Rush of the Flood

A posted sign reads ‘water is precious’ ignoring the outflow of water streaming through our driveway. A pipe break draining the presidential dam, which has been continually plugged, patched, and forgotten over the years, floods our grounds intermittently. Ironically, Lisa from Lukwe arrived this week to teach us a water management course, at a time when the water had decided to surge violently and snake its way into Biswick’s house. Class switched to emergency mode, only after a ten o’clock peanut butter sandwich break and a cup of sugar with mint tea. All the staff, being dressed very ‘smart’ indeed for the classroom, was unabashed to hike up their best trousers, or else lovely chitenjes, and white shirts, but were also smart enough to switch to work clothes the next day. Down and dirty has never been more true, as most tools here sport caveman club handles that come just above the knee and require the lean-to. Barefoot in thigh high water, we all lined up to hack, muck and channel the flow away from Biskwick’s and into the forest. Needless to say I ended up a bush monkey, but I cannot for the life me understand how white shirts stayed so white!

With all the water works also flowed a most natural connection with the staff. Kusamala trains its workers(and even the night guards) in permaculture, allowing everyone to be mindful and not mindless of the work that they are doing. The women can be intimidating nuts to crack, yet they have easy smiles that relieve and lighten the effort in doing so. Collectively this kitchen staff is called memo, which means ‘memorandum of understanding;’ a reference of bringing food when you go to someone’s house. Maureen is boss lady, and I would rather swallow fire than cross her. Alongside is Rhoda who is kind in the eyes and Sicilia who knows more than she lets on. The men are fun and playful to work alongside despite our worlds apart. Inok is the head gardener and has a grin that melts into gold and patience that exudes. We were excited to find a bow and arrow when doing inventory this weekend and have plans for target practice. He along with Alfred (a village football legend), Joseph (small and bashful), and Sam (such a serious guise) complete the gardening team. Daniel (who can do back flips and spiderman moves up walls), Green (always sporting headphones), and Mike (large doe eyes) make up the implementation team in charge of everything from fixing light bulbs to digging for groundnuts. Biswick is the head permaculture trainer and is strong in spirit and personality. Chisomo is the monitoring and evaluating specialist with a most fabulous attitude, style, and brain that reels knowledge. Then there is Eston who is in charge community outreach but can best be described as head honcho! This is the whole of the Kusamala staff and who I spend my workdays with.

Saturdays are considered half days. Last weekend, we setup for the farmer’s market at the Lilongwe Nature Sanctuary, which was an expat white haven for overpriced trinkets and homemade jams. This past Saturday we assisted in a spring cleaning of sorts, which basically resulted in a junkyard of randoms and a gigantic landfill/ firepit that required a hose on hand to keep it from sneaking into the adjacent grass field. Sundays are considered our off day but have often involved the hustlebustle of in town exploits for our weekly shopping. Corkscrewing market stalls for produce, spending way too much time scanning tables for beautiful chitenje cloths, and holding our breath through the stale supermarket funk for weekly  staples (peanutbutter, bran flakes, bag o’ milk). Thoroughly exhausted we return. Nights are early. The stars are bright. And Vuvu the cat makes for the most excellent snuggle partner.