Oh man. I am terrible at goodbyes. We started off handing out the supplies to John Wesley in Standard 8, the Standard 4A teacher, and finally Katie and Cecilia. We hung up posters during the few minutes left of class instruction and then Katie told us we had to head over to the standard 7 room for the farewell celebration. It was Dr. Kelly, a director from MIE, the Domasi Government School head teacher, all the teachers, and of course, us. It was so cute, they had decorated the board, rearranged all the desks so we were in a big circle, and had a big table in the middle with food and drinks, which we really good. Our teacher, Katie, actually was on this committee and started handing out gifts to all of us. They told us we had to leave and then come back and show them what we got, so we figured it was clothing, and it was! A shirt and wraparound skirt. All of us matched and it was really nice. We clapped, dance and sang our way back into the classroom with the rest of the female teachers that had led us.
Once we were seated again, the head teacher and Dr. Kelly gave speeches, and then it was our turn. I knew it was coming. Jess and I had to stand up there together because we both suck at saying goodbye. Of course we both started crying, a lot. We cried more than anyone else and I’d be shocked if they could actually understand what we were saying to them. This was way harder than I expected it to be. I don’t think you really understand what you’re feeling or how much you’ve been affected until you’re looking all these people in the face and you have to tell them. I didn’t even get out 5 words before I turned into waterworks.
I’ve come here with a group for a purpose that includes teaching and trying to better the Domasi education system. However, it was important that they knew how much I have learned from them. I can sincerely say that I will never forget the teachers, the school, the country. I will never forget those faces, the children, not only at my school but every school, and every village we’ve driven through. Some days I’ve walked out of my classroom feeling defeated, other days I’ve come out feeling like I’ve truly made a difference. I’m coming to realize that it’s not only because I’m in Africa, or because of language and cultural differences, it happens when you’re a teacher, period. But, I appreciate every moment of it. I have grown so much in the short amount of time I’ve been here, and I’m so thankful for this experience. I feel really blessed to have been able to be here. I’ll make sure this isn’t the last time they see me.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Ponchos are done (July 13)
Today we handed out the blanket/ponchos to the youngest students at Malemia, but I unfortunately didn’t get to see. We had the option of getting on the bus to watch and then walk back to the Government school, but Jess and I were both feeling really sick so we stayed on the bus to get a ride. Since we were feeling awful we pretty much observed during class today, we figured tomorrow we will do something with the class. Plus tomorrow is when we’re bringing Katie all the supplies and decorating the classroom.
We went into town today, and of course, to our luck, our posters were too big to be laminated even though the sign says “Lamination – Any Size!”. Apparently any size means 8.5 x 11. The photo place also couldn’t develop our camera and we had a limited amount of time so we didn’t want to be running around Zomba when we had other errands to run. Nothing ever really goes as planned, but this is Africa, I have to keep reminding myself of that. I did exchange money though, and got the rest of my souveniers, so it feels good to finally be done with that.
Back at Annie’s, Jess and I got an early dinner and then decided to start packing. We figured that we would use my big suitcase to fill with supplies and clothes we’re leaving behind for Katie and some other teachers. This worked out well because everything fit perfectly and now I don’t have to bring home that ridiculous suitcase that broke on the first day here! Whatever doesn’t fit in my smaller one is gonna go in Jess’s other one, so it works out great. It feels weird to actually be packed. Everything we need for the next few days until we’re back in the states will just be in our carry-on’s. It makes it easier if we can keep all the big luggage in one place since it takes forever to load when it’s all in different places.
At 7 we decorated the bar area (well mostly Jeff and Todd) with balloons, cards and gifts for Annie. We’ve decided to throw her a farewell party to show her how grateful we are for everything she’s done for us these past few weeks. Quite honestly I’m not sure if my trip would have been every bit this wonderful if it hadn’t been in part to her hospitality and kindness. Not to mention her lodge is fantastic, and her staff is incredible, and so sweet. I will never forget her, or Ronald, or Cameron, Alice, Naomi, Peter, the list goes on. I wish I could just take them all home with me. Annie cried, which means I cried, as well as a few others. I don’t know why being her has made me so crazy emotional.
Now I’ve showered, finished packing, and sitting here typing this. I can’t believe that tomorrow is our last day in the schools. I don’t think I’m quite prepared to leave these kids yet. We’ll see what happens.
We went into town today, and of course, to our luck, our posters were too big to be laminated even though the sign says “Lamination – Any Size!”. Apparently any size means 8.5 x 11. The photo place also couldn’t develop our camera and we had a limited amount of time so we didn’t want to be running around Zomba when we had other errands to run. Nothing ever really goes as planned, but this is Africa, I have to keep reminding myself of that. I did exchange money though, and got the rest of my souveniers, so it feels good to finally be done with that.
Back at Annie’s, Jess and I got an early dinner and then decided to start packing. We figured that we would use my big suitcase to fill with supplies and clothes we’re leaving behind for Katie and some other teachers. This worked out well because everything fit perfectly and now I don’t have to bring home that ridiculous suitcase that broke on the first day here! Whatever doesn’t fit in my smaller one is gonna go in Jess’s other one, so it works out great. It feels weird to actually be packed. Everything we need for the next few days until we’re back in the states will just be in our carry-on’s. It makes it easier if we can keep all the big luggage in one place since it takes forever to load when it’s all in different places.
At 7 we decorated the bar area (well mostly Jeff and Todd) with balloons, cards and gifts for Annie. We’ve decided to throw her a farewell party to show her how grateful we are for everything she’s done for us these past few weeks. Quite honestly I’m not sure if my trip would have been every bit this wonderful if it hadn’t been in part to her hospitality and kindness. Not to mention her lodge is fantastic, and her staff is incredible, and so sweet. I will never forget her, or Ronald, or Cameron, Alice, Naomi, Peter, the list goes on. I wish I could just take them all home with me. Annie cried, which means I cried, as well as a few others. I don’t know why being her has made me so crazy emotional.
Now I’ve showered, finished packing, and sitting here typing this. I can’t believe that tomorrow is our last day in the schools. I don’t think I’m quite prepared to leave these kids yet. We’ll see what happens.
Went to the wall, finally (July 12)
It was so beautiful outside today! Sunshine without a cloud in the sky, and it was really warm. I got up around 8am, had some breakfast and then went into town with Kelsey and Angela around 11:30. I wanted to stop by the internet café to get some things laminated, the picture place to get film developed, and Feg’s to get cardboard, chalk and an eraser, but of course all three places were closed. I’m really going to have to rush to get all those things done tomorrow, since tomorrow is technically our last day of instruction in the schools. Tuesday there is a big farewell from the teachers starting at 10am, so we won’t really have teaching time. That’s when we’ll give our gifts (the rest of our supplies, which is a ton) and that night is the big teacher dinner.
At the wall I bought 10 necklacess for 1000 kwacha which was a pretty good deal. Then I bought 6 napkin holders for 1200 kwacha, a not so good deal. I’m terrible at bargaining though, everyone knows this. That’s exactly why I’ve barely bought anything on this trip, I just can’t seem to get good prices because I settle too easily. I suck. We stopped at tasty bites for lunch, and that was really good, that place is so cheap. Later in the day I walked down to this garden area that has a mini waterfall and creek with the Rachels, DeAnna, Carolyn and Moses. It was so pretty, and I had been meaning to go down there for awhile now. You have to go in a big group though because that place has a real bad history of there being a lot of muggings. It seemed hard to believe for a place so beautiful.
Our last buffet “family” dinner was tonight! It was excellent because there was mashed potatoes! I never thought I’d appreciate them so much, but it was amazing and I had 2 helpings of it. It’s crazy the type of food you crave when you’re in foreign countries. The amount of potatoes and chips ive eaten here is insane, just because it reminds me of home. Only 5 days left!
At the wall I bought 10 necklacess for 1000 kwacha which was a pretty good deal. Then I bought 6 napkin holders for 1200 kwacha, a not so good deal. I’m terrible at bargaining though, everyone knows this. That’s exactly why I’ve barely bought anything on this trip, I just can’t seem to get good prices because I settle too easily. I suck. We stopped at tasty bites for lunch, and that was really good, that place is so cheap. Later in the day I walked down to this garden area that has a mini waterfall and creek with the Rachels, DeAnna, Carolyn and Moses. It was so pretty, and I had been meaning to go down there for awhile now. You have to go in a big group though because that place has a real bad history of there being a lot of muggings. It seemed hard to believe for a place so beautiful.
Our last buffet “family” dinner was tonight! It was excellent because there was mashed potatoes! I never thought I’d appreciate them so much, but it was amazing and I had 2 helpings of it. It’s crazy the type of food you crave when you’re in foreign countries. The amount of potatoes and chips ive eaten here is insane, just because it reminds me of home. Only 5 days left!
Orphanage (July 11)
It was pouring down rain this morning, but I didn’t wake up until the alarm went off, which is unusual. I’m normally up about 15 minutes before. I slept amazing last night, I actually think it was because of the rain. It’s been rainy a lot, but it’s been light showers, nothing like how it was last night and this morning. I had to be ready by 9:30 so we could all head off to the orphanage, but because of the rain we couldn’t go at that time. All the professors were worried that the roads would be way too bad because they’re all dirt. It seems that everywhere we go is down these crazy difficult dirt roads, but that may just be because Malawi doesn’t have many roads that aren’t dirt. Jess and I came back to the room and worked on some school stuff before it was time to leave for the orphanage around 1, for real this time. She stayed because she wasn’t feeling well, and a few others ended up not going either.
Peter lead the way so Charles wouldn’t get lost. It wasn’t at all what I expected but it was nice. It’s a community based orphanage, so it sustains itself through community support, and they’re very good about supporting each other. It houses orphan children as well as sick elderly people. Dr. Kelly explained that places like this are so important because children who lose their parents are oftentimes sent to live with relatives. When this happens, they become one more mouth to feed, and their new home sometimes neglects them. Places like this take those children in and provide food, shelter, health and education. The director welcomed us into his home and gave us drinks and bread, which was so kind of him. He talked to us a bit about the orphanage and ways we could help them, either by monetary donations or donating useful materials. All three universities presented the orphanage with 18,000 kwacha, and they were all so happy. It’s so great being able to see where our money’s going and looking into the faces of all the children we’re helping. It’s so special. The kids were all adorable.
One member, an older gentleman, who I think might have been HIV positive, handed me a note as we were walking. He told me his name, said that he was a member of the orphanage and wished to have a pen pal from out of the country. He also included his address and phone number so that I could contact him if I was willing to be his pen pal. I love getting notes like this. I told him as soon as I get to the states I would write to him. Some others received notes as well. Malawians seem to do this a lot when they meet people from different countries, I really like that.
Once I got back to Annie’s, I worked on more posters for class, and just hung out and relaxed. I didn’t get to go into town but I’ll probably do that tomorrow. I can’t believe that at this time in a week I’ll be at home. I’m so anxious to be back and to see everyone, but I also really don’t want to leave Africa! I’ve pretty much fallen in love with this country and these people. I hope this next week doesn’t go by too fast!
Peter lead the way so Charles wouldn’t get lost. It wasn’t at all what I expected but it was nice. It’s a community based orphanage, so it sustains itself through community support, and they’re very good about supporting each other. It houses orphan children as well as sick elderly people. Dr. Kelly explained that places like this are so important because children who lose their parents are oftentimes sent to live with relatives. When this happens, they become one more mouth to feed, and their new home sometimes neglects them. Places like this take those children in and provide food, shelter, health and education. The director welcomed us into his home and gave us drinks and bread, which was so kind of him. He talked to us a bit about the orphanage and ways we could help them, either by monetary donations or donating useful materials. All three universities presented the orphanage with 18,000 kwacha, and they were all so happy. It’s so great being able to see where our money’s going and looking into the faces of all the children we’re helping. It’s so special. The kids were all adorable.
One member, an older gentleman, who I think might have been HIV positive, handed me a note as we were walking. He told me his name, said that he was a member of the orphanage and wished to have a pen pal from out of the country. He also included his address and phone number so that I could contact him if I was willing to be his pen pal. I love getting notes like this. I told him as soon as I get to the states I would write to him. Some others received notes as well. Malawians seem to do this a lot when they meet people from different countries, I really like that.
Once I got back to Annie’s, I worked on more posters for class, and just hung out and relaxed. I didn’t get to go into town but I’ll probably do that tomorrow. I can’t believe that at this time in a week I’ll be at home. I’m so anxious to be back and to see everyone, but I also really don’t want to leave Africa! I’ve pretty much fallen in love with this country and these people. I hope this next week doesn’t go by too fast!
Katie's House (July 10)
Back at school! Today was cool because after our lessons, Jess and I went with Katie to her home instead of going to MIE for our class discussion. Dr. Kelly said this was perfectly okay and told us before that if anyone ever got an opportunity to go to a teacher’s home it would be a very good idea. So we walked about 30 minutes to Katie’s, it wasn’t a bad walk but I can see how it gets tiring, especially when the sun is beating on you the entire way. One of the children in our class lives with Katie, he’s her nephew, and she also has three children of her own. Her youngest son is adorable, we picked him up from the nursery on the way, and he’s 4 years old. Her oldest daughter goes to Domasi Demonstration Secondary School, so that’s really exciting, and I’m not sure where her other daughter goes to school.
We got there and she has such a nice house, nicer than the one’s we’ve seen, besides Annie’s house of course. Outside there was a little fire pot where she would heat her pots to boil water. She laid out a mat and gave Jess and I skirt wrap things so when we sat on the ground our clothes wouldn’t get dirty. She was teaching us to make Nsima! It’s a lot like grits but I actually really like it. All it is, is flour and water. No joke. It gets really thick and mush like, and then you can eat it. It’s the Malawian national dish, and so everyone eats it for nearly every meal. We helped her make it and got some pictures, it was really cute. We went inside where she served us the Nsima, pumpkin leaves, and goat meat. I never thought I’d try goat, but I did because I didn’t want to be rude. Surprisingly, it was fantastic! Such good meat. Jess and I started eating with forks, and Katie said in Malawi people eat with their hands. So we put away the forks and started eating with our fingers, it was awesome because we never get to do that in the states with food that messy. It felt really nice being so immersed in their culture like that, something that most of our group won’t get the opportunity to do. I learned so much. They also eat a ton, and I was getting so full but I didn’t want to not finish all my food. Afterwards I was so happy that we had the walk back so I could work off some of that nsima. Katie is such an amazing lady, she is so nice, and so is her husband, Ben. I was nervous going into that situation because you never know what the husband will be like, but he was cool. He works in Zomba, and he was so interested in knowing about America. He even asked about Michael Jackson and what we thought of him. It was funny.
We had a buffet style dinner tonight with everyone, it was great as usual. Peter and Brian threw another party, but this time I didn’t stay long because I did not want a repeat of last weekend. We played 5 card draw and the loser had to take a shot. I lost like 6 times. I finally decided around 9:30 it was time to sneak away to bed. So me and Jess told them we were going to the bathroom but just left to our rooms, haha. It was a good night though. I always like when everyone hangs out together.
