Mwaya Mondays – Vol. 36, Monday 15 April 2013
This week’s blog is a little late due to some technical problems. It is written by Dan Shaba, our Assistant Volunteer Projects Manager and Assistant Manager at Mwaya, seen standing on the right in the picture below.
“Things are starting to get busier on the volunteer front, we now have 8 here. On Monday I gave recent arrivals Triona and Mark their induction. As a couple of nurses from Ireland they spent the rest of the week exploring the different health centres. On Friday Harry, Morgan and Christian arrived, followed Mike on Saturday. So this week I will be busy conducting more inductions and showing the new arrivals around.
On Saturday I assisted WESM (Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi) with conducting a talk at Kalowa Community Day Secondary School, just south of Tukombo, to present environmental issues including the Changu Changu Moto and Fish conservation projects. This is a new initiative that RIPPLE Africa is assisting WESM with in the Nkhata Bay District. The idea is to help the community become more aware of environmental issues and the reducing number of trees and fish in Malawi. Education for this is very important and by talking to the children in particular we are trying to help the future generations.
On Sunday I had my weekly driving lessons. Recently I’ve been learning to drive in Patience and now I will start to learn how to drive Eddie ‘the bone shaker’! I’m hoping to take my test by the end of the month.
On the building projects front, Kapanda teacher’s house and Mwaya Medical Assistant house are coming along nicely. The builders have finished the floors and rendering the internal walls, which they have now started painting. They have also started putting the roof on the kitchens. Furthermore one of our assistant builders, Jack, now has a new baby boy after his wife gave birth last week.
A few months ago we cleared some Gmelina trees behind Mwaya Dispensary because their vigorous root system can damage the building foundations. In place of those we have planted 50 Cacia seedlings and I am pleased to report that they are growing very well with all the rain we’ve been receiving. Though the rains are nearly coming to an end now.
And finally on a sad note, one of the Community Volunteers involved in the Changu Changu Moto project drowned last week in Lake Malawi. He was a fisherman and got into trouble when the lake was rough and his boat capsized. Due to the reducing fish stock in the lake the fisherman have to go further and further out into the lake and the deeper waters. As I’m sure you are aware the little canoes they use are not the most stable, so going far out into the lake is not ideal. We wish his family well and thank him for the good volunteer work he did.”
Don’t forget to check back next week for the next instalment of Mwaya Mondays!
