tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54525999146070746162024-02-20T07:34:09.233-08:00Peace. Love. AFRICA.Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-76248123598977037142011-07-11T12:12:00.003-07:002011-07-11T12:12:27.021-07:00This will never be a Good-Bye.<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Monday, July 11:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After a relaxing last Saturday, we all experienced bittersweet goodbye to Zomba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We spent the majority of Saturday going into town to get last minute gifts, last minute cake at Tasty Bites and then starting to pack up our room and belongings for Club Mak and Lilongwe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all had a great dinner together, Radford and Virginia Tech girls, as we discussed with Dr. Kelly and Dr. Patti the future plans and foregoing’s of the Chibale Society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Chibale Society was started in 2005 by Dr. Kelly and Dr. Patti, and was originated on the idea of a scholarship program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The children who I sponsored to attend secondary school was through the Chibale program.) Throughout the year, the program has advanced and is also the reason for the feeding center at the Malemia School, the chicken raising project at the Demonstration School, and the locks, blackboards and chicken coop at our Government School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The project is still growing, and collectively we came up with some great ideas for fundraising and really promoting the Chibale Society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then voted on co-Presidents, one from Virginia Tech and one from Radford, to be in charge of the further development and goal reachings for the Society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These people will take lead for the Chibale Society by getting the club recognized at their college campus and setting up materials for the first meeting in September.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These girls will be in charge of setting up meeting times, making sure to meet group goals and deadlines, and sending out applications for positions which we will determine at the first meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After voting was over, I am honored to say that I was voted into the first Virginia Tech President of the Chibale Society!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Danielle was nominated for Radford, so I am so excited to be working side-by-side with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now these children really will be with me forever, and the nomination made leaving Malawi that much easier for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can leave knowing that I still have so much work ahead of me, and now I can really implement all my ideas and goals into reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the meeting was over, Danielle and I met briefly to discuss things we need to do this summer (make a listserve, a facebook group, a facebook page, set up the first meeting, get everyone’s contact information- alumni as well-, send out applications, exc.) and then we divided up the assignments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am seriously so excited and so honored.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sunday morning we woke up at 6:45 am, brought our bags down the hill and ate breakfast while Annie’s staff loaded the trailer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 8:30 am we were saying our goodbyes and giving hugs to Annie and the staff, and then we were on the way to Club Mak!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather got progressively better as we were driving, and with the cold front we had been facing the past week and a half, we were accepting of the fact we might not have sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As long as it wasn’t cold, we could deal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pulled up to Club Mak at about 11:30 am and it was so beautiful!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The clouds had partially cleared and the weather was probably in the 70s with a breeze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all got our room assignments, and Alison, Bebe and I were placed in the beautiful room 35, looking over the beach and Lake Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We quickly changed into our suits and headed to the beach and bar to meet up with everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following three hours were spent lying out on the beautiful beach, overlooking the mountains and shining water and trying to absorb sunshine on our blinding pale skin between series of clouds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After a few hours and realizing the sun probably wasn’t to get any brighter, we all took a walk outside of Club Mak towards the vendors and to explain the rest of the resort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As beautiful and relaxing as it was, we all agreed that nothing could top Camp Mvuu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The food, the staff, the location, the chalets; everything was absolutely perfect (minus the freezing nights).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we got back from the venders, we all headed back to the beach for more drinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One thing turned into another, and before I knew it Katie, Alison, Danielle and I were entertaining all the boys on the beach while trying to attempt one-handed cartwheels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun started quickly going down, and our bottles of wine had made us well-off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided we should probably shower, so Alison and I headed to our rooms and all said we would meet back at the bar in 45 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, since Alison and I can’t do anything like normal people, we thought it’d be such a fun idea to shower together in our bathing suits just like we did when we were kids!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next thing you know, we’re in our suits jumping around in the shower, making mohawks with shampoo in our hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mature, I know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re a pretty dynamic duo if you ask me.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After our fun resort back to childhood, we put on our yoga pants and headed out to the restaurant for our dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, plans changed this year and we were all saddened to learn that the dinner wasn’t going to be buffet style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since Dr. Kelly had already paid for everything, she said that we could order anything we wanted off the menu!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a dangerous call for 20 starved teenagers in Africa, regardless of the fact that most of us were intoxicated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were each allowed to order an appetizer, and entrée and a dessert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously, Alison and I both wanted two desserts, so we figured it’d be so smart to order one for our appetizer!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was brought out their corn chowder soup, and there’s Alison and I slurping down our fruit and ice cream.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To our defense, the tiny scoop of ice cream was more like sorbet, so our choice was actually a lot healthier than the corn chowder. BAM.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a full-course meal with fruit, chicken, vegetables, potatoes and marble cake, we all headed back to the bar for another bottle of wine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then watched an hour long traditional dancing performance, including full facial masks and drumming solos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alison, Katie, Jameson and I then stumbled back to our room where we played old-school camp games and then fell asleep on each other in the same bed while playing hot-seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really was such an amazingly fun, relaxing and successful day and night and I can honestly say I call these girls my best friends.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">This morning we woke up at about 6:45 am and headed to the breakfast buffet, which I can confidently say we have all been counting down the days to experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After scarfing down the most delicious banana bread, bowls of cereal, omelets and chips, we all headed to our rooms to pack feeling completely stuffed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a good feeling to feel after being hungry for the majority of a month!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sadly, we all packed up our stuff and headed to the bus for our 5 hour drive to Annie’s Lodge in Lilongwe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stopped at Mua Mission, a museum started by Catholic missionaries whose goal is to preserve the culture of African tribes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stated that to move forward, you must always remember where you have come from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly, most of us just wanted to arrive at Annie’s Lodge, and everyone knows I’m not into all the historical aspects of travel, but I tried engaging myself in the material.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Finally, at about 3:30 pm, we arrived earlier than expected at Annie’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had time to freshen up and rearrange our suitcases before we headed down the street to a party held for us by the United States Embassy Public Relations Director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None of us really knew what to expect at all, but it was honestly such an amazing end to an even more amazing and life-altering trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were about 10 different staff members at the party, which was held at the house of the PR Director, his wife and his children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We socialized with such great people who all work for the Embassy, some from America and some locals from Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met an absolutely hysterical guy named Winston who is actually coming to Virginia Tech in December for his PhD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie, Alison and I talked with him for awhile and he had us cracking up the entire time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We told him we’re taking him out with us to the bars when he comes to Tech and will take him hiking, exc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the evening, the hosts brought out plates and plates of pizza bites, samosas, quiche and cupcakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think I’m lying when I say I ate probably 10 samosas (similar to eggrolls), 4 pizza bites and 2 cupcakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Holler, just preparing myself for my return to AMURICA.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Now, Katie, Ashley and I are settled back into our initial room at Annie’s Lodge, all reminiscing on our time here and disbelieving that tomorrow we’re departing from a whole circle experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can honestly say this was, by far, the most amazing experience of my life and the people I’ve met here are more amazing than any others I have ever encountered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without a doubt, Katie and Alison are going to remain best friends of mine throughout my life, and these children will be the loves of my life until the day I die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am seriously giving thought to moving out here after graduation for a year or two to work at a school, and after talking to the individuals tonight from the Embassy I am confident that I would be so happy here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think I could do it by myself, but a few of us girls are really going to talk about our futures here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Malawi will always hold my heart, and I cannot wait to return here in the future to continue my journey to make a difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace, love, Malawi is no longer a slogan, but now a lifestyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forever and always, Malawi will have a part of me and will be responsible for showing me true and genuine happiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you Malawi, for more experiences and happiness than I could have ever imagined. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-65918993848257461942011-07-09T08:18:00.000-07:002011-07-09T08:18:35.143-07:00An amazing last day.<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Friday, July 8:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was a pretty emotional day, but nearly as much so as I had imagined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all woke up with butterflies in our stomach, knowing that this was the day we had to say goodbye to our kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was all of nervous, upset, sad, hopeful and anxious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What if all my boys didn’t even come to school today? What if I didn’t get to say goodbye to some of them? What if they didn’t grasp the point that I’m leaving, and it’s no longer “tu nana mawa”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will they understand that this is goodbye for good? Will they understand how much of an impact they have made in my life, and that I would do absolutely anything to give them the best futures possible?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many thoughts and emotions were flooding my mind and heart as we pulled up to the school.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was the day that the teachers handed back the exams to their students, acknowledging if they passed or failed the standard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because of this, almost the entire school was present which made us all so happy as we pulled up to the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Katie and I walked into our classroom, the standards were combined again and Odina told us that about 64 students had passed standard 5, and 143 had failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that unbelievable or what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now I understand why standard 5 is the largest grade at most schools in Malawi; it is the first year that the lessons are to be taught in complete English, as are the final exams.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the exams started being handed out, Katie and I noticed how each of the kids looked like they were about to cry, and it was the one time I think that I witnessed the class in almost complete silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teachers explained the numbers of those who failed and passed, and the students faces all dropped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All my boys looked so distraught, especially Brighty, Albert and Raphael.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teachers began handing the exams out, first handing out those who passed and then handing out to those who failed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I looked at each other in disbelief; can you imagine if this was the system of passing out tests, let alone exams, in America?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If your name was called to the front and the entire class knew whether you had passed or failed?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>By the end of all the finals being returned, Edward, Chisinsi, Mike and Henery were the only ones out of my boys who had passed (I guess according to the statistics that’s a good amount out of nine). Yakobe, Allfu, Albert, Raphael, Brighty and 138 other students were going to repeating standard 5 again next year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My boys who had passed were all so excited and so proud of themselves, as was I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, my boys who had failed looked so confused and disappointed, so I tried to comfort them as much as possible and let them know it was okay and I still thought they did a great job; standard 5 is the hardest grade, after all.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When the exams were all finished being passed out, the entire school headed outside for the last school assembly before summer break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The headmaster lead the school in their national anthem, and afterwards everyone cheered and screamed and started running around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started handing out the rest of my shoes, giving a pair of tennis shoes to Chinsinsi, another pair to Grant, and my last pair to Edward and Edwin (even though I gave them a pair yesterday).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I handed out the rest of my pens, and also bags of trail mix to Henery, Edward (playing favorites?), Allfu and Albert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I then quickly realized that the students were heading home, and they didn’t understand that this was the last time they might see us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went searching for the ones we needed to say goodbye to, but most of them had already left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was dragging off the goodbyes, and as we headed to MIE I had Albert, Raphael and Edward walk with me to get the teacher bags we had put together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then walked back to Domasi for the beginning of our “Farewell Ceremony”, and in my mind I knew that those boys would still be waiting for me when the ceremony was over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t really understand why I hadn’t cried yet. Allfu, Brighty, Yakobe, Chinsinsi, Mike and Henery had all left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were gone, and I hadn’t really said goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the reason I didn’t cry was because I know in my heart that I will be back to Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that I am going to do everything in my power to keep in touch with them through Odina; I will write her letters to hand off to them, I will send them money and pictures, I will constantly remind them that I am here for them and will never forget them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to stay with them as they grow up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to encourage them to stay in school and try their hardest to get into secondary school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they graduate secondary school, I will do everything possible to get them a visit to the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether these boys realize it or not, they will be in my life forever, and I want to be in theirs as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they are too young to understand the meaning of “goodbye”, and the true distance, metaphorically and physically, between the United States and Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of my hopes and aspirations for these boys is what kept me from crying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I justified it by the fact that if I cried, I would be accepting that I will not see these children again, and my work for them is through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I am not accepting that fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will see them again, and my work has only just begun.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">As we walked into the classroom for our “Farewell Ceremony”, there were chairs lined up in a semi-circle and the teachers were all seated at one side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a table at the front of the room where the headmaster and Dr. Kelly sat, behind them being the chalkboard with a pretty, written drawing saying “Farewell Ceremony: We wish you all the best when going back to America”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had one of the teachers be a d.j. and we all danced for a little bit with each other and our teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, we officially began the ceremony in prayer and John Wesley read an opening speech about how thankful they are for us, and everything that we do for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teachers then handed out snacks and refreshments, which was so nice of them; it was the usual choice of Fanta’s but we were all pretty excited when they brought out a little tray of shortbread cookies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After there were a few speeches from John Wesley, Dr. Kelly and the headmaster, it was our turn to step up and speak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One by one, the roommates got up and spoke to their teachers, and then handed them the bag of school supplies that we put together for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lindsay and Ashley went first, followed by an emotional Bebe and Alison who began the waterworks, then Anna and Kaitlin, Katie and I, and ending with Emily and Devon. When it was Katie and I’s turn to speak, I decided to just read the letter that I had written for Odina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never get nervous during public speaking, but for some reason my hands were shaking and my body was tense; I’m assuming from all the built up emotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I read my letter, Odina put her head in her hands and started crying, and I could no longer hold it together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was fighting tears as I read the letter, explaining how grateful I was for having this experience and being welcomed with such open hearts and open arms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told Odina that her positive spirit was uplifting and I couldn’t wait to see everything that she did for these children’s futures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end I told her we loved her and would be writing her letters and sending her pictures often, and then we presented her with her bag and school supplies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all gave big hugs, and the look in her eyes was so genuine as she told us she was going to miss us so much and wished we could stay forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After Emily and Devon gave their speech, the headmaster gave a final speech about the difference we make in everyone’s lives when we come to Malawi, and then he called up McDonald and Odina to present us with our presents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This began the lighter section of the ceremony, for we all knew what the presents were and were so excited to receive our traditional Malawian custom outfits!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They presented the gifts in the same way as was done at the orphanage, by dancing slowly up to the person and then placing the gift in their arms or by their feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we all received our presents, the lady teachers took us into another classroom and we all changed into our matching Malawian outfits; what a sight it was, and what an amazing souvenir we now have from this experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teachers led us, dancing of course, back into the ceremony where all the other teachers started cheering and we all proceeded to dance. (Standard).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the ceremony was officially ended, we all went outside to take pictures with our teachers in our “chisinsi” and tops, and then took a few group pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are absolutely adorable, and the teachers kept telling us how beautiful we looked.