A month in Malawi

I am SO crap at blogging! Can't believe it's August already and my last blog was April!
I'm ignoring the fact that we've had May and June and going straight into a photo diary of July, it's been such a hectic month I've kind of forgotten anything that went before.

July started with an open day at one of the schools in my district, Biwi primary school. The idea is to raise awareness of the project and gives a chance for the learners to show off their achievements. Lots of singing and dancing, drama and demonstration sessions in the learning centre.

Standard 7 learners performance - I don't know what they were singing but it looked good!

Yesani (our project manager) doing a great job of thanking everyone and generally selling the project

Standard 2 learners demonstrating a oneclass session with cardboard ipads and headsets

Sithembile, the fantastic learning centre coordinator, demonstrating a real oneclass session for the parents 

A great way to start the month followed by a few days of routine school monitoring, office stuff and a little bit of chitenje shopping in the market with the engineers.

Mama Africa! Modelling my new chitenje

Posing with Sophie and Danielle (project engineers) in my back garden

Then on the road to the south to train lecturers at Blantyre Teacher training College and hold an awareness meeting in Liwonde. We are training lecturers at 5 TTCs so that they can train their student teachers before they go on teaching practice. Blantyre was my first lecturer training.

Going through Ncheu on the way to Blantyre. This road forms the border to Mozambique, on the left Malawi, on the right Mozambique! This is cool for someone who comes from a country of no land borders.

I think this is the school where we did the training, I'm not totally sure but if it wasn't it would have been very much like this! You can see the learning centre on the left under the tree.

Group photo of all the lecturers and Yesani in the learning centre

It was a five hour drive to Blantyre and then we went straight into training so I was very happy when we got to the place we were staying and this was my room. What an awesome bed!!

We have had a few problems with security so the next morning we went round all the Unlocking Talent schools in Blantyre to deliver alarm locks for the cabinets. This is Yesani demonstrating how they work, they sound a bit like a rape alarm, quite loud.

After completing the training in the afternoon we left Blantyre the next day for Liwonde. 17 iPads were stolen from one of the schools in Liwonde which was a blow to the project because previously theft had only been solar panels or batteries. If stolen iPads could be unlocked and sold on we would have a big security problem so we wanted to do everything we could to recover them. Someone must have known something about the theft so we were holding an awareness meeting with all the important members of the community to encourage them to support us. I say 'we', awareness meetings are held in Chichewa so basically Yesani does all the work and I just sit there and smile like a numpty - I'm good at that!

The reception committee at Liwonde school - I got told off for attracting too much attention - that's what you get for traveling with a mzungu!

Liwonde town, this photo got taken because Regina and I spent a long time sat outside the bank looking at this view waiting to be rescued because the car wouldn't start! That's another story!

Back home for a few days, long enough to see a football match (I did take photos but they weren't good), drink a few Kuche Kuches with Sean (nobody wants to see photos of that) and then off again. This time north with Chisomo (very clever technical person of the project) to Karonga for more lecturer training for me and technical training of learning centre coordinators and government people for him.

Karonga TTC lecturers observing a oneclass session in action

Happy to be finished, time for a little photo shoot on the beach

Such a poser!

Even bigger poser!

The journey from Karonga to Lilongwe is a long one, about 8 hours drive (car - bus much longer) but if you set out on a shopping tour of Malawi it can be even longer. It took us 12 hours to get back on the scenic route, arriving with rice, charcoal, fish, tomatoes all from the best places to buy them, so I'm told. Needless to say I didn't buy anything but it was a lot of fun with my very own personal tour guide!

The view driving up from Karonga on the coast through the mountains

Chisomo buying charcoal by the side of the road. Mats of maize drying in the sun, I asked Chisomo what the gravel was for and he looked at me like I'd lost the plot and said that's maize!

Further along the road I think this is where we stopped to give someone some shoes - like you do!

Near Salima, getting dark by now but we have to get some fish. This photo is a bit crap because I was trying to be inconspicuous! You can't get a good price for fish if you have a mzungu in the car - my bad again ;)

Back in Lilongwe Saturday night in time for Sophie's pie day on Sunday. I really should have taken pie photos but I didn't. It was a special treat for all those from the UK who are quite partial to pie and don't have an oven, very much appreciated.
Back to work on Monday and time to pay some attention to my own district. First with a district steering committee and then lecturer training at Lilongwe teacher training college.
The district steering committee is made up of learning centre coordinators, Head teachers, PEAs (Primary Education Advisors), someone from the district council and the DEM (District Education Manager). The purpose is to encourage ownership of the project by the schools, district education office and ultimately the Ministry of Education.

