World Relief Mzimba is working with 30 nursery schools (CBCC’s – community based childcare centers), so there a wide variety and diverse range of communities and schools we are working with. The differences between them are obvious. While some are eager to pair with World Relief and work to better their nursery schools, others are less eager for various reasons. While some communities accept the conditions that WR has, and are eager to receive the resources and training, embracing us with open arms and thanking us for helping them, others are less welcoming and less open to working with WR to meet the conditions. The conditions for receiving WR training and support are that the community should 1) build a separate building for the nursery school 2) dig toilets for the kids 3) make a kitchen or storeroom to feed the kids one meal a day 4) have a garden to help sustain the school and the community. Because Malawi (I think I may be repeating myself) is an agriculture society, making the bricks and the building, fulfilling the requirements are not that difficult, as shown by many groups who are already on their way, constructing the building and very happy to take part in the programs that WR is providing. Others, however, are less convinced that they need WR or should take part in the child development program. Reasons for this are that some people are receiving donations from other organizations, so they feel as if the donations are enough to maybe sustain their programs, they don’t need their own self-sufficient programs, if money and education are coming for free, why do the work themselves? Also, many expect WR to do more work, provide building materials or pay the workers to teach the kids, it’s misunderstood that WR provides the development ideas and basic resources (chalkboards, caregiver training) in order to encourage the community to provide a sustainable system for themselves. But after hearing from those groups, we hear from a group who gives thanks for those who are lazy, because then it gives them the chance to work with organizations like WR and get the offered resources. Lol, I think Owen was a little amused that the one group was specifically giving thanks for the laziness of others.
Laziness – this is one of the main points of this writing. In my work here in Malawi, I have seen communities who are hard-working, eager to make progress and work out of poverty, and others who are lazy, who don’t necessary seek progress and don’t necessary see the need to go beyond the status quo. Yes, this point maybe a little controversial – that people can be poor because they are lazy.
If I heard this argument coming from someone else, I would refute it immediately, saying, “wait a minute, what about all the circumstances, problems, etc. etc.” However, please hear me out. A colleague whom I work with brought this up, that some think that Malawians are poor because they are lazy, and another colleague, confirmed it, that in some cases this is true. And I think he is right, based on what we see at WR, some people are just fine with where they are in life, whether or not they are living with nothing or not. Now, this can be good, Malawians are always very kind and warm and generous, despite if they are living in the most desperate of circumstances. This kind of contentment or grace is not what I am talking against. But in any case of community development or when trying to help people to live a life out of poverty so their children may have clothes with no holes and families may have food on the table three meals a day, the satisfaction with a low status quo can be discouraging. Laziness in working out of poverty is evident in WR’s agribusiness program, where some communities can take a crop or livestock program and see the potential profit and benefits, others are easily discouraged. They complain about not seeing results fast enough, give up after one successful crop, or fail to get ready or take care of the animals they are given. So WR has to work really hard to motivate the communities and say, “no, this will work, just give it time and invest in the programs.” Like one community was going to receive a delivery of piglets to jumpstart their farming program. The piglets were arriving on Saturday, on Wednesday we visited, and no construction had started on the pig pen. Where were they planning to keep the pigs until the pigpen was constructed? In someone’s house. : ) And the concept of agribusiness here is new, so it’s not easy understandably, it’s not just changing a person’s method of gaining income, but a person’s way of thinking and their lifestyle, so needless to say, the job can be a little trying at times. For child development, it comes down to whether the committees have gotten the school buildings built in time for training in July or not. Some committees have their building done, some have their bricks all ready, others....they’re thinking about it...they may start thinking harder about it...hmmm. Also, right now is the time for harvesting, so some teachers/caregivers will go out in the gardens to harvest instead of showing up for school, also if there is a funeral, the caregivers might not show. This gets hard when harvest last for a whole season and when funerals are frequent, which is very sad to say. But if the caregivers don’t show up, then the kids don’t learn, and then the kids don’t show up for class either. Lesson planning, or a schedule, is something we’re talking about with the caregivers, but this week alone, we visited one center, 45 minutes away, 3 times before we found the kids and the caregivers at the center. A couple of days we have visited 3 different centers and at each we have not found the caregivers or the kids, the kids sometimes show up and there’s no teachers, sooo back home they go! No school, sometimes for days at a time...woohoo!
Again, not saying that Malawians don’t work hard in all circumstances and that they aren’t absolutely wonderful people, they are so nice and I would not want to be anywhere else, it’s really wonderful here, just some food for thought I guess. The question might be then, why help people that might not want the help? And that may not be the case, and others may have a clearer picture on this issue than me...but community development is important, and especially child development, when it comes to helping kids have the chance to have a good education and perform better in school, I think it matters to persist and try hard to help caregivers and communities to meet the needs of the kids.
There is a confirmed difference between kids who attend nursery school before primary school and with those who don’t. The skills that they are learning in school are not only their ABC’s or 123’s, but how to interact with others and interact within a classroom atmosphere. Teachers say that the biggest difference between kids who attend nursery school and those who don’t before entering primary school, is not only their academic performance, but their ability to interact with others and communicate well in the classroom, basic skills necessary to do well in any schooling. The primary school principals and teachers we have talked to have said exactly these things, that nursery school is important and that there is a world of difference between those that attend the schools and those that don’t.
Yeah, so...that’s it for now. Comments?
Friday, June 26, 2009
Poverty in Malawi Post #1
Studying poverty in Malawi is interesting because it is so different and multi-faceted, as poverty is in most circumstances. To start off, Malawi is one of the most impoverished countries in the world, and while maybe what I am experiencing in Mzimba can be applied to the whole country, it is Mzimba that I am drawing my observations and ideas from, so my observations may be unique to this area, or they may not be.
Not only is poverty in Malawi different as a country, as well as in different areas, but it is different from a local perspective as well. For example, I am staying in a guest house, where mostly white people come to stay while they are working in the surrounding hospital, schools, and ministries. Most of the people have brought things to give away or have gifts of service or money to benefit the community close to the guest house. Therefore, many (many, not all) of the children here are well-clothed and have more resources than others. Now, understand that more may be a very small difference to us, the living conditions at the school are still pretty horrible and food is still less than desirable. But the children here I would say are very familiar with white people, and receiving things from white people, they will often come up to me and say:
1. “give me money”
2. “give me candy”
3. “give me a pen”
4. “give me your bottle” (my water bottle they see)
5. “give me your bag” <- this one creeps me out the most because it sounds like they would steal it maybe
In the past, I have been told, kids did not do this in Embangweni and it was much less of a problem. It is clear that kids here have learned or grown to think that white people automatically come with money or have things that they will give away. This is expected I guess, but the problem has gotten really bad, or worse, since even I’ve been here I think, maybe just because it’s our summer season when many groups travel from Europe and the US. But I was, I would say, harassed by a group of primary (elementary) school kids walking to work one day, just repetitively and continuously asking for money and making obnoxious and rude sounds while I was walking, very unpleasant. It’s not very good when they hang around the guest house either, especially after a long day, it’s not very nice to come back to demands from kids you would normally expect to be nice and fun, who then instead of saying hi and waving, say “give me money,” or “give me your bag.” It’s also interesting that it is just the kids here, no adults in Embangweni have asked me for anything, it’s just the kids, and mostly from around the guest house. Groups will come and work in the schools and give things away, or do fundraisers, and then the kids will come around looking for handouts. I am not suggesting that people stop bringing things to give to kids or stop helping, only pointing out that there are some negative consequences that go with the good ones. I’ve seen this problem answered when the groups at the guest house know to discourage kids from hanging around and even the security guards and manager of the guest house sometimes help to maintain the peace.
