ps: make sure to also read becca and tanya's new posts below!
This is the fifth day I have been in Lilongwe and it has already amazed me. Since I landed this city has been such a mix of familiar (in terms of how Yangon looked) and so different with its red earth and different lifestyle and people. We've met all the people we are supposed to meet and went to the different places we're supposed to volunteer at. I'm so excited to be starting on Monday. In fact, we're probably and hopefully doing more than planned since we met the people from Raising Malawi, we'll probably be linked up with more remote and beautiful places. I feel like this trip will go by too fast and I will leave this place wanting to learn more and experience the beauty of this place more.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
tanya
I arrived in Malawi today and it has been a long, exciting, interesting day. I have already been in Kenya for a month and have learned profoundly of a lot of things.
Anyway, back to my arrival in Lilongwe. A quick peek from the airport revealed just wide open spaces with desert trees and short shrubs. In my ignorance I thought, could this possibly be the capital city of a country? I had just come from bustling Nairobi that affirmed itself as the nerve of Kenya with its scores of well dressed rushing people and tall buildings and billboards. My first few glimpses of Lilongwe revealed few billboards and lesser humanity. The only billboard put up says Stop Corruption, Pay Taxes. Another says Help Malawi develop. I was later told that the entire city of Lliongwe is rather spread out. All this unused land! I thought to myself and then thought that this is exactly what the colonizers and development agencies had said of places like India and Africa and the consequences that had ensued when they put that thought into action. I am trying
(and this has proved very hard) to withhold judgement without thoroughly reading up on a particular issue or situation
And so here I was in Malawi; a nation Americans rarely read or thought about before pop star Madonnas involvement in the region. A nation that did not even merit a thought when we paused to think of that faraway exotic Africa. Kenyas lush natural beauty, animals, greenery and their colorful people seemed in sharp contrast to these dusty plains. A forgotten nation! I wondered how it must feel to grow up here.
While Shohini and Kim picked me up from the airport (much to my delight) we were later met by Lois Silo from the Raising Malawi foundation. A gracious,efficient Malawian lady, Lois quickly made us feel at home. We then had a meeting with her where she asked us What do you want to do here? Unfotunately, the answer to that was regrettably difficult. A week before we had arrived in Malawi we discovered that we would not be receiving the checklist; a crucial tool to our research because the Kenya model was too different from the Malawian one. So we were on our own albeit with an outline of what we would be doing (ideally) provided to us with the help of Abby White from the Daisy Eye Cancer Fund. So what we are doing now is a volunteer based effort to understand as comprehensively as possible the challenges the Malawian healthcare system faces, the policies that govern children’s healthcare and the way public and private partnerships work together (or around each other in some cases) to provide this healthcare. We will also be looking at Raising Malawis comprehensive efforts to involve the community in the health and welfare of children with their motto “It takes a Village to Raise a Child” based on an old African adage.
We live in the World Camp a camp that is basically a big old colonial house for American college students volunteering for HIV/AIDS awareness in rural villages in Malawi. A short walk around the old town area of Lilongwe will reveal large colonial houses with well-manicured lawns and large electric fences testifying to an inequality in wealth.
28th May 2009
We were up and ready for a field trip with Lois to visit all the areas that she had thought about for us to volunteer and observe. Before I describe the four places we visit, I must describe the sheer disarming rural nature of the places we passed. Most people commute on their own two legs..walking long distances to reach the nearest store or hospital and school. There was an overwhelming number o children and I have yet to find out if this is indicative of their population. Children half naked, dressed in school uniforms, children lounging under a shady tree with a long piece of sugarcane (that must have been a RIDICULOUS sugar high!) and children running down the road behind the car. It all seems very rural and breathtakingly rustic and I am aware that this is because we are sitting in a 4 by 4 car with American pop music and Malawian gospel hyms alternating the silence and heat outside. Lois explained to us that many of these kids simply stop going to school after some time because it is simply too far to walk..especially teenaged girls. We asked about healthcare and found that private hospitals simply had more access to essential medicine and often going to a government hospital meant you would not get the adequate treatment or not get access to medicines. To describe how spread out Lilongwe is almost impossible to commit to paper. I do not know if I can even describe the small settlements of 4-5 huts as villages.
