Mother Malin's Blog from Malawi-Monday, 4, August, 2008-Pastor Joseph's Farm

Monday 4 August 2008

Pastor Joseph’s Farm

 

This day was a turning point for me.  After another English breakfast of eggs, toast and fruit, we met Chichi and drove with Fr. Martin out to Pastor Joseph’s permaculture farm.  It was a revelation.  I had been hearing about permaculture for so long without having a clear picture in my mind’s eye of what it really means.  Pastor Joseph Chawawa is Malawi’s permaculture expert, and he has created an oasis of green in the middle of the all-too-familiar dusty red earth of Malawi.  At first, it seems a tangle of growing things, but as we stepped into the cool and breezy garden in the shade of banana trees, we realized that what seemed a kind of hodge-podge-lodge has a deep logic and purpose.  Trees are everywhere.  Broken bricks make intricate pathways covered in maize husks alongside rich beds in which grow mangos, paw-paw (papaya), casaba, carrots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, lemons and peas.  There are plants indigenous and exotic, plants that fix nitrogen in the ground to offset the carbon dioxide expelled into the atmosphere at an alarming rate and plants that produce a great deal of oxygen.  Some plants are grown because they make a bio-manure to enrich the soil.  Certain bushes are grown because they attract ants so the ants don’t eat the vegetables and fruits, and others because they draw water into the earth.  There are medicinal herbs and flowers grown purely for their beauty.  A spice native to Malawi called mpungabwe is ground up and sold to flavor almost every Malawian dish.

We followed along as Pastor Joseph taught us that everything in his farm has a purpose.  Like Sr. Agnes, he wastes nothing.  His irrigation system is both simple and brilliant.  When he first bought the farm, he dug a twenty-five foot well.  There was no water.  But as he planted, using gravity and seepage to restore the water table, the well filled.  It was eye-opening to realize that irrigation has as much to do with slaking the soil’s thirst far below the surface as watering on top.

Pastor Joseph showed us a garden within the garden, with plants growing under a tree in everything from seat cushions to shopping bags, called “pot gardening.” And I was particularly impressed with the theology of “guild gardening,” in which a circular bed with one main plant or tree in the center surrounded by a variety of plants.  Each growing thing supported the others.  The notion that individual crops must have separate fields or beds is anathema to permaculture.  Maize, for example, can be grown with beans.  The beans fix nitrogen in the soil and together, maize and beans are far more nutritious than maize alone.

Fr. David kept shaking his head.  We could tell he was overwhelmed; imagining the land around his church, land he thought was to small to produce any significant amount of food, as fertile as Pastor Joseph’s farm.  There can be almost immediate results.  Pastor Joseph may plant casaba and mangos in March and harvest them in January.  Banana trees produce bananas within one year.  He uses no commercial fertilizer at all, and is constantly experimenting and reevaluating his efforts to improve his farm’s production and harmony.

Pastor Joseph is the designer who implemented the start-up permaculture farm at the Anglican Seminary at Zomba, which we will see on Wednesday.  The seminary farm is one of the initial test projects of the group that would become Love’s Harvest, and it met with amazing success.  Still, there were failures as well as a need to expand and it became clear that we should take Pastor Joseph along with us to Zomba where he can work for three days, essentially to plan Phase Two.  We also determined to negotiate over lunch to create a plan for a garden and orchard at Fr. David’s church. 

 

Photos: The Amazing Pastor Joseph; Kate, John and Fr. David; Cindy at the well; Pastor Joseph and a guild garden; picking lemons for the guests

Mother Malin's Blog from Malawi-Sunday, 3 August, 2008

Sunday 3 August 2008

St. Michael’s and All Angels, Ludzi Parish, Supper with Fr. Martin and Pastor Joseph

 

As Bambo Christopher left us at Fr. David’s church early Sunday morning, his parting words to us were, “I’m leaving you at Camp David.”  St. Michael’s is a beautiful church on a dusty piece of land with a well-built wall and a tap and well. John and I were thinking the same things: this is the perfect place for a priest’s house garden.  Training and supporting priests in permaculture could make a huge difference in Malawi.  Food grown in a priest’s garden would provide food for the priest and his family as well as for the needy in the parish, be an inspiration for parishioners, and become a teaching tool for others in the community.  As we spoke with Fr. David, he looked surprised that his relatively small piece of land could yield so much food.  He kept saying, “I need to be educated about this” -- an encouraging sign.  We arranged for him to join us tomorrow to visit Pastor Joseph’s permaculture farm, the most important portion of our journey so far.

