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!