I met Owen on the road two weeks ago, not far from my point of departure. People stop me all the time. “I can see you are strange. I want to know you.” This guy is super tall, with big white buck teeth and is usually dressed in a stylish sweater vest or snazzy wool sweater. He speaks incredible English and he told me it’s because he’s from Zimbabwe, whose English curriculum (and education system) is one of the best in his opinion.
He’s a physical sciences teacher at a private school down the road. I’ve met a handful of physical sciences teachers and I love them because we can chat about integrals, elements, pollution, climate change- you name it- and they love it just as much as I do. Turns out, this guy was educated in aviation electronics and specialized in radio communication. Said he wishes he could teach only teach about radios. I asked him to tell me everything he knows about radios, because I’m a little bit obsessed myself.
We chatted for at least 30 minutes (being late for work is not out of the ordinary for me). Me throwing questions at him and him enthusiastically answering, dumbing down the vocabulary and concepts so I could hang on. He told me he has a book that I should read and that he’d drop it off for me.
I biked to work that morning with enough energy from that conversation to carry me through the entire day.
He showed up at my work the next day with a folder in hand. He told me he couldn’t find the book and then pulled out three double sided hand written pages explaining the basics of radio technology full of labeled block diagrams- all from memory. I was taken aback. He’s an absolute gem.
The other day I was hanging out at home with the kiddies and he showed up at my house and we chatted on the porch for over an hour talking about Zimbabwe’s education system/economy/industries/land rights, Mugabe, Botswana’s diamonds, South Africa’s unfriendliness (in his opinion), his family, his dreams. We seriously hung out. He came to my work yesterday with seven more pages of notes on radio technology. He’s officially my bro.
He’s living with his aunt and uncle right now about 7 kilometres from Mkanda (where he teaches). He bikes 7km to and from work every day. He got hired at this private school but the headmaster has failed to pay the teachers in over 2 months now because his tobacco crops didn’t do well on the auction floor. The students pay K3000 per term (3 months per term), there are 90 students and the teachers are supposed to receive K60000 per month. The economics don’t even make sense. With that model, the headmaster wouldn’t even be able to pay two teachers without losing money. I think he’s “employing” four.
Owen wants to move to Blantyre in September, when the school year finishes, and start a business manufacturing and selling electronic school bells. This would be tremendously beneficial because the children run all over the place, sometimes return, sometimes don’t and sometimes people forget to ring the bell to get back to class. All of the bells are electronic is Zimbabwe and he says Malawi is chaotic. He’s such a smart man. I’m sure he’ll do it and become a rich man.
I’ve made so many friends here! When I think about leaving, I have to fight back the tears. I have no idea how I’ll be able to leave my folks in the village. I’m so happy I didn’t move to the boma. My Chichewa has improved and as a result, my relationships have become so much deeper. Monica, my host mom who is actually more like my host sister because she’s only 23, and I are like two peas in a pod. After almost two months, people see me as a person now and not a whitie.
I’m going to leave this place kicking and screaming, or crying my face off. Probably the latter.
Love kate
"CLTS yabweretsa mgwirizano"- CLTS has brought togetherness
Sunday, July 18, 2010
my first workshop.
hello out there!
I’ve done this post point form because work isn’t the most interesting topic to some folks.
-I conducted a survey at the beginning of my placement and found that 54% out of 46 CLTS facilitators I surveyed would like more training.
-I also attended a training/triggering event in another town (within the “star CLTS district”) and was disappointed with the quality of training and triggering. It made me worry about the quality of CLTS in the Malawi, especially because we are soon scaling up from 12 districts to 16.
-I was very excited because the budget was approved with a 3 day trigger event which includes one day for reviewing principles. In other words, there was money to conduct another training for the CLTS facilitators.
-I conducted a workshop with the task force to help them strategize and plan for the training. My objectives were:
1. To reflect on experiences and observations from the past to determine what makes training and triggering successful
2. To give the Task Force space to be thoughtful about their role in successful CLTS training and triggering
3. Share resources for proper training, triggering and reflection practices
4. Prepare and plan for the next three days
-Only 4/10 members of the task force attended my workshop. Major bummer.
