Safari was a blast. We saw lions, a leopard, so many hyena, too many genets, hares, new birds, hippos, buffalo, zebras, giraffes, and elephants. Now it’s off to Mchezi for 4 days in one of my favorite villages.
Again, check worldcampforkids.blogspot.com to see an intern’s posts from last week!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Take the Bad with the Good
So this week I worked with two wonderful teachers for four days at Chimutu Full Primary School. I thought we had a great time, and we did. We talked about some really serious issues and debated everything from gender roles to teaching methods. We also talked about our families, personal goals, and present realities. The standard 7 teachers assured me they would continue to teach what they’d learned with World Camp this week.
But today, after getting home after our final day, one of our translators told me the teachers thought I didn’t care about them. They had wanted to be paid for their time but weren’t. They were upset I hadn’t checked in with the headteacher every morning when we arrived and every afternoon when we left. They also wanted me to update him on our daily activities. (In my defense, they pointed this out to me on the second day and I checked in every time after that but he never asked about our activities and I never told him). They also thought I served them Sobo from the same cups we used for our deforestation demonstrations, the same cups that hundreds of kids have touched and sit on the dirt floor of every classroom they’re used in.
Yet they told me none of this. They didn’t ask me for money (which I wouldn’t have given but would gladly have explained why we didn’t provide a stipend), they went to a Field Staff. They didn’t tell me they’d wanted me to keep the headmaster up-to-date on our program. They didn’t ask whether the cups were the same or not, they just assumed. And they concluded I hadn’t respected them enough to bring clean cups for Sobo.
But today, after getting home after our final day, one of our translators told me the teachers thought I didn’t care about them. They had wanted to be paid for their time but weren’t. They were upset I hadn’t checked in with the headteacher every morning when we arrived and every afternoon when we left. They also wanted me to update him on our daily activities. (In my defense, they pointed this out to me on the second day and I checked in every time after that but he never asked about our activities and I never told him). They also thought I served them Sobo from the same cups we used for our deforestation demonstrations, the same cups that hundreds of kids have touched and sit on the dirt floor of every classroom they’re used in.
Yet they told me none of this. They didn’t ask me for money (which I wouldn’t have given but would gladly have explained why we didn’t provide a stipend), they went to a Field Staff. They didn’t tell me they’d wanted me to keep the headmaster up-to-date on our program. They didn’t ask whether the cups were the same or not, they just assumed. And they concluded I hadn’t respected them enough to bring clean cups for Sobo.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Yesterday, I made a differnce
Yesterday, I was finally back in a classroom after two years of purely coordinating. I, along with Reinier, held a teacher meeting with the two standard 7 teachers at Chimutu Full Primary School. Martha and Ms. Madala are wonderful ladies. They were interested in what we had to say and very impressed with the interactive activities we used to demonstrate topics they’re required to teach by the Malawian government.
For the first time ever, a teacher I was working with agreed to practice our sections for the rest of our group. After I reviewed a lesson she’d just observed in the classroom, Martha stood in front of Reinier, Ms. Madala, and myself and drew the outline of an imaginary character on the board named Johnny. After describing him briefly, she drew Ts throughout his body to represent t-cells, or “soldiers of the body” that are part of the immune system and work to fight off illnesses.
She talked about the fact that as a healthly boy, Johnny had more than 1,000 t-cells in every drop of blood in his body. Once he contracted HIV, however, the virus would begin to kill Johnny’s t-cells. She drew a circle over one of the Ts and continued to do so, describing how the added circles represented HIV’s destruction of Johnny’s immune system. HIV would be detectable once Johnny had less than 1,000 t-cells in every drop of blood, Martha explained.
She continued to color over the Ts until there were only one or two remaining, when she explained that Johnny now had AIDS. That meant that he had less than 350 t-cells in every drop of blood. His immune system was so weak Johnny’s body would be unable to fight off even simple illnesses such as the cough or diarrhea. Eventually, Johnny would die from AIDS.
