Thank You Malawi

17, 18 July 2009 (Friday)—Goodbye Malawi, and Thank You

Well it has finally come to the point where we leave Malawi. The time creeps up on you so fast. I never thought my time in this wonderful country would ever end—but like most enjoyable activities, the time goes by exponentially quick. 99 percent of the Malawians I met were wonderful and friendly people. They are happy with their life and enjoy what they do each day—no matter what it is. To live in such a warm, friendly environment for a month has been a blessing.

We arrived to the airport around 11am…our flight was scheduled to leave around 1pm. Check in took a good while and when we finally did, we found out the plane would not arrive until 230pm. So we waited around for a bit, played cards, got free drinks from the airport, etc. Our plane arrived around 230pm and we probably left Malawi around 3pm. Our flight was from Lilongwe, Malawi—Zambia—Addis Ababa, Ethiopia—Rome, Italy for refueling—Washington, D.C.

The flight to Zambia was supposed to take a little over an hour but it took two hours. We circled over the Zambia airport for more than half an hour because the King of Swasiland was landing at the airport and he needed his space I suppose. I think James found out in Ethiopia from one of the pilots that we about ran out of fuel circling the airport (and waiting on the King of Swasiland). Our connecting plane in Ethiopia waited over an hour for us to get to the airport and onto the plane…which was very nice. It would be cool staying overnight in Ethiopia but I kind of wanted to get home as quickly as possible. I sat next to James on the flight from Ethiopia to Rome. I feel asleep through some of the flight because it was over night. I sat next to Jeff and Kacie from Rome to D.C. I was awake most of this flight…it went by quicker than I thought it did. There were a lot of laughs and good times throughout this flight. Landing in D.C. was surreal…it felt like it would take a week to get there.

I accidentally left my passport on the plane—so I was unable to go through customs for about 30 minutes…which was not that bad because most still had not gotten there bags by the time I got my passport and cleared through customs. Seeing my parents when I walked through the gate finally let me know that I was home. I was very glad to see them…although I was very exhausted. My first meal in the States was at Chick-fil-A…it was good…but even being in the restaurant was weird—everything seemed to move so much faster.

I will miss Malawi—every single bit of it. I can only hope that I provide myself with the opportunity to go back in the near future. I recommend this study abroad trip to anybody—it was truly a life-impacting experience. I will never forget the 17 people that traveled with me…as well as the many people I met while in Malawi. Thank you all for being who you are on this trip. And to Dr. Kelly, I will always be grateful and thankful for the experience you allowed me to have. Take care.



16 July 2009 (Thursday)—Back to Lilongwe

We left Club Mak around 9am unfortunately and made our way back to Lilongwe. We stopped at a city called Mua Misson on our journey. There we had a guided tour of a local museum by a man named Robert. He was very well-spoken and knowledgeable. The museum had rooms that described the three tribes of Malawi—the Ngoni, Cewa, and Yao tribes. There was also a room dedicated to the spread of Christianity in Malawi. The museum was breathtaking—but we were not allowed to take pictures. They displays were very ornate and colorful.

After the museum we headed to Lilongwe and the Budget Lodge. It took around 2 hours to do so. Upon arrival we unloaded the bus and scoped out town for about an hour before eating pizza at Alibaba. Several of us bought off-brand Malawi soccer jerseys for 1000 kwacha ($6.00). Afterwards we all had pizza at Alibaba…I was out of money…so I got leftover slices of pizza from about 6 people—and had one of my favorite tasting meals while in Malawi…and for free. We all went to bed fairly early…knowing that we would be on a plane for 24 hours come tomorrow afternoon.



15 July 2009 (Wednesday)—Club Makokola aka Club Mak

We left Annie’s for good at 830am in the morning. Annie was there to send us off…with several employees that we had all grown to love…Ronald, Cameron, Noel, etc. We made a brief stop in Mangochi to see a former student of Dr. Kelly’s—Ndalapa. He gave us a guided tour of his house while explaining a lot about Malawi’s culture and problems. It was very informative and good to hear.

After a little driving we arrived at Club Mak…a beautiful, upscale resort on Lake Malawi. For some reason they did not have Jeff and my room ready…which was not a problem at all for us. We headed to the bar and had a drink while we waited for our lunch to be prepared. The bar, restaurant, pool, and large sitting areas are all within a stone’s throw of the beach. There are many beach chairs and palms trees dispersed all over the beach. It truly is an upscale resort. Everybody took the daytime to relax while sitting out in the sun and enjoying the views…and pool. We were all told that you have a good chance of getting a deadly parasite if you go in the lake water…so we refrained from doing so. We were all in paradise.

We were treated to a wonderful dinner buffet that consisted of many of the foods we had experience while in Malawi. I remember the chicken legs being extremely good—they had an incredible sauce on them. After dinner there were acrobats that performed for us. There were 4 guys who did various stunts that you might expect any type of acrobat to do. After them, a seemingly local group of 20 or so people sang songs while a few fellows played the hand drums. It was a typical Malawian night of entertainment. There were also tons of visible stars in the sky this night…it was breathtaking.



14 July 2009 (Tuesday)—Farewell Friends

Today marked the last day of school for all of us…a very sad day indeed. The morning began with a ceremony at our (Domasi Government) school. It was a very formal ceremony that almost the school’s entire faculty attended. They thanked us for our help and we thanked them for allowing us to teach at such a special place. I told them that this school was the warm heart of Malawi…which it really is. We had some food while the faculty sang us songs. At the end, the school also presented us with outfits. The girls all received dresses and I received a shirt and shorts out of the same material. They looked great and it was extremely thoughtful of the staff to arrange this for all of us…including Dr. Kelly.

After the ceremony Macdonald presented DeAnna with another outfit that we arranged for us. It was a different pattern and it is very nice. He had us try them on and they looked great. He also took pictures of DeAnna and I with each student on his own camera. It was very difficult saying goodbye to the kids. I felt like each students gained from the experience as much as we gained from them. It was a mutual teaching lesson between teacher and student. More important though, were the relationships that were built with each student in the classroom. I felt horrible having to leave them—it will always be one of the hardest things I have ever done. After a month you really feel a sense of belonging in the classroom…the students responded so well to us and us to them.

After class we had to wait around MIE until 530pm because we were having a dinner for all teachers of the three schools. It was a wonderful sight seeing teachers show up for the dinner on the MIE campus. Macdonald of course came with his wife and his camera…he took pictures probably half of the time he was there…he really loves cameras. Each student was introduced and each teacher from all schools was also introduced. Our professors said a few words about the whole experience and then we all ate. It was a wonderful sight…the whole night. Students and teachers were everywhere taking pictures, eating, laughing, meeting new friends, etc. Much like the students, it was very difficult to say goodbye to Macdonald. He was the most accommodating teacher I have ever met. From day one he had a smile on his face and an open heart…he let us do what we wanted to do…and assisted us all the way through. He is a very genuine and likable person that really enjoys teaching. He will forever be in my heart and forever be a great influence on whosever path he crosses.

Upon returning to Annie’s we found out that we were locked out. I had forgotten to give the key to the cleaning lady when I left in the morning…yet I had locked the door. After about 30 minutes of waiting for the spare key…Jeff and I got impatient. Jeff, therefore, worked a little magic on the door…and magically it opened without us having the key…it was a funny moment. Then we packed all of our stuff into our suitcases…because we had not thought to do this yet…all the while KZEE entertained us with conversation. I think I laughed the most during that hour of packing that I did any other hour this trip. KZEE is absolutely hilarious and did not want us to leave. He provided us with entertainment while we packed. KZEE was another person it was hard to say goodbye to…but hopefully he will come to the States and he will be seen again.



