Our First Week

Muli Bwanji and greetings from Blantyre!

We arrived yesterday evening from Zomba and the Mtogolo Village community. As we drove down the dirt road to the children's center for the first time we heard a little girl yell "Azungu! Azungu!" At that, all of us, including Mrs. Kalinga and her nephew Kwame, burst out laughing. Azungu means white people in Chichewa. Children ran after our car waving and screaming, and we got many stares from the village people.

Our first day at the Mtogolo Village project was mainly an orientation, and gave us time to familiarize ourselves with the children. They are all absolutely adorable! When we first pulled up, all the kids ran outside of the classroom laughing, waving, and of course "azungu-ing," at us. But, when we stepped out of the car and approached some of them to say hello, they were very shy, and somewhat taken aback. Eventually, though, they warmed up to us. Because the teachers couldn't get the students back in the classroom, they decided it was a good time to walk over to the clinic, which they do weekly. At the clinic, young mothers and babies joined the teachers and children to listen to a talk about "family planning." Thomas, or "Thom" for short, the leader of the Youth Group and helper at the nursery, explained to us that this is one of the ways the try to raise HIV/AIDS awareness. They explained that a family is not merely a man and a woman having a child, but making sure that it is planned, and that the father remains part of the family in order to support his wife and child. They stress joint effort when it comes to parenting.

After the talk, they weighed the children, which we both found an amusing process. They put the babies in a burlap sack with holes for legs, and hang them from a scale on a tree. It was a very chaotic process; children flocked to the scale as teachers yelled out numbers for some of the other helpers to record.

It was hard to communicate with the children because many of the helpers didn't speak very much English, and neither did the children. Our main ice breaker was the camera. We would take pictures of the children and then show them on our digital camera screens, and they all went nuts!!! They rammed each other down to get in the pictures and flocked us constantly. It was madness. Besides the cameras, though, they also loved the toys we brought. We were told to give out the toys in moderation and plan what we wanted to do with different supplies each day. On the first day, we gave out bubbles, big balloons, and kick balls. All were a huge hit. It was also very frustrating for Renee, because apparently, that is a very difficult name to pronounce. The children all remember Sarina's name perfectly, and are often heard yelling "Sarina! Sarina" throughout the day, but you would never here a "Renee!" We have heard many variations on that name, and none seem to be correct.

On the second morning, we arrived in time to see the children sing the national anthem. They were given little Malawian flags to hold, and stood in 2 single file lines, marching and chanting. That day we gave our first lessons. It was hard to gist what level the children were at. There are two classrooms in the nursery building; one for children between the ages of 2 and 3, and the other for children 3-5 years old. The younger children knew almost nothing, while the older children knew more than we expected. We taught the younger children shapes. We would draw a shape on the board, say the name out loud, along with how many sides it has. We would ask them to repeat the name, and then they were each given paper and markers. We went around helping each child draw the shape, and then showed them how to make the shape with their hands. It was a fun lesson, and we think that the children learned from it. However, it is always hard to tell if they retain what we teach them after the class.

We had noticed from the first day that the older children tended to be pushy and often bullied each other. When asking to use bubbles or kick balls, they just said "Give me bottle!" and pushed through grabbing at things. We decided that it would be good to do a lesson on manners. We first wrote Please, Thank You, Sorry, and Excuse Me on the board. We would go through each word, saying it out loud and asking the children to repeat it, and then we would demonstrate a scenario in which that word would be appropriate. Then, two at a time, children would be called up to reenact the scene, using the polite words. At the end of the lesson, we treated the children to candy, but in order to get the candy, they had to put the lesson to use. We would say, "Would you like a piece of candy?" the children would respond with "Please," and after receiving the candy they would say, "Thank you." The lesson was a success, but it was hard to get them to use the words outside of the classroom. We plan on working on that some more.

On the third day, we taught the younger kids how to say different body parts in English. We thought it appropriate to sing "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes," which the kids, and teachers, really enjoyed. With the older kids, we decided to do a story telling day. Each of us read a book in English to the class, and Thom helped us translate. In the afternoon that day, instead of having our typical discussion, the youth group led us up the nearby mountain (not all the way up... we would not have survived) to see the view of the nearby lake and the surrounding town. It was absolutely beautiful, and amazing to see how the little kids could run up the mountain fearlessly, while barefoot.

After working in the mornings, we go to Mrs. Kalinga's mother's house, which is a quick drive away from the village. Though her house now has electricity and running water, she still prefers to cook just as she did in the village. There is a small smoke room with fire wood and coal, and she often sits in there cooking chicken or stew. She is very sweet and frail, but she is always there to lend a hand.

We then return to the village and work with the youth program. The purpose of the youth outreach program is to spread awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS, as well as promote a sense of volunteering and an ambition for higher education. They often discuss and play games, because they tell us that this keeps them from becoming involved in other temptations, such as drugs, sex, or more. Most of them don't have hopes of ever leaving the village for college or jobs, so we want to boost their confidence, and help show them that if they work hard and study it will pay off in the end. We feel, however, that we want to take it further than just discussing these issues. We hope to come up with a program that will allow them to put their ideas into practice, and hopefully, be more effective. We want to leave them with a program that they can continue when we return home. We will, of course, keep you all updated with the developments of the Youth Outreach Program!

Another brief highlight of our first few days was on the 1-2 hour drive home from Zomba to Blantyre, we got to sit in the back of the pick up truck. It really allowed us to appreciate the beautiful landscape, as well as interact with the people that we drove by. We also heard a lot more "Azungu!"s.

Well, we hope you enjoyed this not-so-brief update, and we will write again soon. We look forward to our next week working with the children!

Pitani bwino and bye for now,

Sarina and Renee