OPSEU and the Nguwo Well

My brother-in-law, Frazer worked hard to make the inauguration of this well a success. He had cycled at least three times to Nguwo to report to them on the OPSEU visitors’ programme and to help the village people prepare. The villagers themselves had waited a long time to have this clean water easily accessible, so that they were indeed excited over the pump being unchained and the flow starting.

‘Chained’? When I went on September 1 with Frazer to see the state of the well the pump handle was padlocked with a heavy chain that was further protected by a covering of prickly brambles to discourage even casual use. The apron, spillway, washbasins and the pump had all been finally built on August 30 and the fresh cement needed to set or harden for one week before the assembly was open for daily use. The unchaining date of September 3 was almost a year from when we had asked OPSEU for their help to install this well.

Uncle Theodore Saka had approached me in the summer of 2010 to ask for a well in his village, some 3 kilometres east of Makupo. Ordinarily, such a request fell outside the criteria we had been using to determine the installing of wells in ever increasing circles radiating away from Makupo. However, in June 2011, I walked to Nguwo with Cassandra and Heldden from Vanier College as part of their exercise of learning about water use in rural villages. We were shown the hand dug lowland well that dated back to colonial times about 1 kilometre from Theodore’s house. It served 6 or 7 villages and close to 1,000 people. By the height of the dry season in October and November it was waterless. Then people had to go another 2 kilometres to a borehole for drinking water. Both Uncle Theodore and his wife are in their 80’s and they did not have the strength for such labour, so they had to pay for drinking water to be brought by ox-cart twice a week.

The Vanier students explored the water situation in 4 villages and after consultation with senior chief Kaomba, it was agreed that if any money could be found for a well it should go to Nguwo as the first priority. The Social Justice Fund of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) agreed to provide the money for the Nguwo well. This is the third well OPSEU has helped us put in and early this year we arranged with the Malawi Ministry of Irrigation and Water to have the well installed. That was February in the middle of the rainy season. The Ministry hydrologist went to determine the placement of the well almost the same week. However, he determined that the drilling rigs would have to wait until June for the ground to dry out enough for the 3 heavy trucks of the drilling rig to reach the site.

We were also extremely pleased that after many years of supporting projects in and around Makupo, a delegation of OPSEU union members was finally going to come and stay in the guesthouse they helped build and see the other projects they have supported. The timing was perfect with the expectation that after a couple of months of use the well could be inaugurated in their presence.

However, the well was not drilled in June and was only finally installed August 30. The delay was due in large part to the economic mess created by the government of the late Bingu wa Mutharika. Foreign currency disappeared and fuel shortages ground the country’s economy to a halt. His death in April led to Joyce Banda becoming president and she immediately began building new relationships with the financial organisations that Bingu had needlessly antagonised. Nevertheless, it took a few months to reduce the fuel shortages and start turning the economy back on. The Nguwo well was caught in this morass so that before I left Canada in late August it had still not been drilled and installed.

To find it completed on September 1 was truly fortuitous, since it meant that it would be brand new for both the villages around Nguwo and the OPSEU delegation when they arrived. The inaugural celebration was a wonderful event with the usual speech making, dancing and singing. They took us to see the old well and illustrate how much better their life was going to be with the new borehole. The people of both sides joined together in a display of genuine solidarity to celebrate what had been accomplished. Workers from Ontario and the people of Nguwo truly found a common bond in the water that flowed from the well.

26sep12

OPSEU and the Nguwo Well

My brother-in-law, Frazer worked hard to make the inauguration of this well a success. He had cycled at least three times to Nguwo to report to them on the OPSEU visitors’ programme and to help the village people prepare. The villagers themselves had waited a long time to have this clean water easily accessible, so that they were indeed excited over the pump being unchained and the flow starting.

‘Chained’? When I went on September 1 with Frazer to see the state of the well the pump handle was padlocked with a heavy chain that was further protected by a covering of prickly brambles to discourage even casual use. The apron, spillway, washbasins and the pump had all been finally built on August 30 and the fresh cement needed to set or harden for one week before the assembly was open for daily use. The unchaining date of September 3 was almost a year from when we had asked OPSEU for their help to install this well.

Uncle Theodore Saka had approached me in the summer of 2010 to ask for a well in his village, some 3 kilometres east of Makupo. Ordinarily, such a request fell outside the criteria we had been using to determine the installing of wells in ever increasing circles radiating away from Makupo. However, in June 2011, I walked to Nguwo with Cassandra and Heldden from Vanier College as part of their exercise of learning about water use in rural villages. We were shown the hand dug lowland well that dated back to colonial times about 1 kilometre from Theodore’s house. It served 6 or 7 villages and close to 1,000 people. By the height of the dry season in October and November it was waterless. Then people had to go another 2 kilometres to a borehole for drinking water. Both Uncle Theodore and his wife are in their 80’s and they did not have the strength for such labour, so they had to pay for drinking water to be brought by ox-cart twice a week.

