Malawi

Malawi:

Malawi is a very poor African country located in the great rift valley, on the east side of the continent. To the east is Lake Malawi, one of Africa’s great lakes. It was formed by the great gouges in the earth formed by the great rift, a geological formation created by plate tectonics.

Film:

If you would like to know more about the Great Rift itself, I would suggest the documentary: “Discovery Atlas: Uncovering Earth”, season 1, episode 1: “The Great Rift Valley.” Here they cover the natural geology of the region, human’s prehistoric ancestry in the region, culture, and European conquest. It does not limit itself just to Malawi, but it does give a sense of this part of Africa.

Book:

I have not finished my Malawian book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer, but I find the book quite fascinating. The book itself is a biography/ autobiography about a Malawian boy who grew up believing in strong African Magic. Armed with only a love for technology, an ability to read, and books from the Library, William was able to build a windmill that gave electricity to his people.

The book is 270 pages long when you include the Epilogue. When I first read the back  panel of the book I thought to myself, how could they stretch the concept of this book to such an extent, but I am glad they do. This book is not just about building a windmill, it is about growing up in Malawi, overcoming obstacles, and self-discovery.

There is a lot in this book about Malawi that you cannot find by going through the Wikipedia. For instance, in one page, I was able to learn: People have cats as pets, but “In Malawi only dogs have names”, and that Malawian “Chiefs usually dressed like businesspeople, never with feathers and hides”(Kamkwamba, 16). In the book, they discuss the food they eat, the beer they drink, the way woman are treated differently than men, hunting, farming, and going to market, all through the eyes of one young man.

Food:

In the book the author mentions that some people may only get to eat meat at Christmas. Still the author talks about eating fried goat with fried potatoes, and hunting for wild birds, which he then cooks and consumes. He talks about how one of his favorite foods is dried fish with tomatoes, and that a staple of their diet is are two dishes made from Maize. One is ngaiwa phala, corn porridge that is basically grits, which is eaten for breakfast. The other is nsima (similar to fufu in other regions of Africa and the Caribbean), a corn dough with is eaten with stews (Kamkwamba, 68). Much of these stews are either beans or mixed greens, such as pumpkin leaves, cabbage, rape, Kale, etc.

For my dishes I chose to make ngaiwa phala and “Basic Vegetable Ndiwo” (sautéed greens), which I found on in the following website: http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/learn_about_malawi/volunteer_life/recipes.html

I also made tilapia. There is no mention of this fish being eaten in the book or on any of the websites. I did find out that this fish is in Lake Malawi and other east African fresh waters, and that there are efforts to start fish hatcheries in Malawi for this particular fish. Since there was no recipes, I just had to wing it.

Games:

I have this game board at home that my aunt purchased for me when I was very young. I had seen this game on one of my favorite childhood movies, which had taken place in Kenya. When I saw it at a fair trade store I had to have it. I never knew what the name of the game was, but at some point I learned the rules of the game, and would play against my sister and parents. In The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, they play a similar game called “bawo”. According to the book:

“Bawo is a mancala game played with marbles or seeds on a long wooden board lined with holes. Each player had two rows of eight holes each. The object is to capture your opponent’s front row of marbles and prohibit him from moving.” (Kamkwamba, 62)

This is not quite the same as my game, where each player has one row of five holes, but it is similar. I have found directions for this game which is below.

Work Cited:

“Favorite Malawi Recipes. “Friends of Malawi”. http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/learn_about_malawi/volunteer_life/recipes.html. Retrieved: January 15, 2014

Kamkwamba, William. Mealer. Bryan. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Copyright: 2009.

“Malawi”. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malawi. Retrieved: January 15, 2014

“Mancala- The African Stone Game”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwYCKr0Apa4#t=87. Retrieved: January 15, 2014

Morgan, James. “Fish farming in Malawi’s dustbowl”. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7683748.stm. Published: 28 October 2008. Retrieved: January 16, 2014.

Slee, Mike. Spillenger, Paul. “Atlas 4D: Uncovering Earth” Season 1, Episode 1. “Great Rift Valley. Discovery. Copyright: August 2010.

“Tilapia