Another interesting aspect about poverty in the area around the guest house and Embangweni, is that even though there is such a presence of mission groups at the hospital and surrounding schools, the areas that are pretty close, maybe a mile away, are just as needy as those that are miles away. The hospital and schools (primary, secondary, and deaf schools) are in need of a lot of help themselves – no running water for students, bad living environments, only rice and beans for food, lack of medications in the hospital, lack of beds, etc. – so the help is needed there, but sometimes it’s hard to see all the work that is going on near the guest house, when somewhere I visit right down the road is suffering just as much or more. I wish that the clothes that get dropped off to the kids near to the guest house would reach the kids who are 20 miles farther away who are wearing clothes that have holes in them and might as well not be there at all. A nursery school that is literally right next to the primary school does not even have its own building or a chalk board.
Not only is poverty in Malawi different as a country, as well as in different areas, but it is different from a local perspective as well. For example, I am staying in a guest house, where mostly white people come to stay while they are working in the surrounding hospital, schools, and ministries. Most of the people have brought things to give away or have gifts of service or money to benefit the community close to the guest house. Therefore, many (many, not all) of the children here are well-clothed and have more resources than others. Now, understand that more may be a very small difference to us, the living conditions at the school are still pretty horrible and food is still less than desirable. But the children here I would say are very familiar with white people, and receiving things from white people, they will often come up to me and say:
1. “give me money”
2. “give me candy”
3. “give me a pen”
4. “give me your bottle” (my water bottle they see)
5. “give me your bag” <- this one creeps me out the most because it sounds like they would steal it maybe
In the past, I have been told, kids did not do this in Embangweni and it was much less of a problem. It is clear that kids here have learned or grown to think that white people automatically come with money or have things that they will give away. This is expected I guess, but the problem has gotten really bad, or worse, since even I’ve been here I think, maybe just because it’s our summer season when many groups travel from Europe and the US. But I was, I would say, harassed by a group of primary (elementary) school kids walking to work one day, just repetitively and continuously asking for money and making obnoxious and rude sounds while I was walking, very unpleasant. It’s not very good when they hang around the guest house either, especially after a long day, it’s not very nice to come back to demands from kids you would normally expect to be nice and fun, who then instead of saying hi and waving, say “give me money,” or “give me your bag.” It’s also interesting that it is just the kids here, no adults in Embangweni have asked me for anything, it’s just the kids, and mostly from around the guest house. Groups will come and work in the schools and give things away, or do fundraisers, and then the kids will come around looking for handouts. I am not suggesting that people stop bringing things to give to kids or stop helping, only pointing out that there are some negative consequences that go with the good ones. I’ve seen this problem answered when the groups at the guest house know to discourage kids from hanging around and even the security guards and manager of the guest house sometimes help to maintain the peace.
Another interesting aspect about poverty in the area around the guest house and Embangweni, is that even though there is such a presence of mission groups at the hospital and surrounding schools, the areas that are pretty close, maybe a mile away, are just as needy as those that are miles away. The hospital and schools (primary, secondary, and deaf schools) are in need of a lot of help themselves – no running water for students, bad living environments, only rice and beans for food, lack of medications in the hospital, lack of beds, etc. – so the help is needed there, but sometimes it’s hard to see all the work that is going on near the guest house, when somewhere I visit right down the road is suffering just as much or more. I wish that the clothes that get dropped off to the kids near to the guest house would reach the kids who are 20 miles farther away who are wearing clothes that have holes in them and might as well not be there at all. A nursery school that is literally right next to the primary school does not even have its own building or a chalk board.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Irish group that had been staying at the guest house left today. They were a fun bunch to be around and were really welcoming to me and two other girls that just arrived from England, who are also staying in Malawi until early August. The two girls, Divina and Fiona, are medical students working at the Embangwane hospital, which is next door to the guest house. Most people who come work in the hospital, the secondary school, and the deaf school, all which are very close by to the guest house. Since Divina and Fiona are staying here almost the exact amount of time I am, I am sure we’ll get to be good friends, already we are having a good time. Yesterday, the one day I ate lunch out in the field, two girls from the US who work for the Peace Corps stopped by to find me. The one day I am not there...figures.
Saying goodbye to the Irish group involved lots of hugs and words of encouragement. It was nice getting the hugs and feeling that kind of closeness of friends, especially being a place where hugs aren’t really exchanged so much. They were all so friendly and kind : ) sharing their time and fellowship with me and the others staying here. I said last night when we had time to share that when you are traveling alone and independent, you soon find out that you are neither alone nor independent. When you are working for God and following His way, the Bible says that He will hold your hand (Isaiah 42:6). I think He does through His presence, but also through providing us with a community of fellow believers, friends, to keep us company and encourage us. And in being independent, we are actually dependent; dependent on the kindness, love, generosity, and caring of others around us, because there are somethings we cannot do on our own. It can be much harder to enjoy a meal after a long day when you’re alone, or understand that everyone has hard days and faces tough situations. You can’t really laugh the same or about the same things, or get the same perspective. I think God has met this need that maybe I didn’t think of or at least didn’t worry about, and it’s turned out to be one of the best parts of my trip, meeting people both from Malawi and from other places that have meant so much to my growth as a person and as a Christian.
Yesterday, we visited a childcare center in Mtuzuzu to observe the class and talk to the caregivers. Usually when guests visit, they are invited to a meal. In the past we’ve said no because it usually takes a long time when we have places to be, but this time I felt bad refusing and why not? I kinda wanted to avoid feeling like that random white person who comes into your class just to tell what to do, what you’re doing wrong, and how to do it right. It was nice, and I felt much more like a friend or accepted at least by the caregivers after accepting their invitation, even if the meal was a little awkward. Usually, when there are guests, they eat alone in the house after being served. However, since Owen doesn’t usually eat lunch after 12, one of the caregivers was eating with me, and I could kind of sense the out-of-the-ordinariness of the situation, I probably didn’t help the awkwardness...but it was good, at least we left on very good terms, even I missed the girls from the Peace Corps and made us leave hours later than usual. It’s good sometimes to take the extra time to get to know some people, even if it might take away from other things...
Saying goodbye to the Irish group involved lots of hugs and words of encouragement. It was nice getting the hugs and feeling that kind of closeness of friends, especially being a place where hugs aren’t really exchanged so much. They were all so friendly and kind : ) sharing their time and fellowship with me and the others staying here. I said last night when we had time to share that when you are traveling alone and independent, you soon find out that you are neither alone nor independent. When you are working for God and following His way, the Bible says that He will hold your hand (Isaiah 42:6). I think He does through His presence, but also through providing us with a community of fellow believers, friends, to keep us company and encourage us. And in being independent, we are actually dependent; dependent on the kindness, love, generosity, and caring of others around us, because there are somethings we cannot do on our own. It can be much harder to enjoy a meal after a long day when you’re alone, or understand that everyone has hard days and faces tough situations. You can’t really laugh the same or about the same things, or get the same perspective. I think God has met this need that maybe I didn’t think of or at least didn’t worry about, and it’s turned out to be one of the best parts of my trip, meeting people both from Malawi and from other places that have meant so much to my growth as a person and as a Christian.
