borehole update/I'm 24

For those who are out of the loop, or not so much and are just curious, here is your update:

I have submited a proposal to the Peace Corps Partnership Program to get a link on the web for people to donate to put a borehole at the primary school in my village. I'm currently waiting as the proposal jumps its way though the bureaucratic rungs that is an government operation. I'm sure I am incessantly and thoroughly annoying my superiors as I e-mail and call them all the time to see if there is any way I can speed along the process but they keep telling me that they're going as fast as they can and I will be informed when progress has been made or if there is anything I can contribute. I am trying to get the borehole dug next month before the rainy season kicks into full gear, raising the water table. I had a meeting last week with the local school committee and village development committee concerning the 25% community contribution that is both required by PCPP and necessary for local ownership of the project. It was decided that every student at both the primary and secondary school (over 3,300 students) will bring 10 Malawian Kwacha every week for 7 weeks until they reach the grand total of 70MK (about 45 cents) per student which is about 28% leaving a 3% buffer for those who either can't pay, or fail to contribute their full amount. So that is that. As soon as I hear of the proposal approval in Washington, I will call the borehole contractors and set a date for sometime around Thanksgiving.

For those who are concerned or interested in donating, keep checking my blog and asking my family because as soon as I know that the link is up, they will, then you will know. As for now, I am hoping for sometime in the next 2 weeks but expecting it before the month is over.

Thank you for those who are interested. This borehole will affect thousands of people in my area who are in dire need of safe drinking water. This will be the most important thing I do with my entire service and I am grateful for those who have shown interest in helping both me and my community here.

Also, I had an AWESOME birthday hanging out in my village. I spent the afternoon, while my phone was charging, hanging out with a friend of mine who kept insisting on singing to me and have people give me presents....which I refused...except for the peanuts. It was great. Thanks to everyone who called or tried to call! Sorry my phone battery didn't last through the day (or even though out conversation mom). I'M 24!

Oh! The internet cafe just turned on the AC! Oh what a challenged life I lead! Its actually cooled off a bit this week, it was cool enough to bike to the boma (where I am now) this morning...I should head back though before it gets too hot.

Miss you all!

Asimayi Samamva Kutentha!

'Women don't feel heat'

Except for me...its HOT. I have never lived in a place where you can lay on the ground in the shade under a tree wearing a skirt and a tank top...not moving at all and still have sweat drip down you. My poor Northwest body is not used to this weather...maybe soon it will be. Its beautiful though. According to my thermometer its around 95+ but its humid. Oh well. I'll get used to it.

Last weekend I went to Liwonde national park to help with the game count. The first day, my site-mate, Bri, me, and two park gaurds (who only took a bottle of juice, a package of cookies, and a giant gun) walked from one end of the park to the other (about 14 km). We counted animals. We saw bush pigs, wart hogs, kudu, and tons of smaller animals that you only see on the discovery channel. Awesome. After we finished for the day we went back to the hostel we were staying at and watched the monkeys run around like the owned the place....it was a lot like that part of Jungle Book with the louis Armstrong monkey....awesome. They were really baboons, though. Anyway, the next day we got up early in the morning again, to finish before the hottest part of the day. We were dropped off by a water hole in the middle of a flood plane. We sat on a termite hill for 4 or 5 hours and counted more animals. We didn't see hippos or rhinos but we did see ELEPHANTS ELEPHANTS ELEPHANTS!! Also, we saw more bush pigs, wart hogs, water buffalo, ect ect. It was amazing. Yes, Dad, they were African elephants, not asian elephants.

After the game count was over, Bri, me, and Sara, another volunteer headed back to my place (we got a great hitch so we made it back before dark) where we hung out for a couple days. Sara made birthday cake for Bri and I's birthdays (Bri's is 2 days before mine). My cat stole a piece of birthday cake...then puked it up this morning on my porch. There was blue frosting. It was especially gross.

Work is the same. I met with my chief yesterday. Also, yesterday I taught a youth club how to write a proposal for a grant. Today I have a micro-lending/chicken-rearing womens group coming to my house for a meeting. Tomorrow I'm meeting with another women's group that does mushroom farming. This weekend I'm going to town to celebrate my birthday....that should be fun.

