On Site

Life is a process not a destination, a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.

So I finally moved in to site and making it my home. As I mentioned in my previous post, there are plenty of problems with this house (if I look for it) but I will try to ignore those problems and focus on the positive side of my site. My site is located 30km South of Lilongwe (the capital city). It takes 30-45 minutes to get here using public transportation and the cost is around mk200-400 depending on the gas prices/availability (exchange rate is currently at mk250 per $1 – this is the official bank rate with the devaluation of kwacha by 50%).
My site has a trading center and supplies most of the fruits and vegetables to Lilongwe. The late President’s farm is also located here in Mitundu. There is one hospital in Mitundu (where I will be working) called Mitundu Community Rural Hospital. It serves about 200k people.

About my housing situation, well… I am not the only one with issue. It seems a lot of volunteers are also having the same issue. Some volunteers didn’t even have a house to stay in so they are staying at another volunteer’s house for the mean time. Anyway, my house has 3 rooms (1 bedroom and extra rooms), a living room, outside kitchen, outside bath (bafa) and outside pit latrine (chim). I have electricity but no running water. I have to get water from a borehole behind my house. Luckily, the borehole is only 10 meters away. I was told that we “might” have running water within 5 months as the water pipes had been installed and it’s just a matter of connecting my house to the water source.

Today, I finished painting the house and I am thinking of going to the hardware store to buy wood so I can make a counter top for my kitchen. I am building an indoor kitchen. I am also waiting for the landlord to install a fence to prevent the chickens and goats from coming in to my compound. I am tired of fighting a battle everyday with the chickens and goats. They like hanging out in my compound and going in my house. I like to keep my door open to let air in but these chicken seem to have a stealth mode as they go in undetected and “dirty” my house. The goats are not so stealthy. Chickens here are also suicidal! They like to go up on the roof and jump and land face first. It’s hilarious! I guess they got tired of crossing the road joke. I have yet to think of “why did the chicken jump off the roof” joke.

Well, that’s it for now. I think I am going to sit in my backyard and watch the paint dry…

Tiwonana!

Be Sociable, Share!

•