A Few Pictures

I'm going to try to upload some pictures for this blog! Wish me luck....!

This is Johnny Banana giving me my first and only dread lock. My hair is so fine that it has already started coming out, and I bet it will be untangled by the time i get to the states... sorry :( ! (Notice the Radford Tee!)

These are the kids swarming us at Domasi Government School, this picture doesn't even begin to explain the emotion we all felt. We were surrounded at all sides by children and we couldn't even walk because they were so close to us! ... the next day they were chanting "white people" because they were so excited to see us again...

We see views like this one everywhere we go. This one barely does the view any justice. We are right beside the continental rift and it is absolutely gorgeous! I wish I had some better pictures, but I will before I leave!

This morning we went to a Presbyterian Church and it was such a great experience. The people were so welcoming and asked us to stand in front of the congregation to tell who we were and what we are doing. The music was wonderful and I hope we can go back!!

Sorry I didn't get to post many pictures... I don't know how many I'll be able to post throughout the trip but when I get home I'll post a lot!! :) Atleast I got a few! Enjoy! :)

June 27

June 27th
Yesterday was our first day teaching in the schools. What an amazing experience. The children are sooo happy we are there and want to do nothing but spend time with us. I was placed with a man named Mr. Chitenje. Mr. Chitenje is over 70 years old and has been teaching for over 23 years. I am very lucky to be able to work with him because I think I will learn a great deal from him. The children respect him so much (unlike other classrooms) and listen patiently to hear what is next. He has asked me to teach the science and technology lesson each day. I am a little intimidated because he is such a great teacher, but I think he will guide me. The children in my class are standard 5, which is equivalent to our 5th grade. It is different in Malawi, because although it is standard 5, there is a broad range of ages because children are moved according to their examinations. Mr. Chitenje told me that they have a meeting with the student’s parents if they feel they should stay back or move up and they have the ultimate decision (a lot like the U.S.) but it is a lot more common in Malawi then America.
We arrive at the schools at 9am and leave around lunch time. From there we walk to meet the groups from Virginia Tech and NC A&T. Our walk is about a mile and children walk with us singing and holding our hands the entire way. It is a wonderful walk. We then go to a classroom at the Malawi Institute of Education and have a class discussion with all of the groups. We stay there until about 3pm and then our bus driver, Charles picks us up and either takes us into town or back to Annie’s Lodge.

Last night was the best night we have had so far. Annie (the owner of Annie’s Lodge) invited us to her personal house and then to go on to a nightclub with her. The performer was Lucious Banda, the most popular artist in all of Malawi. He sings mostly about peace and making good choices, and has been very influential to the people of Malawi. One of his songs is about accepting AIDS (because people are afraid to admit to having AIDS and being tested). Out of all the times Dr. Pat has come to Malawi she has never been able to experience a concert like that and she was so excited, which made me so much more excited because we were so lucky! The nightclub was very small but so pretty. It was decorated in a Zebra pattern. Not everyone was allowed in the club, they had a guest list, and the only reason we got in was because of Annie. Annie is a much respected member of society here. She was on parliament and now owns 3 beautiful lodges. The men in the club were very interested in American girls, so we had to have pretend boyfriends to “protect us” (we were completely safe, don’t worry)! Sorry Matt!! J

Toady we went into town and got to see the market where all the fresh produce is for sale, including live chickens and lots of fish. We also bought some beautiful fabrics and I bought some great wood carvings as souvenirs. The Radford group is about to meet with an artist from the town because we all want to do a special project in Malemia school. It’s a surprise so I’ll show you pictures when we get homeJ!

I’m still having a great time and wish you could all experience this wonderful place!

Love and miss you!
Beth
Ps- it’s easier for me to read emails than comments on my blog because the internet is so slow here! So I may not check them very often sorry!