Yesterday, we visited a childcare center in Mtuzuzu to observe the class and talk to the caregivers. Usually when guests visit, they are invited to a meal. In the past we’ve said no because it usually takes a long time when we have places to be, but this time I felt bad refusing and why not? I kinda wanted to avoid feeling like that random white person who comes into your class just to tell what to do, what you’re doing wrong, and how to do it right. It was nice, and I felt much more like a friend or accepted at least by the caregivers after accepting their invitation, even if the meal was a little awkward. Usually, when there are guests, they eat alone in the house after being served. However, since Owen doesn’t usually eat lunch after 12, one of the caregivers was eating with me, and I could kind of sense the out-of-the-ordinariness of the situation, I probably didn’t help the awkwardness...but it was good, at least we left on very good terms, even I missed the girls from the Peace Corps and made us leave hours later than usual. It’s good sometimes to take the extra time to get to know some people, even if it might take away from other things...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
This weekend (June 5-7th)
On Friday evening, I went over a member of WR staff’s house to help prepare dinner and then share it with the fellow WR staff. So at about 3:30 I left the office to join the women of the family in preparing dinner – nzima, rice, spaghetti, chicken, etc. to be cooked over a fire. I was in charge of the spaghetti...not too hard to handle. They didn’t think that I had ever seen anyone cook over a fire, but I explained camping, which is a bit different than cooking over a fire for every meal, but least I had seen it before... Hudson Kureunda (sp?), who works at WR, has eight children, I was cooking with I think his 3 eldest daughters, I know there were more children there than eight, so I am not quite sure who was who. Anyway, first thing I was handed a cucumber to eat. The cucumbers here are different than in the US, they are yellow and green striped and more round, with spikes. Inside they are more seeds then rind and a bit sour even, not bad, but I had a hard time eating a whole one by myself and made the biggest mess. During dinner, we had a quick dance lesson or show...aka time for embarrassing Maddie and proving the point that I CAN’T DANCE. Plus the women here move their hips or whatever muscle in a way I have never seen. But I think we all spent a good solid 15 minutes laughing at the fact I really cannot dance, all in good fun. Then we proceeded to the well and I was given a small bucket, half full, to carry on my head. : )
After dinner was ready and the rest of the WR staff arrived, all men, I came inside where we watched some Michael Bolton classic ‘80s music videos and then some classic Malawian dance music videos, which kind of resemble a music video that maybe you would record at home with some added effects on the computer. Then we sat down and had dinner, just the WR staff and the wife of Mr. Kureunda. What is different in Malawian family structure is that the men are always served first and the women and children often eat separately. In this case, Mrs. Kureunda ate with us, but his mother ate outside with his children, maybe because there weren’t enough seats at the table? I felt kind of odds eating the food that had been prepared by the women and that I had helped make (a little) with the men at the table, while the women were outside in the dark. Maybe that is what they are used to, but it was a bit hard for me to take, sitting inside while the women I had spent time with and made friends with were outside behind a closed door...definitely a cultural change. I almost felt like I should be serving and helping clean up with Mrs. Kureunda and then going outside to join the others... But I guess I am not really accustomed to be treated as such the guest, I am used to being active in helping, or being amidst a group where everyone eats together for the most part. It was a good evening, and the family is really nice and very kind, I enjoyed it very much. Of course, when I went to take pictures, my battery died at the very instant, so I will have to go back to get pics of the fam.
On Saturday, Owen was kind enough to take me to a gospel concert fundraiser that his friends were putting on. It was supposed to be at 1pm, but instead started maybe around 3:30pm, which is not too uncommon in Malawi, though usually delays are not that long I think. But it was fun, some sang along with popular recordings of gospel songs, or added their own words and dances, and every one danced along and had a good time, the best was seeing all of the kids. I pulled out a camera and its magical magnetic force made about 50 children come out of the woodwork, of course I had to take a picture of as many of them as I could possibly fit in a picture frame : )
Sunday, the group that I had been hanging around at the guest house with departed, and later in the evening a group arrived from Ireland : ) So now I am in the minority as an American and am surrounded by Irish accents and Malawians.
After dinner was ready and the rest of the WR staff arrived, all men, I came inside where we watched some Michael Bolton classic ‘80s music videos and then some classic Malawian dance music videos, which kind of resemble a music video that maybe you would record at home with some added effects on the computer. Then we sat down and had dinner, just the WR staff and the wife of Mr. Kureunda. What is different in Malawian family structure is that the men are always served first and the women and children often eat separately. In this case, Mrs. Kureunda ate with us, but his mother ate outside with his children, maybe because there weren’t enough seats at the table? I felt kind of odds eating the food that had been prepared by the women and that I had helped make (a little) with the men at the table, while the women were outside in the dark. Maybe that is what they are used to, but it was a bit hard for me to take, sitting inside while the women I had spent time with and made friends with were outside behind a closed door...definitely a cultural change. I almost felt like I should be serving and helping clean up with Mrs. Kureunda and then going outside to join the others... But I guess I am not really accustomed to be treated as such the guest, I am used to being active in helping, or being amidst a group where everyone eats together for the most part. It was a good evening, and the family is really nice and very kind, I enjoyed it very much. Of course, when I went to take pictures, my battery died at the very instant, so I will have to go back to get pics of the fam.
On Saturday, Owen was kind enough to take me to a gospel concert fundraiser that his friends were putting on. It was supposed to be at 1pm, but instead started maybe around 3:30pm, which is not too uncommon in Malawi, though usually delays are not that long I think. But it was fun, some sang along with popular recordings of gospel songs, or added their own words and dances, and every one danced along and had a good time, the best was seeing all of the kids. I pulled out a camera and its magical magnetic force made about 50 children come out of the woodwork, of course I had to take a picture of as many of them as I could possibly fit in a picture frame : )
Sunday, the group that I had been hanging around at the guest house with departed, and later in the evening a group arrived from Ireland : ) So now I am in the minority as an American and am surrounded by Irish accents and Malawians.
Weekend Activities
First on the agenda for Saturday was a joint SCOM meeting. SCOM stands for Student Christians of Malawi. The meeting started at 8am. Owen, who I work with at World Relief, is actually a SCOM associate, so he invited me and the group staying at the guest house was going as well, so I knew some people involved already. SCOM takes place at individual high schools (secondary schools) as well as some universities and colleges, the joint meeting was with the schools from our local district and was basically a prayer meeting and bible study. The people staying with me at the guest house are actually very large financial supporters of SCOM, so one individual in the group gave a lesson. After the SCOM meeting, a friend and I went to a football game (soccer), which was supposed to start at 2:30pm, didn’t really start until 3:30pm (African time) so we walked around for an hour, found some friends, then watched the game, then walked to the market for some Fanta aka orange soda, very good. I think I will buy a case of that when I get home... For dinner, I went with the group from the guest house to the local secondary school principal’s house for dinner, we had nzima and I got to meet Rose (the principal’s wife) who went to Oxford before coming back to Malawi to raise a family (she stopped mid-way through her schooling), and Martha, the doctor at the local hospital, who is from the US and has been in Malawi for 10 years, with only a few trips back to the US. She is (I think) the only full-time, fully trained doctor in the hospital. They have an orthopedic doctor and nurses, but Martha’s name gets mentioned a lot as the main doctor, so I am pretty sure she is it.
