I am feeling mixed emotions about the fact that my adventure is more than half over. Part of me is very much looking forward to coming home to see friends and family. I look forward to restaurants and movies. I look forward to walking on streets that aren’t crowded.
I’m looking forward to being in a familiar setting.
I will miss certain people here. I will miss the constant challenges and learning opportunities. I’m sure I’ll even miss certain things that I now dislike, like the public transport.
I left Toronto full of hope and inspiration. So far my trip hasn’t been all that inspirational. I am teaching rich kids and my school is very small. We have only 7 teachers on our campus. I’ve not made as many new friends as I thought I might because of the isolation of my campus. I rarely see my orphans because they are in school when I am. I see Azikiwe a lot.
We have started some fruit trees which we will plant on our property in the fall. The kids can eat fresh fruit and the cooks can sell some in the market to generate a little income.
I would have liked to work with the villagers more. I am thinking of some sort of teacher training. I will try to formulate a plan and discuss it with the local primary schoolheadmaster before I go.
I am also considering registering my day care as a charity here. I will discuss that with the social welfare people and find out the pros and cons of doing so.
I would have liked to spend more time in the village. If I return to Malawi I will consider staying in the village for extended periods of time. I feel very content there but I know the lack of power and water would be hard to take.
In these last three months I must spend more time out ther helping the poor people. I went to an orphanage nearby to help but they are not very organized. I will attempt to go once more and see if I can do
something useful with the young children. I just want to feel like I’m contributing. So far, I don’t feel that way.
