Club Mak

Well time is ticking away and it's almost time to come home. What an awesome experience!! :)

We are currently at Club Makokola on Lake Malawi. This is a true vacation! I just finished watching the sunset into beautiful purple and blue skies. We are preparing for dinner and traditional dancing in about one hour. This place is the most "touristy" place in Malawi. I'm not allowed to swim in the lake because of "parasites" so I had to settle for a pool! I guess that will do for now!! We arrived here at about 1pm after touring a small village in Mangochi. We were greeted with fresh juice and then went to our rooms to put down our stuff. We all immediately changed into our swim suits and hit the beach!

The past few days have been very busy!! Yesterday was our last day in the schools and it was an emotional day for all. Saying goodbye to my kids was so hard. They were so great, and I'll miss them very much. After class the teachers held a goodbye meeting for us in the office. Everyone said tearful thank you's and shared experiences. After everyone who wanted spoke, they presented us with gifts. This was very unexpected and unnecessary. We all were so surprised and grateful... we each received a traditional chitenje... except Jeff of course! A chitenje is a long wrap skirt that most women in Africa wear. Our's are a teal blue color with large brown circles. I can't wait to wear mine at the beach!

I also wanted to share one day in Mr. Chitenje's class. Each day Mr. Chitenje and I agreed that I would teach a lesson on science and technology. Last Friday the lesson was on indegenous technologies. I brought in pipecleaners to allow the stuents to create a 3-D version of the techonolgy of their choice. They worked in groups to create 8 different technologies. (hoe, morter, bow and arrow, and my favorite... cell phone!) I cannot even begin to explain how excited these kids were. They had never seen a pipe cleaner, but I think they were even more blown away that they were allowed to do it by themselves. The sculptures turned out so amazing and I hung them up in the classroom. One thing that blew me away more than anything was when I brought the objects into the teacher's office. The teachers were astonished that the kids were able to make them by themself. Frankly, I don't think they did believe they made them. It was a big shock to me that these people had so little faith in the talents of their students. I truely think this simple lesson made a big impact on these kids, and I hope it boosted their confidence in their abilities quite a bit!

Tomorrow we will head to Lilongwe and then Friday we will fly home! We are all tired and worn out. I think everyone is a little tired of each other as well because there has been a little bickering... but I guess that is expected when 18 people have to spend so much time together with no break. I'm excited to go home, but will defienently miss Malawi!

Anyone who misses me... I really, really, really miss American food... especially Matt's Dad's ceasar salad ;) I would love other food as well! :)

Love, Beth

CAMP MVUU

On Wednesday we woke up early, had breakfast and loaded the bus at 8am. Charles picked us up and drove about two hours for camp Mvuu (Hippo camp)! The bus ride wasn’t too bad… to get there we drove for a few hours and then went down a 16km dirt road… which was very bumpy. We passed a lot of villages and at each the children would run to the bus yelling “money, money!”. I think these kids see a lot of tourists who give them money on the ride so begging is all they know.
When we arrived at Mvuu we loaded two boats and our guides took us on a mini tour of the river. We saw a lot of different animals… especially lots and lots of hippos! We arrived in camp, and let me tell you, it was not camping. We stayed in these beautiful cabin/tents. The whole camp was like a rustic resort, and it was gorgeous. When we got to our cabins I guess the monkeys were curious of who we were so they came over to check us out. I made the mistake of going behind the cabin alone. About 5 monkeys surrounded me and scared me half to death. I sprinted as fast as I could into the cabin and they tried to come in the door with me! (When I later asked the workers if they would ever hurt me they laughed hysterically… apparently monkeys just want to play!) They served us the best lunch we have had so far in Malawi and then we went on our safari. We rode in big suv’s with no sides. They had three rows of seats in the back and were able to sit about 12 people in each. This was so great. Within the first five minutes we spotted some elephants. The driver took us so close to them that one mock charged us twice, just to see if we would leave. Talk about having your heart racing!
After our safari we were invited to a campfire dinner where they cooked over a huge grill. Traditional dancers and drummers came and it was a lot of fun. In the morning we woke up at 5am for a morning walk and we then had a boat safari. The other boat got to see over 50 elephants right beside the water, but unfortunately my guide took us to a different place where there were no elephants. Mvuu was an awesome place and I hope one day i can go back!

Can you believe this time next week we will be landing in Dulles?! I sure can't! This has been such an awesome experience and I'm excited for my last week!

I hope all is going well at home! I miss you guys! Thanks for checking on me!

I love and miss you!
Beth

A few favorites from the past few days...

We haven’t been able to use the internet now for several days so sorry I haven’t updated my blog! Everything in Malawi is going well, yesterday was their Independence Day so there was no school. There were no celebrations in Zomba either which was weird after thinking about our celebration in the states!

