Sika | July 23, 2008
First off, it’s not pronounced TAN-za-nee-a. Or Tan-ZANE-ee-a. It is pronounced Tan-ZAHN-ee-a. This means, that in an effort to appear to be culturally sensitive I sometimes say one, sometimes say the other, sometimes say a weird amalgam of all three, and sometimes make noises I didn’t even know were humanly possible, although they certainly aren’t [...]
Sika | June 13, 2008
I am at Mid Service Training right now. (Do you know what this means? I’ve been in Malawi for a whole year. Can you believe it? I mean, I know every second of the last year has just dragged by for y’all, what with me not being around and all, but for me it has [...]
Sika | May 20, 2008
I was reading this book called The Shackled Continent* by Somebody-or-other Whosits-whatsis. In it, he mentions how older male students who are never kicked out of high school prey on younger girls, after which they get pregnant and have to drop out of school. Mr. Whosits-whatsis’ solution is to kick older students out. And I [...]
Sika | May 16, 2008
It’s been a while. It’s not that I have nothing to say, it’s just that whenever I have something to say, well, basically I can’t be fussed (the Scots have been contaminating my language) to actually write any of it down. Well, and also some of it is inappropriate for day shift. And then I [...]
Sika | March 28, 2008
In the process of attempting to look for funding for a friend for a VCT (Voluntary testing and counseling) and Teen Centre in Mzuzu, I found this report. I highly recommend anyone coming here read it as it is all about sex here in Malawi. One of the interesting things to me is that most [...]
Sika | February 26, 2008
On transport heading home today, Raymond sat in the seat behind the coaster (that would be a bus) door with his knees over the handrail and his feet pinning the door shut as the spring has come out of the latch and the door refuses to remain closed. As he dropped (that would be getting [...]
Sika | February 19, 2008
So riding out to Namikango Orphan Care and forgetting my sunscreen (I know, I know, stupid) I got dark again (well, for me. Otherwise known as “normal people colored”–thanks, mama). I think I kind of understand the desire to get darker. I never see my full body (apparently there’s a good floor to ceiling mirror [...]
Sika | February 11, 2008
Some people, when they think of Africa, think of corruption. Corruption of government, corruption of life, in ways big and small. Corruption is both bigger and smaller than you’d suppose. It can be ingrained, although some “corruption” is not viewed as such when we do it*. On a daily basis, corruption usually doesn’t come into [...]
Sika | February 11, 2008
I had a very busy weekend. Saturday I finally met the mfumu, the chief or village headman, of Matawale. I had asked the Campus Administrative Officer*, Jeremiah, if he could introduce me to the mfumu, but he had never met him. So I asked my landlord, Mr. Makato, and he said he could arrange it. [...]
Sika | November 8, 2007
I just got back to Zomba from Dedza, where I was for 2 weeks for reconnect. Reconnect is also called In-Service Training (IST) and is the training we do after having been at site for 3 months (unless you’re me, and then you do it after a month and a half). The first week was [...]
Sika | October 2, 2007
There’s a story I want to tell from the Male Medical Ward that I feel touches on many of the aspects of life here that I forget to talk about. And also confirms for me, at least, what I was thinking earlier about nurses and why they appear to be callous. One day on the [...]
Sika | October 2, 2007
Malawian nurses have a reputation for being uncaring and callous. To be perfectly honest, as much as it disappoints me that it is so, I can’t see how it could be any other way given the health care system. On the pediatric ward, there are 100 beds. There are 200-300 children and all of their [...]
Sika | August 31, 2007
Michelle and I had a discussion today about certain behaviors that we don’t necessarily interpret correctly. Michelle was talking about how she ignored someone who was shouting, “Hey you! You!” to her and only after she walked on without responding, pissed off, did she realize that people say “you” to address people in Chichewa and [...]
Sika | May 8, 2007
I realized that I wasn’t very clear in my last post. I think I came across as still being unsure of monogamy vs polyamory or open relationships (for me), which I am not. I think I may have also came across as thinking that polyamory is better, which is not what I meant. What I [...]
