In the end

The flight out of Malawi was sad but I enjoyed the September issue of SAWUBONA, SAA's on flight mag. Aga Szydlik, writes about the plant knowledge and tribal heritage of the San people. And for the first time in 3 months enjoyed sipping slowly on an ever faithful SA Castle lager. That one's for you my friend...Chinchin 😎

My new office

Really good to reunite with the cats and a reminder that without office assistants paperwork would be dull and uncomplicated.

Love these girls so much

Mzuzu Market till late

James took me on a walk-about of the Mzuzu market and I found these beauties. I didn't know such a banana existed until now. Oh I would love to be the one nurturing such a gift of nature. Deliciously sweet and larger than the ordinary varieties commonly found. 

Such a treat.

Red bananas are the BEST

Usipa for Africa

Usipa are the smallest and most common variety of fish to be found. I found it difficult choosing which vendor to buy from since there are a ton of them at the market. Bargaining becomes a way of life.

Mzuzu Art Gallery

The 2nd last day in Mzuzu, after returning from 'my village', I was left to my own devices and came across this golden treasure.

   

 I spent most of the afternoon chatting about life in general to these two young men and Sarah saved my growling tummy with a banana. Bless these people.

From left: Gift, Sarah, James

In the beginning....

Staple diet, Msima-less
Note: tree potato (front)
Moringa Oil made in Blantyre
Hemp Oil made by Invegrow

Sharing NeverEndingFood with friends

 My friends Annie and Joe joined me on a visit to NeverEndingFood, Lilongwe and were introduced to the permiculture concept of sustainable living in Malawi. Intrigued and impressed by the composting toilet practice and that it is not a dirty business, Annie has new visions for her village and is committed to helping to change the mind set of her family and friends. Spreading the word is one thing, but putting it into practice might take a bit of time.  

 

Potential products that can be made from maize sheaths after harvest. These slippers were bought by the Nordin's in the USA and brought back to Malawi to promote the potential for the 'art' within the byproduct of maize. 

Zone1
Finding the elusive tree potato

Zone2
A very successful visit to NeverEndingFood with Joe and Annie. There is light on the horizon thanks to Kristof and Stacia for their never ending generosity to share knowledge.

Zone1
It all feels like paradise,....it is paradise....

Fish ponds are scattered among the vegetation in zone1 and zone2 and promote the breeding of mosquito eating fish such as Talapia. They are also an integral part of  pest control and work hand in hand with the golden orb spiders which are encouraged to develop their homes among the trees.

Selfie

Amon Village

A 4km walk from Mbalame Village through the Malawi wilderness took us to Amon Village where Jimmy's mother lives. A colourful vibrant village full of love. 

In the distance a young girl was carrying her 5L bucket of water on her head. It dawned on me that if I was truly going to call myself a Malawian, I would be able to do this, or a least try. So we cautiously placed the bucket on my head and I was not shocked that I could only take 5 paces. I definitely need more practice. Only she knows how far she had traveled so far. I literally take my hat off to the strength and tenacity of these women.
Water is so precious.

Home of Chimango "Giant Mango" Secondary School close to the Chamaji River. A brief meeting was held with Mr Shunga, the head teacher, regarding the prospect of introducing composting toilets and the concept was eagerly welcomed. There is MUCH work to be done in Malawi.

Jimmy and Rachel outside one of the classrooms

Kachaso - Malawian equivalent of Witblits.
Mamamia!! I've still not been brave enough to try it but the smell blows my hair back. This spirit is brewed mostly in the rural villages and goes through a slow distilling process using maize husk.

Jimmy's lovely mother in the green/blue dress standing next to Sty in the red dress. Sty suffered an illness at the age of 4 which left her blind and somewhat disabled. A beautiful soul with such happiness inside who is able to laugh and love to the fullest. Much love for these people.

Chipambo Primary School

This school is situated in the Nkhata Bay District just outside Mzuzu town. The school is attended by approximately 500 students. I see a massive potential for Permaculture practices here. There are in total 18 pit latrines; 8 boys, 8 girls and 2 teacher cubicles. Each block has 2 toilet cubicles and has the potential to contain 3 containing cubicles behind each.

Teachers cubicle

 Toilets are situated behind the school just beyond a line of pine tree.

I propose the conversion from pit latrine to bucket latrine by closing up the existing long drop and installing a "bucket high" wooden platform to enable the accessibility of the bucket for emptying. I feel no need to install toilets seats since I believe that the health of the colon is benefited by the existing "squatting" style. Each toilet cubicle will also be equipped with a separate bucket with mixed leaves, sand and organic matter for "flushing". This eliminates odors and assists in the breakdown process of the green manure.

I intend to add an artists touch to these buildings.

I visualize a few trees planted in this area, starting with mangoes and evolving into a self sustaining food forest with varieties beyond imagination.

 

Looking out over the soccer field. Ladies collecting water at the well. The addition of a banana plant in the well vicinity could benefit the school greatly.