 On to Mchinji and Sr. Agnes.  We were received with much joy, and although our time was short, we managed a tour of her extraordinary farm and animals before distributing the many medicines we’d brought with us.  John was most impressed with the natural beauty and productivity of the place.  Nothing is wasted and even the buildings are created out of what the land has to offer.  There is a holistic approach to everything they do, including gathering with local women every Thursday in a special area dedicated to teaching and encouraging them to reclaim traditional ways of raising plants and animals for food and for income.

Women, some of whom do not speak English, are motivated and empowered.  They pick up the techniques quickly, and Sr. Agnes told us that accountability is the key: taking responsibility for what you grow and harvest. 

Part of what we are seeing now in Malawi is the sweeping loss of a generation of talent, education, knowledge, and leadership due to AIDS, or “the pandemic,” as it is called.  There is such a need to educate and reeducate on topics that used to be passed down as part of Malawian culture. 

When we returned to Lilongwe, we met Fr. Martin Mgeni from the Anglican Seminary at Zomba and Pastor Joseph Chiwawa, who is Malawi’s permaculture guru.  We had a good preliminary planning session for tomorrow before turning in for the night. 

 

Photos: St. Michael’s, Ludzi Parish

Mother Malin's Blog from Malawi-Saturday 2 August 2008,Ndi Moyo, Mua Mission and dinner with Fr. Christopher and Mary Mwawa

2 August 2008 Ndi Moyo, Mua Mission and dinner with Fr. Christopher and Mary Mwawa

This is me with Bambo Christopher Mwawa (Bambo is Father in chichewa)

Sr. Agnes of Ludzi Parish describing how she uses maize husks in growing mushrooms, 

Me with Bambo David Chingoka, John Springer, Josiah Mthawanji discussing priest's house gardens

Today we had planned to visit Sr. Agnes at Ludzi Parish in Mchinji, the site of an successful and beautiful permaculture farm, but we learned just this morning that she was in Blantyre at an nationwide agricultural festival.  We quickly improvised, heading east to visit Lucy Finch at “Ndi Moyo”, the palliative care clinic with medicinal herbal garden.  

Lucy Finch is a registered nurse who, while caring for terminally ill and other patients, is working to recover traditional methods of utilizing herbs for medicinal purposes.  She encourages those who visit her clinic to grow their own herbs and food in kitchen gardens, in an effort both to nourish their bodies and to improve their spirits with a sense of new life and hope.  In pursuing this effort, she has created an oasis of tranquil beauty in and around the clinic.

We learned about the properties of various herbs, some familiar to us and others new.  

Artemesia, though not native to Malawi, is used to treat malaria and AIDS, for example.  Lemongrass is for toothache and fever; euphorbia is for asthma and worms.  We saw newly planted moringa; leaves from this common plant, when dried and stirred into porridge, are an excellent source of vitamins and nutrition. 

Lucy uses drip irrigation, or “drip strips,” to water her cabbages, tomatoes and chilis  (which are used for muscle pain and arthritis, as well as for seasoning food in a traditional Malawian hot sauce called “piri piri”).  Water is contained in a plastic coated bag up on stakes, and tiny tubes feed out of it to water individual plants in rows.  Not a drop is wasted.  A set costs about MK2500 or $19.00.

 

After leaving Lucy, promising to return on our drive south on Tuesday, we stopped at Mua Mission which is a center for Malawian culture from which I had commissioned a carving.  As we were walking to the administration center, a van load of Americans with a bumper sticker reading “this car is protected by the blood of Jesus” began tossing pens and pencils to the begging children and we watched as a crowd of playmates turned into a clawing throng, scrambling for a 29 cent Bic pen.  A good way NOT to do mission.

This evening, we ate dinner with Bambo Christopher Mwawa, dean of the Anglican seminary in Lilongwe, and his wife Mary.  I had preached at “Bambo” Christopher’s church last summer, and he has become a dear friend.  We had a marvelous time catching up, hearing about his dissertation and chatting about Barack Obama, the state of the Anglican Communion and the church in Malawi.  As he no longer leading a parish, he arranged for us to attend church tomorrow at St. Michael’s with its priest Fr. David Chingoka.

