Thursday, November 15, 2007

Guardian Shelter Progression and Bike Accidents!

Hi everyone!
So, I have been working pretty hard since the last time I wrote...I think...So, after the guardian shelter funding was approved, I worked with the technical college and district hospital to set up everything to get the foundation finished before the students left for break. I had a few meetings and everyone was really excited. I got to watch the students learn how to "set out" a foundation so we could then have someone excavate it. Just talking to the students made me really pumped to do this project because they were so excited to be given the opportunity to contribute to the community while building something so big! It was really cute actually. So, as of now, the chiefs have motivated the villagers to help pour the concrete for the foundation and it seems to be actually happening!
Let's see....since my cat, Mauwa, was run away by the new Medical assistant's dog, I ended up getting a new kitten. It is really little and cries alot because it was taken away from its mom too young. I named it "Namiwawa." It has become my oatmeal eating partner and has already proven to be a great warrior against many bugs in my house! It is a calico cat and super cute!
When I first got back to site after being sick in Lilongwe, Mrs. Mhango told me that I was no longer allowed to walk alone by myself because there were Portuguese who were killing people and taking their blood. Very interesting here in Malawi. Don't worry, we don't know anyone who has actually been killed by the Portuguese in my area, we just hear rumors about it.
On top of this fantastic story, one night when I was getting ready to go to bed, my nightwatchman called me out to the porch and showed me a "charm" from witchcraft that he found in one of the four holes dug in the four corners of my house. It had some wooden "needle" that they said was either for protection or death. Probably not the best thing that could happen. It was kind of funny because Mrs. Mhango and her kids were really worried that someone was out to get me. I think optimistically, so I of course thought it was to protect me from evil spirits! Nothing too bad has happened yet...so, we'll see!
I am actually writing this earlier than I had planned because 2 weeks ago, I was biking from my house to the tarmac and got in a bike accident and "slightly" tore my meniscus and lateral ligament in my right knee so I am in Lilongwe getting some physical therapy. I was going pretty fast and hit some loose gravel and fell to the right side. I got pretty beat up with lots of skin missing and gravel in my left palm as well as a decent amount of skin being left on the ground from my right forearm. I walked the 3-5km to the tarmac where I leave my bike with some blood flowing out of my body. I went to the health centre to get fixed...they poured sterile water and an iodine wrap on my wounds and some stuff like tylenol for the pain...right, like that was going to actually work. I went to Blantyre for a summer school meeting and went to the Blantyre Adventist hospital and they gave me some good pain killers. So, after going back to site and doing lots of crouching while bucket bathing, using the pit latrine, and washing dishes, I noticed that my knee was pretty bad. I went back to Blantyre and got some x-rays and a ct scan. Now that's why I am here...fun times...
Well, I am in for Thanksgiving, so I'm sure I will have plenty of fun stories to add on here later! I hope that you are all doing well!