Future correspondence can be sent to:
Me
District Forestry Office
P.O. Box 38
Chinteche, Malawi
Southern Africa
Letters are good for your soul. Write one- you'll see.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Panic Attack...?
I'm in Lilongwe. It's my first time in Lilongwe, or any real city, since swearing in. I was treated to dinner last night by a friend/professor from Cal who is here for an AIDS/HIV conference. Sitting in the lobby of her hotel I had a bit of a panic attack. I didn't think I would be so wierd coming back to a Western, developed setting. But I was. It didn't help that it was probably the nicest hotel in Lilongwe. I saw myself in a mirror larger than my hand. I look different.
My projects in the village are coming along. The biggest hat I wear right now is (I didn't think I'd be saying this, but I like it a lot) that of labor organizer. A type of union, kinda. All the resorts in my district, and there are a lot of resorts in my district, buy their produce from Lilongwe, which is ridiculous for everyone involved. So I'm working with an agriculture extension worker to organize the villagers to be able to grow and sell to the resorts. It's a real no-brainer. Other than that, I work with one Village Natural Resource Management Committee (or VNRMC for "short") at a tree nursery, and they want to expand into beekeeping. Beekeeping is a great way to generate an income in the forest without cutting down trees, and in fact works to conserve trees. There's a huge market for it too. Then after school clubs: Wildlife, AIDS and Human Rights. That and cooking, and that's a day at the lake. My Tonga is improving. Life is wonderful.
Hope you're all doing well and well enough say hello.
My projects in the village are coming along. The biggest hat I wear right now is (I didn't think I'd be saying this, but I like it a lot) that of labor organizer. A type of union, kinda. All the resorts in my district, and there are a lot of resorts in my district, buy their produce from Lilongwe, which is ridiculous for everyone involved. So I'm working with an agriculture extension worker to organize the villagers to be able to grow and sell to the resorts. It's a real no-brainer. Other than that, I work with one Village Natural Resource Management Committee (or VNRMC for "short") at a tree nursery, and they want to expand into beekeeping. Beekeeping is a great way to generate an income in the forest without cutting down trees, and in fact works to conserve trees. There's a huge market for it too. Then after school clubs: Wildlife, AIDS and Human Rights. That and cooking, and that's a day at the lake. My Tonga is improving. Life is wonderful.
Hope you're all doing well and well enough say hello.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
It's Official.
Hello all! I've got a lot of big news, obviously, but the coolest is that I am officially a Peace Corps Volunteer as of today. I took the oath at the Ambassador's house this morning after finishing up with training yesterday. I also got my site placement. Since I'm not supposed to be saying my exact placement on the internets, I'll provide a more subjective description:
I'm in the Northern Region. This is a good thing. I have a beautiful, huge 4 room mud house with thatched roof. I've got two patios, one that faces my Forest Reserve and one that faces the worlds largest mango tree. There are monkeys everywhere. My counterpart is a rockstar, and everyone in my village is so so so welcoming. That's about it. Oh. And my bathtub. My bathtub is amazing.
My bathtub is Lake Malawi. I'm close enough to hear the waves from my bed, see it from my front patio, and go to the tropical, lush beach EVERY SINGLE DAY. I find it somewhat ironic that the closest I've ever lived to a beach is in a landlocked county in Africa, but the toilets flush counterclockwise down here (or would if i ever used a flush toilet), so nothing is what you would expect.
Alright, I think my internets access will be a little better from here on out, write me or send me stuff, I'm having a *great* time.
I'm in the Northern Region. This is a good thing. I have a beautiful, huge 4 room mud house with thatched roof. I've got two patios, one that faces my Forest Reserve and one that faces the worlds largest mango tree. There are monkeys everywhere. My counterpart is a rockstar, and everyone in my village is so so so welcoming. That's about it. Oh. And my bathtub. My bathtub is amazing.
My bathtub is Lake Malawi. I'm close enough to hear the waves from my bed, see it from my front patio, and go to the tropical, lush beach EVERY SINGLE DAY. I find it somewhat ironic that the closest I've ever lived to a beach is in a landlocked county in Africa, but the toilets flush counterclockwise down here (or would if i ever used a flush toilet), so nothing is what you would expect.
Alright, I think my internets access will be a little better from here on out, write me or send me stuff, I'm having a *great* time.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Onward and Upward, etc. etc.
Hello all! This is my beautiful Peace Corps blog, where I'll be posting journal entries/ phun photos/ interesting links and the like for the next few years. I have no idea how often I will be able to update this doohickey, but I will try to keep you informed as much as possible. I should have started this a long time ago cause I've got a lot of infomation to expunge, so I'll just start with the basics.
MY ASSIGNMENT
Country: Malawi
Program: Environment
Job Title: Community Based Natural Resource Management/ Forestry Extension
Dates of Service: April 27, 2007-April 26, 2009 (ish)
Pre-service training (in Malawi): March 1-April 27, 2007
Orientation (in D.C.): February 25- 27, 2007. Yesh, that is the day after tomorrow.
The first two months will be training near the capital, Lilongwe. There are two official languages in Malawi: English and Chichewa. English is not widely spoken outside of the capital, so I'm hoping to check off one of my life's major goals and become fluent in an extremely obscure language. I can already count to nine and say "white man" and "toilet." The Chichewan world is my oyster.
If you should feel so moved as to send me a care package, you may send them for at least the first two months to:
Matt Wisniewski, PCV
Peace Corps/Malawi
Box 208
Lilongwe
Malawi
Finally I would like to say thank you to all of my amazing friends and family members who have shown the most frikkin huge amount of generosity and love over the past 22 years, but especially the last couple months, and especially ESPECIALLY the last couple weeks. I can honestly say that I have been shocked with the amount of support coming my way. I love you all more than you know, and I will miss you.
MY ASSIGNMENT
Country: Malawi
Program: Environment
Job Title: Community Based Natural Resource Management/ Forestry Extension
Dates of Service: April 27, 2007-April 26, 2009 (ish)
Pre-service training (in Malawi): March 1-April 27, 2007
Orientation (in D.C.): February 25- 27, 2007. Yesh, that is the day after tomorrow.
The first two months will be training near the capital, Lilongwe. There are two official languages in Malawi: English and Chichewa. English is not widely spoken outside of the capital, so I'm hoping to check off one of my life's major goals and become fluent in an extremely obscure language. I can already count to nine and say "white man" and "toilet." The Chichewan world is my oyster.
If you should feel so moved as to send me a care package, you may send them for at least the first two months to:
Matt Wisniewski, PCV
Peace Corps/Malawi
Box 208
Lilongwe
Malawi
Finally I would like to say thank you to all of my amazing friends and family members who have shown the most frikkin huge amount of generosity and love over the past 22 years, but especially the last couple months, and especially ESPECIALLY the last couple weeks. I can honestly say that I have been shocked with the amount of support coming my way. I love you all more than you know, and I will miss you.
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