Cultural Experiences- Malawi Style

In the midst of various training sessions, we have been fortunate to get a glimpse into Malawian culture. Our first venture out of our training bubble was to Kumbali Cultural Village. We had our very first Chichewa lesson in which we learned a few simple greetings, and most importantly, the word zikomo (thank you). Zikomo appears to be used in a variety of ways- I am still trying to suss this one out. After a brief and informative introduction to cultural practices in Malawi, we were served a traditional Malawian meal. The staple of the Malawian diet is nsima- a polenta like starchy paste made from maize. Nsima is supposed to be eaten with your hands (I was 50% successful at that feat), and is typically served with a few side dishes. I enjoyed the nsima, and actually prefer it to taro (sorry Samoa). After indulging in the Malawian delicacies, we were charged with the feat of learning a few Malawian dances. That's right, dancing!! I think I was the one in our group who was most excited to participate (not surprising!). After a brief demonstration, we were invited to join our instructors to learn three separate dances. Set to drums and singing, the dances are very rhythmic and involve a lot of hip movements, which is right up my alley. At one point, the main instructor pulled me to the front row with the experienced dancers- apparently, I was doing something right.

Learning the Malawian dances

After our lesson, we were given the privilege of a performance by the dancers who were teaching us. Their body movement is amazing. And, they do it all while singing. It was quite an inspiring experience.

Our instructors performing

At the end of the performance, we were invited to join in on the festivities and display our new skills. I would love to continue to learn the dances of Malawi- would make for a great workshop back in the US (talk about the 3rd goal of Peace Corps).

Showing off our moves

After another week of training including a PEPFAR meeting and a session with the ambassador (amazing!), we set off on our weekend cultural excursion at the beach. On our way to Salima, we visited a health volunteer at Nathenje Health Centre outside of Lilongwe. This was our first glimpse into the healthcare system in Malawi. When we arrived at the health center, there were numerous (probably around 30-40) patients lined up for services, and this was the "slow" day. The Medical Assistant (aka Clinical Officer- equivalent to a PA in the US) is the solo practitioner at the health center- he sees patients all day and is on-call all night and weekend. There are 7 nurses at the health center that rotate between the maternity ward (labor and delivery/postpartum), antenatal clinic, and ART clinic. They did have a lab at the clinic, but are only able to do TB smears (when the microscope works) and rapid malaria tests. It was amazing to see the dedication of the healthcare providers despite limited resources.

We bid farewell to the health volunteer and set off for Salima. The picturesque drive was dotted with rolling hills, smiling faces, selling of produce and products, and honking at goats/cows/people on bikes. In my mind, I was contrasting this with the numerous drives in a wooden bus I experienced in Samoa. Sights, sounds, and smells were easily recalled.

The scenery

Traffic jam

Adorable and smiling faces

Our nearly two hour trip culminated in our arrival at the Sunbird Livingstonia Hotel, and our first glimpse of Lake Malawi. What an amazingly beautiful and calming body of water. Fun facts: Lake Malawi is approximately 360 miles long and 47 miles wide; was formerly called Lake Nyasa, which translates to Lake Lake; and has more species of fish than any other lake.

Lake Malawi

The next day we ventured to Kungoni Centre at Mua Mission. The center celebrates the cultural and artistic traditions of Malawi. The focus of the center is on the three main ethnic groups of Malawi (Chewa, Ngoni, and Yao). Depicted through art and photography, we learned about the major traditions of each of these groups including birth, initiation, marriage, and death.

Mask at Kumbali- used by the Chewa

Before heading back to Lilongwe the next day, we stopped by Kuti Wildlife Reserve to visit an environmental volunteer and see some animals. The volunteer works closely with Kuti and the surrounding villages to educate about conservation. Deforestation and poaching are still issues in Malawi. Our environmental volunteers are paramount in promoting awareness of these issues, and educating their communities on how to use resources sustainably.

