The Day is Just Fantastic

"I'm busy busy forming my future" - one of my favorite girls after she was late for lunch.

With that Camp Sky is over. Six months of planning and organizing over in 10 days. The most exhausting, inspiring, stressful, wonderful ten days of my time in Malawi have come to a close. I must admit, it was a huge success.

Success #1
The students arrived in one day all before 9pm. Public transportation in Malawi is less than reliable therefore this is a small miracle.

Success #2
The students were divided into four streams of classes each with 17 campers. This meant the campers had smaller class sizes (compared to the 60+ they normally have in the classes), the teachers (other volunteers) could plan activities for smaller classes and for kids who are above average academically, plus they got to have labs in real science labs, and use the computer lab. (for many kids it was the first time they had ever turned on a computer and many schools do not have any kind of science lab or lab equipment)

Success #3
In the afternoon the kids participated in three extracurricular activities from sustainable agriculture, solar engineering, tuck shop, cooking, sewing, writers' workshop, business, mud stove building, orienteering, batiking, etc. It was so cool to have our own camp tuck shop based on the business skills they learned, reading poems from writers' workshop, and having kids sort through the rubbish pile shouting "we love composting!" Over the weekend they also did a goat dissection (we later had goat for dinner) and built a bee hive to learn about honey IGAs. (income generating activities)

Success #4
Climbing a mountain. With 76 kids. We all made it up, we all made it own. That is one giant success.

Success #5
People came to talk to us. We had some special force police officers, a solar engineering guy, a fish pond guy, and a journalist from the major radio station in Malawi. They talked about the importance of education, career guidance, and professional options in Malawi. The kids had never heard of a lot of these options and now have lots of plans for their future that don't just include farming.

Success #6
A field trip is always exhausting. A field trip in Malawi offers lots of potential challenges like transport not arriving, people forgetting we are coming, moving 76 kids around Lilongwe, etc etc But we made it! We toured Parliament, had lunch at a memorial (rice and beans out of a bucket), watched some airplanes take off and land, and made it back to Kasungu.

Success #7
The ATTORNEY GENERAL came to speak at camp. This was a total fluke. I was in the office picking up my passport (SO I CAN COME TO AMERICA) and was talking to the secretary for the Country Director. It was the day before camp so I was really excited talking about it, Betty (the wonderful secretary) mentioned some ideas for speakers and told me to call her back. I called a few days later and Betty had the attorney general lined up. Good thing I am coming to America because otherwise this might not ever have happened.

Success #8
The kids made it home. 76 kids from all over Malawi are back in their villages. I hope they are inspired.

Next week I am coming to America. Land of ice cream, cheese, salads, and personal vehicles. I arrive in Detroit Thursday morning and will be using my mom's cellphone for the 3 weeks I am around. Send me a message with your number so we can have a phone date. The safety and security officer with whom I had to have a briefing with before filing my leave of absence for America warned me that "your friends will make fun of you for talking so slow-you must explain to them you talk slow because you live in Malawi and must speak slowly in order for your students to understand you." Please don't make fun of me for being slow. : )

much love,
e