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The staple diet of the Malawian people is white maize eaten with vegetables and, on occasion, fish or meat. Below are a couple of recipes for biscuits and bread that are also eaten.

Mbatata (sweet potato) Biscuits

3/4 cup mashed sweet potato
1/4 cup milk
4 tbs.melted margarine
1 1/4 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sweet potatoes, milk, and melted margarine and beat well. Sift and stir in the remaining ingredients. Turn onto a floured board, knead lightly and roll out half an-inch thick. Cut with a cookie or biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes.

Nthochi (banana) Bread

1/2 cup margarine or shortening
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 egg
1 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
5 ripe bananas, mashed

Grease a loaf pan well. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream margarine with sugar. Beat in egg. Add flour, salt, baking powder, milk, and bananas. Pour into loaf pan and bake for about one hour. Cool well and slice.

During the month of January, ten APU students will be traveling to Malawi in Southeast Africa to study and practice community psychology at the Malawi Children's Village. Anchorage Dr. Tom Nighswander and Nurse Ruth Nighswander (APU alumna) have been frequent volunteers at the village for the past six years. The Nighwanders along with former Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom, Mary Mystrom, APU faculty members Nora Tobin, Dr. Ellen Cole, and Alaska Pacific University President, Doug North, will be accompanying these students on this African travel education experience.

The APU students participating in this trip will be applying the principles of community psychology, "a branch of psychology that deals with mental health and social welfare issues within the community setting. They will be reading about community psychology and working with both orphaned toddlers and young school children. The goal of community psychology is to attempt to understand people within their social worlds and then use this understanding to help improve their well-being," says Ellen Cole.

The Nighswander have lived in Anchorage for the past 34 years. They were Peace Corps volunteers in Malawi in the sixties, took a sabbatical year in Malawi in 1984-85 and have returned annually for the last 6 years to work in this Malawian run HIV/AIDS orphan program.

The MCV, located at the southern tip of Lake Malawi, at the current time houses 2,400 children and serves 37 villages. Through the support of the Alaskan community (the program receives no government funding), the MCV contains a residential nutritional nursery for orphaned infants and under threes, experimental gardens, three in-production fish ponds, a vocational training school, and the first year of a secondary school that is expanding to four years, a library and studio for singing and video production.

A small country in southeast Africa, Malawi is just south of Tanzania and east of Zambia. During January, the temperatures are expected to be in the 90's, with humidity and sun, a slight change from the Alaskan winter. The APU group will undoubtedly adjust to the change in climate, they will experience community psychology in action, and they will leave Africa at the end of January. Like the Nighswander's, perhaps some will return to Malawi for many years to come.

Notes:
It is our hope that, dependent on the reliability of the technology available in Malawi, Dr. North will be able to send regular updates from Malawi keeping us apprised of the groups' progress and activities during this amazing learning trip. Updates of the Malawi trip will be posted on the Moose Page on the Alaska Pacific University website. Please stop by the site and learn what the students are learning.

In addition Rick Mystrom and several of the students participating in this trip are scheduled speakers at the April APU President's Forum luncheon. For information contact the Office of University Advancement 907-564-8250.

Welcome!

"Welcome to Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa, a beautiful narrow strip of a country located on the shores of Lake Malawi, which stretches for 365 miles. It has the third highest mountain in Africa, Mount Malange, two 5000 foot plateaus and one of the friendliest countries you could ever hope to visit. It ranks fifth from the bottom of world poverty! From the world of haves to the world of have nots; from too much food from the Christmas holidays to country wide famine; from a place where HIV/AIDS is becoming a chronic disease because of treatment availability to a place where HIV deaths cause chronic workforce shortages in both the police and Army - this is Malawi"

-Tom and Ruth Nighswander.





