I think I have discovered the secret to teacher success kuno ku Malawi. (As far as my workshops are concerned) It is not the venue, time of day, day of week, participating schools and/or teachers. Nope, success is found with Fantas, biscuits, and stickers.
In Malawi, it is expected to give teachers allowances for workshops. That is to say, they get a little bonus for missing school. Plus a Fanta. I don't agree with allowances (mostly, I am not willing to pay people out of my pocket to come to my workshop). Therefore, my workshops have been allowance and Fanta free. This Saturday, (yes-I even made it on a Saturday! Most workshops are during the week meaning the teacher misses all their classes and they haven't exactly developed the substitute teaching system in Malawi) I was so excited I had 13 participants (up from 6 last time) I succumbed to the Fanta pressure and provided cookies and drinks. This was the best thing I could have ever done. At first, just a morning spent with Elisa talking about school stuff. Providing a Fanta elevated the session to a legitimate workshop. Oh, and the stickers--I passed out sticker pages for good answers and as a review/wrap up at the end of the workshop. We had talked about positive reinforcement and stickers aren't wildy available in my village so I was hoping they would take them back to their schools to use them for excellent student work. Instead, they bedazzled their cell phones with 'good luck' and 'A for effort' stickers.
On a separate note, I think it is hilarious and ironic I am teaching a classroom management workshop. I guess all those workshops from Houston came in handy....What is that saying, those that can't do, teach?
p.s. for more Malawi reading check out alexisinmalawi.blogspot.com
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
Climbing Every Mountain
I have never been one to turn down an adventure. When the opportunity to climb Mt. Mulanje presented itself, I was not about to say no. However, next time a mountain climbing opportunity unfolds before me I will do a little research into what I am getting myself into...
Mt. Mulanje is the third tallest mountain in Africa. You have to have a guide and apparently they have not been informed of the beauty of switchbacks. We literally climbed on all fours up the mountain. This in itself would have been difficult but our group was too frugal to get a porter so we carried our packs. Again, this would have been totally manageable, but I was carrying WAY too much stuff. (Clothes and work for Lilongwe, books, lots of food, water...) The first day was six hours up. On all fours, climbing up rocky steps and stairs, straight up. We made it the hut, patted ourselves on the backs for a job well done, and made a delicious dinner. We heard the first day was the hardest so we were pleased with our efforts and excited for the next day. Little did we know....
Day Two: We climbed for another 3 hours to the next hut. We were told we needed to move quickly if we wanted to summit. We threw our bags down and were ready to go. It didn't take more than 5 minutes to realize the first day had nothing on summiting this crazy mountain. The positive was that we didn't have our super heavy packs, the negatives were that I am really scared of heights and we were bouldering (jumping from rock to rock) and scrambling up the side of a mountain. We were about 40 minutes from the top and then it started raining. So now we were scrambling on wet rocks on the side of a mountain. Good idea? Bad idea? ...bad idea. I don't like quiting things. In fact, I hate quiting things. But I quite. Alexis and I huddled together while the rest of the group scrambled to the top. We had some thoughts on freezing on the side of a mountain and tried to laugh off the ridiculousness of the situation. But it was pretty scary. The rest of the group found us and we proceeded to slide down the side of the mountain. Yes, slide. On our bums, crabwalking, slipping, planning which piece of vegetation was going to stop a slide off the mountain. By the end we had 5 ripped pants (some of us ripped through to the second layer and were literally sliding down on their bums), 1 lost camera, 12 ripped up hands, cuts, bruises, and very wobbly muscles. Luckily, we made it off the really slippery part before it got dark. Some of us had headlamps and were doing our best to guide each other down but with very little muscle control, darkness, wetness, and exhaustion it wasn't very pretty. After what seemed like hours (it did take us 4 hours to get down) we saw the hut. I have never seen such a beautiful building in my life. It was a glorious sight.
