The workers at Annies Lodge said the power will be out at 5:30am but the water should still be warm until about 7am. So I woke up at 6:15am and had still had warm water but the pressure was nonexistent. Katie had warned us about that so I was prepared. I’ll stop talking about the showers now, my mom said it’s boring.
Breakfast is included and since we spend the afternoon at school, we usually pack a lunch by making a sandwich at breakfast and bringing some of our own snacks. Dr. Kelly told us to bring sandwich bags to pack our lunch. The bread loafs aren’t the traditional size, they are a little bit longer so they don’t exactly fit in a sandwich bag. I’d suggest bringing one size above a sandwich bag to take your lunch. Its not a big deal because it smooches but its just something we thought of today. Along with everything else in the world, the cost of living in Malawi has gone up and I would suggest bringing closer to $500 food and spending money.
Today we were going to visit each of the schools and introduce ourselves then we will take a lunch break and talk about what we observed. We will spend the afternoon in town getting water and exchanging more money.
Charles came to pick us up and he was all dressed up! Apparently he had a meeting later in the day. I greeted him and he asked me if I slept well by saying “ did you have nice dreams.” I thought that was precious! I got on the bus and sat by Jennifer/Dr.Jones and she told me that Charles was disappointed that the majority of our group was girls (only one man) because he usually gets the men’s clothing. I was thinking it would be nice to bring men’s clothes since the majority of us leave only women’s clothing.
On the bus we talked about how we noticed no one complains. They are very grateful and in conversation you won’t find them complaining about anything. Yet another thing we can learn from them.
Our first stop was Malemia primary school. This school is in a village and it’s where Jeans mom lives. It was a little crazy today but I’m hoping to go back to find her mother and meet her! Jennifer said that the children will swarm up the bus when we pull up. The bus never comes down this road except when we come each year so it was a big deal. I don’t think I was prepared how significant this experience would be. The kids were on break playing outside and ran to the bus. They were clapping and chanting “white teacher” in Chichewa. One by one we got off and they stood in a line and reached out to touch each of us. I felt like the President of the United States. Its very similar to one of his rallies where he walks down the row and just touches and reaching out to squeeze peoples hand. They just keep coming and reaching for you to touch their hand. Some of the older ones will shake your hand. The emotion takes over and it took everything in me to hold back my tears. It’s not sad so I don’t really know why its so emotional but all of us were fighting back tears. Their faces would light up when you looked into their eyes instead of just touching their hand. I told one of the girls that I liked the flowers on her dress and she got so shy and blushed and even covered her face with her workbook. It was a little overwhelming and I got caught up in the crowd of the children when I needed to walk into a classroom, so a teacher came over to clear space for us to walk by. I’m not joking, I felt like we were in a famous band or something. We needed security to escort us and they wanted to touch us and be around us. I had no idea the experience would be like that. I wasn’t prepared but it was by far the best moment of the trip. The interaction with the children was great.
The children were outside peaking in as we introduced ourselves and the teachers from the school spoke briefly. Each and every teacher we introduced ourselves to throughout the entire day was so glad to see us, welcomed us to Malawi, and was looking forward to working with us. A common phrase is “you are most welcome”. I would sometimes say “Thank you for having us” and they would say “ you are most welcome” I thought they were saying “your welcome” but I slowly learned that they were “welcoming” us to their country. I talked to Ester who teaches standard 8 and has 54 students in her classroom. She told me her favorite subject to teach is social studies.
They actually took us on a tour to every classroom at Malemia. As we walked from classroom to classroom we would be swarmed again. The older children would clear the way from the little kids so we could get through. Towards the end their recess was over so they cleared into their classrooms. The deputy teacher took us around to each classroom and would explain what they are learning. He would give a brief explanation of each classroom and the teacher introduced themselves. They are so proper and the classes would talk in unison by saying “Good morning madam and sirs” “ How are you today madam and sirs?” And 18 of us would randomly say “fine thanks.” We need to work on our responses. They have been trained on how to greet us in English, but we don’t think they really know what they are saying. They just repeat it. Some of the older classes would even stand and welcome us. The younger classes the deputy would introduce us in Chichewa. When he told them we would be coming to teach tomorrow, the classes would clap. They were completely silent but if you made eye contact with one, they always smiled and gave a little wave back. At the village school they do not have uniforms but most of the older classrooms had desks. As we would walk by, we could hear them reciting things from other classrooms. The students from Radford will be working with this school. The deputy told us how many students were in some of the grades. 116 in standard 1, 112 in standard 2A, 120 in standard 2B, 90 in standard 4, 126 in standard 5, and 42 in standard 6.
A lot of the students were absent today. They explained to us when its this cold, a lot of students don’t come. To them, this weather is freezing. Many of the children also have jobs and market responsibilities.
Next we were off to the second school, Domasi Demonstration School. North Carolina A & T works with this school. I was adjusting well to my celebrity status! My checks hurt so bad from smiling so much. We were very careful to wipe out hands after touching everyone. It was gross. The wipes would be yellow after we wiped our hands. We didn’t go on a tour but the entire school stopped so the teachers could come in and introduce themselves to us. Apparently that type of thing is very common. Introductions and relationships are more important than time. The students waited outside patiently. We are continued to be “most welcomed”.
We noticed the demonstration school’s students uniforms are newer and cleaner. Overall the students hygiene looked better and some students even had backpacks. We learned that it costs money to send their children to this school. It costs 40 Kwacha a month. The money is used to clean the schools. At the other schools the girls are required to clean the school. Its very unsanitary and to be able to send your child to a school and not have to clean is a big deal. Boys attend this school too, ones that come from wealthier families.
I absolutely loved watching Liz, Dr. Kelly and Jennifer reunite with the teachers they had worked with from previous trips. It was obvious they remembered each other and they said, “by seeing the old and new faces that they knew good things would be coming.” The professors knew the teachers names and gave huge hugs! The connections our advisors have made with the people all over Malawi still amazes me. I am with some of the most kind hearted people that are truly changing the world one village at a time! They are also a wealth of information and I just try to take in as much as I can from them.
This is Patty’s first trip and she’s a professor at Radford. She has 2 sons who are a little older than us but we told her today that shes so comforting because she has all the answers to our questions we would ask our mom. Safely questions, medical questions etc. We told her she was our mom because we just adore her and she said she has always wanted daughters!
They followed us everywhere and we couldn’t communicate verbally with the smaller kids but I tried to teach them high 5’s. They all tried it and thought it was so funny. Anything new I would teach them they would just laugh but always tried it. They are probably laughing at me!
Our last visit was to the Demasi Government School. That is where VT will be teaching. It’s a beautiful school! I am so excited to be there! Most of the classrooms do not have desks yet a uniform is required.
We knew we wanted to be able to communicate with our classroom and the girls from last year suggested teaching standard 5, 6, or 7. Since we get to pick, Krista and I chose standard 6. I don’t think they are at the same level at our 6th grade, but I’ll have to let you know when I find out.
Dr. Kelly found out some great news. Apparently there is a huge dance competition in July but the schools have to be picked to participate. The competition will be after we leave but the 3 schools that we are working with have teams and today they happen to be practicing their dances and if they did well, they would move on to another level. So it was just perfect timing that we were already there! We were going to eat some lunch and talk briefly and then head to the field to watch the dancing. We had planned to reflect more, but this was a great opportunity. Jennifer said they had only seen the big competition but they had never seen the smaller village ones. This was a huge treat for us all! I couldn’t wait.
We sat down to have lunch in a classroom that we have rented for the month at Malawi Institute of Education. As we ate we talked about how important it is to not make them so exotic. They are not any different than us and they have potential just like any of us when we were that age. Liz suggested trying to avoid “them” or “those kids” because we have to remember they are individuals. Just because one kid can’t multiply doesn’t mean all of them can’t. Almost everyone on this trip is planning on being a teacher so they combined what we are observing in Malawi and how it will relate to their careers as educators. I felt a little out of place because I have no indention of being a teacher but I could relate to the discussion because I have been in a classroom most of my life.
In Malawi there is no such thing as a substitute teacher. Teachers make $30 a month. After primary school (1-8) then comes secondary school (1-4) which is similar to our high school and after secondary school students move on to a university. There is no free secondary school. Of the 13 million in Malawi, only 3,000 are college students. VT, Radford and NC are sponsoring bright Malawians to go to college in Malawi. They are paying for tuition but the individuals are responsible for room and board. It costs $1,000 a year for tuition in Malawi. The students who have been selected to be sponsored are so pleased and proud to be in school.
The numbers show that if you continue to go to school and don’t drop out you are statistically less likely to have HIV/AIDS. We are teaching by being there and showing them how important it is to be in school and in the long run we will be saving lives.
Brian is the only black male in the group from NC A & T and he talked about how someone asked him where his family is originally from. His family tried to trace it back but its unknown. He knew he was an outcast from our group because he doesn’t look like us but then he knew he was an outcast because he couldn’t associate with the Africans either. Being an African American is an outcast on both sides for him because he doesn’t know his native country. Although we are on the same trip, my experience will be completely different than Brians.
Brian also reminded us that this trip is not about “having fun with the kids” its about learning something. He said we can learn something from a fool so don’t get so cocky that we think we are teaching, we can be taught as well. We can learn from them and how much they value relationships. Brian is 27 and has a world more of knowledge then us silly little undergraduates. He has been a great mentor.
We talked about the word allophilia which is “positive attitudes for a group that is not one’s own—is a term derived from Greek words meaning “liking or love of the other.”
After our short reflection and discussion it was time to head to the dance competition. We walked across a soccer field to get there and the referee blew his whistle to stop the game because he said this was his first time to talk to white people! Haha He shook our hands! He spoke perfect English. As we walked by a man with a camera was taking a picture of us walking by. We also walked along side a little girl. We asked if she was going to dance and she showed us her costume she was carrying in her hand. We got excited and told her we would watch for her!
The smell in the classrooms/crowded areas is very distinct. Outside in fresh air is better but it’s going to be very hard to get used to it.
We made it to the field and school children were all around hanging out until the dancing began. Another reason to always carry around your video camera because you never know what we will run into! I was really excited because this was something they have been planning and were going to do today as a typical event. Most of the time we will only see traditional dancing being performed just for us. So I thought it was really cool to know they would be doing this anyway. They welcomed us and were pleased we wanted to watch. One of the Malawian teachers even went up to a VT student, Amber and told her that if we knew the moves we were welcome to join in! haha As we waited for it to begin, we interacted with some of the children. Many of them knew English and I talked to a boy who was in Standard 6 who knew how to multiply 8 x 2 and divide 16 by 2. But 8 x 8 he said was too hard for him.
It was amazing! Some of the different schools had costumes and their dance had different themes. I knew one of them was pretending to be the military because they had hats, whistles and a sash. Most of the groups had drummers and the beat of the music was just so much fun! I got video footage of almost all the dances. We came back later tonight and some girls already uploaded it onto their computer so we listened and watched all night long. We are afraid anyone we show this so won’t be as impressed with it. The way those little girls move their bodies is way too cool! It was fun to watch the teachers watch the performances because they would laugh at some of their students performing. It all looked the same to us but I’m sure if you knew all the students performing it meant something different. When we would hoot and holler at the end the kids thought that was sooo funny. They laughed at us for sure!
We left before it was over because we had to catch the bus to head back to town around 3pm. We stopped in town for some bottled water and also went to the bank to exchange money. Dr. Kelly said the bank usually runs out of money at the end of our trip because we use it all up. We also walked around a little and saw where we can buy fabric to get our dresses handmade by a seamstress. Its to hard to figure out what I want! This weekend is going to be very low key so we will have time to walk around town and get out bearing more. We were getting ready to walk up the big hill but we ran into Charles buying something in town and he was nice enough to drive us up the hill!
We ate right away because it just takes so long you have to start early. We figured out how to connect to the Internet and spent the rest of the night online and watching our African dance videos!
It was a great day! I am in love with the people and land of Malawi!
Saturday, June 28, 2008
June 25th- We've finally made it to our home away from home!
Today we spent the day driving from Lilongwe to Zomba. It would take all day because we would be stopping at multiple tourist stops and villages. Driving through Malawi is one of my favorite things, I could do it all day long and just look at the never ending land, drive by the villages and pass through the markets! So I was really looking forward to the drive.
I actually sat in the back of the van and 3 of the 4 advisors were close to me so it was really great to talk with them as we drove through Malawi because they knew so much and I learned a lot from their comments as we drove through the different scenery. They were our personal tour guides! The bus is to big so they don’t announce things, you have to sit close to them to be able to hear and ask questions. This is Dr. Kellys 21st time coming to Malawi and one year she even went 5 times! This is Liz’s 4th year and Jennifer’s 3rd year to Malawi.
We heard a sirens and Charles pulled over as the police drove by. Dr. Kelly said that in all of her years of visiting Malawi she has never seen a police drive by with lights and sirens. Charles said it was the President of Malawi passing us!!! Apparently the political party that supported him isn’t a fan of him because he didn’t continue the corrupt system so he must have a lot of security.
Dr. Kelly told us that the tall white flags in the villages represent a doctor. The village doctors use witch craft for medicine! We actually saw two white flags on our drive. Dr. Kelly also said that she has only ever seen 2 women ride bicycles in Malawi. It is something only men do.
One of the girls on this trip was talking and she told everyone on the bus that she didn’t like to wave at the kids from the windows because she thought it made us better then them (I don’t remember her exact words but something along those lines) and I felt like I have listened to a lot of information and different points of view. I have seriously considered every comment I get regarding going to Africa and I try very hard to be aware of my actions and comments out of respect for the culture. So I understand her point of view, after months of preparing for Africa and listening to these comments I often found myself very lost. After hearing her say she didn’t agree with waving to the kids, for the first time I was 100% confident that I disagreed with her and I told her that if waving at a child makes them smile, then I will continue to wave at them and I don’t think anything is wrong with that. Dr. Kelly nodded her head and patted me on the thigh after I said that. Another advisor also said that we want them to know we are friendly people and waving is nothing more then a friendly gesture. I guess I was right, I would find out how I really felt about these issues once I got here.
Charles is The Malawi Institute of Education driver. He drives professors and business people from Zomba to Lilongwe all the time. He lives in Zomba but comes to Lilongwe to drive us. So he knows the roads very well and takes good care of us. He knows where to slow down if there are bumbs and he knows exactly how long it will take. Charles also stops at little villages along the roads because he knows where the good deals are that he can’t get back in Zomba. We actually stopped twice because Charles wanted to pick up potatoes one time and another time he wanted oranges. When we stopped to get potatoes the children all come up to see us. Brian (a student from NC A & T) got a Kwacha coin and gave it to a boy from the window. He was thrilled!!!
Our first stop was Dedza Pottery. I’m not exactly sure of the background but my understanding is that a man from the Peace Corp caught the village how to make the pottery so they could start their own business and become self sufficient. We ate lunch at a little café next door and they had amazing American food and we assume its from the Peace Corp man teaching them since its such a tourist attraction. Pretty cool! The Dedza Pottery is very successful and it’s even online. There were quite a few other tourists there so people really do come from all over the world for this place. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected. It’s basically 3 rooms and a whole bunch of random, semi organized pottery. You have to dig and look for what you want. Its attempted to be organized by pots, plates, mugs etc. These type of stores drive me insane. I like to look at all my options and I like to know there is plenty to choose from. If someone grabbed the zebra plate, chances are that was the only one. I have enough decision making problems to begin with so this was just a very stressful store for me. Needless to say it took me hours to decide and find what I wanted. I was one of the last one outs. But they did have some amazing pottery! The website does not do justice, way beyond that! I saw where they make the pottery and hand paint it. It’s quite a business they have! You can pay by credit card and have it shipped if you would like. The catch is the package usually doesn’t arrive until the fall and I didn’t want to wait that long. So I’m going to try to take mine back with me.
Next I walked over the café and had a very yummy grilled cheese sandwich. We are the biggest thing in town and we definitely sell people out when we come. The poor waiter was running around trying to serve everyone! The café was beautiful- they had outdoor seating and a beautiful flower garden. The whole group was ahead of the indecisive people who were running behind, so they had already moved onto the next stop. We just walked down the street to a unique, environmental art shop where they make paper out of trash and even out of elephant dung. My mom calls it the poop paper place. ha The dung is difficult to make because he has to go to the national park to get the dung. He knew we were coming and he was preparing for us but he hadn’t finished everything yet and wasn’t ready. We literally bought his entire store. There was probably 3 things left, no joke. He did a demonstration but an entire group of us were too late and we missed it. Dr. Kelly showed us the process. And then we got to shop. The village kids came out and we played with them for a few minutes. Adorable! I video taped the explanation of how its made so that will help explain it. The man who owns it makes the paper and does the painting, but the wife makes dolls and other family members contribute as well. Unfortunately since I was one of the last people in the shop, everything was picked over. I was really bummed but I picked up the last stuff I could find. And a couple people finished him off and got the rest. Nothing left in the store. But that is great for him!! We gave him enough business to last for months and he was thrilled to have us.
