{"id":2946,"date":"2011-06-29T10:54:15","date_gmt":"2011-06-29T10:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faceofmalawi.com\/?p=2946"},"modified":"2011-06-29T10:54:15","modified_gmt":"2011-06-29T10:54:15","slug":"a-pretty-typical-work-day-in-the-life-of-a-molaro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/29\/a-pretty-typical-work-day-in-the-life-of-a-molaro\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pretty Typical Work Day in the Life of A. Molaro"},"content":{"rendered":"

The district offices take up quite a bit of space. Each sector of government has its own building and the district assembly (the head honchos) have a building too. It would be the equivalent of an office building, but there are no two or more story buildings, so it\u2019s all spread out on a large plot of land.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure why, but the water office is way out in the boonies. Upon arrival to the district offices, I walk down a path, basically through someone\u2019s back yard, to reach my office.<\/p>\n

The guards are out front and have already swept the area. Even though the ground is dirt, it\u2019s common to sweep the ground of leaves and garbage to keep the area looking tidy.<\/p>\n

I say hello and chat for a few minutes before I head into my office.<\/p>\n

I sit down at my desk which I share with a printer and a scanner and greet Edgar, who I share an office with. We chat about the evening or weekend and then get down to business pretty quick. He asks me my plans for the day and I tell him.. sometimes we need to work on things together so we figure out when we can do that, or, sometimes I just need to work on stuff on my own or with other people.<\/p>\n

I pull my lap top out of my bag, start her up and hope that she works. Often, I\u2019ll start the computer and the touchpad will not be working. When this happens I\u2019ll shut it down and start her up again. Sometimes this happens three times before success, sometimes I get it first try. Luck of the draw.<\/p>\n

Next I get started with my work. I consult my \u201cweek plan\u201d that I\u2019ve made either the previous Friday or the Monday of that week. I find week plans are the easiest way to have some direction to my work. It\u2019s a completely self guided project which is something I really love. There is no one to give me assignments\u2026 I have to figure out and execute the tasks on my own.<\/p>\n

Obviously I\u2019m not working with blinders on as I would have no idea what to do without the help of others. At the beginning of the placemen, Sydney, my EWB coach, Edgar and I sat down and figured out the goals of the placement. I also consult a lot with Sydney about what I\u2019m thinking, and I also consult a lot with Edgar about what we need to get done and how to go about doing it.<\/p>\n

At any rate, my day to day tasks are usually set by me and vary greatly depending on the day.<\/p>\n

One thing that is consistent is that I text the other JFs a lot during the work day. It might sound like a bad practice, but it\u2019s okay\u2026 I\u2019m still doing a lot of work. It\u2019s really nice to keep up with the others and see how their day and their work is going. After all, we are a water and sanitation team!<\/p>\n

Airtel, the network provider in Malawi, has this crazy promotion where, if you send five texts a day, you get one hundred free texts to use in that day. I don\u2019t think I have had a day in Malawi where I didn\u2019t receive the free texts.<\/p>\n

At lunch time I have a few options. I can buy some fresh bananas from across the street, come back to the office, sit outside and make a peanut butter and banana sandwich using the stock of peanut butter and bread I keep at my desk. I can go across the street and buy some chips (fries) and salad with a fanta. It\u2019s not my healthiest option but sometimes I\u2019m just in the mood. I can walk into the BOMA and go to a restaurant to buy nsima and beans or chicken or whatever. OR, I can go to the market and pick up something to eat there \u2013 usually avocado and tomato to make a sandwich.<\/p>\n

Most people go home for lunch, but since it takes me 45 minutes to get home, that option doesn\u2019t really work for me. I usually have a book so I\u2019ll sit outside and read\u2026 or I\u2019ll go inside and mess around on the computer. Sometimes Edgar has internet which he lets me use\u2026 so lunch time is a good time for that.<\/p>\n

After lunch, it\u2019s same same as the morning. I work on whatever needs to be done that day and sometimes I\u2019ll start on my next day\u2019s work as well. I also take time to write blog posts, write out emails and do other things to prepare for when I have some internet time.<\/p>\n

Also in the afternoon I like to go out and chat with the guys outside. That\u2019s a really good way to learn things about Malawi, about the water office, about culture\u2026 about everything really. Plus, I just like talking with them because they are all good people.<\/p>\n

Any time between 4:30 and 5:00 is when I knock off. (Malawians all say \u201cknock off\u201d to describe when they are finishing work \u2013 I really like that phrase). I then start my walk through the path, down the main road and through the village to my home. The sun is setting by this time so it\u2019s a nice walk \u2013 not too hot. As I\u2019m getting home it\u2019s getting dark\u2026 but there is always a bit of sunlight left by the time I arrive at my home.
\nby ali.in.malawi<\/p>\n

\"\"

Ali playing donkey kong 2 on super nintendo<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The district offices take up quite a bit of space. Each sector of government has its own building and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[842,258,599],"class_list":["post-2946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national-news","tag-ali-in-malawi","tag-malawi","tag-work"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.faceofmalawi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}