Going down the mountain: Should be easy, right? no. At first it was funny because none of us had any leg muscle control from the crazy day before--so in a span of about 10 minutes each of us fell. But then we had to keep going...and going...and going...Down the slippery, muddy staircases we climbed up 2 days prior. Going up was tough, going down was a pain in the butt. (literally-my tailbone has never been so bruised)--we forded rivers with rocks and logs, we climbed up and down until it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. But we made it. 7 hours later we were at the bottom. The best part of being at the bottom of the mountain is that there is a pizza place. We ate the best pizza I have ever eaten (well, ever eaten in Malawi) and felt/looked like we had just been through a war.
Post Mulanje: Walking is a bit of a struggle. Many of our feet are still swollen and our hands are ripped. But we did it. It was awesome. And now we have some crazy stories.
I am headed back to site today and get to meet my new environment neighbor tomorrow! I hope they will be as awesome as Sarah and Austin (that is a tough task : ) ) But it is back to site and back to work.
loads of love,
elisabeth
Mt. Mulanje is the third tallest mountain in Africa. You have to have a guide and apparently they have not been informed of the beauty of switchbacks. We literally climbed on all fours up the mountain. This in itself would have been difficult but our group was too frugal to get a porter so we carried our packs. Again, this would have been totally manageable, but I was carrying WAY too much stuff. (Clothes and work for Lilongwe, books, lots of food, water...) The first day was six hours up. On all fours, climbing up rocky steps and stairs, straight up. We made it the hut, patted ourselves on the backs for a job well done, and made a delicious dinner. We heard the first day was the hardest so we were pleased with our efforts and excited for the next day. Little did we know....
Day Two: We climbed for another 3 hours to the next hut. We were told we needed to move quickly if we wanted to summit. We threw our bags down and were ready to go. It didn't take more than 5 minutes to realize the first day had nothing on summiting this crazy mountain. The positive was that we didn't have our super heavy packs, the negatives were that I am really scared of heights and we were bouldering (jumping from rock to rock) and scrambling up the side of a mountain. We were about 40 minutes from the top and then it started raining. So now we were scrambling on wet rocks on the side of a mountain. Good idea? Bad idea? ...bad idea. I don't like quiting things. In fact, I hate quiting things. But I quite. Alexis and I huddled together while the rest of the group scrambled to the top. We had some thoughts on freezing on the side of a mountain and tried to laugh off the ridiculousness of the situation. But it was pretty scary. The rest of the group found us and we proceeded to slide down the side of the mountain. Yes, slide. On our bums, crabwalking, slipping, planning which piece of vegetation was going to stop a slide off the mountain. By the end we had 5 ripped pants (some of us ripped through to the second layer and were literally sliding down on their bums), 1 lost camera, 12 ripped up hands, cuts, bruises, and very wobbly muscles. Luckily, we made it off the really slippery part before it got dark. Some of us had headlamps and were doing our best to guide each other down but with very little muscle control, darkness, wetness, and exhaustion it wasn't very pretty. After what seemed like hours (it did take us 4 hours to get down) we saw the hut. I have never seen such a beautiful building in my life. It was a glorious sight.
Going down the mountain: Should be easy, right? no. At first it was funny because none of us had any leg muscle control from the crazy day before--so in a span of about 10 minutes each of us fell. But then we had to keep going...and going...and going...Down the slippery, muddy staircases we climbed up 2 days prior. Going up was tough, going down was a pain in the butt. (literally-my tailbone has never been so bruised)--we forded rivers with rocks and logs, we climbed up and down until it was all I could do to put one foot in front of the other. But we made it. 7 hours later we were at the bottom. The best part of being at the bottom of the mountain is that there is a pizza place. We ate the best pizza I have ever eaten (well, ever eaten in Malawi) and felt/looked like we had just been through a war.
Post Mulanje: Walking is a bit of a struggle. Many of our feet are still swollen and our hands are ripped. But we did it. It was awesome. And now we have some crazy stories.