Our van was full of our luggage so when Krista was playing with the children outside the Art Shop she saw her luggage on the outside so she managed to open her suitcase and pull out a world globe to give them! Always carry little things to give to them because they will love it!
That took up the majority of the day so next we continued to drive on down. We stopped at a market in Lizulu. Apparently Wednesday is their big market day. Each day they have a little market, but once a week markets usually have their “market day”. This market was actually on the border of Mozambique and Malawi. The road we drive on is the border so the left side of the road was Malawi and the right was Mozambique. It was impressive and I’m surprised we were allowed out of the van. Sometime it can be dangerous. Charles got some oranges and we wondered around in groups. They sold everything: medicine in plastic bags, tomatoes, oranges, cabbage, green beans, cauliflower, onions, shoes, watches, fabric, clothes and many more items. They didn’t bother us too much and they respected our space. For the most part they just let us walk around and pretend to “blend in” haha. We started off taking pictures but the girls said Charles told them it was a big no no. I think you can get arrested so we quickly put our cameras away. I managed to get a couple illegal shots! I don’t remember if I was on the Mozambique side or the Malawi side but one young man walked up to me with a bouquet of onions and said “ I want you to be my girlfriend.” Haha Most of them didn’t know English so I was surprised he knew that much.
Our final stop was at a village along the road. It was very a beautiful village and was simply an opportunity to interact with the kids and take pictures not on a moving bus. Slowly the kids started trickling up the mountain to come play with us. The little ones were scared but once they saw the older kids come closer then they came too. The layer of dirt on the children is unbelievable. Dr. Kelly says children that dirty probably don’t even go to school. School is not required; if you are needed in your village then your parents will probably keep you home. Only the smart children who are doing well in school are typically kept in school. If they don’t have shoes on or a significant amount of clothing on during this time of year, then you know they literally are wearing everything they own. I saw quite a few people with coats on in Lilongwe because this is their winter and if they own coats or shoes, they will be wearing them now because they think its so cold. Dr. Kelly said chances are if they don’t have shoes then they don’t have a blanket either and they are sleeping on the cement floor at night. And let me tell you, it gets very cold at night.
I took some video of the children dances and playing with us by the bus. I had hoped to get typical behavior on my video I am sure that will not happen. We bring so much attention and the children start showing off for us. They wave and give thumbs up. So the video has lots of children doing that. They probably don’t typically do this, only when they see white people. But I love to see them laugh and giggle. As we were leaving the bus some of the girls who were dancing with us were expecting money so they were getting angry we didn’t give them “dollar”. The advisors said we will be asked for that our entire trip and they the kids learn it from each other. Coins are okay but its best to give them little things you might have. One boy in Dedza asked for a pen, so it was obvious he went to school and spoke English. Heidi gave him a pen!!
A group saw the price of gas and converted it to our money, it turned out to be about $5.40 a gallon. Yikes! There are tons of gas stations all over the place. As we drove by the markets I asked how much they sell and Dr. Kelly said the majority of the food gets wasted. Everyone tells the same thing and not very many people buy because they have their own crops. I couldn’t believe the food was wasted but this is not a hungry time for them so most villages are not starving. The hunger time could last as long as 3 months and is usually around Christmas time when they are waiting for their crops to grow but have run out of their previous crops.
Almost every single village has a soccer field. Most fields we drove by had children playing on the field. I asked if it was heard of to move out of your village or even start a new village. Uncommon but possible. Only if you were getting married and move with your husband or had another reason to leave. In order to leave you would have to have permission from the village chief. A chief is responsible for several villages and you have to ask permission from him to come to the village and/or leave. The chief is a heritage chief and you are born to the position. A very popular carving is the “chief chair” that the village chief sits in. You always come back to your original village to be buried. Funerals are a big deal and always an excuse to miss work.
There are 3 different regions in Malawi; southern, central and northern. We saw the central part in Lilongwe but as we drove to Zomba we noticed the terrain change and it was becoming the southern area. It was like night and day; completely different. Lots more mountains, (Annies lodge is on a mountain) and so many more trees. We saw a handful of baobab trees which are only grown in Southern Malawi. They didn’t have any leaves on them during this time of year but they were unique so we could point them out!
It was very important that we made it to Annie’s Lodge by 5:30pm. It starts to get very dark and by 6pm its pitch black. It is very dangerous to drive after dark because there are no street lamps. We anticipated the drive taking a long time but Charles got us there right before 5pm. I didn’t realize how high up Annie’s lodge is compared to the town. It’s will be quite a hike! Annie’s Lodge is gorgeous! It’s basically a resort, there are multiple separate buildings scattered up the mountain. The flower gardens surround the buildings and walkways.
We pulled up to the lodge and we had quite a pleasant surprise! Annie’s son is very attractive with a British accent. Apparently Annie married a man from London and had Peter. He was raised in London for 20 years. He is completely white and I would never guess that his mother is Malawian. I’m not sure when Annie’s Lodge was started but he lives here with his wife and 4 kids and helps run the business with his mom. The advisors didn’t tell us about him because they wanted to leave something to surprise us with! It was really funny because even the advisors have a crush on him. They said we would think they were dirty old women if they told us about him. ha Dr. Kelly claims she has the best picture of him!!! They want to make a calendar out of him! Haha There is some juicy gossip about Peter that we learned later that night. Apparently at the goodbye party last year he brought his wife and girlfriend to the party. They knew about each other and were completely fine. This type of behavior is typical old Malawian behavior. The advisors told us the gossip but we have to be very careful not to talk about it in front of the workers at the lodge. For a successful business it is looked down upon because Annie is very embarrassed and it’s a hush hush topic. Annie is also a former member of parliament. Annie is divorced to Peters father. Its great, a group of 17 girls needed some good gossip to talk about! He is very helpful and takes good care of us. They do extra special things for our group! Peter is planning a Jazz night, movie night and even brings us little maps and snacks. He knows we are drooling over him!
The 3 advisors that have been on this trip before got off the trip and greeted everyone! They remembered everyones name and were so happy to see their friends. Jennifer/Dr. Jones said that last year they brought a bicycle in town ( about $80) and gave it to one of the workers at Annie’s Lodge because he had to walk over the huge mountain everyday to come to work. Jennifer said that he was very fragile and she was concerned he wouldn’t be back this year but was really excited to see him when she got off the bus!! He is still very thankful for the bike and said he sometimes lets his two kids drive the bike across the mountain to school. They are in secondary school- it’s a big deal to make it that far so he is very proud.
The workers at the lodge took all of our luggage to our rooms and we were excited to have our own room for more than two nights! Six of us are on the lower end of the mountain and Peter said we can move up the mountain with the rest of the group over the weekend after other guests leave. We had briefly spent a couple minutes in our room just chatting and the power went out! Of course it was pitch black and our luggage was everywhere so we couldn’t find our flashlights. Between the 3 of us we got our flashlights and headed up to the main area to see what everyone was up to. We couldn’t find anyone. We were looking around and found Dr. Kelly sitting by herself at the bar! We joined her and Peter said 1st drinks were on him. One of the popular beers here is about $1 and is called Kuche Kuche! We were enjoying sitting at the bar talking with Dr. Kelly asking her a lot of questions about the lodge, Zomba and telling her how impressed we are with Annies Lodge. It is way beyond our expectations! Another advisor, Liz walked up and I said we are “getting an education at the bar” and she said that it’s called graduate school! Haha We talked about what an amazing trip this is and Liz said she quickly learned that anything PKelly is involved in would be something cool. Finally everyone came out since the power was out and we all met at the bar. If the power had not gone out, we would have stayed in our rooms. The evening was beautiful and everyone was loving life! It was the perfect build up by starting at Ethiopia then upgrading to Korea Gardens and our final destination was paradise! The workers were glad to see us and welcomed us to Malawi! We are a big deal here that’s for sure.
We sat outside for dinner and Krista, Amber and I sat by Dr. Kelly. The prices at Annie’s Lodge have gone up 200-300 kwacha. All of us are a little nervous about running out of money. The meals are completely safe and well cooked. Its all food we would eat, sometimes it’s a little altered but for the most part is very common. Grilled Cheese, spaghetti, chicken dishes etc. Food tax in Malawi is 17.5%. They warned us that dinner is very slow and will take hours.
Dr. Kelly told us VT is applying for a research grant in Ethiopia. Apparently everyone was really scared staying at the Ethiopian hotel. Krista and I thought parts were sketchy but never had second guesses and went to sleep fine. We even opened the windows in the morning and everything. I guess our red flags didn’t go off because we weren’t scared. I feel comfortable traveling in such a large group.
Dr. Kelly told us that monkeys and baboons sometimes come down from the mountains and the workers have to shoe them away or else they will eat our food and/or bit us. Yikes! But I really want to see a monkey!
We briefly talked about the school system and Dr. Kelly says 50% of the kids probably aren’t in school because its not required by the government. They are needed to do work in the villages.
Dr. Kelly also explained the electricity situation in Malawi. They have a rolling blackout to preserve energy. We got a little slip of paper that lists the hours we will not have electricity in the next 4 days. It’s basically every morning anytime between 5:30-12pm. It’s very common. As we were leaving dinner with our flashlights we felt like we were at Girl Scout camp. Thankfully the power was on when we got to our room. It’s VERY cold at night.
Each hotel room has provided mosquito nets and each night I intend on putting it on but I keep forgetting. It’s not something I’m used to. Krista isn’t worried about it and Dr. Kelly said you don’t need it this time of year.
We spent the rest of the night trying to figure out the Internet. The VT girls are very concerned about it. We also wanted to tell our parents we were safe after a 4-hour drive through Malawi. Thankfully Annie’s Lodge has updated their Internet service and they now offer 24 hours for $20 that you can purchase online. The only catch is you need the Internet to purchase the 24 hours. So we bought 30-minute cards for 200 Kwacha and used it to purchase the 24 hours. We can use the 24 hours a little bit at a time and just log on and off. So it’s a great deal. However tonight we couldn’t figure it out because the cards weren’t working. We continued to write down about our day and decided we would have to wait until tomorrow until we figured it out.
We spent the night chatting in our rooms. It was a lot of fun and considering we didn’t know everyone before the trip, the VT girls are getting really close. I love it! We have all kinds of jokes and enjoy laughing at each other. We scare ourselves by convincing each other that we have staff infections! BTW, medical update… everyone’s doing just great. Every once in a while someone gets a mini tummy ache but nothing serious. The food we are eating is very similar to what we are used to. If we are going someplace that serves traditional Malawian food, Dr. Kelly warns us to bring some snacks.
A lot of the advisor's brought whistles for safety and that was one thing I didn’t think of. I wish I had taken a Polaroid camera. I brought disposable cameras to develop and give to the kids in our classroom, but we are meeting so many children in the villages as we drive by and their favorite things is to get their picture taken and look at it. I would love to be able to give them a picture of themselves. It’s bulky to carry around but it would be worth it. The kids would cherish the pictures.
I actually sat in the back of the van and 3 of the 4 advisors were close to me so it was really great to talk with them as we drove through Malawi because they knew so much and I learned a lot from their comments as we drove through the different scenery. They were our personal tour guides! The bus is to big so they don’t announce things, you have to sit close to them to be able to hear and ask questions. This is Dr. Kellys 21st time coming to Malawi and one year she even went 5 times! This is Liz’s 4th year and Jennifer’s 3rd year to Malawi.
We heard a sirens and Charles pulled over as the police drove by. Dr. Kelly said that in all of her years of visiting Malawi she has never seen a police drive by with lights and sirens. Charles said it was the President of Malawi passing us!!! Apparently the political party that supported him isn’t a fan of him because he didn’t continue the corrupt system so he must have a lot of security.
Dr. Kelly told us that the tall white flags in the villages represent a doctor. The village doctors use witch craft for medicine! We actually saw two white flags on our drive. Dr. Kelly also said that she has only ever seen 2 women ride bicycles in Malawi. It is something only men do.
One of the girls on this trip was talking and she told everyone on the bus that she didn’t like to wave at the kids from the windows because she thought it made us better then them (I don’t remember her exact words but something along those lines) and I felt like I have listened to a lot of information and different points of view. I have seriously considered every comment I get regarding going to Africa and I try very hard to be aware of my actions and comments out of respect for the culture. So I understand her point of view, after months of preparing for Africa and listening to these comments I often found myself very lost. After hearing her say she didn’t agree with waving to the kids, for the first time I was 100% confident that I disagreed with her and I told her that if waving at a child makes them smile, then I will continue to wave at them and I don’t think anything is wrong with that. Dr. Kelly nodded her head and patted me on the thigh after I said that. Another advisor also said that we want them to know we are friendly people and waving is nothing more then a friendly gesture. I guess I was right, I would find out how I really felt about these issues once I got here.
Charles is The Malawi Institute of Education driver. He drives professors and business people from Zomba to Lilongwe all the time. He lives in Zomba but comes to Lilongwe to drive us. So he knows the roads very well and takes good care of us. He knows where to slow down if there are bumbs and he knows exactly how long it will take. Charles also stops at little villages along the roads because he knows where the good deals are that he can’t get back in Zomba. We actually stopped twice because Charles wanted to pick up potatoes one time and another time he wanted oranges. When we stopped to get potatoes the children all come up to see us. Brian (a student from NC A & T) got a Kwacha coin and gave it to a boy from the window. He was thrilled!!!
Our first stop was Dedza Pottery. I’m not exactly sure of the background but my understanding is that a man from the Peace Corp caught the village how to make the pottery so they could start their own business and become self sufficient. We ate lunch at a little café next door and they had amazing American food and we assume its from the Peace Corp man teaching them since its such a tourist attraction. Pretty cool! The Dedza Pottery is very successful and it’s even online. There were quite a few other tourists there so people really do come from all over the world for this place. It wasn’t exactly what I had expected. It’s basically 3 rooms and a whole bunch of random, semi organized pottery. You have to dig and look for what you want. Its attempted to be organized by pots, plates, mugs etc. These type of stores drive me insane. I like to look at all my options and I like to know there is plenty to choose from. If someone grabbed the zebra plate, chances are that was the only one. I have enough decision making problems to begin with so this was just a very stressful store for me. Needless to say it took me hours to decide and find what I wanted. I was one of the last one outs. But they did have some amazing pottery! The website does not do justice, way beyond that! I saw where they make the pottery and hand paint it. It’s quite a business they have! You can pay by credit card and have it shipped if you would like. The catch is the package usually doesn’t arrive until the fall and I didn’t want to wait that long. So I’m going to try to take mine back with me.
Next I walked over the café and had a very yummy grilled cheese sandwich. We are the biggest thing in town and we definitely sell people out when we come. The poor waiter was running around trying to serve everyone! The café was beautiful- they had outdoor seating and a beautiful flower garden. The whole group was ahead of the indecisive people who were running behind, so they had already moved onto the next stop. We just walked down the street to a unique, environmental art shop where they make paper out of trash and even out of elephant dung. My mom calls it the poop paper place. ha The dung is difficult to make because he has to go to the national park to get the dung. He knew we were coming and he was preparing for us but he hadn’t finished everything yet and wasn’t ready. We literally bought his entire store. There was probably 3 things left, no joke. He did a demonstration but an entire group of us were too late and we missed it. Dr. Kelly showed us the process. And then we got to shop. The village kids came out and we played with them for a few minutes. Adorable! I video taped the explanation of how its made so that will help explain it. The man who owns it makes the paper and does the painting, but the wife makes dolls and other family members contribute as well. Unfortunately since I was one of the last people in the shop, everything was picked over. I was really bummed but I picked up the last stuff I could find. And a couple people finished him off and got the rest. Nothing left in the store. But that is great for him!! We gave him enough business to last for months and he was thrilled to have us.
Our van was full of our luggage so when Krista was playing with the children outside the Art Shop she saw her luggage on the outside so she managed to open her suitcase and pull out a world globe to give them! Always carry little things to give to them because they will love it!
That took up the majority of the day so next we continued to drive on down. We stopped at a market in Lizulu. Apparently Wednesday is their big market day. Each day they have a little market, but once a week markets usually have their “market day”. This market was actually on the border of Mozambique and Malawi. The road we drive on is the border so the left side of the road was Malawi and the right was Mozambique. It was impressive and I’m surprised we were allowed out of the van. Sometime it can be dangerous. Charles got some oranges and we wondered around in groups. They sold everything: medicine in plastic bags, tomatoes, oranges, cabbage, green beans, cauliflower, onions, shoes, watches, fabric, clothes and many more items. They didn’t bother us too much and they respected our space. For the most part they just let us walk around and pretend to “blend in” haha. We started off taking pictures but the girls said Charles told them it was a big no no. I think you can get arrested so we quickly put our cameras away. I managed to get a couple illegal shots! I don’t remember if I was on the Mozambique side or the Malawi side but one young man walked up to me with a bouquet of onions and said “ I want you to be my girlfriend.” Haha Most of them didn’t know English so I was surprised he knew that much.
