Extending

Maybe my mom’s already told you, or maybe you know me pretty well and have known since the beginning, I am extending my contract to stay in Malawi for an additional 6 or 7 months. This means I’ll be leaving Malawi sometime in June or July. The school calendar has changed and if I go home in December, as originally planned, I’ll have taught only one out of three terms for the school year. I’d rather just finish the year entirely, meaning I’ll be on my way home at the end of the school year around July. Additionally, I have lots of projects going on that I’d like to continue monitoring and working on with my school and community. My girls club has several ideas for income-generating activities, medicinal herb gardens, etc; now I’ll have time to help them figure that out. With all of my classes and busy schedule I haven’t had much time to spend on our new computer lab, but since I’ll be around next year I’ll be formally teaching computer studies classes to our top-performing students, maybe even extending these services into the community. My school has also been mobilising the community for another building project, the construction of a large building to house two teachers and their families. I’m hoping to raise a lot of this money from home, but much of it has already come from local leaders, parents and community members here at Gwangwa. More on that later. In short, it makes sense for me to stay. I’m happy and working well with my friends and family here, but don’t worry I’ll be home sooner than you think.

Since I’m staying I’ve decided to be a bit more forward on the things that I need and have found an overwhelmingly positive response from my school and headteacher. For instance, within the last few weeks I have had my house completely painted; new locks and door handles have also been installed on each one of my doors. These are things that aren’t terribly important, but they make my house seem that much more like a home.

As for the people in my Peace Corps group, who I love and have been serving the past 22 months with, several of them will be heading back to the states in September, a handful are there already, a few will make their way home in December and about three will be extending and keeping me company over the next year.

Please keep the emails and letters coming.
Love and Good Thoughts,
Kelly