Details about the Program

I really haven't talked about the details of the program yet. Here is the link to the website from last year (same info just different dates)

http://www.cradie.soe.vt.edu/studyabroad/


The Study Abroad Program to Malawi ( 3rd poorest country in Africa) will be from July 21 to July 19. We will leave Dulles on the evening on July 21, fly with a stopover in Rome to Addis Ababa for an overnight stay on July 22. On July 23, we'll fly to Lilongwe, Malawi. We'll spend two nights in Lilongwe and on July 25 travel to Zomba. At the end of our trip, we will leave Lilongwe on July 18 and arrive at Dulles on July 19.



Thankfully, Santa brought me a map of Africa so I can actually learn where I'll be staying. He also brought me a travel guide book to Malawi. And one of those nice comfy Brookstone airplane pillows. It will be over 24 hours of travel time, so I know that will be very useful! My parents and I have looked everywhere for books on Malawi. AAA didn't have anything, and neither did Borders, Barnes and Noble. Finally, my dad found books and maps on Amazon.


We will be teaching in the mornings (between grades 1-8) and doing some type of service type project in the afternoon. There can be anywhere from 60-100 students in a classroom. The government thinks 65 is the ideal class size, but most classrooms have many more. We will also be taking classes to earn our 3-6 credits. We are allowed to come up with our own curriculum to teach. The idea is to bring topics/lessons to the classroom that their African teachers can't bring. We will also be able to develop projects that will help the classroom teachers in the future. Depending what we are getting our credits in, we will write a paper at the end of our trip about what we observed and researched while there. We will focus on how culture impacts teaching and learning. I think this is the 4th or 5th year this program has gone to Africa. In years past, they have developed a library for the school system and taught the students how to set it up and use it. Each year there is a different themed project we all work on to complete during our trip. I don't know what this years project will be yet.


5 VT students , 5 Radford students, 5 NC students and 3 advisors will be going on the trip. In the past years, its been around 50 degrees at night and 75 degrees during the day. When we are in the schools, girls are required to wear skirts that cover your knees and shirts that cover your shoulders.


We also go on lots of fun adventures! Overnight safaris, hiking, local markets, mission hospitals, and many more attractions! We are staying at Annie's Lodge (its a guarded resort) in Zomba Town. The town we are close to will have an internet cafe.


That's the basic info so far. Be sure and check out the website. It has more specific information.