One of the challenges I face with in supervising preschools is frequency of funerals. In Malawian villages, whenever there is a funeral, there is no preschool as teachers and committee members need to attend the funeral. And of course, there is no set date for funerals so I just need to rely on luck to pick a date for a particular school without a funeral.
Of all the preschools I supervise, there is one school, Mphatso preschool, that I have never been able to see its operation due to funerals. I've already visited 6 times and haven't seen anyone there yet.
Today too, was no exception. I had an appointment with Tiyanjane Preschool committee, its teachers, and the village chief at 2pm. It turned out that there was a funeral and the meeting got postponed to I don't know when.
Funerals are important so basically, there is nothing I can do about this situation.
Development work does take time indeed...
P.S I have no idea how but there is no option to post pictures.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Highlights of the past 3 weeks
So much had happened since I last updated the blog. It's definitely my laziness that resulted in this situation so I try my best from today to write more regularly.
Today, I will just try to write the highlights of the past 3 weeks.
THE PIG HOUSE is finally finished!!! I had to admit that I underestimated the amount of work and materials needed for this. Honestly, it took me a lot more time and money. My original budget proposal tripled in fact... In any case, it is DONE! We had absolutely no idea how to build a house, well, the pig house so we hired 2 local builders for help, Wilson and Adam. Anna and I definitely would not have been able to complete it without them. I learned how to make the foundation, mix cement, pile up bricks with cement straight, make the floor, attach fences, and put a roof with grass and bamboos among other things. The piglets are ready to move into our lovely pig house, I just need to pay for them... But big "yay!" for the first step. Now, we're selecting 15+ preschools with strong dedicated committees who will start up this Pig IGA. I'll organize a monthly pig committee meeting to educate the committee members about proper housing, feeding, vaccination, cleaning, and so forth. I will post the pictures shortly.
Amazing opportunities suddenly arrived for my preschool projects. First of all, I was finally able to meet with Mr. Misomali from Social Welfare Office in Blantyre to seek his advice about educating preschool teachers as I'm not specialized in that field. After a 20 minutes discussion and lots of persuasion, he agreed to co-host an official training by him and his colleagues to certify some of the teachers I work with. It may not make any sense but for me and those teachers, this IS a BIG project. This training will be 12-day long and now I'm working hard to compile all the information about each and every preschool under the supervision of the project. Another good news was with neighboring NGO Stephano's. DAPP (the organization I work for) and Stephano's haven't been in a good term ever since they started long story in short. I just had a chance to visit Mr. Mwikhoma one day and had a long discussion about our past and future collaboration.
In a nut shell, we will start working together for the preschool development project hand in hand and the first project will be to build one preschool together. Funding will come from both of us, 50-50, and I really look forward to working with them :) Lastly, again, long story in short, we "may" be getting support from an NGO Feed the Children to the preschools we supervise. Anyways, so many exciting projects are on the way and I just can't wait to see them happen!!!
Another big thing was my hiking rather mountain climbing and sliding down to Mt. Mulanji. Along with my fellow volunteer friends, we went there and hiked. Peter and I spent one night up in the mountain hut. Others stayed there for 2 or 3 nights. My legs were in so much pain, NO JOKE!! Going up was super hard but going down the steep and rocky hills for 4 hours was much worse after all. I need to post all the pictures from Peter. It was simply stunning!! When I woke up and got out of the hut, there was this huge mountain right in front of me, absolutely amazing view. I also enjoyed the fire place, a bucket shower and freezing mountain water. We're planning to go back there for a longer hike to the highest point sometime in July.
Finally, I want to share about my first "local beer" experience with you. Many people in the village told me about this local beer brewing and I was always curious about it. After I came all the way down to the entrance of Mt. Mulanje park, Peter and I went into the nearby village led by our guild Rhapson to "investigate" how they brew what they call "local beer". I was so amazed by it for its simple procedure. They had a big pot with water, sugar, and maize flour, which they kept for one week. Then they cook it with firewood. Attached to this pot covered by a plastic is a metal tube which is connected to another tank with water. The evaporated alcohol goes into the pipe. This pipe goes under this water to cool down the alcohol and lastly, the alcohol comes out from the other end of the tube. And what was amazing is that this drink tasted just like vodka but maize flavored... Anyways, it was a good learning experience for my future homemade beer brewing. P.S I didn't enjoy the taste of it and I don't think I will drink it ever again...
Okay, this IS a long update so I finish here....
Today, I will just try to write the highlights of the past 3 weeks.