We got there and she has such a nice house, nicer than the one’s we’ve seen, besides Annie’s house of course. Outside there was a little fire pot where she would heat her pots to boil water. She laid out a mat and gave Jess and I skirt wrap things so when we sat on the ground our clothes wouldn’t get dirty. She was teaching us to make Nsima! It’s a lot like grits but I actually really like it. All it is, is flour and water. No joke. It gets really thick and mush like, and then you can eat it. It’s the Malawian national dish, and so everyone eats it for nearly every meal. We helped her make it and got some pictures, it was really cute. We went inside where she served us the Nsima, pumpkin leaves, and goat meat. I never thought I’d try goat, but I did because I didn’t want to be rude. Surprisingly, it was fantastic! Such good meat. Jess and I started eating with forks, and Katie said in Malawi people eat with their hands. So we put away the forks and started eating with our fingers, it was awesome because we never get to do that in the states with food that messy. It felt really nice being so immersed in their culture like that, something that most of our group won’t get the opportunity to do. I learned so much. They also eat a ton, and I was getting so full but I didn’t want to not finish all my food. Afterwards I was so happy that we had the walk back so I could work off some of that nsima. Katie is such an amazing lady, she is so nice, and so is her husband, Ben. I was nervous going into that situation because you never know what the husband will be like, but he was cool. He works in Zomba, and he was so interested in knowing about America. He even asked about Michael Jackson and what we thought of him. It was funny.
We had a buffet style dinner tonight with everyone, it was great as usual. Peter and Brian threw another party, but this time I didn’t stay long because I did not want a repeat of last weekend. We played 5 card draw and the loser had to take a shot. I lost like 6 times. I finally decided around 9:30 it was time to sneak away to bed. So me and Jess told them we were going to the bathroom but just left to our rooms, haha. It was a good night though. I always like when everyone hangs out together.
Mvuu Camp Safari (July 8 & 9)
I have so many things to say about the past two days I just had. I don’t even know where to begin. We left early Wednesday morning to head out to Liwonde National Park where the Mvuu (means Hippo) Camp safari place was. We pulled up to a river (after driving on a terrible dirt road through tons of really neat villages) where we split up into two groups to get on boats for our river safari. The guides were really nice and they floated us down the river where we would be able to see hippo’s and other animals on the shore. It was the perfect way to start the trip. It was kind of cold and a little rainy but thankfully it cleared up just in time. At first we didn’t see much other than a crazy amount of birds and impala everywhere, but soon we found Hippos!! And a ton of hippos at that. They were all sooo adorable with only their eyes and ears sticking out of the water at first. Hippos stay with their families and theyre called hippo camps or hippo schools. The babies usually cant reach the bottom so when they’re under water they’re resting on their mom’s back. They’re very shy though so mostly you see the older hippos. We found a ton of them laying out in the sun and pretty much all of my pictures are of these hippos. The boat pulls right up next to them, I wanted to just reach out and touch them so badly but we couldn’t. It was incredible being able to see them in their natural environment, not in captivity. They’re so much more beautiful. Oh, and birds really do sit on them in real life. They just hang out on hippo’s backs like it’s no big deal. And the hippos don’t mind it at all.
So there are a ton of these birds that live in these palm trees at one part of the river and they are absolutely obnoxious. I don’t remember their name but there’s hundreds of them and theyre loud and they poop on everything. No exaggeration, we asked the guide why half of the trees and bushes and everything over there was white, the other half green, and he said the birds had “painted them”. If that’s not a sign of overpopulation then I don’t know what is. Anyway, tons of hippos and birds. But also big crocodiles. We saw them a lot swimming around us in the river, but also some massive ones out on land. It was so creepy. There were also a lot of impala, water buck, warthogs and guinea fowl that we saw running around on land behind the hippos and stuff. It was very cool. So after a two hour river safari we headed to where the lodge was for tea, coffee, and lunch! Which was free! I was starving and the lunch was so good. Oh but first, the lodge. It was all out in the open, extremely beautiful, overlooking the river. The animals here aren’t in captivity, they just roam wild, so apparently it was not uncommon when we saw a huge baboon walk across the grass in front of our lunch table. Amazing, and very frightening at first. Those things get way bigger than the little things I’m used to seeing around Annie’s. For lunch we had Macaroni Bolognaise, Vegetable lasagna, bread and tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives with feta cheese which was great because we normally can’t eat the vegetables.
After lunch we were able to go to our rooms. We were split up into four different groups, so both Rachels, Dr. Kelly, Jess and I were in room 8. Actually, not really room, but Chalet. They were these cute little hut/tent/cabin things that sat right on the river. The bottoms were stone, or wood, can’t remember, but the whole surrounding top wall area was just net, so it felt like we were really outside. It got extremely cold in there at night but the view was so beautiful. And you could hear the hippos all the time!! Dr. Kelly said in the middle of the night they usually come right up by the chalets and sleep. We had about an hour to check out our rooms, and everyone was so thrilled. It’s seriously like the perfect honeymoon spot. All the beds had wooden posts with white draped canopy thing around it, with flowers resting on our pillows and walls made of stone. It was very rustic but romantic, haha. The bathroom was all dark stone, with an open shower, and a beautiful sink, mirror, toilet, etc. I wish I was doing this more justice. So all of us were hanging out by the river hoping to spot some elephants or hippos, but all the monkeys came over and they even chased Beth, which was pretty hilarious. We found an elephant way in the distance laying in the water and with Carolyn and Kelsey’s nice cameras it made for some good pictures.
At 3 we had to be back in the main lodge area for the Afternoon safari. They served us more coffee and tea and this time pound cake which was of course delicious. We split into groups again but this time got onto these safari jeep things. It had 4 different rows of seating at different heights and it was completely open. No doors or windows, nothing except a roof, typical safari style. We paid extra to be taken into the enclosed rhino area, so that’s where we were headed first. This area is fenced in by an electric fence only because rhinos, zebras, buffalo and other animals that live in there are endangered, and they don’t want the elephants getting in and eating all of their food. Just driving to this area was really dry, with not much grass and tons of knocked down trees. Partly because of the dry season but also because elephants eat so much, and they push down trees to eat those as well. Mvuu has about 700 elephants on the property but only about 7 rhinos and a dozen zebras, so you can see why they wanted to keep them in an area to themselves.
The most amazing thing happened during the afternoon safari. All of us were told to keep a look out for animals so that George (our guide) could stop, get us closer and tell us about it. James thought he saw an elephant. George said it’s not common to find them in the rhino area but it was possible. This was about 10 minutes into our drive, so we backed up and started looking. We drove into this little area, and out of nowhere, there was a mother elephant with a baby. We were about 10 feet from this thing.. and it was gigantic.. and I was scared. It’s not at all like being at the zoo. African elephants are impossible to tame, the one’s everyone usually sees and the ones that people can ride are always Indian elephants, and those are smaller. This thing was huge and it was staring right at us. George told us to be really quiet. All of a sudden it started mock charging us! It would flap it’s ears, make noise, back up, run towards us and then suddenly stop. George said they usually do this to see what we will do, to see if we’re scared, they do this a lot if another animal, or something, is threatening to them. I think it was because there was a baby elephant close by. She did this a few times and it scared the crap out of me. Although it was incredible, I was convinced she would actually charge at the jeep, which was parked, and had nothing to protect us, especially me, beth and james, who were all sitting along the edge closest to the elephant. Our driver radioed the other jeep so the rest of the group could come and see it, but once they got there the elephant was leaving. It was by far the most amazing thing I’ve seen on this rip. My heart was pounding even like 15 minutes after we had drove on.
I could sit here and tell you about every animal we saw on the safari, but it would take me all night long. We did see a water buffalo, it was huge, very close to us and even crossed the road in front of us while we were driving. Dr. Liz said she had never once seen that in all the safari’s she’d come on here. It’s very endangered, so that was really cool to have seen, especially so close! George and Byson (the driver) got us so close to some of these animals it was amazing. We saw lots of impala and antelope, and some other cool horned thing I don’t remember the name of. Impala are everywhere though and we saw them most times of the day in most areas. The warthogs were so fun. They look just like Pumba! They’re very skiddish though so we never got terribly close to them because they always ran away. It was kind of disappointing because we never did see a rhino or a zebra and I really wanted to. But given the fact that there are sooo few of them, and the park is sooo big, it’s very rare that people get to see them. Dr. Kelly still hasn’t seen them. The jeeps typically drive around the perimeter of the enclosure and those animals are probably way on the inside where there aren’t many roads. It’s okay though because that one elephant charging at us was enough to satisfy my wild animal need for a good while.
Around 5:30 we were finishing up our afternoon safari and drove down to the river. Here we got off the jeeps and they gave us our drinks we had ordered after lunch. I had a beer, and we all got to watch our first African sunset! Well, our first one that set over the river and mountains, surrounded by Impala, warthogs, hippos, waterbucks and crocodiles. It reminded me so much of the Lion King. The sunset was such a deep red color, and there were animals all around us. I loved it. They provided blankets too because it gets so cold and night and especially on the jeep when the wind is always blowing. Once we finished up our drinks after the sun went down, we loaded back up and it was time for our night safari before dinner.
George had a huge flashlight that he shone while we drove to catch the eyes of the night animals. We eventually found an entire family of elephants, all different sizes, even a little tiny baby that George said was less than a year old. They were so cute, and much more calm than the charging elephant we found before. We couldn’t take pictures with flash because it makes them angry, so I tried my best to get them in the dark and they didn’t come out so great. It was such a cool thing to see though. We also found a mom and a baby hippo at one of the watering holes. They were cute too, but we had seen enough hippos. I was really hoping to see some hyenas but none really came out.
Dinner was incredible. They had it set up in a different area outside in a sandy area with a huge bonfire in the middle. It was our group plus a few others that were staying there. They served everyone tomato soup first and it was sooo good, and I hate tomato soup but I wanted more. There was traditional dancing and music around the fire as well, it was insane. I wish my camera hadn’t died because I would have gotten a nice video of it. For dinner there was chicken, beef, pork, goat, vegetables, cheese potatoes, bread, rice, vegetable kabobs and coleslaw. It was so good. We were all exhausted and we had to get up the next morning at 4:45 so everyone pretty much called it an early night.
Day 19
July 9
We got up and it was raining but they were still having the morning guided walk that started around 5:30 I think. This was so you could actually walk around on the park grounds and see different animals that would just be waking, etc. George led my group, and Lawrence was behind us with a gun, just in case. I learned a lot about different types of trees that they had which was really cool. The yellow river tree cures malaria if the branches are boiled in water. There is also wild jasmine and basil and lemon grass that grows out there, its so neat. I learned a lot about elephant crap which was gross but pretty interesting, same with impalas. We saw a ton of guinea fowl, impalas, warthogs and monkeys. Sadly, no elephants were walking around. I was really hoping to see more of them. The walk lasted about an hour and then we went back for breakfast. Of course, it was just as good as the other meals. Muffins, French toast, omelets, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereal, etc.
During breakfast we met Jillian. She is the executive director and founder of H.E.L.P (hope, education, love, protection) Malawi. It’s a non-profit organization that is pretty well known and that I had actually done research on during my senior research proposal. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled that we actually got to meet her. She came up to our table because she noticed we were a bunch of Americans, and shes from New York. She told us about her school, Nanthomba, that is just across the river that she started under HELP Malawi. It provides schooling for mostly orphans and the children of the workers at Mvuu Camp and surrounding areas. Dr. Kelly agreed to let us stop there on the way home, and I was so excited. Jillian also has a medical clinic and maternity ward that focuses on trying to lower the maternal and infant mortality rates, which was what my entire paper was based on. I was so grateful she took the time to tell me all about it, and I got her contact information.
We left breakfast for another river safari and it was pretty much the same as the first one. The other boat saw two herds of elephants, and we didn’t see anything but a bunch of hippos and crocs so I was kinda upset. But it’s okay. So we got on the bus and headed towards the school and it was phenomenal. I feel bad saying it, but it was definitely my favorite school I’ve visited this entire trip. They are working on being able to sustain themselves as a school so that they no longer need support from donors and other foundations. It was kind of like a combination between a primary school and Freedom Gardens. The kids were so smart, and the staff was amazing. Matt gave us the tour. He is a graduate from University of Wisconsin – Madison and is the HELP Malawi International Project Coordinator. He studied International Relations and is planning on going back to the states next year to pursue a masters. I got his information too and he was so helpful. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d love to get involved in. After visiting the school he took us to see the clinic, and it was well under construction. It’s coming along very nicely.
Once we headed home, we stopped at Liwonde, the authentic wood carving place. I bought a few things but it was pretty much like every other place we had been to. Finally, we were home, and so tired. I pretty much just showered, got ready for Friday’s lesson and went to bed. It was such a good past few days though. Much more than I ever expected it to be.
So there are a ton of these birds that live in these palm trees at one part of the river and they are absolutely obnoxious. I don’t remember their name but there’s hundreds of them and theyre loud and they poop on everything. No exaggeration, we asked the guide why half of the trees and bushes and everything over there was white, the other half green, and he said the birds had “painted them”. If that’s not a sign of overpopulation then I don’t know what is. Anyway, tons of hippos and birds. But also big crocodiles. We saw them a lot swimming around us in the river, but also some massive ones out on land. It was so creepy. There were also a lot of impala, water buck, warthogs and guinea fowl that we saw running around on land behind the hippos and stuff. It was very cool. So after a two hour river safari we headed to where the lodge was for tea, coffee, and lunch! Which was free! I was starving and the lunch was so good. Oh but first, the lodge. It was all out in the open, extremely beautiful, overlooking the river. The animals here aren’t in captivity, they just roam wild, so apparently it was not uncommon when we saw a huge baboon walk across the grass in front of our lunch table. Amazing, and very frightening at first. Those things get way bigger than the little things I’m used to seeing around Annie’s. For lunch we had Macaroni Bolognaise, Vegetable lasagna, bread and tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives with feta cheese which was great because we normally can’t eat the vegetables.
After lunch we were able to go to our rooms. We were split up into four different groups, so both Rachels, Dr. Kelly, Jess and I were in room 8. Actually, not really room, but Chalet. They were these cute little hut/tent/cabin things that sat right on the river. The bottoms were stone, or wood, can’t remember, but the whole surrounding top wall area was just net, so it felt like we were really outside. It got extremely cold in there at night but the view was so beautiful. And you could hear the hippos all the time!! Dr. Kelly said in the middle of the night they usually come right up by the chalets and sleep. We had about an hour to check out our rooms, and everyone was so thrilled. It’s seriously like the perfect honeymoon spot. All the beds had wooden posts with white draped canopy thing around it, with flowers resting on our pillows and walls made of stone. It was very rustic but romantic, haha. The bathroom was all dark stone, with an open shower, and a beautiful sink, mirror, toilet, etc. I wish I was doing this more justice. So all of us were hanging out by the river hoping to spot some elephants or hippos, but all the monkeys came over and they even chased Beth, which was pretty hilarious. We found an elephant way in the distance laying in the water and with Carolyn and Kelsey’s nice cameras it made for some good pictures.