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">While we were outside taking pictures, Edward, Edwin, Albert, Raphael and Katie’s little Innocent came over and played with us for a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took a lot more pictures with them, and tried explaining to them that we were leaving to go back to America and didn’t know when we would see them again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They kept responding with “okay” but I definitely don’t think they understood what we were saying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I handed them some more food, and Katie gave them her peanut butter, and then we waited for the bus to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were loading the bus, the boys all came running over, with the peanut butter jar completely empty- it had been maybe 15 minutes since we gave it to them completely full.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we could do was laugh as their hands were covered in stickiness, and their faces globbed with peanut butter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the bus was about to leave, I held onto all of their hands and told them that I loved them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t think they knew the meaning of “I love you” in English, but as we were pulling away then screamed, “I love you Kelsey, I love you!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, I knew that I left on the best note possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I smiled, and cried, on the way back to Annie’s, just thinking about the next encounter I will have with them, and hoping they also forever hold onto the memories we’ve shared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace, love, Malawi.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">When we arrived back at Annie’s, most of us took naps, read and just relaxed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The weather has been so gloomy and freezing the past few days, so we haven’t really had the energy to go into town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 5:30 pm we all went down for dinner, and most of us were dreading having to get ready for Annie’s party tonight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were all emotionally drained, and physically tired, and wondering why they always plan the parties on the worst days!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few girls ended up opting out of going, but our group felt bad about bailing after Annie had been planning this, so we sucked it up and got ready.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We headed to Black Diamond at about 8 pm, with another bus ride adventure full of random sing-a-longs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I busted out Grease songs, which was absolutely hysterical and probably the highlight of my night haha! Everyone was cracking up, and wondering how the hell we knew the words for, “We’re one of a kind like dip-da-dip-da-wop, do-wop-a-doobie-do. Chang chang, changity- changy bop, that’s the way it should be. Awooooo ya!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m sure our lyrics were not quite so accurate as they thought, but it was entertaining none-the-less.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The first hour at Black Diamond was fun, especially for us who had fuzzy memories from the last party there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A guy named Fitzgerald was the opening act, and his reggae music and backup band were actually very talented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all danced and took pictures for about an hour and a half, and then two more opening singers performed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alison, Jameson and I went outside and talked to Fitzgerald for a while, who kept talking about how he was going “to marry a white”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a white girl, not a white person, just “a white”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was so funny though and kept saying how much he wanted to come to America, and how there is a radio station in Florida who plays his music and has interviewed him several times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time, it was close to 10:30 pm and I was exhausted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went inside, and most of the Tech girls were sitting in the back of the club with their eyes closed, just waiting for the signal that it was time to leave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, close to midnight, we all loaded the bus and headed back to Annie’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It had been a very long day, and I think most of us just wanted to go to bed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, that’s all for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot believe tomorrow is our last day in Zomba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The time has completely flown by, which I expected, but going home is so bittersweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so excited to see my family and friends and tell them all my stories, and show them all my pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m so excited to have FOOD and get sun and play with my puppy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I could teleport home for a few days and skip the 24-hour travel period, I would be back here next week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I could afford to not get a real job and to be able to travel back and forth to Malawi every other month, I would do it in a heartbeat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would be here as much as I could, just to play with my boys and keep those beautiful smiles on their innocent faces. Well, I bet the sap story is getting kind of old to you, but my stories don’t even give justice to the experiences I have encountered, the people who have entered my heart, and the challenges I have faced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love these people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will post again tomorrow, our last day in Zomba! Peace, love, Malawi. Forever. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-21537780490735639272011-07-07T12:52:00.000-07:002011-07-07T12:52:19.870-07:00I cannot believe tomorrow is my last day.<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </div><div class="MsoNormal">Thursday, July 7:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Yesterday ended up being exactly the type of day I needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finished my feminism readings, and truly enjoyed reading all the chapters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I almost read more than was assigned; woah!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I am really going to love this as my major, and if I say so myself, I think my first paper was pretty bad-ass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent the afternoon by myself, in peace and quiet, and knocked out my paper and started my Field Study paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then sat out in the fun for about 40 minutes, which felt so nice and relaxing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day ended with Alison, Katie, Jameson and I curled up side by side in my bed watching the Hangover on my computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was exactly the day I needed, and I’m glad I took that break for myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know after this trip, Katie and Alison are going to be two of my closest friends, and I can’t wait to hangout with them back at school.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, today was so much better than I expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I were so worried that none of the students closest to us would be in school today, but to my surprise, all of my seven boys were there!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so relieved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We let them finish the movies, which took about 45 minutes, and then we just tried taking pictures with as many of them as possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We come to school again tomorrow, but we have a celebration with the teachers at 10 am, so again, we don’t know who will come to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hung out with my seven boys for a while, as they followed us over to MIE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was glad they did this because I finally got to get pictures with them, without hundreds of other kids standing around us, jumping in the pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told all of them to come to school tomorrow, and I realize that I keep just trying to post-pone the whole saying goodbye thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even when I do actually say goodbye, it won’t actually hit me until I am home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only hope and pray that I see these children again, and that they remember me and know how much I truly love them. Part of me almost wishes they didn’t come to school tomorrow, so I don’t have to try and say good-bye to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, though, that if I left without saying goodbye I would regret it, I just really suck at saying bye.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Now, we are at MIE waiting for A&T and Radford to get here at 1:30 pm, when we will then walk an hour to the village traditional church for a showing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure how the rest of the afternoon will pan out, but we will probably get back around 4:30 pm, freshen up in the bathroom, and then have the end of the year dinner at 5:30 pm with all of the teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, there is a celebration tonight (that we are throwing for the teachers) and then a celebration tomorrow (that the teachers are throwing for us).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will touch base later! Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Well, this afternoon wasn’t what I expected but it was special nonetheless, and it has me completely freaking out about having to say good-bye tomorrow. At about 1:30 pm we all headed over to Malika Village Catholic Church for a private performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henery and Mike walked all the way over with us, which made me nervous because I didn’t know where their homes were and if they would even be allowed in the Church when we arrived.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when we arrived the Church was filled with other children in a back “children’s section”, so Mike and Henery thankfully got to stay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The choir performed for us for about an hour, and their songs and voices were absolutely beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the ladies with their babies that were in the Church got so into the performances, and you could tell that these people get by with their struggles with help from their religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another beautiful baby came up to me during the performance and sat on my lap, which ended up being, obviously, the highlight of the experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s really crazy here how calm and collected toddlers are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout my entire stay here, I have never seen a baby cry or a toddler scramble around, not being able to sit still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the downfall, these toddlers also rarely smile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the performances, the director called Dr. Kelly up and thanked her for coming back and supporting the Church throughout the years, and like magic, the little baby grabbed both of my hands and held them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The smallest moments here mean more to me than anything in my life, and when we got up to go, the little girl followed me out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add her to my future adoption list!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">We walked the 40 minutes back to MIE, where we then parted with Mike and Henery and I gave them two bananas to have for dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The group then headed over to the Cafeteria for our teacher dinner, where my seven “motley crew” boys were playing football in the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They ran over to me, and all held my hands as we walked the rest of the way to the Cafeteria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I gave them a banana as well, and made them promise they would come back tomorrow to say goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all hugged me for legitimately 10 minutes until Dr. Kelly came out and I knew I had to go inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, the second after we arrived they ran out of fuel for the generator so we continued on with the evening in complete darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all lined up and received our plates of food (rice and chicken, I will never eat you again!), and then we sat at the tables next to our teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly, Dr. Patty and Dr. Liz then went to the front and introduced all of us students, as well as the headmasters at each school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To end the evening, us students all went to the front and performed the two songs that Innocent had taught to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teachers absolutely loved it! After the first line, they all started cheering and clapping, not realizing we had just started the song.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the evening wasn’t what I planned, I was so happy that the teachers had that special night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For most families here in Malawi, the only time you get to eat meat with your meals is for Christmas dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so happy that these teachers got to enjoy a free, filling meal and be recognized for all they are trying to do for these children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I had a nice conversation with Odina, and she proceeded to tell us that she “wished we could stay here forever and teach”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think something snapped inside Katie and I at the same time, because we were both pretty silent on the bus ride back to Annie’s. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">I cannot believe tomorrow is my last day with these children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been putting off the whole “saying goodbye” thing, and every day I keep just saying “okay please come to school tomorrow!”, so that I’ll have at least one extra day with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My little “motley crew” means more to me than anybody has meant to me in a very, very long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to everything in the world for them, I want to be able to give them bright, happy and healthy futures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want them to continue smiling and continue their education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want them to know how loved they are, and how they have someone who will always be there for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even type this right now without starting to cry, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep tonight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot part with these boys, and I promise both them and myself that I will be back to see them in the future. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment--> <br />
<!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-78337396798598215932011-07-06T09:24:00.003-07:002011-07-06T09:24:54.514-07:00Wednesday- Malawian Independence Day<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, July 6:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today has been off to a weird start, as we woke up at 8 am and got breakfast, and I was just in a really bitter mood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We came back to the room afterwards, and we planned on going back to sleep for a little since it was our day to sleep in, but everyone was so loud outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel that I’m just really flooded with emotions and anxiety right now, and in these times I really need to just be by myself and breathe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My online class started yesterday and the internet is so flaky here, so that’s extremely frustrating because I already have two assignments due.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also need to start my paper for my field study credits, but have no idea where to start since there is so specific topic as to what we are to write this 10-page paper about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m also completely torn in the sense that part of me could seriously stay here forever with these children and the friends I have made from Tech, but the other part of me is extremely ready to go home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day-to-day routine is just getting old for most of us, as we wake up at the same time every day, have breakfast and head to school at the same time, teach and then wait around for 2 hours for the bus every day, head into town for things we don’t even need anymore, but it will kill time to go into town, then we head to the lodge where we wait around until we eat dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything and I seriously can’t even think about leaving these children, but there’s definitely just a lot of overwhelming emotions flying around and it seems that there’s “down-time” structured into our day-to-day routine where we all have absolutely nothing to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all feel pretty bloated from eating the day food every day, as well as extremely pale, and God knows those two combinations are pretty brutal for me, personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like I have learned so much about myself here, though, and I know I have grown so much- especially in the whole ED field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel like on this trip, I am eating and acting more normal than I have in the past several years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t even think about what I’m eating here, I just go along with what everyone’s doing and feel great about it! I don’t second guess myself or what I’m ordering, which is something I still struggle with immensely at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are just so many things going through my head right now, thoughts that have circulating and building up during the past month, and most of them I can’t put into words or even try to explain, I can just feel them and I know they are there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Doesn’t really make sense, does it?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, everyone’s off to the town right now and I am going to try to start this Feminism paper that I have due on Friday for my online Women’s Studies class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow is going to be an extremely long and hectic day, but I am really excited!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are going to school for a little bit, and then walking about an hour to a Church where we are going to see a traditional Church ceremony with dancing and singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are then going to walk back an hour to our school in time for the celebration with our teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other day we all got measured, and apparently our teachers all make us custom traditional African outfits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going to be quite a site, but an amazing souvenir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Touch base later. Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-45264616814263203192011-07-06T09:24:00.001-07:002011-07-06T09:24:24.503-07:00Tuesday<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Tuesday, July 5:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was a standard, but also pretty special, day for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On our way to the school, Dr. Kelly informed us that this might be our last day with most of our students, for after Independence Day, most of them stop coming to class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Katie and I’s class has been quickly dwindling over the past week anyways, we were worried that some of our favorites wouldn’t be there for us to say goodbye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we got to the school, both the standard 5 classes were combined and they were handing back their exams, and then they went on a quick break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allfu and Henery weren’t there today, so I can only pray that they’ll be there Thursday or Friday to say goodbye to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really funny though because the second I walked in the classroom, Raphael and Brighty looked at me and did this hand motion, scooping their hands to their mouth as they did when they ate the peanut butter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like our own secret sign language for “peanut butter” haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I then decided to call them in early from their break, and then we handed each of them a piece of loose-leaf paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Odina’s assistant translated for us, as we asked each of them to write us a letter saying good-bye since it was one of our last days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I then wrote the class a letter, and Odina’s assistant read it to the class in Chichewa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie said she saw a few of our favorite girls put their heads into their hands as the teacher was reading the letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mine basically said thank you to them for welcoming me into their lives, and I will never forget any of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them I hoped to see them in my future, and asked them to stay in school and never stop smiling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end I said I loved them, and they all got the biggest smiles on their faces.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">One by one, students started bringing the letters up to Katie and I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Initially, we read them as we received them, but I found myself getting really emotional and decided to read them later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost all of the letters said things among the line of “you in Malawi make me very happy”, and “I love you”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one that really broke my heart was from Mike, one of my favorites, and literally the sweetest and most well behaved boy in our class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His letter said “dear Kelsey you are going for ever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We shall neve to meet again.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That one really killed me, and right after I read it I looked at him and said “I WILL come back again and see you”, he got a big smile on his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After we collected all the letters, we broke them into two groups, one going with Katie and one staying with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both brought our computers, and let them listen to Justin Bieber and Eminem while looking at all our Africa pictures on our computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about 45 minutes of that, we put on the movies and they absolutely loved them! Children were crowded around our computers, and some from other classrooms were coming in to watch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though the movies were in English, they could still read the facial expressions and laughed hysterically at certain antics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, my group watched “It Takes Two” and died laughing when Alyssa is stuffing her face with the sloppy Joe, or when Amanda and Alyssa are both running away screaming and bump headfirst into eachother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before we knew it, it was past noon, so we encouraged all of our students to come to class on Thursday and we would let them finish the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am seriously hoping they come back, because I couldn’t stand to actually say goodbye to any of them today, and a few of my favorites were absent altogether.