Martha explained that although she taught her class about HIV in the government’s prescribed Life Skills curriculum, she’d never heard of t-cells. She assured Reinier, Ms. Madala, and myself that she would continue to use diagrams and detailed explains as she continued to teach her future students about AIDS.
Yesterday, I met two teachers at Chimutu FPS.
Yesterday, I empowered a teacher.
Yesterday, I impacted every single one of Martha Mkonkholo’s future students.
For the first time ever, a teacher I was working with agreed to practice our sections for the rest of our group. After I reviewed a lesson she’d just observed in the classroom, Martha stood in front of Reinier, Ms. Madala, and myself and drew the outline of an imaginary character on the board named Johnny. After describing him briefly, she drew Ts throughout his body to represent t-cells, or “soldiers of the body” that are part of the immune system and work to fight off illnesses.
She talked about the fact that as a healthly boy, Johnny had more than 1,000 t-cells in every drop of blood in his body. Once he contracted HIV, however, the virus would begin to kill Johnny’s t-cells. She drew a circle over one of the Ts and continued to do so, describing how the added circles represented HIV’s destruction of Johnny’s immune system. HIV would be detectable once Johnny had less than 1,000 t-cells in every drop of blood, Martha explained.
She continued to color over the Ts until there were only one or two remaining, when she explained that Johnny now had AIDS. That meant that he had less than 350 t-cells in every drop of blood. His immune system was so weak Johnny’s body would be unable to fight off even simple illnesses such as the cough or diarrhea. Eventually, Johnny would die from AIDS.
Martha explained that although she taught her class about HIV in the government’s prescribed Life Skills curriculum, she’d never heard of t-cells. She assured Reinier, Ms. Madala, and myself that she would continue to use diagrams and detailed explains as she continued to teach her future students about AIDS.
Yesterday, I met two teachers at Chimutu FPS.
Yesterday, I empowered a teacher.
Yesterday, I impacted every single one of Martha Mkonkholo’s future students.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Malawi Malawi Malawi
As expected, my diligent blog posting collapsed upon arrival in Malawi. I’ve been incredibly busy since I landed in Lilongwe on Dec. 30. Bikoko and I arrived the same day, and we immediately hit the ground running because all 4 interns arrived the very next day. We set up the house, updated documents, confirmed schools, and caught up on the past four months before heading to the airport. Two of the January interns are from Colby, so it’s fun to swap stories and recommend restaurants (Foss Fam: we’re going to the Lebanese restaurant asap). The third intern is from Maine but goes to school in North Carolina and the last intern is from Canada. It’s a great group.
So once the whole group was in Malawi, we had our four-day orientation filled with curriculum, city tours, consultations with Lali, our tailor, yummy food prepared by John, early mornings, and errands. Tuesday the 3rd we headed straight into the village for a 4-day 3-night homestay and camp. So far, I love this schedule and the extended homestays. We teach from 9:30am-1:30pm, take a half hour break for lunch, and then do optional creative writing workshops with the kids. It’s great to not have to pack up the car in the morning then drive to the school and drive all the way home and unpack supplies.
So pretty much every morning, I got up early (5:30) to run. I wanted a quiet village but everyone was already up, pumping water and walking to church. Then I’d take my bucket bath, have some breakfast and read on the porch before class started. One morning I went to church, which was just in front of our house. It was a short service, only 40minutes, and completely in Chichewa, but I’m glad I went and got a quick overview from a translator after.
During school, I mostly chatted with the teachers. We sat on my host family’s porch and compared Malawi and the US. Other mornings I’d read or help sweep the house. At 1:30, we’d wrap up classes and walk about 15 minutes to the trading center where the headmaster hosted us for lunch. Two days we had nsima, two days we had rice. She mad a delicious relish with rice. If time allowed, we’d chat for awhile then head back to school where we held the optional creative writing sections for the kids. All the girls and about half the guys showed up everyday.
