two-day update into one blog entry:
today we returned to namitete full primary school to complete our second day of camp curriculum. everything went well overall and the main part of today was at night when we went to our homestay families.
there is a homestay program at world camp, where during one of the camps, we stay at the village nearby the school and we stay with families chosen by the headmaster. we all stayed at the Chisikwa II village and me and three other dudes stayed with henry and his family.
we walked aroun the village checking out the scene and what life is like around there. there is no electricty, no running water, no heat. pretty much just buildings made of handmade bricks. and its not like one big house. its many many small brick structures along with crops and outdoor brick walled "toilets". its clearly far from comfort.
i am noticing that these villages are comprised of one or two big families and they all live together, the children and relatives. all the kids play with each other, the older folks all help out with chores, cook food together and work the crops. as i watch the villagers, i am overwhelmed with a sense of community. everybody seems to have a function or a job that they have. either sweeping the floor, or cooking the food, taking care of the children, etc. eating together with the family is valued. additionally, i have learned that malawian villagers value their wealth by the amount of children they have, which is an answer to the large families here.
in america, the dream is for people to be independent and be able to support themselves. many people in the states refuse to help the homeless because they feel like it won't teach them to stand up on their own two feet. america is all about me, me, and me. it is about learning how to take care of yourself.
there are many times while i am here where i can use the phrase " the grass is greener on the other side" and this is definitely one of those times. and i find that i cannot always bash on where i'm from because there are obviously things that i love about living in new york. but the key is finding the balance between what i can learn from living here and what i know is important about living in new york.
short entry tonight folks, but i need my sleep because tomorrow we're traveling to zambia for a 4 day safari trip!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
step it back.
the previous camp that we finished was pretty much a poor performance. but i think today's new start at a different school really made it up.
on our way to the camp, many of us were exuding a very negative attitude cause the previous camp was bad and it was pouring hell outside. but before we left the bus, one of our coordinators just gave us a moment to relax and take in all the excitement from our first camp and breathe out all of our frustations. it really helped. we left the bus and entered the school area with a lot of fun and excitement. overall, today was a pretty textbook camp day.
i realized that we are all here to do a job. we have a function. and that function is to deliver factual information about HIV/AIDS and the environment to these children, and they need this information. my emotional state should never determine my actions, or lack thereof, here in these camps because otherwise, i am not completing the task that i am assigned to, and the task that these kids expect of me. even if it takes a moment for me to step back and rethinking my purpose here, i feel like i must do what i am here to do, no matter what it takes.
tomorrow, after camp, we are all going to someones house in the village for the homestay program. i'm very excited for it. i feel like doing this homestay program will let me say with confidence that i have been to malawi. it's really important for me to do these things because otherwise, i feel like i have no right to teach them when i know nothing of their lifestyle. obviously it will be very difficult cause i don't speak chichewa, and there will be lots of charades going on tomorrow night, but i hear that they will be going out of their way to comfort us, and all i can do us try and be respectful of their culture and way of life. hopefully i will learn a lot.
next update in two days with juicy details about homestay. stay tuned.
on our way to the camp, many of us were exuding a very negative attitude cause the previous camp was bad and it was pouring hell outside. but before we left the bus, one of our coordinators just gave us a moment to relax and take in all the excitement from our first camp and breathe out all of our frustations. it really helped. we left the bus and entered the school area with a lot of fun and excitement. overall, today was a pretty textbook camp day.
i realized that we are all here to do a job. we have a function. and that function is to deliver factual information about HIV/AIDS and the environment to these children, and they need this information. my emotional state should never determine my actions, or lack thereof, here in these camps because otherwise, i am not completing the task that i am assigned to, and the task that these kids expect of me. even if it takes a moment for me to step back and rethinking my purpose here, i feel like i must do what i am here to do, no matter what it takes.
tomorrow, after camp, we are all going to someones house in the village for the homestay program. i'm very excited for it. i feel like doing this homestay program will let me say with confidence that i have been to malawi. it's really important for me to do these things because otherwise, i feel like i have no right to teach them when i know nothing of their lifestyle. obviously it will be very difficult cause i don't speak chichewa, and there will be lots of charades going on tomorrow night, but i hear that they will be going out of their way to comfort us, and all i can do us try and be respectful of their culture and way of life. hopefully i will learn a lot.