I thought for this blog I would give you some of my favorite moments of the last few days…

*The day Mr. Chitenje did not come to school (he had to go retrieve his paycheck because it was a month late!!!! Crazy, huh?!) so I was left with 80 kids who barely speak English. The day turned out to be a lot of fun because we played a lot of games… duck duck goose, relay races, simon says, and sang a lot of songs too. They love “Head, shoulders, knees and toes!” You can see my class spread out throughout the school yard singing it.

*The day we painted the school’s blackboards. The teachers were so thankful and we had a lot of fun doing it! The same day, David and Chimwemwe finished the paintings on the walls of the school. They look so good and I think we have made a permanent difference!

*We stopped at a local market on the way home and a drunk old man tried to get on our bus. One of my fellow trip goers, James is a big african american man. He stood up with his walking stick he purchased at Mount Mulanje, and told the man to get off. The man jumped so fast and so far off the bus that he ran into a group of children! We all laughed for about 5 minutes because of this! :)

*The hike to Mount Mulanje. We did about an hour long hike to a huge waterfall. It was beautiful and peaceful. It reminded me a lot of Radford and hiking there. The views were AMAZING!

* On the way back fom Mount Mulanje we stopped to take pictres of some boys with "rats on a stick". The boys catch rats, cook them, and hold them on a long stick for people to buy. Just wait till you see the pictures!!

*The night Peter, Annie’s son threw us a party… he brought in a DJ and lights and we danced all night. It was so much fun!

*The night Todd was too scared to sleep in his room because there was a lizard in there they couldn’t get out, so he knocked on the window to wake Kelsey up and sleep on her floor and he broke the window. Oops!!

*Today Annie invited us to her house for lunch. It turned into dinner because Malawian time is always about 2 hours later. I played hide and go seek with Peter’s sons and fell in love with his 4 year old, Christian. :)

Also, here are some of my fellow trip goers blog sites… You might like to read their experiences as well!
My advisor, Ann
www.annmaryroberts.wordpress.com
My roommate, Kelsey
www.kkelsa.blogspot.com
Tech’s Advisor, Pat
www.malawistudyabroad.com
A tech student, Todd
www.toddmalawi.blogspot.com
A Radford student, Carolyn
www.utkelizabeth.blogspot.com
A tech student, DeAnna
www.hacklerhash.blogspot.com


I can’t believe there are only 11 days left... the trip is flying by but has been so wonderful. On Wednesday we are going on our overnight safari and everyone is very excited! I’m also sad because we only have 4 days left in the schools, and that has been my favorite part of the trip!

I’ll try to update again soon! I love and miss you all!
Beth

July 1st!

Today was so great! We decided to paint some drawings of various things on the walls of our school (shapes, maps, animals, etc.) and we started today! I am so excited! They look soooooo good! The teachers also requested for us to put the names of the subjects on the walls… mathematics, bible study, Chichewa, English, etc. We hired two men from town who are professional painters and are doing such a great job!! I can’t wait to show pictures. (Anyone who gave me money… I want you to know you are helping with this project as well!) DeAnna and Carolynn (fellow trip goers) decided they wanted to get 300 blankets/ponchos made for the children as well. (Money will be going for this project as well). In Malawi it is their “winter” months, and it is pretty chilly. Today was about 60 degrees and the nights get down in the 40’s. The children are so cold at school, so I can only imagine what night time is like for them.

Today was my second day I tought at Malemia Primary School. Mr. Chitenje, my teacher has asked me to teach science and technology. The government issued books (paperback 100 page books) so I am teaching from it. I am teaching a unit of food and nutrition. I think the children are enjoying it. I teach in standard 5 (grade 5). Mr. Chitenje has been teaching over 50 years and is a very wise and respected man. The kids love him! He gets them so excited about learning and he is over 70 years old! I hope I’m as great as a teacher someday as he is…

While I am here I am working on my Capstone project for the honor’s academy of RU. I decided to do it on Special Education. Today I interviewed the first special education teacher to come to this area. He just came 3 days ago… talk about Devine intervention! We talked for TWO HOURS and are planning to talk again on Friday. He is so smart and such a great person. I am so impressed with his education. Unfortunately the people of Malawi are not as educated as him when it comes to special education (but I guess the same is true for the US).

We saw about 20 monkeys yesterday!! They were so brave they would even take food right out of our hands… but we were advised not to do that in case they bite. Some of them have babies and they are so cute. They live right here at Annie’s Lodge so now that they see we won’t hurt them I bet they will come around a lot more often.

Thanks for reading this! We’ve had very very limited email/ internet access but I love to receive emails!
Love, Beth

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