That's really all for now. Hope everyone's well.

Amy

Blantyre

I'm in Blantyre. I refused to pay for a bus and cars were not jumping at the chance to give me a ride so it looks like I'm crashing here for tonight (staying the night here is still cheaper than paying for bus fare all the way to Blantyre hence, the hitchhiking). I realize this means nothing to you, reader, but I just don't like to pay for things....ask my family for verification. Anyway, I left Lilongwe early this morning (but 2 hours after I normally leave....about 5:30) . I walked from Mufasa's where I slept to the bus depot. I sat and waiting on a minibus (because they don't leave until they're full) for a couple hours (I had a lot of luggage with me because I've been gone for the last couple of weeks, so I didn't want to walk out of town). Anyway, the bus finally headed out and dropped me right outside of town where I waiting for another couple hours until finally the police took me about 2 hours outside of Blantyre. I was tired and wanted to rest, and ditch the obligation to have a conversation, so I told them I didn't speak chichewa and spent the rest of the 4 hour car ride eaves dropping on a conversation the driver and other passenger didn't think I understood. That was exciting...and educational. That ride dropped me off a couple hours outside of Blantyre where I waited for another couple hours for a ride the rest of the way (still optimistic at this point about reaching Mulanje before dusk). A nice car driven by two Ethiopian men picked me up and took me all the way into town. By the time I was dropped off in Blantyre and thinking about my next move toward my house, I realized that I didn't have time to get home before dark, and didn't want the extra stress of traveling close to dusk by myself, so I headed to a hostel where I will spend the rest of the night before I finally head back to my house in the morning....for free, hopefully.

I'm here tonight, at my house tomorrow night, Wednesday, hopefully, I have a contractor coming to my primary school in my village to give me a price for drilling a bore hole there, then Wednesday night at my house, Thursday I'm back in Blantyre meeting a friend, and Friday, off to Liwonde for the game count. I'll take pictures. After the game count is over I'm looking forward to getting some work done in my village, and not leaving until its time to come back to Lilongwe for thanksgiving at Peace Corps country director's house. For now, at least, I'm tired of wandering around...luckily its going to be awesome, but short lived and I'll have a couple months to get sick of being stagnant again. It's really a great life I'm living. I love it.

I don't really have much of anything to say but I splurged and payed for an hour of internet (instead of my typical 30 minutes) and now have so much time.

Birthday shout out (wow, I can't spell or speak anymore...Diana, you're right...is that right? It looks funny to me. Then again, I ALWAYS have trouble with the word garage) to Meredith and Kristen!!

People are speaking german around me.

So many people are switching off Mephloquine (my anti-malarial medication) because it has altered their personalities and made them crazy-ish that not I'm starting to be paranoid that I'm going crazy. Am I? Its all in my head.

Projects: I need to do some grant writing (I finally learned how...mostly). I want to get an oil press for a group in my village to starting pressing oil as an income generation activity. I want them to tie it to some sort of micro-finance organization for start up capitol and longevity purposes but I haven't quite worked out all the kinks in my head. We'll see how that turns out. I also am in the process, as many of you know, of writing a grant for a bore hole, but before I can finalize all the details I need a price, for budgeting purposes, obviously. The problem, and hold up, with that is the contractor. I have the contact information for a few different contractors, so I can price around. The issue, however, is getting them to show up. Before they will commit, or even suggest a price, they suggest a site-visit to investigate things like the water table, and the surrounding area. Its hard to get them to actually show up. Anyway, as previously mentioned, I have a meeting with a contractor on Wednesday, we'll see if he actually shows up, I'm not holding my breath.

Also, I want to do some work with perma-culture. During In service training, we had the opportunity to go to a couple's house who used to be peace corps volunteers and not live a bit outside of Lilongwe doing work with perma-culture, mostly as it relates to food security on the village level. Interesting. The point of all this rambling (and these are not even a nugget of all the ideas flying around me head, which is the entire point of IST) is that I have come back from IST engergized, revitalized, and excited to do some projects in my area.

I need to remember to buy candles before I get into my village, I forgot that I ran out of them and didn't buy anymore (I had some minor budgeting issues at the end of the last pay period).