Our final stop was at a village along the road. It was very a beautiful village and was simply an opportunity to interact with the kids and take pictures not on a moving bus. Slowly the kids started trickling up the mountain to come play with us. The little ones were scared but once they saw the older kids come closer then they came too. The layer of dirt on the children is unbelievable. Dr. Kelly says children that dirty probably don’t even go to school. School is not required; if you are needed in your village then your parents will probably keep you home. Only the smart children who are doing well in school are typically kept in school. If they don’t have shoes on or a significant amount of clothing on during this time of year, then you know they literally are wearing everything they own. I saw quite a few people with coats on in Lilongwe because this is their winter and if they own coats or shoes, they will be wearing them now because they think its so cold. Dr. Kelly said chances are if they don’t have shoes then they don’t have a blanket either and they are sleeping on the cement floor at night. And let me tell you, it gets very cold at night.
I took some video of the children dances and playing with us by the bus. I had hoped to get typical behavior on my video I am sure that will not happen. We bring so much attention and the children start showing off for us. They wave and give thumbs up. So the video has lots of children doing that. They probably don’t typically do this, only when they see white people. But I love to see them laugh and giggle. As we were leaving the bus some of the girls who were dancing with us were expecting money so they were getting angry we didn’t give them “dollar”. The advisors said we will be asked for that our entire trip and they the kids learn it from each other. Coins are okay but its best to give them little things you might have. One boy in Dedza asked for a pen, so it was obvious he went to school and spoke English. Heidi gave him a pen!!
A group saw the price of gas and converted it to our money, it turned out to be about $5.40 a gallon. Yikes! There are tons of gas stations all over the place. As we drove by the markets I asked how much they sell and Dr. Kelly said the majority of the food gets wasted. Everyone tells the same thing and not very many people buy because they have their own crops. I couldn’t believe the food was wasted but this is not a hungry time for them so most villages are not starving. The hunger time could last as long as 3 months and is usually around Christmas time when they are waiting for their crops to grow but have run out of their previous crops.
Almost every single village has a soccer field. Most fields we drove by had children playing on the field. I asked if it was heard of to move out of your village or even start a new village. Uncommon but possible. Only if you were getting married and move with your husband or had another reason to leave. In order to leave you would have to have permission from the village chief. A chief is responsible for several villages and you have to ask permission from him to come to the village and/or leave. The chief is a heritage chief and you are born to the position. A very popular carving is the “chief chair” that the village chief sits in. You always come back to your original village to be buried. Funerals are a big deal and always an excuse to miss work.
There are 3 different regions in Malawi; southern, central and northern. We saw the central part in Lilongwe but as we drove to Zomba we noticed the terrain change and it was becoming the southern area. It was like night and day; completely different. Lots more mountains, (Annies lodge is on a mountain) and so many more trees. We saw a handful of baobab trees which are only grown in Southern Malawi. They didn’t have any leaves on them during this time of year but they were unique so we could point them out!
It was very important that we made it to Annie’s Lodge by 5:30pm. It starts to get very dark and by 6pm its pitch black. It is very dangerous to drive after dark because there are no street lamps. We anticipated the drive taking a long time but Charles got us there right before 5pm. I didn’t realize how high up Annie’s lodge is compared to the town. It’s will be quite a hike! Annie’s Lodge is gorgeous! It’s basically a resort, there are multiple separate buildings scattered up the mountain. The flower gardens surround the buildings and walkways.
We pulled up to the lodge and we had quite a pleasant surprise! Annie’s son is very attractive with a British accent. Apparently Annie married a man from London and had Peter. He was raised in London for 20 years. He is completely white and I would never guess that his mother is Malawian. I’m not sure when Annie’s Lodge was started but he lives here with his wife and 4 kids and helps run the business with his mom. The advisors didn’t tell us about him because they wanted to leave something to surprise us with! It was really funny because even the advisors have a crush on him. They said we would think they were dirty old women if they told us about him. ha Dr. Kelly claims she has the best picture of him!!! They want to make a calendar out of him! Haha There is some juicy gossip about Peter that we learned later that night. Apparently at the goodbye party last year he brought his wife and girlfriend to the party. They knew about each other and were completely fine. This type of behavior is typical old Malawian behavior. The advisors told us the gossip but we have to be very careful not to talk about it in front of the workers at the lodge. For a successful business it is looked down upon because Annie is very embarrassed and it’s a hush hush topic. Annie is also a former member of parliament. Annie is divorced to Peters father. Its great, a group of 17 girls needed some good gossip to talk about! He is very helpful and takes good care of us. They do extra special things for our group! Peter is planning a Jazz night, movie night and even brings us little maps and snacks. He knows we are drooling over him!
The 3 advisors that have been on this trip before got off the trip and greeted everyone! They remembered everyones name and were so happy to see their friends. Jennifer/Dr. Jones said that last year they brought a bicycle in town ( about $80) and gave it to one of the workers at Annie’s Lodge because he had to walk over the huge mountain everyday to come to work. Jennifer said that he was very fragile and she was concerned he wouldn’t be back this year but was really excited to see him when she got off the bus!! He is still very thankful for the bike and said he sometimes lets his two kids drive the bike across the mountain to school. They are in secondary school- it’s a big deal to make it that far so he is very proud.
The workers at the lodge took all of our luggage to our rooms and we were excited to have our own room for more than two nights! Six of us are on the lower end of the mountain and Peter said we can move up the mountain with the rest of the group over the weekend after other guests leave. We had briefly spent a couple minutes in our room just chatting and the power went out! Of course it was pitch black and our luggage was everywhere so we couldn’t find our flashlights. Between the 3 of us we got our flashlights and headed up to the main area to see what everyone was up to. We couldn’t find anyone. We were looking around and found Dr. Kelly sitting by herself at the bar! We joined her and Peter said 1st drinks were on him. One of the popular beers here is about $1 and is called Kuche Kuche! We were enjoying sitting at the bar talking with Dr. Kelly asking her a lot of questions about the lodge, Zomba and telling her how impressed we are with Annies Lodge. It is way beyond our expectations! Another advisor, Liz walked up and I said we are “getting an education at the bar” and she said that it’s called graduate school! Haha We talked about what an amazing trip this is and Liz said she quickly learned that anything PKelly is involved in would be something cool. Finally everyone came out since the power was out and we all met at the bar. If the power had not gone out, we would have stayed in our rooms. The evening was beautiful and everyone was loving life! It was the perfect build up by starting at Ethiopia then upgrading to Korea Gardens and our final destination was paradise! The workers were glad to see us and welcomed us to Malawi! We are a big deal here that’s for sure.
We sat outside for dinner and Krista, Amber and I sat by Dr. Kelly. The prices at Annie’s Lodge have gone up 200-300 kwacha. All of us are a little nervous about running out of money. The meals are completely safe and well cooked. Its all food we would eat, sometimes it’s a little altered but for the most part is very common. Grilled Cheese, spaghetti, chicken dishes etc. Food tax in Malawi is 17.5%. They warned us that dinner is very slow and will take hours.
Dr. Kelly told us VT is applying for a research grant in Ethiopia. Apparently everyone was really scared staying at the Ethiopian hotel. Krista and I thought parts were sketchy but never had second guesses and went to sleep fine. We even opened the windows in the morning and everything. I guess our red flags didn’t go off because we weren’t scared. I feel comfortable traveling in such a large group.
Dr. Kelly told us that monkeys and baboons sometimes come down from the mountains and the workers have to shoe them away or else they will eat our food and/or bit us. Yikes! But I really want to see a monkey!
We briefly talked about the school system and Dr. Kelly says 50% of the kids probably aren’t in school because its not required by the government. They are needed to do work in the villages.
Dr. Kelly also explained the electricity situation in Malawi. They have a rolling blackout to preserve energy. We got a little slip of paper that lists the hours we will not have electricity in the next 4 days. It’s basically every morning anytime between 5:30-12pm. It’s very common. As we were leaving dinner with our flashlights we felt like we were at Girl Scout camp. Thankfully the power was on when we got to our room. It’s VERY cold at night.
Each hotel room has provided mosquito nets and each night I intend on putting it on but I keep forgetting. It’s not something I’m used to. Krista isn’t worried about it and Dr. Kelly said you don’t need it this time of year.
We spent the rest of the night trying to figure out the Internet. The VT girls are very concerned about it. We also wanted to tell our parents we were safe after a 4-hour drive through Malawi. Thankfully Annie’s Lodge has updated their Internet service and they now offer 24 hours for $20 that you can purchase online. The only catch is you need the Internet to purchase the 24 hours. So we bought 30-minute cards for 200 Kwacha and used it to purchase the 24 hours. We can use the 24 hours a little bit at a time and just log on and off. So it’s a great deal. However tonight we couldn’t figure it out because the cards weren’t working. We continued to write down about our day and decided we would have to wait until tomorrow until we figured it out.
We spent the night chatting in our rooms. It was a lot of fun and considering we didn’t know everyone before the trip, the VT girls are getting really close. I love it! We have all kinds of jokes and enjoy laughing at each other. We scare ourselves by convincing each other that we have staff infections! BTW, medical update… everyone’s doing just great. Every once in a while someone gets a mini tummy ache but nothing serious. The food we are eating is very similar to what we are used to. If we are going someplace that serves traditional Malawian food, Dr. Kelly warns us to bring some snacks.
A lot of the advisor's brought whistles for safety and that was one thing I didn’t think of. I wish I had taken a Polaroid camera. I brought disposable cameras to develop and give to the kids in our classroom, but we are meeting so many children in the villages as we drive by and their favorite things is to get their picture taken and look at it. I would love to be able to give them a picture of themselves. It’s bulky to carry around but it would be worth it. The kids would cherish the pictures.
June 24th- Freedom Gardens
I woke up around 7am and hopped in the shower- the pressure was great and it was warm! I was prepared for the opposite, so I’m pleasantly surprised so far!
Also- the electrical adapters have worked just fine. Nothing blew up!
Korea Garden Lodge (We still can’t figure out why its called that) had a great breakfast! I had some bananas and toast. Krista and the other girls tried some eggs but I was just fine with my toast. We left a little before 9am for Freedom Gardens. Our bus driver is from Malawi Institute of Education in Zomba which is an upper level college that our program works closely with and we will spend a lot of our time. He drove to Lilongwe to escort us around town and will take us back to Zomba tomorrow.
We stopped at a gas station to pick up Absolon, who is from Lilongwe but recently graduated from Virginia Tech. I actually started up a conversation with him later in the day because I knew Mr. M had contacted him or his roommate. At first he didn’t remember, but the more I explained he remembered talking to Mr. M. Apparently he was on a listserv of international students and somehow Mr. M got his name and contacted him. They exchanged quite a few emails and even talked on the phone. I told him I was friends with Mr. M and he had told me all about him! He was adorable! I enjoyed talking to him. He asked for my email address, yet another African friend I have made. I’m hoping he will come meet us again when we are in Lilongwe on our way back home. Absolon knew the man who started Freedom Gardens and introduced Dr. Kelly to the family. Absolon knew the gardens very well and wanted to join us for the day.
It was about a 45 minute drive outside of Lilongwe but I loved every minute of the drive. There is so much to look at and observe. My favorite part is waving to the people walking on the streets. They usually look at the van but don’t wave or smile unless you wave first. Then their faces always light up and they wave back. I hope they think of white people as friendly people. The kids usually get really excited and jump up and down, dance, give thumbs up and enjoy the attention.
I feel so free here! The land goes on for miles and miles all around you and you can see the open sky and clouds. I have never been somewhere where I could see so much open land. You can look in the distance and enjoy the scenery for a moment and it feels as if all your worries are gone for that moment as you take it all in.
As we drove I also noticed that a lot of people seemed like they had nothing to do. In town and outside of town there are lots of locals just chilling. Many are walking or riding bikes but you will find people doing nothing. I think it’s the relaxed lifestyle, but I have to wonder if they have jobs?
I noticed a lot of “Malawi is Gun Free” “Stop Child Abuse” and “Arrive Alive” posters. America has a lot of the same issues. Even though it is the dry season, there was still a lot of vegetation. A variety of green plants along the roads and throughout the land. There was only open space if something was built there. We drove by many villages that were just off the road. We saw goats, chicken, dogs, donkeys, and some cattle. They were all village pets. I’m sure they eventually eat them. The soil was very red and at most of the villages there was a hole where they were digging to make bricks. I saw a couple fires and most of the shelters were the same. Either made from bricks, mud or sticks/straw. Some had straw roofs, some didn’t. Believe it or not, the huts and villages look just like in the books/movies.
There was no sign or anything we just pulled up and we were there. Very few village people know about this garden. They don’t advertise it because many people try and steal the crops. Mrs. Chinkhutha greeted each one of us as we got off the van. They had chairs for us and we sat down to listen. Absolon introduced Mrs. Chinkhutha and her son, Daniel who own the garden. Absolon knew Mr. Chinkhutha who started the garden. Mr. Chinkhutha wanted to make money so he left his family for this particular location because of the water. He wanted to grow food. This garden is 100% organic and doesn’t use any chemicals. Today people from Kenya, Sweden and all around the world come to see what a magnificent place it has become. They come to learn about the garden and hope to take the idea to their village so hopefully they can start their own sustainable garden. Unfortunately, Mr. Chinkhutha passed away last summer just a couple weeks after the group from last year visited. The advisors and everyone that knew him was still grieving and took a moment to pay their respects. Our advisor Jennifer said she had never been in the presence of a man as smart and wise as him. I could tell what an amazing person he was and I’m so glad to see his legacy living on. His son, Daniel was away at school but has come back to take over the farm. While the father didn’t have a degree, he was still called a Dr. because they believed he earned an honorary degree.
Mrs. Chinkhutha and her husband came in 1982 and when they got to the land, there was hyenas and all type of animals. No one had ever planted in swamp land. They spent the 1st 3 years draining and cutting down the swamps. Their first garden was 10 meters by 10 meters. Today the garden is 26 acres. The garden is primarily food and vegetables. They do not have any animals besides chickens and fish, so they do have to purchase manure for the soil. The great thing about the fish is they eat the Mosquito larva so that minimizes the risk of Mosquito diseases. They do not use pumps- the water comes from the river. The land already had reservoirs so they didn’t have to dig them. For compost they use leaves and flowers. Nothing is wasted. Everyone is planned out and used wisely.
Daniel stood up and told us he wanted us to make Freedom Gardens our first home before our first home. He knew we weren’t really getting to our final destination until tomorrow, but he wanted us to feel welcome here. We sure did! They also talked about how important it was that the family had complete agreement with nature. They worked with nature instead of trying to fight something that didn’t work. Another belief they pointed out was that this garden is life based not money based. Meaning that the purpose of the garden is to provide food for yourself and family to survive and it isn’t to make money and have a business. If you have this garden and all the food it provides there isn’t anything else you need. It’s also important to consider the coming generation. He is always thinking about the future. Over the years it has turned into a training center domestically and internationally. Daniel said to think of the garden as a farm but also a living thing and the garden must be fed and get water to survive.
Today the gardens sells their products to local hotels and markets. Mrs. Chinkhutha said she goes into town about once a week to bring products. In the very beginning the garden employeed more than 100 people. Today it takes about 15 workers and including themselves about 19 people total to run the farm. The workers can get paid in cash or food. School children often come and work for food. Since Mrs. Chinkhutha is a retired school teacher she said they do not let the children come during school. If they try to work during school they will make them leave. They can only work in the afternoon. Adults get 100 Kwacha a day and children make 10 Kwacha a day. 100 Kwacha is less than a dollar a day but is still considered a good job. They have a huge problem with people stealing crops. Sometimes workers steal it and sometimes people come in at night and steal bananas. Daniel said his dad was much nicer then he is about people stealing. His dad would just make them come work for the food they stole. Sometimes they did turn people in and they would go to jail but only for a couple days. David kind of laughed when we asked him what he did and said he would tell us later. I don’t know if he ever told anyone but I’m guessing they probably don’t steal from him again!
A man from Kenya was actually visiting the gardens for 12 days to learn about the system and he asked about how they felt about others copying their idea. They encouraged everyone and would be happy if people learned from them. Daniel pointed out that the majority of the people who are trained in agriculture usually work in offices. They don’t go to farms and use their knowledge to work. Daniel is a big believer in getting out in the farms and learning by trial and error. They are not trained in agriculture but I guarantee you they know more than any Agriculture professor in the US.
Someone asked if they produce as much as someone that uses fertilizer and the answer is yes. Once you see the pictures, you will understand. It’s unbelievable and sets an example for the entire world to follow. It would help feed so many starving people around the world. The garden is constantly changing throughout the year and they continue to learn what works and what doesn’t. Absolon suggested keeping pictures and records of the garden. It would be a great way to document the information and use it as a resource for others and possibly create a museum in the future. While this family is very wealthy and the farm has been great for them, they do not have a camera or any was to download or even develop film. This is something I feel we should make our job to be sure they find a way to get a record started. Daniel said he’s hoping to have Internet soon so that he can update their website. I’d love to find a way to get a camera to them and make sure they are able to use it. (Batteries, cords etc) Right now they use solar panels for their electricity and its working great. They have phones and even email addresses. So David and Mrs. Chinkhutha are considered very well off.