-On the bright side, the workshop was awesome. Everyone had a great time and learned a lot. One comment on a feedback form was “It has been helpful since we have a scope of what to do”. Other comments were “very comfortable and conducive atmosphere for discussion” and at my next workshop I should ask “more good questions”. I felt like my workshop gave the task force the time and space to plan for a training that would be worthwhile and result in quality triggering.
-I wish I could end this post on that positive note. However, the triggering event didn’t go as planned. The chairperson of the task force had a different schedule in mind and without consulting the task force, he advised the facilitators to go into the field without adequate preparation. In his opinion, it is not the task force’s responsibility to retrain and would have been a waste of money. The quality of triggers cannot be known until the follow ups have been completed.
-I learned a lot about the dynamics within the task force last week. Up until now, the task force has impressed me with their dedication, organization and planning skills. This event has opened my eyes to the power and trust relationships, decision making processes and the effect that communication challenges in an area without electricity or proper cell phone coverage can have on the success of a development program. Part of my role as a Junior Fellow is to understand some of these relationships/challenges and share them with Jolly Ann, who is working on CLTS at the government level, so that she can have a field level understanding of what’s going on.
-I certainly learned that it’s easy to hold a workshop but unless the enabling environment is there, it is entirely useless.
-Right now, I’m working on a database. Yes, I know. White kid from Canada makes another database to be filed away forever, never to be used again. But my objective is to input all the information from follow up forms in my region, draw some simple conclusions (number of villages triggered vs. number of ODF villages, areas with the most successful program, which trainings resulted in the best triggers, etc), show them to the task force and base a CLTS program reflection session off of the numbers. It seems people are failing to recognize the faults of the program and the numbers might “trigger” implementers into realizing that the quality needs to improve.
If you want to know more about my work, shoot me an email. I’d be stoked to share more. I'm really getting into the thick of it.
Love kate
I’ve done this post point form because work isn’t the most interesting topic to some folks.
-I conducted a survey at the beginning of my placement and found that 54% out of 46 CLTS facilitators I surveyed would like more training.
-I also attended a training/triggering event in another town (within the “star CLTS district”) and was disappointed with the quality of training and triggering. It made me worry about the quality of CLTS in the Malawi, especially because we are soon scaling up from 12 districts to 16.
-I was very excited because the budget was approved with a 3 day trigger event which includes one day for reviewing principles. In other words, there was money to conduct another training for the CLTS facilitators.
-I conducted a workshop with the task force to help them strategize and plan for the training. My objectives were:
1. To reflect on experiences and observations from the past to determine what makes training and triggering successful
2. To give the Task Force space to be thoughtful about their role in successful CLTS training and triggering
3. Share resources for proper training, triggering and reflection practices
4. Prepare and plan for the next three days
-Only 4/10 members of the task force attended my workshop. Major bummer.
-On the bright side, the workshop was awesome. Everyone had a great time and learned a lot. One comment on a feedback form was “It has been helpful since we have a scope of what to do”. Other comments were “very comfortable and conducive atmosphere for discussion” and at my next workshop I should ask “more good questions”. I felt like my workshop gave the task force the time and space to plan for a training that would be worthwhile and result in quality triggering.
-I wish I could end this post on that positive note. However, the triggering event didn’t go as planned. The chairperson of the task force had a different schedule in mind and without consulting the task force, he advised the facilitators to go into the field without adequate preparation. In his opinion, it is not the task force’s responsibility to retrain and would have been a waste of money. The quality of triggers cannot be known until the follow ups have been completed.
-I learned a lot about the dynamics within the task force last week. Up until now, the task force has impressed me with their dedication, organization and planning skills. This event has opened my eyes to the power and trust relationships, decision making processes and the effect that communication challenges in an area without electricity or proper cell phone coverage can have on the success of a development program. Part of my role as a Junior Fellow is to understand some of these relationships/challenges and share them with Jolly Ann, who is working on CLTS at the government level, so that she can have a field level understanding of what’s going on.
-I certainly learned that it’s easy to hold a workshop but unless the enabling environment is there, it is entirely useless.
-Right now, I’m working on a database. Yes, I know. White kid from Canada makes another database to be filed away forever, never to be used again. But my objective is to input all the information from follow up forms in my region, draw some simple conclusions (number of villages triggered vs. number of ODF villages, areas with the most successful program, which trainings resulted in the best triggers, etc), show them to the task force and base a CLTS program reflection session off of the numbers. It seems people are failing to recognize the faults of the program and the numbers might “trigger” implementers into realizing that the quality needs to improve.
