was taken in my living room. Cedric Gombwa, Adam and Christine Gleason Cedric is one of my closest friends from Chitipa. He managed the Chitipa Inn.
Christine is the volunteer in Chitipa now. Katherine, Gabi, Cedric and Karl Katherine, Gabi, Cedric and Karl at the bar at Chitipa Inn. A very rare place for any of us to be found..... Adam with giant leaf Okay, so I thought it was pretty cool to find a leaf that stood two feet taller than me.
Katherine and I both look like proper dorks in this picture.
Katherine convinced me to walk 17 km to visit the fathers at Kaseye Mission. They were kind enough to drive us back to town.
Adam and Katherine in Mwenifuvya
Katherine outside Kaseye Mission
Officer-in-Charge George Dziko and Adam in Songwe George and I had first become friends while he was working in Chitipa. It was nice to visit him again at his new post. kids on my porch Some of the neighbors' kids came to check out the new walkway that Mr. Msiska (the hospital builder) and I built. This was my house. Peace Corps Chitipa in November, 1998 Adam, Christine, Katherine, and Nicole with Justin behind Katherine and Philip and Joseph off to the right. This was the day Katherine and I left Chitipa. Women in Siyombwe Village This picture, taken in Siyombwe Village near Chitipa, is a good example of the difficulty faced on a daily basis. Everyone has the same problems, but women receive more of the burden and less of the credit.
This was my birthday in 1997, spent on Mount Mulanje in the Southern Region of Malawi. Mount Mulanje is the tallest peak in Malawi at 3002 meters. Mr. Mdota, his cousin and Adam in Karonga (Club Marina) Mr. Mdota, his cousin, and I enjoy a few greens and browns (Carlsburg beers) while my brother and I were stranded in Karonga because of a collapsed bridge. (1998) Adam and Cows Here is a picture of me holding off the cows on the beach in Karonga. They have no respect for my personal space! (1998) View from the Ilala These pictures (left) were taken from the Ilala, one of the ships that provide the only transportation from Malawi's mainland to the islands of Likoma and Chizumulu. (1996)
If you look very carefully, you can see someone standing in front of this massive Baobab tree. This picture was taken on Likoma Island in Lake Malawi. (1996)
John & Baobab Tree View from the Ilala Making nsima I learned how to make nsima, the staple food in Malawi, during Peace Corps training. Nsima is made from maize flour and water. (1996) Chembe falls Chembe Falls on Livingstonia in the Northern Region of Malawi is the tallest waterfall in Malawi. Livinstonia is the site of one of the most well known Missions in Malawi. (1997)
Cows on the main road This is a pretty typical scene on our main road through Chitipa. There are many more cows than cars. The road is a dirt road all through town. Chitipa has no paved roads. The nearest paved road in Malawi is 101 km (62 miles) away in Karonga. Chitipa Bottle Store The Chitipa Bottle Store could be counted on for carrying good Tanzanian beer. They carried Safari Lager and Kilimanjaro Lager along with Malawi brewed Carlsberg. Once in a while they had Serengeti Lager. Small clothes market This is a quiet day at the clothes market, which is found outside of the main market in Chitipa. Generally, all of the wooden structures are covered in used clothes. Chitipa's market This is the entrance to Chitipa's market. The shelter in the background is where the majority of the fresh produce is sold. Tomatoes, onions, potatoes, various leaves, eggs, ground nuts (peanuts) and whatever fruit is available. Portrait of Hitler For some reason, though I still don't understand why, there was a portrait of Adolph Hitler painted on a local restaurant. The owner of the shop explained to me that Hitler was a great warrior. The owner seemed to stand alone in his perception as the more educated members of the community felt the portrait was inappropriate. Air Malawi stairs These are old boarding stairs found at Chitipa's airstrip. I don't know when regular use of the air strip ceased. The weather station is still active. Chitipa's airstrip To be fair, this picture was taken before the air strip was cleaned up and made serviceable again. The chest-high grass that had been growing was nicely cut to allow chartered planes to land.
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PCOL2339
57
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I have just stumbled on this very important web site. I want to sincerely thank you for the work well done. Any more infromation on Misuku "My beloved Country?
Bye, i have to go for now.
Mwalawira
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By Sonia Raj (119.160.128.70) on Sunday, October 26, 2008 - 2:50 am: Edit Post |
I have enjoyed this site . I and my husband worked as expartriate teachers in Central High School, Limbe, Malawi from 1990- 2001.
Sonia Raj From Brunei on Sunday, October 25 at 4p.m