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>While we were eating lunch at MIE, I saw Raphael outside of the window making the “peanut butter” motion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I met him outside and gave him the entire jar of peanut butter, and three spoons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him he could keep it, but he had to share, and he couldn’t believe I was letting him keep the entire jar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He kept repeating, “wait, all for me?!”, and I smiled and said yes, but make sure his friends get some too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came back a few minutes later, and saw a bunch of little kids surrounding Raphael, all with lumps of peanut butter in their hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Definitely a moment where I thought “ew” and “aw” at the same time, but more-so, I felt a wave of relief knowing that for once, in probably a long time, they were satisfied and maybe even full.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On our way walking over to the Malemia School for our last drum lesson, I heard my name being called from behind me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I waited up, and it was a little girl named Eunice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, she is in mine and Katie’s class, but I had absolutely no idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had heard her name before, and seen it written on papers, but it astounded me that I didn’t recognize her face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were walking together, Eunice and her sister told me all about their family, while speaking in perfect English. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt extremely guilty for not having gotten to know her earlier, and it touched my heart how close she was with her sister, and how gentle and smart they both were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the middle of our walk I stopped and unloaded my kwacha, camera and chapstick from my purse and then put my purse around Eunice’s neck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her and her sister both knelt to their knees and thanked me, and kept saying how beautiful of a bag it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They kept questioning “for me?” even though I told them multiple times they could keep it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They kept saying how excited their mom was going to be to see it, and at that moment I wished I could have given them more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They walked with me the entire way to Malemia, where Katie and Allison caught up with us as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allison gave them stickers, Katie gave them some of her hand-made bracelets, and then we said our good-byes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made them promise that they would come to school on Thursday, and they agreed, but I am not sure they really understood.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We then continued on to our drumming lesson, where I was again called out to lead the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t really understand why, but I just don’t like drumming here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if it’s because it brings back memories from Alldredge, or if I just get kind-of annoyed because the way it is taught here is so different, or if it’s frustrating that we are all on different levels and all I want to do is bust out my Alldredge songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Either way, I tried to suck it up today and still lead the group through some songs, while all the school children were gathered around the door singing and dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Innocent reviewed the two songs with us again, which I think we all have completely memorized since we sang them over a hundred times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, we will be singing these songs on Thursday at our end of the year party and celebration with our teachers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The songs are in Chichewa and are really simple and pretty, so I think the teachers will greatly appreciate them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, now we are back at the Lodge getting settled in for dinner and then Allison, Katie and I are going to cuddle again and watch Old School haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I logged onto the Internet earlier for 10 minutes to upload my blogs and read my emails, and intended on getting back on after dinner to use the rest of the 50 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I forgot to turn the airport off, so it used up the rest of my time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically, I paid 600 kwacha for 10 minutes of Internet time, and this is the second time this has happened in the past 3 days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frustrating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The language barrier here is definitely starting to frustrate us all, because there’s really nothing we can do about it, and every time we think we are understood, we realize that we aren’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I feel bad getting annoyed at the workers for messing up our orders, or for not understanding when I ask for another internet card since I messed mine up, but I know they’re trying their hardest and I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for them as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, tomorrow we have the day off because it is Malawi’s Independence Day so I think everyone’s planning on heading into town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think I am going to stay at the Lodge because I need some “me” time to just relax and have peace and quiet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all for now, 1 week left; oh my goodness! Peace, love, Malawi.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-19550362112806180642011-07-05T08:20:00.001-07:002011-07-05T08:20:12.386-07:00Beginning of our last week :(<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Monday July 4:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was a pretty low-key day, seeing as that the students exams have been over for a week so only half of our class was there today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I decided to teach animals today, and our lesson was pretty scattered because we seriously have nothing left to teach them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sophia let us borrow her animals poster that had descriptions of 5 different types of animals; fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went over the poster with them, and then held up different drawings of animals and asked them which type of animal they were (ex. A picture of a lion, and the answer was mammal).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half of the students weren’t paying attention, while the other half kept running outside, but we were warned that this week would be a joke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie also made crossword puzzles, for example: 1 down: an animal that lives in water and breaths through gills, and the answer would be fish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They really didn’t understand the concept of a crossword puzzle, let alone even understand the 5 different categories of animals, so after 30 minutes our lesson was officially over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I spent the remaining hour and a half just playing with them, which was completely fine with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we weren’t here this week, since their exams are already over, nobody would be at school anyways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 11 am, we all headed over to the standard 1 classroom to paint desks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last summer, a group donated tables and benches to every standard 1 class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly had the idea to paint every 3 desks a different color; we had blue, green, yellow and red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This way, they can always refer to the groups as “group yellow” or “group red”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, it brought so much more personality to the dull, empty classrooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept thinking if only all of the classrooms had tables how much of a difference that would make.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If Katie and I’s 100 students had benches to sit on, lessons and projects would be so much easier and more productive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just something else I can pray for, I guess.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We all walked over to the Demonstration school at about 2 to be picked up, and while we waited for Willie to come, Katie, Allison and I saw Gerald and some of his friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a huge fire and Gerald showed us how they make their soccer balls; how damn creative these kids are, I swear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They take recycled plastic bags and roll them into balls, one bag inside of another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then burn the edges so that the plastic bag melts and secures the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“circle” shape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really neat to watch, and they were cracking us up as they were trying to bribe us to sell them our iPods for the football. Haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Willie picked us up, we went into town and Katie, Allison, Bebe and I went to Tasty Bites for an early dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s crazy how hungry we all are all the time! We had lunch at noon, and by 3 pm we were all starving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not a fan of Tasty Bites, but I thought I’d give it another try and it still didn’t change my views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we all got a slice of the cake, which was so on point, so it made the rest of the meal worthwhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now we are back at Annie’s, and the Internet is out again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Typical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it’s a good thing because I’d get really sad looking on Facebook and seeing everyone’s 4<sup>th</sup> of July plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know none of their plans even compare to this experience, but I definitely have the biggest case of FOMO: Fear of Missing Out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, tomorrow Katie and I have decided to bring in our laptops and let the kids watch a movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are going to completely freak-out and I’m so excited to see their reactions!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re probably going to break the classroom into 2 groups, and 1 will watch “It Takes Two” on my computer, and the others will watch “Toy Story” on Katie’s computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we have any time left, we’re going to play our music and let them dance to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if any of these kids have even seen computers before, let alone watch a movie from it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’ll definitely a fun day and I’ll be sure to get more good pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Touch base later; I cannot believe I only have a week left. I don’t think I’m ready to leave these children. Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-28251094768864302712011-07-05T08:19:00.001-07:002011-07-05T08:19:51.211-07:00Saturday, July 2<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, July 2:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, yesterday was an extremely emotionally draining day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We woke up at about 9 am, had breakfast, and then some of us headed into town to get last minute items for the orphanage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I purchased 100 blankets, which cost about 400 American dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blankets were huge and really soft, so it was an amazing purchase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then came back to Annie’s and waited for Peter, and then headed to the orphanage at about noon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ride was only about 40 minutes, which was a great change of pace from our normal drives. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As we pulled up, there were about 400 children and 20 guardians that were singing and dancing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we got off the bus, they are greeted us and kept thanking us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The village then put on about a 2-hour long show for us that consisted of village dancing and drumming, skits, and then a presentation of gifts to Dr. Kelly, Dr. Liz and Dr. Talbot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few of the guardians lined up with the presents and one by one they called up the professors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The professors would stand across from them, and the guardians would dance over to them and then place the present at their feet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was very special and the professors were all beaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the show, a few of us students had little kids come up to us and sit on our laps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was, by far, the best part of the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a gorgeous little girl, probably about 2 or 3, who sat on my lap for the whole 2 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so special, as when she first came to me she barely smiled and was very uptight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the show, she started hugging and cuddling up to me with the biggest smile on her face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then handed her a beanie baby dog and she cherished that thing like it was the best gift she had ever received.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She kept kissing it and putting it on my chest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With her on my lap, I barely paid attention to the performances, but she was the focus of my attention.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After the performances were all over, things took a turn for the worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was our time to hand out all of our gifts and donations, and riots literally broke out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The orphans all about 3 years and younger went into a room and we handed them their beanie babies and toys (I donated all my bubbles to them), and then the rest of us were outside handing out the underwear and toys we had purchased.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The process was extremely unorganized, as we were handing things out trying to make sure every child got one thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I were handing out the blankets with Willie and two of the workers, who had a list of 100 individuals who didn’t receive blankets last summer when we visited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only about 3 people out of all 100 said thank you to Katie and I, which was really frustrating and overwhelming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I were both flooded with emotion, as people were grabbing and pushing and screaming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finally had to leave and go back to the bus, because I couldn’t handle it anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then saw my little girl crying, as someone had taken her beanie baby and we had none left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had so many emotions, anger, sadness, anxiety, and overwhelming confusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was sitting on the bus, one by one people started loading on, all of them crying more than the one before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moments later, Katie came running onto the bus sobbing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While trying to hand out the clothes we had all brought to donate to the girls, a riot broke out and Katie was right in the middle of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said the teenage girls were hitting and slapping eachother, and pulling eachothers hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie almost got trampled and said the girls had ripped the clothes from fighting for them and it was the most terrifying thing she had ever experienced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was really shaken up and just completely stunned by their behavior.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On the bus road home, all was silent as we were all sitting with our emotions and thoughts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I was initially just so angry and stunned by their behavior, I began putting myself in their shoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I was an orphan, and never got stylish clothes or cool toys, and a group came to visit me to donate things, I would probably act the same way out of fear that I wouldn’t get anything or they wouldn’t have enough things for everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that, just like them, my manners would go out the window and my fear of being skipped would override my ability to stay sane.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, as these children grow up, they learn to fight for what they want; literally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They know that opportunities are limited, so they want to take control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like they need to be taught how to receive things and be patient and trustworthy that sometimes there is actually enough for everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The entire trip today was nothing as to what we were all expecting with the chaos and un-organization, but as completely heart-breaking that it was, it was nonetheless a good experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will never forget that little girl on my lap, and her innocence and beauty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wished that I could take her home with me and give her a bright, happy and healthy future, but for now my prayers and thoughts will always be with her. Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Last night as I mentioned before was the party that Peter threw for us at the Black Diamond.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the orphanage, none of us even wanted to go out and celebrate, but we all took naps and shared our thoughts with eachother and vented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then all started getting ready, and Katie, Allison Bebe and I all pregamed in our room together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s just say that one thing turned into another, and before we knew it we were on the bus heading to Black Diamond, Allison and I leading a sing-a-long in the front of the bus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pulled up to Black Diamond about 20 minutes later, and most of us should have called it a night at that point haha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The famous Lucius Banda performed Bob Marley for us, and we danced the night away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got home at about 1:30 am, in which Simeon had to carry a few of us girls to our beds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To say it was a successful night would be an understatement, and the stories and pictures this morning were absolutely hysterical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I absolutely love these girls here, and I can’t believe we’re going into the last week. Craziness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all for today, peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-90474473360749402352011-07-02T02:05:00.003-07:002011-07-02T02:05:23.326-07:00A low-key Friday :)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Friday, July 1:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was a pretty uneventful day, seeing as it was Friday so only half of our students were at school and all of us teachers were still exhausted from the “go-go-go” mentality we’ve been experiencing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I took the students pictures on disposopal cameras last week (nearly impossible since the second you pull out a camera they all jump in the picture).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had two students in each picture, holding up a piece of paper with their name on it, and after we got the pictures developed we cut them in half, and glued each students picture on their own piece of construction paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We tried “cropping” the pictures while cutting so that they were the focus of the picture, but some of the students were literally surrounded by others. Oh well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wrote their names at the top, and called them out one of by one this mronign to hand them their paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were so excited, for it was probably the first time they’ve owned a picture of themselves!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we handed out string, markers, and crayons and they each had to put their full name, their birthday, their village, and how many brothers and sisters they had underneath their picture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the back of their papers they had to draw a picture of their family (again, amazed at their artistic ability), and when they were done they put the string through holes at the top and had their own sort of “dog-tag” that they could hang on doorknobs, exc., at their houses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This took a lot longer than expected because they were in admiration of the pictures for the first part of the class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After about an hour of us being at the school, us teachers were all called into a room were we were measured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, on the last day of school, the teachers all make us traditional African dresses and we wear them around that day (they’re interesting, for lack of better words!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am really excited though because it’ll be a great keepsake and I know the teachers are all so grateful for us and will be so excited to give us these outfits.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Katie and I went back in our classroom while the students finished up their “dog-tags” and we taught them the Malawi song that our drum teacher, Innocent, made up for us on Tuesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The song is in Chichewa, and I think our students thought we made it up on our own, so they all cheered and clapped after we taught it to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They then sang it with us, and then volunteers came up to sing it by themselves to the class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a hit!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ended the day singing, “Peel the Banana”, “Baby Shark” and “Down by the Banks” before we parted for the weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot believe next week is our last week, but Katie and I will probably just do fun activities every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children’s attention span is quickly dwindling every day, because usually during these two weeks after their exams are over they don’t learn lessons in school, they just play.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>School kind of turns into a daycare center during those two weeks, so Katie and I aren’t going to try to keep teaching them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both agreed we just want them to have fun, feel loved and remembered when we leave on Friday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really can’t think about it though, because I’m already starting to get so upset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, we are all just chilling tonight before a long and eventful day tomorrow, as we are going to the Orphanage with Peter. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cross your fingers that I don’t fall completely inlove with some orphan and sign adoption paperwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kidding, but not really!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all for today, peace, love, Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-53475968435057830642011-07-02T02:05:00.001-07:002011-07-02T02:05:03.638-07:00Safari Day 2<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Thursday, June 30:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was another amazing day at Camp Mvuu, although I don’t think anything could compare to our arrival and stay yesterday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We woke up this morning at 5:15 am, which would have been hard even if I had gotten more than 5 hours of actual sleep!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we headed to our<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>morning safari walk, we were stunned at the amount of, and proximity to our hut, elephant and hippo poop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was literally pounds of it right outside of our front door! We all wished we had been awake to see them, although I probably would have freaked out that if they saw me they would charge our chalet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was actually kind of humorous because one of the workers jobs is to go around in the morning and scoop up all of the dung droppings from the night before. Craziness.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As all of us tired, groggy, freezing teenagers headed towards the entrance, we couldn’t help but smile at the gorgeous sunrise. The only sunset I have ever been up to experience was at beach week 4 years ago, and God knows an African sunrise blows a North Carolina sunrise out of the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our group met with our guide and headed into the bush for our nature walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw lots of warthogs, baboons (my favorite!) and impalas (typical), but the beauty of the sahara in itself made waking up at 5:15 am completely worthwhile.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got the history of all the trees, and I actually learned a lot about birds (who would have thought that they’re actually smart animals?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my favorite things that we saw was the “Butterfly Tree”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s leaves all looked exactly like butterflies, so we all picked our favorite one to take home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s bark is also the strongest bark of any tree in Africa, but it was such a petite tree that I was definitely surprised to hear that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 7:30 am we finally headed back to Mvuu for breakfast, which obviously we had all been counting down for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a bowl of Rice Krispie’s with goat milk (I think?) which was perfect because I’ve been craving cereal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also got a bowl of fruit and the most delicious banana raisin muffin I have ever had (not exaggerating).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After stuffing our faces, we realized that that was just the appetizer breakfast and that they were going to take our order for the real breakfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know how we did it, but we were all so excited for a real breakfast that we ignored the fact we weren’t even hungry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got a great ham, cheese and tomato omelet with REAL ketchup!, and a piece of toast with their home-made apricot jelly. Talk about a feast, but I am definitely not complaining.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After being pleasantly full (it was the first time we have actually felt full while being here), we headed towards the water at about 8:30 am for our morning water safari.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know, I know, you didn’t think these days could get any better did you?<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Our standard group of 8 plus Dr. Kelly all loaded onto the boat and headed down the Shire River.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw literally hundreds of hippos, who are rather ugly, but they’re cute when they’re in the water because you can only see their faces and they all sleep with their heads piled on eachother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also saw a ton of monkeys and birds, and were so fortunate to see an elephant while we were on the boat. The elephant literally came right to our boat in the water as he was eating and drinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was awesome!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then headed up the stream after staying by the elephant for about 20 minutes, and we saw dozens of crocodiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were approaching two of them sun-bathing, our safari driver kept driving- a little too close for comfort!- until we were literally a few feet away from them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They looked like they were dead so we thought it would be a great idea to poke them with a stick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They literally jumped towards us and kept swimming. It was great footage though even though I’m terrified of crocodiles!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, of course, right after we pissed them off, our safari driver told us that if a human was to fall in the Shire River, they would be dead in less than 3 minutes because of the amount of crocodiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Comforting.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After another amazing hour and a half safari, we headed back to Mvuu and packed our bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I seriously thought a few of us were going to cry, we wished we could have stayed there even just one extra night!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was such an amazing 24 hours and to anyone visiting Malawi, I recommend 100% staying at Camp Mvuu.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On the drive home, we stopped at the markets in Liwonde that Dr. Kelly has been telling us about the entire trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I bought 3 presents for my parents and one for my grandpa that I think are all perfect!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything I’ve bought has been for my parents but I’ve only bought 5 things here (typical, Kelsey being stingy even in Africa!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived back at Annie’s at about 5:30 pm and everyone was completely exhausted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I had planned our project on Tuesday night before we left, so we just gathered all the art supplies, ate a quick dinner, and were asleep by 9:30 pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What an amazing adventure. Peace, love, Malawi.<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-81181047886948105622011-07-02T02:04:00.001-07:002011-07-02T02:04:37.628-07:00Safari Day 1<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, June 29:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well yesterday was by far the highlight of my trip (non-children related) and was probably one of the coolest 24-hours I have ever experienced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived at Mt. Mvuu at about 11 am, where we checked in, got a tour of the facility and were escorted to our amazing chalet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think words can describe how beautiful this place was, and our rooms were beyond my expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chalets were all little house-like tents with two queen beds inside the door when you walked in, then an amazing stone bathroom, and then another room in the back with two more queen beds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything was covered in mosquito nets and our chalet was right on the water where we could see hippos from our front porch. After we all had a little freak-out and recorded the tour of our room, we all headed to lunch, which might have been my favorite activity of the entire trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just kidding, but seriously it was definitely the most amazing meal we have had the entire time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lunch was set up buffet style, around beautiful tables that overlooked the river and all the baobab trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had the freshest pieces of bread with butter, rice with a warm vegetable mix, and a cold bean mix that tasted awesome on top of the bread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As if we weren’t all in enough heaven, they then brought out the “dessert” which was a fresh bowl of fruit (which we haven’t been able to eat the entire time here!) with a light, warm whipped cream on top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all left that meal thinking this was definitely the best.day.ever.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Straight after lunch, we broke into groups of 10 and got assigned our jeeps and our tour guides for the safari!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our usual group stuck together (Me, Katie, Anna, Kaitlin, Allison, Bebe, Lindsay and Ashley) plus Dr. Kelly and Dr. Sharon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We headed out into the gated Sahara at about 3 pm and were all on the edge of our seats out of excitement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first animals we saw were impalas and waterbucks, which both basically looked like deer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we all freaked out when we saw them because they were the first animals we saw on our safari!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our guides were amazing and would spot animals from hundreds of feet away, which I could barely notice even once they were pointed out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also kept seeing warthogs, which we all got a kick out of because they are absolutely heinous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everything about the safari reminded me of the Lion King and we kept referring to the warthogs as “Pumba” haha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They look like pigs, aged 20 years, with long hair and horns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cute huh?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Halfway through, we finally saw about three zebras! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They aren’t very outgoing though, so we didn’t get very close to them but with the zoom features on our cameras, we got pretty awesome pictures of them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Still on the lookout for elephants, our jeep ended up popping a tire in the middle of the safari; not many people can say they experienced that! Casually, there were just 11 white girls standing in the middle of the Sahara, praying we wouldn’t get eaten alive (just adding some drama in here, we were completely safe).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guides literally fixed the popped tire in less than 5 minutes, and we were back en route.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within 5 minutes of being back in the jeep, we all heard rumbling in the trees right next to us and stopped the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before our eyes, an elephant was eating leaves and waving his trunk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all tried to contain our excitement so we wouldn’t scare it, while also trying to take in the moment without the shock of the situation voiding us of reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were adjusting to the fact that there was a hundred-ton elephant about 20 feet infront of us, we heard rumbling again to the left of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Low and beyond, an even bigger elephant comes out from the trees!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pictures I got were absolutely amazing; this elephant was huge!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After oohing and awing for a good half hour, we finally continued on with our tour, with complete contentment of our experience thus far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After roaming around for a little bit longer, we headed back to the grounds for our “sunset safari”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way there to meet the Radford and A&T groups, we ran into a baby elephant and her mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stopped to take a few pictures, but kept heading forward to make it in time for the sunset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met the other groups at about 4:40, when our guides then pulled out big coolers of wine and we all toasted to eachother while watching the sun go down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen, as the mountains were in the distance and all these wild, awesome animals surrounded us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our group of 8 took really cute pictures with arms around eachother, backs facing the camera, as the sun is going down on us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sun was bright orange and the sky was bright pink and yellow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I kept thinking of my mom because now Fager’s doesn’t even stand in comparison!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At about 5:30 pm, after the sun was completely gone, we loaded back into our jeeps and headed into the bush for our night safari.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides the fact that it was absolutely freezing (yes, we were warned) it was such a cool experience (I’m running out of adjectives to use to describe everything!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t see many animals because it was night-time, but we did see a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ton of hippo’s and mongooses, a porcupine and more impala’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most amazing part of the night safari though was the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was, without a doubt, one of the coolest and most breath-taking things I’ve ever seen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We saw the Milky Way (which, apparently, is nearly impossible to see now in the United States because of all the light) and there wasn’t a square inch in the sky that wasn’t covered by stars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I could have taken pictures of it, because there’s no possible way I could try to paint a picture with my words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had our guides stop the jeep for a good 15 minutes and we just watched the sky, pointing out different constellations and feeling like the luckiest girls in the world.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">To have a perfect ending to a perfect day, we headed back to Mvuu at 7:30 pm where we were served dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, we had been looking forward to dinner since lunch time because the food had been so great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They started by bringing us out more delicious bread and butter, and then brought out minestrone soup which absolutely hit the spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the “appetizer” they brought out the main course that was thinly sliced pork with gravy, jacket potatoes and pumpkin (wasn’t a fan, but I tried it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following dinner, I was obviously anticipating the dessert which satisfied my huge sweet-tooth for sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know what it was exactly, but it had the consistency of pound cake, and it was heated with a butterscotch like sauce drizzled all ontop. Delicious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, it was about time to head to our rooms, and the 8 of us girls meet in Katie, Anna, Kaitlin and I’s room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While we were hanging out and drinking wine, we started to hear the hippo’s and elephants literally right outside our door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The girls figured they should head back to their rooms before the animals really started to come out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going to sleep definitely wasn’t a great time since the hut we were staying in didn’t exactly have walls: I was absolutely freezing! I could barely sleep all night because I was so cold and the sheets were so light, and the loud elephant and hippo noises outside our door weren’t so comforting either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The day had been so absolutely perfect though that I couldn’t even complain, I just kept thinking I wish the day had never ended.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-303914017286332932011-06-28T08:01:00.000-07:002011-06-28T08:01:23.262-07:00Week 2 of teaching: An amazing start<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Monday, June 27:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was an average day that turned pretty spectacular in a matter of minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had another great breakfast consisting of an omelet and then toast with their delicious jelly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We loaded on the bus and headed to the schools, and when we pulled up to the Government School, the children were all singing the “banana” song that we taught them last week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hysterical! Katie and I headed straight to the classroom, and it took a while to settle everyone down and get them back in the swing of things after their weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We decided to start off the lecture with a review of the human body from last week, and we did another body tracing since we knew that would be a fun way to get into the lesson again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They remembered most of the body parts, still getting eyes and ears confused, and still completely butchering the spelling of “elbow”, “knees” and “head”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh well, they had fun and they definitely are making so much progress!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that quick review, we went straight into todays lecture of geography.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We brought in a map of the continents, and explained to them what oceans and continents were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had them each write down the definitions and then wrote down the 7 continents and showed them where they were on the map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After going over that for a good period of time, we asked for volunteers to come up to the map and show us where certain places were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They seemed to remember and understand it, but knowing them they probably just memorized where we pointed to things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they took one thing out of the lecture, I think they definitely retained that Katie and I are from North America- where the United States are- and they are from Africa- where Malawi is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about an hour of trying to explain geography, they were starting to get antsy so we decided to do a free-write lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The question was: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of them didn’t understand, so Odina had to translate some things for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a few minutes, the children brought up their notebooks and their answers were adorable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I even took pictures of a few of their responses haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost all of them put that they would want to go to North America because Katie and I are “beautiful” and “their friends”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One kid also put “America= anything”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I asked him what he meant, he said that you can get anything you need in America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The responses definitely made me chock up a little, but they were all so happy (as usual) that I couldn’t even be sad.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After our morning at the school, we all ate our lunches at the college and discussed “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also spent the 2 hours asking Dr. Kelly a ton of questions about Malawi and its history and government system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I swear, it amazes me how much she knows about the country, but I have already learned so much in these past 2 weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, we all headed to the Demonstration School where we got to meet our 24 scholarship students! This is where the beauty of the day heightened, as Katie and I got to meet the children that we are sponsoring to attend high school, thanks to the donations we raised.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We arrived at the Demonstration School and went to one of the classrooms where there were about 30 chairs facing outwards, and the rest of the chairs facing towards them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Shortly after, all the Scholarship students came walking in in their nicest attire, and most accompanied by a family member.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly gave an overview about the Chimbali Scholarship Fund, which was a good review for all of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of the Scholarship students are students that meet two criteria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1, the students have to pass a certain standardized test, but secondly, they have to be individuals that would be unable to attend school would it not be for the scholarship funds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Virginia Tech students got to meet the one boy that we are sponsoring for the next 3 years to be able to finish high school (which is a huge deal), as did the Radford and North Carolina A&T students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, Doctor Kelly called Katie up to acknowledge her and introduce her to her “students” whom she will be paying for to attend high school for their Sophomore and Junior year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lastly, Doctor Kelly called me up where I got to meet 7 beautiful individuals whom I will be paying for to go into their senior year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without this Scholarship fund, these students would have had to drop out of high school because their families could not afford it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to take individual pictures with each of my 7 students and their family member, although 2 of them came by themselves, which means that they are probably orphans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were so grateful and I was holding back tears the entire time as they were clapping, and giving me hugs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As if that wasn’t enough gratitude in itself, Dr. Kelly had them each write a paragraph to me about who they are and what they want to do after high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I read these on the bus home, I started crying and so many thoughts were going through my head about everything I want to do for these children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly said that I will be able to get the schools email address so that over the next year I can check up on my 7 students and see how they are doing and if they are planning on going to college. How amazing is that? All of the other Tech girls were so jealous they couldn’t sponsor some of the children, so I am definitely going to talk to the Tech students going next year and tell them to raise money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so glad I had that idea, because now I get to help even more people while I am here, and actually get to meet the people that I am directly affecting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, peace, EXTRA love, Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, I will leave you with the notes I got from my 7 students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Try to hold back your tears. But seriously!