13 July 2009 (Monday)—A visit to Macdonald’s house

Today DeAnna and I got to help hand out blankets at Malemia. DeAnna’s church (I think) gave her money to do some sort of service project while she was in Malawi. She ended up buying and getting tailored 300 blanket ponchos for the Standard 1 and 2 children at Malemia Primary School. So today, we handed them out with the other Radford students at Malemia. It was fun seeing the kids embrace the blankets…a neat sight it was. We walked from Malemia back to our school—Domasi Government School—which ends up taking a little less than 30 minutes. It is a downhill walk…so it is not bad at all. On our way to the school we ended up walking with hundreds of Malawians who were going to vote near our school. The DPP party was holding a primary election for its candidate for MP of the area. The former MP of the area is now currently the Vice President of Malawi…her name is Joyce Banda. It was an incredible sight once we got close to the voting location…there were hundreds of people going wild and chanting and what not. Tens of people would be in the back of big cars going wild…a very neat sight.
We got to school a lot later than usual because of the blanket mission. The only thing we were able to do was hand out the kid’s pictures on construction paper…then they were able to write in pen the answers to the 7 questions we had them answer on Friday. The end product looked great…imagine a piece of construction paper folded in half long-ways…the top of it had a picture of the students pasted to it…the bottom had their mini biographies on it. It was awesome seeing the kids be proud and excited of their finished work.

After school Macdonald had DeAnna and I over to his house. We presented Macdonald and his wife with our gifts when we arrived. Macdonald’s wife is a teacher in Standard 2 at Domasi Demonstration School. Their house is very nice and has great decorations. We had eggs, fries, nuts, sodas, and bananas…it was a great afternoon snack that was much needed. We also felt very honored that Macdonald’s wife took the time to prepare all this food for us. They have a wonderful family that also consists of 6 children.

Back at the lodge we were all excited about having a mini celebration for Annie. Jeff and I hooked up the room of the party with a few dozen primary colored balloons. It actually looked halfway decent and many gave us compliments. People even went so far as to say we could be party decorators…but I think they were just joking. We also all signed a very big card for Annie that we taped to the wall. Additionally, she had several other cards that people had made for her.

When Annie arrived her face lit up with happiness…I do not think she was expecting such festivities. We had also ordered a cake for her. When we all sat down most of us students stood up and said what an impact Annie had on us…from her hospitality and friendliness to the inspiration and hope she stands for…it was a very touching time. Afterwards, she stood up and could barely speak—rare for her. I really think she appreciated not just what we did for her that night, but the kind of respectful guests that we had been this whole trip. You can tell she truly enjoys us staying at her lodge.



12 July 2009 (Sunday)—The Heady Park

A few of us went to the church we went to a couple Sundays ago. It was another great experience. Some of the people that went had to go up (like we did the other week) an introduce themselves…it was fun seeing them from the congregation. The rest of the service was like the other one I attended. This time the sermon was on how God appreciates the little things we do…and how the little things are some of the most important things.

A little while after church Jeff, Carla, Beth and I went to this park that was right across the street from Annie’s Lodge. The park was unbelievable. It had ponds, stone structures, bridges, insane vegetation, a mini waterfall, and crazy rock formations of all sizes. Words can not put into context the awesomeness of the park. We also had a mini picnic with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches…it was funny. After the park I headed into town to buy some oranges/tangerines for Macdonald when DeAnna and I would visit his house on Monday afternoon. At night we had another buffet at Annie’s…which would be our last buffet there. It was delicious as always.



11 July 2009 (Saturday)—Globe

We woke up early in order to go visit an orphanage of Peter’s…but the rainy conditions prevented us from going in the morning (the road leading into the orphanage would have been very, very treacherous when wet). So, instead Jeff and I headed into town. When in town we both bought wood carved globes from the vendors at The Wall. There were one of the most prized wood carved commodities at The Wall…and it was the most expensive thing I bought ($18 plus some clothes) but definitely worth it.

We all left to go to the orphanage at 1pm…by this time the road had dried up. It was a very respectful and honored place. The people there were very thankful for even our presence. We were treated to sodas and bread at the leader of the orphanage’s house. Then we played with the children and presented the leader with the gifts we brought. Pictures were also taken with the group.

The rest of the day consisted of relaxing at the lodge.



10 July 2009 (Friday)—Patterns

Today in class I did a lesson on pattern. I began the lesson with introducing the concept of a pattern with examples on the board. Like 2, 4, 6, 8…or patterns out of figures that used x’s, o’s, and shapes. Then I gave each group anywhere from 50-100 bottle caps that a worker at Annie’s Lodge collected for me. I instructed each group to make different patterns out of the colors on the bottle caps…but make the patterns with the bottle caps. I would change the requirements on the pattern…sometimes forcing students to use 3 different colors…sometimes forcing them to use 4 different colors and not just in a 1,2,3,4 way but like 11,2,33,4,11,2,…you get the picture. It was a lot of fun and the kids loved being able to use a hands on manipulative like a bottle cap. All in all, the lesson went very well. At the end I had them answer harder questions on patterns on their own pencil and paper…from my examples on the board.

DeAnna’s lesson in English related to the pictures of the kids that we took. We will paste the pictures of each kid to a piece of construction paper and then have them write a modified autobiography. The biography will consist of 7 questions about each kid. ‘How many brothers and sisters do you have…What do you parents do…What do you do for fun’ are a few examples of the questions DeAnna posed to each kid. Today, she had the kids write down their responses in their notebooks…this way we will be able to correct the grammar of each kid’s responses if necessary. Our lessons in Math and English took the whole 3 hours today…therefore, no P.E. was performed.

Since it was Friday night, Brian and Peter decided to throw us another party. It was very similar to the other party they threw us…except this time, Brian’s recently befriended friend named D’lynn came. She is in Malawi working for the Peace Corp and a very nice person. It was very fun talking to her later that night. I was also able to meet a guy named Johnny who is in charge of a bicycle program called Africycle. His company is based in Canada and deals with shipping bikes to Malawi as the company name might suggest. He was another very interesting person to meet. It was a great night and good end to the eventful week.



09 July 2009 (Thursday)—H.E.L.P. Malawi

The morning walking safari was not that eventful. I saw a few flowers and trees that I did not see as closely on the vehicle safari…but that was about it. We were then treated to a buffet breakfast that was very good. All of the food at Camp Mvuu was excellent. Then we went on another 2.5 hour boat safari which was very similar to the first day boat safari. We saw almost all of the creatures that we had seen the day before…including a gargantuan crocodile that was very very close to our boat.

After leaving Camp Mvuu we stopped at a local school that was a by-product of the H.E.L.P. (Hope, Educate, Love, Protect) Malawi program. Here is a link to the website: http://www.helpchildren.org/. The school and what it does is simply amazing. The resources and buildings and classrooms and everything about the school are very nice in comparison to other schools in Malawi. One of the primary leaders of the school and the direction it travels in is named Matt. He went to college in Madison, Wisconsin and graduated and had been in Malawi at this school outside Camp Mvuu for about 11 months. He gave us a tour of the school and explained many of its practices. The school is what you would refer to as a sustainable school. When I say sustainable I mean in all types of areas. Environmentally sustainable, economically sustainable, etc. The school acts like a vocational school…students learn to make crafts (that the school sells), sustainable agriculture is taught (mainly the idea of permaculture), beehives are harvested in order to sell honey…and the students all have a part in doing so. What this school is doing is what our teachers have been teaching us about what real help actually looks like in Malawi. The school is sustainable and the help that was brought in has been sustainable…sustainable help leading towards a sustainable school…leading towards a sustainable village…the possibilities are endless.