I am headed back to site today and get to meet my new environment neighbor tomorrow! I hope they will be as awesome as Sarah and Austin (that is a tough task : ) ) But it is back to site and back to work.
loads of love,
elisabeth
Friday, April 2, 2010
Just a little update....
Happy Easter! I thought it time for an overall update on life in Malawi...so here goes:
Mkaika CDSS
Teaching is going....I really enjoy the students but the school year is so short and there are breaks every week it seems so it is difficult to be consistent. The syllabus is also ridiculous. The students know very minimal English but according to the objectives it is necessary they learn about gerunds, appositives, participles, dangling modifiers, and other less than relevant information. Maybe this stuff is important, but I have gotten through almost 26 years of life without knowing (or caring) and feel like there is other more important information to teach. For example, the use of periods and capitalization and the meaning of words like super, wonderful, and awesome.
A.Y.I.D.
I love this youth group. They took about two weeks to raise the equivalent of $10 US to sell dried fruit. They really want to build a youth center with a library so we are trying to sell fruit to raise capital to buy soap making materials. They are so determined and ambitious--it is definitely refreshing work.
Workshops
Hmm. I am currently taking my lesson planning workshop on tour. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes the teachers seem more confused than when they entered the room. It is kind of like teaching any class I suppose. I am planning a classroom management workshop (the irony of this is hilarious because I attended SO many classroom management workshops in Houston) and a female empowerment workshop in May.
Camp Sky
We have a location (Kasungu Teacher Training College) and a date (August 17-27). This was way more difficult than it sounds due to transportation (I have a bike), exam schedules (all the schools are testing the Form 4s so we couldn't use the nice government schools they have used in the past), and a variety of other crazy things. But...the applications are out! We just have to plan the curriculum and schedule speakers, etc but it is slowly coming together.
Life
Life is good. I am on my way to Climb Mt. Mulanje for Easter break and am totally jazzed about this adventure. I also now have a cell phone with Internet--a nicer phone than I had in America! And it costs less for me to respond to an email than to text America. So, you should email. I'll write back. : )
I think that is all from Malawi...for now. I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!
loads of love,
elisabeth
Mkaika CDSS
Teaching is going....I really enjoy the students but the school year is so short and there are breaks every week it seems so it is difficult to be consistent. The syllabus is also ridiculous. The students know very minimal English but according to the objectives it is necessary they learn about gerunds, appositives, participles, dangling modifiers, and other less than relevant information. Maybe this stuff is important, but I have gotten through almost 26 years of life without knowing (or caring) and feel like there is other more important information to teach. For example, the use of periods and capitalization and the meaning of words like super, wonderful, and awesome.
A.Y.I.D.
I love this youth group. They took about two weeks to raise the equivalent of $10 US to sell dried fruit. They really want to build a youth center with a library so we are trying to sell fruit to raise capital to buy soap making materials. They are so determined and ambitious--it is definitely refreshing work.
Workshops
Hmm. I am currently taking my lesson planning workshop on tour. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes the teachers seem more confused than when they entered the room. It is kind of like teaching any class I suppose. I am planning a classroom management workshop (the irony of this is hilarious because I attended SO many classroom management workshops in Houston) and a female empowerment workshop in May.
Camp Sky
We have a location (Kasungu Teacher Training College) and a date (August 17-27). This was way more difficult than it sounds due to transportation (I have a bike), exam schedules (all the schools are testing the Form 4s so we couldn't use the nice government schools they have used in the past), and a variety of other crazy things. But...the applications are out! We just have to plan the curriculum and schedule speakers, etc but it is slowly coming together.
Life
Life is good. I am on my way to Climb Mt. Mulanje for Easter break and am totally jazzed about this adventure. I also now have a cell phone with Internet--a nicer phone than I had in America! And it costs less for me to respond to an email than to text America. So, you should email. I'll write back. : )
I think that is all from Malawi...for now. I miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!
loads of love,
elisabeth
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