June 24th: When in Rome... or is that Africa? :)

So last night after dinner we were all hanging out outside of our hotel and some locals were chatting with us getting to know where we come from and who we are. One of the boys in our group, Jeff has long red dread locks and one of the men, Johnnybanana puts dreads in hair for a living and offered to fix and tighten Jeff’s for him. They worked out a compromise that Johnnybanana would do his hair for a beer, a pair of socks, and a tee shirt. Banana-man offered to give me dreads and of course I said noooo way! However, after I thought about it, I will probably only be in Malawi one time and I definitely would never get dreads at home. So after half of a kuchikuchi (my first beer in Africa, and yes only one-half) I let Johnnybanana give me dread locks. I LOVE THEM!—Mom please don’t kill me!!
Okay, okay you all know me better than that. I wouldn’t let him do my whole head, but I did let him do one small dread in the back right side of my hair, and he even put a small wooden bead in it that he took out of his hair and put in mine. He said it wouldn’t come out, but the end is already starting to come out because my hair is so fine. It’s about the size of a hair-wrap, which also fall out, so I’m not too worried J! I have several great pictures from the night and if I don’t have strong enough internet connection here, be sure to find them when you look through my hundreds of pictures!!
Unfortunately when everyone was heading inside the local boys, Johnnybanana, Respect, and Fantastic (I think the boys make up names for Americans and tourists because their names are hard to pronounce correctly, but they swear they are their real names!) started to haggle us for money. Johnnybanana asked me to buy one of his bracelets for his sister’s education (probably a lie) and I felt like I needed to because he did do my hair. I ended up buying two bracelets and offered him 400K which was a very good deal. Pat Kelly (who has come 27 times) said I should not pay more than 100K. He tried to tell me I was ripping him off and guilted me a lot. Everyone in Malawi has something to sell because that is how they make their living, however the men in Lilongwe tend to be very pushy and overbearing. It kind of ended the evening poorly after we all had such a fun night, but even after that happened I think I will always remember my friend, Johnnybanana J.
We are now in Zomba after a 4 hour car ride from Lilongwe. I am in Annie’s Lodge and it is like PARADISE. I can not explain how beautiful it is in the dark, and cannot wait to see it in the light! Today we stopped several times on the way here: the villiage of Dedza where we stopped at Dedza pottery- where I bought beautiful pieces and then we watched a man make recycled paper out of elephant dung, a huge market in Lizulu but I did not buy anything, Mankoahwe villiage for a leg stretch a some awesome pictures of an overlook, and finally we are in Zomba. We will travel to the schools tomorrow and I am so excited. The children are so great here, in Dedza we played with them quite a while, and they chased our bus out as long as their little legs could run. Some of them know English, however almost all of them have been taught to ask for money which is sad.
Zikomo (thank-you!),
Beth