At 3 we had to be back in the main lodge area for the Afternoon safari. They served us more coffee and tea and this time pound cake which was of course delicious. We split into groups again but this time got onto these safari jeep things. It had 4 different rows of seating at different heights and it was completely open. No doors or windows, nothing except a roof, typical safari style. We paid extra to be taken into the enclosed rhino area, so that’s where we were headed first. This area is fenced in by an electric fence only because rhinos, zebras, buffalo and other animals that live in there are endangered, and they don’t want the elephants getting in and eating all of their food. Just driving to this area was really dry, with not much grass and tons of knocked down trees. Partly because of the dry season but also because elephants eat so much, and they push down trees to eat those as well. Mvuu has about 700 elephants on the property but only about 7 rhinos and a dozen zebras, so you can see why they wanted to keep them in an area to themselves.
The most amazing thing happened during the afternoon safari. All of us were told to keep a look out for animals so that George (our guide) could stop, get us closer and tell us about it. James thought he saw an elephant. George said it’s not common to find them in the rhino area but it was possible. This was about 10 minutes into our drive, so we backed up and started looking. We drove into this little area, and out of nowhere, there was a mother elephant with a baby. We were about 10 feet from this thing.. and it was gigantic.. and I was scared. It’s not at all like being at the zoo. African elephants are impossible to tame, the one’s everyone usually sees and the ones that people can ride are always Indian elephants, and those are smaller. This thing was huge and it was staring right at us. George told us to be really quiet. All of a sudden it started mock charging us! It would flap it’s ears, make noise, back up, run towards us and then suddenly stop. George said they usually do this to see what we will do, to see if we’re scared, they do this a lot if another animal, or something, is threatening to them. I think it was because there was a baby elephant close by. She did this a few times and it scared the crap out of me. Although it was incredible, I was convinced she would actually charge at the jeep, which was parked, and had nothing to protect us, especially me, beth and james, who were all sitting along the edge closest to the elephant. Our driver radioed the other jeep so the rest of the group could come and see it, but once they got there the elephant was leaving. It was by far the most amazing thing I’ve seen on this rip. My heart was pounding even like 15 minutes after we had drove on.
I could sit here and tell you about every animal we saw on the safari, but it would take me all night long. We did see a water buffalo, it was huge, very close to us and even crossed the road in front of us while we were driving. Dr. Liz said she had never once seen that in all the safari’s she’d come on here. It’s very endangered, so that was really cool to have seen, especially so close! George and Byson (the driver) got us so close to some of these animals it was amazing. We saw lots of impala and antelope, and some other cool horned thing I don’t remember the name of. Impala are everywhere though and we saw them most times of the day in most areas. The warthogs were so fun. They look just like Pumba! They’re very skiddish though so we never got terribly close to them because they always ran away. It was kind of disappointing because we never did see a rhino or a zebra and I really wanted to. But given the fact that there are sooo few of them, and the park is sooo big, it’s very rare that people get to see them. Dr. Kelly still hasn’t seen them. The jeeps typically drive around the perimeter of the enclosure and those animals are probably way on the inside where there aren’t many roads. It’s okay though because that one elephant charging at us was enough to satisfy my wild animal need for a good while.
Around 5:30 we were finishing up our afternoon safari and drove down to the river. Here we got off the jeeps and they gave us our drinks we had ordered after lunch. I had a beer, and we all got to watch our first African sunset! Well, our first one that set over the river and mountains, surrounded by Impala, warthogs, hippos, waterbucks and crocodiles. It reminded me so much of the Lion King. The sunset was such a deep red color, and there were animals all around us. I loved it. They provided blankets too because it gets so cold and night and especially on the jeep when the wind is always blowing. Once we finished up our drinks after the sun went down, we loaded back up and it was time for our night safari before dinner.
George had a huge flashlight that he shone while we drove to catch the eyes of the night animals. We eventually found an entire family of elephants, all different sizes, even a little tiny baby that George said was less than a year old. They were so cute, and much more calm than the charging elephant we found before. We couldn’t take pictures with flash because it makes them angry, so I tried my best to get them in the dark and they didn’t come out so great. It was such a cool thing to see though. We also found a mom and a baby hippo at one of the watering holes. They were cute too, but we had seen enough hippos. I was really hoping to see some hyenas but none really came out.
Dinner was incredible. They had it set up in a different area outside in a sandy area with a huge bonfire in the middle. It was our group plus a few others that were staying there. They served everyone tomato soup first and it was sooo good, and I hate tomato soup but I wanted more. There was traditional dancing and music around the fire as well, it was insane. I wish my camera hadn’t died because I would have gotten a nice video of it. For dinner there was chicken, beef, pork, goat, vegetables, cheese potatoes, bread, rice, vegetable kabobs and coleslaw. It was so good. We were all exhausted and we had to get up the next morning at 4:45 so everyone pretty much called it an early night.
Day 19
July 9
We got up and it was raining but they were still having the morning guided walk that started around 5:30 I think. This was so you could actually walk around on the park grounds and see different animals that would just be waking, etc. George led my group, and Lawrence was behind us with a gun, just in case. I learned a lot about different types of trees that they had which was really cool. The yellow river tree cures malaria if the branches are boiled in water. There is also wild jasmine and basil and lemon grass that grows out there, its so neat. I learned a lot about elephant crap which was gross but pretty interesting, same with impalas. We saw a ton of guinea fowl, impalas, warthogs and monkeys. Sadly, no elephants were walking around. I was really hoping to see more of them. The walk lasted about an hour and then we went back for breakfast. Of course, it was just as good as the other meals. Muffins, French toast, omelets, bacon, sausage, fruit, cereal, etc.
During breakfast we met Jillian. She is the executive director and founder of H.E.L.P (hope, education, love, protection) Malawi. It’s a non-profit organization that is pretty well known and that I had actually done research on during my senior research proposal. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled that we actually got to meet her. She came up to our table because she noticed we were a bunch of Americans, and shes from New York. She told us about her school, Nanthomba, that is just across the river that she started under HELP Malawi. It provides schooling for mostly orphans and the children of the workers at Mvuu Camp and surrounding areas. Dr. Kelly agreed to let us stop there on the way home, and I was so excited. Jillian also has a medical clinic and maternity ward that focuses on trying to lower the maternal and infant mortality rates, which was what my entire paper was based on. I was so grateful she took the time to tell me all about it, and I got her contact information.
We left breakfast for another river safari and it was pretty much the same as the first one. The other boat saw two herds of elephants, and we didn’t see anything but a bunch of hippos and crocs so I was kinda upset. But it’s okay. So we got on the bus and headed towards the school and it was phenomenal. I feel bad saying it, but it was definitely my favorite school I’ve visited this entire trip. They are working on being able to sustain themselves as a school so that they no longer need support from donors and other foundations. It was kind of like a combination between a primary school and Freedom Gardens. The kids were so smart, and the staff was amazing. Matt gave us the tour. He is a graduate from University of Wisconsin – Madison and is the HELP Malawi International Project Coordinator. He studied International Relations and is planning on going back to the states next year to pursue a masters. I got his information too and he was so helpful. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d love to get involved in. After visiting the school he took us to see the clinic, and it was well under construction. It’s coming along very nicely.
Once we headed home, we stopped at Liwonde, the authentic wood carving place. I bought a few things but it was pretty much like every other place we had been to. Finally, we were home, and so tired. I pretty much just showered, got ready for Friday’s lesson and went to bed. It was such a good past few days though. Much more than I ever expected it to be.
TALULAR (July 7)
I am feeling much better and we were back in the schools today after a nice weekend, for the most part. Our class is having their review for an end of term exam, and we are really nervous about confusing them or putting them off track, so we let Katie teach today. We went around to check papers and teach them if they didn’t understand but that was the extent of it. They had music today and I absolutely love that. They sang and danced for us but at the last few minutes Jess and I sand the ants go marching one by one again for them. We’re really trying to get them to get the words down.. slowly but surely.
Afterwards, instead of having our usual class discussion, we went into one of the MIE labs to talk to with Baxton who’s incharge of teaching TALULAR to teachers and others who come to learn. TALULAR is Teaching And Learning Using Locally Available Resources. This was fascinating. When I did my senior research proposal I came across some research on TALULAR but never really got to see anything. He had tonnnss of things to show us! There were teaching materials made of anything you could possibly think of. This is great because it doesn’t allow teachers to use the excuse of not having materials available to them, because they can use everything around them. There were posters made from sacks, recycled paper, reeds, etc. Small supply holders (for paperclips, rubber bands, erasers, thumbtacs) made from match boxes that were glued together. Sentence makers made from cardboard and strips of paper. Maps drawn out in different colored beans that were glued to paper or whatever could have been used. Shapes made from rope. It’s so hard to explain. I took a ton of pictures and I learned so much. It gave Jess and I great ideas about what to contribute to our classroom before we leave.
The sad part was that Baxton told us he had just retired a few days ago and this was his last lecture. He has traveled all over Africa and even into the united states teaching about TALULAR and how it can positively impact education and the quality of teaching. It’s so important especially in an area like this where schools struggle as it is with attendance and even just trying to find qualified teachers. The guy who is supposed to be replacing him hasn’t even come to look at all the things Baxton has so that he knows what to do, it’s pretty sad.
It got us really excited though and we got a good amount of our school projects done tonight so that we could get stuff laminated this weekend once we get back from the safari. The safari that we leave in the morning for!! Yay!
Afterwards, instead of having our usual class discussion, we went into one of the MIE labs to talk to with Baxton who’s incharge of teaching TALULAR to teachers and others who come to learn. TALULAR is Teaching And Learning Using Locally Available Resources. This was fascinating. When I did my senior research proposal I came across some research on TALULAR but never really got to see anything. He had tonnnss of things to show us! There were teaching materials made of anything you could possibly think of. This is great because it doesn’t allow teachers to use the excuse of not having materials available to them, because they can use everything around them. There were posters made from sacks, recycled paper, reeds, etc. Small supply holders (for paperclips, rubber bands, erasers, thumbtacs) made from match boxes that were glued together. Sentence makers made from cardboard and strips of paper. Maps drawn out in different colored beans that were glued to paper or whatever could have been used. Shapes made from rope. It’s so hard to explain. I took a ton of pictures and I learned so much. It gave Jess and I great ideas about what to contribute to our classroom before we leave.
The sad part was that Baxton told us he had just retired a few days ago and this was his last lecture. He has traveled all over Africa and even into the united states teaching about TALULAR and how it can positively impact education and the quality of teaching. It’s so important especially in an area like this where schools struggle as it is with attendance and even just trying to find qualified teachers. The guy who is supposed to be replacing him hasn’t even come to look at all the things Baxton has so that he knows what to do, it’s pretty sad.
It got us really excited though and we got a good amount of our school projects done tonight so that we could get stuff laminated this weekend once we get back from the safari. The safari that we leave in the morning for!! Yay!
A sick Independence Day (July 6)
Happy 6th of July! Haha, today is the Malawian Independence Day. I am not out celebrating. This is largely due to the fact that I have spent the entire day in bed, and hovering over the toilet. I’ve been throwing up since I got up this morning, not like you really wanted to hear that. I thought it was a hangover, which that was probably a part of it, but now I’m thinking it’s some kind of stomach virus. Hopefully it passes, because it really sucks and I’d like to eat at some point. The up side to this is that after today I probably won’t resemble a walrus anymore. But I’m sure I’ll be back to that standard in a few days. Everyone else has been gone to Annie’s house for a holiday lunch, but of course I had to stay here. It’s probably best because I doubt Annie would appreciate me hanging out in her bathroom the entire time. Exciting day, I know. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. We’ll be back in the schools so I’m looking forward to it.
Mt. Mulanje (July 5)
We hiked Mt. Mulanje today. I wish all of you could have been there because none of my pictures are going to do it justice. It was absolutely beautiful. The drive there was 2 and a half hours so that kind of sucked but I listened to my ipod the whole way. Once we pulled in to the mountain area to start our hike everyone was coming up to our bus selling cedar walking sticks. They were beautiful, but I didn’t get one. They smelled amazing. Dr. Kelly said this is the only place in the country to get cedar, it comes off the mountain and only certain people are allowed access to it. So pretty much everything they try to sell you in the Mulanje area is cedar. We paid for a guide, his name was Lucius, and he was awesome. He didn’t talk very much but when he did he was pretty knowledgeable and knew the mountain very well.
I kept hearing the hike was really difficult, but it wasn’t bad at all. I actually thought it was even easier than hiking the cascades back at school. However, the cascades have nothin’ on Mt.Mulanje. At certain points you could see out over miles and miles, so we stopped a few times just to take it all in. Myself, Angela, Jess and I pretty much led the hike, so we got a few nice rests in there while we waited for others to catch up. Lucius took us up to the waterfall, which actually does resemble the cascades. Only in size though. This waterfall was moving much faster, and at the top in the distance was a huge mountain looking rock. Can’t find that in Blacksburg. There was a flat rock overlooking the lagoon and waterfall area where we all sat and ate lunch. It was so nice. And the weather was perfect. We couldn’t go in the water though, not because of parasites like in most areas, but because a lot of people live on the mountain and use the bathroom there, so we thought it safer not to swim. Some people went in up to their knees but that’s about all. We were all so fearful it was going to rain, and if it had, then the hike really would have been difficult.
On the way we met some pretty interesting people. One couple was hiking up at the same time; they were in the Peace Corps here, went to William and Mary and were from the Virginia Beach area. The one guy said he had always loved visiting and partying at Virginia Tech. What a small world. Also, these kids kept following us. They were a bunch of little boys that lived on the mountain. It amazed me that even in that area, with all the rocks and wooded areas and poisonous things that they still walked around barefoot. They knew all these crazy shortcuts and beat us to the waterfall. I got a bunch of pictures with them because they were cute, but towards the end all they wanted from us were our bottles, food, money and pens. I swear its like they’re all taught to ask for the same things no matter where you are. It’s really hard to say no, but you kind of have to.
We stopped at the little shop on the way out. Dr. Kelly gave us 15 minutes to look at things and find out prices on things we liked but we were told not to buy anything. Then we got back on the bus. All the craftsmen came up to the bus windows and their prices dropped a lot because they knew we were leaving and not coming back. I wanted two cedar picture frames, and the man wanted 750K for them. I wanted 2 for 200, and he laughed in my face. But, once on the bus, I totally got my two frames for 200 total. Dr. Kelly and Dr. Liz said it would be this way when we go to Liwonde (the wood carving place) on Wednesday, and to do the same thing so we can get the prices we really want. I had a seat to myself on the bus ride back so I laid down and took a small nap, but the roads in Africa are terrible. It’s so rocky that it became pointless because the bus kept tossing me around in my seat. We pulled over at a market, a few of us stayed on the bus because we didn’t need anything, but I regret that decision. They were selling PINEAPPLES. For cheap! So many people got them, and I couldn’t exactly go in there by myself once I realized. Especially not after a drunk man tried to get on our bus, but James scared him away with his walking stick, haha. We also pulled over on the side of the road to get pictures with the kids selling rats on a stick. This is not a joke, they actually sell rats and mice on sticks in some places out in the middle of nowhere. Clearly, no one was going to buy or eat one of those things, but we paid the little kids so we could take pictures of them. It was crazy, and pretty disgusting.
