I finally went to the bank today to wire money to Malawi. It’s my first time wiring money. I hope it arrives! I’m looking into other options for sending money. I’ve been told one can email a personal cheque. Does anyone know about this? Anyway, the money will pay for the 1.6 acres of land and we can soon get started on purchasing the maize seeds and preparing the land for planting.

On the weekend Mabvuto interviewed 4 ladies for the job of cook. He was impressed by 3 but they all demanded a higher salary than we are willing to pay. He offered the job to the ladies at the salary we have budgeted for and asked them to think about it and get back to him. Today a lady named Alice who is a single mother of a 4 year old accepted the job. Kelita, who was at work when Mabvuto arrived at the Day Care at 5:45 am, will once again have some assistance. I don’t think she needs assistance but I’m sure she’ll like the companionship. It is good to have two cooks in case one does not feel well or has other obligations. I hope Alice is as hard working as Kelita.

I’ve got many things to do.

Many of you have donated money in support of this project. Formal thank you notes are soon to come but in the mean time please accept this as a very sincere and appreciative thank you!

As I said I’m looking into options for getting money to Malawi. I hope only to have to send money in January and March. The rest, I’ll carry over with me in June.

I am also very interested in obtaining charitable status. I’ve got to find a lawyer or an accountant who knows where I should begin. I’ve looked online and the process seems very intimidating. It is definitely a priority that I need to get to.

I’ve got to get some photos printed and some sort of presentation ready to show people here. I want you all to see the people and places I write about.

The website will undergo some minor changes. Keep checking on it. Collin, Danielle and I will be discussing those changes in the next few weeks.

I also have to teach grade 1 and maintain some sort of life! Wow, it’s busy.

I wrote this note mostly just to say thank you to all who have offered emotional support. I love to hear that you’re reading the blog. It makes me feel good.

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

I’ve been back in Toronto for 9 days now. More seems to be happening in Malawi since I left than it did while I was there!

I wrote earlier that we decided to fire Maemory. We gave her two weeks notice which meant her last day of work would have been September 12. Unfortunately her work ethic continued to deteriorate
and I had to send her a message telling her to vacate her job immediately. On Monday, she failed to prepare breakfast for the children. In fact, she wasn’t even at the Day Care centre when the
children arrived for breakfast. Kelita was home sick with malaria. The following day Mabvuto went back to ensure things were running smoothly. He found Maemory sharing food with a friend and her
friend’s baby. I wrote to her telling her that the food is for the orphans not for her friends. Upon receiving this note Maemory told Mabvuto she’d go and take the issue up with the people at Social
Welfare. We both thought this was fine since the S.W. people don’t pay her salary and would be furious at her recent behaviour. They have very strict rules about how the centre should be run.

Meanwhile MP found two pieces of land for me. They are side by side and together total about 1.6 acres. This enough to grow maize, beans and build a small building to house the Day Care. I have not yet been able to send the money. I am trying to find the most economical and safe way to send cash to Malawi. Does anyone have any ideas?

Needless to say, I broke open my bottle of “Wild Africa” liquor last night. Grade 1, back from Africa… The need was great.

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

Since I’ve been back home things in Malawi have not slowed down. I’ve spoken to Mabvuto several times on the phone and he continues to do a great job of supervising the children and the cooks. One frustrating thing has proven to be my love of sleep set against the 6 hour time difference. I’ve received a few late night phone calls including one call at 3:00 am on the morning of the first day of school. The pace of life is much slower in malawi than here. Work expectations are far less demanding. The need for sleep is not quite as important to them as it is to me. Let’s face it, few have my need and love for sleep!

The late night phone calls were so that I could speak to the cook, Maemory. Maemory is the cook who I noticed had not been working very hard these past few weeks. It seems she arrived at 7:30 am on Monday to pick up the food for the week. Kelita was suffering from malaria and didn’t report for work that day. When Mabvuto told me the cook had shown up at that early hour I was confused. It takes 40 minutes to walk from the day care to his house and the children eat breakfast at 7:00. I wondered how she’d arrived so early.

After collecting as much as she could carry, Maemory asked Mabvuto if he planned to visit the day care that day. He told her he did not plan to visit. Later in the morning he decided he should go. Upon his arrival he found no one there. The cook was nowhere to be found and no children were hanging around as they usually did. Eventually Mabvuto found Maemory in her house preparing food. When he asked why she was preparing the food in her house she told him it was because her husband was sick and she was caring for him.

The children eventually appeared and collected their lunches. They ate at the Day Care building. Mabvuto asked them if they had eaten breakfast. They said they had come but no one was there so they went to school with no food. During my middle of the night phone conversation with Maemory I asked her why she had not prepared breakfast. She told me it was because there was no flour left. I
was surprised and angry to hear this. We have never run out of flour in the past. Why now? Why had she not told Mabvuto when he was there on Friday? Why had she not come early in the morning or over the weekend to collect more maize?

