Because They're Burning Bricks

Posted By Sika on February 20, 2009

When I think of writing now, my thoughts seem so negative. As much as Derek may rejoice in me becoming a jaded old PCV, I am not happy with the way all the negativity makes me and Malawi sound. So, I think I’m going to do what I did for my students after their practical exams: start with the negatives and then move on to the postives.

Things we could be doing better

• I hate it when I’m just sitting somewhere and I feel drops of sweat begin to appear on my forehead. To me, this is even worse than the dampness that collects behind the knees and makes standing up with a skirt a somewhat difficult prospect.
• Escom wants a 57% rate hike. This is in spite of the fact that their motto, “Power all day, everyday” is a cruel joke that is even further removed from reality than it used to be.  In the rains this year, too much garbage flooding through the dams* have broken the garbage collectors and so the biggest generator in the country has been shut down. This leads to multiple days in a row where the hours without power outnumber the hours with power. Charging batteries, phones, and other devices has become a game of weighing odds and placing bets.
• The city is out of petrol; Derek thinks we’ll be out of diesel sometime today. How does this keep happening, over and over again? But hey, at least there’s paraffin again. Transport becomes a real pain in the butt when no one can get fuel.
• Zain sucks. It’s just now stopped taking 5 or 6 hours to deliver text messages, and I can usually call people, but it’s still nearly impossible to use bonus minutes because calls never go through during the hours when you can use them.
• Bingu wa Mutharika (the president) is pissed at Mr. Bodde (the U.S. ambassador) because Bodde said he thinks there should be parallel counting of votes during the elections in May. Considering a bunch of the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) officers have just been arrested for stealing millions of kwacha, and there’s some doubt about the legitimacy of Bingu’s last election win, parallel counting seems like a good idea.
• MEC is refusing to determine the validity of the presidential candidates until 20 March. They all finished filing about 3 weeks ago. Plus, their lollygagging led to PC continuing to be on Standfast for a really long time.
• Standfast means that PCVs** aren’t allowed to go anywhere and were to stay at site for our theoretical safety. I can’t decide if I’m more annoyed because people couldn’t come to my party because of it or because when it was lifted, I never got the text. I didn’t find out until I texted our head of security to say, “You aren’t planning on keeping us on standfast until 20 March, are you?” His response was to forward to me the text message I had missed along with an addendum of “I AM SURPRISED U DID NOT receive above message” as if I had connived to block messages lifting Standfast just because it’s so much fun.
• Yesterday Steph was giving me and David a lift into town so we could catch a minibus home. She stopped on the opposite side of the street and we were chatting a bit. Apparently we hadn’t pulled off the road enough because two policewomen came and told Steph if we were going to the bank(?) she should’ve parked down the hill. Then they “arrested” Steph, which consisted of getting in the back of the car and directing us to the police station where she had to pay an MK3000 fine.
• I read in the paper today that they’re trying to get nuclear power here. Their previous goal had been before 2050, but now they’re hoping to get it earlier. This makes me profoundly nervous. To explain this, I’ll have to retreat from the bullet points.

David’s friend and coworker, Kate, came down to see Zomba Central Hospital. We were talking about problems at Queens Hospital in Blantyre–how they reuse syringes and IV tubing and the like. She said that it’s not actually a question of whether the supplies are available, but that there’s no system of making sure that supplies stay in stock. One of the problems is that there are very few charities in the world that want to fund things like supply chain issues and organizing a stockroom because it’s not sexy enough.

Which sounds better to you, “We sent 5 doctors to train 20 health providers in updated surgical techniques that will preserve the sight of hundreds of men, women, and children,” or “We trained 5 stock managers to keep gloves, syringes, and giving sets in stock. Most of the time.” Which do you you think sounds better to donors?

It’s not just supply issues–when we were taught about fundraising, we were told that it’s nearly impossible to get grants for repair or renovation of existing buildings, but it’s not all that hard to get funding for new buildings. Because again, it’s more sexy to say, “We built 10 new houses” than to say, “We repaired the roofs on 10 houses.” So all over the place are dilapidated buildings that could function perfectly well if only someone would fix them up, and buildings that are on their way to dilapidated because no one ever allots money for upkeep.

Why they think people who couldn’t afford to build will be able to keep it up, especially without evidence proving it, is beyond me. Especially since they rarely ask about that kind of thing and if they do, they probably just elicit lies from people who would see their funding slipping away if they appeared too needy or demanding.

Organizations also ask for lies on a regular basis because, again, it’s sexier to say, “we sensitized 100 people to xyz issue” than to say, “But only one person really got it. We expect better progress over the next couple of years as those few who understand the sensitization help us.” Even though those of us on the ground know the second scenario is far more likely and arguably is more effective in the very long run than the first.

So, with all of this, we reinforce the lack of forward thinking amongst Malawians we complain about. And lots of us act as if we are somehow above all that and yet start indulging in the same sorts of behaviour by doing things like saying, “We have a very important meeting. Please get together people from each of 5 different institutions, and oh, by the way, did we mention it’s in 6 days? That’s not enough time? Ok, let’s make it 8 days. But it’s very important!” As if anything’s going to change under those circumstances.

Those of us who don’t succumb to the temptation of last minute planning tend to go around being efficient at everyone and taking on more and more tasks because, “It’ll be faster/easier if I do it myself” or, “They’ll learn from my example,” even though we all know from experience that mostly what we learn from someone efficienting at us is resentment.

In the midst of all this lack of forward planning, both decried and perpetuated by most of our aid organizations, a nuclear plant seems like pretty much the stupidest thing Malawi can do.

Look, I understand and agree to some extent with the arguments for some sort of alternative source of power. Solar isn’t enough with the current cost and efficiency of photovoltaic cells. And all the charcoal burning leads to deforestation and mountains falling on people in their sleep†.

But come on, if not only does no one ever stresses the importance in general of upkeep but actually stresses the opposite idea that the throw away culture is better; if historically money and supplies are so short that even if you wanted to try your hand at preventive maintenance you can’t, do you really think a nuclear plant is a feasible idea?

Shouldn’t we all–Malawians and aid workers–be a little bit better at forward thinking before we tackle such a thing?

*Most of our power is hydroelectric or horrible diesel generators that are supposed to be used only for emergencies.
**Those of us in the Dirty South this time because Muluzi’s home village is down here.
† Although I know several families that have electricity but still always cook using an mbaula and charcoal, so getting electricity to more households might not be enough.

Categories: Malawi, Peace Corps, Philosophy, Politics, Saving the World
Tags: Aid, corruption, escom, Politics, transport, weather, Zain