We had one of our “family” dinners again, buffet style where everyone sits together. Those are the best. The food is always sooo much better too. Peter, Annie’s son, and Brian (a PHD student at tech) showed up tonight as well. They threw this big party for us, and they did not disappoint. Unfortunately, my streak of not getting drunk in Africa definitely ended. Peter was giving out free liquor, and of course I had to try Malawian vodka. They had this stuff that he was giving us all shots of that tasted just like kahlua. It was way too creamy so I just kept handing mine off to other people. It was pretty cool for the most part. Jess and I were still the grandma’s of the group and came to bed around midnight. It’s a step up from our usual 8:45 though!
I kept hearing the hike was really difficult, but it wasn’t bad at all. I actually thought it was even easier than hiking the cascades back at school. However, the cascades have nothin’ on Mt.Mulanje. At certain points you could see out over miles and miles, so we stopped a few times just to take it all in. Myself, Angela, Jess and I pretty much led the hike, so we got a few nice rests in there while we waited for others to catch up. Lucius took us up to the waterfall, which actually does resemble the cascades. Only in size though. This waterfall was moving much faster, and at the top in the distance was a huge mountain looking rock. Can’t find that in Blacksburg. There was a flat rock overlooking the lagoon and waterfall area where we all sat and ate lunch. It was so nice. And the weather was perfect. We couldn’t go in the water though, not because of parasites like in most areas, but because a lot of people live on the mountain and use the bathroom there, so we thought it safer not to swim. Some people went in up to their knees but that’s about all. We were all so fearful it was going to rain, and if it had, then the hike really would have been difficult.
On the way we met some pretty interesting people. One couple was hiking up at the same time; they were in the Peace Corps here, went to William and Mary and were from the Virginia Beach area. The one guy said he had always loved visiting and partying at Virginia Tech. What a small world. Also, these kids kept following us. They were a bunch of little boys that lived on the mountain. It amazed me that even in that area, with all the rocks and wooded areas and poisonous things that they still walked around barefoot. They knew all these crazy shortcuts and beat us to the waterfall. I got a bunch of pictures with them because they were cute, but towards the end all they wanted from us were our bottles, food, money and pens. I swear its like they’re all taught to ask for the same things no matter where you are. It’s really hard to say no, but you kind of have to.
We stopped at the little shop on the way out. Dr. Kelly gave us 15 minutes to look at things and find out prices on things we liked but we were told not to buy anything. Then we got back on the bus. All the craftsmen came up to the bus windows and their prices dropped a lot because they knew we were leaving and not coming back. I wanted two cedar picture frames, and the man wanted 750K for them. I wanted 2 for 200, and he laughed in my face. But, once on the bus, I totally got my two frames for 200 total. Dr. Kelly and Dr. Liz said it would be this way when we go to Liwonde (the wood carving place) on Wednesday, and to do the same thing so we can get the prices we really want. I had a seat to myself on the bus ride back so I laid down and took a small nap, but the roads in Africa are terrible. It’s so rocky that it became pointless because the bus kept tossing me around in my seat. We pulled over at a market, a few of us stayed on the bus because we didn’t need anything, but I regret that decision. They were selling PINEAPPLES. For cheap! So many people got them, and I couldn’t exactly go in there by myself once I realized. Especially not after a drunk man tried to get on our bus, but James scared him away with his walking stick, haha. We also pulled over on the side of the road to get pictures with the kids selling rats on a stick. This is not a joke, they actually sell rats and mice on sticks in some places out in the middle of nowhere. Clearly, no one was going to buy or eat one of those things, but we paid the little kids so we could take pictures of them. It was crazy, and pretty disgusting.
We had one of our “family” dinners again, buffet style where everyone sits together. Those are the best. The food is always sooo much better too. Peter, Annie’s son, and Brian (a PHD student at tech) showed up tonight as well. They threw this big party for us, and they did not disappoint. Unfortunately, my streak of not getting drunk in Africa definitely ended. Peter was giving out free liquor, and of course I had to try Malawian vodka. They had this stuff that he was giving us all shots of that tasted just like kahlua. It was way too creamy so I just kept handing mine off to other people. It was pretty cool for the most part. Jess and I were still the grandma’s of the group and came to bed around midnight. It’s a step up from our usual 8:45 though!
4th Of July!! (July 4)
Happy 4th of July!! Sadly, there is no American pride here in Malawi, but we’re making it work. Dr. Kelly talked about putting up an American flag at some point. I think we are the only American’s in this area right now because every one else we’ve seen are British, European or South African. So yeah. I miss fireworks and barbeques and the lake, but I can’t really complain because I’m in Africa. However, Monday there will hopefully be some kind of Malawian Independence Day celebration.
It’s very cold today, and raining. Usually this doesn’t happen. It’s rained more on this trip than every before, Dr. Kelly said. It normally happens when the temperature drops like it has been, and we might be heading into the rainy season a little early this year. I wish I had brought my rain jacket, I wasn’t supposed to need it!
So far I’ve done pretty much nothing today, it’s great. Jess and I went to bed last night around 9:30, and got up this morning around 10am. We’re considered the grandmas of the group, but I don’t know how anyone else stays up and parties like they do so much. We had breakfast and then a big group of us went into town around noon. The food market was open so I bought some oranges for pretty cheap. It’s real sketchy in there, and it’s common to be robbed so we had to be really alert. We also stopped at the internet café and in 30 minutes I was only able to get out an email to my Mom, I’m not used to internet that slow. But it was nice to have it even for a little while. It rained on our walk back but it wasn’t too bad.
Jess and I started on our school posters, its coming along pretty nicely, it’s probably all we’re doing tonight besides going down to the restaurant for dinner.
It’s very cold today, and raining. Usually this doesn’t happen. It’s rained more on this trip than every before, Dr. Kelly said. It normally happens when the temperature drops like it has been, and we might be heading into the rainy season a little early this year. I wish I had brought my rain jacket, I wasn’t supposed to need it!
So far I’ve done pretty much nothing today, it’s great. Jess and I went to bed last night around 9:30, and got up this morning around 10am. We’re considered the grandmas of the group, but I don’t know how anyone else stays up and parties like they do so much. We had breakfast and then a big group of us went into town around noon. The food market was open so I bought some oranges for pretty cheap. It’s real sketchy in there, and it’s common to be robbed so we had to be really alert. We also stopped at the internet café and in 30 minutes I was only able to get out an email to my Mom, I’m not used to internet that slow. But it was nice to have it even for a little while. It rained on our walk back but it wasn’t too bad.
Jess and I started on our school posters, its coming along pretty nicely, it’s probably all we’re doing tonight besides going down to the restaurant for dinner.
Harold and the Purple Crayon & Painting (July 3)
In class today we were able to teach our own lessons, not from their books. I figured this would give them a bit of variety since they’re so used to working out of the same books all of the time. Jess and I read Harold and the Purple Crayon during our English lesson. It’s about a little boy who has a purple crayon and draws everything he wants or needs, like a boat, and a mountain to climb, and pies to eat when he’s hungry, etc. While I read, Jess drew out the story (like she had a purple crayon) on paper that we hung on the board. Katherine, our teacher, had to translate the story after each page in Chichewa so they would understand it better. I’m glad she did that because they all really liked the story and thought it was funny. Afterwards we had them take out their notebooks and draw for us the one place in the world they wanted to go. We hung a few of their pictures on the board with ours (I drew the beach, so did Jess, but she also drew NYC). We collected all of their pictures so we can make a big poster out of them to hang in the classroom next week. Most of the kids drew pictures of different cities and villages in Malawi, but some drew Ameleka (America) and Japani (Japan), haha. It was so interesting to see their perception of what the United States would be like. Some of them looked just like Malawi, others drew big cars, people with guns, and even girls with huge boobs (couldn’t believe that). I was talking with a few of the other people on this trip, and we’ve realized that some people here have a very violent view of America. This guy, KZ, he told Jeff that he was so afraid to come to the states because he was worried he wouldn’t be safe. Jeff asked why and he could only refer to movies like Bad Boys, I Know What You Did Last Summer and other violent/horror type movies. Surprisingly, Bad Boys came on last night! It was great to watch something we were familiar with, but I can definitely see why some people would get that impression of Americans, especially if that’s all they’re used to seeing. For math we took yarn and cut pieces that showed how tall each person in the class was. After, they had to measure their piece of yarn and write down how many centimeters tall they were. It was an exhausting exercise but they had fun.
Around 11 we started paining blackboards! This was great. Jess and I were the only two of the VT group that painted for the entire time and we got every classroom done in only a few hours. The kids kept coming into the rooms to watch us and talk to us, so it was a nice experience to bond with different kids in different standards. Half way through a little boy ran up to me while I was painting and handed me a crumpled up piece of paper. He said it was from a little girl, and then he ran away. It was a note that said, “Hie. First of all I would like you to be my pen pal. I’m a girl in Standard 4B. Please try to answer me tomorrow. I love you. By by.” We got the kids to find the girl and bring her to us, because she was in our class, and she was adorable! We told her that we would both be her pen pals and that we would see her in class on Tuesday (Monday is their independence day). I saved the note, of course, and I was really excited that she wrote to us. All the teachers were anxious to speak with us while we were paining and they were really grateful we could do this for them. I really wish we could have done more, but Jess and I will be laminating a bunch of posters for our class so hopefully that helps brighten the room a bit.
So the Internet still sucks. Luckily, Noel at the front desk called the people and they agreed to reset our Internet cards so we could get back all the minutes we’ve lost since they’re so expensive. Hopefully one of these days I’ll be able to get online, but until then I’m going to try to see how well the Internet café in town works. We have off tomorrow! I’m so glad, we all need a break and some rest. It’ll be my first 4th of July away from home and not doing something totally American, but I think I’ll survive, considering I’m in Africa and that’s pretty incredible. J
Around 11 we started paining blackboards! This was great. Jess and I were the only two of the VT group that painted for the entire time and we got every classroom done in only a few hours. The kids kept coming into the rooms to watch us and talk to us, so it was a nice experience to bond with different kids in different standards. Half way through a little boy ran up to me while I was painting and handed me a crumpled up piece of paper. He said it was from a little girl, and then he ran away. It was a note that said, “Hie. First of all I would like you to be my pen pal. I’m a girl in Standard 4B. Please try to answer me tomorrow. I love you. By by.” We got the kids to find the girl and bring her to us, because she was in our class, and she was adorable! We told her that we would both be her pen pals and that we would see her in class on Tuesday (Monday is their independence day). I saved the note, of course, and I was really excited that she wrote to us. All the teachers were anxious to speak with us while we were paining and they were really grateful we could do this for them. I really wish we could have done more, but Jess and I will be laminating a bunch of posters for our class so hopefully that helps brighten the room a bit.
So the Internet still sucks. Luckily, Noel at the front desk called the people and they agreed to reset our Internet cards so we could get back all the minutes we’ve lost since they’re so expensive. Hopefully one of these days I’ll be able to get online, but until then I’m going to try to see how well the Internet café in town works. We have off tomorrow! I’m so glad, we all need a break and some rest. It’ll be my first 4th of July away from home and not doing something totally American, but I think I’ll survive, considering I’m in Africa and that’s pretty incredible. J
Malika Catholic Church! (July 2)
I forgot to mention this before, but in Malawi, they serve Pineapple Fanta. I don’t know if you realize how amazing this is, but it’s heavenly. I would take as many back with me as possible but I’m afraid the glass bottles would break in my bag when they’re thrown into the plane’s cargo compartment.
We had another easy day of teaching, Katherine had to help us a lot with our English lesson still, but Math was great. We had P.E. for the first time, so Jess and I taught Red Light, Green Light and Duck Duck Goose. Red Light Green Light was hard because they didn’t totally understand the concept so we used more of hand motions than anything, but they had so much fun and wanted to play over and over again. Duck Duck Goose was crazy because there were over 90 kids in the class today and we decided to have them form one giant circle instead of a few small ones. Let me tell you, those kids can run. Jess and I picked the goose for a few times before we let them pick each other, and we got tagged every single time. We even stopped slowing down for them and they caught us at our fastest. They thought this was hilarious. By the end we were so tired and out of breath but I think it was the most fun they’d had the entire week! Next week we’re playing Twister and teaching them the Hokey Pokey. I also want them to learn some kind of VT cheer too so I can get it on tape.
After class, instead of having our usual class discussion we walked about 45 minutes to a village church. It was Malika Catholic Church and they performed beautiful singing and dancing for us! I used my entire memory card on my camera just from pictures and videos of this event. Even little tiny children were up there singing and dancing, it was adorable. And, the walk sounds long, but we all need it! It’s a great work out and the scenery is beautiful. The mountains looked bigger than ever on this particular walk, and there was so much green grass, which is rare to see. Jess kind of caused a bike accident, which was scary but kind of hilarious. The bikers here are crazy and we never know what side of the dirt to walk on. The two girls rang their bell for us to get out of the way but they were going way too fast and as Jess ran to move, they hit her backpack and went flying. She was fine, but the women were so mad. They weren’t very nice about it either, but we made sure to help them up and everything. After that, every time we heard those bike bells we cleared the entire path, haha.
I’m getting sick, we all are. I’m also exhausted and it’s only 8:45pm so I had better get to bed. Hopefully the internet starts to work because this is so annoying, paying for it but not being able to have access. Oh, in town, DeAnna and Caroline bought 75 blankets that we spent a lot of our night cutting into 4’s. All of us are trying to come up with 300 blanket squares that we’re cutting neck holes in and giving to the children at Malemia as blankets/jackets. Those poor things looked freezing yesterday, and they’re worse off than the other two schools, in that respect atleast. On Saturday we’ll have the edges hemmed so we can hand them out. What a fantastic gift. I’m glad they thought of it! Tomorrow we’re paining blackboards for all the classes, at all of the schools, I’m really excited about that too. Being able to do these type of things for the schools is my favorite part of this experience.
We had another easy day of teaching, Katherine had to help us a lot with our English lesson still, but Math was great. We had P.E. for the first time, so Jess and I taught Red Light, Green Light and Duck Duck Goose. Red Light Green Light was hard because they didn’t totally understand the concept so we used more of hand motions than anything, but they had so much fun and wanted to play over and over again. Duck Duck Goose was crazy because there were over 90 kids in the class today and we decided to have them form one giant circle instead of a few small ones. Let me tell you, those kids can run. Jess and I picked the goose for a few times before we let them pick each other, and we got tagged every single time. We even stopped slowing down for them and they caught us at our fastest. They thought this was hilarious. By the end we were so tired and out of breath but I think it was the most fun they’d had the entire week! Next week we’re playing Twister and teaching them the Hokey Pokey. I also want them to learn some kind of VT cheer too so I can get it on tape.
