Tobi's Files

"History will absolve me" -Fidel Castro Me: Uli ndi zaka zingati ndipo uli standard chani? (How old are you and what grade are you?) Him: Ndili ndi zaka 14 ndipo ndili mu standard 5. (I am aged 14 and I am in grade 5) Me: Umatha kuwerenga? (Can you read?) Him: Chichewa ndimatha koma Chingerezi ndimayesela . (I can read Chichewa but I struggle with English)             T ake yourself several years back. Try to recall how you learned how to read and write while attending congested and underfunded public primary schools. If you are a Malawian, you are aware that learning how to read and write was a multilevel struggle. If Chichewa was not your mother tongue, the battle to acquire literacy skills started with learning how to understand and speak Chichewa. Having grasped a good oral command of Chichewa, you knew that your journey to literacy had more miles ahead of it. You had to learn how to read and write Chichewa and then transition to English. Learning t

"Usually (villagers) know exactly what the (stranger) wants to hear them say, and they say it in the exact manner that the (stranger) expects them to say it. And by listening to these (villagers) the problem never gets solved, it only gets worse" -Malcolm X In my previous post, I promised to inform you the progress of my principal project that I am implementing in Likoswe village, as a CorpsAfrica volunteer. Without wasting lines, let's head straight into the thick of it: Context: A microcosm of villages in Malawi, Likoswe village is grappling with a number of typical pressing development needs. Food insecurity, high school dropout, low income generation , lack of local initiative to solve communal problems, early marriages, adult illiteracy, entitlement to external assistance, disorganized leadership, unavailability of sources of clean water, high unemployment...you name it. These problems, which are inter-woven, are all prevalent in Likoswe village. Obviously, t

"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 can. If you're interested, see to it that you check this page , 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.' He spoke zero English and I speak zero French nor Arabic. But through sign language, we became buddies. Definitely, a highlight.  Anyway, today I have decided to f

" We are not here to take part. We are here to take over" -Conor McGregor I am writing this piece while seated on the veranda of my tiny house, having returned from Kanje market where I, together with three senior members of the Village X committee, had gone to purchase mphasa (a traditional mat made from reeds). Unimpressed with the quality of mphasa that we had found, we got back empty handed and we have resolved to return to the market on Thursday - another market day at Kanje. Hopefully, we will be able to find top quality mphasa then. Not Good Enough: the three mphasa that we found at the market. The September equinox , which falls on September 22, is the day when the sun crosses the Equator heading toward the Southern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere, this marks the official beginning of "summer" season. But, see, here in Malawi, which is roughly located midway between the Equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, we don't necessarily use

"knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do " - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe "A scared dog barks to pretend to its master but a brave dog bits to protect him" - An African Proverb July 2016 marked the midway of my service and now being August, I am looking at 5 more months before I pack my belongings and move on with my life. To add flavor to the halfway landmark of our service, CorpsAfrica Malawi held a Mid Service Training (MST), which was particularly intended to help volunteers to reflect systematically on their individual experiences this far and prepare each one of us to finish in the strongest way possible. For more information on MST and what it meant to be there, check out Deborah's and Tusa's blog entries. Otherwise, in addition to the jolly that came with this precious reunion, our resolve as a group and as individuals was tested in an unforeseen way but I am glad that we continue to march on as a group with

"What do people do when they appear not to be doing something?" - Paul Theroux Now that I claim to be fully inured in my community, a few friends have been bugging me to describe common shenanigans on a typical day here in Chiradzulu. As a gentleman with a penchant of offering succinct answers, responding to this question comes out as an onerous task given that the intensity of my daily schedule varies for various reasons (maybe a topic for a different day). There are weeks when I feel like I have a lot on my plate and there are weeks when I feel absolutely under-worked. For a guy who prefers to be occupied most of the time, slow days have stood out as the biggest challenge here. During the first few months, I spent my slow days sitting on my veranda with a sullen face, watching days wear off. But when it hit me that hectic days are not a daily occurrence here, I decided to devise and keep an eye for activities that I could spice up my slow days.  So here we go. Since,

"A country that does not know how to read and write is easy to deceive." - Che Guevara Illiteracy remains one of the major impediments of socio-economic development in Africa, and Malawi in particular. In a globalized world economy where technology continues to play a central role, inability to read and write neutralizes an individual's effort to attain meaningful personal improvement, and molds disempowered citizens. Disempowerment, in this case, occurs because illiteracy undermines an individual's capacity to fathom and contribute positively toward the development of their community and country. For this reason, as posited by several academicians, it is important that individual African countries should galvanize their efforts toward addressing their current worrying literacy statistics.  Before 1994, when the Malawi government introduced free primary education, access to education was a far-fetched dream to the majority of underprivileged Malawians. This

My immersion in Likoswe village continues to unfold in a relative positive manner. With time, I have began to feel senses of belonging and acceptance, which - I have been told - are crucial ingredients for a successful service. In recent weeks, for instance, I have noted that the number of residents that have embraced the courage to greet me affectionately has increased tremendously compared to the past two months! This is adorable and encouraging. Interestingly, people here call me "Mr. Limbani," so keep that in mind in case you come looking for me. Development work: In relation to my community and my identity as a CorpsAfrica Volunteer, a few remarkable developments have occurred since my last post. Allow me to give you a detailed account of things that have transpired in the past few weeks that relate to what this blog stands for. First, from 12 - 15 April, all 12 current CorpsAfrica Malawi Volunteers and the entire CorpsAfrica staff assembled in Blantyre for CorpsAf

March 26, 2016 marked my one month stay in Chiradzulu. Though far from perfect, my stay in rural Chiradzulu has been remarkable to say the least. The past 30+ days have exposed me to diverse social nuances that continue to challenge - and in the process, deepen - my comprehension of the dynamics of life in Likoswe village. In relation to my service as a CorpsAfrica volunteer, a few salient reflections are in order. So far, I have attended 4 community gatherings (I organized 2 of the 4 meetings) and generally speaking, all 4 meetings were fruitful in a sense that I noticed elements of raw desire for progress in most of the attendants. The zeal to initiate change has been visible during all 4 meetings. For example, during one of the meetings that I organized, a lady named Mrs. Ellen Chikuse gave an assurance that the residents of Likoswe village have the ability to work as a unit when solving collective problems. " Achimwene, anthu a mwa Likoswe sititengela pamgong'o ntchito z

"We would be out of our minds, we would actually be traitors to ourselves, to be reluctant or fearful to identify with people with whom we have so much in common" - Malcolm X Hello! My name is Limbani Kamanga AKA  Ada Kamanga and I am one of the 12 pioneering CorpsAfrica  volunteers in Malawi. As you may know, CorpsAfrica has recently expanded to Malawi and Senegal in its continued effort to address development challenges in rural African communities using local human resource, particularly the youth. I am excited to be a part of this initiative. Through this blog, I will be publishing monthly updates on the progress of various development endeavors that I, in my capacity as a CorpsAfrica volunteer, and the residents of my site in collaboration with CorpsAfrica's development partners, will be initiating throughout the course of my service. I hope this blog will captivate your interest and that you will feel the need not only to peruse my posts but also to contribut