Our first visit was to Consul Home, with its spanking new wooden structures and green roofs presented by Madonna o the community just last year. Even in its relevant modesty, the small rooms and center stood out from other mud huts and was a welcome change from the brown of the mud. This center was truly inspirational because it had incorporated the entire family as a unit into the center. There were classrooms for pre-school kids who greeted us joyfully with dancing eyes and waving hands. In one corner was a room where the grandmothers sat and made pots and also “do what grandmothers do” according to Lois. In addition, the grandmothers also came to the pre-schools nd taught their grandchildren stories from the communities past and folklore keeping alive the oral tradition of Malawian culture and also inculcating respect for elders wisom and knowledge. Lois pointed out that it was projects like this that really spoke to “It takes a village to raise a child” motto in order to rejuvenate Malawian culture when it comes to bringing up children. In addition, the center also had a water pump, a vocational trainig center and a provisio to make earthen pots and weave baskets. The center was inspiring ans all of us were humbled and impressed at the same time with the impressive elcome people had to give us.
Ou next stop (after a long drive) was the Home pf Hope Orphanage enclosed in al arge wall where over 600 orphans and teachers and administrators resided in one large stretched out shady compound. We met briefly with Agogo (great grandfather) the Presbyterian minister that had started the Home of Hope and it was agreed that we would be given a guided tour later. Our one week at Home of Hope would have to be in skirts since wearing jeans is offensive t osome people.
Our last and final stop after a crumby cheese sandwhich lunch in the car was the Crisis Nursery. We all instantly fell in love with these orphan babies many of them not above four moths age who had been abandoned. The are the most beautiful creations I have ever seen. We stood there for a little while spellbound and silenced by both their beauty and their fate.More reflections later in the next post.
Um,sorry this is kind of an abrupt ending..
Anyway, back to my arrival in Lilongwe. A quick peek from the airport revealed just wide open spaces with desert trees and short shrubs. In my ignorance I thought, could this possibly be the capital city of a country? I had just come from bustling Nairobi that affirmed itself as the nerve of Kenya with its scores of well dressed rushing people and tall buildings and billboards. My first few glimpses of Lilongwe revealed few billboards and lesser humanity. The only billboard put up says Stop Corruption, Pay Taxes. Another says Help Malawi develop. I was later told that the entire city of Lliongwe is rather spread out. All this unused land! I thought to myself and then thought that this is exactly what the colonizers and development agencies had said of places like India and Africa and the consequences that had ensued when they put that thought into action. I am trying
(and this has proved very hard) to withhold judgement without thoroughly reading up on a particular issue or situation
And so here I was in Malawi; a nation Americans rarely read or thought about before pop star Madonnas involvement in the region. A nation that did not even merit a thought when we paused to think of that faraway exotic Africa. Kenyas lush natural beauty, animals, greenery and their colorful people seemed in sharp contrast to these dusty plains. A forgotten nation! I wondered how it must feel to grow up here.
While Shohini and Kim picked me up from the airport (much to my delight) we were later met by Lois Silo from the Raising Malawi foundation. A gracious,efficient Malawian lady, Lois quickly made us feel at home. We then had a meeting with her where she asked us What do you want to do here? Unfotunately, the answer to that was regrettably difficult. A week before we had arrived in Malawi we discovered that we would not be receiving the checklist; a crucial tool to our research because the Kenya model was too different from the Malawian one. So we were on our own albeit with an outline of what we would be doing (ideally) provided to us with the help of Abby White from the Daisy Eye Cancer Fund. So what we are doing now is a volunteer based effort to understand as comprehensively as possible the challenges the Malawian healthcare system faces, the policies that govern children’s healthcare and the way public and private partnerships work together (or around each other in some cases) to provide this healthcare. We will also be looking at Raising Malawis comprehensive efforts to involve the community in the health and welfare of children with their motto “It takes a Village to Raise a Child” based on an old African adage.
We live in the World Camp a camp that is basically a big old colonial house for American college students volunteering for HIV/AIDS awareness in rural villages in Malawi. A short walk around the old town area of Lilongwe will reveal large colonial houses with well-manicured lawns and large electric fences testifying to an inequality in wealth.
