My first week

I can't believe my first week is almost over...life may flow at a different pace in Africa but its still wizzing by.
Here's my story so far....
After a very long, tedious and sleepless flight I arrived in Lilongwe on Sunday lunchtime. My warm welcome back to Africa was spent at the luggage conveyor belt for over an hour hoping to see my suitcase sometime soon, after an while I noticed a billboard advertising phone top up cards, with the slogan "Call South Africa, its probably where your bags are!" But no, my luggage appeared, albeit with broken wheels and I was met by my new house mates, missionaries Jake and Jenn, a young couple from the US, who are working with There Is Hope for 3 years.
We drove to their house, passing scenes that felt familiar...overloaded lorries, women carrying large bundles of wood on their heads, men hanging out at the side of the roads selling all kinds of things – phone cards, fruit, papers, people begging at the car window as we stopped at traffic lights and piles of rubbish on the roadside, burning. The smell as well felt very familiar – there is a particular smell about Africa, I can’t describe it...a mixture of food, fire, sweat, heat, and i don't know what...odd but I like it!
We arrived at the house, where I met the other two guys staying there, Matt, Jakes brother and Rob, his friend. They are both involved with various voluntary jobs while they visit for a few months.
I have had a varied week, working in the office at There Is Hope, learning quickly how the organisation is run and what projects they are involved with at Dzaleka, the refugee camp. Innocent, the director of the org, and his wife Florisa who coordinates work tirelessly, their dedication is amazing to be around.
I have been given a couple of projects to work on, one working with Twisungane, a group of women with HIV/AIDS who have a chicken rearing business in the camp. There Is Hope have made them a chicken coop and are funding the first phase of the business. They have about 300 chicks so far, which they are rearing and when they are big enough will then sell to other refugees and local villages and businesses. I will be working with them to implement a simple way of keeping account of all their financial transactions.
I spent one day this week at Dzaleka, where I met with the ladies and the chicks and to deliver fresh bags of chick feed. The rest of the day I spent with another group, Umoja, an association of disabled refugees making greetings cards that they sell.
The camp is huge...it's like walking into a massive African village, there are no fences, no gates and people are going about their daily business...washing clothes, working in shops, making food...kids playing all over. There is nothing temporary about the camp, there are no white UN tents, but hundreds and hundreds of huts on 'streets', brick buildings, a school, a university and even a football field...and I only saw a small area of it.
There are about 15,000 refugees living there...one of the small refugee camps in Africa...most of the refugees are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burindi, Rawanda, and Ethiopia. During my afternoon spent with the Umoja group I was able to speak with one of the men who coordinates the group...most of the refugees don't speak English so obviously communication is limited. His story of his escape from his home in DRC and why he can't return, I'm sure is one like so many others - He now lives in the camp, with no close family and does not dare return to DRC until the troubles there are over....when or if that happens?
Over the next weeks I will be working more closely with the Twisungane women and a translator has been organised for me, so I will be able to communicate with the women and hear their stories too...I hope I can be strong enough for that.
I also hope to get a clearer picture of size of the camp and how it runs, I hope also to visit with some of the permanent organisations there, such as the UN, the Red Cross and the Jesuit Refugee Service.

The end of my week was spent playing with babies at a crisis nursery not far from where I live, most of the babies are orphans or from families who can't afford to support them. It was wonderful to have some play time and lots of cute baby cuddles!
Friday evening we all went out to a nice restaurant, where I drank some much needed beer!

My body clock has adjusted to African time quickly, up at 7am and exhausted and ready for bed by 10pm at the latest! June to August is winter here...its around 25 degrees so no deadly mosquito bites yet. We have booked a weekend at Liwonde National Park where will be staying at the Mvuu Camp and going on a couple of safari excursions...really looking forward to that.

Ooops, a lizard just ran down my bedroom wall....better go and investigate!!

more soon....x