So I have discovered that having a blog is going to be much easier than writing emails. This was I can updated and people can read it as they wish.

I have been in Malawi now for about 12 days and the past 12 days have been some of the most stressful, exciting and life changing I have ever had.

I arrived in Lilongwe, Malawi last Saturday and spent 2 nights in a backpackers hostel there before getting the bus on Monday out to the town of Matete on the lakeshore road of Lake Malawi. Basically there is one road the runs up the lakeshore and getting off was the hard part but the locals are all generally helpful and kind and were able to direct me where to get off!! Made the trip a little less stressful as the bus was packed FULL of people and I literally had to climb over people to get out!! I got dropped off on the side of the road and had a 3km walk down the dirt track to Mwaya Beach - the volunteers home. It is beautiful, situated right on the lakeshore. Lake Malawi is amazing - the water is warm and blue and the lake looks like an ocean it is so big. We live in small chalets/huts. Very basic - no electricity and we only get hot water after 4pm once the fires are lit. We have a cook who is there during the day to make our staples for dinner - mainly veggies and beans! BUT we have managed to get ourselves a chicken from a local one day and we can get fish from the lake if it has been calm enough to fish. So we have a very healthly, local diet of veggies and freshly slaughtered fish! Other than that it is a lot of peanut butter and bread!

The locals are amazing. They are used to having the Ripple Volunteers and so welcome us into their community. I am slowly learning the local language and am now able to great people - greating and saying hello is the most important part of their culture. I am trying to pick up small other sayings!! The children sometimes still get frightened by us 'muzungus' - meaning white person. They either shout it at us and then say "give me money" or they see us and scream and run away. But on the whole everyone has been lovely so far. It has been very touching to be so welcomed by people.

I have spent some time at the health center now. It is about 7km from us so getting there can be a challenge and just being there is a challenge. It is what I expected and so I was not totally shocked when I got there. It is basically a very sparse and dirty cement block building. There is currently no running water, which is a big issue which is taking a long time to reslove. There is a nurse/midwife and a medical officer and about 12 health assisitance but no doctors. There is no way to run any tests and so diagnoses is strictly symptom based. Most of it is malaria or chest infections. The medications all come from UNICEF or another american aid organization and they have good access to the medicaiton from Malaria but it is still so minimal.
The nurse/midwife does all the pre-natal, deliveries and post-natal care, as well as family planning. We have been helping here - I am hoping to help deliver a baby at some point!!
I've also spent the morning in the HIV testing center. It is amazing how they do it. They test all pregnant women and anyone else who comes in. The tests take 15 mins and each person is called back indiviudually to recieve the results. Luckly the day I was there everyone was negative. Breaking the news in that setting I imagine is very difficult. I am hoping to do more work there with them. The language barrier is the only issue!!!
I've also done one morning in an Under 5's Clinic - weighing all the children (from a scale on a tree branch!!!) and then recording the underweight ones for follow up and then vaccinating. I have to say I have never vaccinate and done meds under a tree in a field!
There are so many projects to work on I can't even write them all. We are starting work on some sexual health education classes to start soon and I am going out this afternoon to see the vegetable garden of the Toto Club -the HIV awareness club.

Apart from health there is so much to do. I am trying to start the biology club up again - some of the secondary school boys were getting tutoring in Biology from old volunteers and the club stopped but I am hoping I can help.

The poverty here is still difficult for me to see. So many of the lives here are lived on a survival basis and even that is done at the bare minimum. The locals grow and eat a lot of casava (which stinks!!! - like eggy vomit). It has no nutritional value but is the only thing that will grow well in this soil. A new volunteer teacher is trying to start up a bean growing club from children so that they can start to understand the importance behind that. It is frustrating because when the basic standard of living is so poor it is difficult to start teach and do something that from a health point of view might help - I have so many ideas about mosquito nets and health education and sanitation but at the end of the day the broad picture of health doesn't matter because just surviving another day is their goal. It is going to be a real challenge.

That is all I can write for now but I'll try to keep updating. So far I haven't seen any crocodiles but I did see my first black momba snake this morning!

xxxx