tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47490843074651774062012-02-16T10:37:53.620-07:00Meet Ben -- a 27 year old not-so-average American doing a not-so-average thing -- spending 12 months doing AIDS prevention and education in Blantyre Malawi.Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.comBlogger151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-24345139819752768062008-11-01T16:43:00.007-06:002008-11-01T17:56:56.624-06:00

It has been over four months since I last updated this blog. So much has happened since that time. One of my personal mysteries of travel is the rate at which time occurs. I sat at a computer in Malawi four and half months ago and I felt both blessed and cursed with the idea that four more months remained before my departure and return to the United States.Well, here I am, sitting beside one of

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-60674325297730159532008-06-11T05:48:00.004-06:002008-10-18T23:01:47.221-06:00

The District Commissioner for Blantyre has his office in a governmental complex on the south-east side of the city (Remember that the District is like a small state for this country―something like a county to those of you in the U.S.). He and his associates handle concerns and requests that come in from both urban and rural populations. These concerns can range from funding for community

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-53696263940422448522008-04-10T03:11:00.010-06:002008-04-10T04:59:01.269-06:00

Last week I traveled up to Akidu’s field to meet with a Community Based Organization which he has been brainstorming with. The organization is called “Chimvano,” which I understand to be a Chichewa word for connection and communication. They are busy teaching life skills, providing local health-care, and a wide array of services to the areas in Group Mponda (surrounding villages). They wanted to

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-28130256438531284902008-03-07T02:17:00.002-07:002008-03-07T02:19:20.183-07:00

I've got a new Chichewa tutor. There's a neighborhood woman who has a little vegetable market set up a couple of blocks away from my home. In the morning and in the evening as I pass, she quizzes me (in Chichewa) about what she taught me the last time I walked by. I'm starting to grasp past, present and future tenses of verbs, as well as some basic sentence structure. All that she asks in

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-82423551079791094242008-02-08T06:32:00.000-07:002008-02-08T06:41:38.564-07:00

I'm listening through the window to the amplified song of a Muslim singer at noontime. There is a soft breeze carrying playground noises of school children in from up the road.I saw the guy with the asthma again. This time, I had no money to give him. I tried to teach him a yoga breathing excercise. He wasn't struggling nearly as much to breathe this time, but he wouldn't follow my lead. I

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-40840555478690477042008-01-22T00:45:00.000-07:002008-01-22T00:51:58.125-07:00

There was a meeting a couple of weeks ago with folks from a couple of different NGO's. Myself and Jong Soh attended. There were three members of a much smaller organization (The three who were at the meeting are the only staff-people of the organization, and one of them is going home to Switzerland tomorrow after a 2-year stay). The name of their project is: "boNGO," which stands for "Based

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-70236934025206473802008-01-04T07:22:00.000-07:002008-01-04T07:24:30.298-07:00

I can't believe it has been almost 3 weeks since I wrote a blog update. Time has begun to reach warp-speed. Next Friday will mark 2 months that I've been living here in Blantyre. Today, I'm going to tell you about my New Years celebration. Christmas was alright. Pretty lonely and homesick, but survivable. I've got my roommate here, and we can be homesick together when it gets to be that

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-66696410819307340022007-12-27T02:35:00.000-07:002008-01-04T05:24:59.734-07:00

This is Jong Soh, my teammate and roommate. We eat good. The food you are seeing is a fusion concept. Raw mangoes and pineapple together between us. For the main course, some kimchee (korean spicy cabbage), two different kinds of sauteed veggies (including greens and onions from our house garden), and rice with some soft-scrambled eggs. This meal cost us about one U.S. dollar each to purchase

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-46427735529046105722007-12-16T09:09:00.000-07:002007-12-16T07:30:05.185-07:00

The heads of state for Malawi just drove through downtown Blantyre. Lots of jeeps and off-road vehicles full of infantry men in full military gear filled the backs of the cabs. Big guns with intimidatingly wide barrels pointed out the back as flashy new luxury sports sedans with tinted windows cruised by in the siren-accompanied procession. Before they arrived, the city was silent for five

southendcbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17234631919906901823noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-85109070227067453292007-12-10T09:30:00.000-07:002007-12-10T18:41:05.014-07:00

check out the live interview with me and 3 Field Officers. Going on the air online at 3:00 in morning EST in Chichewa (I don't say much during that interview set), and at 4:00 in the morning EST in English.i'm a malawian radio star, yo!www.fm101.globemw.net

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-13652513523645363372007-12-08T09:04:00.000-07:002007-12-10T19:06:22.846-07:00

Yesterday, I went out on a field visit north of Lunzu. It was a part of a new initiative to recognize the efforts of the volunteers ("Passionates") that work side by side with the Filed Officers in the field. We will collect information about each Passionate, and then print up laminated I.D. cards for them to have with them as they advocate for their communities. I went to Innocent's field and

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-11883801430080400842007-12-02T08:25:00.000-07:002007-12-10T18:37:46.195-07:00

It is raining like crazy here. I'm happy to be sitting inside avoiding the torrent.A couple of weeks ago, I got on a mini-bus (our only source of public transportation) to go home from downtown Blantyre. I live in a little town called Chinyonga. It is sandwiched between Blantyre and Limbe--both sizable cities. We get squished into these busses. There are four to a row, and usually 5 rows not

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-13275356316788690202007-11-25T11:00:00.000-07:002007-12-10T17:41:19.777-07:00

i am sitting in my favorite little internet cafe in downtown blantyre. let me start by saying that the language is not chichew. that was a typo. it is chichewa. i'm learning the language slowly and loving it.also, to those of you (family and close friends) who expressed an interest in sending a package to me, please explore another postal carrier, besides DHL. It costs $35 just to send a

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-71454983622490556702007-11-17T12:00:00.000-07:002007-12-10T17:39:42.886-07:00

i'm not gonna mess with the capitalization in the emails sent from this particular keyboard, since there is only one shift key, and i find it slows me down. and while this is a cheap internet cafe, it still costs money.where to begin. well, let's start with the surreal expenses. an imported chocolate bar costs more then a u.s. dollar, but a soda costs 25 cents. a bus trip is never more than

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4749084307465177406.post-5666031766079986612007-11-13T17:36:00.000-07:002007-12-10T17:38:49.850-07:00

i'm writing you from an internet cafe in blantyre, malawi. blantyre is where myself and my cohort jong-soh will be living for the next 12 months. i'm sorry to leave you all hanging for the past couple of days. we didn't have internet access until just now. we will be coming into the heart of the city at least once a week, so you can count on more consistent communications from me as time goes

Benjihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06854535203329512598noreply@blogger.com0