The Vanier students explored the water situation in 4 villages and after consultation with senior chief Kaomba, it was agreed that if any money could be found for a well it should go to Nguwo as the first priority. The Social Justice Fund of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) agreed to provide the money for the Nguwo well. This is the third well OPSEU has helped us put in and early this year we arranged with the Malawi Ministry of Irrigation and Water to have the well installed. That was February in the middle of the rainy season. The Ministry hydrologist went to determine the placement of the well almost the same week. However, he determined that the drilling rigs would have to wait until June for the ground to dry out enough for the 3 heavy trucks of the drilling rig to reach the site.

We were also extremely pleased that after many years of supporting projects in and around Makupo, a delegation of OPSEU union members was finally going to come and stay in the guesthouse they helped build and see the other projects they have supported. The timing was perfect with the expectation that after a couple of months of use the well could be inaugurated in their presence.

However, the well was not drilled in June and was only finally installed August 30. The delay was due in large part to the economic mess created by the government of the late Bingu wa Mutharika. Foreign currency disappeared and fuel shortages ground the country’s economy to a halt. His death in April led to Joyce Banda becoming president and she immediately began building new relationships with the financial organisations that Bingu had needlessly antagonised. Nevertheless, it took a few months to reduce the fuel shortages and start turning the economy back on. The Nguwo well was caught in this morass so that before I left Canada in late August it had still not been drilled and installed.

To find it completed on September 1 was truly fortuitous, since it meant that it would be brand new for both the villages around Nguwo and the OPSEU delegation when they arrived. The inaugural celebration was a wonderful event with the usual speech making, dancing and singing. They took us to see the old well and illustrate how much better their life was going to be with the new borehole. The people of both sides joined together in a display of genuine solidarity to celebrate what had been accomplished. Workers from Ontario and the people of Nguwo truly found a common bond in the water that flowed from the well.

26sep12

OPSEU and the Nguwo Well

My brother-in-law, Frazer worked hard to make the inauguration of this well a success. He had cycled at least three times to Nguwo to report to them on the OPSEU visitors’ programme and to help the village people prepare. The villagers themselves had waited a long time to have this clean water easily accessible, so that they were indeed excited over the pump being unchained and the flow starting.

‘Chained’? When I went on September 1 with Frazer to see the state of the well the pump handle was padlocked with a heavy chain that was further protected by a covering of prickly brambles to discourage even casual use. The apron, spillway, washbasins and the pump had all been finally built on August 30 and the fresh cement needed to set or harden for one week before the assembly was open for daily use. The unchaining date of September 3 was almost a year from when we had asked OPSEU for their help to install this well.

Uncle Theodore Saka had approached me in the summer of 2010 to ask for a well in his village, some 3 kilometres east of Makupo. Ordinarily, such a request fell outside the criteria we had been using to determine the installing of wells in ever increasing circles radiating away from Makupo. However, in June 2011, I walked to Nguwo with Cassandra and Heldden from Vanier College as part of their exercise of learning about water use in rural villages. We were shown the hand dug lowland well that dated back to colonial times about 1 kilometre from Theodore’s house. It served 6 or 7 villages and close to 1,000 people. By the height of the dry season in October and November it was waterless. Then people had to go another 2 kilometres to a borehole for drinking water. Both Uncle Theodore and his wife are in their 80’s and they did not have the strength for such labour, so they had to pay for drinking water to be brought by ox-cart twice a week.

The Vanier students explored the water situation in 4 villages and after consultation with senior chief Kaomba, it was agreed that if any money could be found for a well it should go to Nguwo as the first priority. The Social Justice Fund of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) agreed to provide the money for the Nguwo well. This is the third well OPSEU has helped us put in and early this year we arranged with the Malawi Ministry of Irrigation and Water to have the well installed. That was February in the middle of the rainy season. The Ministry hydrologist went to determine the placement of the well almost the same week. However, he determined that the drilling rigs would have to wait until June for the ground to dry out enough for the 3 heavy trucks of the drilling rig to reach the site.

We were also extremely pleased that after many years of supporting projects in and around Makupo, a delegation of OPSEU union members was finally going to come and stay in the guesthouse they helped build and see the other projects they have supported. The timing was perfect with the expectation that after a couple of months of use the well could be inaugurated in their presence.

However, the well was not drilled in June and was only finally installed August 30. The delay was due in large part to the economic mess created by the government of the late Bingu wa Mutharika. Foreign currency disappeared and fuel shortages ground the country’s economy to a halt. His death in April led to Joyce Banda becoming president and she immediately began building new relationships with the financial organisations that Bingu had needlessly antagonised. Nevertheless, it took a few months to reduce the fuel shortages and start turning the economy back on. The Nguwo well was caught in this morass so that before I left Canada in late August it had still not been drilled and installed.