If you want to know more about my work, shoot me an email. I’d be stoked to share more. I'm really getting into the thick of it.
Love kate
Monday, July 12, 2010
in the village on the weekend.
hey dudes!
i found wireless internet in the boma today and spent the last 4 hours uploading this video. it's not a great video- just me mixing up the names of the kids next door and speaking english out of habit. It was more of an experiment for future video posts.
have a great week!
love kate
i found wireless internet in the boma today and spent the last 4 hours uploading this video. it's not a great video- just me mixing up the names of the kids next door and speaking english out of habit. It was more of an experiment for future video posts.
have a great week!
love kate
mousey, my furry companion.
I’ve got a friend, he sleeps with me
Takes rest in my hair and on my knee
I wish I could say he was my spouse
But sadly, he is a mouse.
I hear him in the rafters and on the floor
Sometimes he eats the sugar, then he eats some more
I still don’t know how he gets into my net
But I’m proud to call him my pet
My family buys mice, boiled and dried
They bite the heads right off, I can hear the mice cry
They offer it up, I say I’m a herbivore
I think of mousey and it makes me sore
I wish I could stand for the freedom of the mice
I’d say “mice, one and all, the humans aren’t nice,
Beware of their tactics they’ll getcha! It’s true!”
I just hope mousey escapes the chew.
Takes rest in my hair and on my knee
I wish I could say he was my spouse
But sadly, he is a mouse.
I hear him in the rafters and on the floor
Sometimes he eats the sugar, then he eats some more
I still don’t know how he gets into my net
But I’m proud to call him my pet
My family buys mice, boiled and dried
They bite the heads right off, I can hear the mice cry
They offer it up, I say I’m a herbivore
I think of mousey and it makes me sore
I wish I could stand for the freedom of the mice
I’d say “mice, one and all, the humans aren’t nice,
Beware of their tactics they’ll getcha! It’s true!”
I just hope mousey escapes the chew.
collecting firewood.
On Sunday, I went with my host mother to collect firewood. I was pretty excited because I’ve seen women everywhere walking on the road carrying wood on their head, but I didn’t know the process of collecting it. Monica strapped Thomas on her back, grabbed the rusty machete and said “tipita”. We are going. We picked up her friend on the way and started walking.
So I trucked behind them (chitenge is so annoying to walk in because it limits your step size) carrying the machete and keeping to myself while they spoke Chichewa. We walked for about 20 minutes, beyond the village and towards farmland. Every once in a while, Monica would point to a piece of land and say the name of one of the children in the village. Now I know where all the children will live and farm long after I’m gone.
We arrived on a piece of land belonging to the friend and walked deeper and deeper into the field. Most of the fields have small parts cleared for a garden and the rest is wild weeds, trees, bushes and random vegetation. We walked to that part. “Ndichita mantha njoka” – I am afraid of snakes, I told them. They laughed and said there were none but I knew they were probably lying just to make me feel better. Moms do that.
We got to a nice spot full of trees and Monica gave me Thomas. Turns out, I came along just to babysit. I sat with Thomas (singing him wolf parade) and watched as they huffed and puffed and cut down trees with their rusty machetes. At one point Thomas was hungry so I gave him to Monica and took the machete. I didn’t think it would be that hard.
I grabbed the branch with my left hand, the machete with my right and drove it down into the crevice where the trunk becomes a limb.
I didn’t know the tree had thorns.
I drove a thorn right into my left thumb and tried to hide my pain. It started bleeding pretty bad and I covered it with my sweater so the ladies wouldn’t notice. I guess I was trying to hide that I am after all, a wimpy Canadian. I was pretty happy to be the babysitter after that.
I strapped Thomas on my back when they were finished, they piled the wood into bundles, tied it with a strip of fresh bark off of a tree, loaded it on their heads and we walked back to the house. Let me tell you! Malawians are masters of finding the center of gravity. I have a much greater appreciation for firewood now.
Muzagona kutali ndi moto- you must sleep far from the fire,
Love kate!
So I trucked behind them (chitenge is so annoying to walk in because it limits your step size) carrying the machete and keeping to myself while they spoke Chichewa. We walked for about 20 minutes, beyond the village and towards farmland. Every once in a while, Monica would point to a piece of land and say the name of one of the children in the village. Now I know where all the children will live and farm long after I’m gone.