On Sunday, I went to church. English service was supposed to be at 8am, knew where the church was, easy as pie. Well, it was holy communion Sunday. Let’s just leave it there.
Haha, no big deal, it just means that the service was in a different location, all in Tumbuka, and totally disorienting than what I am used to, of course. So while going to the church, a woman was nice enough to stop me and tell that it was communion Sunday and the service was moved to a different location. She then proceeded to yell across the field to multiple of people (around my age), asking people to take me to the place where the service was being held. I have no idea what she was really saying...but I do know that they kept on walking after shouting back, perhaps something like NO. But finally one group was willing to endure my presence
: ) and we walked over. So the service went well, all in Tumbuka, but I got the cues to sit and stand and pray, etc. I should of asked about how they do communion, because, well, they do it differently. Before I know it, in the service, half of the congregation is getting up to leave, some of whom I know, so I am thinking do I stay, go, what? Then the girl I came with made a motion with her hand which I took to be a go ahead and leave....so I left. Walked away not really knowing where I was going or what I was doing...yes, rather confused. Hehe, a learning experience. Then, luckily, thankfully, again thankfully, a friend I had met a SCOM caught up with me, asked if I usually took holy communion, we had some conversation clarifying what he meant, what I meant, how they do it in Malawi, and after visiting his house for about two minutes (don’t know why we went there, but it is the friendly thing to do, invite people over), we turned around and went back to the service and took communion. From this point on it went very well and very smoothly. I didn’t get up and leave any more unless I was supposed to, though I could have stayed for the next service. But 8:30am to 11am was good for me. It was a good experience, the singing was good, the service was meaningful to me, and once again I was made to go in front of an audience and introduce myself. For not liking all the attention, and usually being one to try and blend in....I have a feeling this might not be the right place.
Anyways, if you ever find yourself in front of a crowd in Mzimba, Malawi, say “monire mosse” with an accent over both the e’s, that means “hi everyone” and will make everyone pretty happy, the response is “yewo” which is a word of thanks, or hello, or other greeting. “Monere” is “greetings” and the response to that is “yewo,” “muli uli?” is “how are you?” and the response to this is “nili makola, kwali imwe?” Nili = I am, Makola = fine. Imwe is a word of respect and with kwali it asks how are you back. Makola has taken me the longest time to learn. I still forget or say it wrong. I say it wrong or my mind blanks the second I am asked....I take too long to think, I believe.
After church on Sunday, another football game (they had loudspeakers!), a local SCOM meeting, and dinner...the end of my weekend!
On Sunday, I went to church. English service was supposed to be at 8am, knew where the church was, easy as pie. Well, it was holy communion Sunday. Let’s just leave it there.
Haha, no big deal, it just means that the service was in a different location, all in Tumbuka, and totally disorienting than what I am used to, of course. So while going to the church, a woman was nice enough to stop me and tell that it was communion Sunday and the service was moved to a different location. She then proceeded to yell across the field to multiple of people (around my age), asking people to take me to the place where the service was being held. I have no idea what she was really saying...but I do know that they kept on walking after shouting back, perhaps something like NO. But finally one group was willing to endure my presence
: ) and we walked over. So the service went well, all in Tumbuka, but I got the cues to sit and stand and pray, etc. I should of asked about how they do communion, because, well, they do it differently. Before I know it, in the service, half of the congregation is getting up to leave, some of whom I know, so I am thinking do I stay, go, what? Then the girl I came with made a motion with her hand which I took to be a go ahead and leave....so I left. Walked away not really knowing where I was going or what I was doing...yes, rather confused. Hehe, a learning experience. Then, luckily, thankfully, again thankfully, a friend I had met a SCOM caught up with me, asked if I usually took holy communion, we had some conversation clarifying what he meant, what I meant, how they do it in Malawi, and after visiting his house for about two minutes (don’t know why we went there, but it is the friendly thing to do, invite people over), we turned around and went back to the service and took communion. From this point on it went very well and very smoothly. I didn’t get up and leave any more unless I was supposed to, though I could have stayed for the next service. But 8:30am to 11am was good for me. It was a good experience, the singing was good, the service was meaningful to me, and once again I was made to go in front of an audience and introduce myself. For not liking all the attention, and usually being one to try and blend in....I have a feeling this might not be the right place.
Anyways, if you ever find yourself in front of a crowd in Mzimba, Malawi, say “monire mosse” with an accent over both the e’s, that means “hi everyone” and will make everyone pretty happy, the response is “yewo” which is a word of thanks, or hello, or other greeting. “Monere” is “greetings” and the response to that is “yewo,” “muli uli?” is “how are you?” and the response to this is “nili makola, kwali imwe?” Nili = I am, Makola = fine. Imwe is a word of respect and with kwali it asks how are you back. Makola has taken me the longest time to learn. I still forget or say it wrong. I say it wrong or my mind blanks the second I am asked....I take too long to think, I believe.
After church on Sunday, another football game (they had loudspeakers!), a local SCOM meeting, and dinner...the end of my weekend!
Summary of my work at World Relief
Okay, it has been a while since I said anything about what I have been doing at World Relief in Mzimba (Embangwane to be more exact), and a lot has happened since then. Since last Wednesday (it is now a week from then) my perception about teaching and going about my work has changed and Owen and I, I think, have worked out most of the kinks so our time teaching flows better. Owen translates my accented English into Tumbuka, so I think he is ending up with a lot of the work and I am very thankful that he is sooo patient and very kind. So basically, every day Owen and I will travel on a motorbike (Yamaha something-or-other) to various rural, very rural, places around Mzimba. One day this week we covered 85 kilometers, you can translate that into miles, I haven’t done that yet : ) At first we will go to talk to the caregivers at the learning centers to introduce them to the idea of more participatory and engaging ways of teaching young children and then sometimes, if we don’t do it the same day, we will come back and do a presentation to the class, or an example lesson, with a few games so far.
This is the part of my perception that has changed: at first, I was thinking that I would be teaching the kids, meaning they would be learning, and not that they aren’t when I am doing the lesson, but it is a little for me to expect kids to take away something from a lesson when 1) they might never have seen a white person before (me=distraction) 2) some of them have never seen written letters before 3) they’re 2-5 year olds 4) we speak a different language....the list goes on. So, by thinking of it as a presentation, there is a little less pressure for me and it tends to run a little smoothly. Also, we are doing the same lesson plan over and over again, which I didn’t expect, so that has also helped things to go a little smoother, since I think Owen has gotten the hang of explaining it from English and Tumbuka and I am more at ease with it and can engage the students more. The games we have done? Simon says (I’m not very good at leading this one), duck, duck, goose (usually this goes very well), relays...those have worked pretty well. We tried what time is it, mr.fox (aka mr.mosquito), and a form of team relays, and I want to introduce “tag” but some of the kids are so young, age two and three) that the time it takes to explain and do examples takes away a lot of our play time. But, generally it has been going well. I would tell you all the names of the places we visit (sometimes 2 or more per day and very spread out), but I haven’t been quite able to master remembering them all or much less how to spell them. I am figuring out quickly how much of a visual learner I am, I need to ask someone to write all the names and some Tumbuka words out for me so I can actually see what I am trying to say. Even learning the greetings has been kind of slow for me...
