a year spent interning in lilongwe
After graduating, I began interning with UNC Project-Malawi in the capital city of Lilongwe. I lived and worked with other interns and students at Kamuzu Central Hospital. I primarily worked on a study of partner notification for HIV prevention in the general population. Additionally, I worked with quantitative and qualitative data on substance use, depression and HIV treatment in female sex workers.
Adventure List
Continuing my philosophy from studying abroad of not quite wanting a "Bucket List" while in Malawi, here's my adventure list: things that I've done that would be crossed off the bucket list if I had made one.
1. Successfully barter for a better exchange rate to get Malawian kwachas
2. Celebrate a Malawian birthday, complete with cake and a song
3. Successfully drive on the left side of the road! and survive a traffic stop by Malawian police
4. For the first time, make it to a destination without getting lost: a monthly farmer's/craft market in the nature reserve
5. Attend a wonderful a capella concert by Ladysmith Black Mambazo
6. Help a team of very talented Malawian volleyball players win their match at the weekly tournament
7. Finally reach the destination for a beautiful hike at Bunda Hill, but only after having to push the car out of a ditch with the help of a local Malawian
8. Crying tears of both laughter and sadness and The Vagina Monologues
9. Attend an "Afropop" exercise class led by a cast member of the Vagina Monologues, and learn slightly provocative choreography to a song that repeats, "Dance to the lord!"
10. Learning how to make beads out of magazine paper along with a group of mothers as a female empowerment initiative
11. Visit the wildlife sanctuary just down the road to see some animals who have been rescued and returned to their natural habitat
12. Hold a discussion on HIV prevention with a group of thirty women, only to have the conversation switch to how women can prevent various other ailments
13. Attend Lake of Stars, a music and arts festival celebrating various cultures of Africa
14. Play an impromptu game of soccer with a bunch of local kids on the beach of Lake Malawi
15. Hike up to 10,000-year-old rock paintings on a mountain overlooking Mozambique
16. Witness the process of making recycled paper out of old newspaper by a local businessman in Dedza
17. Participate in a Breast Cancer Awareness walk in Lilongwe with Think Pink Malawi
18. Attend a screening of Umunthu, a documentary about homosexuality in Malawi
19. Attend the Marine Corp Ball to celebrate the 240th birthday of the US Marines
20. Visit the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa, Malawi for a concert to bring together refugees and the outside community
21. Get lost on top of Ntchisi mountain and somehow find my way down
22. Be assisted by a Malawian family when a rental car broke down in between two rural villages
23. Celebrate Thanksgiving with dozens of new friends at Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi
24. Have an impromptu fashion show with my group of ladies from Area 51 after they gifted me with handmade necklaces for Christmas
25. Begin the Christmas season by attending the annual concert of Bishop McKenzie International School
26. Complete the public transport trifecta: ride a bicycle taxi in a skirt, a tuktuk squeezed between two breastfeeding moms, and a minibus with a couple of live chickens
27. Learn how to change a tire on the side of highway, with the assistance of a roommate and a Malawian police officer
28. Snorkel in Lake Malawi and canoe back to the shore in Nkhata Bay while belting Disney songs
29. Attempt to play sand volleyball and get laughed at by dozens of UNC employees
30. Play a game of soccer while being the only female and one of two non-Malawians on the "football pitch"
31. Learn Scottish dancing after tasting (vegetarian) haggis at a Burns Supper in Lilongwe
32. Be placed at a table with strangers and end up talking about democracy around the continent and what brought so many Indians to Malawi
33. Visit the Cape of Good Hope - the most south-western tip of Africa
34. See Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island while guided by another former political prisoner