After class, instead of having our usual class discussion we walked about 45 minutes to a village church. It was Malika Catholic Church and they performed beautiful singing and dancing for us! I used my entire memory card on my camera just from pictures and videos of this event. Even little tiny children were up there singing and dancing, it was adorable. And, the walk sounds long, but we all need it! It’s a great work out and the scenery is beautiful. The mountains looked bigger than ever on this particular walk, and there was so much green grass, which is rare to see. Jess kind of caused a bike accident, which was scary but kind of hilarious. The bikers here are crazy and we never know what side of the dirt to walk on. The two girls rang their bell for us to get out of the way but they were going way too fast and as Jess ran to move, they hit her backpack and went flying. She was fine, but the women were so mad. They weren’t very nice about it either, but we made sure to help them up and everything. After that, every time we heard those bike bells we cleared the entire path, haha.
I’m getting sick, we all are. I’m also exhausted and it’s only 8:45pm so I had better get to bed. Hopefully the internet starts to work because this is so annoying, paying for it but not being able to have access. Oh, in town, DeAnna and Caroline bought 75 blankets that we spent a lot of our night cutting into 4’s. All of us are trying to come up with 300 blanket squares that we’re cutting neck holes in and giving to the children at Malemia as blankets/jackets. Those poor things looked freezing yesterday, and they’re worse off than the other two schools, in that respect atleast. On Saturday we’ll have the edges hemmed so we can hand them out. What a fantastic gift. I’m glad they thought of it! Tomorrow we’re paining blackboards for all the classes, at all of the schools, I’m really excited about that too. Being able to do these type of things for the schools is my favorite part of this experience.
An easier day, sorta (July 1)
I woke up this morning in the exact spot I had fallen asleep in, which hadn’t happened at all since I’ve been in Africa. Despite the fact that I slept so heavily, I still managed to be absolutely exhausted all day and fell asleep for a little bit in the teacher’s lounge after class. It was freezing today and it rained, same as yesterday and last night. It’s crazy. I just want it to be warm again!
Our lesson today was a lot easier than yesterday, but I came to realize that the majority of these kids really do not understand what we’re teaching them. We use the teacher’s lesson plan so when she teaches them, they don’t even really understand. And I start thinking about how they got to this point. Today we had to re-read the story from yesterday so they could listen, and answer the questions we had written on the board. The first problem was: Birds use _______ to fly. They had to select their answers from a word bank. While we walked around to check answers, a lot of children had written “warm” “nests” “eat” or “useful” instead of wings. I don’t think they know their English vocabulary yet, so how are they able to teach them these stories? I was amazed. But once again, we stopped at each child to explain the correct answers, and this took awhile. Jess and I are planning a few of our own lessons to really focus on comprehension because we want so badly for them to be able to understand the material and succeed. After all, Standard 5 is taught entirely in English, so we worry how they will do once they move up in a few months.
Math was successful! It has been really consistent. They understand numbers much better than English. This lesson went pretty fast, we focused on length. The groups had to measure different objects in centimeters and then come up to the board and write the lengths of each object. Everyone got the correct answers! I was very proud of them. In their down time they sang to us again, I’m beginning to think that’s my favorite part of my day. We left early and walked with Dr. Kelly to Malemia because the Radford group is working on painting the classrooms there. It’s coming along great, and I really love that school. It was feeding day, so we got to see the food program at work. The youngest kids are fed first, and the oldest are fed last. It’s sad though because if the kids come without a cup, they don’t get fed. This is an unfortunate reality for many kids there. A bunch of them just sat along the walls of the school buildings playing together or watching everyone else eat. I made it a point to spend some time with them, as much as I could spare anyway, so it took their mind off it for a while. All the kids are so adorable though, at every school, so I pretty much love wherever I’m at for the day.
Early dinner at Tasty Bites tonight, it’s cheaper and we were starved. It was alright, half of it was cold. I was thinking about it today, American’s are so used to instant gratification. Everything is much slower here. It’s like we’ve gone back a hundred years. It takes forever for food to come out and when it does it’s not guaranteed to be what you ordered, or even warm, but you eat it anyway because it will take too long to fix. The power goes out everyday, sometimes multiple times, so when something needs to be done we make sure to take advantage of our time with electricity. The Internet has been really bad lately, when we want it, we can’t have it, when we don’t need it, it works perfectly, of course. Phone calls don’t transfer through too well. The shower isn’t always hot. Our cable doesn’t work very often and when it does our choices are Soccer, a channel in Chichewa, or some crazy American movie too shitty to play in the states. We can’t even get a drink of water when we want it, or eat an apple, or make a salad.
But that’s what I mean, we have so many expectations, naturally, so being here is a challenge for most of us. Don’t get me wrong, this has been an incredible experience so far, but I’m already looking forward to being able to open my mouth in the shower, at the very least. If you think about it though, we lose so much in America spending all our time perfecting ways to make our lives easier, that we lose focus on some pretty amazing things. The people here have a greater appreciation for everything you can imagine, because of the amount of time they put into everything. I also feel like I’ve met more genuine people since I’ve been here than some of those I’ve know for years at home. If anything, this makes me want to travel more, meet more people, see more places, I’m glad I’ve chosen this major after all.
Our lesson today was a lot easier than yesterday, but I came to realize that the majority of these kids really do not understand what we’re teaching them. We use the teacher’s lesson plan so when she teaches them, they don’t even really understand. And I start thinking about how they got to this point. Today we had to re-read the story from yesterday so they could listen, and answer the questions we had written on the board. The first problem was: Birds use _______ to fly. They had to select their answers from a word bank. While we walked around to check answers, a lot of children had written “warm” “nests” “eat” or “useful” instead of wings. I don’t think they know their English vocabulary yet, so how are they able to teach them these stories? I was amazed. But once again, we stopped at each child to explain the correct answers, and this took awhile. Jess and I are planning a few of our own lessons to really focus on comprehension because we want so badly for them to be able to understand the material and succeed. After all, Standard 5 is taught entirely in English, so we worry how they will do once they move up in a few months.
Math was successful! It has been really consistent. They understand numbers much better than English. This lesson went pretty fast, we focused on length. The groups had to measure different objects in centimeters and then come up to the board and write the lengths of each object. Everyone got the correct answers! I was very proud of them. In their down time they sang to us again, I’m beginning to think that’s my favorite part of my day. We left early and walked with Dr. Kelly to Malemia because the Radford group is working on painting the classrooms there. It’s coming along great, and I really love that school. It was feeding day, so we got to see the food program at work. The youngest kids are fed first, and the oldest are fed last. It’s sad though because if the kids come without a cup, they don’t get fed. This is an unfortunate reality for many kids there. A bunch of them just sat along the walls of the school buildings playing together or watching everyone else eat. I made it a point to spend some time with them, as much as I could spare anyway, so it took their mind off it for a while. All the kids are so adorable though, at every school, so I pretty much love wherever I’m at for the day.
Early dinner at Tasty Bites tonight, it’s cheaper and we were starved. It was alright, half of it was cold. I was thinking about it today, American’s are so used to instant gratification. Everything is much slower here. It’s like we’ve gone back a hundred years. It takes forever for food to come out and when it does it’s not guaranteed to be what you ordered, or even warm, but you eat it anyway because it will take too long to fix. The power goes out everyday, sometimes multiple times, so when something needs to be done we make sure to take advantage of our time with electricity. The Internet has been really bad lately, when we want it, we can’t have it, when we don’t need it, it works perfectly, of course. Phone calls don’t transfer through too well. The shower isn’t always hot. Our cable doesn’t work very often and when it does our choices are Soccer, a channel in Chichewa, or some crazy American movie too shitty to play in the states. We can’t even get a drink of water when we want it, or eat an apple, or make a salad.
But that’s what I mean, we have so many expectations, naturally, so being here is a challenge for most of us. Don’t get me wrong, this has been an incredible experience so far, but I’m already looking forward to being able to open my mouth in the shower, at the very least. If you think about it though, we lose so much in America spending all our time perfecting ways to make our lives easier, that we lose focus on some pretty amazing things. The people here have a greater appreciation for everything you can imagine, because of the amount of time they put into everything. I also feel like I’ve met more genuine people since I’ve been here than some of those I’ve know for years at home. If anything, this makes me want to travel more, meet more people, see more places, I’m glad I’ve chosen this major after all.
Teaching (June 30)
Even in the short amount of time I’ve been here, I’ve learned a lot about people, and humanity in general. It’s difficult to express how I felt today standing in front of all these kids trying to teach them about birds in English, and having them stare with all the interest in the world. When they didn’t understand what we were saying, they pretended they did, or gave it one hell of a try to come up with the answer that they thought we wanted. When we bent down to show them the correct way to measure a line in our Math lesson, they would all crouch around us to see how we would position the ruler and count our numbers. They went above and beyond what we asked just so they could get a few extra check marks next to their problems, not necessarily because of the work they had done, but because they wanted our attention. It amazes me how much influence we can have on these kids by being here. At this point, we can’t do any harm. We are teaching in English, a language that is so incredibly valuable to them that without it they may never be able to have a shot at education beyond Standard 5. Simply hearing us speak, and them working to understand us, is a lesson in itself. I’m hopeful for their future, and I have a lot of faith in all the kids I’ve met here even if I haven’t been able to form close relationships yet.
For English we read a story about birds, and taught them vocabulary pertaining to birds. When it was their turn to read aloud, it was a struggle, because they mostly read by repeating, but we were able to get through to a good amount of them towards the end. Fortunately they were able to actually understand what we read to them, because they could answer our questions about the story, in English! I think at this point they’re not very used to Jess and I standing in front of the class instead of Katherine. It took a little bit for them to do the things we asked them to do without looking to their teacher for approval. They’re definitely getting used to having us around though, and when they are more comfortable, we sure are too. In math we taught about measurement. Not all of the kids have rulers so they had to share, and some didn’t really get the concept. After class we went into town and bought them a class set of rulers to give them tomorrow, I’m sure they will be excited. Anyway, while Jess and I went around to grade their work, each time a student got an answer wrong, we would sit with them and explain to them why. We taught them the correct way, had them re-do it, and came back to check off the correct answer. In America, this is something we’re accustomed to. It’s how we learn. Here in Malawi, this is unheard of. To have a student being paid individual attention and to be told why something is not correct is rare. Teachers here simply do not have the time with classes so large. Consequently, some children don’t learn, some never will. It took way more class time doing things how we did, but I could tell in just one lesson that the kids were actually learning. I felt amazing, and I was so incredibly proud of them. It took a few kids multiple times to do it the right way and when they did, they were so happy! They were proud of themselves, and that’s so important.
Katherine let us teach music. This was interesting. Jess and I taught a few songs, including Old McDonald Had A Farm and The Ants Go Marching 1 by 1, or whatever it’s called. They LOVED the ant song, because they got to beat on the floor, and in Africa they’re all about percussion. It was so cute because we have awful voices, we don’t exactly sing during every occasion in the states, so we’re totally off key, but they wanted to us to keep singing over and over. We got them to sing with us and that was fun because they caught on quick and they were so excited to be learning some of the songs that we had learned when we were young. During free time the class sang to us, and let me tell you, I may never hear anything more beautiful once I leave this country. It always makes me emotional listening to the kids sing around here because the happiness they have when they’re singing radiates through absolutely everything. It’s like they wouldn’t rather be any other place in the world than singing to us. You can’t help but feel amazing and touched afterwards. I can’t wait to go home to share the videos I’ve acquired from the singing at all the different schools. Hopefully they’ll sing to us everyday during their downtime if we continue to teach their music lesson! Needless to say, I can’t wait for class in the morning. J
By the way, I saw the monkeys today! Tons of them. Adults and babies, everywhere. They take bananas right out of your hands! So adorable, they are tan colored with little black faces. They get so close too, but it’s neat because they aren’t that afraid of us. I have tons of pictures to show everyone.
Goodnight!
For English we read a story about birds, and taught them vocabulary pertaining to birds. When it was their turn to read aloud, it was a struggle, because they mostly read by repeating, but we were able to get through to a good amount of them towards the end. Fortunately they were able to actually understand what we read to them, because they could answer our questions about the story, in English! I think at this point they’re not very used to Jess and I standing in front of the class instead of Katherine. It took a little bit for them to do the things we asked them to do without looking to their teacher for approval. They’re definitely getting used to having us around though, and when they are more comfortable, we sure are too. In math we taught about measurement. Not all of the kids have rulers so they had to share, and some didn’t really get the concept. After class we went into town and bought them a class set of rulers to give them tomorrow, I’m sure they will be excited. Anyway, while Jess and I went around to grade their work, each time a student got an answer wrong, we would sit with them and explain to them why. We taught them the correct way, had them re-do it, and came back to check off the correct answer. In America, this is something we’re accustomed to. It’s how we learn. Here in Malawi, this is unheard of. To have a student being paid individual attention and to be told why something is not correct is rare. Teachers here simply do not have the time with classes so large. Consequently, some children don’t learn, some never will. It took way more class time doing things how we did, but I could tell in just one lesson that the kids were actually learning. I felt amazing, and I was so incredibly proud of them. It took a few kids multiple times to do it the right way and when they did, they were so happy! They were proud of themselves, and that’s so important.
Katherine let us teach music. This was interesting. Jess and I taught a few songs, including Old McDonald Had A Farm and The Ants Go Marching 1 by 1, or whatever it’s called. They LOVED the ant song, because they got to beat on the floor, and in Africa they’re all about percussion. It was so cute because we have awful voices, we don’t exactly sing during every occasion in the states, so we’re totally off key, but they wanted to us to keep singing over and over. We got them to sing with us and that was fun because they caught on quick and they were so excited to be learning some of the songs that we had learned when we were young. During free time the class sang to us, and let me tell you, I may never hear anything more beautiful once I leave this country. It always makes me emotional listening to the kids sing around here because the happiness they have when they’re singing radiates through absolutely everything. It’s like they wouldn’t rather be any other place in the world than singing to us. You can’t help but feel amazing and touched afterwards. I can’t wait to go home to share the videos I’ve acquired from the singing at all the different schools. Hopefully they’ll sing to us everyday during their downtime if we continue to teach their music lesson! Needless to say, I can’t wait for class in the morning. J
By the way, I saw the monkeys today! Tons of them. Adults and babies, everywhere. They take bananas right out of your hands! So adorable, they are tan colored with little black faces. They get so close too, but it’s neat because they aren’t that afraid of us. I have tons of pictures to show everyone.
Goodnight!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Mwanje Visit (June 29)
This morning we traveled to Mwanje which is a village school built by the Germans that’s pretty close to our schools in the Domasi district. The National Social Studies Association (I think) has a very close tie with this school is responsible for the majority of their funding. It’s absolutely beautiful, but still has many problems. There is no well, so the girls at the school have to travel awhile to bring back buckets of water, and this is a huge deal. The goal in the next year or so is to install a well that will last them. We went today so we could hand out backpacks to the older students. Last year, the Standard 7 and Standard 8 students received them so this year we were handing them out to children who didn’t get them last summer. It was such an incredible experience. I loved this school because there was sooo much more music and dancing involved among the instructors and students and they even got a few of us dancing with them (James!). Of course, Jess and I were the only one’s that started to cry when they were singing for us in the classroom. It was cool because they even had a big drum they played, which they didn’t have at all the other schools.