THE PIG HOUSE is finally finished!!! I had to admit that I underestimated the amount of work and materials needed for this. Honestly, it took me a lot more time and money. My original budget proposal tripled in fact... In any case, it is DONE! We had absolutely no idea how to build a house, well, the pig house so we hired 2 local builders for help, Wilson and Adam. Anna and I definitely would not have been able to complete it without them. I learned how to make the foundation, mix cement, pile up bricks with cement straight, make the floor, attach fences, and put a roof with grass and bamboos among other things. The piglets are ready to move into our lovely pig house, I just need to pay for them... But big "yay!" for the first step. Now, we're selecting 15+ preschools with strong dedicated committees who will start up this Pig IGA. I'll organize a monthly pig committee meeting to educate the committee members about proper housing, feeding, vaccination, cleaning, and so forth. I will post the pictures shortly.
Amazing opportunities suddenly arrived for my preschool projects. First of all, I was finally able to meet with Mr. Misomali from Social Welfare Office in Blantyre to seek his advice about educating preschool teachers as I'm not specialized in that field. After a 20 minutes discussion and lots of persuasion, he agreed to co-host an official training by him and his colleagues to certify some of the teachers I work with. It may not make any sense but for me and those teachers, this IS a BIG project. This training will be 12-day long and now I'm working hard to compile all the information about each and every preschool under the supervision of the project. Another good news was with neighboring NGO Stephano's. DAPP (the organization I work for) and Stephano's haven't been in a good term ever since they started long story in short. I just had a chance to visit Mr. Mwikhoma one day and had a long discussion about our past and future collaboration.
In a nut shell, we will start working together for the preschool development project hand in hand and the first project will be to build one preschool together. Funding will come from both of us, 50-50, and I really look forward to working with them :) Lastly, again, long story in short, we "may" be getting support from an NGO Feed the Children to the preschools we supervise. Anyways, so many exciting projects are on the way and I just can't wait to see them happen!!!
Another big thing was my hiking rather mountain climbing and sliding down to Mt. Mulanji. Along with my fellow volunteer friends, we went there and hiked. Peter and I spent one night up in the mountain hut. Others stayed there for 2 or 3 nights. My legs were in so much pain, NO JOKE!! Going up was super hard but going down the steep and rocky hills for 4 hours was much worse after all. I need to post all the pictures from Peter. It was simply stunning!! When I woke up and got out of the hut, there was this huge mountain right in front of me, absolutely amazing view. I also enjoyed the fire place, a bucket shower and freezing mountain water. We're planning to go back there for a longer hike to the highest point sometime in July.
Finally, I want to share about my first "local beer" experience with you. Many people in the village told me about this local beer brewing and I was always curious about it. After I came all the way down to the entrance of Mt. Mulanje park, Peter and I went into the nearby village led by our guild Rhapson to "investigate" how they brew what they call "local beer". I was so amazed by it for its simple procedure. They had a big pot with water, sugar, and maize flour, which they kept for one week. Then they cook it with firewood. Attached to this pot covered by a plastic is a metal tube which is connected to another tank with water. The evaporated alcohol goes into the pipe. This pipe goes under this water to cool down the alcohol and lastly, the alcohol comes out from the other end of the tube. And what was amazing is that this drink tasted just like vodka but maize flavored... Anyways, it was a good learning experience for my future homemade beer brewing. P.S I didn't enjoy the taste of it and I don't think I will drink it ever again...
Okay, this IS a long update so I finish here....
Picture 1: Peter and view from Mulanje Mountain (on the way to the top)
Picture 2: A guy getting caught for stealing a blanket - this is how they do it- then he gets tranported to the police station
Picture 3: Local beer brewing
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Andrea
Did I write about Andrea before? I might have. Well, I can write it again because I have an update.
Andrea is an 11 year-old orphan whom I met in Blantyre market. He's been working at this market by offering to carry bags, selling plastic bags, and sometimes selling tangerines. As I visit this market quite often, I soon realized that he was always there. Unlike other kids who were working at the market, he knew much more English and didn't beg me. He was a special boy.
One day, I began talking to him, asking him why he's there and not going to school. It turned out that his parents passed away 2 years ago from malaria and something I didn't understand what. The father who died from malaria, a curable disease, went to hospital but only took African traditional medicines instead of the pills he got from a doctor. So he became an orphan at the age of 9 along with 3 other older siblings. They all stay at their uncle's house but the uncle also have 3 children of his own to look after. Unfortunately, and this is a very typical situation in Malawi, Andrea and his siblings haven't been provided with access to education, ending up working at a market to earn little money.
