Dorr said that the sheer joy of the work he does is that there is no schedule or itinerary. “I get up in the morning and am free to do whatever I want that day. It makes you extremely motivated. More than that is almost too complicated to describe, but remember it does take some time to boil water for tea first thing in the morning and, without electricity, night comes early (6 p.m.), so you’re limited to what you might want to read or write by kerosene lantern. I’m greatly enjoying writing letters with my Cross fountain pen.”
“From my village to the nearest town of any size is a 20-mile ride in the back of a pickup truck. I’ve counted 47 people in the back of that truck with me. I was holding on to the rollbar with only one foot inside the truck body, as were the two people in front of me and the two behind me. I’ve never traveled on the paved road from Mzuzu to Lilongwe (the capital city) without passing a couple of overturned vehicles. Every vehicle is loaded with passengers. It feels like just a matter of time before you’re going to end up in the ditch,” he said.
The Tumbuka are a handsome, proud, friendly, gracious, engaging people, he said. “Greeting is nearly mandatory, so we foreigners refer to a Malawi traffic jam as the delay you experience where ever you go in having to exchange greetings, handshakes etc with everyone you meet,” Dorr noted. “I’ll often go for a walk with my violin, that way I can play music and not have to be speaking all the time to all the people I meet, and they enjoy the Irish jigs and reels immensely,” he said. He said he is unaware of any melody instruments in the community, outside of his violin, but drumming is everywhere. “Groups of boys seem to be either drumming or playing soccer. And singing is ubiquitous. People walk the path past my house on their way to their gardens singing. At night groups of people gather and sing and dance to the most exotic drumbeats. The absence of electricity seems to contribute to community cohesion. You don’t have people sitting in their individual houses starring at a small lit screen, not speaking to each other.”
Greg Dorr describes Peace Corps stay in Malawi at Camden Public Library
Dorr describes Peace Corps stay in Malawi
By Stephen Betts
(Created: Saturday, February 10, 2007 5:59 AM EST)
MALAWI — Greg Dorr has lived a life of adventure that few people have experienced. He has spent four months in Himalayas, searched for a sunken Spanish galleon, visited Vietnam, cooked on a schooner and served as an honor guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
His latest adventure, however, was inspired by a handshake with John F. Kennedy more than 46 years ago.
Dorr is home on vacation from a two-year assignment in the Peace Corps, serving in the landlocked southeastern African nation of Malawi.
The former Rockland city attorney, former prosecutor and lifelong musician is working with Malawi citizens to help them build a sustainable economy. He said another goal he has is to create a palliative care center for HIV/AIDS victims in that country.
Dorr, a Rockland native, said his desire to join the Peace Corps arose from a handshake he had with then Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy, who was running against Vice President Richard Nixon for the presidency in 1960.
“(I’ve) always wanted to join,” Dorr said, noting he was moved by President Kennedy’s executive order to create the Peace Corps in 1961.
“I’ve done a fair amount of traveling, but I’ve always wanted to spend an extended period of time in one country to appreciate better the change of seasons, agricultural and ceremonial cycles, etc.,” Dorr said.
“Malawi is a very different place in the rainy season than the dry season. Interesting changes, life focuses on different activities. The Peace Corps provides a unique opportunity to live in a foreign country, do some ‘good’ and live outside the box,” he said.
As part of applying to the Peace Corps, he noted, you are asked to indicate regions in the world you would prefer to serve. Africa was not one of the areas he selected. When the Peace Corps gives an assignment, the applicant can reject the offer without jeopardizing future offers. He said a number of people he serves with in Malawi turned down invitations to other places.
He arrived in Malawi in March 2006 and will be there through May 2008.
Dorr is assigned to the environmental sector and works on sustainable economic use and development of Nyika National Park. He said he introduces, constructs and promotes the use of top bar hives in the nascent honey production industry. He said a talk he will give locally will largely be about that subject.
The Rockland native said he also is working to publish a book in the ChiTumbuka language and create a cultural performance center and a palliative care center for HIV/Aids victims.
When asked to describe his daily routine, Dorr said that the sheer joy of the work he does is that there is no schedule or itinerary.