Once we handed out the backpacks they were all so grateful that they went out into the schoolyard to have a huge celebration. It was basically the drum in the middle with all the students dancing and singing around it in a big circle, I have amazing video footage of this (that I didn’t delete, yay!). We arrived about an hour and half late to our school assignments but that was okay. Jess and I handed out pens to our class and they loved it! Katherine told us that many kids get discouraged because they never have anything to write with, especially not pens, and it hinders them from excelling. Towards the end of our stay we will hand out even more. Tomorrow we will teach their English, Math and Music lesson. We were thinking about teaching the hokey pokey for music, I think it will be a lot of fun, and a great way of teaching them body parts in English. Twister is another good game for this that we’ll do later in the week. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes.
During our class discussion at MIE afterwards we discussed what our project/gift should be for our school that we take on every year. I really wanted to paint some of the classrooms since they really have nothing on the walls and all their posters are destroyed for the most part. The problem is in the coming weeks they’re going over all the walls in the classroom with a base paint so that next year the students that come can paint things on the wall with a fresh start. This was supposed to be done last year, but the schools never got around to it. Last year we also paid for all their windows to be fixed as well as locks to be put on all the classroom doors. Apparently, the supplies closets were supposed to be rebuilt as well as ceiling tiles replaced, but they never did that either. Since they still have the money though, they should be getting around to that soon. Ultimately, we decided we would try to create some visual teaching materials in the form of posters that we’ll have laminated in town, as well as repainting all their blackboards. It’s getting so hard to read what’s written up there because they never wash them. Dr. Kelly said this needs to be done every few years anyway, so they will really enjoy it.
I have to write a 10-page paper or so that will be due sometime after I return home. I can’t exactly decide what I want to focus on yet, but I definitely want to draw on the paper that I had written for my Senior Seminar in the Spring semester. I might focus on the educational aspect of the Malawian culture and weigh it’s importance compared to other things, like agriculture. It’s easier to understand these things after being here even for only a week. Schooling here is compulsory, and only about 50% of children in Malawi even start school. Of those 50%, less than 10% make it to higher levels of education. It’s very interesting. They also focus on the collective class rather than the individual which is opposite of how it works in America. This can be attributed to their large class size (classes of 90+!) and may just be the easiest way to teach. I am also looking at the role of female school children compared to male. Their roles are drastically different and it would be worthwhile to look further into that as well. Since both of my teachers in 4B are women, I’m sure they could bring a lot of insight into the topic. We’ll see though, I still have awhile to observe and get it narrowed down.
Today was tiring, I can’t seem to sustain any energy here. I think it’s the diet, everything is fried and high-carb, which I’m not used to eating on a daily basis. The good thing is I’m going to bed before 10 each night so hopefully I can carry that habit back home with me. Oh, and the power went out while I was showering today, that wasn’t fun. Now I know not to take a shower between 5:30 and 6 because it will get very dark and very cold.
Once we handed out the backpacks they were all so grateful that they went out into the schoolyard to have a huge celebration. It was basically the drum in the middle with all the students dancing and singing around it in a big circle, I have amazing video footage of this (that I didn’t delete, yay!). We arrived about an hour and half late to our school assignments but that was okay. Jess and I handed out pens to our class and they loved it! Katherine told us that many kids get discouraged because they never have anything to write with, especially not pens, and it hinders them from excelling. Towards the end of our stay we will hand out even more. Tomorrow we will teach their English, Math and Music lesson. We were thinking about teaching the hokey pokey for music, I think it will be a lot of fun, and a great way of teaching them body parts in English. Twister is another good game for this that we’ll do later in the week. I’ll definitely let you know how it goes.
During our class discussion at MIE afterwards we discussed what our project/gift should be for our school that we take on every year. I really wanted to paint some of the classrooms since they really have nothing on the walls and all their posters are destroyed for the most part. The problem is in the coming weeks they’re going over all the walls in the classroom with a base paint so that next year the students that come can paint things on the wall with a fresh start. This was supposed to be done last year, but the schools never got around to it. Last year we also paid for all their windows to be fixed as well as locks to be put on all the classroom doors. Apparently, the supplies closets were supposed to be rebuilt as well as ceiling tiles replaced, but they never did that either. Since they still have the money though, they should be getting around to that soon. Ultimately, we decided we would try to create some visual teaching materials in the form of posters that we’ll have laminated in town, as well as repainting all their blackboards. It’s getting so hard to read what’s written up there because they never wash them. Dr. Kelly said this needs to be done every few years anyway, so they will really enjoy it.
I have to write a 10-page paper or so that will be due sometime after I return home. I can’t exactly decide what I want to focus on yet, but I definitely want to draw on the paper that I had written for my Senior Seminar in the Spring semester. I might focus on the educational aspect of the Malawian culture and weigh it’s importance compared to other things, like agriculture. It’s easier to understand these things after being here even for only a week. Schooling here is compulsory, and only about 50% of children in Malawi even start school. Of those 50%, less than 10% make it to higher levels of education. It’s very interesting. They also focus on the collective class rather than the individual which is opposite of how it works in America. This can be attributed to their large class size (classes of 90+!) and may just be the easiest way to teach. I am also looking at the role of female school children compared to male. Their roles are drastically different and it would be worthwhile to look further into that as well. Since both of my teachers in 4B are women, I’m sure they could bring a lot of insight into the topic. We’ll see though, I still have awhile to observe and get it narrowed down.
Today was tiring, I can’t seem to sustain any energy here. I think it’s the diet, everything is fried and high-carb, which I’m not used to eating on a daily basis. The good thing is I’m going to bed before 10 each night so hopefully I can carry that habit back home with me. Oh, and the power went out while I was showering today, that wasn’t fun. Now I know not to take a shower between 5:30 and 6 because it will get very dark and very cold.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Happy Birthday Dr. Liz & Todd! (June 28)
Another relaxing day. Everyone went to church this morning, the service started at 8:30am for English, even earlier for the one in Chichewa. Jess and I didn’t go - we really needed to sleep. So we slept until 10ish and we figure we’ll go another Sunday since we have plenty of time. Jess, Angela and I walked down into town to Tasty Bites for lunch because it’s much cheaper and we’re all going broke since we can’t exchange any more money until tomorrow after our classes. It was pretty good, we got chicken and beef samosas, and a cupcake since we’d all been craving sweets. The walk back is all uphill but its great because we need the exercise. Everyone thought we’d be losing weight here but that is sooo not happening! All the food here is fried and so unhealthy, I feel like a walrus. I eat a few bananas every morning instead of all the bread but lately they haven’t had any. I think I’m going to try that walk every day maybe twice just to work off some of this fried chicken.
We spent the majority of the afternoon sitting outside learning Chichewa from our interactive CD so that we could start planning our lessons. It’s a little difficult because we have to know Chichewa so the kids will understand our English translations. I think that tomorrow we’re going to talk more with the teachers and not really start planning out an actual lesson until tomorrow night to use for Tuesday. For the most part I sat around and read my book and just relaxed. It was great, and I’m reading My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, which is amazingly addicting, I can never seem to put it down.
Today was Dr. Liz’s birthday!! Todd’s was the day we left so we decided to celebrate his as well. We had a huge dinner outside (for FREE) and it was by far the best thing I’ve had here so far. They made us chicken curry, and I had ordered it here earlier in the week but it was nothing like what we had tonight. We passed around the cards we gave then and even had a cake made (which was also fantastic). Afterwards, we gave the last of the cake to the workers and they were sooo thankful. I don’t think anyone ever gives them stuff because they were so appreciative and hesitant to even take it at first. Naomi is the bartender here and she’s great. We’ve all made great friends with her and she’s so fun. The power went out right before dinner and the music we were listening to cut off so she started dancing and singing the rest, she’s so cute.
So, a pretty uneventful day, but I still can’t believe I’m in Africa! It’s been unbelievable so far I can’t wait to see what we’ll do the rest of the time we’re here.
We spent the majority of the afternoon sitting outside learning Chichewa from our interactive CD so that we could start planning our lessons. It’s a little difficult because we have to know Chichewa so the kids will understand our English translations. I think that tomorrow we’re going to talk more with the teachers and not really start planning out an actual lesson until tomorrow night to use for Tuesday. For the most part I sat around and read my book and just relaxed. It was great, and I’m reading My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, which is amazingly addicting, I can never seem to put it down.
Today was Dr. Liz’s birthday!! Todd’s was the day we left so we decided to celebrate his as well. We had a huge dinner outside (for FREE) and it was by far the best thing I’ve had here so far. They made us chicken curry, and I had ordered it here earlier in the week but it was nothing like what we had tonight. We passed around the cards we gave then and even had a cake made (which was also fantastic). Afterwards, we gave the last of the cake to the workers and they were sooo thankful. I don’t think anyone ever gives them stuff because they were so appreciative and hesitant to even take it at first. Naomi is the bartender here and she’s great. We’ve all made great friends with her and she’s so fun. The power went out right before dinner and the music we were listening to cut off so she started dancing and singing the rest, she’s so cute.
So, a pretty uneventful day, but I still can’t believe I’m in Africa! It’s been unbelievable so far I can’t wait to see what we’ll do the rest of the time we’re here.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
A day of rest! (June 27)
Finally, a day to relax! But not sleep in, unfortunately. I had to be up around 9 because everyone was going into town by 10 because things start to close around noon for prayer, and a lot of things don’t open back up afterwards. The walk really wasn’t bad, and I think we all liked the exercise anyway. Once we got there we looked for numerous money exchange places but either the rate was too high or they were closed, so we have to go back on Monday after our classes. Dr. Kelly showed us the fabric store where they sold beautiful fabrics and lots of it, for cheap! Each of us bought a few so that we could take them to the tailor and have cool things made for us, apparently they usually get them made just in time for us to go back to the states.
The town here is much different from Lilongwe. I like it a lot better, probably because it’s smaller. There are still many people who come up to you and try to sell you their things, but usually it’s overpriced so we bargain. It reminds me a lot of Mexico, but more impoverished than Acapulco was. All the roads are dirt, and it takes a bit to get used to the fact that people drive on the left here. The driving however, really reminds me of Mexico! Crazy drivers, and you really have to be careful because they’ll honk their horn but they don’t stop for much of anything.
We stopped at the market where they had tons of fresh fruits and vegetables; too bad we can’t eat them because they looked wonderful. I did buy tangerines though, because they usually don’t have them at the hotel during breakfast. On the way to get lunch, we looked around at an area where they were selling really amazing art work and wood carvings. Later in the trip we are actually travelling to where the wood carvings are made, and Dr. Kelly and Liz told us that we can get the same stuff for cheaper there, so I didn’t buy anything, but I wanted everything.
Lunch was at Tasty Bites, and it was alright, I’m getting tired of the food here. I would do anything for a real pizza or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or Chipotle! Anyway, tonight we’re all staying in after that crazy night last night. Tomorrow is Dr. Liz’s birthday though so we’re having some kind of party at Annie’s again. Looking forward to it. I still haven’t seen a monkey, but everyone else keeps seeing them! I don’t think they come down to where our room is, we’re pretty secluded. There’s a stray cat that always comes up to me at dinner, and he’s soooo pretty! I asked Harold (one of the workers) if he had a name or belonged to anyone and he said no. So I named him Chunk, since I clearly am not getting my dog anytime soon, I though I’d let the cat borrow the name until someone gives him a home. J
The town here is much different from Lilongwe. I like it a lot better, probably because it’s smaller. There are still many people who come up to you and try to sell you their things, but usually it’s overpriced so we bargain. It reminds me a lot of Mexico, but more impoverished than Acapulco was. All the roads are dirt, and it takes a bit to get used to the fact that people drive on the left here. The driving however, really reminds me of Mexico! Crazy drivers, and you really have to be careful because they’ll honk their horn but they don’t stop for much of anything.
We stopped at the market where they had tons of fresh fruits and vegetables; too bad we can’t eat them because they looked wonderful. I did buy tangerines though, because they usually don’t have them at the hotel during breakfast. On the way to get lunch, we looked around at an area where they were selling really amazing art work and wood carvings. Later in the trip we are actually travelling to where the wood carvings are made, and Dr. Kelly and Liz told us that we can get the same stuff for cheaper there, so I didn’t buy anything, but I wanted everything.
Lunch was at Tasty Bites, and it was alright, I’m getting tired of the food here. I would do anything for a real pizza or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, or Chipotle! Anyway, tonight we’re all staying in after that crazy night last night. Tomorrow is Dr. Liz’s birthday though so we’re having some kind of party at Annie’s again. Looking forward to it. I still haven’t seen a monkey, but everyone else keeps seeing them! I don’t think they come down to where our room is, we’re pretty secluded. There’s a stray cat that always comes up to me at dinner, and he’s soooo pretty! I asked Harold (one of the workers) if he had a name or belonged to anyone and he said no. So I named him Chunk, since I clearly am not getting my dog anytime soon, I though I’d let the cat borrow the name until someone gives him a home. J
First Day of Class (June 26)
It was our first day with our classroom assignments, and the main purpose was just observation. We needed to see how these children learn on a day-to-day basis when we aren’t around, as well as become familiar with their schedule and learning styles. Jess and I are with Standard 4B at the Domasi Government School with teachers Katherine and Cecilia. The class needs the most help with their English lessons, and probably a bit of math, so that is where Jess and I will step in. We also came to the conclusion that once we’re done in the 4B classroom, we will repeat our lesson in the 4A class. We are going to meet the teacher of that class on Monday so we can work out a schedule between the two rooms.
Our arrival today was not nearly as crazy as it was on Thursday, but it was still difficult to move around between the masses of children. When we pulled up, all the kids came running while chanting something like “mzulu” which is translated to mean White person, or Wealthy person. The Head Teacher also told us that the kids have been waiting for us for months, and they asked everyday when we were coming, so they are so happy that we are here. I also learned the word for happy is “sangalala”!
We get to our classes around 9am everyday, and teach with them until noon. For the kids, their instruction starts at 7:30am, so they are already waiting when we arrive each day. Jess and I came during our classes English lesson, and we sat on a bench in the back of the room to observe. We were very surprised because we were under the impression that this school was further along than they actually were. It seems as though the school that VT students were assigned needs the most help as far as academics and development. Our Standard 4 kids are learning at a 1st or 2nd grade level. They are learning English, but they mostly repeat what the teacher is saying, so I don’t think they are really retaining anything at all. Plus, the teachers don’t even speak English very well. It will definitely be a challenge. At the schools where Radford and NC A&T are teaching, the students are much more advanced, and even as low as standard 2 understand a bit of English. The lessons here are insufficient. We even had to correct the teachers with some of the English. The vocabulary words they are learning are also pretty violent, as far as verbs go. On the chalkboard it read “He beats himself”, “She killed herself”, “They cut themselves” and the children had to match which pronouns went together, and then repeat. Jess and I thought all of these could definitely be used in different contexts, like beating rugs, and cutting materials, and killing their food.. but it was being used in regards to people. It was very interesting. Dr. Kelly said this is probably how it is written in their books as well. But the kids in our class don’t have books! The teachers have books! Their math lesson lasted 5 minutes and it consisted of them having to draw circles in their notebook, and out in the dirt in the schoolyard, and Jess and I walked around to help check off that they did this correctly. (All of the kids wanted us to grade their work so they kept drawing more circles and handing us their paper over and over again. It was so cute!) The walls of the classroom have posters with multiplication tables, but they haven’t learned this at all, I think it’s just something all the rooms have. So Jess and I will take some time to teach basic math as well. Everything else is taught to them in Chichewa, such as General Studies and Religious Studies. Katherine translated for us so we understood that in general studies they were learning about cleanliness, and in religious studies they were learning about the Quran (written on the board).
