I’m back in Blantyre and it really feels like I’ve arrived home again. I realized that from July last year until May this year I will have spent more time in Malawi (3 months 3 weeks) than in Washington DC (3 months). It really is a strange life that I’m leading at the moment, but the good news is that it looks like this will be my last long assignment overseas for a while. I’m wanted in the home office and although my new role when I get home will probably be more managerial and administrative and less interesting in some ways, it will be nice to be in one place for a while. Did I just say that? I never thought I would get to the point where any amount of travel was too much.
I had a usual 12 hour day at the office today but somehow managed to make it to the gym when I got home. I was supposed to be on a goddess plan here – getting tanner, blonder, and fitter during my lonely hours in the hotel. The only problem is that there haven’t been too many lonely hours that needed to be filled. So much for transformation.
Time is flying by here. I’m almost halfway through my trip and I’m off to South Africa in two weeks so it’s only going to fly by even quicker. I’ll be home before I know it.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
Happy Happy Easter
The Easter Bunny somehow managed to find me here in paradise. I am in Mvuu Lodge in Liwonde National Park, staying in a chalet on the bank of the Shire River and I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather be. As I walked out of my chalet at 6am this morning, I stepped over an easter egg delivered to my door step. I walked around the camp and watched the brilliant green blue-cheeked bee eaters catching their breakfast of butterflies and insects. I saw the brown-headed parrots flying overhead, and the Tropical Boubou looking for breakfast in the undergrowth. After a hearty breakfast of muffins, custom made omelet and chocolate (it is Easter Sunday after all), we headed out on a river boat ride. Two other consultants that are here for the same project joined me here yesterday, and it’s nice to have their company. I think every game viewing trip has it’s own adventures. Today we saw lots of birds and hippo in the river and then watched crocodile devour a dead hippo. (He died in a hippo fight which would have been awesome to see). Yesterday we watched an elephant approach the river bank and then swim across the river to enjoy the lush grass on the other bank. There is no other word to describe this than paradise.
I’m here for four days to make the most of the Easter weekend. They have a four day weekend here in Malawi, and of course, I only have off on Sunday (today), but I thought I would pick a new and spectacular environment to work in while I had the chance. I arrived on my own on Friday and befriended two older Dutch couples. One of the men had worked for the World Bank in Washington for 20 years. When I asked if he new of Caroline and Alan Gelb (old family friends who live in Washington), he told me that he hired Caroline to work at the bank in 1971! What a small world.
My days have been filled with boat rides, game drives, sipping sundowners on the river shore, and of course birdwatching. My guide, Jim, has a gift not only for spotting and identifying game and especially birds, but also with people. He’s from a small village 5km from the park, but he is one of those rare people that has transcended the village without leaving it. He has a solid grasp of the issues of development and an insightful understanding of the perspective of foreigners which makes him the best guide that I have ever had and just good fun to be around.
All in all, I think I can sum up my weekend as pure bliss.
I’m here for four days to make the most of the Easter weekend. They have a four day weekend here in Malawi, and of course, I only have off on Sunday (today), but I thought I would pick a new and spectacular environment to work in while I had the chance. I arrived on my own on Friday and befriended two older Dutch couples. One of the men had worked for the World Bank in Washington for 20 years. When I asked if he new of Caroline and Alan Gelb (old family friends who live in Washington), he told me that he hired Caroline to work at the bank in 1971! What a small world.
My days have been filled with boat rides, game drives, sipping sundowners on the river shore, and of course birdwatching. My guide, Jim, has a gift not only for spotting and identifying game and especially birds, but also with people. He’s from a small village 5km from the park, but he is one of those rare people that has transcended the village without leaving it. He has a solid grasp of the issues of development and an insightful understanding of the perspective of foreigners which makes him the best guide that I have ever had and just good fun to be around.
All in all, I think I can sum up my weekend as pure bliss.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Politics, Permaculture and Pampering
Another busy day of meetings and learning the politics of the traditional healers associations in Malawi. Several people have told me the same joke that the traditional healers believe in the new multi-party democracy in Malawi just as the government politicians do, so they must have multiple associations. There’s lots of competition and jealousy between them and it doesn’t help that the Ministry of Health has selected a favorite. It is interesting though that the man in the Ministry who is the champion of the traditional healers is a medical doctor who tells me that the traditional healers (other than those of his select organization) just do not understand, even though they have given them lots of training on modern science and medicine. It’s interesting to observe a major cultural gulf between people of the same nationality when I am a foreigner in their land.