On the way back to Zomba we made a stop in Lilondwe…the wood-carving capitol of Malawi. I was able to get a couple bowls, key chains, and mother holding her son woodcarving. This was a funny place because when we threatened to leave by getting on the bus and starting the engine…the vendors start coming up to the bus windows and giving really good deals. There was a vendor (or two, or three) shoving their items in each of the 16-20 windows on the bus. It was an insane sight. After stopping in Lilondwe, we stopped on the side of the road at a king chair making/selling location. There were about 10 huts that were selling king chairs. I got a king chair that was very well crafter for 1000 kwacha ($6.00) which was a fair deal. The wood it is made out of has a red-brown tint that gives it a nice look.

Finally around 5pm we got home…to Annie Lodge. I believe everybody was relieved to get back into the comfort of their room and the lodge itself…I certainly was. I had ramen noodles for dinner and watched a little bit of Almost Famous before falling asleep before 10pm. It had been a long day.



08 July 2009 (Wednesday)—Hippo Camp

We left the lodge for Mvuu Camp around 8am. I was unable to sleep on the way—presumably because of the anticipation of going on a safari. We arrived at Mvuu around 10am and got our first small (but big) taste of a safari. On a side note, while waiting around the dock for the boats a bird or birds slightly used the bathroom on my backpack…kind of funny. These birds, however, use the bathroom seemingly every minute—it is crazy. We went on a river safari—2 boats with 8 or 9 of us in each. Each boat cruised down the river and then back up for about 1.5 or 2 hours. We saw hippos, crocodiles, waterbuck, impala, birds, warthogs and the list goes on…but these were the most memorable. After 5 minutes on the boat you begin to see why the place is called Hippo Camp…Mvuu = Hippo in Chichewa. There are dozens of hippos in little hippo pods everywhere. The hippos and the crocodiles, in my opinion, were the two most impressive animals we saw on the river safari. We were several yards away from 30-40 foot crocodiles…it was scary at times.

After the river safari we were treated to a very tasty lunch (provided by the hotel/camp). I had beef mixed with lasagna that was excellent. They also had some of the best bread any of us had seen in Malawi…many were thrilled. After lunch, we went to our cabanas. They were very nice and were screen in to prevent the myriad of monkeys from entering our room. Several minutes after settling in I saw my first African elephant across the river near our room. In the past elephants and hippos have roamed free around the guest cabanas—but such was not the case this year.

The land safari in the Land Rover vehicles took place after an hour or so of down time. Again two vehicles, 8/9 people in each. The first land safari took place while the sun was still up and last for 2.5 hours. On this safari we saw one elephant, waterbuck, impala, warthogs, all types of birds, and several other types of 4-legged animals that were horned. My favorite part of the safari was seeing an elephant for about a minute. We were approximately 30 yards away from the elephant and when we arrived it started stomping and kicking up dirt. After that it retreated behind some brush to join what looked like a small family of elephants. It was a short experience, but incredibly awesome…an elephant was the one animal I really wanted to see before arriving at Camp Mvuu. At the end of the 2.5 hour ride, we met up with the other group and had a pre-ordered drink and chips for about half an hour. It was a good time to rest and see the remnants of the sun setting on the surrounding mountains.

Then, we went back to the lodging part of the camp while doing a 1 hour night safari. Our guide was driving the car and scanning the land with a powerful flashlight. We mainly saw the same creatures we had seen earlier in the day…with the exception of some night-time rodents.
Upon arriving back to the camp we (and all other guests) we treated to a magnificent dinner. There were 4 large groups at Camp Mvuu that night and all had a long table to eat dinner at. When we got to the dinner place, which was outside, there was a bonfire, hand drummers, and dancers. It was a great atmosphere that everybody seemed to enjoy. The fire also helped because it had gotten a little chilly at night. The hand-drummers played until dinner was served. Dinner consisted of tomato soup, followed by a buffet of chicken/beef/pork/rice/hot vegetables/bread/etc…it was delicious. We also had a really good desert cake that tasted very rich. After dinner Jeff, Carla, and I stayed with the other Camp Mvuu guests to witness some of the most insane dancing I saw in Malawi. The drummers started playing and different people in traditional dancing costumes would come out of the bush and start dancing around the fire. The servers and bartender would then start dancing around the fire…it was a very neat experience. As KZEE would say, they were making noise. After a long day it was finally time to go to bed…the early morning walking safari started around 6am.



07 July 2009 (Tuesday)—Finally Back Teaching

DeAnna started off by teaching a lesson in English. She had the children split into groups and read different parts from the book that we read the school day before…”The Five Chinese Brothers.” They also had to record words they did not know…which were then written on the board and defined by DeAnna. It was a very strong, useful lesson. I got to take individual pictures (with a disposable camera) of each student throughout the lesson as well. DeAnna and I are going to glue the pictures to construction paper after they are printed out and the students are going to write a brief autobiography on the paper. Afterwards, I led the class in a modified version of the game ‘Simon Says.’ I was basically attempting to teach the children their different body parts in a fun way. After that DeAnna did a brief sing-a-long with the class…it was very funny. Lastly, I led Expressive Arts for 30 or 40 minutes. The class again did relay races, except this time I incorporated balloons into the mix. Each group was given a balloon and had to perform different relays with the balloon. I think a favorite was when the student had to put the balloon in between his or her legs and hop to a certain spot and run back. A great time it was.
After teaching the whole group got to see a presentation on T.A.L.U.L.A.R. from a guy named Gibson. TALULAR stands for Teaching and Learning Using Local Available Resources—which kind of speaks for what it is. Gibson, who was an elder gentleman that was hilarious, gave us a tremendous presentation and tour of his room filled with different TALULAR items. You can think of the items as teaching tools using local resources that you would find almost anywhere. I got a lot of good pictures of some of the learning tools.

Back in town I had a busy day. I dropped the pictures off at the a printing place, bought 20 thank you cards at The Wall, and bought chalk at the teaching store called Fegs. After dinner back at Annie’s I called it a night early in order to wake up early for our journey the next day to Mvuu (Hippo) Camp for safaris.



06 July 2009 (Monday)—Finally Independence Day

After a slow morning we were all invited to Annie’s house for lunch. Before our journey to Annie’s house, Jeff and I had a great conversation with one of Peter’s friends from Lilongwe named Dominik. It was probably the best conversation I have had with a Malawian to date. We discussed everything from politics to musical superstars to teaching to sustainable type help in Malawi and America with Dominik. I have not met a Malawian with such ideals during my time here.

We got to Annie’s house and were finally able to view the house and backyard in daylight. She has a really neat house that is very decorative. Lunch included many different foods that we have been eating during our stay. It was absolutely delicious. Afterwards, a few of us played around with Peter and Monica’s (Peter’s ex-wife) kids. Beth and I played tag with them forever after playing soccer for a little while before that. It was a lot of fun—the kids were shy at first, but then started acting like energetic kids shortly thereafter. A side note, Annie is an incredible host. She is incredibly happy when she is entertaining others…she even provides cars that transport us to her house from the lodge. We left Annie’s house in the evening and got back to Annie’s Lodge before dark.

