Normal-ish day 1

To cap up a couple questions posted before my Sunday catchup, (THIS TIME I WILL) yes people over 40 can get favors too. Urrgh, Parents included. I mean, if you weren't eligible, what would I have to fear? Obviously no one other than boo in that age group cares enough about how I'm doing to check up once in a while. So if you weren't eligible what would I have to fear? Giving Boo a favor? Hardly scary in the least. Giving my PARENTS one? *shudders* And that's part of the point, to keep myself posting.

Add on: Chris gets mention because he posted too, didn't see that until after I posted though, so I'm adding it in now. Thanks Chris, just remember to sleep lightly, because I'm still after your Indian-face, and an ocean is not enough to deter me from getting it!

So today was HELL! We had eighteen kids in stool study. EIGHTEEN!!!! And NINE had too poop! And that was only the beginning! We got two new kids too! (new ones gotta poop too) So there was no relaxing of any kind for HOURS! HOURS I SAY!!! But seriously it was exhausting. We were working from eight to twelve pretty constantly, and even I had stuff to do because it was so packed. Things had relaxed by about one and I fell asleep on a stone slab. (All but three had left at that point, so its not like I was slacking, we were just waiting for them to poop) And we left by threeish. Got home by fourish. Some data entry. Tried playing the guitar for the third day in a row. I can't seem to keep my fingers from messing with the other strings I'm not trying to press. Guess I'll keep trying.

There isn't much more to say, pretty typical day. So...finally...FINALLY...I can begin the About Malawi posts, which will be a part of every normal-ish day! =)

About Malawi Part One
To start I'm going to give a little background about why Malawi is in the straights that it is in. Now I have heard a lot of people talk about countries like Malawi, releif organizations, and the poor in general like, "Why are you helping them, you should help them help themselves," or worse, "Why can't they work hard and pull themselves out of their situation?" (As if every oppourtunity we in the middle class have isn't based on the backs of those who have gone before us...) And yes, granted, no one would ever talk like that but I'm trying to get the general idea across.) Here are a couple reasons why that is a whole hell of a lot more difficult than people often think.

Keep in mind, there is probably a lot more than this, but I'm brain sucking off of Joy (male), who has read books on this and knows more about it than I do. In fact, he will probably do a post of his own on the subject, and when he does I'll link to that so you can get a much better idea, and maybe even delete the following as useless. (And redundant)

For one, Malawi got screwed when the imperialistic european countries drew up the maps, as many countries did. For one, Malawi has few marketable resources. The only things it exports, to my knowledge, is tea, sugar, tobbaco, and a little bit of rice. None of these are mass produced enough to make a substantial revenue to the Malawian economy. And with the borderlines drawn as arbitrarialy as they were, the international trade that might have otherwise taken place in a larger, better situated country is impossible. Plus, Malawi has no access to any rivers or waterways, so no easy trade via that route because of tarrifs. The border just pretty much screwed Malawi.

To further the subject of how the British did major harm, let me move on to the subject of agriculture. When the Brits came, they wanted to turn Malawi into a mercantile colony, as they did to pretty much everyone they conquered/got influence over. For one they dammed up all the rivers, something that provides power to the computer I'm writing on. However, before the dams, the malawians would vary their planting grounds based off of how the rainy season went. So if there was no rain, they would move very close to the river. If there was tons and the river flooded, they could simply back away to a better spot. With the rivers dammed that kind of flexibility is impossible. (Probably a better way to explain that last part, but he didn't expound on the subject, so I'm missing the details.) Also, the Brits wanted to have the Malawians grow cotton, big suprise. Thing is, with everyone growing cotton no one was growing food. So then the Malawians had to pay every thing they got from the well paying cotton yield to eat. Obviously when the Brits left they stopped growing cotton, as their main buyer had pulled out. (Assumption I'm making about why, but most did stop) However the Europeans left a legacy a lot more crippling, Maize.

Maize, another word for corn, is everywhere in Malawi, and many other African countries. Now Maize, when the rainy season goes...just...right...will yield fantastic results. However, Maize doesn't grow that well here in Malawi, and yes when the rain falls perfectly in the rainy season it will have impressive yields. But here in Malawi there is often drought and flooding (To clarify, it does often rain enough to cause flooding, but becuase of the dams the rivers specifically will not) and if there is one thing Maize is not, it is not resistant. Before the Europeans came, there were other foods being grown, ones that had some strength to them. So in a bad year, even though people went hungry, they didn't starve. Instead though, now bad years are crippling, with hardly any yield at all, no matter how hard you work the fields. (And let me tell you, they spend much of their time on those fields working them) This problem wasn't helped by the fact that the first president, who was by all accounts I have heard one of the most terrible leaders ever, strongly supported Maize. So by now Maize is the staple crop, and few farmers grow anything but it, or even know how.

Suffice it to say, though there is probably much one could say on the subject of the last pres here, he was useless, and did nothing to further Malawi's growth. Things were pretty chaotic, by all accounts I've heard. Maybe when I know more I'll expound upon the subject of the last Pres, but for now I dont care enough.

To finish up, all major companies here are outsourced. The "Malawian" beer is based of a company in germany. Coca Cola is everywhere. I'm sure other things such as Dulux paint is also based outside of Malawi. This is important, because that means that the profits from those major compainies are mostly leaving Malawi, and doing nothing to bolster its economy.

Pretty bleak eh? There really is no easy solution to those problems, and nor can one push the blame onto the people with excuses such as they dont work hard enough. But one can hope that with time they will be resolved. (Yeah, I know, not one of my more eloquent endings but I'm tired ok?)

TTYL
---He who is hoping they have his soup at the mission tomorrow