Written by Deborah Kamanga, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi

Samuel Johnson once said, "Life is not long, and too much of it must not pass in idle deliberation how it shall be spent."

For the past two weeks I have been working on a certain project in my community (details of which i shall share with you in another post), but basically this particular project does not require very much of my involvement.  I have therefore found myself being in an idle state one too many times for this entire period. The realization that time was passing by and I needed to occupy myself with something more productive hit me. Just like Gustav Mahler wrote, "Fortunately, something always remains to be harvested, so let us not be idle." I told myself that I was going to find any activity, however exceptionally small it may be, to fill up my hours of idleness.
 
I started a netball and football (soccer) team with some of the youth in my community.  The football team trains almost everyday since most of the guys in the team are school dropouts. When they approached me with the whole idea of starting a football team with them I was so excited because I knew that my days of boredom were going to be reduced. Thus far, the team has a total number of 20 players and they have played 3 matches with 1 win and 2 loses. With intensified training, the performance of the team is picking up.

The netball team is also an exciting endeavor with more than 20 players (and many new ones showing up each training session). Some of the girls in the team are from the girls' club while others are non-members. The training days are Wednesdays and Saturdays only, due to the fact that most of the girls knock off late during school days. I help in coaching the team and thus far we have played one game, which I was part of, and we won.
 
In a nutshell, this is how I have been spending my free time here in Mbewa village. Below are some of the pictures I took from both teams.

Written by Lahcen Chanchaf, CorpsAfrica/Maroc Volunteer

Hello Dear Reader,

The last week of September, everyone is busy in Azzaden valley. The same in my site, most of the people are gathering walnuts, “Taqqayin," as it called by the local inhabitants. They stay during the whole day in the fields enjoying their work. Nonetheless, it’s a hard job to do when it has to do with walnut picking. First, they have to look for workers and not any workers, they need professional ones to climb the trees that sometimes exceed 50 feet in height with tiny branches. That’s not all, when you climb the tree you have to take with you a tall rod called “Algim or Assus” between 13 to 17 feet to thump the walnut tree. If the trees are near a water spring you have to make sure that there is someone to pay attention not let it go with the flow of water. After the worker finishes from one tree, he orders his fellows to collect what has fallen into medium bags, then he moves to another tree and so on. It’s a tough job to do especially when you work without insurance. Perhaps, that’s why they receive a good daily service allowance.

Once they finish from walnut picking that takes two to three days depending on how many trees they have, they take what they gathered to the roofs of their houses. It stays two days under the sunlight to get dry, but before that, they have to remove the green shield of some walnuts. This shield naturally falls apart from the walnut when it's still on the tree, in doing so, that means it's time for picking. However, they don’t wait always until nature does its job completely, they give it a hand even if it doesn't need any help. What I like most is the way they treat those green shields. Instead of being an unusable waste, they turn them into a compost to use in their farms.

​Last but not least, another thing to bear in mind is business during this season. It’s interesting how the commerce goes on. First, I thought they would sell the walnut per a kilo, but NO it was not like that at all. The tool of measurement is their hand, how??? When you ask a seller about the walnut, he tells you “mshk wffus atrit?” how many hands do you want? For example you want ten hands (almost 1 kilo), he puts five pieces of walnut in one hand and five in the other and put it aside as one hand until you say that’s enough for me.
During the season, small temporary businesses get flourished. Yet, it’s a trade without money. Back to the old days, when people had no money, they have to live by quid pro quo. In other words, giving something to receive something equivalent in return. It’s exactly the same in Azzaden valley in these days. Explicitly, when the local people want to buy something, they don’t pay money. They choose what they want to buy and exchange its value with walnuts. For instance, the kids bring some walnut from their home and bargain with it in exchange for some candies and biscuits (10 pieces of walnut= 2 candies and 1 biscuit). On the other hand, the women take some clothes and bargain their value with walnuts and so on. It seems a win-win situation, but absolutely it's not. The most benefited one here is, not the kids who enjoy licking the candies, nor the women who adore shopping, it is the merchant who unquestionably will… might you finish the phrase please and thank you for your precious time 🙏.

