Harvest time, end of my time

The past week has found me cluing up my internship and my International Project Management Program post-grad certificate. It has been exciting, challenging and a little sad, but all in a good way.

As I mentioned before I arranged for the donor site visit to coincide with the harvest – a double whammy event. The coordinating went fairly well, even though the fisheries officer had to attend a funeral in Mzuzu and only returned the evening beforehand. Which left me to do all the groundwork, including going to the jail to get the fishing net. I’ve never been to a jail before in Canada (unless you count the jailhouse hostel in Ottawa), let alone one in a developing country. As a young azungu woman, it was awkward to walk up to the warden’s office amongst the chain gang that were being led by a guard who was holding a really big gun (I don’t know the difference between AK47s and other types). But it was OK. Chao bwino. The warden was really nice and did not have a problem loaning me their net. While I waited I played bawo with the prison guards and they were very impressed that I could play the game. Good times at the jail. Oh man.

It never fails to amaze me how strange the government works here. For example, our law-abiding poverty stricken beneficiaries do not get a fishing net. The govt fisheries dept does not have a fishing net. But the prison gets a net. Apparently the govt wants the jail to be self-sufficient so tax paying citizens don't have to pay money out to them. So they get all the necessary supplies to run a permaculture. They have a fishpond, rabbit hutch and veggie gardens. I mean, sure this is a great idea but why do only the criminals get this support??
Anyway, moving on...

The donor was supposed to meet with us at 9am however they called twice as they were delayed and didn’t arrive until 11:30am. By the time we got to the first site, Luweya, it was 12:30pm, the hottest time of the day. And only one of the two sites we had to harvest. Sigh. In Malawi I'm constantly finding myself 'hurrying up and waiting’.

Besides all that, the visit went really well. Everybody was in high spirits. It seemed like the entire village came out to either participate or watch. The harvests didn’t produce as much fish as I would have liked, but that just goes to show how much my training workshops were needed here. Hopefully when the new skills are implemented over the coming months and years they will reap greater rewards.

Besides viewing the event, the donor wanted to see if their money (training workshops) was well spent. We all sat down to talk and Jacob, the director of Wusc-Malawi, asked the beneficiaries many questions regarding what they learned and what they planned to change in the future. I was really pleased that they could respond well. They were able to explain how they learned proper feeding technique (when to feed and what to feed) and now understood spawning (how could we ever forget my fish sex talk?!). All the stakeholders, myself especially, were so happy to see that the knowledge was retained and the villagers themselves outlined future plans. Yay!! Although it’s too early to tell if the project will be a success, all the signs thus far are encouraging.

Ending my work placement with the harvests at Luweya and Magunditsa villages was especially important to me personally. Of all villages I’ve worked with I’ve felt the strongest connection with these. They named me Najere, and have always warmly welcomed me with song and dance. I remember during my workshops I asked them if they really expected me to return after I did my initial needs assessment in July. The village head-lady said they didn’t expect to see me again. I was just another azungu blowing in and out. They were so happy when I returned for the workshops. They certainly didn’t expect me to visit again and bring them a harvesting net. It was a great feeling to have seen them through. As I’ve said so many times before, I only wish that I could be there to help guide them through the next production cycle and to share more meals of Nsima in their village. I already miss them. It makes me sad to think I won’t see them again. But who knows what the future holds?

This marks the end of my internship. My last day is Friday Nov 7. I’ve spent the last few days in wrap up meetings and writing final reports. I have now sent all the documents needed to finish my work placement. This also included my post-placement report for the IPMP certificate! Its strange - you work so hard to finish a course and a project, give it your all, and when you actually reach the end it feels both great and empty. The past year of my life has been so focused on the IPMP course that now that I’ve actually finished it and Rupen has put my certificate in the mail, I feel a little lost. I’ve reached that point where I’ve left the nest and I need to fly, fast!

It’s been a great experience working here in Malawi. The opportunities to further practice my aquaculture development skills, and the experience of working with my beneficiaries. I know its cliché to say how the people have changed me, but its true. I like to think it was a 2-way street.

So what’s next for Najere? There are a couple cool things on the horizon. I am heading up to Nkhata Bay (again) on Saturday to do my DiveMaster course. What better place then in Africa in the warm clear waters of Lake Malawi?! Beats freezing my butt off in Canada at the moment. This should keep me busy for the next few weeks. After that I fly up to Nairobi so that I can spend a couple weeks in Kenya before flying home for the holidays. What the New Year will bring for me, only time will tell. In the meantime I still plan blog and keep you in the loop about the next stage of my adventure. I’m off to the lake; anybody is welcome to meet me there!! Cheers.