One of the head teachers presenting the outcome of a group discussion on challenges and solutions in Lilongwe Urban. 

A rare photo of me doing some work! Training the Lilongwe TTC lecturers, Miriam is the other volunteer in the centre and the other Mzungu on the left is a German spy!!!!

Ha ha obviously she is not really a spy but she was a bit odd, she's a volunteer from GIZ who is based in the TTC and wanted to see what the training was all about.
To finish up the month of July we have a little bit of Lilongwe nightlife, out with the young people (and Mike!) not acting my age at all - well there's a surprise ;)

Group selfie of course, from left, Mike, Sophie and Matt

Great live music

And we started the month with some dancing so why not finish with some!

Well that was a mammoth mission! Hope that covers me for a while!

Thanks for reading and lots of love to everyone xxx

I’ve got a bike you can ride it if you like

Ironically I do not have a bike of any sort and more importantly I still do not have a motorbike. Last week was supposed to be the week I started motorbike training. Previously I had been waiting for other volunteers to arrive and then when they did I became spectacularly sick and couldn’t participate but this week was finally going to be it. I did indeed start. On Monday I had an eye test and sat in the road traffic office waiting for other people to do various parts of their licences and that was that, the total action for the week.

Maybe next week…

But that wasn’t really the reason for the title. I wanted to just give a few examples of how bicycles are put to use as a means of transport to carry anything and everything from people to chickens to eggs to maize to charcoal, literally anything. I have seen some incredible loads and as always the best examples have been when I was unable to photograph but still here are a few I did capture.

 

One of my neighbours off to sell charcoal

Scrambled eggs 

Maize

Staying with the transport theme for a while, not having independent transport yet led me to making the poor decision to try and use public transport to get to some of the places I need to go to do my job.

Many countries around the world operate a minibus system to move people around; in Peru they are called combis, in PNG they are called PMVs and in Malawi just minibuses.

As well as monitoring 7 schools I also work in two offices, the VSO Malawi country office and the Lilongwe district education office. The two offices are both about 45/50 minutes walk from where I live in opposite directions hence I generally don’t go to both in a day however one adventurous day last week I somehow thought it would be a good idea to try doing it by minibus.

Well I had seen buses passing on the main road at the end of my street with the conductors hanging out the doors shouting ‘town, town, town!’ so I knew I could hail one of those and get into town. What I hadn’t predicted was the amount of time it might take, we went off road down every track and alley we came across looking for possible passengers and in the end I think it would have been quicker to walk and possibly even less sweaty!

Finally arriving in ‘town’ I was dead sure I knew how to walk to the education office, straight on to the bank, left, first right, easy. But it wasn’t there! They must have moved it! After being sent on several wild goose chases and walking round and round in circles I gave up and sat down with an ice cream to contemplate my next move.

Re-energised I decide it can’t be that hard to get a minibus to the VSO office from town. It wasn’t hard to find the mass of minibuses accumulating close to where I had arrived so knowing I wanted to get to area 10 and knowing the area 12 and the area 25 buses both went within 1km I tried my luck.

A helpful man in a high visibility jacket asked me where I wanted to go so I told him and he urged me to follow him but at that moment I spotted a number 25 bus so I said it’s ok thanks this is the one I need.

Then there was a melee of shouting. Two men who’d jumped off the bus were shouting at me to get on, the high visibility jacket man was shouting at me not to get on and a couple of well meaning passers by were trying to ‘help’ by repeating what the others were saying at an even higher volume. Not seeing any other option I then shouted at everyone else to stop shouting and got on the bus. This made Mr High Viz very irate announcing, ‘what you are doing is illegal! We have laws in this country you know!’

The bus driver was gleeful, either because I was now sat next to him in the front of the bus like his prize possession or because he had got one over on Mr High Viz, I couldn’t work out which. More importantly I discovered he did know the supermarket close to the VSO office in area 10 and could tell me where to get off the bus and in which direction to walk once I had done so.

So to get to the end of this rambling, long-winded account, I arrived at the VSO office at 1.00 p.m. having left my house at 9.00 a.m. and therefore proving it was a very poor decision to try and use public transport!

More next week

Zikomo

Papa Kate

Keep taking the pills

Breakfast

Well I woke up this morning so happy I could let my wind go freely!

It’s only blog 2 and I’m already late but I have a reasonable excuse, I don’t think Africa likes me.