“I get up in the morning and am free to do whatever I want that day. It makes you extremely motivated. More than that is almost too complicated to describe, but remember it does take some time to boil water for tea first thing in the morning and, without electricity, night comes early (6 p.m.), so you’re limited to what you might want to read or write by kerosene lantern. I’m greatly enjoying writing letters with my Cross fountain pen.”
There are six major languages in Malawi, he noted, all of them Bantu-based, sort of like the way Spanish, Italian, and French are Romance languages. He said he has received sufficient training in the language ChiTumbuka to get by. This language was suppressed shortly after the country received its independence from Great Britain.
Dorr said he is working with Austin Mkandawire, who translated “Julius Caesar” into ChiTumbuka in 1957, but had books seized and burned by the armed forces, to republish some of the manuscripts. The manuscripts had been buried in his garden to protect them from the military.
This project needs money, he noted.
“The Tumbuka people (nearly a million of them) have no books in their own language and no money to publish them,” Dorr said.
“I have received sufficient training in ChiTumbuka to get by. I understand what people are saying much better than I am able to engage in conversation, but most people are competent English speakers, which is still the national language,” he said.
The Malawi constitution requires proficiency in English as a qualification for being a representative to national government.
Life in Malawi means few of the modern conveniences enjoyed in the United States. There is no electricity where he is staying, nor a ready supply of drinking water.
“Actually living in a community that does not have electricity is one of the interesting aspects of this experience. Children play outdoors, clouds of children, hoards of children, quite charming and engaging,” Dorr said.
“Water is another matter. There is simply no advantage in not having a ready supply of drinking water. Fortunately I have a water tap in my back yard, for which I pay a monthly fee amounting to just over a dollar a month, but it doesn’t always have water and most of the time I need to filter it,” Dorr said. “Some of my fellow environmental volunteers have to carry water from a river or public well. Makes you appreciate potable water. I’ve so enjoyed drinking water from Crystal Lake on my visit to Rockland/Camden.”
Cooking is a challenge, he added. He uses charcoal.
“The local wood supply is limited and I’m supposed to be protecting trees. I have a paraffin (kerosene) stove, but for three months there was no paraffin for sale in the country. Additionally, the absence of electricity limits the kind of food available (no refrigeration), so your looking at dried goods, beans, corn, millet, rice, beans, corn, beans (did I already mention corn and beans?) and a few sun dried minnows, tiny little fish, that are my major source of protein. It’s a fairly simple diet. Tomatoes are often available, along with a variety of greens and onions – but did I mention corn?”
Dorr said that without question, the most dangerous activity in Malawi is the use of the public transportation system.
“From my village to the nearest town of any size is a 20-mile ride in the back of a pickup truck. I’ve counted 47 people in the back of that truck with me. I was holding on to the rollbar with only one foot inside the truck body, as were the two people in front of me and the two behind me. I’ve never traveled on the paved road from Mzuzu to Lilongwe (the capital city) without passing a couple of overturned vehicles. Every vehicle is loaded with passengers. It feels like just a matter of time before you’re going to end up in the ditch,” he said.
The Tumbuka are a handsome, proud, friendly, gracious, engaging people, he said.
“Greeting is nearly mandatory, so we foreigners refer to a Malawi traffic jam as the delay you experience where ever you go in having to exchange greetings, handshakes etc with everyone you meet,” Dorr noted.
“I’ll often go for a walk with my violin, that way I can play music and not have to be speaking all the time to all the people I meet, and they enjoy the Irish jigs and reels immensely,” he said.
He said he is unaware of any melody instruments in the community, outside of his violin, but drumming is everywhere.
“Groups of boys seem to be either drumming or playing soccer. And singing is ubiquitous. People walk the path past my house on their way to their gardens singing. At night groups of people gather and sing and dance to the most exotic drumbeats. The absence of electricity seems to contribute to community cohesion. You don’t have people sitting in their individual houses starring at a small lit screen, not speaking to each other.”
Dorr will give a talk and present slides of his stay in Malawi 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Camden Public Library.
