Photos

I finally managed to find internet that would quickly upload photos. Here's a run down of them starting from the top.

1. This is the view from my back door--not kidding. I live in the foothills of northern Malawi and am about a mile high. Temperatures stay comfortable, even get cold, but unfortunately most fruits apart from bananas don't grow well around my village.

2. We wanted to celebrate Halloween during training, so trainees randomly drew each others' names. I obviously got stuck with a female volunteers name and happily imported the concept of drag to Malawai--which locals loved. The guy in the middle--with the hat, the glasses, and the short shorts drew yours truly. Nice thighs, yea.

3. During training, trainees lived with Malawian families. The home you see is my Malawian mother's place. It's a pretty typical home for Malawi with the mud brick walls, mud floors, and rusting tin roof. Grass thatched roofs are also common, but they cause all sorts of problems: chickens lay eggs in them, mice and rats call them home, and they can leak badly.

4. Volunteers went for a hike during off-time. Another volunteer and I (on the right) are on top of a rock outcropping in the central mountains of Malawi.

5. I love this photo. Older Malawians usually don't smile for photos and stand very stiffly, but children laugh, dance, and scream.

6. This is a photo of my Malawian family. The young boy in the front is my brother, Mike Chimkanda. He's a sixteen-year old sophomore who spent a lot of time leading me through Malawian culture when I first arrived. Behind him on the left is my mother, Amayi (meaning Mother) Chimkanda. Like most Malawian women, she works endlessly to keep the family going without receiving much gratitude.