In our after class discussion at MIE (when all three schools meet back up) we learned about the politics and government of Malawi, from when they became independent in 1964 until present day. Mostly we were taught about their education and teaching principles. Its very interesting because in Standard 8 all students take a test, and it doesn’t matter how many sections they pass as long as they pass English. And from those who pass, some are selected to attend secondary school, Standard 9-10. In standard 10 they take another test, have to pass English still, and those who pass are selected to go on further. The same thing happens in 12th grade and then very few are selected to attend college. The highest dropout rate is also between Standard 4 and 5 and it is more common for girls. Because of this, I really want to make sure we are doing as much as we can to get through to these Standard 4 children even though it will be very challenging because of the language barrier.
On the ride home I accidentally erased all the pictures and videos from my memory card. Luckily this is only the beginning of the trip but I will miss the picture of me standing in two countries at once! And the video of all the kids running towards us on the first day. L
Oh! We went to a club tonight! Annie, the owner of Annie’s Lodge invited us to her home to pregame, which was beautiful! Then we went to a Malawian club, it was very fun and so different. Everyone wanted to talk and dance with us. And the music was incredible. They had dancers on stage doing crazy things while we waited for the main act. Lucious Banda was to be performing, and he is one of the most famous musicians in Malawi. He sings all about political movements and is actually the main influence for the band SOJA. It was very cool. Myself and a few others left around midnight though because we were exhausted. Tomorrow we are going into town to visit the market and shop for some fabric.
Our arrival today was not nearly as crazy as it was on Thursday, but it was still difficult to move around between the masses of children. When we pulled up, all the kids came running while chanting something like “mzulu” which is translated to mean White person, or Wealthy person. The Head Teacher also told us that the kids have been waiting for us for months, and they asked everyday when we were coming, so they are so happy that we are here. I also learned the word for happy is “sangalala”!
We get to our classes around 9am everyday, and teach with them until noon. For the kids, their instruction starts at 7:30am, so they are already waiting when we arrive each day. Jess and I came during our classes English lesson, and we sat on a bench in the back of the room to observe. We were very surprised because we were under the impression that this school was further along than they actually were. It seems as though the school that VT students were assigned needs the most help as far as academics and development. Our Standard 4 kids are learning at a 1st or 2nd grade level. They are learning English, but they mostly repeat what the teacher is saying, so I don’t think they are really retaining anything at all. Plus, the teachers don’t even speak English very well. It will definitely be a challenge. At the schools where Radford and NC A&T are teaching, the students are much more advanced, and even as low as standard 2 understand a bit of English. The lessons here are insufficient. We even had to correct the teachers with some of the English. The vocabulary words they are learning are also pretty violent, as far as verbs go. On the chalkboard it read “He beats himself”, “She killed herself”, “They cut themselves” and the children had to match which pronouns went together, and then repeat. Jess and I thought all of these could definitely be used in different contexts, like beating rugs, and cutting materials, and killing their food.. but it was being used in regards to people. It was very interesting. Dr. Kelly said this is probably how it is written in their books as well. But the kids in our class don’t have books! The teachers have books! Their math lesson lasted 5 minutes and it consisted of them having to draw circles in their notebook, and out in the dirt in the schoolyard, and Jess and I walked around to help check off that they did this correctly. (All of the kids wanted us to grade their work so they kept drawing more circles and handing us their paper over and over again. It was so cute!) The walls of the classroom have posters with multiplication tables, but they haven’t learned this at all, I think it’s just something all the rooms have. So Jess and I will take some time to teach basic math as well. Everything else is taught to them in Chichewa, such as General Studies and Religious Studies. Katherine translated for us so we understood that in general studies they were learning about cleanliness, and in religious studies they were learning about the Quran (written on the board).
In our after class discussion at MIE (when all three schools meet back up) we learned about the politics and government of Malawi, from when they became independent in 1964 until present day. Mostly we were taught about their education and teaching principles. Its very interesting because in Standard 8 all students take a test, and it doesn’t matter how many sections they pass as long as they pass English. And from those who pass, some are selected to attend secondary school, Standard 9-10. In standard 10 they take another test, have to pass English still, and those who pass are selected to go on further. The same thing happens in 12th grade and then very few are selected to attend college. The highest dropout rate is also between Standard 4 and 5 and it is more common for girls. Because of this, I really want to make sure we are doing as much as we can to get through to these Standard 4 children even though it will be very challenging because of the language barrier.
On the ride home I accidentally erased all the pictures and videos from my memory card. Luckily this is only the beginning of the trip but I will miss the picture of me standing in two countries at once! And the video of all the kids running towards us on the first day. L
Oh! We went to a club tonight! Annie, the owner of Annie’s Lodge invited us to her home to pregame, which was beautiful! Then we went to a Malawian club, it was very fun and so different. Everyone wanted to talk and dance with us. And the music was incredible. They had dancers on stage doing crazy things while we waited for the main act. Lucious Banda was to be performing, and he is one of the most famous musicians in Malawi. He sings all about political movements and is actually the main influence for the band SOJA. It was very cool. Myself and a few others left around midnight though because we were exhausted. Tomorrow we are going into town to visit the market and shop for some fabric.
Friday, June 26, 2009
School Orientation (June 25)
Today was a busy and very overwhelming day, but in a good way, of course. We took the trip into Domasi to visit all three schools that we will be teaching at, so we could get acquainted with our specific school and be familiar with the others. The first school we drove to was Malemia, where the Radford students are teaching, supervised by Dr. Roberts. A dirt road led us onto the school grounds and when we turned around we saw tons of kids chasing after our bus, as well as running alongside of it. Once we got off they crowded around, and we were able to meet the Head Teacher (our equivalent of a principal) and toured the classrooms of each standard (1 through 8). All the kids were so excited and the thing they loved the most was our cameras! Each time we took a picture we would show them and they thought it was the coolest thing. Some would even start posing for us, and then get in pictures with us, just so they could look at themselves afterwards.
The class sizes were pretty large but interestingly, only about a third of the children enrolled were present. Today was Market day, and it’s pretty normal for many kids to not come to school on market days. They also all carried around little cups, because three times a week they get fed porridge through the food program. We played soccer with them too! It was so fun, but we had to visit the other schools so we had to leave.
The next school we visited was Domasi Demonstration School, where North Carolina A&T will teach, supervised by Dr. Barber. This school operated a lot differently than Malemia. The parents have to apply for their children to go here. It’s kind of like a private school, but it isn’t. It was a beautiful school! The children were also very well behaved and much more disciplined. We didn’t get any kids running up to us, they all pretty much stayed in their classrooms. We still took a tour to each standard grade and classroom, but it was much more calm.
Finally, Charles dropped us off at Domasi Government School, where I’ll be teaching with the rest of the Hokies, supervised by Dr. Kelly. I can’t even begin to explain to you this experience. Walking off the bus onto the schoolyard of this school is something that will stay with me the rest of my life. As soon as the bus pulled up, and the doors opened, we looked out and saw hundreds of school children in their uniforms running as fast as they could from all directions (and from very far!) just to come greet us. We could barely get off the bus and they swarmed around us, all wanting to shake our hands, learn our names and say hello. It was so hard to walk through them! I found many of them holding my hand and arms as I walked, they were so incredibly excited to see all of us. I took a great video that demonstrated them crowding around us toward the end of our visit.
We got to tour the classrooms like we did at the others, and meet some of the teachers. Jess and I really fell in love with the Standard 4B class, taught by Katherine. She was great, and the kids were adorable. They are learning at a rate similar to what a 2nd grader would be in the US, so the material we’d be teaching is exactly what I’m looking forward to. All of the children have even memorized greetings for our visit! This is how it goes:
We say: Good morning, how are you today?
They say: (All of them stand up) I’m fine Madame, how are you?
We say: I’m well, thank you!
They say: Thank you, Madame. (All sit back down)
It was amazing! It took awhile to get out of the school yard because all of the kids wanted to follow us or kept hanging onto us. We walked over to the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) which is a few buildings over, where we could rest and eat lunch. We then went into a classroom to have our discussion, with all of us and all 3 directors. It was a pretty loaded discussion. We went over a lot and it really got me thinking about our situation in America. It’s also important to note that while we are here helping these children, families and schools, we can’t feel bad for them. They are so happy, and it’s all they know, just like our lifestyle at home is all we know. These are some of the strongest people I will probably ever meet in my lifetime, and it’s worthwhile to point that out. I got to thinking a lot about what my responsibility is here, and how I can do all I can to help them with the little time I have. We have to make sure the knowledge we are leaving them will benefit them in the future, and not hinder them in any way. It’s so important to give them the means, knowledge and ideas for them to be able to continue flourishing on their own, without the aid of others. It’s much like the idea reinforced by Freedom Gardens.
My day was filled with every emotion imaginable, but I love my school assignment and I couldn’t imagine doing this anyplace else.
The class sizes were pretty large but interestingly, only about a third of the children enrolled were present. Today was Market day, and it’s pretty normal for many kids to not come to school on market days. They also all carried around little cups, because three times a week they get fed porridge through the food program. We played soccer with them too! It was so fun, but we had to visit the other schools so we had to leave.
The next school we visited was Domasi Demonstration School, where North Carolina A&T will teach, supervised by Dr. Barber. This school operated a lot differently than Malemia. The parents have to apply for their children to go here. It’s kind of like a private school, but it isn’t. It was a beautiful school! The children were also very well behaved and much more disciplined. We didn’t get any kids running up to us, they all pretty much stayed in their classrooms. We still took a tour to each standard grade and classroom, but it was much more calm.
Finally, Charles dropped us off at Domasi Government School, where I’ll be teaching with the rest of the Hokies, supervised by Dr. Kelly. I can’t even begin to explain to you this experience. Walking off the bus onto the schoolyard of this school is something that will stay with me the rest of my life. As soon as the bus pulled up, and the doors opened, we looked out and saw hundreds of school children in their uniforms running as fast as they could from all directions (and from very far!) just to come greet us. We could barely get off the bus and they swarmed around us, all wanting to shake our hands, learn our names and say hello. It was so hard to walk through them! I found many of them holding my hand and arms as I walked, they were so incredibly excited to see all of us. I took a great video that demonstrated them crowding around us toward the end of our visit.
We got to tour the classrooms like we did at the others, and meet some of the teachers. Jess and I really fell in love with the Standard 4B class, taught by Katherine. She was great, and the kids were adorable. They are learning at a rate similar to what a 2nd grader would be in the US, so the material we’d be teaching is exactly what I’m looking forward to. All of the children have even memorized greetings for our visit! This is how it goes:
We say: Good morning, how are you today?
They say: (All of them stand up) I’m fine Madame, how are you?
We say: I’m well, thank you!
They say: Thank you, Madame. (All sit back down)
It was amazing! It took awhile to get out of the school yard because all of the kids wanted to follow us or kept hanging onto us. We walked over to the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) which is a few buildings over, where we could rest and eat lunch. We then went into a classroom to have our discussion, with all of us and all 3 directors. It was a pretty loaded discussion. We went over a lot and it really got me thinking about our situation in America. It’s also important to note that while we are here helping these children, families and schools, we can’t feel bad for them. They are so happy, and it’s all they know, just like our lifestyle at home is all we know. These are some of the strongest people I will probably ever meet in my lifetime, and it’s worthwhile to point that out. I got to thinking a lot about what my responsibility is here, and how I can do all I can to help them with the little time I have. We have to make sure the knowledge we are leaving them will benefit them in the future, and not hinder them in any way. It’s so important to give them the means, knowledge and ideas for them to be able to continue flourishing on their own, without the aid of others. It’s much like the idea reinforced by Freedom Gardens.
My day was filled with every emotion imaginable, but I love my school assignment and I couldn’t imagine doing this anyplace else.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Zomba, Finally! (June 24)
Today we finally got to leave that crazy hotel in Lilongwe and start making our trip down to Domasi (where the schools are) and Zomba (where we will be staying). The luggage took up an entire 3 rows of the back of the bus so everyone was crammed in, and it was pretty uncomfortable but we managed. The drive down was 4 hours long but broken up by 2 trips. We first stopped at the Dedza Pottery shop and did some shopping. The pottery was beautiful and I bought a few things there. It is all hand crafted and hand painted, I was amazed at the talent these people have. We also ate there for lunch and it was great. The surroundings were sooo pretty, mountains everywhere and it was so peaceful to be in that type of environment. Funny thing happened though, I managed to drop my camera in the toilet (before I used it)!! Luckily, it was in the case and I grabbed it out quick enough that it wasn’t ruined.. and the case dried in the sun while we ate lunch.
Afterwards we drove a very short distance to see where they make recycled paper from Elephant Dung. I really wanted a journal from the shop but one of the people on the trip bought them all out! It’s okay though because the experience was still fascinating. When we left the shop we got to meet the man who actually made the paper and he showed us how it was done. So creative, and the paper was so lovely. The paper from elephant dung is a brownish color, and the other paper is white-ish. The best part by far though, was the little kids from the village. As soon as our bus pulled up they all crowded around and wanted to see us. They were pretty skeptical at first (I would be too!) and didn’t really understand what our cameras were, so they kept running away from us when we tried to get pictures with them. Once we showed them what they looked like on the camera they were so excited!! They loved it and a lot of them were even posing with us. We played some games with them in the street while we waited. The older kids spoke English, but the rest just followed us around smiled a lot. A few children even had their younger siblings on their backs. None of them had shoes and the little clothes they had were very insufficient. But what great kids, and fun!
Our next stop was the Lizulu Market that literally bordered Malawi and Mozambique. I got a picture of me standing with one foot in each country!! Totally reminded me of A Walk to Remember, but still cool. There were massive amounts of people it was ridiculous. We didn’t stay long because we needed to get to Annie’s Lodge before dark. We finally got there and once we did, they had no power. So we loaded our luggage into our rooms and used our flashlights to guide the way. In this part of Malawi though, they often lose power because it’s so expensive. But now they have a generator so we were able to go downstairs and still eat dinner, and have a beer, because they actually have a bar here. This place is beautiful and much nicer than the Budget Lodge in Lilongwe. Oh, and the land we saw on the drive down was mountainous and so empty; it was very peaceful and so weird to see because it was completely untouched. There weren’t even wild animals. Fortunately we got to see the sunset over the Shire River in passing, and that was incredible.
Tomorrow we’ll visit all three schools, even though VT is only teaching at the Domasi Government School. I’m very excited. But for now, it’s time to get hopefully a good night’s sleep, finally!