AROUND THE WORLD UNIVERSITY NEWS ALUMNI NEWS DISTANCE LEARNING MALAWI AFRICA LEADERSHIP & GIVING BARRON'S BEST BUY archives	Malawi, Africa
	Community Psychology in Action
	The staple diet of the Malawian people is white maize eaten with vegetables and, on occasion, fish or meat. Below are a couple of recipes for biscuits and bread that are also eaten. Mbatata (sweet potato) Biscuits 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato 1/4 cup milk 4 tbs.melted margarine 1 1/4 cups sifted flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix sweet potatoes, milk, and melted margarine and beat well. Sift and stir in the remaining ingredients. Turn onto a floured board, knead lightly and roll out half an-inch thick. Cut with a cookie or biscuit cutter. Place biscuits on a greased baking sheet, and bake for 15 minutes. Nthochi (banana) Bread 1/2 cup margarine or shortening 1 cup sugar 2 cups flour 1 egg 1 cup milk 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. salt 5 ripe bananas, mashed Grease a loaf pan well. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream margarine with sugar. Beat in egg. Add flour, salt, baking powder, milk, and bananas. Pour into loaf pan and bake for about one hour. Cool well and slice. During the month of January, ten APU students will be traveling to Malawi in Southeast Africa to study and practice community psychology at the Malawi Children's Village. Anchorage Dr. Tom Nighswander and Nurse Ruth Nighswander (APU alumna) have been frequent volunteers at the village for the past six years. The Nighwanders along with former Anchorage Mayor Rick Mystrom, Mary Mystrom, APU faculty members Nora Tobin, Dr. Ellen Cole, and Alaska Pacific University President, Doug North, will be accompanying these students on this African travel education experience. The APU students participating in this trip will be applying the principles of community psychology, "a branch of psychology that deals with mental health and social welfare issues within the community setting. They will be reading about community psychology and working with both orphaned toddlers and young school children. The goal of community psychology is to attempt to understand people within their social worlds and then use this understanding to help improve their well-being," says Ellen Cole. The Nighswander have lived in Anchorage for the past 34 years. They were Peace Corps volunteers in Malawi in the sixties, took a sabbatical year in Malawi in 1984-85 and have returned annually for the last 6 years to work in this Malawian run HIV/AIDS orphan program. The MCV, located at the southern tip of Lake Malawi, at the current time houses 2,400 children and serves 37 villages. Through the support of the Alaskan community (the program receives no government funding), the MCV contains a residential nutritional nursery for orphaned infants and under threes, experimental gardens, three in-production fish ponds, a vocational training school, and the first year of a secondary school that is expanding to four years, a library and studio for singing and video production. A small country in southeast Africa, Malawi is just south of Tanzania and east of Zambia. During January, the temperatures are expected to be in the 90's, with humidity and sun, a slight change from the Alaskan winter. The APU group will undoubtedly adjust to the change in climate, they will experience community psychology in action, and they will leave Africa at the end of January. Like the Nighswander's, perhaps some will return to Malawi for many years to come. Notes: It is our hope that, dependent on the reliability of the technology available in Malawi, Dr. North will be able to send regular updates from Malawi keeping us apprised of the groups' progress and activities during this amazing learning trip. Updates of the Malawi trip will be posted on the Moose Page on the Alaska Pacific University website. Please stop by the site and learn what the students are learning. In addition Rick Mystrom and several of the students participating in this trip are scheduled speakers at the April APU President's Forum luncheon. For information contact the Office of University Advancement 907-564-8250. Welcome! "Welcome to Malawi, the Warm Heart of Africa, a beautiful narrow strip of a country located on the shores of Lake Malawi, which stretches for 365 miles. It has the third highest mountain in Africa, Mount Malange, two 5000 foot plateaus and one of the friendliest countries you could ever hope to visit. It ranks fifth from the bottom of world poverty! From the world of haves to the world of have nots; from too much food from the Christmas holidays to country wide famine; from a place where HIV/AIDS is becoming a chronic disease because of treatment availability to a place where HIV deaths cause chronic workforce shortages in both the police and Army - this is Malawi" -Tom and Ruth Nighswander.


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