Camp Merrie-Woode Reunion Malawi ~Woo-woop!~

The past week has been extra fun thanks to visitors Tait Davidson, Jennifer Harding and Maya Beplat. These three lovely ladies are traveling through Malawi after each finishing three years of service in Peace Corps Tanzania. Cheers to these women and safe travels as they continue on to Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Angola and... the United States. Please see Tait's blog www.taittanzania.blogspot.com for pictures and descriptions of our travels. I don't have time to tell you about it here because I'm off to drink cold beer and play softball - it's a Friday afternoon after all. Peace!

"...it only takes a spark to get a fire going..."

Sorry I haven't been updating or adding photos as I should. SO... I've added links to some of my fellow PCV's (Peace Corps Volunteers') blogs. You can learn a lot about Malawi and what we're all up to from these.

Peace and hugs to all of you out there. Malawi is truly the Warm Heart of Africa...

Love,
Bright "Tarheel in the Briar Patch" Tate

The sunset picture is from Dedza where I lived during our 2 month pre-servicetraining. The kids are family and friends there. The house is my house! The cloudy mountain picture is Ntchisi Mountain - it's nice and cool at this elevation so its a tropical cloud forest many mornings. The group pic is from an ex-pat softball game in Lilongwe.

I'm at site now and I could not be more fortunate. I am living at the gate to the Ntchisi Forest Preserve. It's a lush rainforest that covers Ntchisi Mountain (~5000 feet). Lots of great hiking and trails to explore. So far I've seen Samango monkeys playing in the tree canopy and a young aggressive green mamba that crossed in front of me on the dirt road. And there's so much more... butterflies, baboons, centipedes, exotic birds, grasshoppers with gorgeous wings, pythons, spitting cobras, bushbock, huge ants, black mambas. Go to www.ntchisi.com to see a lodge that is 100 yards up the road from me. So life is truly good here in Malawi, which is so aptly nicknamed the Warm Heart of Africa.

Disclaimer

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Mail

Many of you have asked how to communicate and the best way is pen and paper. I will only have email access every few months. The postage to Malawi is $.90 for 1 ounce and it takes 2 to 3 weeks for me to receive your letters. Please write Air Mail on the envelope and number your letters in case one of them is held up in the mail.

Bright Tate, PCT
Peace Corps
P. O. Box 208
Lilongwe, Malawi

I look forward to hearing from you. Peace.

February 4, 2008

After four months of drafting and research, I submitted the first of many Peace Corps applications November 30, 2006. I received my offer January 10, 2008 and immediately accepted. My work will be primarily Natural Resource Management and Conservation, secondarily HIV/AIDS Education and thirdly community development.

Here's to the next adventure. I leave Charlotte February 21 for Washington, DC, then onto Johannesburg, South Africa, finally arriving in Lilongwe, Malawi February 25. Lilongwe is Malawi's capital city and is in the center of the country. The Malawi Peace Corps office and medical office and US embassy are in Ligongwe. I'll be in and out of the "big city" for the next few months during training. In late-April or early-May I start my two year post somewhere else, probably in a small community.