next update in two days with juicy details about homestay. stay tuned.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
untitled.
today we finished the two-day program at a school (i don't remember the name of it). on the last day that we teach at the schools, either two-day or three-day program, we always do mens and womens empowerment discussion, where we split the kids up by gender and the teachers discuss gender issues.
during these times, the differences in our culture are so clear that it is sometimes difficult to know how to teach them when the difference is so large. in malawian culture, men are still the decision makers, which ultimately makes them the deciders of whether or not to have sex. women generally have little or no say in this, which is so interesting because in the states, you could say that women are the deciders of whether or not to have sex. i watch my friends go to parties and try and hook up with girls and in the end, it is the girl's decision whether or not to go through with it.
and so, its difficult to teach when our views on this single issue differ because we want to teach the importance of gender inequality and specifically, the shared decision to have sex, yet at the same time, we don't want to be imposing on their culture. i am learning the being a good teacher means having the right amount of respect for your students so that you teach what is right, yet you don't condescend on what we may think to be wrong.
i sometimes wonder if we have the perfect amount of respect. obviously we won't be able to see the results of our work here immediately, but it is always comforting to know that students are making lifestyle choices based on our curriculum.
it is interesting to think about how i choose my courses based on the prof that is teaching the course. and i know that often a good prof can make the difference between a good course and a terrible experience. and these students here clearly dont have a choice for their instructors. and i wonder if the material that we are teaching is strong enough to stand on its own regardless of how it is presented.
during these times, the differences in our culture are so clear that it is sometimes difficult to know how to teach them when the difference is so large. in malawian culture, men are still the decision makers, which ultimately makes them the deciders of whether or not to have sex. women generally have little or no say in this, which is so interesting because in the states, you could say that women are the deciders of whether or not to have sex. i watch my friends go to parties and try and hook up with girls and in the end, it is the girl's decision whether or not to go through with it.
and so, its difficult to teach when our views on this single issue differ because we want to teach the importance of gender inequality and specifically, the shared decision to have sex, yet at the same time, we don't want to be imposing on their culture. i am learning the being a good teacher means having the right amount of respect for your students so that you teach what is right, yet you don't condescend on what we may think to be wrong.
i sometimes wonder if we have the perfect amount of respect. obviously we won't be able to see the results of our work here immediately, but it is always comforting to know that students are making lifestyle choices based on our curriculum.
it is interesting to think about how i choose my courses based on the prof that is teaching the course. and i know that often a good prof can make the difference between a good course and a terrible experience. and these students here clearly dont have a choice for their instructors. and i wonder if the material that we are teaching is strong enough to stand on its own regardless of how it is presented.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
attitude
i am realizing more and more that the people we surround ourselves with shape our energy and attitude towards life.
today we started a two-day program at a school because we couldnt make it yesterday because of the mud. at the start of the day, we always sing group songs and games to get everyone excitement up for the program. as we were introducing all of the volunteers, one girl at the edge of the circle suddenly fell over and started to get a seizure. i was about 10 people away from the girl, and i saw the progression as she fell, started to roll around, and then convulsing. i was so frightened that i basically froze as i watched her, and i had never felt so powerless and helpless in my life. eventually she drew a scene and people came and helped her.
after seeing that, i was somewhat discouraged throughout the day, just being overwhelmed with a sense of incapacity. i cannot help but think about the image of the girl falling down and me just standing there. it saddens me that my mind is not trained to shout for help when it is needed. not only here in africa, but even in the states? how many of us will scream help! or hey! when a woman's purse has been snatched across the street? or how many of us will call 911 when we see someone fainting in our neighborhoods?
once again, its the rain season here, and it poured like the clouds were falling down on us during lunch. basically, what had happened was that the coordinators started to serve lunch and some of the kids made it to the separate building where we were serving lunch (all of our classes are in separate buildings, and by buildings, i mean 15x20 structures to fit 50 students tops). when we turned around to go back to our respective classrooms, it started to pour, and most of the students had not made it to the lunchroom, and it was impossible to make it there and back without getting you and your food drenched.
i am thankful for our coordinators for their clear minds and decisive choices as they decided to take each icebox filled with nsima and bean relish to each classroom and feed the kids there. they were more than willing to get themselves drenched and their shoes soaking in puddles for this to be completely executed.
