Dream big dreams

On our last day, we had one last tour of Lilongwe; we visited one more orphanage, the memorials for Malawi’s first president, and a nature preserve. Our farewell dinner, however was the highlight of my day.

Delicious, traditional Malawian food was served on torch-lit tables underneath a crystal-clear, starry sky. We were entertained by dancers, who taught us traditional dances, and a band that put their own African twist on familar songs. When I was asked to join the band, only one of my songs came to mind: Dream Big Dreams.

This whole trip has been about dreaming big. For some of us, this trip was a life-long dream realized. Mr. Tony Kline, our Ball State instructor, trudged through many obstacles to coordinate this trip in such a short amount of time. But taking students to work with an orphanage in a developing counrty was a dream of his, and he saw it through.

The children at Mtendere Village now have the capabilities of following their dreams. Because of the donors and volunteers that make Mtendere possible, these children are given the possibility of escaping extreme poverty. Children like Tonnex, my 12-year-old tutoring partner dreams to be an ambassador so that he can help the people of Malawi. The opportunities given to him by Mtendere Village make it possible.

For me, this experience has caused me to dream even bigger. With this background, I am now thinking about how I can further help the children in Mtendere as well as children in similar situations around the world. Without this trip, I surely would not have thought about traveling with a purpose, or volunteering in this capacity.

Farewell Malawi. Thank you for the lessons you have taught me.

The warm heart of Africa

Malawi is called the warm heart of Africa, named from the friendly and peaceful citizens. We experienced this firsthand when we rode our bike taxis and visited Njobvu Cultural Village.

When I first heard that we would have the opportunity to take a bike taxi, I expected I would be riding in a rickshaw bulled by a bicycle. What we did get though, was an adventure I can only begin to describe. We rode on the back of the bicycles on uneven roads and paths that wove through the bush. Our drivers pedalled past onlooking villagers, waving children, animals, and villages.

When we arrived at Njobvu Cultural Village, we learned how the Peace Corps helped to establish this village to aid in communication between the Malawian people and government and help people learn about the culture in Malawi. After a short tour of the facilities, where one can stay overnight for about $5, they put on a show to teach us about how they live. We listened to a band play music from some guitars and a makeshift drumset, and we watched as people danced to the music. We learned the workings of a marraige proposal and were given a demonstration of grinding corn. We were shocked by a fire eater and informed about the use of witchcraft. We played ball with some children, while others sat on our laps.

This village was so hospitable; I do not question why Malawi is called “the warm heart of Africa.” They also made me look at develping countries in a different way. It is easy to come to a developing country and make suggestions that would make things better. But, we have to remember that our values and background experiences are different. Malawians may not want to live the way that we do. They embrace their rich cultural background, and we should appreciate that. Volunteer trips are not meant to change the way other people live, but rather, help in the ways they feel are most needed. And along the way, we get a chance to learn more about the lifestyles of one another.

Safari at Mvuu Camp

I had to take a day off from blogging so we could safari at Mvuu (hippo) Camp. This realized one goal from a few people’s bucket lists. when we arrived, we crossed the river by boat to breathtaking accomodations. Baobab trees towered over our chalets, which were constantly surrounded by monkeys, warthogs, and several different species of birds. The front of our chalet was only 60 feet away from the water where the hippos reside during the day. At night, the hippos come out and make their grunting noises. We are walked by armed guards after dark.

The land safari itself was an amazing experience despite the cold rain. We saw impalas, sables, zebras, hyenas, warthogs, and monkeys. We never did find the eluding black rhino. At dusk, we started our night safari; I was surprised by the amount of animals we saw. We stopped for the giant porcupines rustling along the ground, but the feeding hippos is what we were really after.

We ate breakfast in the morning with the monkeys. Literally, the monkeys jumped on our table and stole a piece of toast! Then, our morning safari was on the water. There we saw more birds, herds of hippos sleeping, and a giant crocodile. We got really close to take a picture and it didn’t move. Then, it suddenly opened its mouth and lunged under the boat. The experience of a lifetime!

Goodbye Mtendere

Today we had to say goodbye to our friends at Mtendere Village. But we wanted to do so in a big way.

We started off by attending the orphanage’s church service, which was held in the cafeteria. The church service included readings from the bible, singing, and a sermon. Today’s lesson was about how the words we speak can hurt others. This was a very good lesson for children of any age in any culture.

