Line Dancing

As in it seems like I take 2 steps forward, and then one step back (or 2 or 3 Arrrgh…..)

At least that is how work feels for me at the moment. (pic not mine)

After GTOT in Lilongwe to prep for the new trainees arrival, I had a scant 11 days back at site before having to turn back around and head all the way back south. I am now in the office ready to greet them as they come off of the plan tomorrow. I’m only just a little bit excited.

 

Uh…….. more like….

I CAN’T FLIPPING WAIT!!

In the mean time I have been dealing with a variety of issues at site. Right now, things are ‘Just OK’ 

:/

Malawians use the phrase 'just ok' to reflect being very good or very happy, and it has become a running joke amongst volunteers as we use the phrase very differently stateside.

Before I left for GTOT my Village Headman told me he was going to get the village together to work on the contour ridges and tree planting for a new woodlot I had just finished training him on how to build.

I was OVERJOYED when I returned to find out that they had in fact gotten together and done the work of digging ridges, planting with vetiver grass to control erosion, and planting seedlings.

AWESOME!

Ok, so that is about the greatest thing ever to happen in a Peace Corps service right? (slight exaggeration here, but bear with me – It is the little things that get you excited) I was blown away that the work happened and was self-directed. I heard about it before I saw it, and overall they did a great job. There is a little bit of work left to round the woodlot out, but damn, good job team Thazima.

Unfortunately everyone I normally work with is pretty busy working the fields right now, especially the tobacco growers as now is the time they start pulling leaves for drying.

I was feeling prrrretty bored and had not checked out the tree nursery in well over a month – the last time I was there was when they were supposed to finish sharing out the last of the seedlings for the season.

I show up and find the fence collapsed, weeds overgrown, and about 100 seedlings that have rooted into the ground, never being shared out.

CMON GUYS! FFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffuck…… sigh. okay.

 

This image pretty much sums up the two immediate emotions I may have experienced. (images borrowed from teh interwebz)

I wanted to scream and cuss out loud, but didn’t. Instead I sulked back to my house, had a few glasses of homemade bucket wine and proceeded to head up to the top of Thazima Mountain to sit on my favorite rock and think.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find that having a mild buzz can help me mull things over a bit better, and I wanted some time to myself.

I had not seen my main counterparts in almost a month (mostly my fault traveling so much and all) and both of them were pretty involved with the tree nursery. This may seem like a small thing to get bummed over, but when you spend so much time working towards something AND it is so central to all of the other work you want to do in the community, it is pretty easy to get frazzled when things aren’t going quite right.

It honestly feels like no one seems interested in working with me right now!

This is where I ended up:

This is the vista I seek out when I want some time to myself.

I had a lot running through my mind- personal stuff, work with the park and community, bigger work at the national level in the coming year (Camp TIECH, connecting the bee group with OVOP), and lastly the fact that I would be leaving site soon soon for yet another 3 weeks first as part of PST and then later as part of spending time with my parents. (Can't Wait!)

I came down the mountain a few hours later feeling better.

I made a point over the next week to talk with two of my counterparts about the next 14 months of my service: what they wanted to do in the community, what role I would be playing, and how they would be stepping up to take the lead in all of the activities.

Emmon (my neighbor and a local Health Services Assistant) and I sat in my house after dinner one night and talked for the better part of an hour.

It was a great conversation. We covered all the bases and he had a really great perspective on what was to come, including the immediate work needed on the tree nursery.

I even cried a little bit at one point as we talked about what my service was beginning to mean to me in this second home of mine.

I really am starting to truly and deeply love this community.

The next day after lunch I went looking for Prince in his tobacco fields so that we could have the same talk.

On my way there I ran into Sekulu Mhone. His real name is Rhabson, but Sekulu is the term for grandfather in Chitombuka, and at 76 he truly is that. That experience was unique in and of itself, so much so that I am doing a separate blog post on him and our talks.

You can find it HERE as he is the first person I will explore in my Malawian of the Moment

After conversing with Sekulu, I found Prince and family in his tobacco shed tying leaves for hanging. His 2 year old daughter calls me by name with a huge smile when she sees me.

Over the next few hours I sat with him and helped with the work while we chatted. A huge thunderstorm rolled in on top of us, and we spent the time huddled next to a small fire, shaking with each monstrous thunderclap. We had  much the same conversation as I did with Emmon.

As the rains dwindled and dusk set in, we walked back together. I felt at home walking up the muddy slopes with my friend and his family; I was emboldened by both of my friend’s words and my anxiety about work for the next year diminished with the fading sunlight.