Usisya (at last!)

In my first week in Malawi I went to Kasasire in the uplands area of Nkhata Bay North  for a 'sensitisation' (awareness raising) meeting on the Nkhata Bay Natural Way (NBNW) project. Last week Liz and I joined Temwa project staff for the follow up 'verification' process in the lakeside area around Usisya.

Usisya is a two and a bit hour drive from Mzuzu across rough and treacherous dirt track roads (with the only feasible alternative a 45 minutes hair raising drive to Nkhata Bay followed by a three hour boat journey north up Lake Malawi).  We had planned to leave in the early afternoon on Monday but ended up leaving just before sunset. Driving in the dark makes the roads more dangerous but the pitch black meant we were hardly conscious of the dangers we faced.  Mind you, we were pretty physically wrecked by the combined effect of bumps in the road and limited suspension on our 4 by 4.

Benson and Efrina on the Temwa boat planning meetings at Sanga

The Temwa boat picked us up from Usisya Lodge, where we were staying, at  6.30am the following morning.  Temwa was running 'verification' meetings in four separate lakeside villages (Buwa, Mtawa, Sanga and Thotomsinghe), with Temwa staff allocated to each.    We joined  project manager, Benson, and field officer, Efrina, for the meeting at Sanga.

Our first meeting was with the Village Natural Resource Management Committee (VNMRC) at a tree nursery in a secluded hilly spot next to a small pond.  Preventing and reversing deforestation is a key part of the NBNW project (Outcome 2).  The purpose of this meeting was to check how many of the tree seedlings had germinated.  After introductions, the group set about the business of counting each type of seedling to establish germination success.  Overall, they found that 3,660 of the 5,000 seedlings had germinated - broadly in line with the expected germination rate of 70%.  They also checked germination for the 9 separate tree seedling varieties.

The Sanga VNRMC plan the count of germinated seedlings

The meeting was adjourned and we reconvened under a mango tree on the beach. Following the 'sensitisation' meetings, village meetings had been convened at which local chiefs had nominated people to take on volunteer roles as Community Extension Volunteer (the lead co-ordinator for the NBNW project in each village or group of villages) and Lead Farmers or to participate in farming activities (Outcome 1) or income generating activities (Outcome 3). The 'verification' process involved Benson and Efrina meeting the nominees individually to confirm they understood what was involved and the level of commitment that would be expected, as well as verifying personal details.

'Sensitisation' and 'verification' are part of an on-going process. NBNW is a four year project during which farmers will be trained in new farming techniques, trees will be planted, local people will be trained in forestry related business activities and effective business management, and community ownership of natural resource management will be strengthened.   The four year duration of the project provides certainty of funding and time for outcomes to be monitored and assessed.

'Verification' in the shade of a mango tree

The Sanga restaurant where we had lunch: a number of the participants in the earlier 'verification' meeting came in to thank Benson and Efrina for being given the opportunity to participate in NBNW

Usipa being dried in the sun in Sanga.  Drying nets like these were in every village along the Lake shore. 

Coming back, Liz and I got off the boat at Usisya beach and walked through the village.  There were more farm animals than we had seen anywhere else in Malawi - pigs foraging on the beach, chickens feeding off rotting mangoes, tethered goats going nowhere!  There were cassava fields that had expanded over footpaths and roads.  There were endless mango trees.  And there were children who were excited to see 'mzungus' (white people) and desperate to get their photos taken.

Children in Usisya pose for the camera

Pigs forage on Usisya beach

Usisya Lodge is much more basic than Njaya Lodge (the Nkhata Bay lodge we stayed in). The eating area is an open tented structure built around a mango tree trunk.  Our beach cabin had a sand floor, no electricity and no running water - the compost toilet and shower were a 50 metre walk away.  But the situation and views are even more spectacular than our apartment at Njaya Lodge. Wonderful sunrises (I witnessed them both mornings we were there).  The lights from the fishing canoes at night and the sounds and sight of fishermen coming back at dawn with their catches of usipa.  The birds sitting on the rocks.   The variety of trees and bushes.  The pure silver sand and clear water.

Sunrise in Usisya

Fisherman and bird at dawn

Our cabin at Usisya Lodge

I went in to see the Temwa compound in Usisya on the Wednesday morning.   This is where the first Temwa project got off the ground in 2003, with the building of a community centre; it now also includes a library and a demonstration garden.  Links to the outside world are poor. I was getting only limited telephone connection and there is no internet connection.  There is also no kitchen and the only running water was in the demonstration garden.  The temperature, which is much higher at the Lake than in Mzuzu, made working conditions practically unbearable.  These difficulties, together with the fact that the Nkhata Bay North area is very large with many parts of the upland areas not easily accessible from Usisya, helped me understand why Temwa's administrative centre is in Mzuzu.

The Temwa run community library at Usisya

Our trip back on the Wednesday afternoon gave us a chance to see views that we had missed on the way down - looking down to the Lake from the road high above it, the rolling hills and deep valleys with villages dotted around, the beautiful colours in the sky as we travelled west toward Mzuzu at sunset.

Back in Mzuzu, Liz is finding her time taken up by the Crisis Nursery, where she spends two or three hours most days, and by helping out at the Marymount junior school where she has been going into classes to help children with their music skills.  On Thursday evening,  Danny Kalima, a Malawian singer song-writer, was playing at the Macondo.  The storms of last week have gone and it was a beautiful evening to sit out in the hill-top surroundings of the Macondo and listen in the candle-light (the power was down) to his lively mix of African and soul music.

In my last blog, I said we planned to go back to Nkhata Bay this weekend.  Our unplanned trip to Usisya meant we didn't go - two visits to the Lake in a week in sweltering heat was going to be too much for us!  Our weekend has however been eventful and I will be reporting on it in my next blog...