My last meeting of the day ended up being 3 hours long, but more because of genuine enjoyment than anything else. I met with a couple of Americans who have been living in Malawi for 10 years, ever since they came out as Peace Corps volunteers. I visited their home which is a rural African community, unfenced and open. Very unusal for a white family in Malawi. They have used permaculture practices to transform the property around their rustic house from bare ground into a verdant paradise that provides them with fruits and vegetables and greens and tubers and plenty of nutritious food. The conversion all took place since they moved into their home a year and half ago and was very impressive. It brought back fond memories of staying with families practicing permaculture in Australia during my backpacking days.
I managed to get back to the hotel only 20 minutes late for my massage appointment. A little pampering is always a good thing, but sometimes a massage can be more pain than pleasure and this was one of those instances. It was also funny to listen to the abrasive tones coming from the masseurs headphones that could be heard above the looped tape of bad relaxation music. I’d say you get what you pay for, but I think it’s actually a case of hit or miss here.
My last meeting of the day ended up being 3 hours long, but more because of genuine enjoyment than anything else. I met with a couple of Americans who have been living in Malawi for 10 years, ever since they came out as Peace Corps volunteers. I visited their home which is a rural African community, unfenced and open. Very unusal for a white family in Malawi. They have used permaculture practices to transform the property around their rustic house from bare ground into a verdant paradise that provides them with fruits and vegetables and greens and tubers and plenty of nutritious food. The conversion all took place since they moved into their home a year and half ago and was very impressive. It brought back fond memories of staying with families practicing permaculture in Australia during my backpacking days.
I managed to get back to the hotel only 20 minutes late for my massage appointment. A little pampering is always a good thing, but sometimes a massage can be more pain than pleasure and this was one of those instances. It was also funny to listen to the abrasive tones coming from the masseurs headphones that could be heard above the looped tape of bad relaxation music. I’d say you get what you pay for, but I think it’s actually a case of hit or miss here.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Edzi from the Traditional Healer's Perspective
Today I learned about AIDS from the perspective of a Traditional Healer or asinanga in Malawi. I went to a botanical garden of one of the Traditional Healer’s Associations, and on the drive out there, we talked about the epidemic. It turns out that a German in Malawi is buying an AIDS cure, a mixture of medicinal plants, from this asinanga and giving it to AIDS patients in Germany. I read a letter from one of the patients who claims that he is now feeling much better again after stopping his drug cocktail with nasty side effects and relying entirely on the Malawian traditional medication. He sent along a photo of himself as well as a replica of a church that he created entirely from empty pill bottles and pill packets from his 7 years of ARVs.
The asinanga explained his “science” of how AIDS works and why his medicine can cure AIDS. He said that AIDS is a virus that feeds on blood so if you poison blood then the virus dies. This medicine poisons the blood. It makes perfect sense in his mind. I tried to explain that most of the virus dies from the medicine, but it is not possible to kill all of the virus, so that when people stop taking the medicine they get sick again. He didn’t buy it. On the up side, he said that he tells people that they have to be faithful to one person after they take the medicine or else they will get sick again.
This is a man who uses his knowledge of traditional medicine to help others, even when they can’t pay. Other traditional healers that I spoke with used magic to protect their forests by casting a spell on the snakes to bite anyone who tried to cut down trees. In this forest they have a problem with people stealing their small trees that were only planted 8 years ago. But they refuse to enchant the snakes because they don’t believe in hurting people.
The asinanga explained his “science” of how AIDS works and why his medicine can cure AIDS. He said that AIDS is a virus that feeds on blood so if you poison blood then the virus dies. This medicine poisons the blood. It makes perfect sense in his mind. I tried to explain that most of the virus dies from the medicine, but it is not possible to kill all of the virus, so that when people stop taking the medicine they get sick again. He didn’t buy it. On the up side, he said that he tells people that they have to be faithful to one person after they take the medicine or else they will get sick again.