35. Be mistaken for a student at the University of Cape Town and be recruited to half a dozen student clubs
36. Hike to Maclear's Beacon - the highest point on Table Mountain
37. Watch President Jacob Zuma give South Africa's State of the Nation address while surrounded by South Africans calling out his lies in Johannesburg
38. Go rock climbing, come across a dozen staring cows, and get a far-away view of Lilongwe from Nkhoma Hill
39. Road trip to Mozambique and relax on a secluded beach on the Indian Ocean
40. Spend 30 minutes on line and 30 minutes waiting for food from KFC - Malawi's newest "fast" food restaurant
41. Sit in 25 minutes of 5km per hour traffic in the heart of Lilongwe with a Malawian coworker and discuss how the United States could possibly elect Donald Trump as president
42. Help my coworkers' "A-league" (premier) volleyball team win the league for the 8th-straight time after practicing enough to get 2/3 of my serves over the net
43. Kayak from Cape Maclear to Thumbi Island and snorkel with blue zebra fish
44. Visit Lake Malawi three weekends in a row and learning to be more spontaneous with my travels
45. Celebrate Earth Day by picking up trash along the Lilongwe River at the Wildlife Centre
46. Manage to cook a semi-authentic Greek dinner with friends using ingredients found around Lilongwe
47. Go to a church service at the local cathedral and watch my roommate conduct the choir
48. Attend a coworker and volleyball teammate's traditional Malawian wedding
49. Navigate, through some struggles, bussing from Lusaka to Livingstone, Zambia on a solo adventure
50. Take sunset cruises on both the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers
51. Get soaking wet by Victoria Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world
52. Spend a day kayaking on the Zambezi River and hearing about the land conflicts between Zambia and Zimbabwe
53. Go on safari in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana and see white rhino sisters, an elephant swimming, giraffes giving a fashion show, hippos out of the water, lions sleeping and buffalos, zebras and wildebeests stampeding
54. Hike to the top of Bunda Hill for the second time, nine months after the first trip
55. Drive a 10-person van full of kids from Lilongwe to Cape Maclear and only miss one speed bump
56. Be called the "worst customer ever" for my bargaining skills
57. Look out at Mulanje Massif from the top of Zomba Plateau
58. Complete the "Big 5" by seeing a leopard (and lions, rhinos, elephants and cape buffalo)
59. Drink sundowners while watching some lions mating
60. Witness a cheetah on the hunt in the Maasai Mara
61. Touch a baby elephant at the elephant orphanage in Nairobi
62. Get licked by giraffes at a sanctuary in Nairobi
63. See both black and white rhinos at Nairobi National Park just outside the city center
64. Climb (almost) to the top of Mulanje Massif with two new friends and eat pasta with ketchup while snuggled under multiple blankets
65. Receive several warm send-offs from Malawian coworkers
Continuing my philosophy from studying abroad of not quite wanting a "Bucket List" while in Malawi, here's my adventure list: things that I've done that would be crossed off the bucket list if I had made one.
1. Successfully barter for a better exchange rate to get Malawian kwachas
2. Celebrate a Malawian birthday, complete with cake and a song
3. Successfully drive on the left side of the road! and survive a traffic stop by Malawian police
4. For the first time, make it to a destination without getting lost: a monthly farmer's/craft market in the nature reserve
5. Attend a wonderful a capella concert by Ladysmith Black Mambazo
6. Help a team of very talented Malawian volleyball players win their match at the weekly tournament
7. Finally reach the destination for a beautiful hike at Bunda Hill, but only after having to push the car out of a ditch with the help of a local Malawian
8. Crying tears of both laughter and sadness and The Vagina Monologues
9. Attend an "Afropop" exercise class led by a cast member of the Vagina Monologues, and learn slightly provocative choreography to a song that repeats, "Dance to the lord!"