Zebras

The volunteer and a Malawian guide accompanied us on our game drive; and thankfully, we had the guide with us or we would have missed most of the animals. The reserve has numerous mammals including multiple varieties of antelope (sable, kudu, waterbuck, reebuck, nyala, bushbuck, impala, oribi, duiker, and grysbok), wildebeast, zebras, primates, and a giraffe. We were fortunate to see several varieties of antelope (even the illusive kudu), the giraffe, the zebras, and a few monkeys. It was an amazing experience and I cannot wait to enjoy more! 
 

Kudu

 

Giraffe

This weekend I was able to check off "seeing a giraffe" on my list of "must sees" in Africa. After such rich cultural experiences, I feel like I've finally scratched the surface of Malawi.

The GHSP Need

As promised, I am writing a Global Health Service Partnership (GHSP) 101/ what I'm doing in Malawi entry. For an extremely eloquent version of this, I recommend watching Vanessa Kerry's TED Talk (see below).

Let me begin with GHSP. If you smartly watched Vanessa's talk, you may skip to the next section (this is a choose your own adventure style blog entry). GHSP is a public-private partnership between Seed Global Health, Peace Corps, and US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) that aims to increase human resources for health (HRH) in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda. HRH is the fancy way of saying healthcare workers. In the case of GHSP, this refers specifically to physicians and nurses. You may be wondering why this program is targeting other countries when the US news repeatedly highlights the shortage of nurses and physicians (primarily primary care) in our country. Let's look to the numbers for the answer:

Physicians per 100,000 people

U.S.               240

Malawi            2

Tanzania          1

Uganda           12

Nurses per 100,000 people

U.S.              980

Malawi          28

Tanzania        24

Uganda         131

Some more staggering data: Africa has 24% of the global disease burden and merely 3% of the world's healthcare; Africa has 75% of the global burden of HIV; 1 in every 9 children under the age of 5 will die in Africa, while 1 in every 125 children under the age of 5 will die in the US. These statistics highlight the need for programs like GHSP that focus on increasing HRH. 

We've established a need for more HRH in GHSP countries. So what are we going to do about it? As GHSP volunteers, we plant seeds that will hopefully one day become a forest. In other words, we are teaching the next generation of physicians and nurses that will then become educators and foster the next generation. This is a challenging concept for us because as Americans, we seek immediate gratification. The results of our efforts may not be fully appreciated for years. Therefore, we need to follow the mantra pang'ono pang'ono, which means little by little or slowly in Chichewa. The need is tremendous. We cannot expect to meet this need completely, but as Mother Teresa said, we can make tiny ripples.

Tiwonana Alaska and Minnesota

I have had the best intentions of writing my first post for what feels like months. In true procrastinator fashion, I pen my first entry merely hours before I depart for Malawi. The past month has been a whirlwind of saying tiwonana (see you later in Chichewa) to friends and family in Alaska and Minnesota. I am grateful for the time I was able to spend in Alaska with the family. Rural Alaska prepared me for some of the challenges I will face in Malawi: water shortages, sometimes slow internet, dustiness, and large, potentially dangerous, mammals (hippos are the moose of Africa). However, the sense of community in rural Alaska is akin to what I anticipate finding in Malawi. Leaving Minnesota was definitely harder this go round thanks to an amazing group of individuals I am honored to call friends and family. A special shout-out to my zouk family- I expect you guys to grow our community by the time I get back!

On the river in Alaska

When I arrived in DC over one week ago, my first action was to study the bios of my fellow volunteers and the staff at Peace Corps and Seed Global Health. I am humbled and honored to work with such an extraordinary group of individuals with the shared mission of strengthening the health systems in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda through education. It has been an amazing experience getting to know everyone- I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

GHSP 2015-2016 Team

I realize that I am lacking detail on the program and what I will be doing in Malawi. This is something I plan to tackle on my 15 hour flight to Johannesburg. Stay-tuned for my next installment- coming to you from Malawi.