It has come to my attention that some of you are disappointed in the use of the Itatu website for updates about my work here in Malawi. I have been told that some of you thought the posts were inteneded only for news of the orphans. I assumed that many of you would enjoy learning of what life is like for a “mzungu” here in Malawi. I assumed that would give you a better picture of where your donations have gone.
I have been asked if I have planted crops and built a building. For those who’ve been following my journey since the beginning you will recall that my previous manager was a thief and the day care was close to closing. As a result, I hired a new team to manage things. They are working hard to set things right. The previous manager left me with no option but to buy maize and beans for the year as planting is expensive. I have not planted crops, bought livestock or built any structures as of yet. I am being cautious about what I do with the money you have so generously donated.
I have been in Malawi for only two weeks. The day care is about a two hour drive from this city. As of yet I’ve not seen the children but I’ve spoken frequently to Azikiwe and I am confident that all is well.
Selfishly, I’ve spent these last two weeks trying to learn a new city, a new language, a new curriculum and a new way of life. I’ve been adjusting slowly and I apologize to those who feel I have not been forth coming with information about the orphans.
Thank you for reading,
Jennifer
Today was a bad day at school. The children were no less impulsive than yesterday. They cannot even follow simple instructions. I know that my accent must be challenging for them but it seems that some understand while most do not. I looked in their notebooks and found neat rows of printing and computation questions that were clearly copied from somewhere. When I wrote five simple questions on the board for them to copy and complete they couldn’t even do it. I showed several examples but still they could not complete the task. In a class of 25 only 2 were able to finish and get all of the questions correct.
In a class of 25 students 12 did not have notebooks. Many did not have pencils and only 2 had pencil sharpeners. How are they supposed to do their work without these basic things? Everything is a chain of command. I have to beg for pencils and books. I am not given anything in bulk. I must state clearly which items I need and how many of each are required. I have to get any notes I wish to send home approved by administration.
Upon my arrival at school at 7:10 students are sitting at their desks waiting. From that time until about 8 o’clock students slowly trickle in. They are to be picked up for home at 12:00 but as I left for a meeting today at 12:45 about 4 students were still wating to be picked up.
At break time a memo was passed around about a meeting to be held at 1:00. The topic of the meeting was an upcoming sports day. We were discussing playday type activities for children to participate in. It was made clear that children must practise these games so that when their parents come to watch them on sports day they will look skilled in events such as bean bag balancing, obstacle course, three legged race and egg and spoon race.
I felt my stomach turn over when the principal suggested that we should use some of the time taken away from our arts curriculum to practise for these events. We were told to practise twice a week for an hour. It was made clear that the main purpose of sport is not team building or cooperation but competition. The children are out there to compete.
I was shocked when they began to debate about the date for this even. People wondered if it would be best to hold it on a Saturday or on a Friday. I was relieved when a consensus was reached for Friday. APPARENTLY THE PARENTS WON’T SHOW UP ON A WEEKEND.
Teachers are expected, although it is not copulsary, to stay 3 days a week for athletics. This means staying until 3:30 with only a half hour break away from the students. I am not sure what to do. I know that this heat is killing me and the idea of baking outside while coaching a sport I know nothing about is like torture. I don’t want to seem difficult though. I will find some sort of compromise.
Today was the first day of teaching in Malawi. The children were fine. I know I will grow to like them. One boy screamed down the place when his mother left. He was wailing so hard that the classroom assistant held him tight so he wouldn’t run. She asked him, “What are you going to do? You’re mother is already gone.” He replied, “I’m going to run!” I was impressed that he at least had a plan. This boy is not yet 5 years old.
The children are very energetic. When answering questions they yell out and stand up, tap me and push over each other to get to a space closer to me. They will learn that this is not ok but they are excited or they are testing.
The classroom is a good size but is not well stocked in anything useful. There about 30 copies of one “big book” and about 30 copies of a few readers. There are a lot of “doctor’s office” kinds of toys. So far I’ve seen no paper for drawing and no real art supplies. I was given my supplies for the term today. They include: 3 glue sticks, 3 pens, some sticky tack, some stickers, 3 boxes of 8 crayons and a can of powdered milk. Yes, powdered milk. Apparently this is to be taken to the staff room for my tea breaks.
The teachers are nice. I didn’t bring any food with me and they felt bad so one gave me a sandwich with a real chicken breast and the other gave me a doughnut. I was very grateful because I was starving!