June 21st & 22

June 21st & 22nd:
MONI!!! (hello)
After 24ish long hours of traveling, we made it! I am currently in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa. Lilongwe is the capital of Malawi. We flew from Dulles at 9:55am to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia which took about 18 hours. Our flight got in later than expected and cut our layover from 50 minutes to about 20. Because of this we almost missed our flight! Luckily we are traveling in a group of 18 and the airline chose to hold the flight! From Ethiopia we flew into Lilongwe and arrived about 1:30pm. The airport was not as bad as I had guessed. Customs let us through without searching our bags because our group was so large—this was a huge relief because they charge very high taxes on anything new coming into the country (i.e. school supplies, girls panties, etc.) so we would have had hundreds of dollars of fees if we would have been searched. I also tried to take a picture of the plane we rode on and a security guard promptly yelled at me and made me show her that I had deleted it. I later found out that no pictures are allowed to be taken of anyone in uniform. At the airport we met our bus driver for the entire trip, Charles. Our group is filled with students from Virginia Tech, North Carolina A&T, and Radford University—such a great group. Everyone is filled with positive energy and is very excited.
From the airport we traveled about half an hour to our hotel, the “Budget Lodge”. Not the finest of places to say the least, but it will do. We are staying here 2 nights and our last night before catching our plane back to the states. From the lodge we traveled to the U.S. Embassy and met with our ambassador, Peter Bodde. He made us feel so welcome and safe, and he told us a lot of information about what he does and his goals for the country. From the embassy we went to a super market to get bottled water. We had to buy enough to last 2 ½ days. We then traveled back to our hotel, and to dinner which is right under the hotel… the Pizzaland. Funny, huh? I had to travel 24 hours to find pizza! (I didn’t order pizza, don’t worry!)
The next morning we woke up around 7am to go to a place called the Tidkondwe Freedom Gardens. (Tidkondwe means “be happy” which suits it perfectly) These gardens are a completely organic, self sustaining farm. SO INCREDIBLE. The irrigation system is like nothing you can imagine, and I wish you could all see it. A man named Dr. Chinkhuntha created this place on May 1st, 1982. When he first began it was nothing but swap land. He found a way to drain the swamp into holding pools and then use it to irrigate all the crops. This is all done with NO electricity or pumps. I have lots of pictures! Dr. Chinkhuntha has since passed away, and his son Daniel (along with his best friend Moses) are now running the gardens. He is such a great person and I hope to stay in touch for a long time (facebook friends! J ) He said “for life to be enjoyed, man must live in harmony with nature” and truly lives by these words. EVERYTHING there has a purpose and NOTHING goes to waste. At the gardens they grow many, many types of plants. Some include: maize, legumes, carrots, bananas, papaya, mangoes, oranges, Clementine, green beans, peppers, squash, strawberries, lemons, and these were only the plants I saw!!! Their insecticides are completely natural, and made by plants grown in the gardens. He showed us how they create them and it was so interesting… they use plants such as the India tree, black jack, aloe Vera, garlic, hedges and other plants to create a liquid which they brush onto the leaves of the plants about once a week. I could go on and on about this place because it is truly extraordinary, but I’ll stop here! J However, if I am fortunate to come back to Malawi ever again, I hope to work there!
I will post this at an internet café which charges usage per minute. The rate here is 5 Kwacha per minute. This equals out to be about 2 or 3 cents per minute—so inexpensive!! I am having so much fun here, at night time it is a little scary to me. Last night I woke up at about 3am and could not fall back asleep until 5am because of dogs barking. Our hotel here is not the safest, so I’ll be happy to travel onto Zomba in the morning.

More to come soon! I miss and love you all!
Beth

I'M HERE!

I'm here and safe!! I will try to tell you more tomorrow, but don't have time right now...

I MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL! :)
beth...

itinerary

Here is our group's itinerary for our trip...

June 21- Leave Dulles Airport on Ethiopian Airlines at 10:05 AM (Boeing 767)ET503. We will arrive in Addis Ababa on June 22 8:20 AM. Leave Addis Ababa on ET 873 at 9:30 AM (Ethiopia is 7 hours difference in time).
June 22- Leave Addis Ababa at 9:30 AM (Boeing 757) ET 873 on ET 873; arrive Lilongwe, at 12:05 p.m. Pick up at airport, transport to Budget Lodge(contact # 265-1-759 666 or email budgetlodge@gmail.com. We’re on daylight time, so there’s 6 hours difference in time. Some sightseeing in the capital city. Go to to see Budget Lodge
June 23- Freedom Gardens in the morning (a sustainable village setting—an experimental project). Lunch there. More sightseeing in the capital
June 24- Leave Lilongwe after breakfast; travel to Zomba. All transportation while in Malawi furnished by rented bus from Domasi College of Education. Stops at Dedza Pottery; paper making facility that makes art paper from elephant dung; other stops to see villages, etc. Arrive Annie’s Lodge by dark (contact no. for Annie’s Lodge 011 265 1 527 002) (email for Annie’s Lodge: annieslodge@globemw.net — an efficient, quick way to contact in an emergency)
June 25- Travel to Domasi for orientation to all schools’ location (Domasi Government School, Domasi Demonstration School, and Malemia Primary School) Classes at Malawi Institute of Education (MIE); (MIE contact is William Susuwele-Banda, who is deputy director and a former VT student: wsusuwel@vt.edu), a good way to contact anyone.
June 26- Go to school assignment in Domasi; (schools do not have telephones) classes in afternoon at MIE
June 27- Orientation to Zomba, walk around town, etc.
June 28- Annie’s Lodge, Zomba town, local church, study and class meeting
June 29 to July 3rd- Go to school assignment; classes at MIE and project work One day this week we will go to a village church for singing and dancing
July 4- Travel south to Mt. Mulanje; see tea plantations; hike on Mt. Mulanje, third highest mountain in Africa (not to the top!!) Check out Mt. Mulanje at www.mountmulanje.org.mw Return to Annie’s Lodge, on way visit other sights as time permits. This will be a long day!!
July 5- Study and rest, local church or town
July 6 - No school. Malawi Independence Day
July 7- Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 8- Travel to Mvuu Camp for safari; overnight at camp; river safari, afternoon and evening safari; all meals included (lunch on arrival, dinner included — pay for your drinks) (no contact number) Check out Mvuu at http://malawi.lodgesafari.com/Malawi_Safari_Lodge_Options-travel/malawi-lodges-mvuucamp-liwonde-park.html
July 9- Morning guided walk; leave after breakfast to return to Annie’s Lodge (Zomba). We’ll stop at wood carvers in Liwonde on the way
July 10- Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 11- Visit an orphanage
July 12- Study, rest, local church
July 13- Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 14- Go to school assignment; classes; Farewell Dinner for teachersand various dignitaries
July 15- Leave for Mangochi; visit a village; stay overnight at Club Makokola on Lake Malawi (contact no. cell: +265 (0)8 830077; ground: +265 (0))1 580244 Check out Club Mak at www.clubmak.com (dinner included and breakfast before departure); traditional dancing performed by local villagers To see some information on Lake Malawi check out www.clubmak.com/lakemalawi.htm
July 16- Leave after breakfast; visit Mua Mission (famous for museum quality carvings and visit the museum to learn about various tribal rituals; arrive at Budget Lodge in Lilongwe (contact no. 265+1759666)
July 17- Leave Lilongwe on Ethiopian Airlines ET872 at 1:05 p.m (Boeing 757). Arrive in Addis Ababa at 8:15 p.m. Take flight to Washington at 10:15 p.m. on ET500 (Boeing 767)
July 18 - Arrive Dulles at 7:55 AM