The week before last I wasn’t feeling to great, weak, dizzy, wobbly, I had to look at my feet to make sure they were doing what my brain said. Eventually I went to the clinic and was diagnosed with Malaria, a mild case apparently because I am taking malaria prophylaxis. So I stay home (mostly), take the pills and by the end of the week I’m good to go.

Two days feeling good and then something’s not right with the digestion. I ignore it as you do, it’ll pass, but then after 24 hours going from bed to bathroom with crippling cramps I felt ridiculously weak, so heavy I thought I would go through the mattress and find myself in a pool on the floor, unable to rise like Mrs Twit with the dreaded shrinks.

Back to the clinic. Blood pressure very low, 80/52 (means nothing to me but apparently not good) the doctor puts me on an IV drip to rehydrate. Blood tests reveal an intestinal bacterial infection so antibiotics now go through the drip too.

About an hour blood pressure has risen to a satisfactory level and I’m allowed to go home with a bag full of pills.

That was Sunday, it’s now Tuesday, it’s mid day and I haven’t been to the bathroom since about 7.00 a.m., I’ve been awake all morning, pottering about and writing my blog! This is a happy day J

Just before I finish sharing the unfortunate state of my health I would like to say that the medical treatment I have received from the Malawian doctors and nurses has been marvellous (apart from perhaps the mosquitos on the ward) and the support from my VSO colleagues in people driving me, arranging taxis and checking I’m ok has also been great. I’m being very well looked after.

In between sicknesses I have managed to do a bit of this and that on the work and social front.

I went to support Sean, my neighbour and fellow VSO volunteer, deliver training for teachers at one of his schools. 

Teachers get to grips with the ipads in the learning centre.

This is the school in an idyllic rural setting about 40km outside the main city. Most people live off the land here and ox and cart is a common sight.

I thought it might be interesting to take some shots along the way to give an idea of general Malawi life.

The men at the front of this picture are waiting for customers with their bicycle taxis. It's a common form of transport but I can't quite bring myself to have someone cycling me up and down the Lilongwe hills.

There is not a lot of street food here but a popular delicacy is inside the plastic tub the person on the right of this picture is carrying. I forget what they are called but they're just like our doughnuts without the jam and sugar. They sell for around 100 Kwacha which is about 11p

I love the signposts and the school bell on this tree.

Grade 8 exams taken at the end of primary school are national exams and as many children do not go any further with their education, if indeed they get this far, they are taken very seriously. You wouldn’t want to be caught cheating!

I already posted this photo on Facebook but I think it deserves a second airing. This is a year 1 class of 240 children at Nkukulu primary school where we will be opening a learning centre next week. In the classroom they have absolutely nothing except a chalkboard and the displays, nearly all learning is done by rote. The teacher is incredible, she stands in front of the class and speaks and all sets of eyes follow her, the chorus response from the children appears to be unanimous. I have no idea what they are saying of course - I am trying to learn Chichewa but it’s a slow process.

This experience gives me faith in the project. Even if the only thing that comes out of it is that children get an individual learning experience for half an hour a week then I think it’s worth it. Obviously I want to think that greater outcomes will be achieved but as of yet I don’t know, I need more time (and better health) to decide what I think.

If you’d like to know more about the project as a whole follow the link;

https://www.vsointernational.org/fighting-poverty/improving-education/accelerating-learning-through-tablet-technology

Dancing chiefs

Not the best photo but it does have Yesani in it! (In the African type shirt)

Lastly for now I had the opportunity to experience a bit of Malawian tradition. Yesani, the project manager whom I’m working with, invited us to his cousin’s engagement party. It was quite an event about 200 people in the gardens of the house belonging to an ex Miss Malawi who was one of the relatives on the woman’s side. There was a marquee with seats for guests and then a smaller marquee in front for the couple and what I assume to be the equivalent of a best man and woman kind of thing.

Loud music and a master of ceremonies invited people to come up to the smaller marquee dancing and throwing money into the air which was then collected in dustbin lids. When they had thrown all their money people sat down again and a different group of people would advance. This continued to happen intermittently throughout the afternoon interspersed with other traditions such as swapping live chickens from one family to the other and the breaking in half and distributing of a cooked chicken.

People then paraded gifts and laid them in front of the couple, these included various items that would be needed to set up home, cups, plates, axe, mat, bucket etc.

The highlight of the proceedings was the man giving the woman the engagement ring.

Apparently it is common for people to get engaged and live together for many years before getting married. After such a grand reception I couldn’t help but thinking what if they change their minds!

Well that’s all for now, let’s see what the next fortnight brings

Zikomo

Papa Kate