Gardening and tree planting, i am having fun at least

"You should stay here for four years" said Mama Vannesa, one of my neighbors after telling her the use of herbs that i plant in my small garden. She said i can be their African doctor. I just smiled, i wished there are more that can hold me to stay for four years.
Slowly, i collect myself together after the last insanity. Simply because i want the remaining 5 months to pass peacefully, no grieve, no sorry, no other insanity (i hope). I spent the last 3 hours today working in the garden. Distributing cauliflower seedlings, preparing bedding for beans nursery, putting all herbs in one plot, i enjoyed it. Not just once, i screamed and shocked when i saw the small head of worm pop up from the earth when i scarified the soil. To be honest, i dont like them, but what can i say, they are best friend with my plants and have to see them all the time. Yikes...

Anyways, Karonga becomes warmer and warmer. I start seeing people sleep outside and seems they dont bother with mosquito while Malaria is the number one killer here in Africa. More people in the streets which sometimes irritating me, especially children who often following me asking for money, or simply want to bother me with chinness nose sounds. The more i tried to ask them to stop, the more fun it is for them and the more evil smile i saw in their face. But i learned the trick already, ignoring and giving them the very mean face will stop them.

It is so much different in the village though, children tend to behave like children that i know, shy, cute, and

Innocent.  The trip to the village the whole week last week encouraged me to give my best again. I am getting back my spirit. We distributed as much as 80.000 tree seeds in 10 different nurseries together with all necessary inputs that they need to work on their nursery. i enjoyed filling the polypack tubes with soil with them. we were having fun although sometimes i have no idea what they were talking about.  I promised myself to mobilize them planting those trees in the woodlot that they prepared before i am going home early next year. At least there is tangible work that i leave in this bitter sweet home.

This is what i do in Malawi

It’s been a while since I wrote my last post.  I am now on my fourth month being in the placement and somehow still survive regardless things which have happened, bitter and sweet. But that’s not the reason I am writing this post. Let alone complains and difficulties, they will not make my time running faster to the month when I am eventually going home. Instead, I will do what I can do, share as much as I can, get what I can get and prepare myself for best things that will happen in my life.

So i got questions from some friends, "what exactly are you doing in Malawi?"..."how do you work in Malawi?"..."how do you live in Malawi?" and many more..

one questions at a time ok, now i will let you know what am i doing here.

Tobilho Catchment Area

So the project that I am engaging now called Water Futures: Towards Equitable Resource Strategies (WATER). The main objective of this project is to link the grass root communities and community based organizations with the district planning process in terms of climate change. We are using the Ecosystem Service Approach which is a way of understanding the complex relationships between humans and nature, for use in decision-making and planning. We are closely working with the district planners in the district level and with VNRMCs (Village Natural Resource Management Committee), Women group, Area Development Committee (ADC), Village Development Committee (VDC), People living with HIV/AIDS, and other marginalized groups in the village level.

Dance mama dance...

The system in Malawi is completely different with the system that I know in Indonesia. However, slowly but sure, I managed to digest some of the information about how things work in the village level. For most of the outsider, it must be fascinating whenever they talk about their culture such us the sound of clapping is different for the chief and for the ordinary people, they will look somewhere else when they talk to you to show their respect, women should cover their lower part of body with citinje (sarong) for not showing their sensuality but the upper part can be opened as it is, they eat raw cassava as if is the most delicious afternoon snack,  they dance and sing every time they feel happy (which I found in contrary with most of the communities in Indonesia who are more serious and rigid) and many more local values that sometimes blew my mind. I am lucky to be part of of it now, well at least for awhile.

This is how we do mapping execise

The travel to my selected community is a challenge though. The transport in the district is not always available, the fuel to cover 100 kms plus (both ways) is ridiculously expensive, my direct partner who helps me with the translation is always occupied with other tasks. If I can choose, I prefer to stay close to them and watch their day to day life. Nevertheless,


through some days intensive meetings with them we come up with decision that we will plant about 90.000 trees and do some other adaptation activities during this project to increase their adaptive capacity. We always sing and dance at the end of the meetings.  Again, I feel so lucky.

PS: More explanation about the project is here https://hackpad.com/Project-2-Engage-to-Adapt-fxcESOfW6Ao