We arrived on a piece of land belonging to the friend and walked deeper and deeper into the field. Most of the fields have small parts cleared for a garden and the rest is wild weeds, trees, bushes and random vegetation. We walked to that part. “Ndichita mantha njoka” – I am afraid of snakes, I told them. They laughed and said there were none but I knew they were probably lying just to make me feel better. Moms do that.
We got to a nice spot full of trees and Monica gave me Thomas. Turns out, I came along just to babysit. I sat with Thomas (singing him wolf parade) and watched as they huffed and puffed and cut down trees with their rusty machetes. At one point Thomas was hungry so I gave him to Monica and took the machete. I didn’t think it would be that hard.
I grabbed the branch with my left hand, the machete with my right and drove it down into the crevice where the trunk becomes a limb.
I didn’t know the tree had thorns.
I drove a thorn right into my left thumb and tried to hide my pain. It started bleeding pretty bad and I covered it with my sweater so the ladies wouldn’t notice. I guess I was trying to hide that I am after all, a wimpy Canadian. I was pretty happy to be the babysitter after that.
I strapped Thomas on my back when they were finished, they piled the wood into bundles, tied it with a strip of fresh bark off of a tree, loaded it on their heads and we walked back to the house. Let me tell you! Malawians are masters of finding the center of gravity. I have a much greater appreciation for firewood now.
Muzagona kutali ndi moto- you must sleep far from the fire,
Love kate!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
I give bear hugs.
I am sitting in my office at the health centre in Mkanda and there is a kid sitting on the floor wearing a filthy ripped shirt that says “I give bear hugs”.
So much has happened since we last talked and I’m struggling with where to begin.
I’ve returned from the summer retreat feeling revitalized, motivated and focused. I love living here, but I gotta say, four days of hanging out with English speaking Canadians was necessary for my soul. We had long work days and I stayed up all night almost every night surrounded by loved ones, singing familiar songs by the fire. This was one of many times this summer I have been at the peak of happiness.
In Depth Update
This is my map of myself these days. The categories are: home, work, Canada, aha moments and self. If you can zoom in somehow you’ll be able to see where I’m at. I’d say generally, I’m doing fantastic. I’m super happy, I love my host family, I’m reading a tonne, eating great food but I’m in a phase now where I’m identifying some of the things that are making me unhappy/unmotivated and figuring out how to change them. I don’t want this post to seem like I’m complaining because I’m not; I just want to paint a balanced picture of life as a short term EWB volunteer.
Self
I’m loving life. I’m reading on the walk to and from work every day which brings buckets of joy to my life. When I’m in school I can’t recreationally read so I’m pounding back the fiction while I’m here. I’m so happy I didn’t bring books about development or physics. When I’m not reading, I’m writing letters or journaling or blogging and I’m realizing how much I love it.
Family- My experience here has given me a new perspective on family and I’m looking forward to coming home and spending some serious time with my folks. I wish I had the opportunity, like I do here, to sit down with my family every night and shoot the shit about nothing, which is actually everything.
Staying in the moment- I rarely feel bummed out because I’ve semi-learned how to snap out of it. I am in Malawi for 3 short months and this is it! Who knows if I’ll ever have another opportunity to come here and spend time with these beautiful people? I am really trying to be here while I’m here, not wishing I was at that festival with my friends or on the dock with my family. I know that in no time at all, I’ll be living in Canada and thinking about my time here and I’ll be kicking myself if I wasn’t the mentally here while I was physically here.
Home Life
So my situation is really good. I haven’t experienced anything horrific like some volunteers of the past. I have my own room, a loving family and I am well fed. I just want to share with you some of the things that are getting in the way of perfection.
Electricity- At first this was a major adjustment. I would fantasize about having an electrical outlet. Then, I identified the true problem as my phone because I got ripped off and the battery only lasted 15 minutes (which was extremely disheartening). I bought a new phone (the battery lasts 3 days!) and I’ve decided to charge my computer regularly. I’ve worked out that I need 8 hours of electricity every week to be truly happy.
