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Mwaswera bwanji ! ("Good afternoon", in Chichewa, the language of Malawi). Sorry for having an update sent out earlier for just a photo album, and for having updates a little bit out of order -- but the internet is either non-existent or sketchy in most areas here, but I've located a great spot this afternoon. Surprisingly, I was able to upload the newest video production, featuring Haley & I with our high adventure action in Cape Town, South Africa. Check it out, Haley likes this video the most.
Video #3: South Africa https://vimeo.com/226904958
Video #2: Philippines: https://vimeo.com/226474660
Video #1: Thailand & Myanmar: https://vimeo.com/225094016
(all videos, the password is harrakavideos )
Haley & I have arrived back in Lilongwe, Malawi after crossing the border by land to Zambia, for a 2 day safari in the South Luangwa National Park. It was our first safari for both of us, and it went quite well. Of the 3 game drives, our first one was the best, with just about every single large animal coming out to greet us. From elephants, giraffes, hippos (the largest concentration of hippos in all of Africa), leopards, warthogs, wilderbeasts, zebras, and lions, they were all out and in their natural habitat. For us, 3 game drives was enough, and after seeing each of the species, the excitement wore down a little bit, and it became more a matter of the behavior rather than seeing the animal. Speaking of behavior, see if you notice any photo in the album that doesn't fit !! It's something I requested our guide, Godfried, to find for me, but I had to revert to the internet for such a spectacular find.
Malawi is where we will spend the next 2 weeks, as we volunteer at the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. I've had some nice conversations with a few locals here in Malawi, some very genuine people here, very concerned about the future of their country that they love so much. It's the 6th poorest country of the 195 countries in the world. The past president has stated "Malawi as a country is not poor, it's the people that are". Interesting statement. The country has some extensive natural resources, but suffers from an extremely low education level and extremely high corruption index. In fact, 30% of the children in rural areas do not even start primary school at all, nevermind actually continuing through secondary school or university. Only 7% of the population in Malawi have access to electricity, and 43% have access to clean water. Thus, the diseases are more widespread, and naturally, the healthcare system is poor and antiquated with 20-30 year old technology. And consistent with these troubling statistics, the average life expectancy here is a mere 55 years old. A huge 10.8% of the population here are HIV positive, going back to the huge problem with educating the people.
We are on anti-malarial pills, as the region definitely has malaria -- one of the local male staff members contracted malaria a couple weeks ago. And at the Zambia border, we saw government notifications and warnings about the ebola virus, mostly in general about the precautions and symptoms for general awareness. A news release states that an outbreak of ebola is in effect in Congo, on the border of Central Africa. Scary stuff, as this is the same virus from the Hollywood movie Outbreak, but not near where we are. They are very careful to bring awareness though.
Lilongwe Wildlife Centre
The Wildlife Centre was set up in 2008 as LWT's first project to offer a lifeline to these wild animals in distress, saving the lives of individual animals and wherever possible releasing them back in the wild where they belong. It's not a zoo, and there are minimal cages -- rather, the animals that are in rehabilitation or care here are kept in very large enclosures that closely mirror their natural habitat. Feel free to see more about the centre here:http://www.lilongwewildlife.org/programmes/rescue-rehabilitation/lilongwe-wildlife-centre/
The housing facilities are very minimalist here (pictures in the album), and FAR from the accomodations we had in Cape Town. The cool air goes right through the luxury "chalet" (that I paid an upgrade for) walls made of bamboo, and the water is so full of iron that it leaves nice stains on the sink & toilet and is probably not safe to drink. I'm not taking chances by drinking the local water, but I suppose if I did I wouldn't need my multi-vitamins with all the iron in the water, once I got past the metallic taste.
There are crazy monkeys everywhere, not just in the enclosures, but running free around the property all over, making noise at all hours. But it's not about the luxury, sights, or tourism now. In fact, one with a reasonable mindset might ask, "why the @*#*&# are you doing this again?" Most know that I'm not as big of an animal lover as some, but rather, I'm here to support Haley and encourage her to branch out to amazing experiences within her field of interest. Haley is a 4th year university student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as an Animal Science major, and in her 2nd week here she will be with 5 Graduate veterinary students for a specialty Wildlife Veterinary Course here at the centre, run by the resident veterinarian. And it's not to say she couldn't do it by herself, and I know she can - she's quite mature and independent. I guess that I want to be a part of these sort of experiences -- you only live once !
There are 10 volunteers in total right now, and each day we have a different schedule of different duties and rotations. They range from animal feedings (for all animals from monkeys, to antelopes, to lions, to crocodiles, and many others), to an orphan care center, enclosure cleaning, behavior observation, building projects, adult literacy intervention, and child wildlife education intervention. We'll work 6 days a week for the 2 weeks, and there'll be lots of diversity. The other volunteers that were just leaving have stated they each enjoyed it thoroughly, and wished they spent more time here. Haley is fitting in very well, and she's the same age as virtually everyone here. It's me that's the old guy, with an age range of 18-25, and just one other guy, all girls --but I don't care, I manage to fit in the best I can. Most everyone is either a graduate veterinary student or undergrad animal science student, and then there's me -- I describe myself as a "nothing" when it comes to animals -- I'm just here to work and support the cause -- keep me busy and I'll do a good job. The staff has already talked to me about a couple projects they have in mind for me, with some building and construction involved.
We're going vegetarian for 2 weeks -- no meat in any of the food offered here. Unlike Malaysia's volunteer program we did, they have 2 guys that do the cooking here and it's all vegetarian. I was thinking of going for it anyways, even if it was a choice, and fit in with the other young vegetarians, vegans, and tree-huggers . Why not, it's good for you anyways, and we probably consume too much meat anyways.
So, here we go, the long awaited volunteer experience in Malawi is here. We're "roughing it" one could say, but who cares . . . it's about the real experiences with new friends from USA and the UK, all with similar interests: to learn more about caring for wildlife, to meet local Malawi people, and to experience a real-life wildlife rescue/rehabilitation center.
Goodbye for now, from Lilongwe, Malawi !!!
Robert & Haley
- comments
Cindy Everman An Amazing Adventure!! Love the video! Connor had some amazing stories to share with us. We can't wait to have Haley back here at the Everman home so we can hear all her stories too!
Rosanna Harraka Great video (again) Robert!! I think Haley is in her natural element with all the adventures you two have done there. The pictures say a lot too. Stay safe and enjoy the rest of the trip.