When asked to describe this simple existence, the first word he said was "wonderful!" "It's almost inconceivable to know what it's like to have every single day free to do what you want," he said. "There's no one to answer to." Dorr said rabies was a problem, killing three people in the country while he was there. He was amazed to learn that the wife of the chief justice of Malawi's Supreme Court died from a dog bite. Dorr downplays the danger, however. He got along with his bees and said the U.S. government was very attentive to the needs and the safety concerns of the Peace Corps volunteers. He lost 30 pounds over the course of his stay. A favorite food for him consisted of pumpkin leaves and roasted peanuts. The cuisine was mostly vegetarian with an occasional fried egg or meal of termites to provide protein. One of his proudest accomplishments was helping preserve a dying native language. At one time, the dominant Chewa tribe controlled the government and outlawed the native language of the Tumbuka tribe. Most of the books in that language were burned by order of the government. Dorr found a 1957 school textbook written in Citumbuka, retyped it and published 3,000 copies. "People were seeing their language in print for the first time," he said.
Greg and Susan Dorr served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Malawi
Former city attorney returns from African adventure
By Daniel Dunkle
Business/Enterprise Reporter
ROCKLAND (July 7): Former city attorney Greg Dorr has an interesting take on termites.
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"I ate termites every chance I got," he said Thursday. "They were a rare treat. They were pan-fried and they had a crunch to them."
Dorr just returned to Rockland after serving two years in the Peace Corps in the African nation of Malawi, just north of Zimbabwe.
During his time there he lived without electricity, running water or reliable transportation. There were many days when his only meal might be a handful of cornmeal mush and a cucumber. His only entertainment, other than taking in the scenery or performing his work, came from reading books. He had no TV, no radio, no movies.
When asked to describe this simple existence, the first word he said was "wonderful!"
"It's almost inconceivable to know what it's like to have every single day free to do what you want," he said. "There's no one to answer to."
During his time in Africa, he worked to introduce honey bees to the Nkhonjera National Park, which stands on a high plateau overlooking the landscape and villages 3,000 feet below.
The park's wildlife, including elephants and antelopes, has been depleted by poachers, who are mostly hunting for food to survive, Dorr said. To solve the problem, the park started allowing people to enter it to harvest renewable resources including honey, mushrooms and various medicinal plants.
Dorr built Top Bar beehive boxes and helped introduce the African honey bees to the park.
"I was covered with bees, and they didn't sting me," he said.
He said that when one applies a bit of smoke to the bees, it masks the scent the queen uses to sound an alarm. In addition, since wildfires are the greatest natural threat to beehives, the smoke causes the bees to gorge themselves on honey to prepare to evacuate the hive. They become so full of honey that they cannot extend their stingers, Dorr said.
Dorr said he decided to join the Peace Corps after George W. Bush was re-elected.
"I wanted to do something for my country," he said.
He added that it has been a lifelong goal for him since he shook hands with John F. Kennedy as a teenager.
Malawi is one of the poorest nations in the world, with an average annual income of $120 per year.
Dorr was struck by the plight of the poor in the region. He tells the story of one 17-year-old boy who went into the park to poach in hopes of earning enough money to pay for his final year of high school.
"He was a bright, young boy," Dorr said.
The boy was killed when he tried to fire the old rifle he had brought with him, and the blast was kicked back into his face.
"It was a painful recognition of what poaching was about," Dorr said. "We need to pay these school fees for kids."
Dorr said Malawi has the fewest motor vehicles per capita of any country in the world, but it has the highest rate of motor vehicle fatalities. Part of the reason for this is that if there is only one car in an area and it crashes causing a fatality, that's a 100 percent fatality rate.
In the village where Dorr was living, the only form of public transportation was one standard Toyota pickup truck that came by once per day.
"I was in the back of this truck with 42 other people," he said.
He said he only had one foot in the truck and a roll bar to hang onto.
If that truck crashed, 45 people could potentially be killed, including the passengers in the back and in the cab, he said.
Spitting cobras were another hazard. One found its way into a neighbor volunteer's home.
Dorr said rabies was a problem, killing three people in the country while he was there. He was amazed to learn that the wife of the chief justice of Malawi's Supreme Court died from a dog bite.
Dorr downplays the danger, however. He got along with his bees and said the U.S. government was very attentive to the needs and the safety concerns of the Peace Corps volunteers.
He lost 30 pounds over the course of his stay. A favorite food for him consisted of pumpkin leaves and roasted peanuts. The cuisine was mostly vegetarian with an occasional fried egg or meal of termites to provide protein.
One of his proudest accomplishments was helping preserve a dying native language. At one time, the dominant Chewa tribe controlled the government and outlawed the native language of the Tumbuka tribe. Most of the books in that language were burned by order of the government.
Dorr found a 1957 school textbook written in Citumbuka, retyped it and published 3,000 copies.
"People were seeing their language in print for the first time," he said.
Dorr's wife, Susan, went on the trip with him, but had to return home after six months due to a family emergency.
This is only the most recent of Dorr's adventures abroad. He has bicycled through Vietnam with his son and traveled in the Yucatan and other regions.
He said his travels help him appreciate life in Midcoast Maine.
"This is the most exciting cultural venue, even with all of the traveling I've done," Dorr said. "There are opportunities in this community. In Malawi, there's not a single art museum. There's not a movie theater."
He said it was a great adventure, but Midcoast Maine is his culture.
Business/Enterprise Reporter Daniel Dunkle can be reached at 207-594-4401 or by e-mail at ddunkle@villagesoup.com.