To find it completed on September 1 was truly fortuitous, since it meant that it would be brand new for both the villages around Nguwo and the OPSEU delegation when they arrived. The inaugural celebration was a wonderful event with the usual speech making, dancing and singing. They took us to see the old well and illustrate how much better their life was going to be with the new borehole. The people of both sides joined together in a display of genuine solidarity to celebrate what had been accomplished. Workers from Ontario and the people of Nguwo truly found a common bond in the water that flowed from the well.

26sep12

Sitting Chiliza Nellie’s sister Ruth died in 2007 and her mother anaTembo in 2009. We have wanted to complete their passage to the spirit world by getting their tombstones built and honour their passing. The chiliza usually marks the first anniversary of their death. The main room in the house of the departed is emptied of all chairs and other furniture. The floors are covered in mkeka and mpasa, the mats used to dry the corn flour or sleep on. The women elders gather in the house and other mats are placed in a shady spot outside for the male elders. For 3 days the elders sit and host people from the neighbouring villages and others who have come from town to join in the commemoration. The visitors sit with the elders and travel to the grave-site to observe the progress on the building of the tombstone. The younger women busy themselves at the kitchen brewing thobwa the sweet maize beer that is sipped all day long by the many visitors, elders and those working on the tombstone. They also prepare the food for all those present at mealtime. They and the children sit in the shade of the tobacco shed and pitch in with the cooking, cutting wood and general duties. The young men help at the graveyard, watching and working when needed. Occasionally, one will come back with a progress report for the elders. As I sit in the shade on the porch with the elders, I can hear the women inside the big house chattering and laughing. The headman from Chiwayu, the neighbouring village who is also a cousin comes to pay his respects and greets us all one by one, then heads to the mats in the shade to sit in respect for a couple of hours. If we had followed the custom closely, we would have performed this rite on the first anniversary of their death. Within that timeframe, it provides an effective means of social solidarity and closure for grieving relatives. However, getting the funds together and organisational matters kept delaying our observance. It is quite a feat of administration and requires many meetings and much consensus building to pull all the pieces together for building the tomb, brewing the thobwa, preparing the food and networking to let everyone around know what is happening. Even when we thought we had all the plans in place, we had neglected to involve the village members away in town. They were very disappointed about the timing and requested a delay to let them get home to the village, but the plans on the ground were already so far evolved that it wasn’t possible to call it off. Special arrangements will be made for them to join in when they can make it home to the village. Everyone sits on the mats as equals. There are no chiefs or big people in the face of death. The elders are accorded great respect and the chief and senior women are impeccable hosts and hostesses, ensuring that all the protocols are followed. Everything flows so smoothly that it seems to be a familiar activity which belies the amount of planning and energy that went into the exercise. Beria anaTembo Saka and her daughter Ruth nee Saka Chikapa have been well honoured and are surely happy with the way their memory has been respected. 26sep12

The OPSEU solidarity tour Blog 7 July 2012 The ten union members of the OPSEU solidarity tour have arrived at Makupo. They range from a younger recent graduate to an older member of the OPSEU Board, 8 women and 2 men, the chairman of the Workers of Colour Caucus, 2 native Canadians, 2 nurses, clerical personnel – all of them activists and leaders in the areas of Ontario where they live - all of them committed to the cause of social justice and solidarity. OPSEU represents more than 120,000 workers across Ontario and part of their membership dues has been dedicated to their Social Justice Fund established to recognise the unions role in supporting people working to overcome underdevelopment in other parts of the world. Their support to Makupo over the last few years has had a huge impact, by providing infrastructure, and the means to create enterprise Makupo has changed quite dramatically since the first well was put in, a well, incidentally that OPSEU funds helped install. We have 2 days of orientation planned so people can get their feet on the ground and understand where they are. They are still in the early stages of arrival and are eager to see it all. There was broad consensus on the programme, we have laid out and a few suggestions were made to fill in some gaps. The leader of the group is Brenda Wall, an OPSEU union representative and an old friend of ours from the anti-apartheid days of struggle in Lusaka during the late 1970s. She first came to Makupo in April 2008 with the President of OPSEU, when we had just started our work and she has remained a great supporter all along. She was up at 6 this morning to go for a jog and I got young Madalitso junior to join her for a few kilometres. As they passed the model primary school east across the dambo from us at 6h30 in the morning the headmaster was already there. He invited them in sweaty and huffing to sign his guestbook and recognising Mada as a Makupoite he asked for a well for his school. We are known here as the well people. I’ll join the group for breakfast at 7h30 and we’ll see how the rest of them have fared for their first night in the village. They were really eager yesterday and I hope the experience continues to be as rich for them.