After school we hung out at the futball field for a few hours, kicking a ball, chatting in either Chichewa or English, walking to watch the sunset, tossing a Frisbee, singing, or any other number of activities. Then it was back to the boys’ host family for dinner altogether. We had nsima, rice, and pasta on various nights with yummy yummy relishes.
One afternoon, I talked with our host dad for close to an hour. He brought out pictures of his wife and two kids because they’re visiting family up north and we couldn’t meet them. We talked about his schooling and teaching and Malawi. His English was great and it was wonderful to be able to just sit and chat.
This weekend, we took a tour of the city where we saw the first president’s burial site, a war memorial featured in the Amazing Race, and Coffin Street. We also went to a soccer game where we rooted for the Civil Servants to beat the army’s Red Lions but were defeated. Dinner out completed a great weekend.
This week, we’re living at the house and working at a city school that’s just a few minutes drive away. After camp today, we went to Baylor AIDS Pediatrics Clinic and the office of Grassroots Soccer, which is an NGO that uses soccer to raise awareness of and promote testing for HIV. Tomorrow we’re going to the Crisis Nursery and Thursday we’ll visit a permiculture site to learn about sustainable gardening and more efficient ways to farm in Malawi.
Also, the interns are keeping their own blog at worldcampforkids.blogspot.com. check it out.
So once the whole group was in Malawi, we had our four-day orientation filled with curriculum, city tours, consultations with Lali, our tailor, yummy food prepared by John, early mornings, and errands. Tuesday the 3rd we headed straight into the village for a 4-day 3-night homestay and camp. So far, I love this schedule and the extended homestays. We teach from 9:30am-1:30pm, take a half hour break for lunch, and then do optional creative writing workshops with the kids. It’s great to not have to pack up the car in the morning then drive to the school and drive all the way home and unpack supplies.
So pretty much every morning, I got up early (5:30) to run. I wanted a quiet village but everyone was already up, pumping water and walking to church. Then I’d take my bucket bath, have some breakfast and read on the porch before class started. One morning I went to church, which was just in front of our house. It was a short service, only 40minutes, and completely in Chichewa, but I’m glad I went and got a quick overview from a translator after.
During school, I mostly chatted with the teachers. We sat on my host family’s porch and compared Malawi and the US. Other mornings I’d read or help sweep the house. At 1:30, we’d wrap up classes and walk about 15 minutes to the trading center where the headmaster hosted us for lunch. Two days we had nsima, two days we had rice. She mad a delicious relish with rice. If time allowed, we’d chat for awhile then head back to school where we held the optional creative writing sections for the kids. All the girls and about half the guys showed up everyday.
After school we hung out at the futball field for a few hours, kicking a ball, chatting in either Chichewa or English, walking to watch the sunset, tossing a Frisbee, singing, or any other number of activities. Then it was back to the boys’ host family for dinner altogether. We had nsima, rice, and pasta on various nights with yummy yummy relishes.
One afternoon, I talked with our host dad for close to an hour. He brought out pictures of his wife and two kids because they’re visiting family up north and we couldn’t meet them. We talked about his schooling and teaching and Malawi. His English was great and it was wonderful to be able to just sit and chat.
This weekend, we took a tour of the city where we saw the first president’s burial site, a war memorial featured in the Amazing Race, and Coffin Street. We also went to a soccer game where we rooted for the Civil Servants to beat the army’s Red Lions but were defeated. Dinner out completed a great weekend.
This week, we’re living at the house and working at a city school that’s just a few minutes drive away. After camp today, we went to Baylor AIDS Pediatrics Clinic and the office of Grassroots Soccer, which is an NGO that uses soccer to raise awareness of and promote testing for HIV. Tomorrow we’re going to the Crisis Nursery and Thursday we’ll visit a permiculture site to learn about sustainable gardening and more efficient ways to farm in Malawi.
Also, the interns are keeping their own blog at worldcampforkids.blogspot.com. check it out.
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