After listening to their story I understood some of it (they both spoke very good English) but I couldn’t picture the garden and didn’t know what made it so special. At dinner we were talking about how we were going to explain the garden and we know it’s impossible to be able to explain what we saw today but its such a great thing and I want others to learn about it! When I took their picture I told them they would be famous because we would go home and tell our family and friends about their garden and so many people would be learning from them. He loved the idea of being famous and seeing himself on the camera- he was very proud!
So finally we got to go on a tour and see the garden. We spent at least 3 hours walking through the garden learning about everything. I took some video of him explaining some concepts so hopefully those will turn out well. The farm has no pumps or generators, just trenches and gullies and it is able to irrigate the entire farm. The garden has everything; bananas, oranges, sugarcane, maize, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, curry plants, papaya, lemons, limes, strawberries, chamomile, onions, and many many more fruits and vegetables. They are even able to grow a significant amount of crops during the dry season when most villages don’t have barely anything. There is so much thought and planning put into every crop and location. They always have something to eat while they are waiting for another food. I asked Daniel what his favorite food was and he told me he enjoyed bananas, strawberries and cucumbers. As we walked by the cucumbers, we were able to taste some! Since it’s all organic it’s safe for us to eat. Nothing beats a home grown cucumber although some Ranch dressing would have been real good to go with it! Haha It’s hard to explain what the garden looked like ( I’ll let the pictures do that) and I honestly don’t understand how the garden system worked. It was beyond anything I could ever imagine. There were little trenches of water running throughout the entire garden and when they didn’t want water to go a certain path, they put clay/mud to block it and make the water to another direction. Without a doubt, the cleverest thing I have ever seen. I can’t believe that they came up with this on their own. They have it down to a science and they work with the dry and wet seasons rather then fight against it.
The father is the brains behind this project but they have 5 children. They have 3 daughters and 2 sons. Daniel’s is the 2nd youngest (He will be 25 on Nov 19th- I just might have to send him a birthday card!) and he has a little sister who is away at school along with an older sister. Two of the siblings are married and Daniel’s nephew, “Gift” stays on the farm with his uncle and grandmother. All of the children live close to the farm in Malawi.
There are 5 homes built on the property. The first 2 houses were the homes they grew up in and no one lives there. Daniel says it’s a part of history and no one can live there. One house was for the parents and the other was for the children. Daniel lives in his own little blue house and his mom has her own home and the last house is a guest house. They frequently have guests stay for days or even weeks at a time to learn/ study their garden. The workers mostly live in nearby villages but some stay in small shelters next to the houses.
After the tour we got to try some sugarcane. He taught us how to tear it and suck on it (you don’t eat it) and I asked him if they considered sugarcane a treat and he said to think of it as “juice in a tree.”
Next we got to have our first (and hopefully our last) authentic Malawian meal. The women picked the vegetables fresh this morning and it took the entire day to prepare our meal. First we learned the traditional way of cleaning your hands. The ladies held a bowl under your hands and poured warm water over your hands. Lunch was cooked cabbage, bananas, rice, chicken, cucumbers and a very traditional food enzima (a form of maize). Dr. Kelly said its not considered a meal unless they serve this. They covered the fruit salad because it was important that we eat that after we had lunch. I put everything on my plate and I tried everything. I’m glad I tried it all but I have no desire to try it again. Thankfully I brought some peanut butter crackers because Dr. Kelly warned us that most people would prefer something else.
We took some more pictures of Daniel and his mother and they were adorable. I loved Daniels little giggle. I hope I was able to get it on video. He really enjoyed seeing himself on the camera so I asked him if I could email him pictures. He said he would love that. He took about 20 minutes to write down all of his personal information on my note card. Name, address, phone numbers and email addresses. I guess I have no excuse not to get in contact with him! He brought out the guest book and the entire group signed it. We told him and his mother how impressed we were and that we would love him visit our country. I told him we didn’t have anything this impressive to show him. Someone laughed and said we could take him on a rollercoaster!
I talked with the man from Kenya who was visiting the gardens and he had actually been to Virginia Tech with a group of Kenya’s this past spring. He loved Virginia Tech and I enjoyed talking about some of the places we were both familiar with. I think he really wants to come back. In Kenya he is a lawyer and Dr. Kelly said it would be hard for him to come to Virginia Tech because we don’t have a law school. He said his passion right now is agriculture and he’s going to take ideas home from Freedom Gardens. He also asked for my email address, so now I just might have to go to Kenya to visit him! Just kidding mom!
We had some free time so I walked down with Daniel to the pond with some other kids because they wanted to try fishing. No such luck! Daniel said fishing takes patience and he claims he is still not very good at it. They have catfish and Tilapia in the ponds. He said he fishes about once a week on Sundays.
That reminded me to ask him about a typical day for him. He said on short days (least amount of sunlight) he wakes up at 5am and until 7am he spends checking the entire property and making sure nothing was stolen and finds out what jobs need to be done for the day. At 7am the workers arrive and he spends the day supervising. 6pm they close everything down for the day. From 7-8pm he spends the evening working inside and planning for the future of the garden. He said he is always thinking and planning for future projects.
I could have stayed there all day but it was time to go. I hugged Daniel and his mother goodbye! It was so great and hopeful to see something that can solve so many problems that was created by an African. Why do we think we are going there to teach, they have so much to teach us and the world! Agriculture has never been so interesting!
Very few locals know about this because they already have a big enough problem with stealing. I didn’t go to the bathroom at Freedom Gardens but I heard it was quite an experience. That means I probably need to be drinking more fluids (don’t worry mom, I’m on it!) but they got to go to the bathroom camping style!
After we left, Krista and I sat in the front of the van and got a front view of the villages on the way back. It was a little scary being in the very front going 100 KM on a bumpy road. But we survived! The mountains here are very different, they just pop up in random places out of no where. At home we are used to more rolling valleys but here you will see a mountain in the distance that is soo tall and pointy. As we drove by and waved at everyone I felt like a princess in parade because everyone was waving back! They would say something in Chichwa and Krista said they were saying “white people”.
We stopped in town for a little shopping. I saw my friends, James Bond and Chicken Legs again! We just looked around and then headed back to the lodge and were dying for some Internet time! Krista and I didn’t have electricity in our room so we meet everyone outside in the courtyard and worked on our computers. We look so silly because we can’t live without it. The Internet is free here so we are taking as much time as we can!
At dinner our server wouldn’t give us individual checks to we spent probably 30 minutes trying to figure out our bill. We decided we wished we had brought a mini calculator with us to help us with the conversions. Some girls didn’t bring alarm clocks and wished they had.
After I got back to the lodge (The power was back!) I realized how burned I am. My arms and chest are RED. I don’t have any sun from the summer yet so it’s a pretty bad burn. It’s kinda cool though, I got some African sun!!
I am having a great time! I’m loving every minute of it and each day I get more excited about the next day. Listening to the advisors talk about their experiences and people we will meet helps build the anticipation!
I’ve had really good and free Internet service in Lilongwe for the past two days. We are traveling to Zomba tomorrow and we stay there for the rest of our trip. The Internet cost money and we don’t think it will be as fast. Hopefully I’ll be able to post again soon….
Also- the electrical adapters have worked just fine. Nothing blew up!
Korea Garden Lodge (We still can’t figure out why its called that) had a great breakfast! I had some bananas and toast. Krista and the other girls tried some eggs but I was just fine with my toast. We left a little before 9am for Freedom Gardens. Our bus driver is from Malawi Institute of Education in Zomba which is an upper level college that our program works closely with and we will spend a lot of our time. He drove to Lilongwe to escort us around town and will take us back to Zomba tomorrow.
We stopped at a gas station to pick up Absolon, who is from Lilongwe but recently graduated from Virginia Tech. I actually started up a conversation with him later in the day because I knew Mr. M had contacted him or his roommate. At first he didn’t remember, but the more I explained he remembered talking to Mr. M. Apparently he was on a listserv of international students and somehow Mr. M got his name and contacted him. They exchanged quite a few emails and even talked on the phone. I told him I was friends with Mr. M and he had told me all about him! He was adorable! I enjoyed talking to him. He asked for my email address, yet another African friend I have made. I’m hoping he will come meet us again when we are in Lilongwe on our way back home. Absolon knew the man who started Freedom Gardens and introduced Dr. Kelly to the family. Absolon knew the gardens very well and wanted to join us for the day.
It was about a 45 minute drive outside of Lilongwe but I loved every minute of the drive. There is so much to look at and observe. My favorite part is waving to the people walking on the streets. They usually look at the van but don’t wave or smile unless you wave first. Then their faces always light up and they wave back. I hope they think of white people as friendly people. The kids usually get really excited and jump up and down, dance, give thumbs up and enjoy the attention.
I feel so free here! The land goes on for miles and miles all around you and you can see the open sky and clouds. I have never been somewhere where I could see so much open land. You can look in the distance and enjoy the scenery for a moment and it feels as if all your worries are gone for that moment as you take it all in.
As we drove I also noticed that a lot of people seemed like they had nothing to do. In town and outside of town there are lots of locals just chilling. Many are walking or riding bikes but you will find people doing nothing. I think it’s the relaxed lifestyle, but I have to wonder if they have jobs?
I noticed a lot of “Malawi is Gun Free” “Stop Child Abuse” and “Arrive Alive” posters. America has a lot of the same issues. Even though it is the dry season, there was still a lot of vegetation. A variety of green plants along the roads and throughout the land. There was only open space if something was built there. We drove by many villages that were just off the road. We saw goats, chicken, dogs, donkeys, and some cattle. They were all village pets. I’m sure they eventually eat them. The soil was very red and at most of the villages there was a hole where they were digging to make bricks. I saw a couple fires and most of the shelters were the same. Either made from bricks, mud or sticks/straw. Some had straw roofs, some didn’t. Believe it or not, the huts and villages look just like in the books/movies.
There was no sign or anything we just pulled up and we were there. Very few village people know about this garden. They don’t advertise it because many people try and steal the crops. Mrs. Chinkhutha greeted each one of us as we got off the van. They had chairs for us and we sat down to listen. Absolon introduced Mrs. Chinkhutha and her son, Daniel who own the garden. Absolon knew Mr. Chinkhutha who started the garden. Mr. Chinkhutha wanted to make money so he left his family for this particular location because of the water. He wanted to grow food. This garden is 100% organic and doesn’t use any chemicals. Today people from Kenya, Sweden and all around the world come to see what a magnificent place it has become. They come to learn about the garden and hope to take the idea to their village so hopefully they can start their own sustainable garden. Unfortunately, Mr. Chinkhutha passed away last summer just a couple weeks after the group from last year visited. The advisors and everyone that knew him was still grieving and took a moment to pay their respects. Our advisor Jennifer said she had never been in the presence of a man as smart and wise as him. I could tell what an amazing person he was and I’m so glad to see his legacy living on. His son, Daniel was away at school but has come back to take over the farm. While the father didn’t have a degree, he was still called a Dr. because they believed he earned an honorary degree.
Mrs. Chinkhutha and her husband came in 1982 and when they got to the land, there was hyenas and all type of animals. No one had ever planted in swamp land. They spent the 1st 3 years draining and cutting down the swamps. Their first garden was 10 meters by 10 meters. Today the garden is 26 acres. The garden is primarily food and vegetables. They do not have any animals besides chickens and fish, so they do have to purchase manure for the soil. The great thing about the fish is they eat the Mosquito larva so that minimizes the risk of Mosquito diseases. They do not use pumps- the water comes from the river. The land already had reservoirs so they didn’t have to dig them. For compost they use leaves and flowers. Nothing is wasted. Everyone is planned out and used wisely.
Daniel stood up and told us he wanted us to make Freedom Gardens our first home before our first home. He knew we weren’t really getting to our final destination until tomorrow, but he wanted us to feel welcome here. We sure did! They also talked about how important it was that the family had complete agreement with nature. They worked with nature instead of trying to fight something that didn’t work. Another belief they pointed out was that this garden is life based not money based. Meaning that the purpose of the garden is to provide food for yourself and family to survive and it isn’t to make money and have a business. If you have this garden and all the food it provides there isn’t anything else you need. It’s also important to consider the coming generation. He is always thinking about the future. Over the years it has turned into a training center domestically and internationally. Daniel said to think of the garden as a farm but also a living thing and the garden must be fed and get water to survive.
Today the gardens sells their products to local hotels and markets. Mrs. Chinkhutha said she goes into town about once a week to bring products. In the very beginning the garden employeed more than 100 people. Today it takes about 15 workers and including themselves about 19 people total to run the farm. The workers can get paid in cash or food. School children often come and work for food. Since Mrs. Chinkhutha is a retired school teacher she said they do not let the children come during school. If they try to work during school they will make them leave. They can only work in the afternoon. Adults get 100 Kwacha a day and children make 10 Kwacha a day. 100 Kwacha is less than a dollar a day but is still considered a good job. They have a huge problem with people stealing crops. Sometimes workers steal it and sometimes people come in at night and steal bananas. Daniel said his dad was much nicer then he is about people stealing. His dad would just make them come work for the food they stole. Sometimes they did turn people in and they would go to jail but only for a couple days. David kind of laughed when we asked him what he did and said he would tell us later. I don’t know if he ever told anyone but I’m guessing they probably don’t steal from him again!
A man from Kenya was actually visiting the gardens for 12 days to learn about the system and he asked about how they felt about others copying their idea. They encouraged everyone and would be happy if people learned from them. Daniel pointed out that the majority of the people who are trained in agriculture usually work in offices. They don’t go to farms and use their knowledge to work. Daniel is a big believer in getting out in the farms and learning by trial and error. They are not trained in agriculture but I guarantee you they know more than any Agriculture professor in the US.
Someone asked if they produce as much as someone that uses fertilizer and the answer is yes. Once you see the pictures, you will understand. It’s unbelievable and sets an example for the entire world to follow. It would help feed so many starving people around the world. The garden is constantly changing throughout the year and they continue to learn what works and what doesn’t. Absolon suggested keeping pictures and records of the garden. It would be a great way to document the information and use it as a resource for others and possibly create a museum in the future. While this family is very wealthy and the farm has been great for them, they do not have a camera or any was to download or even develop film. This is something I feel we should make our job to be sure they find a way to get a record started. Daniel said he’s hoping to have Internet soon so that he can update their website. I’d love to find a way to get a camera to them and make sure they are able to use it. (Batteries, cords etc) Right now they use solar panels for their electricity and its working great. They have phones and even email addresses. So David and Mrs. Chinkhutha are considered very well off.
After listening to their story I understood some of it (they both spoke very good English) but I couldn’t picture the garden and didn’t know what made it so special. At dinner we were talking about how we were going to explain the garden and we know it’s impossible to be able to explain what we saw today but its such a great thing and I want others to learn about it! When I took their picture I told them they would be famous because we would go home and tell our family and friends about their garden and so many people would be learning from them. He loved the idea of being famous and seeing himself on the camera- he was very proud!
So finally we got to go on a tour and see the garden. We spent at least 3 hours walking through the garden learning about everything. I took some video of him explaining some concepts so hopefully those will turn out well. The farm has no pumps or generators, just trenches and gullies and it is able to irrigate the entire farm. The garden has everything; bananas, oranges, sugarcane, maize, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, curry plants, papaya, lemons, limes, strawberries, chamomile, onions, and many many more fruits and vegetables. They are even able to grow a significant amount of crops during the dry season when most villages don’t have barely anything. There is so much thought and planning put into every crop and location. They always have something to eat while they are waiting for another food. I asked Daniel what his favorite food was and he told me he enjoyed bananas, strawberries and cucumbers. As we walked by the cucumbers, we were able to taste some! Since it’s all organic it’s safe for us to eat. Nothing beats a home grown cucumber although some Ranch dressing would have been real good to go with it! Haha It’s hard to explain what the garden looked like ( I’ll let the pictures do that) and I honestly don’t understand how the garden system worked. It was beyond anything I could ever imagine. There were little trenches of water running throughout the entire garden and when they didn’t want water to go a certain path, they put clay/mud to block it and make the water to another direction. Without a doubt, the cleverest thing I have ever seen. I can’t believe that they came up with this on their own. They have it down to a science and they work with the dry and wet seasons rather then fight against it.
The father is the brains behind this project but they have 5 children. They have 3 daughters and 2 sons. Daniel’s is the 2nd youngest (He will be 25 on Nov 19th- I just might have to send him a birthday card!) and he has a little sister who is away at school along with an older sister. Two of the siblings are married and Daniel’s nephew, “Gift” stays on the farm with his uncle and grandmother. All of the children live close to the farm in Malawi.