Following the church service, we prepared for our farewell activity: an egg hunt. Even though this type of activity is generally associated with Easter, the children enjoy it anytime. The children each came up to the main house that overlooks the orphanage to color their eggs with markers. Some of the designs drawn revealed the feelings of the children. One person’s egg depicted a Malawian flag and an American flag. It shows how the children view US citizens as partners, rather than outsiders.

After we hid the eggs all over the complex, the children came running in to find the eggs. Each child was allowed to find two eggs. Then, they came inside the cafeteria for a soda and a stick of sugar cane to finish off their snack.

What a treat for the children! Their daily diet usually only consists of nsima (a cornmeal porridge) and a relish made from greens. Eggs, soda, and sugar cane are a very special treat. This activity was a treat for us visitors as well. Providing such a special memory for the children is such a delight.

When our activity ended, it was finally time to say goodbye. It is amazing how quickly one can get attached. In just the past few days, we met over 100 children. You wouldn’t think such feelings could come from spending a short amount of time with so many kids. With promises to write, we gave our last hugs and piggy-back rides and waved goodbye.

Refining lenses

Just as we go to an opthomologist to improve our vision, the experiences we have can give us a clearer picture of the world around us. Teaching in Africa has given us challenges that we would be less likely to face while teaching in the United States; these challenges refine our educator lenses and make us better teachers.

After assessing each student’s reading ability with comprehension, the Ball State team worked together to develop a tutoring plan. We noticed that we all had similar issues. The students tend to be able to decode words very well and speak fluently. They have difficulty, however, comprehending what they have read.

When I first assessed Tonnex, the 12-year-old student with whom I am working, his highest instructional level was at a second grade reading level. The others and I thought this seemed very low considering the other work he has done. As it turns out, Tonnex was having trouble comprehending the story because he had little schema about the topic. One story, for instance, was about the first snow fall, another story was all about a walk through the woods in Autumn. No wonder the story was difficult to comprehend! He had never seen snow or leaves changing color. When I asked what the people in the story might do with the snow, he answered that he would collect it for drinking water. When I asked what other animals we might see in the forest, he suggested an elephant. To solve this problem, we searched for stories without a cultural bias. Sure enough, when Tonnex read about a soccer game and airplanes, he found himself comprehending at a 5th grade reading level.

After determining the students reading levels, we worked out a tutoring plan. We decided that it would benefit all students to make predictions and look for who, what where, when, and why while reading. We team taught our lessons then worked with the children individually. Everything went well despite the challenges we faced.

In the United States, we take many things for granted. In Malawi, we have to work with limited resources. With limited paper and no copy machine, we had to find new ways to show the graphic organizer. Without an extensive library, it was difficult to find a book that fit our needs exactly. In a country where students are taught in classes of 120, we had to figure out how to motivate the students to participate. We learned to use student translators when the language barrier became a problem. And, we even found ways to work around the cultural differences when most of the books assume the students grew up in a Western culture.

The challenges that we face during this immersive program make us refine our teacher lenses. We have to view and approach everything in a new light. These challenges sharpen our skills and promote better teaching.

Hail to the chief

As a tradition, Mtendere Village holds a large ceremony to welcome new visitors to Mtendere. (This was described in a previous post: “Our first visit to Mtendere”) Everyone at Mtendere takes a part in the dancing, singing, and dramatic interpretations of this ceremony. When a new group needed to be welcomed on Friday, I was honored to be asked to play the role of the chief of Mtendere Village.

The chiefs costume has skirt and hat made from animal skins, the Malawian flag as a shirt, a drinking gourd for honey, and white corn flour spread on the arms and face. During the ceremony, I was introduced as the chief of Malawi and triumphantly walked in as I gave the people of Mtendere a reassuring smile. after being seated on an animal skin, the guide lead the children in with a song to bring gifts to the chief. As each child gave their gift, I accepted and they danced in a circle around me.

After accepting the gifts, I joined the guide in a song. The guide played an instrument called the karimba, which has tuned metal pieces and a resonating gourd. The intrument is played by plucking the metal pieces with the thumbs. While the guide played the karimba, I played a shaker and sang.

The chief also plays another role during the welcoming ceremony. When a snake, representing HIV/AIDS, bites people, the chief is one person who is bit. This is to show that if you are not careful, HIV/AIDS can strike anyone, even the chief.

