Member Jan Snyder Journal update
Jambo House, Blantyre Thursday, July 5, 2007
Another full day with many pleasing outcomes. I was up early and took a taxi for my appointment with the Dean of the University of Malawi Polytechnic Campus (student population of approximately 2500). He is Dr. N.T. Ben and he asked Mr. W.B.J. Maruwo—Head of Mechanical Engineering—to join us. I provided recent magazines published by ASU’s Fulton College of Engineering (Full Circle) and described the proposed collaborations between ASU and their campus. This idea would involve students and faculty of each campus visiting the counterpart campus. However, there is also the element of student and faculty collaboration via the Internet. For instance, when I described the Disabled Malawian project, Mr. Maruwo suggested that their students could work with the ASU bioengineering students through the year as the designs materialize. Ultimately, students here in Blantyre can contribute in terms of designs and follow the designs to build their versions of the devices as the students at ASU do theirs. Vin Pizziconi should like this idea as it can serve to enrich the students’ experiences a great deal. Idea exchanges on designs and progress in development can be done through photographs being attached to email messages between students.
Mr. Maruwo, who has a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering, immediately thought about doing a Ph.D. through ASU’s, “Anyplace/Anytime” program. We left Dr. Ben’s office and talked more specifically about current and, potentially, future projects. I showed the Ntichi Well Repair video and explained the idea we have to develop borehole repair franchise enterprises for Malawians with Ox carts. We also discussed the solar generated underground refrigeration idea and he voiced desire to seek funding to develop such a design. I will have to pair him with Terry Alford in the School of Materials as Terry has interest in this project as well. Maruwo and I also spent some time on the topic of the solar cookers. I was able to share photos of the cookers and the bioengineering students with their devices that are now being shipped to Lilongwe. I should add that Mr. Maruwo would like to have his students participate in the reassembly of the devices when they get to Lilongwe. He felt he could arrange to transport them the 300+ km to do that.
All of these ideas will be shared with the Engineering faculty in an upcoming meeting. Even as I met other department heads, copies of the ASU ‘Full Circle’ magazine were on their desks. News had traveled fast.
After three hours at the Polytechnic Campus my taxi returned to pick me up. On a hunch, I had him drop me at the PAMET paper making facility where Clarice, I, and the family (minus Shane) visited in 2004. This facility is operated by a nonprofit Malawian organization. They exist as an educational enterprise and make paper products out of recycled paper, leaves and elephant dung. I had the thought that they might be willing to train the villagers to develop a like enterprise in the village near Lilongwe if we choose to place the school for girls and women there. My reception, first by Jamer Stanley and then the Executive Director, Moses Binali, was as I had hoped. They can train the villagers such that they would be able to make the same quality of paper products over a period of a month. There would not be a great cost since they are nonprofit and exist, in part, to do just that. They have trained other groups of Malawians and will provide necessary information on required equipment. The villagers would need to stay in homes in the area that could be rented for the month. What is now necessary is to take this idea back to the village and speak with the chief as well as McDonald’s aunt. I feel in being relatively near Lilongwe, we could create a paper-recycling program as a source of materials. Elephant dung, maybe from South Lilwanga National Park in Zambia although that is a bit of a distance and they might not like to have anything—even dung—removed. We will have to work on that one but all other materials will be readily available.
After having experienced two successful meetings, I thought I might try for a third but it was dumb luck that brought me success this next time. I knew there was a Rotary Club in Blantyre, as I had looked it up on the Internet prior to my departure. However, I was not sure of the date or the location. So I went to the Mt. Soche Hotel where the Jambo Africa Office (a Tour company that owns Jambo House) is located. As I walked through the front door of this rather exclusive hotel, I saw a Rotary Club sign to indicate a scheduled lunchtime meeting. In fact, the meeting had started only a few minutes earlier and I quickly located the room and walked in. A presentation was in progress and the man who was speaking stopped to greet me with a very friendly welcome. I was immediately asked to introduce myself and identify my affiliation. Seconds later, I had a plate in my hand and was invited to join them in an excellent meal. One person who sat at my table, Mrs. Yasmin Maru—who has a sign making business—saw to it that my meal was paid for before I knew what was going on.