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“My name is Steven Mandoto aged 17.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m boy and I learning at Domasi Demonstraton Secondary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I finish school I want to be soldier and I am going to thank you for your help and I thanks again for assisting my parents for paying school fees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to ask God to bless you in everything and to give you long life in order to assist other people.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“I am aboy aged 16 namely Christy Gomani.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was born on 22, 05, 1995 at Bottom Hospital in Lilongwe, the capital city of Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am in form 3 where I was selected from Domasi Demonstration Primary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always give to myself a few seconds per day to thank God for you for sponsering me in my school matters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This opportunity gives to think that I will make my dreams of being a soldier of a journalist become true.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“My name is Isabel Lajah and I have 16 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was learning at Demonstration Primary School and now I am learning at Demonstration Secondary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am in form 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In future I want to become a radio announcer in other ways I can say a journalist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to thank you for all things you have done to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have help my parents paying school fees starting from form 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May God Almighty be with you all and continue help other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“My name is Zainabu Yosini.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am 16 years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I learn at Domasi Demonstration Secondary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m in form 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I finish my school I want to be a doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you very much to response for my school fees, I can say thanks a lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t stop to do this thing of payment the school fees. So I encourage you to continue of that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May God bless all of you.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“I am Patrick Mtundunwatha.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I live at Kapich Village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am a boy aged 18 years old. So I learn at Domasi Demonstration Secondary School am in form 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to tell you that I would like to be a doctor if God can allow me end up my education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So for that I also ask you to continue, help me for my education so God can be with you all the best.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish you God bless you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My message is please can you continue to help.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“My name is Majorson Macheso.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am in form 3 at Domasi Demonstration Secondary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a boy aged 15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I come from Domasi Zomba, my biological home is Balaua-Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I came here to live with my uncle who adopted me from my mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My ambition is to become a medical doctor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final thing is to thank you for the best care I mean for assisting us from form 1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is so great, keep on helping others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May Almighty God be wih you all the time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you.”<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>“My name is Fexton Kuloweka.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am 17 year old boy in form 3 from Domasi Demonstration Secondary School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would like to thank the Chibale Project for helping us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May God bless you and give you health lives so that you should keep on helping the Malawians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to become a doctor because I would like to assist sick people and with your help I will achieve my goal and I am promising that I will work hard at school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you very much.”<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-6657584370779532182011-06-28T08:00:00.001-07:002011-06-28T08:00:26.792-07:00My 2 Year Anniversary in Africa :)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Sunday, June 26:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, today is my 2-year recovery and I almost forgot until I saw the date on my computer this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It kind of stinks because nobody knows that I am in recovery except for Anna, and I haven’t told her that today is my 2-years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s okay though, because my recovery is about me, and the fact that I am in Africa making a huge difference in people’s lives is a true showing of all the progress I have made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2 years ago, I couldn’t even take care of and make myself happy, let alone other people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am very proud of myself, but I have also learned a lot about myself while being in Africa and have realized that there is a lot more progress for me to make. I am still extremely critical of myself and compare myself to everyone around me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And by comparing myself, I am referring to comparing my body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Africa has been an extra challenge for me since I haven’t been tanning and am officially paler than I am in the winter at home. True statement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, having to wear clothes that I would not wear at home and also not being able to workout here, even though I know I am being active everyday while with the kids and walking to the bus, exc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This whole trip has been challenging with ED, and while the days here have gotten easier, they also get harder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only time I feel that I am truly distracted from ED and my appearance is when I’m at school with the children, or when I get to come home after school and change into my typical yoga pants and tee-shirts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have also realized while being here that I rarely live in the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am always thinking of the future, and while being ambitious is a great thing, it’s not great when it holds me back from truly engaging in present situations and letting myself take in every moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have really been focusing on trying to do that here, but I am always thinking about what am I going to teach the children tomorrow?, or what can I do today to make me feel better about my appearance tomorrow?, or constantly wondering about the safari and the orphanage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I really need to make myself stay focused on the present, on this day. Carpe diem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to leave Africa having no regrets, feeling that I gave my all to these children and really engulfed myself in every activity and event that took place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know that most of the reasons I am not able to “seize the day” is because I am still so self-conscious about many parts of myself that the thoughts tend to consume me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although I don’t act on those thoughts and take it out on my eating, or myself which is huge progress in 2 years! I still need to work on not letting the thoughts consume me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully sometime very soon, the thoughts won’t exist at all and I’ll finally be able to think and act completely 100% normally about body image.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Anyways, today has been a complete lazy day, which I definitely needed! We all woke up at 9 am (got to sleep in, woohoo!) and got breakfast and sandwiches to make for lunch later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I came back to our rooms and read (I’ve been reading so much on this trip and Katie’s given me some great books!), and then went back to sleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now it is 2 pm, and I am about to get ready for the dinner Annie is throwing for us tonight at her house. She is cooking us all dinner and there is a cash bar, but other than that I don’t really know the plan for tonight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will post again when I get back tonight, probably around 7 is my guess. Katie and I have no idea what we will be teaching this week, but thankfully in that regard there’s only 3 days of us teaching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, touch base later! Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Tonight was the most perfect recovery celebration I could have imagined thanks to Annie and all the amazing people on this trip with me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived to Annie’s house at about 4 pm and from the moment we got there we were all absolutely shocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pulled up and were welcomed by a Church choir as well as a tribal dance ceremony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her house was, without a doubt, the most beautiful house we have seen in Malawi and Dr. Kelly said that in accordance with American standards, Annie would probably be a millionaire. How crazy is that? (Yes, I do realize how often I am using this expression, but things are continuing to surprise me each and every day.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all socialized, drank and danced for about an hour before our amazing dinner was served. It was, by far, the best meal I have had on this trip, and the fact that it was free made it that much better. (Not like the 3-dollar meals here are costing me much money, anyways.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The dinner setup was so beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were long red tablecloths on 3 long tables, with the exact number of chairs for all of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dinner was buffet style, and I had some rice and beans, a vegetable mix, and a little bit of spaghetti bolognaise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course we all spotted the 2 chocolate cakes from the moment we arrived, so I was saving up room for the dessert when everyone was going up for seconds of dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally we had the dessert, and although I probably wouldn’t have liked it in America, it definitely hit the spot and we were all so excited to finally have a sweet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course I indulged in 2 pieces, as most of us did, since we’ve all been craving sweets for the past 2 weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After dinner, it started getting dark and we tribal danced for about an hour and then had another showing from the choir who had the most beautiful voices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To wrap up the night, we danced in the “Discoteca”, where Annie had huge speakers set up on a stage outside and blasted fun dancing music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all got to meet Willie and Annie’s family, which was so nice, and the evening was just perfect.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">On the way back to the Lodge at about 8:30, I realized how truly proud of how far I have come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though I have progress to make, who doesn’t have progress to make in their lives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m just fortunate enough to know where progress is needed, and what I need to do to get there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I might not be able to eat what I want while I am here, or be able to workout, I am living exactly like 20 other teenagers my age are living and that is a huge accomplishment in itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, that wraps up another great week. Talk tomorrow. Peace, love, Malawi.<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-58132809926030153482011-06-28T07:59:00.001-07:002011-06-28T07:59:38.337-07:00It's the Freaking Weekend :)<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, June 25: <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was a great day and absolutely beautiful! We woke up at 7 am, had breakfast, and all piled on the bus to head to Mt. Mulanje, which was three hours away. As we were about two hours into the trip, we could start seeing the mountain and it was the highest peak I have ever seen in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mt. Mulanje is the third biggest mountain in all of Africa and it blended in with the clouds because it was so high up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we pulled up to Mt. Mulanje, we were swarmed with tour guides who were trying to get on our bus and begging us to hire them as their tour guides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it’s easy money for them to walk up the hill and then get paid 1500 kwacha, which is about 6 American dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hysterical because they were all shouting at Dr. Kelly and she was not having it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She finally pulled three people into our bus, and they rode with us to the starting point where we then all piled out of the car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We used the restrooms at one of the hostels on the mountain, which was so cute! Dr. Kelly said that since it takes over three days to complete the entire hike, a lot of people would camp out at hostels that are located along the way of the mountain. How cool is that? It was like a little retreat house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We finally all headed up the hill, stopping only a few times along the 2.5 mile hike up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when I say “hike up”, I mean it; the entire thing was up hill and at a few point you had to hold on to trees to hoist yourself up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about an hour, we finally got to our stopping point, which still seemed to be at the very bottom of the mountain, but it was a great stopping point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived at a beautiful, clear waterfall where we all ate our lunches, took pictures and climbed down to put our feet in the waterfall and climb on rocks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was such a beautiful day, and we were little in the middle of a mountain underneath a waterfall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so peaceful, and I couldn’t imagine actually hiking to the top of the mountain since in an hour we made basically zero progress to the top! We all hung out at the waterfall for about 45 minutes or so, and then headed back to the bottom since we were on a time crunch to try to get back before dark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the way out, we stopped at the vendors, but there were only a few so I didn’t buy anything. I’m saving my money for next week when we go to Mt. Mvuu because apparently the vendors there have much more to chose from.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the ride back, we witnessed the most beautiful sunset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sky was all perfectly white clouds and a completely pink sky with a bright orange sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was amazing! It’s crazy how with all the pictures I have taken while being here, none of them give Africa any justice .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All the pictures of the scenery and sunsets and mountains are nothing compared to the beauty in person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We finally arrived back at Annie’s at about 7 and we rushed to take showers and order food since we were starving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our normal group (Katie, me, Bebe, Allison, Lindsay, Ashley, Anna and Kaitlin) all ate together, feeling great that we had finally gotten a days worth of good exercise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of us drank, but we were pretty exhausted, so everyone went to bed except Allison, Bebe, Katie and myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all stayed up looking at pictures and talking, and were so proud of ourselves for staying up until midnight haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, that was all the excitement for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are all getting so anxious for the safaris on Wednesday, and we are also all freaking out that we have already been here for 2 weeks, knowing that the second 2 weeks are going to go by even faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Craziness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-74638472565088210542011-06-28T07:58:00.001-07:002011-06-28T07:58:41.108-07:00It's Fridayyyyy!<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Friday, June 24:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was a great ending to the week, but nothing out of the ordinary happened! My seven little boys have become part of my daily routine now, with the whole walking with me to the bus and being my little posse haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, Katie and I taught the human body and I think that was a really great lesson because they really didn’t know as much as we thought they did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked for a volunteer and then we body traced him on big chart paper that we glued together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids all thought it was a riot and then we hung up the body tracing on the chalkboard and went through labeling body parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, we took the picture down and handed out worksheets to see what they remembered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all got eyes and ears confused, and they really had problems spelling most of the words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That took about an hour, and then we graded the worksheets and handed out puzzles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids all broke into groups of about 20, and they were really confused, yet fascinated, by the concept of the puzzles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had never seen them before, and it took awhile for them to catch one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took about 45 minutes for them to actually put the 50-piece puzzles together, but once they did they were so proud of themselves and it was really great to see!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the teacher had never seen puzzles before and she said it was a great thing for them to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While they were working on the puzzles, Katie discretely called out students 2 by 2 to take their picture outside so that next week we can make their “passports”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, once the word got out that she was taking pictures, it was nearly impossible to contain them from all running in front of the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it worked though, and they’ll love seeing pictures of themselves. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When school was over, my little posse walked me over to the school where we were getting picked up and I gave them bags of sunchips and a juice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More kids followed us today, however, so they literally got like one chip each but they seemed happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then all loaded onto the bus and went downtown, where the Tech girls all got fabric and Dr. Kelly is going to have sashes made for us for graduation! That made me really excited because the fabric is so unique and definitely Malawian, and it’s a way to secure us girls will all remain friends during out senior year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie, Ashley and I also bought fabric and plan on getting bags made, which I hope, will turn out really cute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Us girls all finally had dinner together tonight, since we’ve been making our own food for the past week, and I seriously love every girl here! We then decided to crash Dr. Kelly’s room and talked to her for a good hour while we were all in our pj’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She cracks me up! The conversation actually almost entirely revolved around me and my Alldredge stories, but I enjoyed sharing them although I didn’t give them the really personal details but hopefully that’ll come with time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, tomorrow we are going to Mt. Mulanje, the third highest peak in all of Africa! It is about a 3-hour ride there, but will be completely worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so excited for the fresh air, exercise and beautiful pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s all for now, Peace, Love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-40399938368436090732011-06-28T07:57:00.001-07:002011-06-28T07:57:23.729-07:00Day 4 teaching<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Thursday, June 23:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was another great day and I feel so blessed to have these children in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is definitely getting hard for me with the ED struggle because I’m getting so pale and the wardrobe is out of my comfort zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s definitely been a good challenge though and the second that I step off that bus at the school I completely forget about my appearance or weight.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Katie and I decided to teach math today with flashcards and beads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started with easy multiplication flashcards, and it was the same students answering the questions so then I started writing harder ones on the board like “20 x 13” and we would call people up to answer them who hadn’t been raising their hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did this for about 45 minutes and the kids really love math.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, we pulled out the bags of beads and all hell broke loose haha! We didn’t count, but we knew we made a rough estimate of about 1500 beads so we were planning on giving about 10ish to each student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, since there aren’t desks and the children just sit on the floor, they always move around and you lose track of who you have handed to and who you haven’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids were hiding beads in their pockets saying they hadn’t gotten any but my boys Chisisi and Edward had my back and were telling me which ones were lying haha! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After everyone got their beads, we wrote a list on the board of things they had to do with their beads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, make a square with your beads, make the first letter of your name with your beads, place them in size from smallest to biggest, make a circle with your beads, exc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids really liked it and were really engaged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, we pulled out the string and let them all make bracelets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were kids who had like 30 beads and others who only had like 5, so we would go around giving handfuls to those that didn’t have many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, people would start hiding their beads!