i was one of the people stuck in the lunchroom with a few students, and some of the rugrats (we call village kids who dont attend school "rugrats") started to climb the windows and reach their hands in. the only english phrase that they know is "give me nsima!" and they just repeat that over and over again. one moment, i got annoyed and i went to the window and just firmly said "no" to them all. in retrospect, i can't believe how selfish i was, let alone have the audacity to say no to a hungry kid. of course i could have just ignored him, but selfish me had to do something about it.
its clear that our attitudes shape our decisions and words. i realize that today, in all situations, i had the ability to do something better or at least not do something to worsen the situation. when we talked about this stuff later, i see that it is important for us to surround ourselves with people who can point our attitudes in the right direction.
cheese.
today we started a two-day program at a school because we couldnt make it yesterday because of the mud. at the start of the day, we always sing group songs and games to get everyone excitement up for the program. as we were introducing all of the volunteers, one girl at the edge of the circle suddenly fell over and started to get a seizure. i was about 10 people away from the girl, and i saw the progression as she fell, started to roll around, and then convulsing. i was so frightened that i basically froze as i watched her, and i had never felt so powerless and helpless in my life. eventually she drew a scene and people came and helped her.
after seeing that, i was somewhat discouraged throughout the day, just being overwhelmed with a sense of incapacity. i cannot help but think about the image of the girl falling down and me just standing there. it saddens me that my mind is not trained to shout for help when it is needed. not only here in africa, but even in the states? how many of us will scream help! or hey! when a woman's purse has been snatched across the street? or how many of us will call 911 when we see someone fainting in our neighborhoods?
once again, its the rain season here, and it poured like the clouds were falling down on us during lunch. basically, what had happened was that the coordinators started to serve lunch and some of the kids made it to the separate building where we were serving lunch (all of our classes are in separate buildings, and by buildings, i mean 15x20 structures to fit 50 students tops). when we turned around to go back to our respective classrooms, it started to pour, and most of the students had not made it to the lunchroom, and it was impossible to make it there and back without getting you and your food drenched.
i am thankful for our coordinators for their clear minds and decisive choices as they decided to take each icebox filled with nsima and bean relish to each classroom and feed the kids there. they were more than willing to get themselves drenched and their shoes soaking in puddles for this to be completely executed.
i was one of the people stuck in the lunchroom with a few students, and some of the rugrats (we call village kids who dont attend school "rugrats") started to climb the windows and reach their hands in. the only english phrase that they know is "give me nsima!" and they just repeat that over and over again. one moment, i got annoyed and i went to the window and just firmly said "no" to them all. in retrospect, i can't believe how selfish i was, let alone have the audacity to say no to a hungry kid. of course i could have just ignored him, but selfish me had to do something about it.
its clear that our attitudes shape our decisions and words. i realize that today, in all situations, i had the ability to do something better or at least not do something to worsen the situation. when we talked about this stuff later, i see that it is important for us to surround ourselves with people who can point our attitudes in the right direction.
cheese.
Monday, January 12, 2009
unplanned
if i were to describe the events of today, i would use the word: unplanned.
we were originally going to go to mnkhupa full primary school today, but because it poured so much yesterday, the dirt roads turned into mud and it was impossible to drive through it. we got stuck multiple times and we all had to get out and push the truck to get it out of the mud.
we ended up turning around and going back to an orphanage that was on the way. we decided on giving them the food that we brought originally for the children, and we figured that this would be the best way to not waste the food. the orphanage that we went to is a home for about 2,000 kids. unbelievable. and we only brought enough food probably for about 500 children tops. we gave out all the food we had in the truck to the headmaster of the orphanage so that he could decide who gets the food.
there exists some degree of duality in giving an orphanage of 2000 kids food enough for 500 people. there isn't a doubt in my mind that we should be giving the food away to these kids, i mean, how could we not? yet at the same time, if only 1/4 of the kids are going to be able to eat what we bring to them, is it wrong to bring the food in the first place and create an uncomfortable atmosphere for the kids to eat?
