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
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.
Hey Todd! Its Alex Schwartz, Ben and Kira Keyes. We are currently at the beach house, enjoying the beach. We went to fireworks tonight that were over before we got to our seats, and then we got split up and thought we lost Kira. Sounds like you are having a good time. It sounds like the chance of a lifetime to be able to go to Africa and do something like you are.
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Hey! Greetings from your favorite relatives in Kansas!!! Sounds like you are really enjoying your experience in Africa. Stay safe:)
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