Lilongwe, Malawi - First Thoughts

Hey everyone!  I'm now fully entrenched in my new home in Lilongwe, area 6, complete with a mosquito net, wavering power supply, dwindling stash of candles, and two roommates (Mel and Cee-Lo the kitten).  I've only been here since Monday and already far too much has happened for me to fully capture.  There have been many firsts like my first time driving a manual British style.  Or my first time trying Sima, the most common Malawi food (good news you get to eat it with your hands).  I've also had a chance to meet a ton of people at different programs that I've gotten to see so far.

The first photo is me playing soccer with a group of kids outside their school (the buildings in the background).  I've never felt so good to be better (barely) than a group of 8-10 year olds.  The next photo is from the actual Testing tournament we had on Thursday in one of the city's neighborhoods.  8 teams of around 12 players each competed while all of them also received HIV pre-test counseling and an opportunity to test on site if they chose to.  Any community members that were also there also had the chance to receive both services.  Today, as seen in the last photo, I also got the opportunity to attend a graduation for one of the GRS Skillz interventions, a 5-week program of 10 one-hour sessions that educate local teens on HIV/AIDS through soccer-based activities.  In Lilongwe we have 26 coaches and at any time there are many of these interventions taking place around the city.

Adjusting to Malawi so far has gone pretty smoothly and the sounds of rats scrambling around in the ceiling and walls has faded into the background, as has the near daily power-outages, and even my absence from facebook (gasp) which is blocked at our office, which is the only place we have internet right now.  Oh and for those of you looking for intrigue we are still on "high-alert" here as August 17th approaches bringing with it another planned demonstration against President Mutharika, stemming from extreme fuel shortages.  Getting petrol (as it's called here) is one of the toughest tasks with most gas stations generally closed and out of supply.  As soon as a station opens up, lines quickly grow to hours long to try and fill tanks and any containers available.  Despite the tough times though, the people here have been incredibly friendly and I look forward to continuing to work with them and learn more.

Tionana (see you later in local Chichewa),
Matt