Pre- Departure

Six days! It is approaching to quickly... we have six days before we leave for Malawi, Africa!




I, along with 5 other students from Radford University and 1 advisor will fly 18 hours on Ethiopian Airlines to Addis, Ababa and then another 4 hours to Lilongwe, Malawi to experience a new place and new culture for one month! Along with Radford University, Virginia Tech and UNC will also be coming with us.



The picture above is our first group meeting back in January! It isn't everyone, but part of the group!



I will first arrive in Lilongwe (the capital) and then be staying in Zomba (South-West) at a place called Annie's Lodge. I plan on posting lots of pictures of where I stay, but you can look this up on their website for now, if you like...

http://www.annieslodge.co.mw/main_zomba.htm


I'm very excited, however beginning to get a little nervous. Last Friday the group from Radford and I went to the Malawi Embassy in Washington, D.C. It was a great way to finalize preparations before we depart! They gave us so much information and were so excited for us to experience their culture... I think they were a tad bid jealous we were going instead of them as well ;)

Here's a picture of the group who went with the Malawian Ambassador and employees of the embassy! These people help the country develop plans for development. They were so informative and helpful!

Left Front Row: Jennifer Jones, Thokozani Martha Chikuni, Kelsey Adams, Beth Dickey, (in English his name is Mr. Flowers) and Carolyn Gardner
Left Back Row: Ann Mary Roberts, Her Exellency ambassador Hawa Olga Ndilowe, DeAnna Hash.

I also began packing today as well. I am allowed to bring two 50 pound bags as well as a carry on. I didn't think I would need to bring this much, however after I started today I think it will be easier than first imagined. I will not need to bring many clothes (4 skirts, 7 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 1 pair of jeans, and a sweatshirt) however, small things (medicines, first aid, granola bars, baby wipes, etc.) seem to be filling up space fast. Any leftover space will be filled with donations for the people and children of Malawi.

While in Malawi, I will have limited e-mail access, and plan on updating this blog 2 or 3 times per week. So please feel free to e-mail me at eadickey@radford.edu or read my blog to follow my journey. THANK YOU so much to all those who helped me get to Malawi, I could never tell you how much it means to me!

Much Love,



Beth