But yeah, we ride on a motor bike to very remote areas at times, traveling on dirt roads, crossing streams, up mountains....haha, ok maybe just very large hills, but serious cross country. I really enjoy it and it’s a great way to see Mzimba, it gets to be a little much after the 85th kilometer and I know Owen gets very tired from driving so much every day (hours and hours), more than I do with him, but it’s mostly a good experience for me. I am hoping Owen will teach me : ) although it does take some talent with all of the dust and potholes here, and they can’t afford to lose a bike, maybe they will take a chance : ) and if you are wondering, no big animals yet. Apparently, Zambia, whose border is very, very close, likes the herd most of the animals over onto their land into the reserves to attract the tourists... so I think I will be mostly out of luck in that department, sorry to disappoint. However, if you want to hear about very large cattle and marriage arrangements, large, plentiful, and loud crows at 5pm and 5am, obnoxiously loud cranes at 4am, or numerous chickens, goats, bugs, let me know.
On Monday we met with the village elders, or village heads, and CBCC (community-based childcare center) committee and caregivers for one village. Here, education is taken very seriously, teachers and pastors are some of the most respected and highest paid individuals in the communities. It impressed me that for each childcare center there was a full committee, made up of the village leaders and respected individuals from each area. In order to receive training and resources from World Relief and training and recognition by the Malawian government as a full childcare center, each center must make certain requirements. They must have their own building, many of them operate out of churches, which are sometimes just brick or mud walls with a thatched roof, sometimes not even that. The center we visited on Tuesday, June 2nd, was just made up of branches tied together with a thatched roof, it was so windy that we just bypassed the lesson plan and played games, and even then the field that we were playing in was so rocky, that it was a little worrisome to be playing running games. This is when duck, duck, goose comes into play, not a lot of surface area needed. For schooling, it’s hard to teach letter and number recognition when there is not a chalkboard or hard surface to work with! Just a roof and a dirt floor with some chairs to sit in. Though there are centers that do really well without training or many resources, the caregivers teach the kids songs to sing the ABC’s and 123’s and have the kids come up and point out the numbers and letters (if they have a chalkboard or other surface).
Back to the requirements: own building and area for playing, toilets for the kids (pit latrines at least), only some centers have these, and a kitchen or a way to give the children one meal (porridge). It is also recommended that the childcare center have its own garden to provide food for the kids. Because Malawi is largely an agricultural country, starting a garden is not a problem; it’s just harvesting and tending to it. Today we visited another village that is receiving some pigs from World Relief to start its own business. The pigs are arriving on Saturday, they were told a while back, and when we visited today, the pen that they were going to keep them in was virtually nonexistent, no foundation and just a stacking of bricks. So some villages are going full-force with the notion of childcare centers and training, etc., but others need some more encouragement. African time... : )
So daily schedule: get up 5:30-6am, have breakfast, work at 8am, devotions at WR, motorbiking to a CBCC, motorbiking back or to another CBCC, then lunch, out again, or hanging around the office...till 4:30 or 5pm when I go back to the guesthouse and chat with people, till dinner at 6pm, then bed pretty much right after that, 7:30-8pm. Tonight is late (9pm). Some friends of the other group brought their kids and we were entertaining them for the evening, running around and wearing ourselves out more than them of course : )
This is the part of my perception that has changed: at first, I was thinking that I would be teaching the kids, meaning they would be learning, and not that they aren’t when I am doing the lesson, but it is a little for me to expect kids to take away something from a lesson when 1) they might never have seen a white person before (me=distraction) 2) some of them have never seen written letters before 3) they’re 2-5 year olds 4) we speak a different language....the list goes on. So, by thinking of it as a presentation, there is a little less pressure for me and it tends to run a little smoothly. Also, we are doing the same lesson plan over and over again, which I didn’t expect, so that has also helped things to go a little smoother, since I think Owen has gotten the hang of explaining it from English and Tumbuka and I am more at ease with it and can engage the students more. The games we have done? Simon says (I’m not very good at leading this one), duck, duck, goose (usually this goes very well), relays...those have worked pretty well. We tried what time is it, mr.fox (aka mr.mosquito), and a form of team relays, and I want to introduce “tag” but some of the kids are so young, age two and three) that the time it takes to explain and do examples takes away a lot of our play time. But, generally it has been going well. I would tell you all the names of the places we visit (sometimes 2 or more per day and very spread out), but I haven’t been quite able to master remembering them all or much less how to spell them. I am figuring out quickly how much of a visual learner I am, I need to ask someone to write all the names and some Tumbuka words out for me so I can actually see what I am trying to say. Even learning the greetings has been kind of slow for me...
But yeah, we ride on a motor bike to very remote areas at times, traveling on dirt roads, crossing streams, up mountains....haha, ok maybe just very large hills, but serious cross country. I really enjoy it and it’s a great way to see Mzimba, it gets to be a little much after the 85th kilometer and I know Owen gets very tired from driving so much every day (hours and hours), more than I do with him, but it’s mostly a good experience for me. I am hoping Owen will teach me : ) although it does take some talent with all of the dust and potholes here, and they can’t afford to lose a bike, maybe they will take a chance : ) and if you are wondering, no big animals yet. Apparently, Zambia, whose border is very, very close, likes the herd most of the animals over onto their land into the reserves to attract the tourists... so I think I will be mostly out of luck in that department, sorry to disappoint. However, if you want to hear about very large cattle and marriage arrangements, large, plentiful, and loud crows at 5pm and 5am, obnoxiously loud cranes at 4am, or numerous chickens, goats, bugs, let me know.
On Monday we met with the village elders, or village heads, and CBCC (community-based childcare center) committee and caregivers for one village. Here, education is taken very seriously, teachers and pastors are some of the most respected and highest paid individuals in the communities. It impressed me that for each childcare center there was a full committee, made up of the village leaders and respected individuals from each area. In order to receive training and resources from World Relief and training and recognition by the Malawian government as a full childcare center, each center must make certain requirements. They must have their own building, many of them operate out of churches, which are sometimes just brick or mud walls with a thatched roof, sometimes not even that. The center we visited on Tuesday, June 2nd, was just made up of branches tied together with a thatched roof, it was so windy that we just bypassed the lesson plan and played games, and even then the field that we were playing in was so rocky, that it was a little worrisome to be playing running games. This is when duck, duck, goose comes into play, not a lot of surface area needed. For schooling, it’s hard to teach letter and number recognition when there is not a chalkboard or hard surface to work with! Just a roof and a dirt floor with some chairs to sit in. Though there are centers that do really well without training or many resources, the caregivers teach the kids songs to sing the ABC’s and 123’s and have the kids come up and point out the numbers and letters (if they have a chalkboard or other surface).