28th May 2009
We were up and ready for a field trip with Lois to visit all the areas that she had thought about for us to volunteer and observe. Before I describe the four places we visit, I must describe the sheer disarming rural nature of the places we passed. Most people commute on their own two legs..walking long distances to reach the nearest store or hospital and school. There was an overwhelming number o children and I have yet to find out if this is indicative of their population. Children half naked, dressed in school uniforms, children lounging under a shady tree with a long piece of sugarcane (that must have been a RIDICULOUS sugar high!) and children running down the road behind the car. It all seems very rural and breathtakingly rustic and I am aware that this is because we are sitting in a 4 by 4 car with American pop music and Malawian gospel hyms alternating the silence and heat outside. Lois explained to us that many of these kids simply stop going to school after some time because it is simply too far to walk..especially teenaged girls. We asked about healthcare and found that private hospitals simply had more access to essential medicine and often going to a government hospital meant you would not get the adequate treatment or not get access to medicines. To describe how spread out Lilongwe is almost impossible to commit to paper. I do not know if I can even describe the small settlements of 4-5 huts as villages.
Our first visit was to Consul Home, with its spanking new wooden structures and green roofs presented by Madonna o the community just last year. Even in its relevant modesty, the small rooms and center stood out from other mud huts and was a welcome change from the brown of the mud. This center was truly inspirational because it had incorporated the entire family as a unit into the center. There were classrooms for pre-school kids who greeted us joyfully with dancing eyes and waving hands. In one corner was a room where the grandmothers sat and made pots and also “do what grandmothers do” according to Lois. In addition, the grandmothers also came to the pre-schools nd taught their grandchildren stories from the communities past and folklore keeping alive the oral tradition of Malawian culture and also inculcating respect for elders wisom and knowledge. Lois pointed out that it was projects like this that really spoke to “It takes a village to raise a child” motto in order to rejuvenate Malawian culture when it comes to bringing up children. In addition, the center also had a water pump, a vocational trainig center and a provisio to make earthen pots and weave baskets. The center was inspiring ans all of us were humbled and impressed at the same time with the impressive elcome people had to give us.
Ou next stop (after a long drive) was the Home pf Hope Orphanage enclosed in al arge wall where over 600 orphans and teachers and administrators resided in one large stretched out shady compound. We met briefly with Agogo (great grandfather) the Presbyterian minister that had started the Home of Hope and it was agreed that we would be given a guided tour later. Our one week at Home of Hope would have to be in skirts since wearing jeans is offensive t osome people.
Our last and final stop after a crumby cheese sandwhich lunch in the car was the Crisis Nursery. We all instantly fell in love with these orphan babies many of them not above four moths age who had been abandoned. The are the most beautiful creations I have ever seen. We stood there for a little while spellbound and silenced by both their beauty and their fate.More reflections later in the next post.
Um,sorry this is kind of an abrupt ending..
becca
So we finally have internet… kind of. We are at an internet cafe paying 5 Kwacha a minute. Lets begin with what Kwacha is.
Kwacha is the currency of Malawi…. Exchange rate about 170 MK - $1.
Things we can buy with K 170 …. a loaf of bread or 2 bottles of water or a lot of maize. The local staple food here is a porridge made out of maize flour and water called nsima. Maize is like an unsweet corn…. Mmmmm! We’re gonna make some next week with the help of Jon. Jon is the groundskeeper of the place we are staying- World Camp. World Camp is a volunteer program where students from the states come to Malawi and teach in rural classrooms about HIV, deforestation and other relevant problems. This house is very nice and safe and we are able to be with other people, but we may be moving out to another (cheaper) place next week. Currently our living situation consists of the four of us living in a room of bunk beds covered in mosquito nets. We have a relatively nice bathroom with friendly insects including a large grasshopper we have yet to name and numerous mosquitoes. We have had consistant water and electricity except for that one day…. Haha. No really, the house is nice and we are able to eat dinner with the other volunteers here in the house. Thus far we have had Pizza, Mexican food and French toast for dinner! Haha.