In preparing for and participating in the welcoming ceremony, I learned so much about the culture in Malawi. It was an honor to participate; I will never forget this experience.

Mending minds, bodies, and hearts

We had the opportunity to visit several schools today to donate books. What an experience! Earlier in the week, we sorted through a mountain (with very little exaggeration) of textbooks and storybooks.  While Mtendere does not have the need or capacity for many of the higher-level books, they found schools that are.

Our first visit was to the primary school the children at Mtendere attend.  The 1500 students there treated us like rock stars; it was a total Beatles moment.  When we arrived, they ran from the school building cheering.  When we left, they chased the bus for nearly a half mile.

The schools were better than what I expected from articles we read before coming.  There are 1500 students at the school with only 42 qualified or unqualified teachers.  The lack of materials was the worst aspect of the school.  There are not nearly enough books to even share, the chalkboards are worn and hard to read, the children did not have desks, and there was a complete absence of electronic teaching materials.

The other 3 schools we visited were secondary schools.  When we loaded the trailer with books, we noticed many algebra and algebra II books.  We thought for sure that these would be too difficult.  But, when we visited one school, we visited a 130 person class full of students solving equations that I cannot.  It teaches a lesson that we should not judge a book by its cover.  This school was in disrepair, but the students were still learning very difficult material.

My favorite thing about this part of the day was seeing the students’, teachers’, and headmasters’ faces when we donated the books.  In the United States we have committees that meet for a year to decide which textbooks to buy.  The people at these schools were greatful for any books that we could give them.  I am sure they will be in good use.

We stopped for lunch at a random spot on the side of the road. There was a large, shaded rock nearby where we could eat our lunch. As we started into our lunches, we noticed some small children in a nearby village and invited them to share our lunches. While timid at first, the children realized that we only wanted to help, and they sat down to eat with us.

After we ate, Erin, our AFC trip leader, noticed a laceration on the back of a small girl’s ear. It looked as if she were attacked by an animal. Thankfully, Demi, one of the members of our group, is currently finishing her residency as a doctor and was willing to treat this child. It was a very moving lunch. To think that we stopped at a random time at a random place on the side of the road, and were able to bring so much good.

You could say that I touched the hearts of the children at Mtedere villiage, but I like to think of this as a two-way street. While Mtendere tries to provide the most loving environment it can, there are just too many children to give enough attention. That is one reason why volunter groups are so important to the orphanage. I was able to play with the children for only a half hour after delivering books today, but it was a fantastic 30 minutes. I was spinning children, playing games, giving piggy-back and shoulder rides. This type of attention is so important to the children’s development, and it mends my heart as well.

I am so thankful that Ball State offers this type of immersive learning experience. Today was a great example of how we can help others while learning. Just look at the faces of the people in the pictures of this post; from their eyes, you can see how we have helped. I am confident that I have learned far more from this trip than if I had taken EDDRDG 430 and EDEL 450 on campus. Our experiences within the course content gives us real-world, multicultural applications. This is possibly the best learning experience of my life.

A walk in another’s shoes

It is sometimes easy to tell others how to face their challenges when we do not have to ourselves. In a class leading up to this trip, we discussed ways to improve the education system in Malawi. Now that we are here, we see that these problems are not so easily fixed. Sometimes we have to take a walk in another’s shoes to truly experience the challenge.

Today, I did not walk in the shoes of a citizen of Malawi, but I did see a hospital that sent shivers down my spine. I only saw this hospital from an outsider’s perspective; I can only imagine what it would be like to walk in the shoes of a patient.

When we first arrived at the hospital, I felt very akward. There was a large crowd of people waiting for medical care (we did not take any pictures of the hospital out of respect for the people).The entire country of Malawi only has about 40 doctors, giving a 1:42,000 doctor to person ratio. One person commented, “In the United States, this building would be condemned in an instant.” This very small hospital had 1 doctor/administrator, and maybe 5 nurses on staff. The run down building contained only around 25 cots; I did not see any of the modern medical equiptment we take for granted. The patients visitors wait outside and also act as nurses. The family is responsible for the food, sheets, and clothing of the patient. How can the most basic health care be provided in a country that lacks doctors, medical tools, and an infrastructure? I do not have the answer, but after visiting the hospital today, I recognize the need.

Educating Mtendere or educating me?

Tuesday was our second day at Mtendere Village, an orphanage in Malawi. We have been looking forward to this day because we finally had a chance to interact with everyone at Mtendere and meet our students who we would tutor.

