Wishing I could go back!

I remember how helpful it was to get tips/suggestions from the group who went the year before us, so I wanted to do the same for the group going this summer. The '08 VT group compiled a list of hints/tips for them. Everything from packing hints, traveling tips, what to expect while you are there, health suggestions, teaching tips, cultural FYI, info about the internet access, and our own words of wisdom. I sure hope it helps them and it will be a great reference if I am able to go back in my future!!

Two students from our group last year are going back this summer on their own for 3 weeks! Amy (RU) and Brian (NC A&T) bought plane tickets and they are planning on meeting up with Peter while in Malawi. I am so jealous!! Brian is coming to VT in the fall for a doctorate program! He came to Blacksburg in the spring and we were able to grab coffee and catch up. I can't wait to hear the stories about their trip!

The study abroad group left this morning at 10am for Africa. Many of them set up blogs and these are the ones I know of:

http://www.malawistudyabroad09.blogspot.com/ (Rachel)

http://toddmalawi.blogspot.com/ (Todd)

http://africaabroad.blogspot.com/ (Kacey)

http://www.malawistudyabroad.blogspot.com/ (Dr. Kelly)

http://utkelizabeth.blogspot.com/ (Carolyn)

http://hacklerhash.blogspot.com/ (DeAnna)

http://annmaryroberts.wordpress.com/ (Ann Roberts)

http://bethdickey.blogspot.com/ (Beth)

http://www.kkelsa.blogspot.com/ (Kelsey)

I am anxiously awaiting to hear that they arrived safely. I can't wait to follow these blogs and re-live my trip. I cannot believe it's been a year since I left for Malawi. I remember it like it was yesterday!

Articles, movies and more

As you can tell, anything and everything African related perks my interest. I wanted to share some of the articles/movies/TV shows that I have recently come across.

1.Virginia Tech won a grant to work with two universities in Sudan to develop and strengthen agriculture and natural resources programs! Way to go VT!!!

http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2009&itemno=381

2.A New York Times journalist published an article about Malawi in the Travel section. He went to Zomba, Lake Malawi, Mvuu Camp and even more of the same places as us. The article captures him experiencing the sights and sounds of Malawi for the first time and encourages tourism. Warms my heart to read such a great article about Malawi!

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/05/10/travel/10explorer.html?emc=eta1

3.Since I was going to Africa, my mom encouraged me to read The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (I have yet to read it...oops!) because it takes place in Botswana. Now HBO has started a TV series based on the novel. http://www.hbo.com/no1ladiesdetectiveagency/

We just got HBO a few weeks ago, so I'm excited to follow the show!

4.ABC aired a two night special, Diamonds. It's very similar to Blood Diamonds and follows 5 storylines about the global diamond trade business. My dad and I loved it, it kept us on the edge of our seats!

5.Another friend told me about the documentary, God Grew Tired Of Us. I only watched the trailer, and I started to get emotional! It documents the story of Sudan refugees coming to America and getting a fresh start.

6.Another friend sent me this article about 60 elephants being evacuated, starting in Malawi. Apparently farmers get violent to protect their crops from the elephants so the International Animal Welfare got involved.

7. June 20th was World Refugee Day. Angelina Jolie released this video to raise awareness to refugees all around the world. Angelina was in DC making speeches and attending events for World Refugee Day. (I should have gone to DC to try and find her!) I volunteered with refugees in Blacksburg, so I am able to put a face to the stories. I am so impressed with everything Angelina has done for the UNHCR.

8. E! Online reported that Madonna's appeal has been approved and she is now allowed to adopt Mercy James from Malawi. Mercy is on her way to meet Madonna and her family in London. Here's the article: Mercy leaves Malawi to meet Madonna in London Here's the CNN article on the appeal approval: Madonna wins adoption appeal in Malawi

9. ABC's World News reports on a "Person of the Week" each week (obvi). This week a little 7 year old girl from Kansas was named person of the week for her philanthropic efforts to sell greeting cards with her artwork on the cover. She has raised thousands of dollars and was able to build an orphanage in Haiti. She is continuing to sell artwork and her next orphanage will be in Malawi!!

Check it out:

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=8056275

10. NBC's got a new TV series called The Philanthropist on Wednesday nights at 10pm. I watched the pilot a couple weeks ago and it reminded me of my time in Malawi last summer. The scenery, the people, the dancing, the children, the outfits all brought back so many memories. And most of all I completely related with the main characters desire to help the people suffering. It's a show worth tuning into!

11.As many of you know, I struggled with the idea of visiting a 3rd world country and having an American influence on them. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Well, I came across this article that talks about a woman who went to Malawi and had the same concerns. The article talks about how the Malawians helped her realize the answer. It's a great article! Check it out: http://www.aawmag.com/story/14114

Gosh, I am such an African/Malawi nerd!

Gifts for Macdonald

Krista and I knew we wanted to send gifts with the group going this summer for our teacher, Macdonald. Relationships are SO important in Malawi. And I understand I am representing America. I want Macdonald and his family to know we care about him and value our friendship. It would be very rude to "forget" about him and that would look bad for Americans! So over the last few weeks we have been gathering things for him and his family.

