I have a bit of time in the lab today so here are some more random thoughts about life here.

A birthday card arrived this week. It took just over a month. The only other mail has been a FedEx package. It is frustrating for me because I love getting stuff but also because I know you are all spending time and effort to send the things. Fingers crossed that at least some things will arrive.

I realize last week that one reason for my unhappiness here is the feeling of just being here and not of being alive here. I have enjoyed previous trips because I’ve felt as if I’ve made an impact but this time I don’t feel it. The children I teach here are the Malawian counterparts of kids at Deer Park. They are comfortable and well cared for. They want for very little and all of their basic needs are met.

I decided to find an orphanage to volunteer at. I think that work, although heartbreaking, will be rewarding and I’ll feel more useful and alive here. Next week a friend is taking me to a local orphanage. I hope I can be of use. If not I may find a nursery school or special needs kid to work with.

I got a kitten. He name is Kali for my friend Kalirani whose name means “keep on crying” and who eats mice (as do many Chewa). Kali is small and cute. She is black with white and a bit of tan. She is a baby and she is quite small. She meows a lot and demands food in a very harsh yell! She doesn’t always use her litter which makes my house not so pleasant but I’m sure her noise keeps the mice away. She’s a good companion.

Yesterday I tried at the local hotel to access wireless internet. I was not successful for 2 hours and I am not sure if I will be next time. It cost me at least $8 which makes me angry because I could have used that money for something else. I tried to get a refund but was told my computer is the problem. I hope that’s not true. I’ll try at a different hotel on Saturday.

The children at the day care seem fine. They have grown tall and big but are very shy in my presence. They do enjoy Azikiwe and are quite free with him.

The weather is less hot now but far more rainy. The ground is soggy and the humidity is high. I often wake at night to the sound of rain pounding down on my tine roof. It’s hard to hear anything else at times. I can’t watch tv and even reading is difficult b/c of the noise. Oh well, soon the rains will end and the cool weather will come.

That’s all for now.

Thanks for reading.

Tags: itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi

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Costs for Secondary School

In Malawi there are at least three secondary school options.  A student can go to school full time during the day, part-time in the afternoons or they can attend a boarding school.  The costs for each are as follows:

Ntcheu, where the day care is located provides all of these school options.  I stayed at the Community Day Secondary School one summer.  The teachers there are not necessarily qualified as teachers.  Some have college diplomas, some have a university degree but none is university trained as a teacher.  Most have very poor English skills.  The classes are large and resources are limited.

The secondary school which is a boarding school is quite nice.  Teachers there are university educated and/or trained as teachers.  The school has computers and a good science lab.  The facilities are clean and well cared for Students must board.  They can not attend as day students.

Secondary school in Malawi is generally 4 years.  An examination is taken at the end of grade 10 and again at the end of grade 12.  Students are not required to complete all four years but obviously job prospects are better if they finish.  University acceptance is dependent upon the performance on the final exam in grade 12.

Students are selected to secondary schools after completing an examination at the end of grade 8. Students with higher marks are selected to boarding schools but can choose to go to a day school if finances dictate.

As you can see, education is not always easily attainable for Malawians.  Many families are earning about $12 a month and have several children.  The orphans are living with caregivers who are surviving on subsistence farming and piece work.  As secondary school approaches, many will not be able to attend.  I’m sure this is the case all over Malawi.  Unfortunately the cycle of poverty continues.

Tags: itatu, itatu orphan care, jennifer douma, malawi

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Malawians have no respect for personal space. They will push or cut in front of anyone in a line. They don’t seem to mind being squeezed into a packed mini bus. They will walk along the street behind a stranger at a very close distance.

I went to the bank to open an account. When I walked in I saw people sprawled on the floor and on chairs as if they were having a sit-in. Knowing that this was in fact the bank was the only reason I stayed otherwise I’d have been sure I was in the wrong place. It was much like a doctor’s waiting room. Beyond this initial room was a room with desks. I saw some people hovering near the entrance to that room so I too went to hover. I observed that there seemed to be no logic to who was being served in what order. It seemed to be that the person who was most alert and aggressive would move quickly to a desk as soon as a space opened. Some bank employees had two individuals at their desk at one time both of whom were able to see and hear the other’s information.

This has not only been true in banks. Often I’ve been at the cell phone company or at other service centres when people have just come up and started talking to the worker who is assisting me. The worker’s attention always goes to the intruder.

My Malawian friends rarely call me or respond to my texts. I only see them if I initiate it, otherwise I’m sure I’d never see them. Sometimes I have the need to give my number to someone I just met on the street. This person could be a driver or may work at a place I’d like to visit. These people will call me at least a few times before they realize there’s nothing for us to talk about.

Pre-payment is often the way things are done here. My cell phone and my electric are paid for in advance. I get a PIN which I punch into either the phone or the hydro box and I’m given units. I tend to spend about $12 a week or more on the cell phone. So far I’ve put in about $16 for electricity. I may have to put in about $8 which should take me through the month.

There is some insect that bites me in my house. I have three of its bites on me. I never see it. The bites are very sharp and painful when they happen and they leave a small, dark read bump. I wonder if they are tics.

Malawians tend not to be good problem solvers or good communicators. Yesterday I was supposed to go to town with a parent. She is a tailor and was going to help me pick out fabric. She came to pick up her child but drove away without me. Today I asked if she’d forgotten me. She said she hadn’t forgotten and then asked me if it had been raining. It had not. It was dark and looked as if it might but it wasn’t raining until the evening. She has a nice vehicle so I’m not sure why the impending rain would keep her from going to the fabric shops. She seemed to think this was a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Sometimes the driver doesn’t show up to take me to school. He doesn’t call and he doesn’t explain the next day.

Malawians are notoriously bad at time management. I don’t know any Malawian except Azikiwe who can actually do things in the time allotted. He is also the only one I know who is punctual. Depending on the situation you can depend on a Malawian to be anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours late. Sometimes they won’t even show up at all and again, no explanation is expected.

These are just some of the not-so-positive observations I have made thus far. I’m sure some positive ones will come to me.

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