At night, Jeff and I hung out with Brian for a good while. It also just so happened to be his birthday. After hanging out for a while, Peter took Brian, Kanetra, Jeff and I out to eat at a very nice restaurant.




05 July 2009 (Sunday)—The third highest mountain in Africa, and Brian & Peter

We all woke up and left Annie’s by 830am to go hike up Mt. Mulanje (see the title of this entry). After about 2 hours of riding the bus and incredibly tremendous views we arrived at the mountain. I took many pictures of the numerous coffee fields and of Mt. Mulanje from a distance as we approached. We picked up a guide named Lucious—I think in order to hike (and not being from Malawi) you are required to hire a guide for the journey. Lucious was a really cool, soft-spoken guy that got us where we needed to go. Mt. Mulanje has tons of cedar wood trees growing in and around the mountain…so there are some shops that sell all types of wood carvings that are made out of the cedar wood. Before the trip to the top many people bought walking sticks (that have designs) made out of cedar wood. Jeff and I got a great deal—2 walking sticks for 220 kwacha (a little more than 1 dollar) and 2 handfuls of sunflower seeds. It was funny.

We hiked for approximately an hour, while taking several resting breaks. Do not think that we went to the top or anything close to that. We probably got 10 percent up the mountain if that. There is a yearly contest amongst the locals that entails getting to the top of the mountain the quickest. I believe it takes the winner several hours of intense hiking to get to the top…and most do it barefoot. I also remember hearing that it takes 1.5 days usually for hikers to get to the top at a normal hiking pace. After our hour of hiking and tons of pictures, we arrived at a waterfall and pond area to have lunch. The waterfall was about 40 feet high and there were many large rocks in the pond that we were able to eat our lunch on. I about fell into the pond jumping from rock to rock. There was also a group of 20 adults/children that were a part of what looked like a Boy/Girl Scout program. We ate our lunch and chilled out for about an hour before heading down. Before leaving we visited the little shops outside the hiking grounds—I bought a sweet elephant poster canvas.

We got back to the lodge in the evening and had dinner and drinks. Then Peter (Annie’s son) and Brian (a student from NC A&T that went last year and came back this year) got to the lodge with many friends and started setting up to throw us a party. It was a great evening—almost all of the students came out to have a good time. Peter also helped by having an open bar…that brought some spirit out in a lot of people. I went to bed around 11pm on the floor of Beth and Kelsey’s room because upon arriving back from Mt. Mulanje, Jeff and I were greeted by a new roommate. I do not know the new roommates name, but he several inches long, red, and in the form of a lizard. I am not scared of the lizard, but I am scared of being scared by the lizard (or woken up to a lizard on me). The floor was actually great and Kelsey hooked me up with a couple pillows and I actually woke up with a blanket on me…it was a good night.



04 July 2009 (Saturday)—Almost Independence Day

After a good week of work we were all able to sleep in on Saturday. I think I woke up around 10am and had a tremendous omelet for breakfast. Breakfast here is included with your stay and it is wonderful—they have it all…omelets, eggs, toast, cereal, milk, juice, sausage, etc. (but no bacon). A bunch of us went into town a little after noon. I bought oranges at the market for a good price. Additionally I got some neat wood-carved bracelets at ‘The Wall.’ The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but very relaxing.

03 July 2009 (Friday)—More Teaching

DeAnna and I led class today. For math, I again centered my lesson on measurement. I had the class measure the height and wingspan of a student who did not have their height measured the day before. We used the same method with the yarn and ruler. Next, we measured the head size, waist size, and shoulder to waist size of another student in each group. I told the students that these were measurements that students might need to know how to perform in case they were tailors. Last, but certainly not least, I split the class into four big groups and had each group measure one of the four walls in the classroom. This went surprisingly well…they used chalk to note where they had to move the ruler each time they did so. The measurements were fairly accurate (I stepped off how much each wall approximately measured).

DeAnna did a short lesson on ‘gap-filling’ or filling in the blank that dealt with using the words taller, tallest and shorter, shortest. After our lessons which ended at about 11am/1130am we got to painting the chalk boards in 10 classrooms (Standards 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b….5a, 5b). Before the boards were repainted they had to be washed. About five or six of the girls in DeAnna’s and my class were instructed to do this. After finding this out I searched them out (because we could paint the boards until they were washed and dried). There were 10-year-old girls doing this work and carrying around buckets full of water that they could hardly lift for all of these classrooms. I asked every teacher I saw at the school for a rag to help them but no teach would give me a rag. So I took off my under shirt and got to work with several of the girls from my classroom. It really pissed me off knowing that they put these girls through this. Studies have shown that many girls drop out of schools because they are required to do tasks similar to this—cleaning the bathrooms/walkways/chalk boards/etc.

The coolest thing that I have witnessed in Malawi happened during this. A guy in our class—named Maxwell—then started carrying the buckets and helping the girls clean the black boards. In Malawi a guy doing such work is basically unheard of. It was so cool to witness these social stigmas and views of women as being subservient to men being torn down. This will probably be one of the most memorable moments not only of my time in Malawi, but of my life.
We all got back to Annie’s after a GREAT week of working in the schools. Everybody was feeling great and very happy—not just to get to the weekend—but to have been able to have such a meaningful week. Several of us had a great time at the bar at night…Beth/Carla/Angela/Jeff/Moses/Rachel/Rachel/myself. A good night of relaxing and dancing was a great cap to the week. Everybody here is so friendly/fun/easy going/etc.



02 July 2009 (Thursday)—Relay Races

This was another day that DeAnna and I got to teach. I led a mathematics lesson based on measurement. The students split into their groups and I explained how to measure a person’s height—as well as introduced the concept of height. The children then measured the tallest and the shortest person in their group. The would measure out the height of the person being measured with a piece of yarn—the cut the yarn—then measure the yarn and record their result. They displayed their information on the chalkboard when they finished. The students really picked up how to measure pieces of yarn with rulers. It was a great interactive lesson and went very well.

Next, DeAnna read the students a book titled “The Five Chinese Brothers.” The book discussed several different morals and what not that five Chinese brothers learned throughout an experience one of them had. She introduced the concept of abilities and had the students list their own abilities. The lesson went very well—I can see why DeAnna has remained a teacher for the last 20 something years.

For Expressive Arts we had relay races out on the soccer field. There were about 8 teams of 10 students each and we did about six different relays. Here are the different ones:

Run to a certain spot—then run back
Run backwards to a certain spot—the run forwards back
Skip to a certain spot—run back
...you get the picure.

The last relay I had the smallest member in each group be carried by the other group members to a certain spot and then carried back. It was really funny.
The day went extremely well and was an absolute blast. I had dinner at Annie’s with several people and then lesson planned for the next day when we got back. Another great day in Malawi.



01 July 2009 (Wednesday)—KZEE returns

Today was one of DeAnna’s and my observation days. This week we taught Tuesday/Thursday/Friday and observed Monday/Wednesday. We left our school and walked over to Malemia Primary School (Radford) around 11am. The Radford group has hired two painters from the town of Zomba to paint different things—like alphabets, shapes, animals, maps, etc.—on the walls of the Malemia School. So a few of us Virginia Tech students at the Domasi Government School travelled over there to see the work being done. The painters are named David and Chimwewe and their work is absolutely stunning. I got to stick around the school until 3pm with Dr. Roberts, Kelsey, David, and Chimwewe painting shapes and simple things. David also taught me how to shade different pictures. It was a very neat experience with a guy from the village of Zomba and in a primary school.