We started the day with our two hour service time block. While the rest of the group started organizing the books from the library, the Ball State people had a chance to teach. The four stations to teach were preschool, one-on-one time with a house mother, a special needs student, and the rest of the house mothers. We plan to rotate between these places throughout the week.

I worked with our instructor, Mr. Kline, in teaching the house mothers’ class. After observing the grammar class, we had the opoprtunity to teach math. Bringing a social atmosphere into a traditional environment to teach math factorization really made a difference in morale.

After sorting the donations and a quick lunch break, I was finally able to meet my tutoring partner, Tonex. Tonnex wants to be an ambassador to help the people of Malawi. He wants to ensure everyone has jobs, food, and water. What a great 12-year-old kid! Dream big dreams, Tonnex!

After an hour of tutoring, the whole orphanage got together for an activity: learning Chichewa, their native language. We split up into groups, leaving 2 visitors for every group of students. They were to teach us as much Chichewa as they could before we had to perform in front of the entire group. Let’s just say, I could have done better.

In reflecting on today, I wonder who is being taught. Am I teaching the people of Mtendere Village, or are they teaching me? Both.

While I was in the classroom with the house mothers, I practiced critiquing other teachers. Our suggestions will improve the way they teach. At the same time, I gained valuable experience about what it will be like to teach a student from a foreign country. I worked my way through the cultural and language barriers to teach a great lesson.

When tutoring Tonnex, he obviously gains skills in reading, but I also learn from him. He taught me that no matter what your situation in life, you can always dream big. He wants to be an ambassador for the most selfless reasons. This is a child, who just 3 years ago, was left alone in a developing country. I can dream big as well. His situation is an example of how one’s dream can create opportunities for others.

My last lesson of the day was learning Chichewa. It was so hard for me to even memorize just a few phrases. This gives me insight to how ESL students must feel in schools in the United States. I really want to learn chichewa, I work hard at it, and I have great teachers. Even so, I am having great difficulty learning.

These are just a few examples of what I am learning on this trip. I am given insights that help me become a better educator and even a better person.

Our first visit to Mtendere

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this and the previous post. With no internet connection, I am playing catch up with the blog. The pictures can take up to 5 minutes to load, and with the slow internet connection, I just don’t have the time.

Monday was our first visit to Mtendere (pronounced ten-deer-ee) Village, the real reason we came. When we first arrived the children were not ready for us yet, so we toured the Vitameal plant on site. Vitameal is the product of an organization (I believe it is Feed the Children). When finished, Vitameal is a nutrient supplemented corn powder. With an output of 4000 to 6000 2kg bags each day, Vitameal feeds many children. When passed out, people, mostly children from what I am told, come from miles away. They turn in a government food voucher, passed out by the village chief, in exchange for the food. Each bag of Vitameal gives 15 adult servings or 30 child servings; it no doubt keeps several from starving.

When the children were finally ready, we walked into the orphanage to the sound of the children singing a song welcoming us to Mtendere. We then watched a program of singing, dancing, and a wood block military type of exercise dance. Their program also told a story about Malawian culture. The story told of the HIV/AIDS problem. “AIDS can strike anyone at anytime; we must not be careless.”

After the children’s program, we were told we had time to mingle. The children immediately took to us and showed us around. We toured thier houses, which include dorm-like rooms. We saw the multipurpose room, garden, storage rooms, futbol field, everything at Mtendere. These children are so proud to call Mtendere thier home. In contrast to the fishing village from the night earlier, the children at Mtendere are so polite. They do ask for things, but understand that it must go through their house mothers. For instance, one child gave me a beautiful picture, painted on an old binder divider. He said, “If I have paper, I can draw you more pictures.” I cannot wait to hand over our donations.

I also look forward to getting to know the children better. We shared some of our favorite things and names of people we care about, but I also wonder about their hopes and dreams for the future. At Mtendere, the children can really look to a future.

Back to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, these children have all the physiological needs: food, water, health care. They can also feel secure, safe from the harms of weather or outside world. Mtendere even gives children a place where they feel belonged and loved. While there are only about 5 house mothers for the 132 children, this affection is not the same as we would expect in our homes. By meeting all these needs, the children can feel self-respect, and enjoy their individuality. They can experience a purpose and meaning to life, and have the potential for self-actualization.