Back to the requirements: own building and area for playing, toilets for the kids (pit latrines at least), only some centers have these, and a kitchen or a way to give the children one meal (porridge). It is also recommended that the childcare center have its own garden to provide food for the kids. Because Malawi is largely an agricultural country, starting a garden is not a problem; it’s just harvesting and tending to it. Today we visited another village that is receiving some pigs from World Relief to start its own business. The pigs are arriving on Saturday, they were told a while back, and when we visited today, the pen that they were going to keep them in was virtually nonexistent, no foundation and just a stacking of bricks. So some villages are going full-force with the notion of childcare centers and training, etc., but others need some more encouragement. African time... : )
So daily schedule: get up 5:30-6am, have breakfast, work at 8am, devotions at WR, motorbiking to a CBCC, motorbiking back or to another CBCC, then lunch, out again, or hanging around the office...till 4:30 or 5pm when I go back to the guesthouse and chat with people, till dinner at 6pm, then bed pretty much right after that, 7:30-8pm. Tonight is late (9pm). Some friends of the other group brought their kids and we were entertaining them for the evening, running around and wearing ourselves out more than them of course : )
Embangwane Hospital
Mzimba Bug Homicide List
Squashed:
1. Gigantic Ant
2. Spider
3. Several unknown beetle-like creatures
4. Several small ants
One of the gentlemen, Mr. Roger Rogers, from the other group staying at the guest house was kind enough to give me a tour of the mission hospital tonight (Wednesday, May 27th). It was founded by the Presbyterians a while ago and is the only hospital in this region; people will walk for miles to come to this hospital. There is a women’s, men’s, maternity, and pediatric ward, as well as a dental, casualty (minor injury) ward and surgical theatre. The operating room is labeled the “theatre.” At first I thought it was strange that they would have a theatre right in the middle of a hospital, but it made more sense when Mr. Rogers explained that it is the operating room or surgical theatre.
Mr. Rogers is the “mr. fix-it” of the group and I think he may be a sort of electrical engineer, he fixes computers and made lamps (yes, made as in created) for the hospital that are battery-powered and rechargeable for the hospital during blackouts. He also has put together solar-powered lights in each of the wards and he and his son put in new water towers for the hospital just recently. He does a lot. Each person in that group are very specialized in one field, I know at least a couple are professors, doctors, I already mentioned this, etc. Anyways, tonight Mr. Rogers was checking the solar-powered lights and he offered to give me a tour, so we got to walk through all the wards and see some of the patients as we were passing through and he showed me some of the other rooms that were not in use for the evenings. One of his projects for the week is to fix an x-ray machine, the only one, that was made in 1972...and it’s German-made, so all of the manuals are in...you guessed it, German. Quite a task.
Not only will the patients have to walk for miles to get here, but they also have to bring someone to help them cook and take care of themselves. The hospital provides the beds (when they can) and the medical care. At first this may not seem right, and in extreme malnourishment cases or other special reasons, the hospital will provide food, but imagine if the hospital provided meals for all of its patients, how much extra money and staff that would cost with the little resources they already have. The hospital provides an outdoor cooking area and shelter for the “go-gos” as the patient caregivers are called. So that is one thing that is different, besides the x-ray machine from 1972.
In one room in the maternity ward, there are women literally back-to-back in a small space. These are expectant mothers who have come to stay at the hospital because they are having high-risk pregnancies and cannot make the long trek to the hospital when it gets closer to their due date. Back-to-back expecting women trying to sleep, literally no room, I can’t imagine falling asleep on the floor (no beds) surrounded by 30 other people (at least) so close together and with crying babies in the other room... In some hospitals in Malawi, the nurses are mean, they shout at the patients or expecting mothers, and do not allow any family to come near the mother while she is giving birth. It is a very unpleasant experience and in Malawian culture the family is always present at a baby’s birth, so many mothers choose not come to hospitals and instead stay home and give birth using untrained midwives and in unsanitary conditions. Usually having a baby is supposed to be a very joyous occasion, already painful enough, so why would you want to have someone shouting at you and keeping your family away? Not a very good way to encourage people to come to the hospital to get treatment...but it actually does happen in some hospitals.
Squashed:
1. Gigantic Ant
2. Spider
3. Several unknown beetle-like creatures
4. Several small ants
One of the gentlemen, Mr. Roger Rogers, from the other group staying at the guest house was kind enough to give me a tour of the mission hospital tonight (Wednesday, May 27th). It was founded by the Presbyterians a while ago and is the only hospital in this region; people will walk for miles to come to this hospital. There is a women’s, men’s, maternity, and pediatric ward, as well as a dental, casualty (minor injury) ward and surgical theatre. The operating room is labeled the “theatre.” At first I thought it was strange that they would have a theatre right in the middle of a hospital, but it made more sense when Mr. Rogers explained that it is the operating room or surgical theatre.
Mr. Rogers is the “mr. fix-it” of the group and I think he may be a sort of electrical engineer, he fixes computers and made lamps (yes, made as in created) for the hospital that are battery-powered and rechargeable for the hospital during blackouts. He also has put together solar-powered lights in each of the wards and he and his son put in new water towers for the hospital just recently. He does a lot. Each person in that group are very specialized in one field, I know at least a couple are professors, doctors, I already mentioned this, etc. Anyways, tonight Mr. Rogers was checking the solar-powered lights and he offered to give me a tour, so we got to walk through all the wards and see some of the patients as we were passing through and he showed me some of the other rooms that were not in use for the evenings. One of his projects for the week is to fix an x-ray machine, the only one, that was made in 1972...and it’s German-made, so all of the manuals are in...you guessed it, German. Quite a task.
Not only will the patients have to walk for miles to get here, but they also have to bring someone to help them cook and take care of themselves. The hospital provides the beds (when they can) and the medical care. At first this may not seem right, and in extreme malnourishment cases or other special reasons, the hospital will provide food, but imagine if the hospital provided meals for all of its patients, how much extra money and staff that would cost with the little resources they already have. The hospital provides an outdoor cooking area and shelter for the “go-gos” as the patient caregivers are called. So that is one thing that is different, besides the x-ray machine from 1972.
In one room in the maternity ward, there are women literally back-to-back in a small space. These are expectant mothers who have come to stay at the hospital because they are having high-risk pregnancies and cannot make the long trek to the hospital when it gets closer to their due date. Back-to-back expecting women trying to sleep, literally no room, I can’t imagine falling asleep on the floor (no beds) surrounded by 30 other people (at least) so close together and with crying babies in the other room... In some hospitals in Malawi, the nurses are mean, they shout at the patients or expecting mothers, and do not allow any family to come near the mother while she is giving birth. It is a very unpleasant experience and in Malawian culture the family is always present at a baby’s birth, so many mothers choose not come to hospitals and instead stay home and give birth using untrained midwives and in unsanitary conditions. Usually having a baby is supposed to be a very joyous occasion, already painful enough, so why would you want to have someone shouting at you and keeping your family away? Not a very good way to encourage people to come to the hospital to get treatment...but it actually does happen in some hospitals.