There are 5 homes built on the property. The first 2 houses were the homes they grew up in and no one lives there. Daniel says it’s a part of history and no one can live there. One house was for the parents and the other was for the children. Daniel lives in his own little blue house and his mom has her own home and the last house is a guest house. They frequently have guests stay for days or even weeks at a time to learn/ study their garden. The workers mostly live in nearby villages but some stay in small shelters next to the houses.
After the tour we got to try some sugarcane. He taught us how to tear it and suck on it (you don’t eat it) and I asked him if they considered sugarcane a treat and he said to think of it as “juice in a tree.”
Next we got to have our first (and hopefully our last) authentic Malawian meal. The women picked the vegetables fresh this morning and it took the entire day to prepare our meal. First we learned the traditional way of cleaning your hands. The ladies held a bowl under your hands and poured warm water over your hands. Lunch was cooked cabbage, bananas, rice, chicken, cucumbers and a very traditional food enzima (a form of maize). Dr. Kelly said its not considered a meal unless they serve this. They covered the fruit salad because it was important that we eat that after we had lunch. I put everything on my plate and I tried everything. I’m glad I tried it all but I have no desire to try it again. Thankfully I brought some peanut butter crackers because Dr. Kelly warned us that most people would prefer something else.
We took some more pictures of Daniel and his mother and they were adorable. I loved Daniels little giggle. I hope I was able to get it on video. He really enjoyed seeing himself on the camera so I asked him if I could email him pictures. He said he would love that. He took about 20 minutes to write down all of his personal information on my note card. Name, address, phone numbers and email addresses. I guess I have no excuse not to get in contact with him! He brought out the guest book and the entire group signed it. We told him and his mother how impressed we were and that we would love him visit our country. I told him we didn’t have anything this impressive to show him. Someone laughed and said we could take him on a rollercoaster!
I talked with the man from Kenya who was visiting the gardens and he had actually been to Virginia Tech with a group of Kenya’s this past spring. He loved Virginia Tech and I enjoyed talking about some of the places we were both familiar with. I think he really wants to come back. In Kenya he is a lawyer and Dr. Kelly said it would be hard for him to come to Virginia Tech because we don’t have a law school. He said his passion right now is agriculture and he’s going to take ideas home from Freedom Gardens. He also asked for my email address, so now I just might have to go to Kenya to visit him! Just kidding mom!
We had some free time so I walked down with Daniel to the pond with some other kids because they wanted to try fishing. No such luck! Daniel said fishing takes patience and he claims he is still not very good at it. They have catfish and Tilapia in the ponds. He said he fishes about once a week on Sundays.
That reminded me to ask him about a typical day for him. He said on short days (least amount of sunlight) he wakes up at 5am and until 7am he spends checking the entire property and making sure nothing was stolen and finds out what jobs need to be done for the day. At 7am the workers arrive and he spends the day supervising. 6pm they close everything down for the day. From 7-8pm he spends the evening working inside and planning for the future of the garden. He said he is always thinking and planning for future projects.
I could have stayed there all day but it was time to go. I hugged Daniel and his mother goodbye! It was so great and hopeful to see something that can solve so many problems that was created by an African. Why do we think we are going there to teach, they have so much to teach us and the world! Agriculture has never been so interesting!
Very few locals know about this because they already have a big enough problem with stealing. I didn’t go to the bathroom at Freedom Gardens but I heard it was quite an experience. That means I probably need to be drinking more fluids (don’t worry mom, I’m on it!) but they got to go to the bathroom camping style!
After we left, Krista and I sat in the front of the van and got a front view of the villages on the way back. It was a little scary being in the very front going 100 KM on a bumpy road. But we survived! The mountains here are very different, they just pop up in random places out of no where. At home we are used to more rolling valleys but here you will see a mountain in the distance that is soo tall and pointy. As we drove by and waved at everyone I felt like a princess in parade because everyone was waving back! They would say something in Chichwa and Krista said they were saying “white people”.
We stopped in town for a little shopping. I saw my friends, James Bond and Chicken Legs again! We just looked around and then headed back to the lodge and were dying for some Internet time! Krista and I didn’t have electricity in our room so we meet everyone outside in the courtyard and worked on our computers. We look so silly because we can’t live without it. The Internet is free here so we are taking as much time as we can!
At dinner our server wouldn’t give us individual checks to we spent probably 30 minutes trying to figure out our bill. We decided we wished we had brought a mini calculator with us to help us with the conversions. Some girls didn’t bring alarm clocks and wished they had.
After I got back to the lodge (The power was back!) I realized how burned I am. My arms and chest are RED. I don’t have any sun from the summer yet so it’s a pretty bad burn. It’s kinda cool though, I got some African sun!!
I am having a great time! I’m loving every minute of it and each day I get more excited about the next day. Listening to the advisors talk about their experiences and people we will meet helps build the anticipation!
I’ve had really good and free Internet service in Lilongwe for the past two days. We are traveling to Zomba tomorrow and we stay there for the rest of our trip. The Internet cost money and we don’t think it will be as fast. Hopefully I’ll be able to post again soon….
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Travel Day 2- We are in Malawi!
I woke up early and took a shower. I was really pleased because I had warm water and very good pressure. I was absolutely scared to death of getting water in my mouth- I don’t think I have ever closed my mouth so tight. The shower felt great and I was ready to get to Malawi!! We opened our window and looked outside- a lot different in the daylight. It definitely looked like a 3rd world country. We could hear the Muslim call to prayer over the loud speakers. People were just walking all over the roads. No one was smiling, happy or socializing. And most of the buildings looked abandoned. As we were packing the maid came in to our room and made sure we didn’t forget everything. We tried talking to her but she didn’t understand much. She was 20 just like us and said she would probably marry when she was 28. Next we went down for breakfast. Once again I didn’t eat anything except the bread. I’ve decided I have to see the steam from the heat or else I won’t eat it. Everyone else does, but I’m to scared.
We got on the bus and headed for the airport. This time we really got to see more of the city. Everyone was out and about walking. Some women were completely covered, some were partly covered and others weren’t covered at all. Rarely did I see anyone carrying anything with them, most people were just walking by themselves, no bags or belongings. The nicest buildings were the religious buildings. Overall, it was just a very sad feeling. I didn’t notice any sense of pride for their country or joy of life. I know it must be hard to find something to be happy about, but in Lilongwe, they didn’t have much more then Addis but I noticed the people are friendly, goofy and approachable.
We made it to the airport I couldn’t believe that the security didn’t make you take off your shoes, didn’t care about any liquids or water, didn’t care about laptops and we were the only ones in line. It was nice for us, but at the same time it was scary how little security they have.
The flight from Addis to Lilongwe went smoothly. I saved all my People magazines from the last 4 weeks, so I finally caught up on my gossip! I’ve been really impressed with how well Ethiopian Airlines has treated us. They have taken good care of us!
We landed in Lilongwe and we were so glad that we won’t have to get on an airplane again for a couple weeks! The next big scare was finding our luggage that we checked at Dulles 2 days ago. Would it all make it?? YES! I honestly can’t believe it, but everyone’s luggage made it! Next we had to go through customs and Dr. Kelly told us that they were going to search through our luggage and we had to tell them that all of our supplies were for personal use, because if we told them we were going to donate them, they would try and charge us. So we all knew the plan but Dr. Kelly and her savvy ways got us all through the gate without having anything checked. I also got a Malawi stamp on my passport!!
Next we went outside and waited for our bus. The bus came and the bus driver (Charles) came and gave Dr. Kelly a huge hug! It was really neat to witness their reunion and I could see the friendship they have and how excited they were to be reunited! We packed in our luggage in the back and then packed ourselves in the front. It was a very full bus. They drive on the left side of the road. We were on our way to the hotel. The drive was really great to see the land of Malawi. Its very flat and there are trees everywhere. They kind of looked like trees from The Lion King- very different than anything at home. I don’t see any shelter for miles and miles yet there are a ton of Malawians on the side of the streets. Some are selling things; others are walking or carrying supplies. Every once and a while there’s a bike or two. Some look at our bus, some don’t but if you make eye contact with them and smile they always smile back! Especially the children, they like to wave and give a thumbs up! Finally we were getting closer to the city, more buildings and people. Some of the buildings are VERY nice. Large, brand new 4-5 levels with windows and beautiful landscaping. I have no idea what the buildings are used for. But there’s also the opposite just like Ethiopia with old, run down abandoned shacks. I am so impressed with the posture of the Africans, they carry all type of things on their head!
We made it to our lodge. It’s called Korea Garden Lodge. Weird I know! Guess what! We go there this afternoon and they didn’t have any power! Yikes! The workers were busy at work trying to fix it. I think electricity might be an ongoing issue for us. The rooms looked just fine. The beds are as hard as rocks but that’s okay. They have mosquito nets over the beds, TV, and Internet! We only had a couple hours left of light so we all decided to drop off our stuff and head into town before it got dark. We are quite a site to see, 18 Americans walking in Africa. I know they see groups like us all the time because most people didn’t even pay attention to us. Our first stop was the bank and of course market sellers were outside the bank waiting to sell us stuff after we got our Kwachas. I got $100 worth of Kwatchas- the actual bill is beautiful-very colorful! We stopped and talked with the venders and one of the men told me his name was James Bond 008. I told him I was very excited to meet such an important person! We played around with each other joking for a little until we headed to the next stop- the grocery store. It had basically everything a grocery store should have. Most of the brands I recognized and I didn’t really notice anything special. Just different boxes or labels. It was a very basic and typical store. Most of us stocked up on water for the next couple of days. We can buy bottled water at the hotel but it’s cheaper at the store. Finally we stopped at the local market to take a look at the crafts. They said not to buy anything but just look and get a feel for what it will be like. The market in Zomba will be much cheaper and has the exact same crafts. I want everything! It’s all very beautiful wood and I love the designs. Nothing there is just random craft with “Africa” sketched on it like some markets in Haiti or Jamaica. Very unique crafts. Guess who I ran into again, James Bond 008! We are pals! I was wearing my VT maroon effect shirt and on the back it says “ small town, big sound” and one of the vendors LOVED my shirt. I explained to him that I go to college in a small town, but when we have football games we cheer and make a big sound- he got a big kick out of that and laughed! He told me to bring back the shirt to bargain with because he wants it. I don’t know if I want to do that because they probably don’t sell more 2007 shirts, but I might because he really loved it. He told me to come back and see him, his name was chicken legs! Hahaha The venders had such great personalities and I really enjoyed talking with them. It wasn’t all about “making a deal” they were willing to talk about other things. It the long run, it was probably their way of trying to make a deal, but I enjoyed interacting with them. They welcomed us to their country and wanted to make sure we loved Malawi “100%.” Overall, everyone said that its very similar to home, everything is very civilized. They have banks, grocery stores, and almost any type of store just like us. They do have Celtel booths throughout the town where people can buy cards to make phone cards. I guess it’s a way of having cellular service. I don’t really understand??
It was getting dark so we needed to head back to the lodge. We saw a gas station and gas was about 250 Kwachas, which is about $2.75- still way cheaper than at home! Everyone was very hungry and ready for some dinner. Thankfully the power was back on when we got back! The hotel has a very nice open dining area by the garden and pool. It’s very peaceful and relaxing. The hotel served Chinese food. It was excellent, and the food was hot when it came out so I was happy! We weren’t sure, but we thought we were heard some country music as we were eating Chinese food in Africa… tell me that’s a little strange! Everyone was anxious to finish dinner and use the Internet since we haven’t had contact with anyone since we left. Krista and I have spent the rest of the night blogging! Its taking me forever and I know I’m including way to much detail that I know no one wants to read, but I’d rather write everything down and have it as a memory for later!
We have 4 advisors, Dr. Kelly from VT, and two ladies from Radford and one from NC. Jennifer and Patty are from Radford and Jennifer has been on this trip 4 times but its Patty’s first. She’s learning the ropes. Liz has taught at VT, Radford but is now at NC. She has also been on this trip many times. I am having so much fun with the advisors and the students. The advisors are a great resource to ask questions because they have been here so many times. They introduced themselves by their first name and it’s a very informal relationship. They are so relaxed and confident, I feel so comfortable with them.
So far I am loving every minute of it! The first day or so I was feeling like I was about to get a cold and I was really nervous I was going to get sick but two other girls were feeling the same way. After sleeping a full night in a real bed, I feel a lot better and I’m ready to go! I just have to make sure to get plenty of rest each night. I hadn’t really set my mind up for what to except, but I’m not really surprised by anything yet. It’s exactly what I thought Africa would look like. Flying in I thought we would see some wildlife but it was just miles and miles of flat land and trees- the soil is so red because it’s the dry season. So I’m really looking forward to seeing some animals. I’m enjoying meeting the locals and I can’t wait for tomorrow- Freedom Gardens!
I’ve kept my watch time the same as home- its sort of a comfort thing for me to be able to look at my watch and think about what everyone is doing at home. But sometimes it messes me up and I think about switching it. But time is not a very big deal here, so I’d really like to keep it as home time. I know, its silly.
The weather at night is very chilly! During the day I was comfortable in Capri’s and a long sleeve shirt. Today it was very cloudy. Krista tried to upload pictures tonight and she said it was just too slow. We will try in Annie’s Lodge, but pictures might have to wait until we get home.
It’s really hard to believe I’m in Africa!!! It’s been great so far and I just get more excited each day!! I’m glad we can unpack a little and get comfortable before we leave for Zomba in a couple days. The traveling is over and now our sightseeing can begin!
We got on the bus and headed for the airport. This time we really got to see more of the city. Everyone was out and about walking. Some women were completely covered, some were partly covered and others weren’t covered at all. Rarely did I see anyone carrying anything with them, most people were just walking by themselves, no bags or belongings. The nicest buildings were the religious buildings. Overall, it was just a very sad feeling. I didn’t notice any sense of pride for their country or joy of life. I know it must be hard to find something to be happy about, but in Lilongwe, they didn’t have much more then Addis but I noticed the people are friendly, goofy and approachable.
We made it to the airport I couldn’t believe that the security didn’t make you take off your shoes, didn’t care about any liquids or water, didn’t care about laptops and we were the only ones in line. It was nice for us, but at the same time it was scary how little security they have.
The flight from Addis to Lilongwe went smoothly. I saved all my People magazines from the last 4 weeks, so I finally caught up on my gossip! I’ve been really impressed with how well Ethiopian Airlines has treated us. They have taken good care of us!
We landed in Lilongwe and we were so glad that we won’t have to get on an airplane again for a couple weeks! The next big scare was finding our luggage that we checked at Dulles 2 days ago. Would it all make it?? YES! I honestly can’t believe it, but everyone’s luggage made it! Next we had to go through customs and Dr. Kelly told us that they were going to search through our luggage and we had to tell them that all of our supplies were for personal use, because if we told them we were going to donate them, they would try and charge us. So we all knew the plan but Dr. Kelly and her savvy ways got us all through the gate without having anything checked. I also got a Malawi stamp on my passport!!
Next we went outside and waited for our bus. The bus came and the bus driver (Charles) came and gave Dr. Kelly a huge hug! It was really neat to witness their reunion and I could see the friendship they have and how excited they were to be reunited! We packed in our luggage in the back and then packed ourselves in the front. It was a very full bus. They drive on the left side of the road. We were on our way to the hotel. The drive was really great to see the land of Malawi. Its very flat and there are trees everywhere. They kind of looked like trees from The Lion King- very different than anything at home. I don’t see any shelter for miles and miles yet there are a ton of Malawians on the side of the streets. Some are selling things; others are walking or carrying supplies. Every once and a while there’s a bike or two. Some look at our bus, some don’t but if you make eye contact with them and smile they always smile back! Especially the children, they like to wave and give a thumbs up! Finally we were getting closer to the city, more buildings and people. Some of the buildings are VERY nice. Large, brand new 4-5 levels with windows and beautiful landscaping. I have no idea what the buildings are used for. But there’s also the opposite just like Ethiopia with old, run down abandoned shacks. I am so impressed with the posture of the Africans, they carry all type of things on their head!