This is a man who uses his knowledge of traditional medicine to help others, even when they can’t pay. Other traditional healers that I spoke with used magic to protect their forests by casting a spell on the snakes to bite anyone who tried to cut down trees. In this forest they have a problem with people stealing their small trees that were only planted 8 years ago. But they refuse to enchant the snakes because they don’t believe in hurting people.
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Lilongwe
Today was yet another interesting day. I set out this morning to track down the leader of one of the Traditional Healer's Associations whose home village is 2 hours from Lilongwe, Kasungu, and he doesn't have a phone. When we arrived in Kasungu, we discovered that the gentleman was in Lilongwe, so we turned around and went back. I did eventually manage to track down the gentleman and with my driver as translator, we had a good meeting and he invited me to a meeting of the herbalists in his association tomorrow. He also invited me to go back to Kasungu to see one of their botanical gardens.
Not all was wasted on the trip to Kasungu as it's always nice to get out of the city into rural areas and see what's really going on. It's tobacco harvest season in Malawi right now, and the road between Kasungu and the auction houses in Lilongwe were filled with people transporting their precious crop by bicycle, oxen cart, pickup truck, and semi. The size of the bales is about the size of a bale of hay, so you can imagine the challenge of riding 150 km with that on the back of the bicycle. I even saw one oxen cart that got overturned on the way.
People in this area are lucky though. The rainy season ended weeks early in most of Malawi, which means that I have had nice weather for my trip, but it also means that the maize crop has completely failed in many areas so there will be hunger again this year in Malawi. More incentive to work hard and try to get some income generating activities up and running as soon as possible.
It was great to have such a positive reception in my first meeting, especially given the results of my next meeting. The herbalist and leader of the umbrella Traditional Healer�s Association met me without the standard greetings and told me that he had heard that we were in Malawi doing research on medicinal plants and that he was ready to give us a fine for operating without first visiting the Ministry of Health and then visiting himself. He was the first obese Malawian that I have ever seen, and I think the fact that none of his subordinate Herbal Associations had mentioned his name, might be an indication of some other issues. That said, while it does appear that he may be a certain type of African bureaucrat who likes to throw obstacles in your path, I will do as he asks, but will not hold my breath.
I got back to the hotel in time to spend a couple of hours by the pool catching some rays (slathered with sunblock) and at dinner I discovered that I now get a heavy buzz off one beer, after a month of almost no alcohol. Cheap date!
Not all was wasted on the trip to Kasungu as it's always nice to get out of the city into rural areas and see what's really going on. It's tobacco harvest season in Malawi right now, and the road between Kasungu and the auction houses in Lilongwe were filled with people transporting their precious crop by bicycle, oxen cart, pickup truck, and semi. The size of the bales is about the size of a bale of hay, so you can imagine the challenge of riding 150 km with that on the back of the bicycle. I even saw one oxen cart that got overturned on the way.
People in this area are lucky though. The rainy season ended weeks early in most of Malawi, which means that I have had nice weather for my trip, but it also means that the maize crop has completely failed in many areas so there will be hunger again this year in Malawi. More incentive to work hard and try to get some income generating activities up and running as soon as possible.
It was great to have such a positive reception in my first meeting, especially given the results of my next meeting. The herbalist and leader of the umbrella Traditional Healer�s Association met me without the standard greetings and told me that he had heard that we were in Malawi doing research on medicinal plants and that he was ready to give us a fine for operating without first visiting the Ministry of Health and then visiting himself. He was the first obese Malawian that I have ever seen, and I think the fact that none of his subordinate Herbal Associations had mentioned his name, might be an indication of some other issues. That said, while it does appear that he may be a certain type of African bureaucrat who likes to throw obstacles in your path, I will do as he asks, but will not hold my breath.
I got back to the hotel in time to spend a couple of hours by the pool catching some rays (slathered with sunblock) and at dinner I discovered that I now get a heavy buzz off one beer, after a month of almost no alcohol. Cheap date!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Welcome to Malawi
Welcome to my first blogging experience.
I’m in Malawi to explore the potential commercialization of medicinal plants as a strategy to improve incomes of rural Malawians for a development project. I know that sounds a little technical and boring, but it’s been a truly fascinating experience. To be honest, before I arrived I thought this was a bit of a long shot and that even if we found plants that people wanted to buy, there would be too many obstacles to actually making commercialization a reality. I may prove myself wrong.