We got back in town around 330pm as usual and stopped at ‘The Wall’. I bought a small tapestry-esque picture of a map of Malawi with different animals around it. The picture also has the words ‘The warm heart of Africa’ above a heard of elephants. Several of us had a nice dinner at Tasty Bites shortly thereafter.

We returned to Annie’s shortly before dark and we met up with KZEE at the lodge. I transferred some pictures to his computer (via flash drive) that I had from the times he has spent with us. It was awesome to give him the pictures. He will never forget us…we will never forget him.



30 June 2009 (Tuesday)—Finally Teaching

Today was the first day DeAnna and I led the class. I led our first bit of instruction in Mathematics. Most of the time I will led Math for 60-90 minutes…DeAnna will led English for 60-90 minutes…and then I will led Physical Education for 30-45 minutes on the soccer field.
The first math lesson I had the class doing word problems involving subtracting different weights. We did a few problems as a class—the class would have some time to attempt the problem and then I would go over how to solve the problem on the board. Some of the problems I had different students come up to the board and write down their attempt at a solution. After the class had done the problems on their paper and we reviewed them on the board I handed out calculators to each group. The class gets into groups of about 10 students when they do get into groups. There are about 8 groups…so 8x10 = 80 students. So each group received a calculator—I briefly explained the different functions and uses of the calculator…as well as the meaning of the different buttons on it. The class quickly picked up how to use the calculator and I explained that it was a way to check their work.

DeAnna’s lesson in English centered on a book titled, “Harold and the Purple Crayon.” The story was about a boy named Harold who goes exploring one night and runs into problems—which he solves by drawing different things to help him with his purple crayon. For instance, he is swimming in the sea and draws a boat to help him to safety. While DeAnna was reading the story I drew what Harold was drawing on poster board sheets that were taped to the black board. I was basically Harold. After she read the story, DeAnna recapped the plot and asked students questions by referring to my drawings on the poster board. Lastly, we handed the students construction paper and a crayon and had them draw something that they might need if they went on a journey. We are hanging up their pictures with sticky tack as time goes on.
Next we had Expressive Arts (or Physical Education) that takes place on the soccer field. I taught the children how to play Duck-Duck-Goose as well as split them into 3 groups in the classroom before we went out to the soccer field—this was very crucial to do in the classroom as opposed to out on the soccer field. When we got to the field we did stretching and warming up in a big circle. I was in the middle of the circle surrounded by 80 students that were copying my every move while we warmed up—it was a very neat experience. After that they played Duck-Duck-Goose and appeared to have a great time. Next, we played one quick game of Sharks and Minnows like we did the Friday before this. All in all, it was a great day and the students really seemed to enjoy the time that they had. My first day of teaching/leading a class in Malawi was unbelievable and a time that I will never forget.

After class, we all went to our classroom part of this experience. The VT students, along with Dr. Kelly, discussed the assigned readings we had been given. The conversation flowed really well and I was glad that I had taken notes on the articles. Radford joined in the discussion midway through which added good flavor to the conversation.

Then we went back to Annie’s and things went as usual. We had another big group buffet similar to the birthday dinner buffet—and it was awesome.



29 June 2009 (Monday)—Play hard, but work harder

We travelled to the schools on this day. Before we were all dropped off at our respective schools we went to Mwanje School and gave the Standard 7 students backpacks. They were so incredibly excited. They chanted and sang the whole time we were there and when we were handing out the book bags. They all got to write their name on their back and seeing them do so was awesome.

DeAnna and I observed MacDonald again on this day. We are basically teaching/leading the class for 3 or 4 days a week and observing him teach for 1 or 2 days a week. When we observed we basically student teach or assistant teach. We go around and help the students on their daily activities and what not. I remember them doing an Agriculture lesson on this day. Then during ‘Expressive Arts’ aka physical education on the soccer field they did individual events. The students would come to the middle of the big circle in small groups and do different things—often times gymnastic type activities…like holding each other up or doing flips off of one another. Kind of a bad explanation on my part, but it is one of those things you have to see to understand.

After school we had our normal class with Dr. Kelly—it was only us Virginia Tech students though. We all discussed our project/big paper idea. I have decided on doing an expose that focuses on my mathematics and physical education teaching. I will compare the two topics and how Malawian students learn differently than American children…also what works in Malawi and what does not work…you get the picture…the whole nine yards. We also discussed our service project—which will entail painting the black boards in each classroom at Domasi Government School. After class I took a lot of close-up pictures of flowers around the school. Some had pictures of bees/butterflies in them and I was very excited to get the shots. On our way back into town we stop at ‘The Wall’ and I bought two posters that look very neat. A stop at Tasty Bites for some tasty bites followed and then back to the lodge. At night Jeff and I had a great conversation on what exactly we are doing here in the schools and what we should be doing in the schools. It is important to provided fun things for the children to do, but it is more important for those activities to actually help their learning. We should be an extension of their teacher’s teachings…and incorporate their curriculum into what we do. Most would not expect Jeff and I to have conversations like this at night…because we both like to have a lot of fun…but it has really been a blessing being able to room with him. Play hard, work harder.



28 June 2009 (Sunday)—Church

About eight of us woke up Sunday morning, myself included, went to a Presbyterian church. The service was amazing. After the choir sang a few songs and different groups from the church did the same, the pastor called all eight of us up to the front of the church. We all introduced our self and told the church where we were from. Then the whole church sang a song for us—the song had a meaning of thank you for coming here and welcome to our church…it was very neat. The rest of the service was beautiful. We came back to Annie’s and made a very poor monkey trap. I have pictures…but it was a banana and orange slices on our steps. It did not work.
At night Annie threw a birthday party for Dr. Liz and I. We had a great buffet dinner and Annie had a special cake made with the words ‘LIZ and TOD’ on it. The night was wonderful and Liz and I both received birthday cards. The buffet consisted of chicken curry, potatoes, cooked vegetables, and spinach-type greens. After dinner I had one of my favorite nights here at Annie. Jeff, KZEE, Stuart and I stayed up and watched the United States vs. Brazil soccer game (the Confederations Cup final) at the bar. We were going wild when the United States went up 2-0 and KZEE and Stuart, both Malawians, were going crazy with us. It was a great time.



27 June 2009 (Saturday)—THE Zomba

A few of us…Jeff and I included, woke up a little rough. We all stayed up relatively late on Friday night and had several drinks and tons of dancing…so yeah. The whole group got to leave around 1030am to go experience the town/downtown part of Zomba. We were basically Zomba explorers for a large portion of the day. On the way down there I went into a bike shop to look for a pump for the deflated soccer ball I brought over…but no luck. I came outside only to see no one I recognized in sight…haha yeah apparently everyone had started walking down the street and vanished. I told Angela that I was going into the shop…but she apparently did not understand what I meant, but yeah it was funny. I got to walk around Zomba for about 10 minutes by myself…something that we are not allowed/advised to do for security reasons. Anyway, Jeff and Dr. Kelly found me shortly thereafter and we all went to the fabric shop. I picked up three killer fabrics that will be used to make shorts/shirts/etc. if I want. I will probably use one or two of the fabrics as tapestries at home because they are very beautiful. Jeff also got a sweet fish print that he plans on getting a full outfit of made (and wearing it home).
Then a few of us made stops at an internet café, ‘the wall’—which is the place where vendors sell things, and a great food place called Tasty Bites…and as Jeff says, Tasty Bites has some...tasty bites. The food there is very inexpensive relative to Annie Lodge, but it is great quality. I have gotten pizza, samoas, and beef with rice at Tasty Bites and all have been tremendous. We got back to Annie’s and a replay of the United States vs. Spain soccer game was on. It was the first time Jeff and I watched our television. We got to see both United States’ goals and the tremendous victory over Spain…very cool.