Bob Marley and Failed Lesson Plans
Right now (Wednesday, May 27th at 2:00pm) I am sitting in the World Relief office in Mzimba listening to Bob Marley singing “It’s going to be a bright, bright sun shiny day.” The WR office here has about 6 rooms, two are offices, one is the main entrance which is used to store the motorbikes, and the other two are storage rooms, with a room with benches around the walls used as a common room. That is where I am right now, thinking of ways to keep my self busy and ideas of how to teach 2 to 5 year olds at the same time how to understand letters and numbers. The kids that I met this morning can recite the alphabet and numbers (1-20) almost perfectly (it gets a bit hazy in the MNOP’s and 14,15,16,17’s), but they do not recognize the letter or number symbols when they see them, so that is what I am thinking of – fun activities to teach them letters and numbers with limited amounts of papers and no writing utensils (is that the right word?) for the kids. Today, after one day of observing the classrooms, which are held in church buildings, I presented a lesson plan in front of a class of about 50 kids and their two caregivers. Yeah, didn’t go so well... 2 year olds are at a way different place than 5 year olds. When the caregivers go through training in July, they will be told to divide the children into age groups, which I think will be really helpful... Not only do the kids not recognize the symbols for 1,2,3... they can’t really count yet, meaning when they see three objects they haven’t really gained the knowledge to be able to count them. We did an activity where you count the raindrops in a cloud, and it took long enough to get the point across about what we were doing much less how long it took them to figure out how to count...lol. I think they spent too much time staring at the “muzungu” to be able to think about the numbers, as is often the case when a white person talks : ) Yesterday I made two kids cry because they had never seen a white person before, they wouldn’t come in the building where I was, so far I think I have done more to inhibit learning than enhance it haha. I was forewarned about the crying thing, so it was ok. :)
When it came to the letter part of the lesson plan, I discovered quickly how difficult it was to teach the alphabet from one language to the next because words that begin with A in English do not start with A in Tumbuka, so it is hard for me to find examples or ways to connect the alphabet with something concrete. I am thinking of leaving the alphabet to the caregivers and asking to do shapes and colors, I have oodles of activities for those topics. So many lessons learned today...I think Owen, the child development staff member in Mzimba realized today I am learning as I go, I think he figured that out pretty quick by the disaster that was this morning. A positive thing about this morning would be that we got a couple games in and the caregivers were thankful for that, they only had a couple so they said they could really use the ones that we did today. Also, I found it easier to give ideas to the caregivers so that they could then implement the different strategies in their classroom, as they know the kids better. As Owen pointed out, one of the struggles the child centers face is that there will be, in this case, 63 kids and 2 caregivers. In a center I heard them talk about yesterday there were 200 kids (aged 2-5 remember) and 4 caregivers. In the US there are, what, 20 children per caregiver, if that? 20 versus 50 children is a lot when you are talking about a bunch of children who cry, don’t pay attention, and like to run around. Yeah.... . Tomorrow, after we go to the other center and speak to the caregivers and ask how much their students know the alphabet and numbers, I will be able to hone my lesson plan and plan better for when I present on Friday. Today, I need to rewrite my blurb for the caregivers about interactive learning.
Last night, instead of going over my lesson plan for the zillionth time, I went to sleep right after dinner. This means about 7:30pm, I don’t think I’ve gone to bed that early since...I have no idea. Maybe because I am not sleeping through the whole night yet, I swear there was a large animal outside last night making the weirdest noise (it ended up being a crane, there are LOTS here and VERY LOUD). I woke up to this weird clunk on the roof and listened to noises for the next hour...no, I didn’t get up to check, too tired and too worried about bugs to dare venture out from my net-covered bed.
There is another group here, one with children, who I haven’t met yet. The other group I think as kind of adopted me as an extended member of their group, which I don’t mind, they’re pretty nice and have helped me get adjusted pretty well. After my failed lesson plans they share their stories and let me know that it’s not just me...there are always challenges when you are teaching in a foreign country...like the fact that they want to stare at you (the “muzungu”) more than the lesson plan you are teaching : )
When it came to the letter part of the lesson plan, I discovered quickly how difficult it was to teach the alphabet from one language to the next because words that begin with A in English do not start with A in Tumbuka, so it is hard for me to find examples or ways to connect the alphabet with something concrete. I am thinking of leaving the alphabet to the caregivers and asking to do shapes and colors, I have oodles of activities for those topics. So many lessons learned today...I think Owen, the child development staff member in Mzimba realized today I am learning as I go, I think he figured that out pretty quick by the disaster that was this morning. A positive thing about this morning would be that we got a couple games in and the caregivers were thankful for that, they only had a couple so they said they could really use the ones that we did today. Also, I found it easier to give ideas to the caregivers so that they could then implement the different strategies in their classroom, as they know the kids better. As Owen pointed out, one of the struggles the child centers face is that there will be, in this case, 63 kids and 2 caregivers. In a center I heard them talk about yesterday there were 200 kids (aged 2-5 remember) and 4 caregivers. In the US there are, what, 20 children per caregiver, if that? 20 versus 50 children is a lot when you are talking about a bunch of children who cry, don’t pay attention, and like to run around. Yeah.... . Tomorrow, after we go to the other center and speak to the caregivers and ask how much their students know the alphabet and numbers, I will be able to hone my lesson plan and plan better for when I present on Friday. Today, I need to rewrite my blurb for the caregivers about interactive learning.
Last night, instead of going over my lesson plan for the zillionth time, I went to sleep right after dinner. This means about 7:30pm, I don’t think I’ve gone to bed that early since...I have no idea. Maybe because I am not sleeping through the whole night yet, I swear there was a large animal outside last night making the weirdest noise (it ended up being a crane, there are LOTS here and VERY LOUD). I woke up to this weird clunk on the roof and listened to noises for the next hour...no, I didn’t get up to check, too tired and too worried about bugs to dare venture out from my net-covered bed.
There is another group here, one with children, who I haven’t met yet. The other group I think as kind of adopted me as an extended member of their group, which I don’t mind, they’re pretty nice and have helped me get adjusted pretty well. After my failed lesson plans they share their stories and let me know that it’s not just me...there are always challenges when you are teaching in a foreign country...like the fact that they want to stare at you (the “muzungu”) more than the lesson plan you are teaching : )
May 21st? Something like that...
I made it to Mzimba! After what seemed like the longest dirt road ever...you think I am exaggerating but this was no one lane small road, this was a dirt road, like York Road in MD or maybe one side of Poinsett in SC, minus all the cars, but made of dirt. Seriously, when a truck went by, plumes of dust or clouds of dust enveloped our car, which was a nisson pickup I think, not to mention the ones we left behind us. Driving up (north of Lilongwe) the three hours, we passed lots of small villages and lots of mountains. In Malawi its pretty flat or with only small hills and then there are big mountains, there is lots of brush, or grasses with small trees, multiple corn fields, and lots of cows. What? Cows and corn fields? No I am not talking about the Hereford Zone. Yes, there is a lot of corn and a lot of cows in Mzimba. Foster, who drove me up to Embangwane, explained that in the north, when someone wants to propose marriage, many times the husband to-be has to offer money to the wife-to-be’s family. However, if they don’t have the cash, they can give cows.... So there are many cows. But they don’t look like the ones in Hereford or the US, they have long horns. I meant to take more pictures, but we were driving kinda fast, so many of them were blurred. How much is 110 km/h in mph? Anyone? I will check. If it isn’t that fast, it seemed fast. The only time there was a posted speed limit was when we were passing through a town/village and then it was 50 k/h. I am going to have to learn the conversion rate for this and the conversion rate for temperature, too, it was 13 degrees Celsius this morning...