anyways, as we started to leave the orphanage, we got stuck again. this time it was even worse. the roads are guarded by ditches on both sides all the way down, and the mud made the roads extremely slippery and unfortunately, the butt end of our truck slid into a ditch. oh man, we were there probably for an hour just trying to get the car out. not only that, but it created a huge scene because we were right in between the orphanage and a small village, so both kids and adults came to watch the show. we would ask the adults for help, but they asked for money that we didn't want to give. we eventually had to walk to the village nearby and get bricks to put on the muddy areas of the road.
long story, short, we got out of the ditch and we gave a small amount of money to the village people who helped us. very much unplanned.
we were originally going to go to mnkhupa full primary school today, but because it poured so much yesterday, the dirt roads turned into mud and it was impossible to drive through it. we got stuck multiple times and we all had to get out and push the truck to get it out of the mud.
we ended up turning around and going back to an orphanage that was on the way. we decided on giving them the food that we brought originally for the children, and we figured that this would be the best way to not waste the food. the orphanage that we went to is a home for about 2,000 kids. unbelievable. and we only brought enough food probably for about 500 children tops. we gave out all the food we had in the truck to the headmaster of the orphanage so that he could decide who gets the food.
there exists some degree of duality in giving an orphanage of 2000 kids food enough for 500 people. there isn't a doubt in my mind that we should be giving the food away to these kids, i mean, how could we not? yet at the same time, if only 1/4 of the kids are going to be able to eat what we bring to them, is it wrong to bring the food in the first place and create an uncomfortable atmosphere for the kids to eat?
anyways, as we started to leave the orphanage, we got stuck again. this time it was even worse. the roads are guarded by ditches on both sides all the way down, and the mud made the roads extremely slippery and unfortunately, the butt end of our truck slid into a ditch. oh man, we were there probably for an hour just trying to get the car out. not only that, but it created a huge scene because we were right in between the orphanage and a small village, so both kids and adults came to watch the show. we would ask the adults for help, but they asked for money that we didn't want to give. we eventually had to walk to the village nearby and get bricks to put on the muddy areas of the road.
long story, short, we got out of the ditch and we gave a small amount of money to the village people who helped us. very much unplanned.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
sent
sorry for forgetting to update again everyone.
here's two days worth of posts.
1/10/09
today was our last day at kamwama full primary school. it felt good to finish our first camp at our first school. the kids were so excited today especially because today we gave out AIDS ribbons to the kids. we made it very ceremonial for them, getting them in line, putting the aids ribbon on for them and shaking their hand and taking a picture.
it seems kind of funny that they feel so special about getting a simple AIDS ribbons, but i think its really important that we make it ceremonial because then they really make it a big deal. we tell them that wearing an AIDS ribbon means that they are fully educated in AIDS and that now they will do whatever they can to prevent the spread of HIV.
its so exciting watching them get so happy after getting the ribbon. it makes us feel like we've done something important in their lives.
1/11/09
we went on a hike this sunday morning, and it was by far the hardest hike that i ever did. i went hiking a few times before, but this was legit steep hiking. it really made me realize how out of shape i am. but while we were going up, it began to pour, which is expected because this is the rainy season in malawi, but we all got totally drenched, and it started to get very very slippery with all of the mud. luckily no one got injured and we all had a good time.
after, today some of us decided to go to church with two of the translators. i definitely expected a very traditional style of worship with choirs and powerful speakers, but it was a lot more americanized than i thought, which in a sense, disappointed me because i really wanted to experience a church like that.
tomorrow we start our second camp at Mnkhupa Full Primary school, so hopefully everything will go as well as the first one.
miss everyone at home!
-chris
here's two days worth of posts.
1/10/09
today was our last day at kamwama full primary school. it felt good to finish our first camp at our first school. the kids were so excited today especially because today we gave out AIDS ribbons to the kids. we made it very ceremonial for them, getting them in line, putting the aids ribbon on for them and shaking their hand and taking a picture.
it seems kind of funny that they feel so special about getting a simple AIDS ribbons, but i think its really important that we make it ceremonial because then they really make it a big deal. we tell them that wearing an AIDS ribbon means that they are fully educated in AIDS and that now they will do whatever they can to prevent the spread of HIV.
its so exciting watching them get so happy after getting the ribbon. it makes us feel like we've done something important in their lives.