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Definitely a huge challenge of teaching 100 plus students who don’t have desks or speak English. However, they all absolutely loved it and were showing off their bracelets to everyone!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whenever one of them smiles, I swear my heart breaks. Onida had never seen beads before so we told her to make a bracelet too and she absolutely loved it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t wait to leave all my skirts and extra school supplies with her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s beautiful inside and out.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then we had break and I brought the jump rope and soccer ball again today, which is always so much easier because then there’s not hundreds of students in a circle around you, waiting for you to entertain them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Half of the kids were playing soccer, half were jump roping and then only a few were surrounding me haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were all having so much fun so we gave them a really long break including songs (Eminem is their new favorite), dancing and games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before we knew it, it was noon and time for us to go, however, I knew my seven little boys would be over to see me at MIE.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, as we were walking over to the Demonstration School, my seven little nuggets came running over screaming “Kelsey!” (pronounced Kessie).<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">We all walked over together, holding hands, and all the girls were taking pictures saying how jealous they were that I was so close with my class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really did make me feel so blessed.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On the walk over, I gave them a soda, goldfish and a granola bar and they all shared it pretty equally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then took out the soccer ball, and we played volleyball at the top of the hill for a good 30 minutes until Willie came with the bus!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were all hugging me and asking to take pictures with me, and I almost started to cry when thinking about how truly attached I am getting to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to do something with these children in my future, and I am determined to make their futures brighter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It honestly keeps me up at night when I think about all I want to do for these children, but don’t know if I can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it was easy, I swear to God I’d bring all seven of them home to the United States with me. (Don’t worry mom, I know that’s not possible.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their smiles are completely contagious, and they warm my heart every morning without fail.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As exhausting<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as the days are, I wish I could just play with them all day because after we leave the schools, we just go around town and then come back to the Lodge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess it’s a good thing, for me, that we don’t stay any longer because I’m already crushed when I have to leave them every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow I think I’m going to bring in my jar of peanut butter since I’ve been eating the Malawain peanut butter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peanut butter is so filling and so good for you, so I’m going to give it to my seven little boys when they walk with me again tomorrow, and tell them to bring some to their families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully they won’t go hungry over the weekend now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t have spoons to give them, but the jars still completely filled so they can just dig in.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tomorrow Katie and I are bringing in 20 50-piece puzzles because the children don’t know what puzzles are.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think they’ll have a ball with them, as well as work how to learn together and how to visualize something in their heads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are also going to try to take their pictures so that we can get them developed and they can make a “passport” next week, but I know once we pull out the cameras their all going to come running.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have “human body” worksheets, so I think one of us will work on those with them and the other one of us will call students out one by one to take their picture outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’ll see if it works, but I hope it does because that’d be such a cute keepsake for them to have. Well, that’s all for now. Nothing but the children on my mind! Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So, a quick humor relief.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tonight I ate a bug, on complete accident, and it was absolutely terrifying. So, the power went out (casual) while me and Katie were munching on my trail mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I was typing on my computer I felt what I thought was a peanut on my lap and, normally, took a bite out of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I quickly realized it was definitely not a peanut and whatever it was tasted kind of peppermint-y at first, but then started burning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I thought maybe it was a piece of sugar cane that somebody had dropped on my bed (no other explanation).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spit it out of my month and quickly shined my computer on what I had just put in my mouth, I screamed at the top of my lungs after I saw the dead bug lying on my lap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ran into the bathroom to rinse my mouth out, still screaming and mouth still on fire, while Katie and Jameson are laughing hysterically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Within minutes I think everybody at Annie’s had heard I ate a stinkbug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glad somebody got a kick out of it, and glad I know now that I could never be on Fear Factor!<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-33412769304651650922011-06-28T07:56:00.003-07:002011-06-28T07:56:23.814-07:003rd day teaching<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, June 22:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was completely, purely blissful and probably one of the happiest days of my entire life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before this trip, the happiest day of my life would consist of gaining the perfect body (no pun intended), scoring the best boyfriend and suddenly being loaded with money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, today was the happiest and most perfect day for me because we pulled up to school and you could spot me and Katie’s class from a mile away by the way they were clinging onto their new bags, my children then loved the lesson we taught them and were completely engaged, and I got even closer to my seven favorite little boys, who then all walked me to the other school holding my hands.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I woke up feeling a lot better this morning, going into today with a positive attitude and telling myself that everything I was freaking out about yesterday wasn’t even an issue in the minds of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We headed to the schools were we pulled up to the children screaming “azungo” meaning white people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was actually really funny, they were all saying it and cheering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our fifth graders who were all calling us by name immediately attacked Katie and me, and it made me feel really special because a lot of the other students still don’t know their teachers names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A teacher in training came for the first half-hour and taught the kids some math, while me and Katie sat by, fixing broken bags from the day before and handing out the nine notebooks to the boys who didn’t get them yesterday as well as the bags to the three girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I immediately felt relieved because now everyone was on the same page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the teachers left, Katie and I hung up the calendar that we made (which turned out so well!) and told them all to get out their notebooks that we made them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked them how many minutes were in an hour, how many hours were in a day, how many days in a week, week in a month and months in a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They answered all of the questions and we wrote them on the board for them to write in their notebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we asked them when Christmas and New Years was, which they knew right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever answered the question would then go put a sticker on the calendar where that day was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then asked if they knew when their birthdays were, but they didn’t understand that word so we wrote it on the board and put “birthday: the day that you are born”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teacher had to translate for us because they still didn’t know what we were talking about, but after she said something to them they understood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked for volunteers to put a sticker on the calendar of where their birthday was, and of course everyone started going crazy and throwing their hands up because they wanted to use the stickers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about 30 students put their birthdays on the calendar, we figured that was enough and we taught them a game of Simon Says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a really good game because they had to listen very closely, but they caught on pretty quickly after the teacher translated some rules for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also good because we would say “Simon says touch your knees”, and they’d have to remember what knees meant in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, we had them all sit back down and we passed out construction paper and crayons/ markers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s funny how greedy these kids can get!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We passed out all 96 of the crayons, and then still had about 20 students left so they got markers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, everyone started grabbing at the markers and they still don’t really understand the concept of “sharing”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess we will have to work on that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We told them all to draw their favorite animal, and most of them were either fish, giraffe, zebra or chicken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people draw goats and monkeys and I’m telling you, these kids are great artists!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since they don’t have the supplies, I don’t think art is something they get to do a lot but they are all so talented and they all truly enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I had enough materials to give them all to take home, because I think it’s a good distraction for them when the going gets rough.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After all of our lesson was over, the kids had their break at 11 am where we went outside and played with the jump rope for a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went inside because the dust was flying everywhere, and of course 50 students followed me back inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pretty humorous when I walked back in and realized that all of the stickers had been taken off the calendar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quick look around and I saw all of my students with smiley face stickers on their faces and ears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haha oh well guess I can’t blame them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We looked over the picture book for awhile, which our teacher (Onida) had yet to see, and that was so fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was asking so many questions about the pictures and was so excited when I told her that she could keep it for their classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some more playing and showing of pictures, it had quickly become noon and Katie and I had to heard over to MIE to eat lunch and discuss today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were leaving, Onida told us that we were such great teachers and she couldn’t believe we had never taught before because we were so interactive with the students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then told us she wished we didn’t have to leave and that we could teach all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids all attacked us with hugs and walked us out the door again. (Just visualize this: 100 plus 5<sup>th</sup> graders running up to you and leading you out the door which barely fits three people in it. Bliss.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I then headed to MIE, and I was smiling from head to toe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today was so successful.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We ate our sandwiches at MIE and discussed things, but my mind and heart was still completely with my class. I was hoping that my seven little boys would walk by MIE again because I brought extra granola bars for them today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, just as we were leaving to walk to the Demonstration School, there comes Chisisi, Allfu, Robert, Reyo, Henery, Raphael and Yokobe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I handed them the two granola bars and told them to share, even though they don’t understand the word, but they always share everything so I wasn’t worried about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all blew me kisses and kept thanking me, and then we started heading to the Demonstration School.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>About ten minutes into the walk, I hear “Kelsey! Kelsey!”, we all turn around and there are my seven little boys following me to the Demonstration School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all grab my hands and thank me again for the food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was just looking at me, and I felt so amazing about the bond I was forming with my students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walked about fifteen minutes today, and then Robert ran into the woods and came out a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>second later holding a baby bird! I have no idea how the heck he saw the bird from the street, but it must have been no more than a few days old. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess this wasn’t anything new to them, because they were all passing it around and putting it in their pockets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pictures with it are adorable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, we all got to the school and the kids left, all giving me hugs saying they couldn’t wait until tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve all opened up to me so much just since Monday and I honestly, truly want to adopt them. (Surprise surprise.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I seriously don’t know how I am going to say goodbye to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I could promise them that I will be back, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s so much I want to give them and say to them, but I can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, I have another 9 days with them and I am going to try to do everything I can for them in that time. For now; peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-74776634500014712642011-06-28T07:56:00.001-07:002011-06-28T07:56:13.899-07:003rd day teaching<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, June 22:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today was completely, purely blissful and probably one of the happiest days of my entire life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before this trip, the happiest day of my life would consist of gaining the perfect body (no pun intended), scoring the best boyfriend and suddenly being loaded with money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, today was the happiest and most perfect day for me because we pulled up to school and you could spot me and Katie’s class from a mile away by the way they were clinging onto their new bags, my children then loved the lesson we taught them and were completely engaged, and I got even closer to my seven favorite little boys, who then all walked me to the other school holding my hands.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I woke up feeling a lot better this morning, going into today with a positive attitude and telling myself that everything I was freaking out about yesterday wasn’t even an issue in the minds of others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We headed to the schools were we pulled up to the children screaming “azungo” meaning white people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was actually really funny, they were all saying it and cheering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our fifth graders who were all calling us by name immediately attacked Katie and me, and it made me feel really special because a lot of the other students still don’t know their teachers names.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A teacher in training came for the first half-hour and taught the kids some math, while me and Katie sat by, fixing broken bags from the day before and handing out the nine notebooks to the boys who didn’t get them yesterday as well as the bags to the three girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I immediately felt relieved because now everyone was on the same page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the teachers left, Katie and I hung up the calendar that we made (which turned out so well!) and told them all to get out their notebooks that we made them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked them how many minutes were in an hour, how many hours were in a day, how many days in a week, week in a month and months in a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They answered all of the questions and we wrote them on the board for them to write in their notebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we asked them when Christmas and New Years was, which they knew right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whoever answered the question would then go put a sticker on the calendar where that day was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then asked if they knew when their birthdays were, but they didn’t understand that word so we wrote it on the board and put “birthday: the day that you are born”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The teacher had to translate for us because they still didn’t know what we were talking about, but after she said something to them they understood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We asked for volunteers to put a sticker on the calendar of where their birthday was, and of course everyone started going crazy and throwing their hands up because they wanted to use the stickers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about 30 students put their birthdays on the calendar, we figured that was enough and we taught them a game of Simon Says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a really good game because they had to listen very closely, but they caught on pretty quickly after the teacher translated some rules for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was also good because we would say “Simon says touch your knees”, and they’d have to remember what knees meant in English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, we had them all sit back down and we passed out construction paper and crayons/ markers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s funny how greedy these kids can get!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We passed out all 96 of the crayons, and then still had about 20 students left so they got markers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, everyone started grabbing at the markers and they still don’t really understand the concept of “sharing”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Guess we will have to work on that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We told them all to draw their favorite animal, and most of them were either fish, giraffe, zebra or chicken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some people draw goats and monkeys and I’m telling you, these kids are great artists!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since they don’t have the supplies, I don’t think art is something they get to do a lot but they are all so talented and they all truly enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I had enough materials to give them all to take home, because I think it’s a good distraction for them when the going gets rough.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After all of our lesson was over, the kids had their break at 11 am where we went outside and played with the jump rope for a little bit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went inside because the dust was flying everywhere, and of course 50 students followed me back inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was pretty humorous when I walked back in and realized that all of the stickers had been taken off the calendar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A quick look around and I saw all of my students with smiley face stickers on their faces and ears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Haha oh well guess I can’t blame them!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We looked over the picture book for awhile, which our teacher (Onida) had yet to see, and that was so fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was asking so many questions about the pictures and was so excited when I told her that she could keep it for their classroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After some more playing and showing of pictures, it had quickly become noon and Katie and I had to heard over to MIE to eat lunch and discuss today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were leaving, Onida told us that we were such great teachers and she couldn’t believe we had never taught before because we were so interactive with the students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She then told us she wished we didn’t have to leave and that we could teach all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids all attacked us with hugs and walked us out the door again. (Just visualize this: 100 plus 5<sup>th</sup> graders running up to you and leading you out the door which barely fits three people in it. Bliss.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I then headed to MIE, and I was smiling from head to toe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today was so successful.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We ate our sandwiches at MIE and discussed things, but my mind and heart was still completely with my class. I was hoping that my seven little boys would walk by MIE again because I brought extra granola bars for them today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, just as we were leaving to walk to the Demonstration School, there comes Chisisi, Allfu, Robert, Reyo, Henery, Raphael and Yokobe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I handed them the two granola bars and told them to share, even though they don’t understand the word, but they always share everything so I wasn’t worried about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all blew me kisses and kept thanking me, and then we started heading to the Demonstration School.