Freedom- I’m living in a man’s household which means I am abiding by the man’s rules. It is very different from being a 21 year old Canadian girl who’s been living on her own for four years. I can’t be out past sunset which limits my adventure time and social time. If I want to explore, I must have a male escort with me at all times. Sometimes, Pearson is even surprised when I go somewhere in the daytime without a male escort. I have now acquired male friends so hopefully I’m going to start living a little more.
Work/Project
Definition of work- I love outputs. I’m an output kinda gal. I like starting a project, finishing it and having something printed at the end of the day. I guess this is the problem with development because it’s common to love outputs and progress cannot always be written in some report or quantified. I was waiting for funding for a while and conducted a survey during that time (output) and now I’m wondering what the heck can I do with the results? What resources do we have to deal with the challenges brought up in the survey? I now have a good idea of what’s going on in the area and now I only have 7 weeks to deal with it. Holy smokes. I am overwhelmed.
White man- I am a 21 year old white engineering student from Canada which brings me down sometimes. Where do I fit in the sanitation scheme in rural Malawi? I have really been trying to identify my strengths and the value that I can add to this program. I have recognized that I’m good at facilitating, in my time with EWB I’ve learned how to do good reflection and I am a good planner. I made a sweet work plan for myself in the next 7 weeks and I have interspersed the task force’s schedule with review meetings, workshops and reflection sessions. I will be planning my sessions to be as participatory as possible so that we can all learn from each other as opposed to me lecturing.
CLTS- There are some obvious challenges with CLTS in my region. I’m questioning its scale up and the resources available for the program. I have been thinking a lot about the importance of training and follow ups and wish I could stay here longer to see CLTS become more successful. We can talk more about this when I get home and when I have a more educated and diverse opinion about CLTS Malawi.
Workspace- as I mentioned before…babies crying all the time.
Oh Canada!
Chapter- I feel pretty good about this on my side. I’ve been writing you all letters (waiting for addresses- ) and I hope my blog has been engaging you in my placement. I know the chapter is in summer mode so I understand if my placement isn’t on the top of your priority list, but please know that you’re at the top of mine. Many days, I don’t have meetings or work to do so I spend it writing to you or planning the education sessions we’ll have next year. If you’re reading this, take a minute and check out your expectations of me. Shoot me an email and give me feedback on how I can meet them better.
Def tone- you’re a shining star, tony. Thanks for being so supportive.
Family- You can call me anytime between the hours of 9am-2pm. I’ll be awake and my phone is usually charged up.
Aha! Moments
The education system brings me down- I don’t know too much about it but it frustrates me that most of the textbooks are in English when a typical Malawian becomes fluent in English at a grade 11 level. It’s just an extra barrier to learning when it’s not in the local language. It also upsets me that attending school is only semi-disciplined.
Opportunity- There is not opportunity to get a loan here or capital if you wanted to go to school or start a business. Many people are unemployed and women don’t work. One day I was sitting on the reed mat with the ladies shelling groundnuts and I realized that they will do this every day for the rest of their lives. People seem happy in their day to day but I wonder how satisfied they are with their lives and I wonder about their dreams and ambitions. I asked Monica if she likes Malawi and she said no. She told me the only thing she likes about Malawi is the food and the reason she doesn’t like it is because there’s no money. I have a better idea of what it means to be a developing country now. The education system needs development, there are no jobs, there are shitty roads, no garbage collection/awareness of sanitation. Holy smokes. I am overwhelmed.
Humanity- People want stuff. People love technology. People will want bigger, better and faster technology and those without it will feel left behind. Technology is seen as prosperity around here. I wish people could be satisfied with the little things. It saddens me when people fail to recognize the value of community. They tell me how Canada is better and I can hardly explain to them that most people in Canada are addicted to electronics, their social skills are eroding and we don’t spend time with our families. I wish there could be a balance between technology and community.
Self- I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether development work is for me and if this is something that I want to pursue in my future. The systems are so messed up! Engineers are all about systems! I always thought this is what I wanted my life to be and I’m wondering now if I have the right skills for it, if my strengths and personality is best suited for a life in development. I’m learning that I’m a super systematic, organized, output driven thinker and development doesn’t align with most of those qualities. What will I be? This is a tough question looming in my mind with only one year of education left…
That's about where I'm at. Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear where you're at. Email me anytime and I guarantee a response. Perhaps not immediate, but a response will come your way!
love kate!