In Malawi, a child must have uniform to go to primary school, which is 8 years of education. This school uniform is what Andrea didn't have and the reason why he could not go to school.
I took him to a store and had his uniform made as there wasn't ready-made one in the shop, which cost 1,650 kwacha (only $11 USD). Andrea promised me 2 things--to go to school and to take medicines from hospital if he gets sick.
And today, when I passed by the market, someone called my name from distance. It was Andrea. He was smiling like a shining star. "Mitsue, I'm going school everyday! I'm happy. School is important to me," he said. Then he put a bracelet on my right wrist which he made for me.
Meeting with Andrea today brought me so much joy in my life. I can't help smiling when I look at this precious handmade bracelet. I continue sending my prayers for his happiness.
Andrea is an 11 year-old orphan whom I met in Blantyre market. He's been working at this market by offering to carry bags, selling plastic bags, and sometimes selling tangerines. As I visit this market quite often, I soon realized that he was always there. Unlike other kids who were working at the market, he knew much more English and didn't beg me. He was a special boy.
One day, I began talking to him, asking him why he's there and not going to school. It turned out that his parents passed away 2 years ago from malaria and something I didn't understand what. The father who died from malaria, a curable disease, went to hospital but only took African traditional medicines instead of the pills he got from a doctor. So he became an orphan at the age of 9 along with 3 other older siblings. They all stay at their uncle's house but the uncle also have 3 children of his own to look after. Unfortunately, and this is a very typical situation in Malawi, Andrea and his siblings haven't been provided with access to education, ending up working at a market to earn little money.
In Malawi, a child must have uniform to go to primary school, which is 8 years of education. This school uniform is what Andrea didn't have and the reason why he could not go to school.
I took him to a store and had his uniform made as there wasn't ready-made one in the shop, which cost 1,650 kwacha (only $11 USD). Andrea promised me 2 things--to go to school and to take medicines from hospital if he gets sick.
And today, when I passed by the market, someone called my name from distance. It was Andrea. He was smiling like a shining star. "Mitsue, I'm going school everyday! I'm happy. School is important to me," he said. Then he put a bracelet on my right wrist which he made for me.
Meeting with Andrea today brought me so much joy in my life. I can't help smiling when I look at this precious handmade bracelet. I continue sending my prayers for his happiness.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Arts & Craft class
I'm helping Patrik and Anna for their Youth Club activities. They are doing an amazing job in starting up and running this project which involves many children and youth in the village every weekday. Each afternoon between 2 and 4 o'clock, there is specific activity organized such as sports for Mondays, music for Tuesdays, English lesson for Wednesdays, arts and crafts for Thursdays, and movies for Fridays. And just on Thursdays, I assist Anna in organize arts and crafts class and I'm just LOVING it!
I mean, these kids in the villages are full of energy and they appreciate anything we prepare for them (unlike kids in Japan who wouldn't like anything but computer games, cellphones, and other techno-stuffs).
It simply makes me genuinely happy to see these Malawian kids smile and enjoy making something together. I hope this class means something for them.
Pictures are some of the arts and crafts work kids did--cardboard masks and clock, drawing, and wool decoration :)
一緒にボランティア活動をしているアンナ、パトリックと共に、月曜日から金曜日の午後、ユースクラブで様々な活動をしています。このユースクラブは、近隣の村に住む子供･青少年を対象に様々な活動を通して、教育の促進を目的に先月始まりました。月曜日はスポーツ、火曜日はミュージック、水曜日は英語のレッスン、木曜日は工作、金曜日は映画。時間があるとお手伝いに行くのですが、私の担当は木曜日。毎回どんどん楽しくなってきて、参加してる子供よりも自分がもっとエンジョイしてるかもしれません。
工作のクラスに集う子供たちは、エネルギッシュで、私が用意する事全てを精一杯しかも楽しそうにこなしてくれます。ビデオゲームや携帯に没頭している今時の子供たちとは別世界。
ただ笑顔いっぱいで楽しそうに工作をしている子供たちを見るだけで、本当に幸せな気持ちになります。彼らにとって何かしら意味のある思い出になると願う今日この頃です。
写真は、子供たちが作った作品。段ボールでできたお面、時計、絵とミニぽんぽん。
写真は、子供たちが作った作品。段ボールでできたお面、時計、絵とミニぽんぽん。
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