After some reflection it was decided that Maemory should be fired. She was given two weeks notice and will cease working for us on September 12. We have suspected all along that she and her family
are helping themselves to our supplies. Last week when we showed up unexpectedly she couldn’t find the cups. They had been scattered among several houses. The charcoal is disappearing far more quickly than it should and Kelita advised us to take the salt to Mabvuto’s house as she suspected Maemory and her family of using it for their own cooking.

I feel bad having to fire this young lady but her work ethic has been poor from the beginning. It may look like sour grapes for the deceit she and her family pulled on me earlier in the summer. I tried hard
to be objective and give her many chances to prove herself but if the Social Welfare officials saw her preparing food in her home and learned that she didn’t prepare breakfast, I’d be reprimanded.

I’m the one who wanted to hire Maemory. Mabvuto and the man from S.W. liked Kelita. I guess I should trust their judgement!

Oh well, it’s all about learning.

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

It seems I’ve been deceived. The story is somewhat complicated but I’ll try to explain.

During my first week in Malawi I met with Mrs. Chatuluka, the Chairperson of the Community Based Organization. I explained to her my plans and the rationale for my project. She was very supportive and appeared to be a wealth of knowledge. Of course, I was quite happy to have her on my side since she knows the villages and the families. We asked her to select 9 orphans, one from each of the villages served by the C.B.O. Mabvuto told her not to choose all of her relatives.

A few days after meeting Mrs. Chatuluka we met the 9 guardians of the selected children. One of the guardians in particular impressed me. He is a man by the name of Nelson who told me he supports 9 children none of whom are his relation.

A few more days passed and Mrs. Chatuluka presented us with 5 young ladies to interview for the two cook positions. I was impressed by Maemory’s confidence and decided to hire her along with Kelita.

This week we were chatting with Maemory and found out that she is Mrs. Chatuluka’s daughter. I was surprised to learn of this but not upset. Mrs. Chatuluka has been good to us. Further discussions revealed that Nelson, the guardian who had so impressed me, is Maemory’s husband. It seems that the two of them are caring for one of my orphans, Mayamiko. Mayamiko has a very sad story and I’d most likely have taken her in if I’d know the truth about who was her guardian.

I feel we have been taken advantage of. Mrs. Chatuluka is being paid K3000/month to supply vegetables and another K500 for charcoal. Her daughter, who stays with her, is drawing a alary of K3000/month and her “grand-daughter” is coming to Itatu for 10 meals each week, plus a school uniform and school supplies.

I spoke to Maemory and Nelson and told them both that I was insulted by their deception. I told them That I’d been impressed by both of them upon first meeting them. I assured them that at this time Mayamiko will be allowed to continue coming for meals but I will be watching closely for further deception.

I felt bad because at the same time this information came to light I noticed that Maemory does not do her share of the work in cooking and cleaning. I have decided to speak to her and remind her of her job duties. I will remind her that she is on probation until the end of September at which time her job performance will be reviewed. On the other hand, I’ve decided to lift Kelita’s probation because every visitor I’ve had at Itatu has noted her hard work and dedication.

I’ve also commissioned someone else from the village to supply us with daily vegetables for K2000 a month. This is a savings of about $7.50 which can be used for something else for the children. Mrs. Chatuluka is not upset by this. I think she found it difficult to get the vegetables to the children each day.

I know in the long run the deception done to me has caused no harm. I am helping a family which was part of my goal here. I just wish I’d been aware of how much I was helping one family.

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

A few days ago we ate dried fish for dinner. It tasted quite good. That night when I went to sleep I felt a strange feeling in my chest. It felt as if some of the fish had not been digested. It hurt especially when I was lying on my back. I assumed the discomfort would pass. In the morning I found the feeling was still there and that when I swallowed food it caused me a lot of pain. The pain actually went from my chest to my neck and into my ear. I’ve never experienced indigestion or heartburn so I don’t know if this is what was happening. Today the feeling is still there. I find that I must drink a lot of water with every thing I eat. If I don’t, I feel as if I am swallowing pebbles.

I decided to get some antacid or some sort of stomach medicine. In order to do this I had to visit a private health clinic. The clinic was very clean and the people were very friendly. When I stepped into the office I saw the name plate indicating the name “Confidence.” This made me laugh but I later discovered the man treating me was only filling in for “Confidence.” My caregiver’s name was Vincent. He gave me antibiotics and told me that perhaps the dust had caused some kind of infection. I don’t believe this to be the cause of the pain. I think it is a muscle problem. If the pain is still there upon my return home I’ll go to a doctor and have it checked. I’m sure a Canadian doctor will also just prescribe some medicine and not determine the cause.

On my way out of the clinic I decided to use the toilet. I assumed it would be clean because the rest of the place was clean. I was right. It was very clean. Unfortunately, there was no toilet paper or soap. I wonder if they think ithis is promoting good health.

It was definitely an experience. The medicine along with colnsultation cost me about $#. I guess it was worth it!

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