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>About ten minutes into the walk, I hear “Kelsey! Kelsey!”, we all turn around and there are my seven little boys following me to the Demonstration School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all grab my hands and thank me again for the food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was just looking at me, and I felt so amazing about the bond I was forming with my students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walked about fifteen minutes today, and then Robert ran into the woods and came out a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>second later holding a baby bird! I have no idea how the heck he saw the bird from the street, but it must have been no more than a few days old. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess this wasn’t anything new to them, because they were all passing it around and putting it in their pockets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The pictures with it are adorable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, we all got to the school and the kids left, all giving me hugs saying they couldn’t wait until tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’ve all opened up to me so much just since Monday and I honestly, truly want to adopt them. (Surprise surprise.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I seriously don’t know how I am going to say goodbye to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish I could promise them that I will be back, but I don’t know if that’s true or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s so much I want to give them and say to them, but I can’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, I have another 9 days with them and I am going to try to do everything I can for them in that time. For now; peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-51949055272997808352011-06-21T07:30:00.001-07:002011-06-21T07:30:16.085-07:002nd day :) Long post!<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Tuesday, June 21:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, today was an extremely challenging and trying day for me; just one of those days where you don’t wake up feeling so hot and then throughout the day things just don’t go as planned. For starters, I woke up feeling really sick again; completely congested and very lethargic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, today was the day we were handing out the notebooks and the bags so I was still extremely excited about the events to later come!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We got to school at the normal 9:15 time and went straight to our classrooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our kids were all so excited to see us, and thankfully the teacher was in today to help us (although most of the time she just sat there and smiled and wasn’t much help with translations).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We handed out their notebooks which we loved, except we were 9 short due to the fact that we had 25 extra students today..leaving us with a whopping total of 105 students.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we went from front to back, the 9 who didn’t get notebooks were the group of boys that always sit in the back against the wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt extremely guilty for not bringing enough, even though yesterday we were promised that the 80 students was our exact class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We carried on with the lecture, and I gave the 9 boys some loose-leaf paper from my binder but they still didn’t really participate.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I would read a line of the short story, Katie would then write the line on the board, and then we would have the students repeat the line from the board and write it in their notebooks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of them were so great! Their handwriting was very neat, they stayed in the lines and they understood the words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is always the same students that participate, and it’s hard to get others involved when they don’t speak much English and we have 90 other students to focus on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, after they all wrote the story we read it outloud together (again, everyone all on different pages academically) and then Katie and I acted out the story to help them better understand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure if it worked or not, but at least they got a kick out of Katie and I acting like chickens!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the story was over, we decided to try to teach them some punctuation, which failed miserably.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All they understood was a question mark, and they couldn’t pronounce “exclamation points”, let alone grasp the concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After about 10 minutes of trying to explain quotation marks and exclamation points, we realized we weren’t getting anywhere and the class was growing anxious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then handed the class over to the teacher, who continued with their normal lecture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sat in that classroom feeling extremely discouraged, and it only grew.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We took our break at the normal 11 am time, where Allison and I tought them American dance moves, such as the “Bernie”, the “Stanky Leg” and the “John Wall”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They thought it was absolutely hysterical and we got some pretty great pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we headed back to our classrooms after break, all of our students were doing the Bernie. Success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I then decided to hand out the bags, which I had brought in earlier with one of my suitcases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The students had been staring at the suitcase all day so they knew they were getting some sort of surprise at the end of the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We told them we were about to give them a present and that they had to stay seated or they wouldn’t get one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, once we pulled the bags out it was complete chaos! We got completely bombarded, kids were screaming and pulling bags out of our hands and the straps of the bags were ripping left and right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the bags were all handed out, we realized we were short 3 bags which, again, increased my discouragement, but Katie and I knew there would be a different amount of students every day so there wasn’t going to be a better time to hand them out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know which 3 students didn’t get the bags, because if I looked at them I would have cried, but Katie and I are going to try to put together some sort of present for them tonight- as well as making 9 more books that we were short of this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As all the children were holding onto their bags like their most prized possession, they started running up to me and Katie and giving us the biggest hugs telling us they loved us and how thankful they were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got really teary eyed as I was completely swarmed by hugs from our class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing is, here in Malawi everyone shares everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever they have is scarce, so they grow up learning to share with their friends and their families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I felt bad that the rest of the classes weren’t getting as many goodies as our class was, but at the same time a lot of them are siblings and will be able to share the bags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will definitely make their way around, and the gratitude our students showed made it all worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, the fact that straps were ripped off of a lot of bags was very upsetting and frustrating, but they are used to fixing things here and I’m sure it will be fixed in no time.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As we walked over to the college at noon, I was a jumbled mix of emotions and couldn’t really handle it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt guilty that our lesson didn’t work out as planned, I felt so sad that we didn’t have enough books or bags for everyone, I was sick in itself, and I got so anxious thinking about everything I want to give, but can’t give, these children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of them carry around all their belongings in plastic grocery bags they find in the dirt. At home, we go grocery shopping and the bags go straight into the trash!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just wish I could do everything for these children, and I feel like I’m doing nothing and it’s killing me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know this is all my perfectionism coming out, so today was definitely a huge challenge for “Ms. Perfectionism” and I realize how much my perfectionism takes over my emotions.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After we ate lunch and shared our thoughts from the day, we walked over the Malemia school to get our first drumming lesson! As we walked up the hill, we heard the other students playing the drums, and I got chills all over my body.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It brought me immediately back to Alldredge and just added to the rush of emotions I’ve been feeling today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was extremely anxious the whole time we were in the drumming circle learing the lessons, because I just wanted to get up and teach them the songs I know!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It felt so good to drum again and while looking at everyone learning, I remembered so clearly the first time we started drumming at Alldredge and how confused we were.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, at the end, the instructor looked at me and goes “You’ve played before? Haven’t you? Do you have a tune?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then I got to teach “Kambusansan” to everyone! I didn’t teach them the chant, or the duet part, just the basic rhthym but it was amazing hearing the song being played again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wish we could drum every day here!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Now, we are back at the Lodge relaxing and showering and then we will work on tomorrows lesson plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly said we are only supposed to be teaching one lesson a day, so it’s okay that we didn’t teach our class the entire time today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said whether our lesson takes an hour or the whole 3 hours, that is fine!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That made me feel a little better, but I’m still upset as to how everything played out today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully tomorrow I’ll feel better about everything, and just keep reminding myself that these children are all so thankful of everything we are doing for them, whether things go as planned or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talk later, peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-18578746984066772482011-06-21T07:29:00.001-07:002011-06-21T07:29:39.219-07:00First day of teaching!<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Monday, June 19:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today’s experience is what this trip is meant to be about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We woke up at the normal time, ate the standard breakfast, and took the usual ride to the schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tech arrived at our school at 9:15 am and went into our classrooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inida, Katie and I’s teacher, wasn’t there so Katie and I had the 80 plus students completely on our own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I actually preferred that, because we really felt incharge!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Minute by minute, the children’s excitement grew as we pulled out packs of crayons and colored paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We spent the first thirty minutes introducing ourselves, writing our names on the board, and showing them a map of where Africa is in relation to the United States.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, we had them pass around the picture book that I made and they absolutely loved it! It was interesting because they knew the words “family”, “dog” and “football”, but they didn’t know the word “brother”, “sister” or “ocean”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, we pulled out signs that read “CHAIR”, “CHALK BOARD”, “DESK”, “WALL”, “DOOR”, and “WINDOW”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would ask them to raise their hands to read the words and them place the signs in the correct spot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we quickly reviewed ABC’s, and things that start with those letters, and then we hung up alphabet and number posters around the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This all took about an hour, and then we introduced the exciting stuff!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We traced our hands on the board and wrote our names on them and went over the questions we wanted them to answer on each of their fingers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, we pulled out all the construction paper, crayons and markers and the students literally went crazy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have never seen a group of more excited or happy kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We passed out a piece of paper and a crayon or marker to everyone and they wouldn’t stop saying “zikomo” with the biggest smiles on their faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They all started the project, and from their answers we quickly realized the difference in learning levels of the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their ages range from 10 to 14, and a lot of them didn’t understand what “food” meant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, we tried putting stickers on each of their completed projects, but we literally got trampled when we pulled the stickers out, it was ridiculous! We told them 1 sticker each, so they would cover the sticker on their paper with their finger and come back asking for another sticker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was so hectic we didn’t really notice, and some kids had five smiley face stickers on their project. Oops!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we had them help us hang them up all over the room, and by the end of the day the walls were bright colors of reds, greens, blues, yellows and pinks rather than the bare white walls previously.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>After the projects were all done, we took them outside for their “break” where we gave them the nerf football and the jumprope, which they absolutely loved!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, one jumprope and one football isn’t nearly enough for 80 students, and sharing is a concept they don’t really understand when it comes to items that they usually don’t have access to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also brought disposopal cameras and tried letting them take 1 picture each, but hands were flying everywhere and people were grabbing from eachother so that failed rather quickly!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After break, we went back to the classroom for the last thirty minutes or so and had them sing and dance and also called students up to write their names on the board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am determined to memorize as many names as possible, which might be impossible with 80 names that I can hardly pronounce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time we had to leave, I can confidently say we were completely exhausted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children all followed us out giving us hugs and saying thank you and making us promise we would be back tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It broke my heart, and I kept saying “No, thank YOU!”, because I am so grateful for them allowing themselves to open up to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">I got so close already today to a few of them, namely Ellsy, Airfu and Yakobe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s funny how similar they are to American children, though!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I immediately realized who the trouble makers and class clowns were, as well as the suck-ups!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some, Raphael, Edward, Ulim and Chisisi are the class clowns, but absolutely hysterical and truly sweet little boys. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After we were done teaching, we walked to the college building next door where we ate our lunches and discussed the first idea/ threw out ideas for eachother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we all talked, we were just hanging out when Airfu and Yakobe walked by the door and came in and waved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told them to come in, and they hung out with us for a good twenty minutes before they had to walk home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Allison and I let them use our cameras so they took like 50 pictures of me and Allison! They thought it was so cool, and it was nice to let them use the camera without being bombarded by everyone else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the school setting, there’s no way I would have let someone hold my camera or it’d be stompled on in a second.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They loved taking pictures, and they actually learned pretty quickly how to use it! I showed them how to zoom in and out and how to videotape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon, it was time for us to leave to pick up the other college students, and Airfu and Yakobe walked out holding my hands and saying they couldn’t wait for tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today was truly so special.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">When we left the school we went downtown to get some waters and school supplies, and everyone was really dragging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children really took it out of us, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way! Katie and I made our own dinner tonight with the water warmer, and it actually worked well for our oatmeal and easy Mac! Although, we were still starving after the one little packet serving so we snacked on my trail mix while we made the lesson plan for tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Tomorrow we will be handing out their bags, which we stuffed with pens and stickers, and we made them notebooks with loose-leaf paper and construction paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are going to totally flip out over the bags tomorrow and Katie and me are so excited to see their reaction! Dr. Kelly printed out some children’s stories for us, so we will read the story outloud to them and then write a sentence on the board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will then have to repeat the sentence and write it in their books which we will pass out in the beginning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will take awhile because there are about 15 sentences in the short little story called “The Wolf and the Lamb”, which we changed to “The Wolf and the Chicken” because we didn’t know if they would know what a lamb was haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that lesson, before the end of the day, we will hand out their bags and tell them to put their notebooks in them and to bring their bags to class everyday so they don’t lose things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know they’re going to be so caught up in the excitement but I hope they take care of them and don’t lose them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyways, cannot wait for tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-16781793626545446312011-06-19T10:50:00.001-07:002011-06-19T10:50:44.543-07:00Slow Sunday..<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Sunday, June 19:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today has been a pretty uneventful day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We woke up at 7:45 am, on our only day to sleep in!, to go to the Presbyterian mass at the bottom of the hill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mass was from 9 to 11 am and was full of song and open prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was actually surprised at how similar it was to masses at home, just much longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of “Lord hear our prayer”, one man and woman from the crowd volunteered and offered up their prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man prayed for the economy and the suffering and starving families, while the woman brought us girls to tears when emphasizing the tragic rape and trafficking that young girls are experiencing all over Malawi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, instead of passing around baskets for donations, the minister called individuals up by what “District” they are apart of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a coed choir that sang throughout the mass and whose voices were beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am obviously not an avid church-goer, but it was beautiful and a good Malawian experience.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We were back to the lodge by 11:30, in which everyone who didn’t go was just waking me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of us blogged and finished reading “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” and then napped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 3, all the Tech students met with Doctor Kelly to discuss lesson plans for this week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was so thankful for that meeting, because everyone talking together circulated a lot of great ideas and made me less nervous about teaching and coming up with lesson plans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really interesting, but Dr. Kelly was warning us how the children tend to plagiarize everything, not because they know about cheating, but because they always think there’s only one right answer to questions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, if you ask them what their favorite color is, and you tell them yours is purple, they will write down that their favorite color is purple as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Same thing as if one student puts down he is from the Zomba village, the students next to him will write down the same answer even if they’re not from that village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently the students here are just so concerned with being wrong and they don’t have high self-esteems, which is something I can’t wait to work with them on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I went back to our room and brainstormed and came up with some really great ideas! <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Tomorrow is just going to be our “Introduction Day” because we still don’t have a firm understanding of their learning level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are bringing in the “ABC” and “Number” posters to decorate the classroom tomorrow, as well as signs that say “Door”, “Window”, “Table”, “Wall” that we will hang up so they start visualizing those English words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomorrow we will be bringing in the picture book that I made and we will tell them a little about ourselves and then pass around the book while showing them on a map where the US is in relation to Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lastly, we will be making “hand tracings” tomorrow as our lesson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each student will get a piece of construction paper and some crayons and will have to trace there hand and write their name in the middle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On each finger they were have to put the answer to a certain question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, on their pinky they have to put their age, on their ring finger they have to put their favorite color, then their favorite food, then what they want to be when they’re older and lastly, their village name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think this is a perfect first day, to allow everyone to get to know eachother and have fun! Hopefully they won’t copy eachother’s answers, and me and Katie will be offering “prizes” to those students who write their own individual answers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hand tracing is also a great lesson because they have to practice their English reading and writing, and we will help them with spelling of their words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After everything is done, we will hang up the hands all around the room so the bare white walls don’t look as empty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am so excited! Katie and I also started putting the bags together tonight and we were both saying how much we’re going to cry when we hand the bags out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We filled each bag with a pen, pencil, pieces of construction paper, a sheet of stickers, and then once we buy the notebooks (hopefully tomorrow) we will put that in there as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children are literally going to freak out and probably start screaming, it will be like Christmas morning for them.