A day in the life

The morning air is chilled and foggy indicating winter is here…in June. Dishes are waiting to be washed, coffee desperate to be made, and Vuvu the cat is vocal for her breakfast. I quickly cram in a morning jog and a bowl of bran flakes and banana before the crew starts filtering in around 7am. Monday morning meetings initiate the week. Staff and interns circle, warming up with a quick song and dance, which usually involves me two-stepping awkwardly in the wrong direction. The week’s schedule is detailed. Last week was ‘Environment Week’ here in Malawi. I innocently volunteered for a ‘clean up’ of the Lilongwe River… in hindsight I will smother such thoughtless altruism. We were issued very white t-shirts that said ‘Earth Warriors,’ wore plastic bags on our hands… to clean up the plastic bags, and face masks to keep from breathing deep the burning trash smog. I think that a half a day clean up effected my immune system more than anything.

Chore teams assemble early morning. I am assigned to ‘seed saving,’ which has included tramping out the staple field, basket in hand, and collecting pigeon pea and tephrosia pods. Random plates and bowls full of seeds and color (rosell, arrow root, cow pea) line the courtyard wall. A gigantic sunflower is in line to be shucked. Casual Chichewa lessons are swapped. After about an hour, we move to our various projects. Having taken direction from the Water Management workshop, I’ve decided to carve out a fruit forest of sorts. More or less, to snake the main drainage to the bottom of Kusamala’s boundary line where in it will flow into a pond I plan on building. Once again, I am resigned to shovel in hand. Hopefully citrus and avocados can be planted along edge, where they will be very happy with a consistent water source once the rains start.

A very starchy, though very delicious lunch is prepared by Memo. It changes daily, tomato and potatoes, various beans and rice, nseema (the staple maize paddy) and cabbage salad. After, I’m feeling very siesta-ish, but opt to cleaning the residential garden pongono- pongono (little by little) while scheming new projects. Most staff quits around 3pm. I might wander down to the village if bread is running low down one of the various dirt paths that curve the most beautiful African scenes… maybe even a bucket shower. Around dusk, interns gather in the kitchen to lend a helping hand and/ or drink a glass of wine. What was once one pot dinners, as gas could not be found for weeks due to a shortage here in Malawi, has now become banquet spreads. Night’s are early, though the projector and fire pit have appropriately lightened our drowsiness.

Happiness and purpose are found in the ordinary day to day… though in a less than ordinary place. To just be content knowing my bananas came from Isaac (who looks and acts like yoda), to watch Vuvu climb trees, to gardening, to learning cilantro and coriander are the same plant, to shucking lima beans for lunch, to mudding beehives, to making passion fruit into salad dressing, to building with bamboo, to vanilla cake and cooking with gas, to ping-pong.