So much has happened since we last talked and I’m struggling with where to begin.
I’ve returned from the summer retreat feeling revitalized, motivated and focused. I love living here, but I gotta say, four days of hanging out with English speaking Canadians was necessary for my soul. We had long work days and I stayed up all night almost every night surrounded by loved ones, singing familiar songs by the fire. This was one of many times this summer I have been at the peak of happiness.
In Depth Update
This is my map of myself these days. The categories are: home, work, Canada, aha moments and self. If you can zoom in somehow you’ll be able to see where I’m at. I’d say generally, I’m doing fantastic. I’m super happy, I love my host family, I’m reading a tonne, eating great food but I’m in a phase now where I’m identifying some of the things that are making me unhappy/unmotivated and figuring out how to change them. I don’t want this post to seem like I’m complaining because I’m not; I just want to paint a balanced picture of life as a short term EWB volunteer.
Self
I’m loving life. I’m reading on the walk to and from work every day which brings buckets of joy to my life. When I’m in school I can’t recreationally read so I’m pounding back the fiction while I’m here. I’m so happy I didn’t bring books about development or physics. When I’m not reading, I’m writing letters or journaling or blogging and I’m realizing how much I love it.
Family- My experience here has given me a new perspective on family and I’m looking forward to coming home and spending some serious time with my folks. I wish I had the opportunity, like I do here, to sit down with my family every night and shoot the shit about nothing, which is actually everything.
Staying in the moment- I rarely feel bummed out because I’ve semi-learned how to snap out of it. I am in Malawi for 3 short months and this is it! Who knows if I’ll ever have another opportunity to come here and spend time with these beautiful people? I am really trying to be here while I’m here, not wishing I was at that festival with my friends or on the dock with my family. I know that in no time at all, I’ll be living in Canada and thinking about my time here and I’ll be kicking myself if I wasn’t the mentally here while I was physically here.
Home Life
So my situation is really good. I haven’t experienced anything horrific like some volunteers of the past. I have my own room, a loving family and I am well fed. I just want to share with you some of the things that are getting in the way of perfection.
Electricity- At first this was a major adjustment. I would fantasize about having an electrical outlet. Then, I identified the true problem as my phone because I got ripped off and the battery only lasted 15 minutes (which was extremely disheartening). I bought a new phone (the battery lasts 3 days!) and I’ve decided to charge my computer regularly. I’ve worked out that I need 8 hours of electricity every week to be truly happy.
Freedom- I’m living in a man’s household which means I am abiding by the man’s rules. It is very different from being a 21 year old Canadian girl who’s been living on her own for four years. I can’t be out past sunset which limits my adventure time and social time. If I want to explore, I must have a male escort with me at all times. Sometimes, Pearson is even surprised when I go somewhere in the daytime without a male escort. I have now acquired male friends so hopefully I’m going to start living a little more.
Work/Project
Definition of work- I love outputs. I’m an output kinda gal. I like starting a project, finishing it and having something printed at the end of the day. I guess this is the problem with development because it’s common to love outputs and progress cannot always be written in some report or quantified. I was waiting for funding for a while and conducted a survey during that time (output) and now I’m wondering what the heck can I do with the results? What resources do we have to deal with the challenges brought up in the survey? I now have a good idea of what’s going on in the area and now I only have 7 weeks to deal with it. Holy smokes. I am overwhelmed.
White man- I am a 21 year old white engineering student from Canada which brings me down sometimes. Where do I fit in the sanitation scheme in rural Malawi? I have really been trying to identify my strengths and the value that I can add to this program. I have recognized that I’m good at facilitating, in my time with EWB I’ve learned how to do good reflection and I am a good planner. I made a sweet work plan for myself in the next 7 weeks and I have interspersed the task force’s schedule with review meetings, workshops and reflection sessions. I will be planning my sessions to be as participatory as possible so that we can all learn from each other as opposed to me lecturing.
CLTS- There are some obvious challenges with CLTS in my region. I’m questioning its scale up and the resources available for the program. I have been thinking a lot about the importance of training and follow ups and wish I could stay here longer to see CLTS become more successful. We can talk more about this when I get home and when I have a more educated and diverse opinion about CLTS Malawi.
Workspace- as I mentioned before…babies crying all the time.
Oh Canada!