Lastly, I have been hearing through the grapevine that some of you want to visit me (those of you who know me well, not those of you who just internet-stock, that's weird). I don't know what is stopping you. Send me an email: amymcross@gmail.com. I'd be happy to give you the low down on what awesome things there are to do in Malawi, why you should visit me, what you should bring, any logistical things, and how easily it would be to come here, even alone. Malawi is Africa for beginners. Also, I know my way around now....mostly. The point is, if you have a bit of money saved up (you know, for a plane ticket and stuff) and you've always, or even just recently, wanted to visit Africa, now is your chance. I have a guest room, and my door is always open to friends....especially friends who bring chocolate.

The hot season is here, however, its warm.

Ok, that's all for now (probably for a long while, that shouldn't surprise you). I'll try to think of something cooler to say next time other than just rambling about this and that....

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana

Hey there! Woah, I just realized that its been over a year since I graduation. Way over a year. Its weird to think back to this time last year when I was just finishing up on staff at Holden and preparing to hit the road (fail) before I headed off to Malawi....in fact, tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of the day I found out I was coming to Malawi (I'm not sure why I remember that date). Anyway, for those of you who have been faithfully (and probably bored) reading my blog since then, my how time flies.

I survived IST

I just came from In service training in Dedza at the college of forestry. A few weeks ago I got a free hitch all the way to Lilongwe in a matolla carrying cement. I got to Lilongwe, stayed one night, met my friend, Katy, and headed up to Mzuzu. We stayed a night in Mzuzu, had the best hamburger I've had since I've been in Malawi, hung out with some south african men and a dutch couple who were at the same hostil, and headed to Nkhata bay the next morning. The lake is amazing. It's endless like an ocean but freshwater like a lake. It's like the wave pool in wildwaves...withouth the floating bandaids....there aren't any bandaids here.

A bunch of Peace Corps Volunteers and I hung out on the lake for a couple days then headed down to Dedza for training. We were there for a week hanging out and enjoying each others company.

The next week, our counterparts came. We learned about soap-making, jam cooking, peanut butter making, tree budding and grafting, ect, ect. It was a lot of information and now I'm ready to get back to site.

This morning Peace Corps took us a bit outside of lilongwe to learn about permaculture, then we got a ride (non-peace Corps) into the city where I am right now. I'm sticking around until Tuesday morning so I can get some things done in the office and not have to make the trip up here for a long long time.

Oh, and I finally took giardia medication after 4 months of on and off illness. YEAH!

I'll have internet for the next couple of days so I will try to think of something to say....

In the mean time, Diana put ALL of my pictures up so look at those. Thanks Diana!

Pictures from Malawi

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075466&l=a089b1f246&id=44902613

Here are the first pictures from Amy in Malawi. They took hours to upload so I am sorry that they are out of order. All the pictues of the Liberty bell were taken when Amy was in Philly right before she left. This is only the first 200 of 534 pictures. Amy will provide the descriptions when she gets internet access again.
Diana.

Pictures 200-399 are at this link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075484&id=44902613&l=634748c277

Pictures 400-536 at this link
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2075508&id=44902613&l=b782faf452

Mt. Mulanje

I made it...I hurt, but I made it. The largest rock face in Africa. It was absolutely beautiful. A group of 6 of us made it up and down after spending three nights and 4 wonderful days up on the mountain, returning the day before last. Pictures to come in a few weeks. We climbed Sipitwa peak, the highest of all of them all in all totaling almost 10,000 feet in a few days (hence the soar muscles). It was wonderful and I definitely plan on doing it again...after I get paid. I came back to my village yesterday and spent the day walking around (slowely) making my normal rounds. today, I woke up early to head to the boma (back to work) where i have been waiting around for different meetings to happen. After all that, as soon as I sat down to check my e-mail, my flip-flop broke. Ugg. Oh well.

More details about the hike next week, for now, 30 minutes of internet doesn't leave much room for anything. Thanks everyone for the letters and packages. My Peace Corps service is really starting to pick up, I'm getting busier and busier every day. I can already see the time flying by.

Also, yes, the second turkey (the soap eater) has been slaughtered and eaten. Delicious. Now I can plant cantalope.