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