For those not familiar with Rotary Club, the typical formality for visiting members is to present a banner that is specific for their home club. I had one in my backpack and, at the designated time, exchanged my banner with theirs. This banner exchange is the third that I have been able to do on this trip and the second this week.
There were the typical questions about my reasons for being in Malawi and there was some genuine interest in the fact that we have a number of projects. There were a few women in the club and they spoke to me, later, in passing about the school idea. Yasmin Maru asked how long I was to be in Blantyre and what I had planned before my return to Lilongwe (tomorrow, July 6th being a holiday to celebrate Malawian Independence). I told her I had plans to take a minibus to see Mt. Mulange and she offered to drive me along with her husband who was seated next to her. I expressed my sincere appreciation of the offer and she indicated that it would be a good thing to do on the holiday. Mt. Mulange is the highest peak in Malawi and, even at that, sits very near Mozambique. In my two prior visits to Malawi, I have not had opportunity to see that area and welcome the opportunity to do so. Not having to ride in the minibus is certainly a bonus as well. We arranged for them to stop by to pick me up in the morning and I look forward to the day to enjoy the sights and discuss our projects with Mr. and Mrs. Maru.
The day’s events were not over even then as before I left the Rotary Club meeting, another gentleman came up to introduce himself. Perry Gollo is a citizen of the UK but lives much of the time in Blantyre. He was born in South American by parents who are descendants of African slaves. He moved to the UK sometime in his youth and eventually gained his citizenship. He has worked for the UK Government in the diplomatic corp. and is a member of a Rotary Club. He has traveled quite a lot in his work and came to Malawi due to his work. He grew to enjoy the area and, upon retirement, decided he wanted to do something for the people.
Perry described his ‘Market Project’ and showed an album that displayed pictures of current conditions in the Blantyre Market—certainly as poor as that in Lilongwe —and plans he has to improve them. Women come to the Market each day to sell vegetables as that is their only means for any sort of income. They must bring their children and, with them, suffer from the heat and rain in the summer and cold air in the winter. We shared many thoughts and exchanged contact information. Perry will have a website developed soon and will share the URL via email when it is ready. I thought we might consider posting a link to his project on our own when ours is up and running.
After my time with Perry, I returned to Jambo House to begin to write and have dinner. Stephen, the cook, is excellent and I find the meals here both reasonable in cost and proportion, as they are excellent in quality. When I came in to the house, there was a fellow sitting near the front door working with his laptop on email. As it turns out, the wi fi device is next to the front door and it is best to sit close so messages—especially those like mine that tend to have attachments—go out easier if one sits close to the wi fi.
After dinner, I continued to write this letter and eventually a balding, grey-haired man sat down to eat (the best place to write is at one of the tables in the dinning room). He has a grey beard with side burns and looks rather like a shorter Shawn Connery. This man did not speak to me at the time but, later, came out to ask if I knew where there were blankets since it is cold here at night. I helped him search, unsuccessfully, for blankets while the conversation continued. He, as it turns out, is the Chargé d’ Affaires of France in Malawi. He speaks with a strong French accent, of course, but over the next couple of hours we had a great conversation about Malawi and the people. Of course, I eventually spoke of some of our projects and showed the video on the well repair, which he found interesting. He told me of a man he knows that lives in Zomba, Malawi, and was once the Director of the World Bank, Agriculture Division. Daniel Zeldine—my new acquaintance’s name—felt this person would like to learn more about what we are doing and he invited me to contact him when I get back into Lilongwe. The two-hour conversation was interesting enough but who knows where this lead will go.
The hour is late and I need to send this message and then go to bed.
Jan
Recent Comments