November already! Hard to believe! Here are a few mid-month updates:
School: Things are moving along as usual, we have about two more weeks of teaching this term, followed by a week of examinations. This term I have been teaching all four levels of Biology and Physical Science and have introduced Computer Studies to the upper-level courses as well. This is not to say I'm teaching 150 kids how to use a computer, but I am teaching them the basics, history of and uses of a computer so that I an give them an exam at the end of the term and determine who actually gets to do practical work. As usual, my students are working just as hard as I am, which makes it hard to complain about my work load. Tomorrow we have a football and netball match in Ntchisi Boma, it should be the final one of the term, I'll try to take some pictures!
Home: I have a new addition to my cozy little house, I was given a small kitten in order to combat my compounding rat problem. She's soooo tiny and quite adorable. I've never had a cat before, but I sure do love Mbirizi. Her name is a Chichewa word that can be translated into Champion.
Teacher Housing Project: Things are under way for this project which aims to bring two new teachers two Gwangwa by providing them with housing. Local leaders are continuing to bring their contributions and all of the bricks have been collected. I'm trying to raise funds for this project from back home and have recently started sending letters to local businesses and organizations back in my home town and surrounding area. If you have any ideas about where letters can be sent or would like to make a donation to the project, please email me or go to the link below. All donations are made to the US Peace Corps and are completely tax deductible. Updates to follow!!
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=614-223
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Pictures
Terence, Bryan and I welcoming Jen and Kris's friends at the airport!
The students I brought to Camp Sky, at the Malawi Parliament Building: Telinah, Rosemary and Ackson. 
Campers and counsellors at Camp GLOW
Singing and dancing with the girls, following Camp GLOW's motto "I'm gonna stand! I'm gonna soar! We are women hear us roar!!"
Camp GLOW included lots of classroom and outdoor activities.
So much singing and dancing!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Gwangwa Housing Project
One of the biggest problems at my school is having very few teachers. It’s really unfortunate that my kids don’t get the educations they want and deserve simply because of a lack of someone to teach them. Currently, we are 8 teachers against nearly 400 students. What’s more is that two of my teachers are learning at Domasi Teacher’s Training College in Zomba which is wonderful for them to become better teachers, but not helpful to our current students who miss them periodically as they go for classes and exams throughout the year. For instance, they’ll be leaving at the beginning of next week and will not return until next term. That’s ten weeks of having only 6 teachers at Gwangwa!
In response to this problem, my community has come up with a pretty good solution. The same group of local chiefs, parents, PTA members and teachers who worked on our kitchen project have proposed that we undergo a large construction project to build housing for at least two new teachers and their families. The idea is to build nice, strong, attractive homes in order to entice teachers to come live in the village and work at Gwangwa. The problem is that most people graduating from teaching college would rather live somewhere with electricitly and running water than in the middle of nowhere without. We are confident, however, that once these houses are built the ministry of education will answer our prayers and send the teachers we so desperately need.
We have already started work on the house. The foundation has been built and bricks have as well been collected. The funds for this came from donations by local leaders including chiefs and village headmen as well as contributions by the parents of nearly all students. A portion of the money obtained from school fees has been used as well. We are working to get this project done, but still need a lot more help.
I have decided to raise a portion of the project costs from people back home. It’s a pretty big goal, but I hope that we’ll be able to find the help we need. If you are interested in personally donating or know of a group or organization who would be interested in raising funds please check out the link below.
All donations will be processed through Peace Corps and are tax-deductible.
Please contact me if you’d like more information on the project including letters or flyers or if you are interested in learning more about anything I am working on in Malawi.
I will keep you posted as the project continues!
In response to this problem, my community has come up with a pretty good solution. The same group of local chiefs, parents, PTA members and teachers who worked on our kitchen project have proposed that we undergo a large construction project to build housing for at least two new teachers and their families. The idea is to build nice, strong, attractive homes in order to entice teachers to come live in the village and work at Gwangwa. The problem is that most people graduating from teaching college would rather live somewhere with electricitly and running water than in the middle of nowhere without. We are confident, however, that once these houses are built the ministry of education will answer our prayers and send the teachers we so desperately need.
We have already started work on the house. The foundation has been built and bricks have as well been collected. The funds for this came from donations by local leaders including chiefs and village headmen as well as contributions by the parents of nearly all students. A portion of the money obtained from school fees has been used as well. We are working to get this project done, but still need a lot more help.
