I am Inspired

I went back to Dedza this week to help with training and act as a "resource volunteer of the week." I came back inspired and excited and energized. They were a much bigger resource for me.

The new volunteers arrived two weeks ago. They spent the first week at the College of Forestry, the second week they moved in with a family in a village for four weeks (last year we had six weeks). I was in a different village than last year but the family I lived with was absolutely brilliant. In what other situation would a family chop wood to heat the water so you can bathe more comfortably and not know your last name. Nevermind that, what host would chop wood for you to bathe? The children were so sweet and fun, even after only having been there a week I was sad to go.

Anyway, the new volunteers are AMAZING! They are so enthusiastic and energetic and focused. It was SO refreshing to be around such positive spirits. We talked about teaching in Malawi, lesson planning, classroom management, and all of the crazy things you might run into at school in Malawi. (100 students, no books, teachers missing, etc) I met with the new teacher development facilitators (TDF) and tried to explain what the position meant. ie. whatever you want it to be. I am so excited to go back to site with some new energy.

The coolest thing of the week and the month (so far) was meeting the author of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, William Kamkwamba. He is from a farming family in Kasungu and attended a Community Day Secondary School (CDSS-the schools were Peace Corps volunteers work) until there was a drought and his families crops didn't produce enough money to pay for his school fees. ( SO common with my students) Anyway, he went to the library to try and keep up his studies, stumbled upon an engineering book and figured out a way to make a windmill to power water for the fields. He built another windmill for electricity. Out of stuff from a junkyard. This fall he is going to Dartmouth. He is what all of my students strive to be, he is a success story, he proved that anything really is possible. After being here almost ten months I don't like to believe I am jaded, but my expectations have changed. He reminded me that high expectations yield high results, no excuses. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

Oh, and by the by next week we get to meet the President of Malawi. Yep, Peace Corps Malawi has been invited for lunch to the President's house next Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Much love,
Elisabeth

The Way Things Magically Happen

Happy Fourth of July! I hope everyone enjoys lots of watermelon, pie, and fireworks...I really miss fireworks.

I have been in Lilongwe this weekend for our Volunteers Serving Volunteers meeting, a Camp Sky meeting, a celebration at the Ambassador's house for the 4th, and to welcome the new health and education volunteers who arrived last night. It is so wonderful to see everyone but it has been really, really busy.

So this is the really great news. Last night around 8:30 I received a phone call from my member of parliament. (If you read the last blog post you know this is rare treat) She asked where I was and I started panicking as though I missed a meeting. No, I had not missed a meeting she just wanted to meet. This morning I greeted the new volunteers and ran over to meet my MP without much expectation and prepared for a very long wait. Today she was fifteen minutes early! (kind of unheard of in Malawi) I didn't have many of the documents with me as I wasn't expecting to meet with her this weekend but luckily I carry the numbers around with me because you never know who'll you'll run into. So we met for about twenty minutes, she was really excited and is going to present the idea to the people in the ministry this week and I should know by next week. Oh, and I asked her to speak at Camp Sky. : ) Of course, this is all wishful thinking but it COULD happen. At least this is a start.

Tuesday is soap making day for AYID. One of the environment volunteers is going to visit my site to teach the group how to make the soap, it then has to sit for three weeks, but I am really excited to see how this IGA (income generating activity) works for the group.

Next week I am going to Dedza to do some trainings with the new group, specifically working with the teacher development facilitators on what that actually means and looks like in Malawi. It will be really cool to meet the new volunteers and now I finally feel like I am not a baby in Malawi. People are asking me questions!

I am hoping I will be able to update later with good news about electricity...or use unveil plan b. Keep your fingers crossed and our school in your thought.

loads of love,
elisabeth