Currently we are in Lilongwe- the capital city… apparently also known as “the dullest city in Africa”. I don’t know that I’d call it “dull”… there are just limited things to do. We are located in the heart of Old Town so we have many options during our free daytime hours that include a trip to 7-11, Shoprite Supermarket, the vegetable or fabric market (where we as tourists will get ripped off), a Pakistani restaurant (that serves fried chicken and pizza called Sana’s, or the great McDouds... Yes, McDouds, complete with a giant golden arch, a slogan reading “Your loving it”, and pictures of hamburgers, pizza, and fried chicken in the window. We have yet to venture to McDouds because its closed or maybe not open yet. Regardless, such luxuries as fast food, otherwise known as take-away is not in our budget. We are cooking for ourselves for breakfast and lunch most of the time. So we stocked up yesterday at Shoprite on rice that was on sale for 359 MK, bread for 159 MK, peanut butter for 199 MK, and canned, corned meat for 360 MK. Hahaha. Yum yum yum!
Despite my neverending sarcasm, we are really enjoying ourselves in this slow-paced African lifestyle. I love the smell of the air- a mix of burning leaves and fresh baked bread, the trees, flowers, and weather are all beautiful as well (I’m still getting used to the insects though). Our day of traveling west to visit the places we will be volunteering was also beautiful, especially when we got to the mountains of the Zambian border where we will be staying at the Home of Hope Orphanage in a few weeks. Hours of driving down the highway past mountains in the background and in the foreground: children playing with tires men bicycling and walking down the road, beautifully dressed women carrying babies on their backs and goats running into oncoming traffic and the always present bright pink “zain” stores even in the smallest of villages. Zain is one of the African cell phone companies. I could not stop looking out the window for the entire drive, amazed and trying to familiarize myself with such images I have only seen on TV. Sitting in the car zooming past these people and their small brick houses and stores kept a great distance between us that was inevitably broken when we got out of the 4 X 4 at our destinations. The people all seem to be very friendly and all shook our hands. We may have made some feel uncomfortable, dressed in jeans, but they still attempted a “how are you” or “I’m doing fine” as we attempted our “Muli bwanji” and “Tidi bino”. We’re still working on key phrases and will be buying skirts or wraps to wear when we go to the villages.
I think we are all eternally grateful that we are here together because this would have been very scary otherwise. Arriving at the airport and not seeing a familiar face, no phone to call anyone, and not really sure who is picking you up was definitely a scary 20 minutes of my life that seemed to last for hours. When I saw the girls and the driver pull up to the airport I was instantly excited. They had been here for 20 hours and seemed to run the place and be friends with every hostel and restaurant owner in town.
It is 10 am on Saturday and the girls have been reading for the past hour or so and the volunteers are working. I think we are going to have breakfast now and later go to the market with Jon.
Inspirational thing I saw written in front of a school:
Welcome to (school’s name). If you can read this, thank a teacher.
(I apologize for the lack of sequence of this entry but we have been here what seems like a week and it is hard to recap it all.)
Kwacha is the currency of Malawi…. Exchange rate about 170 MK - $1.
Things we can buy with K 170 …. a loaf of bread or 2 bottles of water or a lot of maize. The local staple food here is a porridge made out of maize flour and water called nsima. Maize is like an unsweet corn…. Mmmmm! We’re gonna make some next week with the help of Jon. Jon is the groundskeeper of the place we are staying- World Camp. World Camp is a volunteer program where students from the states come to Malawi and teach in rural classrooms about HIV, deforestation and other relevant problems. This house is very nice and safe and we are able to be with other people, but we may be moving out to another (cheaper) place next week. Currently our living situation consists of the four of us living in a room of bunk beds covered in mosquito nets. We have a relatively nice bathroom with friendly insects including a large grasshopper we have yet to name and numerous mosquitoes. We have had consistant water and electricity except for that one day…. Haha. No really, the house is nice and we are able to eat dinner with the other volunteers here in the house. Thus far we have had Pizza, Mexican food and French toast for dinner! Haha.
Currently we are in Lilongwe- the capital city… apparently also known as “the dullest city in Africa”. I don’t know that I’d call it “dull”… there are just limited things to do. We are located in the heart of Old Town so we have many options during our free daytime hours that include a trip to 7-11, Shoprite Supermarket, the vegetable or fabric market (where we as tourists will get ripped off), a Pakistani restaurant (that serves fried chicken and pizza called Sana’s, or the great McDouds... Yes, McDouds, complete with a giant golden arch, a slogan reading “Your loving it”, and pictures of hamburgers, pizza, and fried chicken in the window. We have yet to venture to McDouds because its closed or maybe not open yet. Regardless, such luxuries as fast food, otherwise known as take-away is not in our budget. We are cooking for ourselves for breakfast and lunch most of the time. So we stocked up yesterday at Shoprite on rice that was on sale for 359 MK, bread for 159 MK, peanut butter for 199 MK, and canned, corned meat for 360 MK. Hahaha. Yum yum yum!