 (Photos: Ndi Moyo with Lucy Finch, cabbages in Ndi Moyo garden, Kate and half-finished commissioned carving at Mua Mission)

 

Mother Malin's Blog from Malawi Friday, August 1st 2008

Friday 1 August 2008 9:15 pm
KMM, CMM, JS

At last we have settled in at the Kiboko Town Hotel after a long day of travel.  We flew from Johannesburg into Lilongwe on a bright and warm afternoon.  Chichi Nhkono, our wonderful driver from last summer was waiting for us at the airport.  The first order of business was to buy two cases of bottled water, secure a cell phone and exchange some dollars for Malawi Kwacha. At last we wished Chichi good night, organized our bags, and gratefully settled in for a hearty supper of chicken curry, roasted bananas and delectable Malawi tea at the restaurant next door called “Don Brioni’s.”

Over supper, we reviewed our plans for the coming days and spoke about our goals for this trip.  John and I had read an article by Bill Gates in this week’s Time magazine about “creative capitalism,” and our dinner conversation centered on the challenges of employing the vast resources of the West so as to make real difference in Africa.  The missing piece in the article, John pointed out, is what comes after the money.  The key to success lies in getting to know the people of Malawi.  In forging true connections with leaders on the ground who are invested in seeing shared projects bear fruit.  Raising money to help meet the Millennium Development Goals is admirable and necessary, but it is not hard. Westerners are generous and have a strong desire to help.  The greater challenge lies in implementing projects in response to creative initiatives of local leaders; following through, with integrity and respect for all involved; and then making adjustments to the plan depending on what works and what doesn’t.

I am excited about all that lies ahead of us in the coming weeks.  I pray that the many different puzzle pieces of our journey come together to reveal the future of Love’s Harvest and Christ Church Bronxville in Malawi.  I pray for family and friends at home who are missing us, and for Malawian friends, old and new, who are receiving us with such hospitality. Tomorrow we head west to Mchinji, to see one of those old friends, Sr. Agnes Enyena, and the great example of Ludzi Parish which should be an inspiration for how to make sustainable food programs work.

Mother Malin's Blog from Malawi, Thursday, July 31st, 2008

Thursday 31 July 2008 7:30 pm

Kate Malin, Cindy Malin and John Springer

Our traveling party of three arrived in South Africa after a very easy seventeen-hour flight from New York.  We departed JFK at about 6:00 pm on Wednesday; stopped in Dakar, Senegal, to refuel; then flew to the O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg.  South African Airways is a marvelous airline.  It is hands-down my favorite, with consistently gracious service and remarkably tasty food!

John sat next to a hunter from Allentown, PA, who is making his fifth trip to Africa to hunt big game.  He asked our purpose in traveling to Africa. After hearing us describe our church, the goats, the Anglican Diocese of Southern Malawi and sustainable agriculture projects, he looked at us sympathetically and suggested we just tell anyone who asks that we’ve come to Africa to go hunting.

Our plane landed in Johannesburg at 5:00 pm.  Our bodies thought it was morning; the sunset looked like a sunrise.  But now it is dark and we are tired.  We’ve checked into a hotel near the airport and will have a bite of dinner before going to bed on Africa time.  Tomorrow we fly to Lilongwe, the capitol city of Malawi, and our adventure truly begins.

In June at CCBNY

June 1 is Bishop Catherine Roskam’s visitation and Confirmation Sunday.

June 8 is our last “regular” Sunday. June 15 we switch over to the Summer Schedule with services at 9:00am (alternating Rites I and II ) and 5:00pm.

Disaster Relief
There are many ways to donate and help the people suffering from the crisis in Myanmar and in China, here are two.
Episcopal Relief and Development: To help people affected by the cyclone in Myanmar and the earthquake in China, please make a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development’s “Myanmar & Cyclone Response” or “Emergency Relief Fund” online at http://www.er-d.org/ , or call 1-800-334-7626, ext. 5129.
WFP-UN's World Food Program, is one of the only organizations being allowed into Myanmar/Burma to help cope with the disaster. The website is http://www.wfp.org/english/. It is very easy to make a donation which is either directed or you can specify for "greatest need".