We made it to our lodge. It’s called Korea Garden Lodge. Weird I know! Guess what! We go there this afternoon and they didn’t have any power! Yikes! The workers were busy at work trying to fix it. I think electricity might be an ongoing issue for us. The rooms looked just fine. The beds are as hard as rocks but that’s okay. They have mosquito nets over the beds, TV, and Internet! We only had a couple hours left of light so we all decided to drop off our stuff and head into town before it got dark. We are quite a site to see, 18 Americans walking in Africa. I know they see groups like us all the time because most people didn’t even pay attention to us. Our first stop was the bank and of course market sellers were outside the bank waiting to sell us stuff after we got our Kwachas. I got $100 worth of Kwatchas- the actual bill is beautiful-very colorful! We stopped and talked with the venders and one of the men told me his name was James Bond 008. I told him I was very excited to meet such an important person! We played around with each other joking for a little until we headed to the next stop- the grocery store. It had basically everything a grocery store should have. Most of the brands I recognized and I didn’t really notice anything special. Just different boxes or labels. It was a very basic and typical store. Most of us stocked up on water for the next couple of days. We can buy bottled water at the hotel but it’s cheaper at the store. Finally we stopped at the local market to take a look at the crafts. They said not to buy anything but just look and get a feel for what it will be like. The market in Zomba will be much cheaper and has the exact same crafts. I want everything! It’s all very beautiful wood and I love the designs. Nothing there is just random craft with “Africa” sketched on it like some markets in Haiti or Jamaica. Very unique crafts. Guess who I ran into again, James Bond 008! We are pals! I was wearing my VT maroon effect shirt and on the back it says “ small town, big sound” and one of the vendors LOVED my shirt. I explained to him that I go to college in a small town, but when we have football games we cheer and make a big sound- he got a big kick out of that and laughed! He told me to bring back the shirt to bargain with because he wants it. I don’t know if I want to do that because they probably don’t sell more 2007 shirts, but I might because he really loved it. He told me to come back and see him, his name was chicken legs! Hahaha The venders had such great personalities and I really enjoyed talking with them. It wasn’t all about “making a deal” they were willing to talk about other things. It the long run, it was probably their way of trying to make a deal, but I enjoyed interacting with them. They welcomed us to their country and wanted to make sure we loved Malawi “100%.” Overall, everyone said that its very similar to home, everything is very civilized. They have banks, grocery stores, and almost any type of store just like us. They do have Celtel booths throughout the town where people can buy cards to make phone cards. I guess it’s a way of having cellular service. I don’t really understand??
It was getting dark so we needed to head back to the lodge. We saw a gas station and gas was about 250 Kwachas, which is about $2.75- still way cheaper than at home! Everyone was very hungry and ready for some dinner. Thankfully the power was back on when we got back! The hotel has a very nice open dining area by the garden and pool. It’s very peaceful and relaxing. The hotel served Chinese food. It was excellent, and the food was hot when it came out so I was happy! We weren’t sure, but we thought we were heard some country music as we were eating Chinese food in Africa… tell me that’s a little strange! Everyone was anxious to finish dinner and use the Internet since we haven’t had contact with anyone since we left. Krista and I have spent the rest of the night blogging! Its taking me forever and I know I’m including way to much detail that I know no one wants to read, but I’d rather write everything down and have it as a memory for later!
We have 4 advisors, Dr. Kelly from VT, and two ladies from Radford and one from NC. Jennifer and Patty are from Radford and Jennifer has been on this trip 4 times but its Patty’s first. She’s learning the ropes. Liz has taught at VT, Radford but is now at NC. She has also been on this trip many times. I am having so much fun with the advisors and the students. The advisors are a great resource to ask questions because they have been here so many times. They introduced themselves by their first name and it’s a very informal relationship. They are so relaxed and confident, I feel so comfortable with them.
So far I am loving every minute of it! The first day or so I was feeling like I was about to get a cold and I was really nervous I was going to get sick but two other girls were feeling the same way. After sleeping a full night in a real bed, I feel a lot better and I’m ready to go! I just have to make sure to get plenty of rest each night. I hadn’t really set my mind up for what to except, but I’m not really surprised by anything yet. It’s exactly what I thought Africa would look like. Flying in I thought we would see some wildlife but it was just miles and miles of flat land and trees- the soil is so red because it’s the dry season. So I’m really looking forward to seeing some animals. I’m enjoying meeting the locals and I can’t wait for tomorrow- Freedom Gardens!
I’ve kept my watch time the same as home- its sort of a comfort thing for me to be able to look at my watch and think about what everyone is doing at home. But sometimes it messes me up and I think about switching it. But time is not a very big deal here, so I’d really like to keep it as home time. I know, its silly.
The weather at night is very chilly! During the day I was comfortable in Capri’s and a long sleeve shirt. Today it was very cloudy. Krista tried to upload pictures tonight and she said it was just too slow. We will try in Annie’s Lodge, but pictures might have to wait until we get home.
It’s really hard to believe I’m in Africa!!! It’s been great so far and I just get more excited each day!! I’m glad we can unpack a little and get comfortable before we leave for Zomba in a couple days. The traveling is over and now our sightseeing can begin!
Travel Day 1- We've made it to Africa!
We didn’t have to meet at the airport until 5:30pm so I spent most of Saturday finishing packing and cleaning up my stuff around the house. We needed to leave 25 pounds empty to pack bookbags that were being donated by the National Conference on Social Studies and a Blacksburg church was donating some books. One suitcase was packed with supplies and weighted 52 pounds (2 pounds over) and the 2nd suitcase was about 28 pounds. I was really worried there wasn’t going to be enough room for all of Dr. Kelly’s donations. I brought an extra bag of supplies I could pack if there was extra room after the donations but they were extras so I didn’t want to pack them before. As I left for the airport I was nervous about everything fitting.
Chris and Dad took me to the airport, my mom had to work a party. So when we got there I filled up my ½ empty bag with the donated bookbags and there was still enough room for some small little things. I packed it full with all the extra supplies I had brought. Yay! Everything fit. Dr.Kelly said that everyone was leaving enough space, so we wouldn’t have a problem fitting all the donations. Now the trouble was the weight. The 2nd bag was 46 pounds, so my dad and I moved 2 pounds worth of stuff to the 2nd bag. It worked out just perfectly! Sarah added some small things in my bags since I had left over pounds and each of my bags came out to 49 and 49.5 pounds! A whole pound in a half of wasted space! I was REALLY relieved about that!! The next concern was my misspelled name on the flight itinerary. My plan was to not draw attention to it and hope that they didn’t catch it. It was spelled “Alexander” instead of “Alexandra”. No worries! She didn’t say anything. Those were my only concerns so now I was relaxed and ready for the trip! Check-in went very smoothly. Apparently there was a backup with the checked luggage security. So there was some confusion about where to put our checked luggage. I sure do hope it ends at our destination in Lilongwe tomorrow!
Traveling with Dr. Kelly is amazing! She is super savvy and makes things happen and gets people to help her out! I don’t know how but she goes up to people and we got to skip almost every line except security. Check in, boarding, customs, we skipped all those long lines!
I left Chris and Dad when I entered the security line. It was sad because it was the first time I was saying goodbye without a real time we would talk again. Usually its “Call me when your on 81, or in Blacksburg,” etc. But since my phone will be off, and there is no real guarantee of the Internet, it was basically “I’ll see you in a month, email me when you can.” I didn’t like the uncertainty. The other girls were a mess! The other moms and dads were crying, and everyone was so emotional. It was funny but also a little sad. But the Hollars held it together just fine.
We had to get there 3 hours before our flight and I thought we would be sitting in the airport forever bored out of our mind. But check-in and security took a long time so we made it to the gate with just about 20 minutes to spare. I was prepared to buy something for dinner at the airport but Dr. Kelly said the airlines would serve us dinner first thing after we took off. She also said that since its international, they don’t charge for alcohol! As we waited to board, Dr. Kelly took a few minutes to explain some of the history of Malawi and gave us some tips. She told us not to purchase anything from the markets in Lilongwe because its super expensive since it’s the capital and you will find the exact same stuff in Zomba for much less. She told us we are “The biggest thing in town” and the locals at the market will know the day we come and where we will be each day until we leave. She also talked about the poverty issues. She said that Malawi has quite a lot of donors but that the money is all sent to Lilongwe and you will see BMW’s in Lilongwe, but the money for the country doesn’t go beyond the capital. That won’t do anything to help the poverty issues. By going to the villages and giving our supplies to them, we are helping reduce poverty by starting from the bottom of the totem pole and working our way up rather then starting at the top in Lilongwe. Dr. Kelly is so knowledge about everything! I am so glad to be traveling with her. Her first trip to Malawi was in 1998, and she has been coming ever since!
After a short Malawi lesson, it was time to board the plane. (Krista and I grabbed some last minute sweets before because we thought we wouldn’t eat them for a long time) I was prepared for overhead TV’s, but it turns out that we had individual TVs on the head seats in front of us. And they gave us little overnight goodie bags. The littlest things excite me! We could also follow our flight path on the monitor and read the flight data. It was really interesting! We were all settled and ready to go, but it was after our departure time. A couple minutes led to hours and we were suppose to leave at 8:30pm but didn’t leave until 10pm. Around 9:30pm we listened to an announcement but of course it was in a different language. Even when he repeated it in English, I couldn’t understand very much of it. Apparently there was some type of mechanical problem. It’s a little bit scary not having your language be the primary language. We just kind of had to hope everything was okay. We would get inpatient waiting for the English version, so Krista made friends with the girls next to her, and she would try and translate for us.
There are 18 total in our group, and the flight also had a large mission group going to Addis Ababa, and a second mission group going to Malawi. We are pretty sure everyone else on the plane was Ethiopian and/or some type of African decent. I’m really glad to be traveling in a large group. Everyone brings something unique to the group and we are getting to know each other pretty well. Almost everyone thinks we are a mission group, but I’m glad to explain to them who we are and what our purpose is. We are such a diverse group of people. (Okay, well maybe not. We have 1 black man and two black girls but everyone else is caucasian and female) But we come from all over the east coast and each have our own reasons for doing this trip. Mission trips are doing great things, but they aren’t the only people that can come and help/visit the country.
All of the plane meals have been just fine! The ones from Dulles were the best, and then as we got farther and farther away, they have gotten less identifiable. We would sometimes have to guess what things were because we couldn’t read the labels. I have traveled internationally before, but I’ve never felt like such a foreigner until now.
Finally after taking off 1.5 hours late, we were headed for Rome which was 4498 miles away. I watched bits and pieces of a movie, but I just rested and tried to sleep. I was exhausted after a full week of work and packing, so I had no trouble sleeping.
The time change was a little confusing. Our overnight on the plane was shorter because we lost 6 hours, but that also meant the next night would come a lot sooner, I’ve adjusted just fine. Since we left so late, dinner wasn’t until about 11pm, and then a couple hours later they woke us up for breakfast because it was morning time in Rome. It took 8 hours to get to Rome and they just switched the crew, so we stayed on the plane for 1.5 hours. I was in Rome and I couldn’t even leave the plane. Bummer! We arrived at 6am our time but it was 12noon in Rome. Rome to Addis Ababa took about 6 hours and it sounds miserable, but the entire flight overall wasn’t bad at all. I was expecting it to be unbearable. I think it really helped that I was so exhausted because I didn’t have any energy to be bored, I just took my Benadryl and slept! I bought all types of entertainment for myself but I didn’t use any of it. So it was 14 hours of air travel, but we were actually on the exact same plane for 18 hours. The delay at the beginning, the layover plus boarding time made it a very long traveling experience. The outside temperature during the flight was -51* F and we were going about 600 MPH, and our altitude was 35000 feet!!!!!
We arrived at Addis Ababa late Sunday night and everyone was glad to get off the plane! Flying into Addis, it looked just like any other major city from above. Lots of lights and houses for miles and miles. We spent about 2 hours in the airport filling out papers, getting our passports checked, going through customs and waiting for our bus. (Some girls didn’t bring a pen on their carry on--- always bring one because you have to fill out so many custom papers!) While we were waiting in line for customs, the locals just cut right in the middle of our group. I don’t know if they thought rules didn’t apply to them or what, but Dr. Kelly wouldn’t have all these people cut in our line, so we formed a second line and breezed through. No wonder they probably hate us! I was super excited to get my first stamp on my passport!!!!! Yay!!!
I didn’t get to sit by Krista on the plane so we really hadn’t had a chance to catch up until we got off the plane. I briefly showed her some of the lesson plans I printed out and even the notes my mom typed up for me. I actually just printed it out and didn’t read it. Krista pointed out the little letter my mom wrote to me at the end of her lesson plan suggestions and I read it while I was sitting on the floor at the airport:
“Express your enthusiasm. Remember your youth and enthusiasm will carry you a long way.
Smile. You have a smile that lights up the room, use it often.
You have been working SO HARD on this trip. You have prepared very well. Now might be the time to relax and let go. Enjoy the kids, have fun every day.
Enjoy the sites, smells and sound of Africa. You are on the adventure of a lifetime. Relish every moment.
Love,
Mom”
Finally the bus came and picked up all the passengers staying at hotels overnight and catching an early morning flight. I sat next to a business man dressed in a yellow suit and of course I made a friend! He kept offering his seat to other girls who didn’t have seats but they managed to fit us all in. He was claiming he didn’t know very much English (He spoke French) but I could understand almost everything he said. He was from Chad and was on his way to Egypt for some type of conference. He was very nice and helpful. Some girls tried to speak to him in French and we were having fun playing around and joking with him. I’m sure he was laughing at us the entire time! Later that night at dinner, one of the advisors said she was glad we talked to the local and said it will really make our experience so much more meaningful. I told her that my family would always leave the guarded resort at our vacation destinations and went out into the markets to get more of an authentic feeling. So I planned on doing that for this trip too! I wasn’t scared of talking to locals.
As we were driving on the bus we kept passing all these hotels. It was late at night and I was really wishing the hotel was closer to the airport. However, in the morning we got quite a tour of Addis, so I’m actually glad the hotel was further away because we were able to see more of the country.
At night, my first thought was it looked very similar to Ocean City, MD. Lots of little random shops and uncompleted buildings. Apparently there is a serious drought in Addis so the government turns off the electricity in parts of the city to conserve. So we could drive through complete black zones. You could see hundreds of bodies walking on the sides of the street. But then we would also drive though areas with lots of lights, there was even a huge projector on the side of the road showing a movie and Ethiopians were sitting outside watching the screen. It reminded me of Movies Under the Moon! There was also tons of light decorations in the city saying “2000 millennium celebration” We were all confused by that, did they not take down their New Year 2000 decorations? Someone else said that Ethiopia was celebrating their 2000 year of something? I have no idea and we couldn’t figure it out. I would say about ½ the signs were in English and I recognized the brands and products.
We made it to the hotel and we were waiting in line to check in and guess what… we lost electricity! Yikes! (Another hint: always pack your flashlight in your carry-on because we didn’t have our checked luggage that night) Thankfully Krista and I both had our flashlights with us in our carry-ons! It was only a couple seconds before it turned back on, but it sure gave us all a little panic! The hotel was just fine. It wasn’t anything fancy, everything was mismatched but it has lots of personality. Some of the levels were a little sketchy but if you didn’t think about it and stayed with a buddy, it was fine. I was really pleased with it because I thought it was very clean and neat. We came down and had a late dinner. I am so skeptical about all the food! It was buffet but it looked like it had been sitting there all night and I couldn’t see the heat coming from the meat, so I didn’t touch it. I had rice and a roll. Everyone else ate it and was just fine but I am just so paranoid about it I’d rather be safe.
Krista was super smart and asked someone on the plane if she could have one of their huge water bottles the airlines use, and someone gave it to her! It was perfect because we brought it to the hotel and used it to brush our teeth. So smart Krista!!
The bus was coming to pick us up at 6:30am, so we were ready for some rest and excited to sleep in a bed!!! There were noises from outside all night long. Thankfully I’m a deep sleeper so it didn’t bother me. Some of the other girls were really scared and couldn’t sleep all night. Krista did have a weird dream and woke up in the middle of the night yelling “Oh my gosh Lexi” and dived off the bed onto the floor! Hahahaha She isn’t taking the Malaria medicine that causes nighmares, so we don’t know were that came from! She can’t remember either. We are enjoying laughing about it!
Our 1st day was super short because we lost 7 hours and got to go bed earlier than we normally would, but traveling is so exhausting we needed the sleep. I don’t understand why traveling is so exhausting because all we do is eat, sleep, sit and wait in lines.
P.S. Thanks mom for updating the blog!!!
Chris and Dad took me to the airport, my mom had to work a party. So when we got there I filled up my ½ empty bag with the donated bookbags and there was still enough room for some small little things. I packed it full with all the extra supplies I had brought. Yay! Everything fit. Dr.Kelly said that everyone was leaving enough space, so we wouldn’t have a problem fitting all the donations. Now the trouble was the weight. The 2nd bag was 46 pounds, so my dad and I moved 2 pounds worth of stuff to the 2nd bag. It worked out just perfectly! Sarah added some small things in my bags since I had left over pounds and each of my bags came out to 49 and 49.5 pounds! A whole pound in a half of wasted space! I was REALLY relieved about that!! The next concern was my misspelled name on the flight itinerary. My plan was to not draw attention to it and hope that they didn’t catch it. It was spelled “Alexander” instead of “Alexandra”. No worries! She didn’t say anything. Those were my only concerns so now I was relaxed and ready for the trip! Check-in went very smoothly. Apparently there was a backup with the checked luggage security. So there was some confusion about where to put our checked luggage. I sure do hope it ends at our destination in Lilongwe tomorrow!