Written by Limbani Kamanga, CorpsAfrica Volunteer in Malawi
Reposted from Tobiyasi in Chiradzulu

​"Travelling - it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller"
-Ibn Battuta

As I insinuated in my previous post, the entire 15-member CorpsAfrica Malawi team left for CorpsAfrica's inaugural All Country Conference (ACC) in Morocco. We left Malawi on October 3 and returned on October 16. I am not here to give you a detailed account of our engagements during the course of these 13 days that I spent away from my site. I am sure someone else will do that - probably with better eloquence and verbatim than I could. If you're interested, see to it that you check this link, where blog entries from all CorpsAfrica volunteers from the three countries (Malawi, Senegal, and Morocco) are posted. Otherwise, from my experience, this trip befits being labeled as an 'experience of a lifetime.'

Anyway, today I have decided to focus on telling you a few things that I dearly missed while I was away. Sometimes, detachment is what makes you appreciate the value of seemingly banal things that happen in your comfort zone. It is through detachment that you learn to differentiate the things that you need and want in this volatile game called 'life.' Calm down now, I am no sage so I will keep it cool and simple, as usual, and miss you with this philosophical gibberish.

My radio: I bought this radio on March 23 at a giveaway price from a Pakistani shop owner in Limbe and it has become one of my prized possessions since then. Through this radio, which was made in China, I stay in touch with current affairs, especially on the local front, and in that way I always have something to say to community members - most who don't own a radio and therefore have no penchant of listening to the radio. Actually, one concerning observation I have made is that community members that happen to listen to the radio, mostly men, exclusively listen to sports related programs. This way, they end up missing out on important information that has varying implications on their everyday lives as citizens of this country. As far as news reporting is concerned across various local radio stations, I derive high level merriment in contrasting the pro and anti government propaganda. It is amazing to see the extent that politicians can go in a desperate effort to goad their opponents. Not just politicians, but even some radio personalities have a knack of making incendiary and perfunctory remarks. I love it!

My not-so-comfortable bed: No, my bed is not uncomfortable. I would be doing a massive injustice to my lovely bed if I were to label it that. Obviously, while in Morocco, I slept on beds of superior comfortability than my own. I mean, not throughout the 13 days, but some. Comfort aside, I realized that I get better sleep on my 3/4 bed with a lean mattress. Initially, I had troubles getting used to the discomfort caused by the leanness of my mattress and I had a series of temptations to purchase a bigger mattress. But, over the time, I have inured myself to its discomfort and I don't feel like changing anytime soon. Here is a secret: A more comfortable bed makes me lazy and oversleep, which would be catastrophic on my service. Anyway, I sleep with a peace of mind on my bed - an aspect that I missed dearly when I was away.


The people: Particularly, people that are participating in my projects. Wait a minute, this reminds me that I have not blogged  about a principle project that I am implementing in Likoswe village. I guess I should make this the subject of my next blog entry. Be on the lookout. I must admit beforehand that certain participants of my project give me a minor headache once in a while, but I guess that is expected when dealing with people. What's more important is that I probably look at this issue from a bit of a sententious standpoint. Who knows, maybe while they give me a minor headache, I give them a massive bout of diarrhea? You never know. What is important though is that despite this who headache and diarrhea issue, we still manage to kick it together. We've come from a far and we continue to march on as a cohesive unit towards achieving our goals. Tell you what, there was an aura of mutual ecstasy upon my return and now we are ready to embark on the next phase of this project.

Overall, the trip to Morocco has boosted my energy level, which is important as I prepare to complete the remaining 3 months of my service with unscathed determination and grit. I feel recharged. The break that I took from my community and the experiences that I encountered while away have reverberated my zest to finish my service on a high notch. But most importantly, as per the theme of this piece, this trip gave me an opportunity to reflect and appreciate certain things that I have been taking for granted. Never again, for now. Shukran! Merci beaucoup!