Macdonald sent us a letter asking for money and a camera. Krista was able to find a film camera that would be easy for him to use. Many of the teachers in Malawi have been given VT apparel so we wanted Macdonald to have some too! We got him a hat and shirt.

I thought it would be nice to give him the pictures I took from our trip last summer. I put together a Snapfish mini photobook with pictures from our visit with Macdonald and his family. I got some lollipops and little ball toys for the kids as a special treat!

Finally, Krista and I both wrote letters and sent some money for his education and his family.

As you may remember, Macdonald asked us for money to further his education. I asked Dr. Kelly what program he was doing and she was going to figure it out for me. A VT alumni from Malawi, Ndalapa, emailed us to explain:

"Of course many people especially teachers go to night schools for upgrading so that they can have better chances of doing a diploma or degree. However, the fees are not that expensive unless the night school is privately owned. Many Malawian teachers fail to go to even such cheap schools because their salaries are extremely low. So, I should imagine he is only asking very little so that his meagre salary remains intact for other day to day life activities. But, sometimes people here exeggerate their poverty. You give him what he will needs, but goes on to ask for more! I am not sure how much a public night school would cost these days. Sometimes it varies from one school to another, but its generally very low; possibly not exceeding $100 a year (this is on the higher side)."

One of the students going this summer was nice enough to pack it in his luggage and deliver it for me!

Malawi Elections

Tues May 19th was Malawi's Presidential Election day. This was a huge deal... Macdonald talked about it in his letter, Daniel from Freedom Gardens was talking about it on Facebook and many of the blogs I read were anxious about hoping the elections remained peaceful. From everything I read, it went very well and stayed peaceful. The current president, Bingu Wa Mutharika was elected for another 5 year term.

Check out this BCC article about the election. Take a look at the polling stations picture. The article also mentions the huge turnout, people were exercising their right to vote! Way to go!

I asked Dr. Kelly's input on the election and here are her thoughts:

"Yes, the election was good news. Perhaps Malawians are finally accepting a democratic government. I wrote the students in this summer's Study Abroad, explaining the significance of having the first peaceful election. I'm really happy that Mutarika won. He's a good man but had strong opposition from the former two regimes. My friends there say that it's evident people voted for candidates rather than the party. There were surprise wins. And that's good."

I stole this picture from another blog:

The sign says "Be proud of Malawi. Peaceful Elections. YES WE CAN!" Who does that sound like? Oh yes, Malawians love Obama! (Daniel became a fan of Obama on Facebook!) Apparently they even sell fabric with Obama's head picture on it.

Here is the BCC article about Mutharika's inauguration. I am so happy for Malawi! A peaceful election is a big deal!

Media Kit Completed!

For my Advanced Media Writing class each student had to choose a client and complete a media kit throughout the semester for the client. I chose the Malawi Chibale Project. It was very challenging since the organization is so new, I had very little to work with. Here is a picture of all the components:

-Title Page

-Title of Contents

-Fact Sheet

-Backgrounder

-Press Release

-Feature Article

-Public Service Announcement

-Brochure

-4 Page Newsletter

-Blog

-Powerpoint Presentation

I am very proud of the final product. I think we will be able to actually use some of the documents I created. At least it will give us something to work with!

Invisible Children

Website: INVISIBLE CHILDREN

Ever heard of it? You can watch the documentary on YouTube. There are 6 parts, so here's thelink to the beginning. For some reason part 5 is missing, but the other parts are all up.

The story is not over, Watch this movie to find out the latest news in the mission to end the war in Africa. I find the website very confusing, but they are promoting the "rescue" that was on April 25th.

My friend who studied abroad in South Africa last semester told me about this website. I never heard of it so I checked it out and watched the movie. I am so embarrassed that I had no idea this was going on. I knew parts of Africa were considered dangerous, but I never took the time to find out why. Basically 3 guys went on a trip to Africa and learned about a war going on and the thousands (30,000 to be exact) of children being kidnapped and turned into child soldiers. These 3 guys were determined to do something about it. They have created documentaries and a movement to end Africa's longest war (23 years) and rescue the children. This has been a 6 year long mission and they haven't given up. The invisible children are counting on them.

I am not one to go to a rally or protest (I'm not a political person at all) but after watching this video I am more than willing to do anything I can to help. I can't stop thinking about these children and I feel so guilty that so few people know this is going on right now... today...every day for the last 15 years. Do we ignore it because we don't want to know these awful things are going on? Why is there so little international attention? The evil man who is leading the troops is Joseph Kony. He is just as, if not more evil than Hitler. The world just doesn't hear about it because its Africa? Innocent people are being killed, tortured, and suffering. It's just as wrong to know about it and not do anything.

Okay, I need to calm down. There are thousands of awful things going on in the USA and all around the world that very few people know about. Who wants to watch the news and watch all awful stories... its to depressing. I am obviously bias to Africa and children. Just puts life in perspective and makes me so thankful for everything I have. I will continue to think twice before I complain about a so called "bad day."