Traveling with Dr. Kelly is amazing! She is super savvy and makes things happen and gets people to help her out! I don’t know how but she goes up to people and we got to skip almost every line except security. Check in, boarding, customs, we skipped all those long lines!
I left Chris and Dad when I entered the security line. It was sad because it was the first time I was saying goodbye without a real time we would talk again. Usually its “Call me when your on 81, or in Blacksburg,” etc. But since my phone will be off, and there is no real guarantee of the Internet, it was basically “I’ll see you in a month, email me when you can.” I didn’t like the uncertainty. The other girls were a mess! The other moms and dads were crying, and everyone was so emotional. It was funny but also a little sad. But the Hollars held it together just fine.
We had to get there 3 hours before our flight and I thought we would be sitting in the airport forever bored out of our mind. But check-in and security took a long time so we made it to the gate with just about 20 minutes to spare. I was prepared to buy something for dinner at the airport but Dr. Kelly said the airlines would serve us dinner first thing after we took off. She also said that since its international, they don’t charge for alcohol! As we waited to board, Dr. Kelly took a few minutes to explain some of the history of Malawi and gave us some tips. She told us not to purchase anything from the markets in Lilongwe because its super expensive since it’s the capital and you will find the exact same stuff in Zomba for much less. She told us we are “The biggest thing in town” and the locals at the market will know the day we come and where we will be each day until we leave. She also talked about the poverty issues. She said that Malawi has quite a lot of donors but that the money is all sent to Lilongwe and you will see BMW’s in Lilongwe, but the money for the country doesn’t go beyond the capital. That won’t do anything to help the poverty issues. By going to the villages and giving our supplies to them, we are helping reduce poverty by starting from the bottom of the totem pole and working our way up rather then starting at the top in Lilongwe. Dr. Kelly is so knowledge about everything! I am so glad to be traveling with her. Her first trip to Malawi was in 1998, and she has been coming ever since!
After a short Malawi lesson, it was time to board the plane. (Krista and I grabbed some last minute sweets before because we thought we wouldn’t eat them for a long time) I was prepared for overhead TV’s, but it turns out that we had individual TVs on the head seats in front of us. And they gave us little overnight goodie bags. The littlest things excite me! We could also follow our flight path on the monitor and read the flight data. It was really interesting! We were all settled and ready to go, but it was after our departure time. A couple minutes led to hours and we were suppose to leave at 8:30pm but didn’t leave until 10pm. Around 9:30pm we listened to an announcement but of course it was in a different language. Even when he repeated it in English, I couldn’t understand very much of it. Apparently there was some type of mechanical problem. It’s a little bit scary not having your language be the primary language. We just kind of had to hope everything was okay. We would get inpatient waiting for the English version, so Krista made friends with the girls next to her, and she would try and translate for us.
There are 18 total in our group, and the flight also had a large mission group going to Addis Ababa, and a second mission group going to Malawi. We are pretty sure everyone else on the plane was Ethiopian and/or some type of African decent. I’m really glad to be traveling in a large group. Everyone brings something unique to the group and we are getting to know each other pretty well. Almost everyone thinks we are a mission group, but I’m glad to explain to them who we are and what our purpose is. We are such a diverse group of people. (Okay, well maybe not. We have 1 black man and two black girls but everyone else is caucasian and female) But we come from all over the east coast and each have our own reasons for doing this trip. Mission trips are doing great things, but they aren’t the only people that can come and help/visit the country.
All of the plane meals have been just fine! The ones from Dulles were the best, and then as we got farther and farther away, they have gotten less identifiable. We would sometimes have to guess what things were because we couldn’t read the labels. I have traveled internationally before, but I’ve never felt like such a foreigner until now.
Finally after taking off 1.5 hours late, we were headed for Rome which was 4498 miles away. I watched bits and pieces of a movie, but I just rested and tried to sleep. I was exhausted after a full week of work and packing, so I had no trouble sleeping.
The time change was a little confusing. Our overnight on the plane was shorter because we lost 6 hours, but that also meant the next night would come a lot sooner, I’ve adjusted just fine. Since we left so late, dinner wasn’t until about 11pm, and then a couple hours later they woke us up for breakfast because it was morning time in Rome. It took 8 hours to get to Rome and they just switched the crew, so we stayed on the plane for 1.5 hours. I was in Rome and I couldn’t even leave the plane. Bummer! We arrived at 6am our time but it was 12noon in Rome. Rome to Addis Ababa took about 6 hours and it sounds miserable, but the entire flight overall wasn’t bad at all. I was expecting it to be unbearable. I think it really helped that I was so exhausted because I didn’t have any energy to be bored, I just took my Benadryl and slept! I bought all types of entertainment for myself but I didn’t use any of it. So it was 14 hours of air travel, but we were actually on the exact same plane for 18 hours. The delay at the beginning, the layover plus boarding time made it a very long traveling experience. The outside temperature during the flight was -51* F and we were going about 600 MPH, and our altitude was 35000 feet!!!!!
We arrived at Addis Ababa late Sunday night and everyone was glad to get off the plane! Flying into Addis, it looked just like any other major city from above. Lots of lights and houses for miles and miles. We spent about 2 hours in the airport filling out papers, getting our passports checked, going through customs and waiting for our bus. (Some girls didn’t bring a pen on their carry on--- always bring one because you have to fill out so many custom papers!) While we were waiting in line for customs, the locals just cut right in the middle of our group. I don’t know if they thought rules didn’t apply to them or what, but Dr. Kelly wouldn’t have all these people cut in our line, so we formed a second line and breezed through. No wonder they probably hate us! I was super excited to get my first stamp on my passport!!!!! Yay!!!
I didn’t get to sit by Krista on the plane so we really hadn’t had a chance to catch up until we got off the plane. I briefly showed her some of the lesson plans I printed out and even the notes my mom typed up for me. I actually just printed it out and didn’t read it. Krista pointed out the little letter my mom wrote to me at the end of her lesson plan suggestions and I read it while I was sitting on the floor at the airport:
“Express your enthusiasm. Remember your youth and enthusiasm will carry you a long way.
Smile. You have a smile that lights up the room, use it often.
You have been working SO HARD on this trip. You have prepared very well. Now might be the time to relax and let go. Enjoy the kids, have fun every day.
Enjoy the sites, smells and sound of Africa. You are on the adventure of a lifetime. Relish every moment.
Love,
Mom”
Finally the bus came and picked up all the passengers staying at hotels overnight and catching an early morning flight. I sat next to a business man dressed in a yellow suit and of course I made a friend! He kept offering his seat to other girls who didn’t have seats but they managed to fit us all in. He was claiming he didn’t know very much English (He spoke French) but I could understand almost everything he said. He was from Chad and was on his way to Egypt for some type of conference. He was very nice and helpful. Some girls tried to speak to him in French and we were having fun playing around and joking with him. I’m sure he was laughing at us the entire time! Later that night at dinner, one of the advisors said she was glad we talked to the local and said it will really make our experience so much more meaningful. I told her that my family would always leave the guarded resort at our vacation destinations and went out into the markets to get more of an authentic feeling. So I planned on doing that for this trip too! I wasn’t scared of talking to locals.
As we were driving on the bus we kept passing all these hotels. It was late at night and I was really wishing the hotel was closer to the airport. However, in the morning we got quite a tour of Addis, so I’m actually glad the hotel was further away because we were able to see more of the country.
At night, my first thought was it looked very similar to Ocean City, MD. Lots of little random shops and uncompleted buildings. Apparently there is a serious drought in Addis so the government turns off the electricity in parts of the city to conserve. So we could drive through complete black zones. You could see hundreds of bodies walking on the sides of the street. But then we would also drive though areas with lots of lights, there was even a huge projector on the side of the road showing a movie and Ethiopians were sitting outside watching the screen. It reminded me of Movies Under the Moon! There was also tons of light decorations in the city saying “2000 millennium celebration” We were all confused by that, did they not take down their New Year 2000 decorations? Someone else said that Ethiopia was celebrating their 2000 year of something? I have no idea and we couldn’t figure it out. I would say about ½ the signs were in English and I recognized the brands and products.
We made it to the hotel and we were waiting in line to check in and guess what… we lost electricity! Yikes! (Another hint: always pack your flashlight in your carry-on because we didn’t have our checked luggage that night) Thankfully Krista and I both had our flashlights with us in our carry-ons! It was only a couple seconds before it turned back on, but it sure gave us all a little panic! The hotel was just fine. It wasn’t anything fancy, everything was mismatched but it has lots of personality. Some of the levels were a little sketchy but if you didn’t think about it and stayed with a buddy, it was fine. I was really pleased with it because I thought it was very clean and neat. We came down and had a late dinner. I am so skeptical about all the food! It was buffet but it looked like it had been sitting there all night and I couldn’t see the heat coming from the meat, so I didn’t touch it. I had rice and a roll. Everyone else ate it and was just fine but I am just so paranoid about it I’d rather be safe.
Krista was super smart and asked someone on the plane if she could have one of their huge water bottles the airlines use, and someone gave it to her! It was perfect because we brought it to the hotel and used it to brush our teeth. So smart Krista!!
The bus was coming to pick us up at 6:30am, so we were ready for some rest and excited to sleep in a bed!!! There were noises from outside all night long. Thankfully I’m a deep sleeper so it didn’t bother me. Some of the other girls were really scared and couldn’t sleep all night. Krista did have a weird dream and woke up in the middle of the night yelling “Oh my gosh Lexi” and dived off the bed onto the floor! Hahahaha She isn’t taking the Malaria medicine that causes nighmares, so we don’t know were that came from! She can’t remember either. We are enjoying laughing about it!
Our 1st day was super short because we lost 7 hours and got to go bed earlier than we normally would, but traveling is so exhausting we needed the sleep. I don’t understand why traveling is so exhausting because all we do is eat, sleep, sit and wait in lines.
P.S. Thanks mom for updating the blog!!!
Monday, June 23, 2008
First news from Africa
Today, Monday June 23, we received our first news from Africa. The girls were each given 5 minutes of free internet. Krista's mom, Brenda, called to say she had gotten an email from Krista and besides a few delays here and there, all was well. Later, my son, Chris called to say that he had IM-ed with Lexi and received the same news.
So our girls have safely arrived in Africa and the adventure begins1
Tricia
Today, Monday June 23, we received our first news from Africa. The girls were each given 5 minutes of free internet. Krista's mom, Brenda, called to say she had gotten an email from Krista and besides a few delays here and there, all was well. Later, my son, Chris called to say that he had IM-ed with Lexi and received the same news.
So our girls have safely arrived in Africa and the adventure begins1
Tricia
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Take off
Hello
I am Tricia, Lexi's mom. Lexi has graciously allowed me to post on her blog.
Lexi left for Africa on Saturday evening around 9:30pm. The flight was delayed due to "mechanical problems". They sat on the runway for about an hour before takeoff.
She was 'ready' to go. Saturday she was very calm, going about her business checking off items on her to do list. All these weeks of preparation finally paid off. The house seems strangely quiet today as we wait for the first bit of news.
I am Tricia, Lexi's mom. Lexi has graciously allowed me to post on her blog.
Lexi left for Africa on Saturday evening around 9:30pm. The flight was delayed due to "mechanical problems". They sat on the runway for about an hour before takeoff.
She was 'ready' to go. Saturday she was very calm, going about her business checking off items on her to do list. All these weeks of preparation finally paid off. The house seems strangely quiet today as we wait for the first bit of news.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Itinerary
I cannot believe I'm leaving tomorrow! But at the same time, I'm glad its finally here. I'm not nervous or scared, right now I'm just very anxious! Here's my itinerary for the trip. :)
June 21: Leave Dulles Airport on Ethiopian Airlines at 8:30 PM. We will arrive in Addis Ababa on June 22 at 7:40 p.m. and stay overnight.
June 23: Leave Addis Ababa at 9:30 AM; arrive Lilongwe, Malawi at 12:10 noon. Some sightseeing in the capital city. Staying overnight at Korea Garden Lodge.
June 24: Freedom Gardens in the morning (a sustainable village setting—an
experimental project); more sightseeing in the capital
June 25: Leave Lilongwe after breakfast; travel to Zomba. Stops at Dedza Pottery; paper making facility that makes art paper from elephant dung; other stops to see villages, etc. Arrive Annie’s Lodge by dark.
June 26: Travel to Domasi for classes at Malawi Institute of Education (MIE); also some orientation to schools’ location (Domasi Government School, Domasi Demonstration School, and Malemia Primary School)
June 27: Go to school assignment in Domasi; classes in afternoon at MIE. One day this week we ill go to a village church for singing and dancing
June 28: Orientation to Zomba, walk around town, etc.
June 29: Annie’s Lodge, Zomba town, local church, study and class meeting
June 30: Go to school assignment; classes at MIE and project work
July 1: Go to school assignment: classes and project work
July 2: Go to school assignment: classes and project work
July 3: Go to school assignment; classes at MIE
July 4: Go to school assignment; classes
July 5: Travel south to Mt. Mulanje; see tea plantations; hike on Mt. Mulanje, third highest mountain in Africa (not to the top!!) Return to Annie’s Lodge, on way visit other sights as time permits. This will be a long day!!
July 6: Study and rest, local church or town
July 7: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 8: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 9: Travel to Mvuu Camp for safari; overnight at camp; river safari, afternoon and evening safari.
July 10: Morning guided walk; leave after breakfast to return to Annie’s Lodge (Zomba). We’ll stop at wood carvers in Liwonde on the way
July 11: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 12: Visit an orphanage
July 13: Study, rest, local church
July 14: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 15: Go to school assignment; classes; Farewell Dinner for teachers and various dignataries
July 16: Leave for Mangochi; visit a village; stay overnight at Club Makokola on Lake Malawi; traditional dancing performed by local villagers
July 17: Leave after breakfast; visit Mua Mission (famous for museum quality carvings) and visit the museum to learn about various tribal rituals; arrive at Korea Gardens in Lilongwe
July 18: Leave Lilongwe at 1:50 p.m. Arrive in Addis Ababa at 8:10 p.m. Take flight to Washington at 10:15 p.m.
July 19: Arrive Dulles at 7:20 a.m.
I did manage to get a hold of the Girl Scout office and they donated a whole box of GS pencils! I picked them up tonight!
June 21: Leave Dulles Airport on Ethiopian Airlines at 8:30 PM. We will arrive in Addis Ababa on June 22 at 7:40 p.m. and stay overnight.
June 23: Leave Addis Ababa at 9:30 AM; arrive Lilongwe, Malawi at 12:10 noon. Some sightseeing in the capital city. Staying overnight at Korea Garden Lodge.
June 24: Freedom Gardens in the morning (a sustainable village setting—an
experimental project); more sightseeing in the capital
June 25: Leave Lilongwe after breakfast; travel to Zomba. Stops at Dedza Pottery; paper making facility that makes art paper from elephant dung; other stops to see villages, etc. Arrive Annie’s Lodge by dark.
June 26: Travel to Domasi for classes at Malawi Institute of Education (MIE); also some orientation to schools’ location (Domasi Government School, Domasi Demonstration School, and Malemia Primary School)
June 27: Go to school assignment in Domasi; classes in afternoon at MIE. One day this week we ill go to a village church for singing and dancing
June 28: Orientation to Zomba, walk around town, etc.
June 29: Annie’s Lodge, Zomba town, local church, study and class meeting
June 30: Go to school assignment; classes at MIE and project work
July 1: Go to school assignment: classes and project work
July 2: Go to school assignment: classes and project work
July 3: Go to school assignment; classes at MIE
July 4: Go to school assignment; classes
July 5: Travel south to Mt. Mulanje; see tea plantations; hike on Mt. Mulanje, third highest mountain in Africa (not to the top!!) Return to Annie’s Lodge, on way visit other sights as time permits. This will be a long day!!
July 6: Study and rest, local church or town
July 7: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 8: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 9: Travel to Mvuu Camp for safari; overnight at camp; river safari, afternoon and evening safari.
July 10: Morning guided walk; leave after breakfast to return to Annie’s Lodge (Zomba). We’ll stop at wood carvers in Liwonde on the way
July 11: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 12: Visit an orphanage
July 13: Study, rest, local church
July 14: Go to school assignment; classes and project work
July 15: Go to school assignment; classes; Farewell Dinner for teachers and various dignataries
July 16: Leave for Mangochi; visit a village; stay overnight at Club Makokola on Lake Malawi; traditional dancing performed by local villagers
July 17: Leave after breakfast; visit Mua Mission (famous for museum quality carvings) and visit the museum to learn about various tribal rituals; arrive at Korea Gardens in Lilongwe
July 18: Leave Lilongwe at 1:50 p.m. Arrive in Addis Ababa at 8:10 p.m. Take flight to Washington at 10:15 p.m.
July 19: Arrive Dulles at 7:20 a.m.
I did manage to get a hold of the Girl Scout office and they donated a whole box of GS pencils! I picked them up tonight!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Already feeling the warm welcome!