Afterwards we drove a very short distance to see where they make recycled paper from Elephant Dung. I really wanted a journal from the shop but one of the people on the trip bought them all out! It’s okay though because the experience was still fascinating. When we left the shop we got to meet the man who actually made the paper and he showed us how it was done. So creative, and the paper was so lovely. The paper from elephant dung is a brownish color, and the other paper is white-ish. The best part by far though, was the little kids from the village. As soon as our bus pulled up they all crowded around and wanted to see us. They were pretty skeptical at first (I would be too!) and didn’t really understand what our cameras were, so they kept running away from us when we tried to get pictures with them. Once we showed them what they looked like on the camera they were so excited!! They loved it and a lot of them were even posing with us. We played some games with them in the street while we waited. The older kids spoke English, but the rest just followed us around smiled a lot. A few children even had their younger siblings on their backs. None of them had shoes and the little clothes they had were very insufficient. But what great kids, and fun!
Our next stop was the Lizulu Market that literally bordered Malawi and Mozambique. I got a picture of me standing with one foot in each country!! Totally reminded me of A Walk to Remember, but still cool. There were massive amounts of people it was ridiculous. We didn’t stay long because we needed to get to Annie’s Lodge before dark. We finally got there and once we did, they had no power. So we loaded our luggage into our rooms and used our flashlights to guide the way. In this part of Malawi though, they often lose power because it’s so expensive. But now they have a generator so we were able to go downstairs and still eat dinner, and have a beer, because they actually have a bar here. This place is beautiful and much nicer than the Budget Lodge in Lilongwe. Oh, and the land we saw on the drive down was mountainous and so empty; it was very peaceful and so weird to see because it was completely untouched. There weren’t even wild animals. Fortunately we got to see the sunset over the Shire River in passing, and that was incredible.
Tomorrow we’ll visit all three schools, even though VT is only teaching at the Domasi Government School. I’m very excited. But for now, it’s time to get hopefully a good night’s sleep, finally!
Tidkondwe Freedon Gardens (June 23)
Tidkondwe Freedom Gardens
Tidkondwe (means “Be Happy”) Freedom Gardens started in 1982 with Dr. Livingston who was an accountant and economist. He started this because he wanted to achieve food sovereignty rather than food sufficiency. Daniel described food sovereignty as being about to have food wherever and whenever you want it, vs. sufficiency where you dig into your pockets to purchase your goods. He started cultivating a very small sphere of land, which was sold to him because the owners thought of it as useless because of how swampy it was, but he saw potential. It took him 3 years to drain the water out of the land, and another 3 years to remove the reeds in order to be able to cultivate the land. Once he was able to do this though, he created 2 channels with linear channels in between, which was how the river water would flow to the crops… WITHOUT pumps! There has never been a single pump used at Freedom Gardens and this is why it’s absolutely incredible. The main idea here was to recycle nature and maintain the natural balance. It started out being 10 sq meters and it has now grown into 25 acres of success. From the proceeds, 75% is put back into the land, and the other 25% is used for home consumption. Because the family wanted to live in harmony with nature, the decision was made not to kill the insects and pests that would affect the crops. Instead, they produce chemicals (organically, from their own crops!! Using India Tree leaves, aloevera, blackjack, garlic and others) to simply scare the insects away. They even use smart tactics like growing corn around the legumes and carrots because it protects them from flying pests. It was crazy because the water flows through little visible channels that surround the crops (which are sunken lower than the small channels), and they come from 2 main channels, and various wells around the garden that it gets pulled from. They harvest the water in the rainy season and then use it to irrigate the crops during the dry season. All without pumps. It’s amazing because you can see the water flowing around the crops on different paths, and farm hands just use shovels to push dirt into a channel if they need to cut off water supply to a certain crop or divert the flow elsewhere. They also have wells specifically for composting. All of their waste (minus plastic and bottles) are pushed into these areas and is connected to a canal that they use to irrigate the well once a week for half a day, and the compost is ready within a month! This is what they call their “fertilizer” but all it is, is leaves from crops, or fallen food, pretty much organic waste. They even demonstrated this in front of us.
This is why Freedom Gardens is so groundbreaking. Malawi struggles a lot with their agriculture, and it’s pretty much their only way of survival. According to Daniel, Malawi spends 19 billion dollars for things like fertilizer and pesticides - money that could be used on schools, hospitals, etc. It took Freedom Gardens 10 years to break even, but it would have taken a lot less if the land hadn’t been so difficult to begin with. But now, everything comes from within. And they profit, a lot, and it goes back into the farm. They are always able to feed themselves, and even sell to local markets and all over Malawi, even though it’s a struggle because it’s not widely accepted yet. Farmers from all over the world, students, peace corps, etc have been coming into Freedom to learn these amazing tactics with hopes to do this on their own or raise awareness.. it’s basically the future of farming and it can save a lot of people in Malawi with as little as determination and perseverance. Malnutrition would decrease a significant amount. People are starting to realize what Daniel and his mother have been doing!
They served us a fantastic lunch and we were able to eat everything without worry because of it’s organic nature. It felt so great to be able to eat vegetables! Lunch cost us 800K (about 5 US dollars) and we even gave Mrs. Chinkhuntha 20 US dollars on top of that, and she was extremely grateful. It means so much to them, and it really is incredible the difference they have made just from their one small farm. We gave Daniel and Moses a ride back to town with us, and they were so fun! They speak very good English and taught us a lot about the cultural things we would see on the road, and didn’t really understand before then. We got their business cards and they even have Facebook! Haha. I plan on getting in touch with them when I get back to the states, I would love to help the cause any way I can.
Tidkondwe (means “Be Happy”) Freedom Gardens started in 1982 with Dr. Livingston who was an accountant and economist. He started this because he wanted to achieve food sovereignty rather than food sufficiency. Daniel described food sovereignty as being about to have food wherever and whenever you want it, vs. sufficiency where you dig into your pockets to purchase your goods. He started cultivating a very small sphere of land, which was sold to him because the owners thought of it as useless because of how swampy it was, but he saw potential. It took him 3 years to drain the water out of the land, and another 3 years to remove the reeds in order to be able to cultivate the land. Once he was able to do this though, he created 2 channels with linear channels in between, which was how the river water would flow to the crops… WITHOUT pumps! There has never been a single pump used at Freedom Gardens and this is why it’s absolutely incredible. The main idea here was to recycle nature and maintain the natural balance. It started out being 10 sq meters and it has now grown into 25 acres of success. From the proceeds, 75% is put back into the land, and the other 25% is used for home consumption. Because the family wanted to live in harmony with nature, the decision was made not to kill the insects and pests that would affect the crops. Instead, they produce chemicals (organically, from their own crops!! Using India Tree leaves, aloevera, blackjack, garlic and others) to simply scare the insects away. They even use smart tactics like growing corn around the legumes and carrots because it protects them from flying pests. It was crazy because the water flows through little visible channels that surround the crops (which are sunken lower than the small channels), and they come from 2 main channels, and various wells around the garden that it gets pulled from. They harvest the water in the rainy season and then use it to irrigate the crops during the dry season. All without pumps. It’s amazing because you can see the water flowing around the crops on different paths, and farm hands just use shovels to push dirt into a channel if they need to cut off water supply to a certain crop or divert the flow elsewhere. They also have wells specifically for composting. All of their waste (minus plastic and bottles) are pushed into these areas and is connected to a canal that they use to irrigate the well once a week for half a day, and the compost is ready within a month! This is what they call their “fertilizer” but all it is, is leaves from crops, or fallen food, pretty much organic waste. They even demonstrated this in front of us.
This is why Freedom Gardens is so groundbreaking. Malawi struggles a lot with their agriculture, and it’s pretty much their only way of survival. According to Daniel, Malawi spends 19 billion dollars for things like fertilizer and pesticides - money that could be used on schools, hospitals, etc. It took Freedom Gardens 10 years to break even, but it would have taken a lot less if the land hadn’t been so difficult to begin with. But now, everything comes from within. And they profit, a lot, and it goes back into the farm. They are always able to feed themselves, and even sell to local markets and all over Malawi, even though it’s a struggle because it’s not widely accepted yet. Farmers from all over the world, students, peace corps, etc have been coming into Freedom to learn these amazing tactics with hopes to do this on their own or raise awareness.. it’s basically the future of farming and it can save a lot of people in Malawi with as little as determination and perseverance. Malnutrition would decrease a significant amount. People are starting to realize what Daniel and his mother have been doing!
They served us a fantastic lunch and we were able to eat everything without worry because of it’s organic nature. It felt so great to be able to eat vegetables! Lunch cost us 800K (about 5 US dollars) and we even gave Mrs. Chinkhuntha 20 US dollars on top of that, and she was extremely grateful. It means so much to them, and it really is incredible the difference they have made just from their one small farm. We gave Daniel and Moses a ride back to town with us, and they were so fun! They speak very good English and taught us a lot about the cultural things we would see on the road, and didn’t really understand before then. We got their business cards and they even have Facebook! Haha. I plan on getting in touch with them when I get back to the states, I would love to help the cause any way I can.
We've Arrived! (June 21 - June 23)
** I've been writing these every night and then posting them once I have access to internet, so each entry has the date of when i actually wrote it!**
I’m in Africa!! And safe! We boarded the plane at 9:30am on Sunday morning, and didn’t get off the plane until 3:00pm Malawian time (9:00am Monday morning at home). It was the longest plane ride EVER and we never even spent any time in the airport. We flew for 8 hours until we got to Rome to refuel, but we had to stay on the plane, and from there we flew another 6 hours into Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to catch our connecting flight which we were late for, but luckily they held it for us. We literally ran from the plane onto the one waiting for us in Ethiopia and flew another 4 hours to the capital city of Lilongwe in Malawi. From the airport it was about a 30 minute bus ride to our hotel. Everyone was exhausted! I was so happy to actually be off an airplane. But our day didn’t end there. We had an hour to load our things into our room. That was a hassle in itself because there is 18 of us, all having 2 carry-on’s and 2 huge 50lb suitcases each. We had to shove into the bus and then drag our luggage up a flight of stairs to get to our room, and the handle on my largest suitcase broke!!
After about an hour we got back on the bus (Charles is our driver, he is fantastic and so nice!), and headed into the city to the Money Exchange and the US Embassy. We started off by exchanging $100.00, and ended up getting over 17,000 Kwatcha for just that small amount. This will last us a good portion of our trip. The US Embassy was amazing. I have never had an experience quite like that before and we were even able to have a meeting with the US Ambassador Badde (I think that’s how you spell it). Apparently, no one really gets to do that, so it was a real treat, and even better because he gave us water... that we could drink! He told us all about various philanthropic projects going on in Malawi, as well as about the government there. Malawi just had one of its first peaceful and fair election process and it couldn’t be more exciting. He gave us fantastic advice and really suggested we get involved in Foreign Service or the Peace Corps. He was a real pleasure; we all wished we could have stayed because it was so beautiful and clean. Afterwards we headed to the Metro Cash & Carry to buy water to last us until we would leave for Zomba on Wednesday. Of course, we were starving! So it was dinnertime and the hotel managed a place at the end of the block called Pizzaland, and there was a Burgerland inside (Haha!). My roommate, Jess, and I ate, showered and passed out for the night.
The next morning we had to be up and on the bus by 8:30am so we could head out to Freedom Gardens. I’m not even really sure how to explain this experience. It can’t be put into words to do it any justice. The garden is managed by Mrs. Chinkhuntha, her son Daniel and his best friend Moses. This farm is entirely organic, and absolutely beautiful. It’s strange because organic materials are not widely accepted or sought after in Malawi like they are in the United States. I took a lot of notes as we were learning about permaculture so I’ll make a second post dedicated to only that.
Once we got back to the hotel we decided to head to the internet café and it only costed us 5K per minute, but the gentlemen working at the desk only charged me 100K when it should have been a lot more. Such nice people. We all split up, but Dr.Kelly, Dr. Roberts, Jess, Beth, Kelsey, Angela and I pretty much stuck together because we all wanted to check our email. The rest of the group met us at Ali Baba for dinner where we had pizza, and let me tell you, it was amazing. Afterwards we went back to the market because Jess and I were craving chocolate, and Dr. Roberts bought us all beer. One of the guys on the trip, Jeff from Radford (he has dreds, and is super cool), managed to make friends with these two local guys. I don’t remember one of their names but the other is John Banana, but we just call him Bananas. They both drank and hung out with us outside the hotel and it was a good time. We were a bit skeptical of them at first but they seem like good guys, always best to be careful though. Places around here close around 7, there isn’t much light, and it gets dark so fast! It gets a bit dangerous in the alleyways and things like that (pretty much just like it would in the states), so we’ve pretty much called it an early night so far, which is good though because Jess and I have been exhausted.
The people here are so different, as to be expected. They don’t have much, they try to sell you everything and they ask for money sometimes. All we can do is politely decline, but it’s so hard! Mostly because we all want to buy things, but there will be plenty of time in the next few weeks. But the people are so happy!
Anyway, there’s more to come. I can’t believe I’ve already had so much to talk about and we’ve only been here two days. We leave here at 8am tomorrow and have a 4 hour bus ride into Zomba where we will check into Annie’s Lodge. That’s where we’ll be staying the rest of our stay in Africa, so it’ll be nice to settle in.
That’s all for now. I miss you all!!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
11 hours to go..
I'm leaving in a few hours for the airport, and after a week of stress and going over lists in my head a thousand times, i'm ready to be there already! Our flight leaves at 10 am for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We'll have a layover in Rome to refuel but other than that we're on the plane from 10 until 8am (1am our time). We'll be in Ethiopia for an hour or so and then we're headed to Lilongwe, Malawi, which is the capital city where we stay for a night and visit Freedom Gardens. A day or so later we'll take a bus into Zomba, which is where i'll be staying the majority of my trip, because that's where the schools are.
So my giant suitcase is packed with nothing but snacks, school supplies, and about 10 backpacks that I need to put in there once I meet up with my director at the Airport. The smallest suitcase is filled with my clothes.. amazing how I was able to not overpack! I'm getting better at this. I also have two carry-ons. But I feel like this is normal, so I've heard. I will have my computer with me, and access to the internet every now and then.. mostly to update this blog and maybe send some quick emails. I have an international Blackberry, but its still so damn expensive I really don't see the point. Anyway, I am totally reachable! It's great news.
I'm really nervous. I have no idea what to expect or what i'm getting myself into. This will definitely be a challenge, but a very rewarding one at that I'm sure. Don't forget about me while I'm gone!! And i'll update when i'm able :)
<3!
So my giant suitcase is packed with nothing but snacks, school supplies, and about 10 backpacks that I need to put in there once I meet up with my director at the Airport. The smallest suitcase is filled with my clothes.. amazing how I was able to not overpack! I'm getting better at this. I also have two carry-ons. But I feel like this is normal, so I've heard. I will have my computer with me, and access to the internet every now and then.. mostly to update this blog and maybe send some quick emails. I have an international Blackberry, but its still so damn expensive I really don't see the point. Anyway, I am totally reachable! It's great news.
I'm really nervous. I have no idea what to expect or what i'm getting myself into. This will definitely be a challenge, but a very rewarding one at that I'm sure. Don't forget about me while I'm gone!! And i'll update when i'm able :)
<3!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