Chapter- I feel pretty good about this on my side. I’ve been writing you all letters (waiting for addresses- ) and I hope my blog has been engaging you in my placement. I know the chapter is in summer mode so I understand if my placement isn’t on the top of your priority list, but please know that you’re at the top of mine. Many days, I don’t have meetings or work to do so I spend it writing to you or planning the education sessions we’ll have next year. If you’re reading this, take a minute and check out your expectations of me. Shoot me an email and give me feedback on how I can meet them better.
Def tone- you’re a shining star, tony. Thanks for being so supportive.
Family- You can call me anytime between the hours of 9am-2pm. I’ll be awake and my phone is usually charged up.
Aha! Moments
The education system brings me down- I don’t know too much about it but it frustrates me that most of the textbooks are in English when a typical Malawian becomes fluent in English at a grade 11 level. It’s just an extra barrier to learning when it’s not in the local language. It also upsets me that attending school is only semi-disciplined.
Opportunity- There is not opportunity to get a loan here or capital if you wanted to go to school or start a business. Many people are unemployed and women don’t work. One day I was sitting on the reed mat with the ladies shelling groundnuts and I realized that they will do this every day for the rest of their lives. People seem happy in their day to day but I wonder how satisfied they are with their lives and I wonder about their dreams and ambitions. I asked Monica if she likes Malawi and she said no. She told me the only thing she likes about Malawi is the food and the reason she doesn’t like it is because there’s no money. I have a better idea of what it means to be a developing country now. The education system needs development, there are no jobs, there are shitty roads, no garbage collection/awareness of sanitation. Holy smokes. I am overwhelmed.
Humanity- People want stuff. People love technology. People will want bigger, better and faster technology and those without it will feel left behind. Technology is seen as prosperity around here. I wish people could be satisfied with the little things. It saddens me when people fail to recognize the value of community. They tell me how Canada is better and I can hardly explain to them that most people in Canada are addicted to electronics, their social skills are eroding and we don’t spend time with our families. I wish there could be a balance between technology and community.
Self- I’ve been thinking a lot lately about whether development work is for me and if this is something that I want to pursue in my future. The systems are so messed up! Engineers are all about systems! I always thought this is what I wanted my life to be and I’m wondering now if I have the right skills for it, if my strengths and personality is best suited for a life in development. I’m learning that I’m a super systematic, organized, output driven thinker and development doesn’t align with most of those qualities. What will I be? This is a tough question looming in my mind with only one year of education left…
That's about where I'm at. Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear where you're at. Email me anytime and I guarantee a response. Perhaps not immediate, but a response will come your way!
love kate!
finally. some. photos.
hey dudes!
I finally got my camera to work. I'll let the pictures tell the story.
This is my family. Minus the girl on the left and the guy second from the right. Pearson is in the middle, Monica is holding Thomas and Edina is sitting on the far right, grumpy as usual.
Monica and Thomas. Monica is always laughing like this. Thomas, at 3 weeks, still looks fresh out of the womb. Maybe by the time I leave, he’ll start looking less like an alien and more like a human.
Monica joking around with Pearson in the morning.
Edina. Argh. Edina. She gives me this stink eye every time I look at her. She can be laughing and then she sees me and her face quickly changes to this. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this. I even bring her biscuits when I feel like it.
Annettie and Monica. I like this picture because Annettie is losing her mind laughing. I don’t know if I’ve told you about her smile yet, but man! it makes me so happy when she laughs.
I was following Thomas around yesterday because he looked so cute in his bear suit. He gives bear hugs.
This is me with Thomas strapped on my back. Babies don’t wear diapers around here so this was one of the few times he didn’t pee all over me. I limit my holding time to less than 10 minutes to reduce my chances of getting peed on.
The girls next door. Left, Middle, Right: Jesse, Lenesia and Penina. Lene is my bestie. She runs up to me every time I come home and walks around saying my name all the time. She sits on my knee most days when I come home for lunch and loves being tickled. Jesse is about 13 years old and has taught me that pre-teens are the same all over the world. Penina is super sweet, well behaved and quiet. This family is basically an extension of my family. The girls walk into the eating room all the time and join us for meals and they give us groundnuts whenever we need them.