I have decided to raise a portion of the project costs from people back home. It’s a pretty big goal, but I hope that we’ll be able to find the help we need. If you are interested in personally donating or know of a group or organization who would be interested in raising funds please check out the link below.
All donations will be processed through Peace Corps and are tax-deductible.
Please contact me if you’d like more information on the project including letters or flyers or if you are interested in learning more about anything I am working on in Malawi.
I will keep you posted as the project continues!
Back to School
Believe it or not, I have just started my third year teaching at Gwangwa CDSS. I’m looking forward to another interesting, at times challenging and definitely always rewarding third school year. My course load this term includes all four forms of Physical Science (freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior) as well as Form Two and Four Biology (sophomore and senior). In the afternoons I am also going to be teaching computer studies to our best and brightest Form Twos, Threes and Fours. Though three weeks into the year, we haven’t started this yet as we are working out some kinks with our generator and I am focusing on more computer training for my fellow teachers. We’ll be starting student computer lessons in October and I cannot wait.
My other responsibilities remain the same, being in charge of the laboratory, assisting my friend Mr. Kasiya with the library and computer lab, serving as boarding matron, sportsmistress and running Debate, Science and Girls Clubs. I’m stoked about starting science club up again, last year’s crazy shortened school year forced me to forget about it more often than not. What’s really cool is that it’s been at the request of my Form Fours who loved it as Form Twos, that we start it back up again.
Here’s to another year!
My other responsibilities remain the same, being in charge of the laboratory, assisting my friend Mr. Kasiya with the library and computer lab, serving as boarding matron, sportsmistress and running Debate, Science and Girls Clubs. I’m stoked about starting science club up again, last year’s crazy shortened school year forced me to forget about it more often than not. What’s really cool is that it’s been at the request of my Form Fours who loved it as Form Twos, that we start it back up again.
Here’s to another year!
Camps, Camps and More Camps
Maybe it’s an exaggeration, but I feel as if I’m always preparing for or coming back from some kind of camp for secondary school kids. This is must be because these camps have provided for some of my most rewarding and memorable experiences in Malawi. I love being a part of something that makes such a noticeable difference in the lives of kids here. The school year ended the first week in August and just started back up again on September 6th. In that four week span, I definitely kept myself busy, especially by working at both Camp GLOW and Camp Sky.
This was my first experience with Camp GLOW, Girls Leading Our World, a female empowerment camp put on by volunteers in countries throughout the world. I had sent students to this same camp last year and after noticing what a huge impact it had on them, I really wanted to help and share in the experience during this year’s camp. Nearly sixty or so Malawian high school aged girls were brought to a conference center, coincidentally at my closest major trading center, for a week where they were encouraged to stand up for themselves, their bodies and their futures. This included tons of guest speakers, influential Malawian women including the Malawian Vice President, Joyce Banda and a wide variety of other inspiring role models for the girls. They also attended a variety of classes and activities including those related to sexual health, the environment, self-esteem, women’s history, small business skills, community action, etc. I participated in the camp as a counsellor which meant that I along with my Malawian counterpart, a young nurse, were in charge of a group of about 11 girls for the week. The best part for me about this was our evening “pillow talk” sessions where we created a safe space for these girls to talk and express their feelings about the day’s lessons and whatever else was on their minds. Or course I also spent a lot of time singing and dancing and working with other counsellors to keep the girls energetic throughout the day and co-facilitated a few classes as well including Peer Education, Small Business Skills and Public Speaking.
Camp GLOW was a powerful experience for campers and counsellors alike. Here are a few pictures from the week!
Just a few days after Camp GLOW, it was time to travel a bit further north to Kasungu District for this year’s Camp Sky. I was really glad to be involved with the camp again this year and also really proud of all of the first year volunteers who worked hard to plan a very successful camp. The students had a great time and not only benefited from the lessons they received in the classroom but from extra-curricular activities as well. For my part, most of my work revolved around biology including teaching classes on plants and photosynthesis, helping with a goat dissection, teaching dichotomous keys and assisting in the sustainable agriculture class where the students learned about planting trees, permaculture and composting. Other than that I was of course busy lending a hand wherever I could, talking to students from schools throughout the country during meals and of course dancing at the disco on the last night. The core classes of Sky focused on math, physical science, biology and English. This year’s extracurricular activities, however, were even broader than last year’s and definitely enjoyed by students and teachers. The activities included: drama, sewing, agriculture, cooking, mud-stove making, business training, sports, poetry and many others as well as a field trip to the airport and Malawi Parliament.
