Still here!

Happy Rainy Season!
Things are going well here in Chiwamba/ Balang'ombe, and my household is ever expanding. Everything is green and lush and muddy. The river valley to the secondary school is impassable, which is a pain because now I am teaching Life Skills twice a week. I think I had envisioned sparking deep debates about the philosophy of wellness and long brainstorm sessions about paradigm-changing health ideas. Instead this week we talked about the importance of washing one's feet after one walks through mud. Practical I know. There WILL be a test.
Seriously though, this is a village school, which is the lowest tier of education for thoese students in malawi who pass grade 8. Most are barely passable at speaking English, which is the language I am required to teach in. So we are starting with the basics.. Self-esteem, hygiene, gender-equality, basics of HIV. If we can get everyone consistently washing their hands I think I will shed a happy tear.
The Youth Centre grant went through, and ground was broken in December. We are now well into construction, and everyone is super excited. I spent the ground-breaking day helping to tear down a small existing building on the site, so that we can reuse the bricks. A bunch of Amayis started a bucket line for the debris and started pumping me with questions about how many kids I have, how long ago I got married, etc. When I told them that I live along with my cat and chicken, they assumed they were misunderstanding my Chichewa, and called over another English speaker. When she confirmed that I was single, the Amayis put down the bricks and started the much harder task of convincing me that I should marry their nephews/grandsons/etc...
Baby, my hen, started sitting on her five eggs on Christmas Day, and sure to Wilfred's calculations, they hatched 21 days later. Only three of the five hatched, two black ones and a yellow one. I call them Baby 2.0 (I can't tell the two black ones apart, so they both have the same name) and azungu. They are growing daily, following their mama from food source to food source, and then parading back into their roost at night. Once I can tell what gender they are, I will keep the hens for eggs and give away the roosters.

So last week I got a puppy. I have never owned a dog before, so it was a bit of a surprise. I was away, in Sajiwa, about 10k from Balang'ombe. I was supposed to be in a church., but my hip was bothering me so I got up to walk around and started talking to an old woman in a tiny mud hut. The whole time we spoke, this little, itsy bitsy, runt of a puppy was wandering around in front, looking in vain for somethng to eat. I asked about it's mother (missing) and then took a deep breath and offered 100 kwatcha for it (about 50 cents). The old lady grinned, picked up the puppy and threw it toward me. I wrapped it up in my chitenge. It was covered in fleas and ticks and was so malnourished its hair was falling out in chunks. A downpour started, and we had to walk in the mud for the last 5k to my house, which took an hour and a half. I tied my Chitenge so that the puppy, now named Innocent, (after a particularly fetching young Rasta I met...) was up against my chest staying warm. First step when we got home was a hot bath. She vomited her first few meals but is now flea-free, eating ravenously, and her hair is starting to get every so slightly glossy. Of course both Kitty and Baby hate her, but they'll come around.

Going to try to load pics, but the internet is ssslllllooooowwww today.
Grace and Peace.