At dinner I ate with Dr. Kelly, Dr. Roberts and Jeff. The main thing I remember from the dinner was finding out that Dr. Roberts is and was a working clown. It was a great conversation. Then Jeff and I went and had some drinks that night and met a Malawian named Stuart who was very funny. KZEE probably showed up later and that was the rest of the night.

26 June 2009 (Friday)—MacDonald’s Magic…Malawi Nightlife Magic

All three universities were dropped off at their respective schools today. At the Domasi Governor’s School (the VT location) we met with the principal at first. After brief introductions and formalities we proceeded to our classrooms. I have been paired with (well both of us kind of mutually suggested doing so because all of us VT students are pairing up in the classrooms) DeAnna Hash.

Now let me tell you about DeAnna. She is 45 years old and has been teaching for 23 years. She currently teaches in (and I am pretty sure she was born in) Grayson County, Virginia. She has a sweet Southwest Virginia/Appalachian accent…it is very funny. She is probably the most naturally nice people on this trip. Sweet, loving, caring, mother-figure, etc. is what I think of DeAnna Hash. She is also married. Let’s put it this way…DeAnna has been teaching longer than I have been living.

So we proceeded to the teacher we would be working with for the coming weeks whose name happens to be MacDonald Sheriff. Two girls that went on this trip last year from Virginia Tech taught with MacDonald as well. One of the girls, Lexi, actually met me the night before I left for the trip at the hotel I was staying at in order to send over a gift to MacDonald. It is quite ironic that I was paired up with him. According to Dr. Kelly, he is a great teacher and works well with those learning teachers that come in to his classroom to help/learn/teach/etc. Here is a run down of what happened in the class the first day. Oh yeah, there are right around 100 students in his classroom each day. He teachers standard 5, like 5th grade, and the kids are anywhere from 9-12 years of age.

Math—right when we got in…which was cool for me. The kids were taught a problem that dealt with subtracting 5-digit numbers. It was in the form of a word problem and MacDonald demonstrated how to properly solve the problem while the kids practiced. Then he assigned them two problems. The kids were in groups so DeAnna and I went around assisting and helping the students when they needed it. We also checked their papers we check marks and/or smiley faces that the kids really seemed to enjoy. All of this took about 40-50 minutes. It is hard for teachers in Malawi to get through information quickly because of the incredibly (relative to America) large class size.

English—fill-in-the blank in sentences was the lesson for the day in English. MacDonald wrote 6 sentences on the board—all with blanks in them. Then, as a class, they worked through what word should go in the blank (with the given word bank off to the side). Then MacDonald filled in the sentences with the appropriate blanks with help from the class. The words that fit in the blanks were then erased and MacDonald told the kids to copy down the sentences in their books and ‘re-fill’ in what words should go in the blanks.

Expressive Arts—this is similar to what physical education is referred to in America. The class travelled out to the soccer field. A big circle was formed by all of us (100 people) holding hands…then stretching ensued. After stretching, the boys and girls got into two lines and took turns jumping over and running under a horizontally elevated bamboo stick. Then we played the game called ‘sharks and minnows’ on the big soccer field—look up the directions to the game if you do not know already…it was a lot of fun to play with such a big group of kids. This part of the day really seems to be something the children enjoy…which you would expect.

Self-Introductions—when we got back in the classroom from Expressive Arts, each student took his/her turn standing up and pronouncing their name for DeAnna and I. MacDonald oftentimes had to pronounce the name more clearly in order for us to understand. Then, DeAnna would pronounce the word to see if we heard it correctly. She would accidentally butcher some of the names—causing hysterical outbursts from all the students in the class…including myself. After this, it was a little after noon so DeAnna and I headed back to the MIE classroom for ‘class’ with all the students and teachers on our trip.

During class we again had a big group discussion led by Dr. Kelly and Dr. Liz. The theme was centered on the political background of Malawi and on the educational system’s background in Malawi. I am taking notes during these discussions in order to expand my knowledge—not only on Malawi, but also on how others might perceive Malawi and why they might feel that way. As usual, at 3pm Charles picked us up and took us back to Annie Lodge. Many of us were very excited to begin our weekend because Annie (who is the Annie that owns Annie’s Lodge) was arranging for us to go to a nightclub in Malawi. Several of us had a few drinks and dinner before—around 7pm or 8pm Annie had cars/SUVs pick all of us up and take us to her house 15 minutes down the road for pre-party celebration.

Annie’s house is incredible. Her grandchildren were running all over the place as well as her boyfriend and his friends. We stayed there for a little while and sometime before 10pm we arrived at the nightclub called Club Thoadwe in a place called Pa Bakery or something. I have not really gotten a definitive answer from anyone about the name of the club, but such is irrelevant. All of us got to the club and started hearing that a fellow by the name of Lucious Banda (spelling?) was playing. Many Malawians consider Banda to be the best musician in Malawi…so we were in for a REAL treat. The nightclub was AWESOME. I believe that I speak for everyone there when I say that I had a blast. The music was incredible and I felt like I was in Blacksburg again attending a show at The Lantern. Every Malawian there was loving us and we were loving them. I got to dance with Annie once and it was great—I felt like I was dancing with a queen. The people and the music there were incredibly energetic and it truly brought out the fun-loving nature of Malawians. Oh yeah, and KZ came with us on our journey to Annie’s and to the nightclub and back to Annie’s Lodge from the nightclub. KZ is staying at Annie’s Lodge also (and will be there the whole time we will be there are previously noted). KZ had a blast and ‘made some noise’…the doctrine that he lives by. We all eventually left at 1am…although Annie stayed until 3am because Malawians like to stay up late and party apparently…but we all needed some rest after an exhausting week.

I would just like to say that Malawians are the coolest people ever—in general. Every single person from this country is happy and eager to meet and greet you. The kids are even more so. This is truly the warm heart of Africa that will consistently put a smile on your face. I recommend coming to this country if at all possible—it will truly shed light on anyone’s person.



25 June 2009 (Thursday)—Why You Live

We woke up…at Annie Lodge of course…had a good breakfast…and were on our way to visit all three schools each of our university students would be at. A brief bit of information concerning the schools that the different universities were ‘paired’ up with: Malemia Primary = Radford, Domasi Demonstration School = NC A&T, Domasi Governor’s School = Virginia Tech. I will give brief reflections on our visits to each of the three schools.

Malemia Primary (Radford)—The first school we were able to visit. Malemia was full of energy. We were swarmed by the children upon arrival—a common theme in our travels today. There are really no words, pictures, videos that can describe the way you feel when hundreds of children are swarming and smiling ear-to-ear when you arrive at their school. Malemia is a bit more ‘raw’ than the other two schools. They have a big open field and some soccer goals made out of wooden sticks in the front yard area. Classrooms surround the film and the teachers really seemed to love our company.