My students benefited greatly from this year’s camp. Telinah, the girl whom I brought, has been so much louder, more confident and eager to participate in class since her experience. Ackson, the boy, wants me to “practice gender equality madam” and start a boy’s club to compliment our Gwangwa Girl’s Club here at school. A third student, Rosemary, participated as Junior Counselor; as always she did a great job motivating her friends and learned so much from her interactions with other students and teachers at camp. The camp has a second component called Teach Sky, at which Malawian teachers from CDSS’s come for training as well. This year I sent Mr. Gama, one of the teachers from my school and he has not stopped raving about all that he learned. He’s also passed on a lot of the materials and knowledge to our fellow teachers which means the camp is reaching even more people than anticipated.
Here are some pictures from Camp Sky 2010!
This was my first experience with Camp GLOW, Girls Leading Our World, a female empowerment camp put on by volunteers in countries throughout the world. I had sent students to this same camp last year and after noticing what a huge impact it had on them, I really wanted to help and share in the experience during this year’s camp. Nearly sixty or so Malawian high school aged girls were brought to a conference center, coincidentally at my closest major trading center, for a week where they were encouraged to stand up for themselves, their bodies and their futures. This included tons of guest speakers, influential Malawian women including the Malawian Vice President, Joyce Banda and a wide variety of other inspiring role models for the girls. They also attended a variety of classes and activities including those related to sexual health, the environment, self-esteem, women’s history, small business skills, community action, etc. I participated in the camp as a counsellor which meant that I along with my Malawian counterpart, a young nurse, were in charge of a group of about 11 girls for the week. The best part for me about this was our evening “pillow talk” sessions where we created a safe space for these girls to talk and express their feelings about the day’s lessons and whatever else was on their minds. Or course I also spent a lot of time singing and dancing and working with other counsellors to keep the girls energetic throughout the day and co-facilitated a few classes as well including Peer Education, Small Business Skills and Public Speaking.
Camp GLOW was a powerful experience for campers and counsellors alike. Here are a few pictures from the week!
Just a few days after Camp GLOW, it was time to travel a bit further north to Kasungu District for this year’s Camp Sky. I was really glad to be involved with the camp again this year and also really proud of all of the first year volunteers who worked hard to plan a very successful camp. The students had a great time and not only benefited from the lessons they received in the classroom but from extra-curricular activities as well. For my part, most of my work revolved around biology including teaching classes on plants and photosynthesis, helping with a goat dissection, teaching dichotomous keys and assisting in the sustainable agriculture class where the students learned about planting trees, permaculture and composting. Other than that I was of course busy lending a hand wherever I could, talking to students from schools throughout the country during meals and of course dancing at the disco on the last night. The core classes of Sky focused on math, physical science, biology and English. This year’s extracurricular activities, however, were even broader than last year’s and definitely enjoyed by students and teachers. The activities included: drama, sewing, agriculture, cooking, mud-stove making, business training, sports, poetry and many others as well as a field trip to the airport and Malawi Parliament.
My students benefited greatly from this year’s camp. Telinah, the girl whom I brought, has been so much louder, more confident and eager to participate in class since her experience. Ackson, the boy, wants me to “practice gender equality madam” and start a boy’s club to compliment our Gwangwa Girl’s Club here at school. A third student, Rosemary, participated as Junior Counselor; as always she did a great job motivating her friends and learned so much from her interactions with other students and teachers at camp. The camp has a second component called Teach Sky, at which Malawian teachers from CDSS’s come for training as well. This year I sent Mr. Gama, one of the teachers from my school and he has not stopped raving about all that he learned. He’s also passed on a lot of the materials and knowledge to our fellow teachers which means the camp is reaching even more people than anticipated.
Here are some pictures from Camp Sky 2010!
Friday, August 6, 2010
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
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
Graduation
It’s that time of year again, only this time I have to say goodbye to my beloved Form Fours. I’ve certainly taught them the most classes since I’ve been here including terms of English, Biology, Physical Science and Life Skills. I have watched them improve significantly over the past two years and am so proud of them for the good work they have done both in the classroom and in all of the various school activities they have made possible with their participation. Here are some pictures from the big day!
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