10. Learning how to make beads out of magazine paper along with a group of mothers as a female empowerment initiative
11. Visit the wildlife sanctuary just down the road to see some animals who have been rescued and returned to their natural habitat
12. Hold a discussion on HIV prevention with a group of thirty women, only to have the conversation switch to how women can prevent various other ailments
13. Attend Lake of Stars, a music and arts festival celebrating various cultures of Africa
14. Play an impromptu game of soccer with a bunch of local kids on the beach of Lake Malawi
15. Hike up to 10,000-year-old rock paintings on a mountain overlooking Mozambique
16. Witness the process of making recycled paper out of old newspaper by a local businessman in Dedza
17. Participate in a Breast Cancer Awareness walk in Lilongwe with Think Pink Malawi
18. Attend a screening of Umunthu, a documentary about homosexuality in Malawi
19. Attend the Marine Corp Ball to celebrate the 240th birthday of the US Marines
20. Visit the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Dowa, Malawi for a concert to bring together refugees and the outside community
21. Get lost on top of Ntchisi mountain and somehow find my way down
22. Be assisted by a Malawian family when a rental car broke down in between two rural villages
23. Celebrate Thanksgiving with dozens of new friends at Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi
24. Have an impromptu fashion show with my group of ladies from Area 51 after they gifted me with handmade necklaces for Christmas
25. Begin the Christmas season by attending the annual concert of Bishop McKenzie International School
26. Complete the public transport trifecta: ride a bicycle taxi in a skirt, a tuktuk squeezed between two breastfeeding moms, and a minibus with a couple of live chickens
27. Learn how to change a tire on the side of highway, with the assistance of a roommate and a Malawian police officer
28. Snorkel in Lake Malawi and canoe back to the shore in Nkhata Bay while belting Disney songs
29. Attempt to play sand volleyball and get laughed at by dozens of UNC employees
30. Play a game of soccer while being the only female and one of two non-Malawians on the "football pitch"
31. Learn Scottish dancing after tasting (vegetarian) haggis at a Burns Supper in Lilongwe
32. Be placed at a table with strangers and end up talking about democracy around the continent and what brought so many Indians to Malawi
33. Visit the Cape of Good Hope - the most south-western tip of Africa
34. See Nelson Mandela's cell on Robben Island while guided by another former political prisoner
35. Be mistaken for a student at the University of Cape Town and be recruited to half a dozen student clubs
36. Hike to Maclear's Beacon - the highest point on Table Mountain
37. Watch President Jacob Zuma give South Africa's State of the Nation address while surrounded by South Africans calling out his lies in Johannesburg
38. Go rock climbing, come across a dozen staring cows, and get a far-away view of Lilongwe from Nkhoma Hill
39. Road trip to Mozambique and relax on a secluded beach on the Indian Ocean
40. Spend 30 minutes on line and 30 minutes waiting for food from KFC - Malawi's newest "fast" food restaurant
41. Sit in 25 minutes of 5km per hour traffic in the heart of Lilongwe with a Malawian coworker and discuss how the United States could possibly elect Donald Trump as president
42. Help my coworkers' "A-league" (premier) volleyball team win the league for the 8th-straight time after practicing enough to get 2/3 of my serves over the net
43. Kayak from Cape Maclear to Thumbi Island and snorkel with blue zebra fish
44. Visit Lake Malawi three weekends in a row and learning to be more spontaneous with my travels
45. Celebrate Earth Day by picking up trash along the Lilongwe River at the Wildlife Centre
46. Manage to cook a semi-authentic Greek dinner with friends using ingredients found around Lilongwe
47. Go to a church service at the local cathedral and watch my roommate conduct the choir
48. Attend a coworker and volleyball teammate's traditional Malawian wedding
49. Navigate, through some struggles, bussing from Lusaka to Livingstone, Zambia on a solo adventure
50. Take sunset cruises on both the Zambezi and Chobe Rivers
51. Get soaking wet by Victoria Falls, one of the 7 natural wonders of the world
52. Spend a day kayaking on the Zambezi River and hearing about the land conflicts between Zambia and Zimbabwe
53. Go on safari in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana and see white rhino sisters, an elephant swimming, giraffes giving a fashion show, hippos out of the water, lions sleeping and buffalos, zebras and wildebeests stampeding
54. Hike to the top of Bunda Hill for the second time, nine months after the first trip
55. Drive a 10-person van full of kids from Lilongwe to Cape Maclear and only miss one speed bump
56. Be called the "worst customer ever" for my bargaining skills
57. Look out at Mulanje Massif from the top of Zomba Plateau
58. Complete the "Big 5" by seeing a leopard (and lions, rhinos, elephants and cape buffalo)
59. Drink sundowners while watching some lions mating
60. Witness a cheetah on the hunt in the Maasai Mara
61. Touch a baby elephant at the elephant orphanage in Nairobi
62. Get licked by giraffes at a sanctuary in Nairobi
63. See both black and white rhinos at Nairobi National Park just outside the city center
64. Climb (almost) to the top of Mulanje Massif with two new friends and eat pasta with ketchup while snuggled under multiple blankets
65. Receive several warm send-offs from Malawian coworkers
Blog
Miscellaneous Photos
The only place in the world where four countries meet
Sunday afternoon sunset walks in the neighborhood
Saying farewell to the iKnow team