It's GLOW time...

What if your worth was measured by your ability to wash clothes by hand, collect and carry bundles of firewood on foot heavy , balance water buckets on your head, or carry a child in your womb, near your chest, or on your back?

Malawian girls and women work very hard.  They toil until their hands and feet become so calloused it almost doesn’t matter that they’re unable to afford suitable shoes. But their hearts appear to be far less calloused than our own. They are resilient and strong, working tirelessly to provide for their families on what little they have.  As Peace Corps Volunteers we recognize the work they do and we want to be part of a better future for the young women of the next generation. Our goal is to partner with them to achieve substantial lives bringing them far beyond lives of merely subsistence.

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) is a Peace Corps sponsored girl's empowerment camp to address the gender inequality.  This year, we invited 66 young women selected from secondary schools across Malawi to attend the 10th annual weeklong camp.  We have also invited many strong professional Malawian women to join us.   Our aim is to empower these young women to become active and engaged citizens.

The Peace Corps has worked since 2003 with Malawian partners to organize this yearly event.  Through self-awareness, self-expression and self-confidence, we feel campers can become Malawi's future leaders.

Camp GLOW supports young women as they endeavor to take charge of their futures, their choices, their bodies, and their heritage. We will help them through a variety of activities to develop assertiveness, set goals, and plan their future careers and lives.  Beyond empowerment, Camp GLOW promotes health education specifically focusing on HIV/AIDS, malaria prevention, safe motherhood, nutrition, and overall healthy lifestyles. 

We are excited that the professional women along with the 15 Peace Corps volunteers will lead sessions and discuss issues that impact the people of Malawi.  Our entire staff believes camp attendees will dream of a Malawi which they can change because they are active, engaged, strong, and confident.  They will find their worth far beyond menial tasks by becoming future leaders who are valuable for tomorrow's Malawi.  We can see their strength and we hope their vision can become brighter. 

This article was published here...(also you can read about what my site mate, Mark Gestwicki, is doing)
www.enterprisenews.com/archive/x273438987/Surviving-and-working-in-Malawi

Charcoal from Biomass...

Fuel me once, shame on you… Fuel me twice, shame on who?

I used to think we had options, choices, and prerogative.  And I do.  I think the ultimate first world problem is that we have too many choices.  Too many choices: of what kind of career to chose, movie to watch, food to eat, or which specialty to coffee will satisfy our vegan palette (or whatever fad farm-to -able diet is most popular).  We live in a culture that has so many options because our basic survival is decided for us.  I am coming to learn that choice is a privilege more than a right and one that is not offered to everybody.  Or if choices are available the options are not great options, choosing the lesser of two... 

So what kind of choices do Malawians make?  In terms of fuel the option for those living in the village are both illegal.  Because of deforestation the law dictates that Malawians must not harvest firewood or make/purchase charcoal.  However, in my village electricity is not available and solar power is rare and costly.  So how do mother’s start a fire to cook for their family and purify their drinking water?  They must walk great distances to collect firewood, which is free of cost but high in labor.  Currently the law looks away from this activity, which is good for the family but terrible for the environment.  The effects of deforestation are visible and are requiring that the journey of collection go further and further to where the trees still stand.  When you enter into a family’s outdoor kitchen you find it hard to breathe because the firewood produces so much smoke, which causes respiratory issues.  Well Mama, make a different choice, use charcoal, it burns without creating so much smoke.  That sounds like a better choice.  Except it costs money.  It cost about $1 to purchase what a family would use in a week.  But that is a huge portion of a subsistence farmer’s income.  Too costly.

I think part of our job in the Peace Corps is to look to create choices.  What are the other choices that are locally available? Because they might not be right in front of us but they are there.  We look to find the fuel solution.  On a macro scale it would be to look for energy alternatives: solar, hydropower, wind turbines…you know all the renewable energy sources you learned about in grade school.  On a micro scale it is improved cook stoves or charcoal made from compost. A Peace Corps friend, Cassandra, came to my village and led a session with our HIV/AIDS support group to make charcoal from agricultural waste, mainly maize cobs and husks.  Charcoal made from biomass.  Hippie? Yes.  Does it feel like a science fair project?  Absolutely.  But, It has the potential to accomplish so many goals…less deforestation, less time collecting firewood, potential to sell charcoal without breaking the law.  It may seem small…but maybe it will allow some Malawians to make choices, to create choices, and to be fueled to choose better options. Development work, for me, is becoming less about what can be done and more about what choices can be offered.

Other titles for this blog post…Everybody plays the fuel sometimes, Too Fuel for school, Fuel’s Play, Must have been kissing a Fuel…okay…I’ll stop.