Humans vs nature: here we work with nature

As the clock past the hour of 4 I quickly escaped the Sam’s Village work site.  I cycled to a friend’s house, started on the main road but my intuition and curiosity made me take the smaller footpaths to the left. I was unsure, continued and got slightly lost and this was definitely my idea of fun! I finally stopped as I needed some reassurance; was I on the correct path? After the Malawi standard greeting, a lady farming told me to continue straight ahead. ‘Straighti, straighti’. With her exaggerated hand signaling and the Chichewa word which clearly originated from English but putting an ‘i’ on the end: I was confident, happy and cycled further. I soon came to recognise the borehole and wash basin next to the plantation of banana trees. Luckily the fruit thrives off the washing soap powder as it is a natural pesticide and the circle of life goes round. There were a group of kids playing next to the house, and no adults around. I knocked and the oldest kid of the group explained Martin, my work mate, was over in the fields.  The oldest one led me over to him and the other children all huddled and followed me in a group behind. 

 

As I descended down through past the football pitch I found all of the adults dotted around the waterlogged fields. Everyone was planting seeds. They all greeted me, excited to see me and signaled explaining I must put my bike down.  Martin rushed over and gave me a tour. I was impressed with the categories of plants and the linear structures that channeled to the man-made shallow well. People had dug down to find the water table so they could lift and spread the water with a rope and bucket to irrigate the dry land. It was only a few weeks until the rainy season began. The wind had picked up and one rain had already fallen in Lilongwe at the end of October. The heat now rose to 33 degrees on some days; people needed rain for their crops and for thermal comfort as it made the atmosphere slightly cooler.

Things I’ve got used to:

small geckos/ lizards: running up the walls in my house

the sun: I chose to sit indoors for shading as it was so hot

the huge ants: they find any grain of sugar so you have to clean anything straight after using it to stop trails. This wind turbine had some sugar drink stuck on the bottle so the big ants claimed it to be their new climbing frame.

Filling buses:  I realized my more relaxed approach to filling buses when I was refused a space in one. As I pointed over where there was clearly enough space squeezed in nearer to the ceiling and suggested we could pack in, I was disheartened as the bus driver explained the police were ahead so they couldn’t put any extra people in. I automatically thought it was a bad day!

The attention: Lilongwe is what anyone living in London would call a village. The community vibe is incredible and when I walk down the road it is strange not to see anyone I know. Even going shopping in town, even at the Lake, Malawi is a very small country! Anyone I would see gave the standard greeting. Anyone I didn’t see would glance, shout or make conversation so by the time I would travel that same journey again I would know double the amount of people I knew last time.

 

One morning I awoke and sat down in the beautiful sparkling colonial house, in area 3, Lilongwe. I put the kettle on, and then turned the radio on. The BBC world service news had reported the UK had lost 430 million birds due to the modernism of farming and agriculture. This was a sad story.  I am sure many people would be shocked by this fact and I could explain the farming system here worked with nature. There was only natural fertilizer used, no chemicals, no machines; everything was done by human strength. Every single ridge was lifted with an axe hoe. Human vs nature is an everlong decided battle people choose not to comprehend but at least here people work with nature.

Another news bulletin that had spread through word of mouth from the UK was the changing climate in London. It was 23 degrees 1 day then 13 degrees the next. I’m not sure if the temperatures had changed due to Chinese whispers but these figures had shocked me. Perhaps some people acknowledge climate change but I’m sure people in the villages cannot comprehend the affect the climate change will have on the farming here. Do people realise development will cause climate changes if not managed properly?

 

The development will come from the economic, business people in town and the less fortunate 80% of the rural people relying on the rains will be affected. Although who am I to say, coming from a country that is developed with all of its positive factors. The environment has clearly been compromised for our selfish human needs. I hoped the facts I brought changed people’s thinking. Here I appreciate:

the birds that work with the cows: they sit on them, eat their fleas and help turnover the land for food

the building techniques: constructing houses using only local materials and human skills

If people knew what they did for the environment without realizing it and all energies were focused on developing Malawi in the correct sustainable way. Malawi would flourish as it has all the natural resources needed to grow. Solar, wind, and water: therefore the plants to grow food and materials to construct and above all the human happiness and strength.

 

The rammed earth and thatch roof workshop building is very nearly complete.Sam's Village will be a fully accredited Training Centre with TEVET, Malawi. Teaching environmental, sustainable methods for a better life.

My blog has not quite been keeping up to a regular pace recently. They say creative writing comes in waves and expecially the time to do it. I have also been galavanting.


Stunning views on the Dedza road to Cape Maclear

I went to Cape Maclear, a tourist hot spot on Lake Malawi where I have been doing some architecture drawings for a project that will be built when the rains end next year. Last weekend as I had spent all week doing drawings for the new office for Landirani I decided it would be great to head to the Sam's village in the weekend. You can't beat the peace and quiet, countryside and friendly people. I had a creative day and went walking.