English is the official language in Malawi but it is a second or third language for everyone here. Often communication is difficult and sometimes amusing. Here are a few Malawian English phrases I hear regularly:

• If someone wants to borrow something from you they will say, “Can you borrow me…?”
• If someone wants you to share your food they will demand, “Share me your biscuits.”
• If someone has eaten enough they will tell you, “I’m enough.”
• Often they interchange “r” and “l” which can lead to confusion like the time we were about to eat our dinner and my friend asked me to “play” for them. It took me about 2 minutes and lots of questions before I realized he wanted a prayer.
• Women are called “sister,” or “mama” or “Madam.”
• Men are called “bwana” (boss) or “bambo” (father).
• Yes is “ay” and NO is “”eye.” It took me a long time to learn which was which.
• Instead of asking me to teach them a Malawian might say “learn me.”
• At the end of a statement, when looking for agreement, a Malawian will say “Isn’t it?” Sometimes this is the right use of the phrase but often it is not. Often it is used in place of doesn’t it, shouldn’t it, doesn’t he/she, won’t it? It is a catch all phrase. “Francis is improving in his reading, isn’t it?”
• Girlfriends, wives and mistresses are referred to as “wife.”
• Often I see written, “He came at the hospital for treatment.”
• If someone is picking you up to take you somewhere they are “collecting you.”
• If you are moving residences you are “shifting.”
• The Malawians don’t get directions to your house, instead they will call you for a map.
• When you are new to a house the owner will show you the “geography of the house.”

Tags: itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi, orphan care

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I have begun to read a book entitled, “Half the Sky” which is about the oppression of women and girls around the world. The Malawians who are involved with Itatu will be very happy that I am reading this book.

After reading only the introduction I called Azikiwe and told him that we must raise the salaries of the cooks.

To be fair, they have not had a raise since their probationary periods were finished 18 months ago. For now, I will raise their salaries by k500 each, about $3.50 a month. Although this sounds like little, it is an increase of about 15%.

Further into the book I read a passage in which the author asked a child if she drinks milk. The child apparently looked at him with a puzzled expression and told him milk is for babies and of course she’d had it, from her mother. I then realized that my kids don’t drink milk. It is too expensive for their caregivers. As a result, we are now giving them warm milk with their tea three days a week. Obviously this isn’t ideal. They should have milk daily but this is a start.

We own property which, at this point, sits idle. Azikiwe has started some seedlings which will be planted around the perimeter of the property. Eventually we will have papaya, avocado, peach and b banana trees. The children will be able to have fresh fruit when it is in season, which they rarely get now because it is not seen as a staple.

The fruit that is not eaten by the children can be sold at the local market to off-set some of our costs.

Within the next 18 months we would like to build two structures. The first will be a classroom/dining room for the children. The second will be a simple servant’s quarters. Unfortunately crime is very high in Malawi. Buildings left unattended will be vandalized. Burglars will take the iron sheets from the roof, the frames from the windows and anything else they can remove. It is necessary here to hire guards to protect buildings after hours.

The idea of hiring guards just to watch an almost empty building doesn’t sit well with me. I understand the need I just think that if we have guards they should be doing more than just guarding a classroom. I want to get my money’s worth out of them.

We decided that instead of hiring guards and paying them a monthly salary we would build a small house.

We will advertise the house for rent in and around the village. The people who choose to rent it will be able to live there for free but will act as the guards. Ideally we want a husband and wife. Most likely the wife will be home during the day to make sure things are ok after the cooks and children have gone home.

We will build a chicken coop and get 20 laying hens. The children can then eat eggs three times a week. The remaining eggs can be sold, like the fruit, at the local market. Presently we spend about $20 a month on eggs. The eggs will be free and the money from the sale of the remaining eggs should help pay for the chicken feed. The chickens will be safe because there will be a family living on the property.

These are lofty goals which will require cash investments but I think they will serve the children well in the long run. We estimate that the total cost of building the two structures will be less than $2500.

The initial investment may be big but in the end I think we will be able to make Itatu better and more self-sufficient.

Tags: itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi

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