It’s been a fascinating three weeks so far interviewing traditional healers, walking through forests to see trees with medicinal uses, meeting with government folks, and exporters of medicinal plants (they do actually exist in Malawi). I even sampled one of our high potential products – gondolosi. The traditional healer who offered it to me told me that they eat the outer layer of the root bark to give them strength – what he neglected to mention was that it was men who use it and that it gives them “strength” in one very particular area. In fact, I’ve discovered that what they call “battery chargers” are by far the most popular item for most healers. You see them sold everywhere – even one welder who sold battery charger on the side. If you didn’t know better, you would think they had rechargeable batteries in Malawi! In one community herbal garden, the “battery charger” plant was hidden behind another bush. The women who tend the garden told me (through giggles) that they use that plant more than any other and that they have to hide the plant or their neighbors come to steal it. They also told me about a branch of a tree that you can tie around your waist while getting it on, and it prevents you from getting pregnant…hmmm, I think I might need some more convincing of that one, especially given the birth rate here. That said, I did pick up a piece of bark from one healer and intend to give it a try – he told me that bathing in water with the bark will increase a man’s standing in the community, and help a woman find a husband. I figure it can’t hurt!
The trip has also been a lot more sociable than I thought it would be. There have been other consultants here working on different aspects of the same project the whole time I have been here, so I have not wanted for dinner partners. Before anyone gets too excited about prospects for friends or more, all of these consultants have been at least 55 and all married. But it’s nice to have people to talk to even if it is in the same restaurant every night – at least it’s good vegetarian Indian food.
My other news is that after drumming up lots of sympathy before I left about celebrating my 30th birthday by ordering room service alone in a hotel room in Malawi, it now looks like I will be in Durban, South Africa attending a conference instead. A definite improvement as I have some friends of my parents there so I’ll at least have company for dinner, and at the very least, I will be able to go out and drown my self pity at the mall.
I’m in Malawi to explore the potential commercialization of medicinal plants as a strategy to improve incomes of rural Malawians for a development project. I know that sounds a little technical and boring, but it’s been a truly fascinating experience. To be honest, before I arrived I thought this was a bit of a long shot and that even if we found plants that people wanted to buy, there would be too many obstacles to actually making commercialization a reality. I may prove myself wrong.
It’s been a fascinating three weeks so far interviewing traditional healers, walking through forests to see trees with medicinal uses, meeting with government folks, and exporters of medicinal plants (they do actually exist in Malawi). I even sampled one of our high potential products – gondolosi. The traditional healer who offered it to me told me that they eat the outer layer of the root bark to give them strength – what he neglected to mention was that it was men who use it and that it gives them “strength” in one very particular area. In fact, I’ve discovered that what they call “battery chargers” are by far the most popular item for most healers. You see them sold everywhere – even one welder who sold battery charger on the side. If you didn’t know better, you would think they had rechargeable batteries in Malawi! In one community herbal garden, the “battery charger” plant was hidden behind another bush. The women who tend the garden told me (through giggles) that they use that plant more than any other and that they have to hide the plant or their neighbors come to steal it. They also told me about a branch of a tree that you can tie around your waist while getting it on, and it prevents you from getting pregnant…hmmm, I think I might need some more convincing of that one, especially given the birth rate here. That said, I did pick up a piece of bark from one healer and intend to give it a try – he told me that bathing in water with the bark will increase a man’s standing in the community, and help a woman find a husband. I figure it can’t hurt!
The trip has also been a lot more sociable than I thought it would be. There have been other consultants here working on different aspects of the same project the whole time I have been here, so I have not wanted for dinner partners. Before anyone gets too excited about prospects for friends or more, all of these consultants have been at least 55 and all married. But it’s nice to have people to talk to even if it is in the same restaurant every night – at least it’s good vegetarian Indian food.
My other news is that after drumming up lots of sympathy before I left about celebrating my 30th birthday by ordering room service alone in a hotel room in Malawi, it now looks like I will be in Durban, South Africa attending a conference instead. A definite improvement as I have some friends of my parents there so I’ll at least have company for dinner, and at the very least, I will be able to go out and drown my self pity at the mall.
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