My welcoming to Embangwane were cries of “Uzungu!” from the children walking by the road. I expected it; in fact “uzungu” was the first word I really memorized. Uzungu = white person. However, I did not expect how LOUD they would scream it, haha. Then we went to the WR office in Em. and met the staff, who seem nice. Now, both offices I have visited in Malawi have a map of New Zealand in their office. When I asked Foster why this was, he said he didn’t know...so any guesses? Maybe because it is of similar size or shape to Malawi? I don’t know...But I like New Zealand, maybe I should go there next? Hmmm... I will find out. (turns out tearfund nz is a major donor to WR Mzimba)
So I am staying at a guest house, I forget the name, but it is not too far from the WR office. Ok, we are going to break down some expectations/misperceptions here, bear with me. #1 – when I heard you will be working out in the field, I pictured “the field,” you know (or maybe not), the middle of no where, not always running water, not always electricity...lol. ok, so maybe stupid, but whatever. Then (#2), I heard I will be staying at a guest house that is used as a retreat house for people traveling to Malawi for mission trips and such, people clean your room, always running water, and always electricity (which is true). My mind goes in the far opposite direction... very nice, like almost posh, because, hey, people coming from the US for retreats in Africa, they like tip-top conditions, right? *I am telling you this all in good humor, I am making fun of myself, too, maybe exaggerating....a little, but be nice, ok?* haha I was forgetting that usually when I have gone on retreats (as an American in America), it was not like the hotel I for some reason saw in my head. Hehe. So now I have settled into a place, with a very nice room, that is somewhere in the middle, maybe. Everything in real life is completely different than how you picture it in your head for the most part, it’s hard to see what you haven’t seen yet! This is all new to me : )
Ok, so now, here’s how to picture it. And if you don’t care, I’m just saying this is where I will be staying for the next couple months and it isn’t really important, but if you’re bored or do care...keep reading. At this point I am feeling like I am talking to myself...I will keep describing the guest house now.
I would liken it to going on a retreat and staying somewhere like River Valley Ranch for all the Marylanders and Asbury Hills for you in or around SC. But subtract the bunk beds and add mosquito nets. :) And I have my own room and bathroom.
The retreat house was built by the Presbyterians originally I think, but now as I said it is used for mission trips or retreats for “my friends” as Foster puts it, aka white people. Yes, I am pretty sure, 90%, that almost all the guests here are my white friends from the US (Virginia actually, and Presbyterian). To be fair, they are all on the same mission trip and have been here for a while and come back every year and are very nice people. At first I wasn’t sure how it would be to stay in the guest house, but I think it will be nice to talk to them and hear what they have to say, especially since they have been in the area longer than I have. The group works mostly in the hospital and schools nearby doing various projects. Many of them are experienced doctors, among them a neurologist, and a pediatrician, and engineers and such. I ate dinner and had devotions with them this evening and it was nice to be able to relax and do something other than stay in my room. I was worried about being bored after the day ends at WR, but now at least I know I will have company at dinner.
Tomorrow is my first day at World Relief in Mzimba, so I will be finding out more about what I will be doing exactly for the next few days and in the following weeks. Haha, this morning I didn’t even know who I was driving to Malawi with or when we were leaving... That kinda drove me crazy. I am learning to go with the flow and be relaxed about times and planning, or I am trying, kinda sorta...maybe. I will have to because apparently on Sunday, someone said church started 2 hours late...yeah that late and its not worth the anxiety about being on time for anything... not that that means I won’t show up for work on time, of course.
By the way, there are a lot of bugs in Africa, just saying. I would squash the ones in the corner of my room now, but more will probably just come back tomorrow so I am leaving them there for now. No worries, they are hopefully too far away from me to crawl on me (mosquito net protection) or hide in my suitcase...but ya never know. Not that there aren’t a lot of bugs in the US, but I am not in the US now, so therefore I am saying there are a lot of bugs here, where I am in Africa. And it is late (about 8:30pm), the sun has been set for about 3 hours, I think I am calling it a night. : )
My welcoming to Embangwane were cries of “Uzungu!” from the children walking by the road. I expected it; in fact “uzungu” was the first word I really memorized. Uzungu = white person. However, I did not expect how LOUD they would scream it, haha. Then we went to the WR office in Em. and met the staff, who seem nice. Now, both offices I have visited in Malawi have a map of New Zealand in their office. When I asked Foster why this was, he said he didn’t know...so any guesses? Maybe because it is of similar size or shape to Malawi? I don’t know...But I like New Zealand, maybe I should go there next? Hmmm... I will find out. (turns out tearfund nz is a major donor to WR Mzimba)
So I am staying at a guest house, I forget the name, but it is not too far from the WR office. Ok, we are going to break down some expectations/misperceptions here, bear with me. #1 – when I heard you will be working out in the field, I pictured “the field,” you know (or maybe not), the middle of no where, not always running water, not always electricity...lol. ok, so maybe stupid, but whatever. Then (#2), I heard I will be staying at a guest house that is used as a retreat house for people traveling to Malawi for mission trips and such, people clean your room, always running water, and always electricity (which is true). My mind goes in the far opposite direction... very nice, like almost posh, because, hey, people coming from the US for retreats in Africa, they like tip-top conditions, right? *I am telling you this all in good humor, I am making fun of myself, too, maybe exaggerating....a little, but be nice, ok?* haha I was forgetting that usually when I have gone on retreats (as an American in America), it was not like the hotel I for some reason saw in my head. Hehe. So now I have settled into a place, with a very nice room, that is somewhere in the middle, maybe. Everything in real life is completely different than how you picture it in your head for the most part, it’s hard to see what you haven’t seen yet! This is all new to me : )
Ok, so now, here’s how to picture it. And if you don’t care, I’m just saying this is where I will be staying for the next couple months and it isn’t really important, but if you’re bored or do care...keep reading. At this point I am feeling like I am talking to myself...I will keep describing the guest house now.
I would liken it to going on a retreat and staying somewhere like River Valley Ranch for all the Marylanders and Asbury Hills for you in or around SC. But subtract the bunk beds and add mosquito nets. :) And I have my own room and bathroom.
The retreat house was built by the Presbyterians originally I think, but now as I said it is used for mission trips or retreats for “my friends” as Foster puts it, aka white people. Yes, I am pretty sure, 90%, that almost all the guests here are my white friends from the US (Virginia actually, and Presbyterian). To be fair, they are all on the same mission trip and have been here for a while and come back every year and are very nice people. At first I wasn’t sure how it would be to stay in the guest house, but I think it will be nice to talk to them and hear what they have to say, especially since they have been in the area longer than I have. The group works mostly in the hospital and schools nearby doing various projects. Many of them are experienced doctors, among them a neurologist, and a pediatrician, and engineers and such. I ate dinner and had devotions with them this evening and it was nice to be able to relax and do something other than stay in my room. I was worried about being bored after the day ends at WR, but now at least I know I will have company at dinner.
Tomorrow is my first day at World Relief in Mzimba, so I will be finding out more about what I will be doing exactly for the next few days and in the following weeks. Haha, this morning I didn’t even know who I was driving to Malawi with or when we were leaving... That kinda drove me crazy. I am learning to go with the flow and be relaxed about times and planning, or I am trying, kinda sorta...maybe. I will have to because apparently on Sunday, someone said church started 2 hours late...yeah that late and its not worth the anxiety about being on time for anything... not that that means I won’t show up for work on time, of course.
By the way, there are a lot of bugs in Africa, just saying. I would squash the ones in the corner of my room now, but more will probably just come back tomorrow so I am leaving them there for now. No worries, they are hopefully too far away from me to crawl on me (mosquito net protection) or hide in my suitcase...but ya never know. Not that there aren’t a lot of bugs in the US, but I am not in the US now, so therefore I am saying there are a lot of bugs here, where I am in Africa. And it is late (about 8:30pm), the sun has been set for about 3 hours, I think I am calling it a night. : )
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