Desks donated by MULUMBENI

My Village

The experience of a lifetime was had at "Mpherembe at Kabwafu at a place called Kapando in Mbalame Village", the best way to describe where it's at. You will not find it on a map but it's somewhere near Mzimba. A very special place and hard working people can be found here. In this dry area much energy is spent finding and carrying water from a 3man-deep open well where it literally takes 3 men to harvest 1 bucket of water at a time. 

My objective for visiting Mbalame Village was to encourage the villages to plant the large amount of Moringa seed that was given to them by a friend of mine. The confidence levels in growing and caring for the Miracle tree is low since they are mostly experienced in maize, ground nuts and tobacco. 

After meeting with Chief Mbalame Ngoma and his congregation, I was taken on a long walk through the area to access the potential for the project. The climate is ideal but the issue of availability of a sustainable water supply is of high priority. A basic training session was held for most of the people of the village and Jimmy, my translator, did a wonderful job communicating the methods of propagating and growing Moringa.

This is not even half of the village people. Notice the large bag of Moringa seed being held by a very proud Mr Komwenda. 

It was decided that the propagation of seedlings would be done in a single nursery area to make watering easier and once the seedling are ready to be planted out, each family will be allocated with 20 trees to nurture and care for among their individual homes. 

 The nursery currently nurturing pine trees is a bit of a concern for me since this is not ideal for the environment due to it's great need for water and are mono-crop species. Bluegums and pine trees have been introduced by Agroforestry who's main focus is to curb the destruction of natural forests and woodlands. They are very present in the Northern region due to a need for sustainable building materials and coal manufacture throughout the country. Without proper management these trees could quickly become menacing to the indigenous vegetation. Woodlots using the Katope Tree could be an alternative solution for each village in this regard.

The nursery

In the shade of the nursery

Brick making on the edge of the neighbours dam. These bricks will come in handy when the Marion Medical Missionaries arrive in November to install a well for the village. Many thanks to my friend Paul and Mr Khoza from the MMM for organizing the installation.

Chief Mbalame Ngoma in the brown shirt and his main men.

A small portion of children attended the meeting

Porridge presented to me by one of the ladies made with maize, ground nuts, soya flour and sugar. I really enjoyed this porridge....Very delicious. 

A goat hotel. The villages keep their goats in these stilted structures to make harvesting of manure more accessible and the goats being goats enjoy the climbing "rock face" effect of their home. The Malawians don't utilize the goats milk, they say it has a funny smell but they do on the odd occasion eat the meat. 

Who let the goats out? :-)

Solar panels are very present in the villages of Malawi powering
only the radio for the 6 o'clock news and the night light which stays on during the night.

Shaking hands with my host, Tenson Komwenda, his wife (in the blue t-shirt). This is the only time I was able to get close to one of the babies. They scream hysterically if I ever attempt to get too close. Apparently they are only used to being around the close nit family in the early stages so when strangers are near, they are very nervous.

Sunrise view from the latrine area on a little hill overlooking a piece of maize cultivated land.

The typical style of packing and storing maize after harvesting.

This sponge plant grows as a creeper around the top of the bathing booth. One of my favourite bathing experiences so far.

5:30am Saturday morning breakfast before departure with Ronald Komwenda. Umqombothi beer is traditionally a Ngoni culture. The beer is brewed throughout the week to be ready for Saturday. Since we were leaving super early we were privileged enough to join in as a farewell ceremony. Tasty and not too high in alcohol content (3%) makes a great breakfast as far as I'm concerned.

Ngoni refers to the Nguni that entered and settled in Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania after they fled the effects events that unfolded with the rise to power of Shaka in the Natal region.

Excerpt from - Sunduzwayo Madise

Umqombothi brewing pot

My new Malawi name

Tiwonge

Meaning - Thankful

I am honored and truly THANKFUL

Paradise calling

On my return to Mzuzu on 28 August, my welcoming party consisted of Jimmy, Paul and Charity. Charity was to be my host for the time in Mzuzu and what a graceful host she was. Cared for by two young men , Gift and Tonics, I was well tended to, bathed and fed like a queen. Charity is a nurse who cares for and is highly respected by the Chipambo community. I unfortunately did not get any photos of Charity since she was continually running around being a very busy bee. My favourite Malawian catch phrase, or rather welcome wish is, "feel free". I truly do.

Home of some of the finest coffee

 And wild macadamia nuts

My favourite viewing platform from under a healthy mango tree, not yet with fruit, but soon I believe.

Healthy river bed cabbage patch.

Gift (in blue) and his friend Michael. Michael's dream is to come to South Africa just so that he can save enough to build a home for his mother.

 Tonics my friend, cooking up a meal of fish and nsima.

These little guys found a way out of their house and left their brothers and sisters in search of fresh pastures. My heart was stolen.

My friend Gift and his proud banana tree

Wild pineapple

 Eating sugar cane with the young ones down by the river. (Tonics on my left)

Foot note: My condolences go out to this bereaved family for the loss of their beloved Sinya Mushali on the 2nd of September 2017. May there be no more suffering and may he rest in peace.