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Well, I am probably going to go to sleep soon. I woke up this morning with a really bad cold; I’m all stuffed up an feel just really crappy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My skin’s really pale today too (God knows I’m not okay with that!) so hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I just felt crappy today all around; I’ve been eating so many carbs here because there’s not many other options, so we all feel kind of bloated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the PB, honey and banana sandwiches I don’t think will ever get old here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have them for breakfast and lunch and they continue to satisfy me! Well, that’s all for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-75547279131918260362011-06-18T11:34:00.001-07:002011-06-18T11:34:49.536-07:00Day 5<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Saturday, June 17:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This morning and afternoon was amazing thanks to Simion!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all woke up and had breakfast then headed towards the mountains at about 9 am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We arrived to Ku Chawe Mountain, on the Zomba Plateau, at about 9:30 am and went immediately to the horse-barns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know if I have ever been on a higher peek or seen a more beautiful mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 8 “new” riders went on the first round of horses while the rest of us “experienced” riders hung out by the barns, took pictures and ate an early lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in the second group, and we headed out when the others got back around 11:30 am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My horses name was “Nick A Quid” and he is an old race horse!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s humorous that I was in the “experienced” riders group but I told them I wanted to go fast and wasn’t scared so they put me in the second group, which I am so glad they did!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simion and I were at the front of the line and were told to go off on our own because we were way faster than the rest of the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I got to trot, canter and gallop up and down mountains, passing a waterfall, surrounded by sunshine and pine trees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After an hour plus ride, we got back to the barn at about 12:45.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For over an hour of horseback riding, in the beautiful mountains of Africa, we only owed 4000 kwatcha which is about 20 US dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What kind of amazing deal is that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After the rides, we went up to the hotel on the mountain while Dr. Kelly and the other professors got beer and relaxed and us students shopped around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we were pulling out, we were swarmed again by all of the vendors throwing things in our windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently this is what we need to do at all of the markets: we refuse to pay the prices, and then when our bus is on its way out and the vendors see that we are really leaving, they lower the price by at least ½.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly said that their initial offer is 7 times greater than the actual price of the item because they tend to take advantage of “clueless” American tourists. Not us! I have yet to buy anything except food because I honestly think my pictures and memories are good enough souvenirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d rather save all of my money to be able to donate at the end, but I would like to get a bag and something for my parents at the big market next weekend.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">We got back from the adventure at about 3 and most of us got on the internet (finally!) and then took a nap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For dinner tonight I had a vegetable pie, which was like a vegetable hot pocket. It was very good and the portions here make me feel skinny. That’s always a plus haha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now Katie and I are about to start our lesson plan for Monday, which is hard because our teacher gave us no direction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly, I don’t know how much we will be teaching but more-so just putting smiles on the kids faces and making them feel loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Tomorrow morning we are going to Church at 9 am which I am so excited for and really have no idea what to expect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly said it will last at least 2 hours because of all of the music, but the mass is in English and Chichewa which will be great.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will try to videotape it! Talk tomorrow. Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-57900931950568441012011-06-18T05:48:00.001-07:002011-06-18T05:48:23.812-07:00Day 4<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Friday June 16:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Well, last night was a lot of fun but I was definitely exhausted when we had to wake up this morning! After we all ate last night at 5, we went to Bebe and Allison’s room (next to us) and all played cards and drank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were about 15 of us and we all stayed in there until about midnight when we decided to instead start a dance party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the end, it was just me, Katie, Anna, Katlin, Bebe and Allison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was hysterical! I really did get to know everyone better tonight even through a stupid card game and “never have I ever”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am definitely starting to get very close to these people.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">This morning we woke up at the standard time, got breakfast and made our sandwiches for later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We dropped off the Radford and NC A&T people at their schools and then got dropped off at ours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I got to meet the teacher we will be working with in Standard 5, Onida.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is young and so sweet and the children really seem to love her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 5<sup>th</sup> grade classes were combined today because the other teacher was out, so she was teaching 200 children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I got extremely overwhelmed, but then we were informed that we will only be teaching around 70 of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I realized how difficult this really is going to be, but all of us are going to help eachother come up with lesson plans since we’re all teaching between the grades of standard 4 and standard 6 or 7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">I cannot wait for Monday when I can start to get to know my 70 students, and Katie and I will probably put together the bags to handout on Tuesday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are going to try to get notebooks for each bag (we have 100 bags) and then add bubbles, pens, paper and crayons to each. Dr. Kelly also said we are allowed to give away clothes/shoes to certain students, even though it might be nearly impossible since students surround us at all times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Kelly also gave us alot of ideas for places and people to donate to, so we have so many options.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if I just gave the donation money to the school we are working at, I would feel like I made a huge difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beforehand I wanted to donate something specific, but now I realize that anything, to anyone, would be of huge, significance importance.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">We stayed at the schools from 9 am to about 12:30 pm, and then we walked to the attached “Domasi College” that usually schools teachers in training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were there for about an hour and learned some basic history on Malawi and ate our lunch (since we can’t eat them around the children since they don’t get a meal at their school).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On our way out, three students came up to our bus (without shoes on) and started talking to all of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were absolutely adorable, and one of the boys names was Gerard who Dr. Kelly and the other teachers remember from previous years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He kept asking people to take him back to America with them, and it really made me cry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, Anna gave them 4 of her fruit snack packs and Gerard came up to her, grabbed her hand and said, “You is my friend.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We both got really teary, and then the bus pulled away.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">We went to the town afterwards to get waters and walk around, and also stopped in the Internet café since the Internet here is still down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Lodge promised us that the Internet would be working by 8 am tomorrow morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am trying not to get my hopes up but that would be super considering I want to post all of these daily updates on my blog and upload my pictures!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards we headed back to the Lodge, showered and ate dinner; grilled cheese and “chips” again for me!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simion planned an amazing trip for us tomorrow which we are all so excited about because we had no plans!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will be leaving at 9 am and going horse-back riding in the mountains behind the lodge! Talk about once in a lifetime experience, horse-back riding in the mountains of Malawi, Africa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If all goes as planned, I will come back and upload everything! Talk to you, actually, tomorrow. Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-70975772543372520652011-06-18T05:47:00.005-07:002011-06-18T05:47:52.235-07:00Day 3<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Thursday June 16:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Well, today has been amazing from beginning to end. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We woke up at the normal 7:30 am time and went down to the restaurant for breakfast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a tomato and peppers omelet and a small croissant with their delicious home-made honey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then all piled into our “home-away-from-home” bus, and headed towards the schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stopped at all three schools, the one that Tech is teaching at, the one that NC A&T is teaching at, and the one that Radford is teaching at so we could get an idea of where everyone would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first stop was at Radford’s school, called Malemia, and this was definitely the poorest of all three schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we pulled up, our faces dropped and we were all in awe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children swarmed the bus, just as I had seen pictures of, and we all got off and played with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then followed them into their classrooms where they sung the ABC’s for us, and several traditional Malawian teaching songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The students were then called for lunch, their one and only meal of the day, where they stood in line and had porridge poured into their cups.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If they didn’t have cups, they didn’t get any.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the most heart-breaking, yet heart-warming thing because all of the kids were still so happy and so excited for this one, small meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children who didn’t have cups were offered food from their friends, and the older students almost always gave away their lunch to the younger ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie even saw two sisters pour their porridge into one cup and put it in their bag to save for dinner later for their family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After an hour at that school, we headed to Domasi Government, the school we will be teaching at! I honestly don’t think I have ever been so excited, nervous and overwhelmed with joy in my entire life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We pulled up and went into all the classrooms again, standard 1-6 grade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rooms were completely bare, on wooden dirt floors, and the children all sat piled in on the floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right before we left, Katie and I went into the 6<sup>th</sup> grade classroom because we heard singing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Honestly, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Part of the class was singing “Hallelujah” and the other half of the class was singing “Jesus walks in the light.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I both held back tears, and my body was completely numb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could children that have absolutely nothing still be so happy, secure and faithful? It was extremely emotional.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were then assigned our classes before we left, and Katie and I will be working with a new teacher helping to teach standard 5!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We didn’t care who we got assigned, and even though standard 1-3 children are the cutest, they know almost zero English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Katie and I will be helping children who know the basic English vocabulary, so our teaching will be of vital importance to increase their knowledge. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">After another hour, we then headed to the last school that NC A&T will be teaching at, the Demonstration Government school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The school was way more advanced than the first two, and each classroom was equipped with lesson plans, desks and school supplies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because this school is slightly more advanced, A&T students will be working with them on using technology, sewing and raising chicken farms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The children in all three schools were beautiful, and I now understand how truly impossible it is going to be to leave them, especially once I get so close to my 5<sup>th</sup> graders!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Overall, today I finally realized how much of a difference me being here will make; one person can make a difference, and together we are changing these children’s futures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am going now to do another money exchange, but the Internet is getting fixed so I will be updating again soon. Peace, love, Malawi. <o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-19301269488476446032011-06-18T05:47:00.001-07:002011-06-18T05:47:20.533-07:00Day 2 Continued..<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">This morning we woke up at 7:45 am, packed up our rooms and loaded our luggage to head to Zomba! I got bread at breakfast and made a PB, J and banana sandwich for the long ride.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone was extremely hungover so it was quite a funny site this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before we left, Peter brought “Q” to the lodge where he sold his poetry books and took pictures with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said this was his first book signing and it really made me tear up. You could tell he was so excited and hopeful and he had the biggest smile on his face while signing the books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We then rode about 2.5 hours to Dedza which was the most beautiful place I have seen thusfar!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a small restaurant and pottery place, surrounded by mountains, clear skies and beautiful flowers everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We finally got to order food besides chicken, so we enjoyed grilled cheeses and pizza and then headed back to the bus for the continued six hour drive to Annie’s Lodge in Zomba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After stopping in a market, and being stopped twice by officials, we finally arrived at the Lodge at 7:30 pm and were all very pleasantly surprised.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">The Lodge here is absolutely beautiful; completely different and legitimately 10 times the size of the Annie’s Lodge in Lilongwe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are 3 levels up the hill of rooms, there is a conference room, a restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, and the most beautiful views of the Egyptian/ African ridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we arrived, since it was pitch black and we couldn’t walk around, we brought our luggage to our rooms, and headed to the restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The menu is almost completely American, which was a huge sigh of relief because I don’t think I can eat chicken and rice for at least another week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ordered macaroni Bolognese which was very good, and then me and Katie headed back to our room to unpack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We each have our own bed and storage closet, and the “party shower” could hold at least 7 or 8 people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We made the small coffee table into our “snack bar” with all the collection of food we brought and we used half of our closets for school supply storage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Completely ready to take a nice, warm shower and go to bed, we learned that our hot water was broken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, while trying to access the Internet, we blew a fuse and temporarily broke our converter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After hours of failed use with the Internet, everyone realized that we might be without Facebook and email for the next three weeks, which is kind of terrifying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oops. Ready to finally go to sleep, I realized that I bought the wrong batteries for my alarm clock so we had to ask the other girls to wake us up in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all, it has been an extremely long day but I am so happy to finally be in Zomba!<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Tomorrow we will be touring all three schools in Domasi and then choosing which teacher we want to work with, and in two days we will be assigned and teaching our new classroom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopefully we will have working Internet tomorrow so I can update my blog and upload the hundreds of pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peace, love, Malawi.<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5452599914607074616.post-23329620609467794492011-06-18T05:46:00.001-07:002011-06-18T05:46:39.154-07:00Day 2<!--StartFragment--> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Wednesday, June 15:<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Last night was amazing! We all got ready in the dark which was definitely unfortunate, but it was nice being able to get somewhat dressed up and we were all so thankful that Peter had planned this for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all piled into the bus at 6:30, so it was already pitch-black and nobody had any idea where we were going.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We drove for about 30 minutes and were drinking in the car before we pulled up to Kumbali, a lodge and entertainment center where Madonna stays when she comes and visits with her children!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the staff had met her and there were pictures of her, but we didn’t go over to the actual lodge to see what room she stays in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all got drinks and watched the small little band, and then ate a buffet dinner, consisting of chicken, beans and rice. Per usual.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Afterwards, continuing to drink, we listened to a truly inspiring poetry reading by “Q”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His two poems were both truly incredible and so moving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is so talented and some people were even tearing up. We all gave him a standing ovation and I know he felt so proud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">Still continuing to drink, we then watched the tribal ceremony which was so amazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men all played the drums while the women did the tribal dances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I, after a few drinks, decided to just walk up and start dancing with them, and before we knew it we were all up there learning the dances with the women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After another hour of the tribal dances, Peter put in an ipod and we had a dance party for the next couple of hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The night consisted of people passed out in the woods, Dr. Kelly shaking her groove-thing, and a few of the girls locking lips with the Canadian travelers, Ha!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We left at 12:30 am, and on the bus ride back to Annie’s Lodge we had an outburst of singing, well screaming, at the top of our lungs lyrics to random old songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, we busted out Backstreet Boys, Jackson 5, Spice Girls, you know all the classics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got home at about 1 am and pretty much all went straight to bed, but it was a ridiculously fun and successful night. I love everyone here and the Radford girls and boys from UN A&T and Radford are all so much fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Us Tech girls are all getting super close which makes me really, and I know I will leave here with lifelong friends.<o:p></o:p></div><!--EndFragment-->Kelsey Leighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03881533993044498544noreply@blogger.com0