1/11/09
we went on a hike this sunday morning, and it was by far the hardest hike that i ever did. i went hiking a few times before, but this was legit steep hiking. it really made me realize how out of shape i am. but while we were going up, it began to pour, which is expected because this is the rainy season in malawi, but we all got totally drenched, and it started to get very very slippery with all of the mud. luckily no one got injured and we all had a good time.
after, today some of us decided to go to church with two of the translators. i definitely expected a very traditional style of worship with choirs and powerful speakers, but it was a lot more americanized than i thought, which in a sense, disappointed me because i really wanted to experience a church like that.
tomorrow we start our second camp at Mnkhupa Full Primary school, so hopefully everything will go as well as the first one.
miss everyone at home!
-chris
Friday, January 9, 2009
desperation
today was the second day that we worked at kamwama full primary school.
i've discovered today that one of the standard 8 grade girls in our school (equivalent of 8th grade in the states) is pregnant. whats worse is that it may be a case of transactional sex from one of the teachers at our school. what often happens is that men in malawi approach women for sex and offer something in return for it. they think it's perfectly fine because he has something that she wants and thinks that sex is a perfectly fine exchange for it. so teachers may sometime offer them good grades on their standard 8 exams in exchange for sex, which the idea is just impossible because school teachers don't have any control over the grades of standardized exams here.
as i come in contact with the children and the adults here, i am learning a lot about the culture here, especially they way they deal with HIV/AIDS.
the main portion of what we did today was empowerment discussions for men and women separately. the other male volunteers and i led the male empowerment discussions and we try and get to the idea that the decision of having sex is shared by both the male and women because they both share equal risks for doing so.
by the end of empowerment discussions, we open the floor for anonymous questions, and we let the kids write their questions on slips of paper and we read and answer the ones that we're comfortable with answering. and we all knew that there were myths circulating about HIV around malawi, but we never experienced answering these questions these children, and i was a bit overwhelmed with emotion.
some of these myths regarding HIV/AIDS are:
if you have HIV, you can cure yourself by having sex with a virgin
if you have HIV, you can cure yourself by having sex with a disabled person
you can't get HIV when you're having sex for the first time
when i hear these myths, i am not so much appalled by them as much as i feel sorry. i think that these ridiculous myths show the extent of desparity that exists in this country to find hope for themselves. and i am even more amazed at the power of what we want to believe.
our housekeeper's father recently past away so he left to pay his respects. but as he as leaving, he said that everything is alright because this life is nothing, and the life in heaven is everything to look forward to.
i wonder if every malawian has that attitude towards their life. it makes me feel guilty that sometimes my life is so good that i don't even look forward to heaven.
i've discovered today that one of the standard 8 grade girls in our school (equivalent of 8th grade in the states) is pregnant. whats worse is that it may be a case of transactional sex from one of the teachers at our school. what often happens is that men in malawi approach women for sex and offer something in return for it. they think it's perfectly fine because he has something that she wants and thinks that sex is a perfectly fine exchange for it. so teachers may sometime offer them good grades on their standard 8 exams in exchange for sex, which the idea is just impossible because school teachers don't have any control over the grades of standardized exams here.
as i come in contact with the children and the adults here, i am learning a lot about the culture here, especially they way they deal with HIV/AIDS.
the main portion of what we did today was empowerment discussions for men and women separately. the other male volunteers and i led the male empowerment discussions and we try and get to the idea that the decision of having sex is shared by both the male and women because they both share equal risks for doing so.
by the end of empowerment discussions, we open the floor for anonymous questions, and we let the kids write their questions on slips of paper and we read and answer the ones that we're comfortable with answering. and we all knew that there were myths circulating about HIV around malawi, but we never experienced answering these questions these children, and i was a bit overwhelmed with emotion.
some of these myths regarding HIV/AIDS are:
if you have HIV, you can cure yourself by having sex with a virgin
if you have HIV, you can cure yourself by having sex with a disabled person
you can't get HIV when you're having sex for the first time
when i hear these myths, i am not so much appalled by them as much as i feel sorry. i think that these ridiculous myths show the extent of desparity that exists in this country to find hope for themselves. and i am even more amazed at the power of what we want to believe.
our housekeeper's father recently past away so he left to pay his respects. but as he as leaving, he said that everything is alright because this life is nothing, and the life in heaven is everything to look forward to.
i wonder if every malawian has that attitude towards their life. it makes me feel guilty that sometimes my life is so good that i don't even look forward to heaven.
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