Domasi Demonstration School (NC A&T)—We arrived to a bit more subdued atmosphere than possibly expected. The children at this school are very well disciplined and class was going on upon our arrival. We proceeded to somewhat of a conference room and was able to meet and greet the school’s administration and a few teachers. We all went around an introduced ourselves and the headmaster told us how happy he was to have our company. We took brief stops in some of the classrooms where children would chant certain songs and thank and praise us for coming to Malawi and their school. The leaders and teachers at this school really seem to be ‘on the ball’ and into making their school the best it can be.

Domasi Governor’s School (Virginia Tech)—I know that I might be a little biased when talking about this school…but many non-VT students can attest the joyful and overwhelming feeling getting off the bus at Domasi Governor’s School. The magnitude of the number of students was incredible. It felt like we were rockstars being greeted by (literally) a couple thousand kids. The sense of deep and impactful movement inside my body was the most incredible thing I have ever experienced. The kids were just holding on to us and holding our hands and smiling—it was why you live and why you take advantage of such a unique experience like this. The overall energy going about the school was unparallel to anything I have ever experienced before. I sit here getting teary-eyed just thinking back to this moment…I will never forget the way I felt seeing so many happy kids.

After this, our group…which was together for the whole day touring all three schools…had our classroom part of the day at the Malawi Institute of Education (MIE). MIE, which is where we have class at on most days after our teaching, is a college campus located right next to the Domasi Governor’s School. We have been assigned a classroom that we can use after we teach in the primary schools during the day. We will be teaching in the schools from 9am-noon (which is approximately when primary schools get out in Malawi) and then having classroom time from 1230pm-3pm. I think about half the time from 1230pm-3pm we will have class discussions and other times we will be performing service-related work around the schools we teach in. During this classroom session we were all able to having a group discussion on our initial reactions to the primary schools, our initial reactions of Malawi, and certain things that we should be aware of while teaching and interacting throughout Malawi. It was a very informative discussion and everyone was able to share very knowledgeable opinions. There is an incredible collection of people on this trip—all are very nice, looking out for one another, and able to add positively to the pool of knowledge we are creating while living in Malawi. Dr. Liz from NC A&T also gave me one of the nicest comments after our group discussion which instilled in me a confidence that I believe will help me get the most out of this experience.

At 3pm, our bus driver Charles picked us up and drove us into town to exchange money. I was able to buy a Noah’s Arc wooden carving with about 20 wooden animal carvings inside the arc for 2000 kwacha (12 dollars). Converting kwacha to dollars is really easy…you just have to keep in mind that 500 kwacha = 3 dollars. So you just count by 500 kwacha and multiply that number by 3 in order to see a particular item’s worth in dollars. So 1000 kwacha = 6 dollars or 5000 kwacha = 30 dollars. I also got some water for the coming week at a local grocery store and then we all headed back to Annie’s Lodge for dinner. Food at the Lodge is incredible—it might take near an hour to get the food, but when you do it tastes delicious. A nice relaxing evening/night with Jeff and the Malawians KZ and John at the bar made for a great night. And then great talks with Jeff as usual before going to sleep. I feel like these conversations have happened every night I have been in Malawi…so I might stop mentioning it for fear of losing all of my beloved blog followers (hah)…but yeah, it is really cool.



24 June 2009 (Wednesday)—Travel>…also KZ

Again us four guys had breakfast at Pizzaland…and it was great. Then we all departed Lilongwe and headed out towards Zomba village…our residency for the next few weeks and close to the schools we would be teaching in.

Our first stop on our trip to Zomba was at a place called Dedza Pottery. It was home to a very upscale restaurant and (you guessed it) pottery store. I purchased a plate with a sunset backdrop and a big mug with silhouettes of animals on it. Very neat items in my opinion…pictures will help you understand. We also had lunch at Dedza Pottery—I ate an incredible plate of chicken lasagna. The chicken was cooked into the middle of the dish and was very very epic.

Our next stop was at a paper making facility. A gentleman demonstrated how he recycled paper in order to make paper. Additionally, he briefly showed and described to us how he made paper from elephant dung. After this we were able to go visit the gentleman’s store up the road. After a brief look in the store I was able to have my first real interaction while the children of Malawi. There were 5 children standing around in the road outside of the shop. I immediately proceeded to my bookbag on the bus and gave each one of them a bouncy ball. THEY WENT ABSOLUTELY NUTS. The children loved the balls and several of us were playing with them and throwing them back and forth and having a great time. A child also brought up a self-made soccer ball that we all kicked around for a while. This moment will forever be in my heart and one that I will never forget. It was truly special seeing children love and enjoy something that much.

We left the paper making place and the children with sad hearts, but after 2 hours of driving found ourselves at Annie’s Lodge in Zomba. This would be our residence for the next few weeks. I was able to take a plethora of pictures on the way to Annie’s. The Malawian countryside was truly breathtaking with the multitude of mountains, trees, and landscapes that would blow anybody’s mind. Words and even pictures do not justice to what the group and I saw on the way to Zomba. It took about 5 hours of driving to get from Lilongwe to Zomba. Upon arrival we all received our room keys…Jeff and I are in Room 17. We are in section of rooms numbered 16-20.

Room 16—Angela and Dr. Liz
Room 18—James and Moses
Room 19—Kanitra and Carla
Room 20—Beth and Kelsey

The rooms at Annie are FANTASTIC. Living here is like living in a resort. Our bathroom is very nice and the shower is the biggest I have ever used for more than 1 week. We have two beds, a television (that has only been on for 30 minutes in the first week), a hot water boiler, etc. After throwing our bags in the room Jeff and I went to the bar at the Lodge briefly before we ordered food. At the bar (before and after dinner) we met two guys from Malawi named John and KZ. John was at Annie on some sort of business. He was an adult of some age around 50. A very genuine and generous, soft-spoken person that knew how to laugh and have a good time was something not always prevalent in the U.S. But 99 percent of Malawians are this way, which has made this trip incredibly awesome. KZ is another Malawian who is very similar in age to me. KZ is by far the coolest Malawian I have met so far…and Jeff would say the same. He considers us three (Jeff, myself, and him) to be the 3 Musketeers. John had to leave in a few days, but KZ has been here and will be here the whole time we are here…and this is something that I am incredibly thankful for. KZ is here on business—he is some type of software engineer in Malawi. He is an incredibly genuine person and loves to have fun…or as KZ says, loves to ‘make noise!’. Words do not do KZ justice. He is hilarious. After dinner and some drinks at the bar Jeff and I proceeded to the room. We unpacked and talked (as usual). I have had some incredibly great conversations with Jeff in this first week in Malawi. Our conversations seem to address everything from reasons for being here, to different college experiences we have had, to political/economical/helpful Malawian conversations, to etc. basically. There is never a dull moment with this guy—he is very smart and loves to have fun and enjoy his life…especially while in Malawi.



23 June 2009 (Tuesday)—The Gardens of Freedom

I went to eat breakfast with my three male roommates…Jeff/Moses/James. Here is a quick run-down of the group.