I really need to stop blogging and finish packing and organizing my life before I leave. Right now, its so exhausting preparing for this trip, that I’m just ready to leave now. I’m sick of preparing and getting ready, I’d rather just go!
I heard back from the Girl Guides! “Thank you very much for your e-mail and especially your trip to Malawi. We are looking forward to welcoming you here in the Warm Heart of Africa.” When I first arrive in Malawi and stop in Lilongwe, they will be preparing for their Annual General Meeting but they said when I’m in Lilongwe to leave on July 17th, that would be the perfect time to visit the Lilongwe Guide Unit, meet the international commissioner and the Chief Commissioner. I don’t know anything about Girl Guides but those titles sound very important. I need to do some research before hand….
I have been emailing Jean and she has been helping me understand the education system in Malawi. Turns out her sister is a Phd. student in South Africa but happens to be in Malawi on research. (Perfect timing!) She has published articles and is very knowledgeable about the education system in Malawi. We are going to try and arrange to meet so that she can help us learn more about the education in Malawi. She will be a wealth of information! This is what her sister briefly said about situation there.
"There are three public examinations that children have to take. first one is the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) in std 8, second is Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) in form 2 and the last is Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) in form four. The problem of underperformance in malawi is not only during these examinations but it is found throughout the whole school system. The achievement levels in literacy and numeracy are below regional and international levels. for example a high proportion of children reach grade 5 without attaining the basic literacy and nueracy competencies i.e. they can't read or write and do numerical computations. The big issue is to do with quality - large classes, lack of teaching and learning materials and shortage of teachers in rural schools. I hope this helps."
I stopped by Jeans house tonight to pick up some things from her daughter to bring to Jean in Malawi. My mom and I talked to her for 45 minutes! We kept asking questions and wouldn't leave her alone! ha They consider Fairfax their home, but growing up they spent all their summers in Malawi. She was so nice and I enjoyed talking to her. She said she didn't want to ruin my trip, but that I'll be surprised how small Malawi really is because her mom knows just about everyone in town! Her family is very involved! When she goes to Malawi and the Malawians find out she is from Washington DC, they are surprised that she lives in such a dangerous area. It's funny because so many people associate danger and violence with Africa but they think that our home is a dangerous place.
I am so excited to meet Jean and her family!
I heard back from the Girl Guides! “Thank you very much for your e-mail and especially your trip to Malawi. We are looking forward to welcoming you here in the Warm Heart of Africa.” When I first arrive in Malawi and stop in Lilongwe, they will be preparing for their Annual General Meeting but they said when I’m in Lilongwe to leave on July 17th, that would be the perfect time to visit the Lilongwe Guide Unit, meet the international commissioner and the Chief Commissioner. I don’t know anything about Girl Guides but those titles sound very important. I need to do some research before hand….
I have been emailing Jean and she has been helping me understand the education system in Malawi. Turns out her sister is a Phd. student in South Africa but happens to be in Malawi on research. (Perfect timing!) She has published articles and is very knowledgeable about the education system in Malawi. We are going to try and arrange to meet so that she can help us learn more about the education in Malawi. She will be a wealth of information! This is what her sister briefly said about situation there.
"There are three public examinations that children have to take. first one is the Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) in std 8, second is Junior Certificate of Education (JCE) in form 2 and the last is Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE) in form four. The problem of underperformance in malawi is not only during these examinations but it is found throughout the whole school system. The achievement levels in literacy and numeracy are below regional and international levels. for example a high proportion of children reach grade 5 without attaining the basic literacy and nueracy competencies i.e. they can't read or write and do numerical computations. The big issue is to do with quality - large classes, lack of teaching and learning materials and shortage of teachers in rural schools. I hope this helps."
I stopped by Jeans house tonight to pick up some things from her daughter to bring to Jean in Malawi. My mom and I talked to her for 45 minutes! We kept asking questions and wouldn't leave her alone! ha They consider Fairfax their home, but growing up they spent all their summers in Malawi. She was so nice and I enjoyed talking to her. She said she didn't want to ruin my trip, but that I'll be surprised how small Malawi really is because her mom knows just about everyone in town! Her family is very involved! When she goes to Malawi and the Malawians find out she is from Washington DC, they are surprised that she lives in such a dangerous area. It's funny because so many people associate danger and violence with Africa but they think that our home is a dangerous place.
I am so excited to meet Jean and her family!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Email Reminders
I’m going through my emails making sure I’ve done everything, packed everything and remember everything I’ve been told. So I thought I’d write down some stuff just in case I forgot to talk about it.
Depending how much tuition you want to pay, this study abroad can be 3-6 credits. The work load does not change, so I opted for 3 credits. I don’t really need the credits, that not why I’m doing this. So I am registered for 3 hours of EDCI 4994 Undergraduate Research. Some majors require independent studies and this would be the perfect opportunity to earn those credits. Dr. Kelly arranges the program so that it can fulfill multiple requirements depending on what each student may need.
The textbook we are using is “A Democracy of Chameleons: Politics and Culture in the New Malawi” It was $29.95 from amazon.com and the shipping was free! The book is a very difficult read and it’s even harder when we don’t have the context to understand it. We are suppose to read it as best as we can and write responses/question to each chapter. The purpose is not to give us busy work but to help us understand what we will be seeing. Of course I haven’t finished the book, but we will have plenty of time on the airplane to catch up.
In addition to the textbook, we have a handful of articles to read that discuss African poverty. It’s to our benefit to read them and help us understand some of the issues. Some of them are personal stories-which I enjoy reading rather than a textbook.
The 7 Virginia Tech students going on the trip have been emailing each other all summer! We decided to make t-shirts! The logo is "Spreading the Hokie spirit to one village at a time" Someone volunteered to get them made, so I can’t wait to see them at the airport!
Annie’s Lodge does have an electric water heater. Dr. Kelly doesn’t think they have enough for each room, but it will be perfect for instant oatmeal. It isn’t a bad idea to bring Imodium/ Pepto-Bismol as a treatment or prevention. We are going to be very careful but some people are more sensitive than others.
I asked about registering our trip and Dr. Kelly said the Embassy and USAID have been notified. So we are covered! We were also reminded to bring copies of our shot records and copies of our passport info.
We will be there on July 6th, which is Malawi’s Independence Day. We probably won’t have very much of a July 4th celebration (ha) so I’m excited to celebrate Malawi’s independence day!
There is a safe at Annie’s Lodge for our passports and US money. We were told to use a money belt for traveling. There will be a locked closest in our room to keep money/computers etc. The staff would never jeopardize their job by stealing. This is one of the best jobs in town.
I love haggling!! This is the Malawian Currency information Dr. Kelly sent us:
Malawian Currency
• The current exchange rate is $1.00 (USA) = 143 Malawian Kwatcha (MWK).
• The following website is quite helpful for calculating conversions: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
I put the following chart together for you. The exchange rate might waiver a little between now and when we actually arrive in Malawi, but it shouldn’t change dramatically. You might want to print and carry this with you so you can refer to it when you’re dealing with vendors in the market.
• 50 MWK = $ 0.36
• 100 MWK = $ 0.72
• 200 MWK = $ 1.45
• 500 MWK = $ 3.62
• 1000 MWK = $ 7.23
• 1500 MWK = $ 10.87
• 2000 MWK = $ 14.49
• 10,000 MWK $72.48
To give you an idea of our expenses, your entire dinner will average 500 – 700 MWK per night. (Breakfasts are free.) Meals in Lilongwe are a little more expense, likely averaging around the 800K – 900K range.
I have quite a few posters for the classrooms. World maps, Africa maps, and English posters. Right now, the classrooms are not lockable, so if anything is left it will most likely be stolen. There is a workroom and a small storage shed that might be the best location to store the posters and bring them out to teach with. They are laminated so hopefully they will last a long time and multiple classrooms can use them!
I have been emailing a neighbors sister who went on a trip around Africa a couple years ago with the govt. Although her trip was very different than mine, she still had some very helpful suggestions. She suggested doing my research on Western European soccer because lots of Africans follow it closely and it will give us something to talk about and also incorporate into my teaching examples. Someone she traveled with ate at a salad bar from a very fancy South African hotel and he still got sick. So it’s important to follow the same food rules even if I’m in a nicer resort. She reminded me that everyone will tell you their food is safe, and say yes to anything even if it isn’t true. You may ask if they have Internet, “oh yes” but you will get there and there’s no Internet. Its good to keep in mind that things won’t always go as planned.
Sarah passed along some information her travel agent shared with her:
1. people are stealing american passports very often right now- make a copy of your passport for your parents, to keep on you, to give to dr. kelly, and to put in another suitcase
2. the check in people at the airport will sometimes let you take over 50 lbs if they're in a good mood and if you tell them that you're taking supplies to a school in Africa- if they're in a bad mood they will charge you sometimes really random fees- so bottom line- be extremely gracious when checking in and maybe make a comment about taking school supplies haha
Dr. Kelly sent some more information about the weather. "June is the coldest month; it starts warming up in July. Temperatures will be in the high 60's and low 70's in the daytime; low 50's to high 50's at night. That's why you need warm things to sleep in. But the days are pleasant once the sun heats up. Sunrise is around 6 a.m. but it's dark by 5:30 p.m. By the time we leave Malwi it could even be in the high 70's and low 80's in the daytime. Malawians will have on heavy coats if they can afford them because it seems very cold to them."
I was hoping to watch movies on my laptop during the flight but the airlines don’t have outlets for our electronics. I’m sure my battery won’t last more than one movie. There are overhead movies showing throughout the night. I’ll keep busy by sleeping, reading the textbook/writing responses and lesson planning with Krista!
Dr. Kelly sent a last minute reminder telling us the two most important things to pack is our malaria medication and our passports. Almost anything else thats forgotten can be dealt with. Thats comforting during the next 48 hours when I'll be paranoid about what I forgot to pack!
Depending how much tuition you want to pay, this study abroad can be 3-6 credits. The work load does not change, so I opted for 3 credits. I don’t really need the credits, that not why I’m doing this. So I am registered for 3 hours of EDCI 4994 Undergraduate Research. Some majors require independent studies and this would be the perfect opportunity to earn those credits. Dr. Kelly arranges the program so that it can fulfill multiple requirements depending on what each student may need.
The textbook we are using is “A Democracy of Chameleons: Politics and Culture in the New Malawi” It was $29.95 from amazon.com and the shipping was free! The book is a very difficult read and it’s even harder when we don’t have the context to understand it. We are suppose to read it as best as we can and write responses/question to each chapter. The purpose is not to give us busy work but to help us understand what we will be seeing. Of course I haven’t finished the book, but we will have plenty of time on the airplane to catch up.
In addition to the textbook, we have a handful of articles to read that discuss African poverty. It’s to our benefit to read them and help us understand some of the issues. Some of them are personal stories-which I enjoy reading rather than a textbook.
The 7 Virginia Tech students going on the trip have been emailing each other all summer! We decided to make t-shirts! The logo is "Spreading the Hokie spirit to one village at a time" Someone volunteered to get them made, so I can’t wait to see them at the airport!
Annie’s Lodge does have an electric water heater. Dr. Kelly doesn’t think they have enough for each room, but it will be perfect for instant oatmeal. It isn’t a bad idea to bring Imodium/ Pepto-Bismol as a treatment or prevention. We are going to be very careful but some people are more sensitive than others.
I asked about registering our trip and Dr. Kelly said the Embassy and USAID have been notified. So we are covered! We were also reminded to bring copies of our shot records and copies of our passport info.
We will be there on July 6th, which is Malawi’s Independence Day. We probably won’t have very much of a July 4th celebration (ha) so I’m excited to celebrate Malawi’s independence day!
There is a safe at Annie’s Lodge for our passports and US money. We were told to use a money belt for traveling. There will be a locked closest in our room to keep money/computers etc. The staff would never jeopardize their job by stealing. This is one of the best jobs in town.
I love haggling!! This is the Malawian Currency information Dr. Kelly sent us:
Malawian Currency
• The current exchange rate is $1.00 (USA) = 143 Malawian Kwatcha (MWK).
• The following website is quite helpful for calculating conversions: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic
I put the following chart together for you. The exchange rate might waiver a little between now and when we actually arrive in Malawi, but it shouldn’t change dramatically. You might want to print and carry this with you so you can refer to it when you’re dealing with vendors in the market.
• 50 MWK = $ 0.36
• 100 MWK = $ 0.72
• 200 MWK = $ 1.45
• 500 MWK = $ 3.62
• 1000 MWK = $ 7.23
• 1500 MWK = $ 10.87
• 2000 MWK = $ 14.49
• 10,000 MWK $72.48
To give you an idea of our expenses, your entire dinner will average 500 – 700 MWK per night. (Breakfasts are free.) Meals in Lilongwe are a little more expense, likely averaging around the 800K – 900K range.
I have quite a few posters for the classrooms. World maps, Africa maps, and English posters. Right now, the classrooms are not lockable, so if anything is left it will most likely be stolen. There is a workroom and a small storage shed that might be the best location to store the posters and bring them out to teach with. They are laminated so hopefully they will last a long time and multiple classrooms can use them!
I have been emailing a neighbors sister who went on a trip around Africa a couple years ago with the govt. Although her trip was very different than mine, she still had some very helpful suggestions. She suggested doing my research on Western European soccer because lots of Africans follow it closely and it will give us something to talk about and also incorporate into my teaching examples. Someone she traveled with ate at a salad bar from a very fancy South African hotel and he still got sick. So it’s important to follow the same food rules even if I’m in a nicer resort. She reminded me that everyone will tell you their food is safe, and say yes to anything even if it isn’t true. You may ask if they have Internet, “oh yes” but you will get there and there’s no Internet. Its good to keep in mind that things won’t always go as planned.
Sarah passed along some information her travel agent shared with her:
1. people are stealing american passports very often right now- make a copy of your passport for your parents, to keep on you, to give to dr. kelly, and to put in another suitcase
2. the check in people at the airport will sometimes let you take over 50 lbs if they're in a good mood and if you tell them that you're taking supplies to a school in Africa- if they're in a bad mood they will charge you sometimes really random fees- so bottom line- be extremely gracious when checking in and maybe make a comment about taking school supplies haha
Dr. Kelly sent some more information about the weather. "June is the coldest month; it starts warming up in July. Temperatures will be in the high 60's and low 70's in the daytime; low 50's to high 50's at night. That's why you need warm things to sleep in. But the days are pleasant once the sun heats up. Sunrise is around 6 a.m. but it's dark by 5:30 p.m. By the time we leave Malwi it could even be in the high 70's and low 80's in the daytime. Malawians will have on heavy coats if they can afford them because it seems very cold to them."
I was hoping to watch movies on my laptop during the flight but the airlines don’t have outlets for our electronics. I’m sure my battery won’t last more than one movie. There are overhead movies showing throughout the night. I’ll keep busy by sleeping, reading the textbook/writing responses and lesson planning with Krista!
Dr. Kelly sent a last minute reminder telling us the two most important things to pack is our malaria medication and our passports. Almost anything else thats forgotten can be dealt with. Thats comforting during the next 48 hours when I'll be paranoid about what I forgot to pack!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Zeta Love
Like I’ve said before, 3 of us going on this trip are from the same sorority. We are very close to each other and I’m so glad that we are going on this journey together. It’s very comforting knowing that we will be there for each other and have many memories to share. Another one of our sisters sent the 3 Zetas going to Africa this facebook message last night and it almost made me cry!
“Hi girls!!
Hope your summers have been so fabulous!!!! I am so excited for you guys to go on your trip and I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you! It is going to be so beyond amazing!!
If can offer you any advice from my little bit of experience it would be to be confident in the fact that even though you may never see the results of your hard work, you will be making huge and little changes in the people around you. It can be hard when it seems like your work is only temporary and there is no lasting impact, but you are going to be affecting people in ways you will never realize!
I am praying for you guys and cannot wait to hear about the trip!
lots and lots of sisterly love”
After a very stressful weekend (I am no where near ready and I’m leaving in 5 days) it was exactly what I needed to encourage me! It’s also very nice to know our sisters will be thinking of us back home. And with so many views about going to Africa, this is the one I’ll keep in mind during my trip. That’s what sisters are for! Thanks, this really did mean a lot!
“Hi girls!!
Hope your summers have been so fabulous!!!! I am so excited for you guys to go on your trip and I just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking about you! It is going to be so beyond amazing!!
If can offer you any advice from my little bit of experience it would be to be confident in the fact that even though you may never see the results of your hard work, you will be making huge and little changes in the people around you. It can be hard when it seems like your work is only temporary and there is no lasting impact, but you are going to be affecting people in ways you will never realize!
I am praying for you guys and cannot wait to hear about the trip!
lots and lots of sisterly love”
After a very stressful weekend (I am no where near ready and I’m leaving in 5 days) it was exactly what I needed to encourage me! It’s also very nice to know our sisters will be thinking of us back home. And with so many views about going to Africa, this is the one I’ll keep in mind during my trip. That’s what sisters are for! Thanks, this really did mean a lot!
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