The Rescue on April 25th- The rescue is a symbolic way to raise awareness about the war and bring Kony (bad guy) to justice. Over 100 cities across the world came together to camp out and wait until two things happen:

1. Media must cover the event

2. The city must arrange for the attendance of at least one political leader

During the camp, participants will be writing letters to political representatives asking for support in rescuing Kony's child soldiers.

I followed the "rescue" carefully and sure enough, they caught Oprah's attention and made it on The Oprah Show! Check out their appearance here.

Student International Service Activity Showcase-April 27th

I am so glad I have found ways to keep up with this blog even though my trip is over. (Is anyone even reading this since I'm not in Malawi anymore?) Malawi has become a part of me and I am always finding Malawi related things to write about! I read bits and pieces of my daily blogs and I just love re-living my trip... day by day!!

Okay, so I received an email inviting international student service organizations to apply to participate in a showcase on April 27th in conjunction with Dr. Paul Farmer's visit to VT and presentation that evening. It sounded like a great opportunity and I figured I would enter the Malawi Chibale Project.

A couple days later I got an email saying we were one of 21 organizations to be selected to participate! We were asked to provide a 200 word description of our organization to be included in a document to be distributed to Dr. Farmer, university officials and journalists.

(Dr. Farmer is an American anthropologist and physician from Harvard University. Dr. Farmer is one of the founders of Partners In Health, which is an international health and social justice organization. He is the feature of a 2003 book called Mountain Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Could Cure the World.)

We were asked to be in Burruss from 1:30pm until 4:30pm and then again at 6:30 as people arrived for Dr. Farmers presentation at 8pm. It was going to be a long day but thankfully I don't have classes on Mondays. Krista, Lauren, Sarah and Amber came to help! This is our booth:

The majority of the organizations were doing projects in Haiti and some of them had some very official posters. There were also booths with homemade presentations just like ours! But we had the best artifacts!!! Patti Talbot brought me the Chibale Project t-shirts to put on display and possibly sell at the booth. We made friends with the booths next to us and enjoyed their company throughout the day.

We were encouraged to come promptly at 1:30pm because Dr. Farmer would be arriving to come by and visit each booth. As we were setting up a photographer from the Roanoke Times asked to take our pictures. Of course we agreed! We began to explain our project to him and he brought over the reporter to talk with us more. We ended up talking for about 10 minutes as they were jotting down notes. They were very nice, but asked questions like "What was it like to go to Malawi?" Thats very hard to answer/explain in a short sentence!

Turns out the reporter and photographer really liked our project because we were selected to be in the article the next morning! Check out Tech students show off their passions

Next Paul Farmer came by our booth. I'm embarrassed that I had never heard of him until I found out he was coming to Virginia Tech. Here's the news release on his visit. He sounds like a really cool guy. He co-founded Partners In Hope!

He was running late so he didn't talk for long. He had been to Zomba but couldn't remember where he stayed. I didn't really continue the conversation with him because I didn't know anything about him and didn't want to sound stupid. (Especially with his entourage standing right there listening to our conversation!)

The provost came by to visit and a man tried to buy my wooden globe... sorry its not for sale!!

I was on a Malawi adrenaline rush!!! I was so excited to talk to the Roanoke Times because they were so interested in our project. The booth looked great and we were getting donations. This was all so wonderful and the evening shift hadn't even begun.

I came back to be at the booth while people were coming to Burruss for Dr. Farmers presentation at 8pm. I was surprised how many community members came to this event. Over half of Burruss was adults and just a handful of students.

I met a man who has been to Malawi 8 times through World Camp! That is the program I'm looking into for next summer. He was impressed I knew all about World Camp.

I met a lady who goes to Blacksburg Presbyterian Church and was at the Moni, Malawi Celebration. She knows Patti Talbot and many of the other people who work with Malawi.

A VT student who is going to Malawi came by the booth to chat. Amber and I tried to give her all the advise we could in 10 minutes.

We met a lady who teaches at Prices Fork Elementary and went to Malawi a couple years ago before it was a study abroad program. She actually made a PBS short documentary that Dr. Kelly showed us before we went on our trip. When she came up to our booth, we recognized her voice from the video! We absolutely loved talking to her! She knew many of the same people from Malawi and went to many of the same places. It was so great to talk to her and now she knows about our project.

Dr. Farmers presentation began. I enjoyed listening to his work and hearing his passion but a lot of what he said was jargon and over my head. Maybe thats because I haven't read his book yet.

The evening ended with people slowly walking out and looking at the booths. Many people are blown away at the sign on our poster " $2 feeds a child for an entire year". Many people got our their pocket books and donated every coin they had. We appreciate it soo much and know it will go such a long way in Malawi. We raised over $40 throughout the day!!

This event was very helpful with raising awareness about our organization. I am so glad the first real event was a great success! This is just the beginning of many more Chibale Project booths! I had such a wonderful day meeting so many people who share the same passion as I do.