Dennis! He wins cutest kid in the world award. He recently got pink eye (Edina had it for weeks!) so he doesn’t look so cute here, but he is a real gem. I took a whole bunch of photos of him before noticing he was holding a dead mouse in his hand and then finally he held it up proudly with this face on. Eating mice is very common here and some people make a living off of catching, boiling and drying them around the village. The fat ones sell for K30 each = 22 cents. Yesterday he was carrying around baby mice in his pocket. I want to start a save the mice campaign around here.
This is Manuele. He has the goofiest smile I’ve ever seen. He is a great kid- pretty shy, well behaved and very helpful. I met him a couple days after I moved to Biscopi Village and we husked maize together. Him and his buddy Olibe sang songs while we raced to husk maize the fastest. He might be my favourite neighbourhood kid because he doesn’t get up in my face or bug me to play tickle tag; he just sits with me and visits.
These are the village chicks. I bet you they’ll all grow up and be besties. Probably build their houses side by side. It amazes me how much they look like their moms in this photo. Edina is the one in the jacket, suckin’ on a lollipop and lookin’ upset.
I made nsima for Annettie yesterday and this is what it looked like. I’m pretty embarrassed about it, but she ate it and said it was good. Sometimes the smoke gets so out of hand that your eyes water and you can’t see the pot anymore. This looks more like Pala than Nsima. I like to tell myself I could make it if we weren’t cooking in a smokehouse.
more photos to come in the future.
love kate!
I finally got my camera to work. I'll let the pictures tell the story.
This is my family. Minus the girl on the left and the guy second from the right. Pearson is in the middle, Monica is holding Thomas and Edina is sitting on the far right, grumpy as usual.
Monica and Thomas. Monica is always laughing like this. Thomas, at 3 weeks, still looks fresh out of the womb. Maybe by the time I leave, he’ll start looking less like an alien and more like a human.
Monica joking around with Pearson in the morning.
Edina. Argh. Edina. She gives me this stink eye every time I look at her. She can be laughing and then she sees me and her face quickly changes to this. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this. I even bring her biscuits when I feel like it.
Annettie and Monica. I like this picture because Annettie is losing her mind laughing. I don’t know if I’ve told you about her smile yet, but man! it makes me so happy when she laughs.
I was following Thomas around yesterday because he looked so cute in his bear suit. He gives bear hugs.
This is me with Thomas strapped on my back. Babies don’t wear diapers around here so this was one of the few times he didn’t pee all over me. I limit my holding time to less than 10 minutes to reduce my chances of getting peed on.
The girls next door. Left, Middle, Right: Jesse, Lenesia and Penina. Lene is my bestie. She runs up to me every time I come home and walks around saying my name all the time. She sits on my knee most days when I come home for lunch and loves being tickled. Jesse is about 13 years old and has taught me that pre-teens are the same all over the world. Penina is super sweet, well behaved and quiet. This family is basically an extension of my family. The girls walk into the eating room all the time and join us for meals and they give us groundnuts whenever we need them.
Dennis! He wins cutest kid in the world award. He recently got pink eye (Edina had it for weeks!) so he doesn’t look so cute here, but he is a real gem. I took a whole bunch of photos of him before noticing he was holding a dead mouse in his hand and then finally he held it up proudly with this face on. Eating mice is very common here and some people make a living off of catching, boiling and drying them around the village. The fat ones sell for K30 each = 22 cents. Yesterday he was carrying around baby mice in his pocket. I want to start a save the mice campaign around here.
This is Manuele. He has the goofiest smile I’ve ever seen. He is a great kid- pretty shy, well behaved and very helpful. I met him a couple days after I moved to Biscopi Village and we husked maize together. Him and his buddy Olibe sang songs while we raced to husk maize the fastest. He might be my favourite neighbourhood kid because he doesn’t get up in my face or bug me to play tickle tag; he just sits with me and visits.
These are the village chicks. I bet you they’ll all grow up and be besties. Probably build their houses side by side. It amazes me how much they look like their moms in this photo. Edina is the one in the jacket, suckin’ on a lollipop and lookin’ upset.
I made nsima for Annettie yesterday and this is what it looked like. I’m pretty embarrassed about it, but she ate it and said it was good. Sometimes the smoke gets so out of hand that your eyes water and you can’t see the pot anymore. This looks more like Pala than Nsima. I like to tell myself I could make it if we weren’t cooking in a smokehouse.
more photos to come in the future.
love kate!
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