Radford Students—Dr. Ann Roberts, Kelsey, Beth, Angela, Carolyn, and Jeff
NC A&T—Dr. Liz Barber, Carla, Kanitra, James, and Moses
Virginia Tech—Dr. Patricia Kelly, Rachel, Rachel, Jessica, Kacie, DeAnna, and me

Breakfast at Pizzaland was buffet style and awesome. Great eggs, toast, cereal with milk…everything you need in the morning. Shortly after breakfast the group was on our way to a place called Freedom Gardens. Freedom Gardens was established 1982 by people who wanted to create a place that was sustainable in the sense that they would always have food and be prosperous in Malawi. I have notes that I took about the history of Freedom Gardens, which I have misplaced for the time being, but I will be spreading the word about the intuitiveness of its foundation when I find the notes. A man named Daniel, along with his best friend Moses, basically run the Gardens now. Daniel’s father created/established Freedom Gardens in 1982…but have since passed away and left the Gardens to his son. Daniel’s mother also lives at the Gardens still and is still active in its everyday workings. Daniel gave us a history of the Gardens and then an extensive tour and then treated us to a fantastic organic lunch from his gardens. The basic idea of the gardens is to waste nothing and to establish a sustainable way of agriculture that entails using water appropriately and sufficiently. The workings of the gardens are truly genius—especially considering the immensity of the place. Lunch was delicious, and organic—like I previously noted. We had chicken, rice, encema, greens, fried bananas, fries, and raw bananas. It was absolutely delicious. We left the gardens in the afternoon and headed back to the Lodge. Our ‘three friends’ John Banana, Fantastic, and Respect were waiting upon our arrival. In addition to attempting to sell us different things they drummed for us. They all were drumming in NC A&T, Radford, and Virginia Tech shirts respectively…it was a very neat site. They were all three very fun people and had a great time with us…even though their main purpose was selling items.

We had dinner as a group at a place called Ali Baaba (spelling?). I ordered a pizza with pineapple on it and it was fantastic. One of the best pizzas I have ever had. From there, the group made a stop at the grocery store. Beer seemed to be the main item of purchase by ALL who went on the trip. From there we all went back to the Budget Lodge and had drinks on the porch steps of two adjacent rooms. Everybody, including the Doctors, our three Lilongwe friends, and us students imbibed to an extent. It was a fun night and everybody seemed to fully enjoy this unique experience in Malawi. All went to bed and Jeff and I chilled out on the steps a little while after that and then headed to bed. We had all experienced the capitol city of Malawi…but it was time to depart for new adventures. It was a fun two days in Lilongwe and a brief introduction for what was to come when we travelled the next morning to Zomba village.



21, 22 June 2009 (Sunday/Monday)—Awakening

It is 615am in the morning (not right now, but imagine) and I am showering in a hotel room next to Dulles Airport…and thinking about how I am about to embark on a plane to Malawi. This trip has been the most anticipated journey of my life. My Mom and I took a shuttle from the hotel to the airport—arriving at check-in around 7am. I found out that my two bags were 51.5 and 60 pounds respectively. The maximum weight they could be was 50 pounds…some help from certain professors and other students going on the trip got my bags to weigh less than 50 pounds—problem solved. I could almost feel the overall anxiousness/excitement protruding from every student/teacher on the trip. Everyone seemed (and still is) extremely pleasant and friendly. I said goodbye to my Mom after she handed me a birthday card…because yeah, today is my birthday. Good thing I have the best present anyone could ever have—a chance to go to teach in Malawi.

Here is a brief itinerary: Dulles—Rome, Italy to refuel—Addis Ababa, Ethiopia—Lilongwe, Malawi. All of our flights are on Ethiopian airlines. Every single meal we had on the airline (of which we had all 3) was fantastic…I recommend the airline to anyone traveling to this area of the world. I ate, listened to music while viewing different movies, and conversed with different people sitting near me while on the plane.

The guy sitting next to me from was named Pastor that was going to Kenya on a mission trip. His group was going to Kenya to educate other pastors and do service type work around the community. He was a great person to travel with—very friendly, easy-going, and knowledgeable…my type of person. The stewardesses on the flight found out it was my birthday and treated me to a piece of cake with champagne—which was pretty cool. A funny side note…my birthday actually lasted 12 hours because we were ‘flying into time’ and going ‘into the future.’ June 22nd beings now when we flew into Rome. We landed in Rome at 1am or 2am local time. The city was lit up beautifully and it seemed like energy was protruding from the ground while we were flying over. We landed safely and the crew members left and new ones came aboard and the plane got refueled. We left about an hour after landing and were on our way to Ethiopia’s capital—Addis Ababa. We arrived in Addis Ababa in around 9am local time. The view on the plane ride into Addis Ababa was incredible. The area is very mountainous, which added to the whole mystique of being in Ethiopia. The landing was smooth and then everybody got off of the plane…I bid Pastor Jeffcoat a farewell and wished him a good time on his travels (which he did the same to me).

Next, we boarded a plane that was traveling from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Lilongwe, Malawi. I sat next to two women from China on the plane. I literally had a two-hour long running conversation with one of the girls whose name was Miya. Her English was very good, although she enjoyed speaking it with me and learning new vocabulary. We discussed everything from Yao Ming and Kobe Bryant to our reasons for traveling to what we thought Malawi would be like. It was a really neat experience that I will never forget—and it made the plane ride seem very short. The plane ride was actually between 3 and 4 hours long…so we arrived in Lilongwe around 1pm. We got off the plane, gathered our luggage, proceeded through customs, and caught the bus that would/will be our primary form of transportation for the rest of the trip. The bus driver is named Charles—he is quite a funny and jolly fellow…extremely funny like most Malawians.

We got the hotel—the Budget Lodge in the afternoon. The bus ride from the airport to the hotel was really cool…it was my first experience of the Malawi landscape. The moment we got to the Budget Lodge (in Lilongwe) three guys approached the group. Jeff and I ended up being the only ones that talked to them. By the way, Jeff is my roommate and he is awesome. We share many important similarities—strive to teach, love for music, love for certain types of music, love for meeting people, etc…Jeff would be one of my good friends if we went to the same college—I will put it that way. But anyway, the three Malawians went by the names of John Banana, Fantastic a.k.a. Brian, and Respect. They were vendors in the city and immediately started putting bracelets on our wrists. They appeared genuine guys and what not but deep down they were just trying to get money out of any of us. We got our hotel key and Jeff, and two fellows named Moses and James from NC A&T, and I were going to share a room for the two nights we would be in the Budget Hotel in Lilongwe. Moses and James are both married with two children and doctoral students at NC A&T. They are incredibly fantastic gentlemen. Those two nights rooming with them and Jeff created some of the neatest conversations in my life. I will forever be grateful for the perspectives those two men (James and Moses) have and continue to give to me.

Shortly after moving our bags into our room the whole group set out for the United States Embassy in Malawi. We got to talk to the ambassador and his right hand man for about 45 minutes. He explained to us what he does in general, what his days consist of, and what are some of the biggest concerns he addresses in Malawi. We then got to ask him a few questions about anything him or his right hand man do. I asked him ‘what were some of the toughest decisions he makes on a daily/monthly/yearly basis.’ His response was pretty general and what you might expect. Then we stopped on the grocery store on the way back…I bought 1000 kwacha worth of water for Jeff and I…and he bought 1000 kwacha worth of beer for the same two. The group got back to the Budget Lodge and we ate at a place called PIzzaland that was part of the Budget Lodge. I had a piece of chicken with fries and it was pretty decent. Dr. Kelly gave all of us a brief, informal orientation and started getting us to think about what we were doing in Malawi and what our purpose was here…and basic things to be aware of and what not. A few drinks back at the hotel with Jeff and some great conversations with Jeff, Moses, and James led to a good night sleep. I really had not slept in 1.5 days…so going to be was great. All of us in the room for some reason woke up around 330am…me to pee, Moses to yell for some reason. And then I remember getting back into bed and seeing Jeff sleep with the mosquito net over himself and I about started hysterically laughing at 330am…but then I feel to sleep.