Despite my neverending sarcasm, we are really enjoying ourselves in this slow-paced African lifestyle. I love the smell of the air- a mix of burning leaves and fresh baked bread, the trees, flowers, and weather are all beautiful as well (I’m still getting used to the insects though). Our day of traveling west to visit the places we will be volunteering was also beautiful, especially when we got to the mountains of the Zambian border where we will be staying at the Home of Hope Orphanage in a few weeks. Hours of driving down the highway past mountains in the background and in the foreground: children playing with tires men bicycling and walking down the road, beautifully dressed women carrying babies on their backs and goats running into oncoming traffic and the always present bright pink “zain” stores even in the smallest of villages. Zain is one of the African cell phone companies. I could not stop looking out the window for the entire drive, amazed and trying to familiarize myself with such images I have only seen on TV. Sitting in the car zooming past these people and their small brick houses and stores kept a great distance between us that was inevitably broken when we got out of the 4 X 4 at our destinations. The people all seem to be very friendly and all shook our hands. We may have made some feel uncomfortable, dressed in jeans, but they still attempted a “how are you” or “I’m doing fine” as we attempted our “Muli bwanji” and “Tidi bino”. We’re still working on key phrases and will be buying skirts or wraps to wear when we go to the villages.
I think we are all eternally grateful that we are here together because this would have been very scary otherwise. Arriving at the airport and not seeing a familiar face, no phone to call anyone, and not really sure who is picking you up was definitely a scary 20 minutes of my life that seemed to last for hours. When I saw the girls and the driver pull up to the airport I was instantly excited. They had been here for 20 hours and seemed to run the place and be friends with every hostel and restaurant owner in town.
It is 10 am on Saturday and the girls have been reading for the past hour or so and the volunteers are working. I think we are going to have breakfast now and later go to the market with Jon.
Inspirational thing I saw written in front of a school:
Welcome to (school’s name). If you can read this, thank a teacher.
(I apologize for the lack of sequence of this entry but we have been here what seems like a week and it is hard to recap it all.)
Friday, May 29, 2009
Alive
We are in Malawi, we have met with Raising Malawi and will start volunteering on Monday, at the Crisis Nursery for abandoned babies.
We will update more once we get internet!
We will update more once we get internet!
Monday, May 25, 2009
#4
QUICK UPDATE:
Tanya: MIA (missing in action... havent heard from her in weeks... hopefully she will remember to go to the airport).
Kim: en route to Malawi via NYC-Jo'burg, Jo'burg-Lilongwe (south african air)
Shohini: Cyclone Alia hit Kolkata. airport was closed. caused a hectic morning of creating backup plans, but alas. it reopened and she is too en route: Kolkata-Bombay, Bombay-Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa- Lilongwe.
Becca: still in Israel. leaving tuesday night. all looks to be well. I'm just hoping that we dont all have suitcases as big as mine bc i have no idea how we will get around in one car and we CANNOT afford 2 cars!
Tanya: MIA (missing in action... havent heard from her in weeks... hopefully she will remember to go to the airport).
Kim: en route to Malawi via NYC-Jo'burg, Jo'burg-Lilongwe (south african air)
Shohini: Cyclone Alia hit Kolkata. airport was closed. caused a hectic morning of creating backup plans, but alas. it reopened and she is too en route: Kolkata-Bombay, Bombay-Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa- Lilongwe.
Becca: still in Israel. leaving tuesday night. all looks to be well. I'm just hoping that we dont all have suitcases as big as mine bc i have no idea how we will get around in one car and we CANNOT afford 2 cars!
Saturday, May 23, 2009
#3
hello. shalom. salaam.
i am writing from step one of my journey- day 2 in israel.
thus far, i had a pretty decent 10 hour plane ride where i watched "confessions of a shopaholic" (i do not recommend) and "madagascar 2" slept and ate meat for the first time in a while. of course theres always the overweight, smelly israeli that has to put his bag above your seat. but thankfully no one was sitting next to me! waiting in JFK for 5 hours doing laps around the terminal and duty free shops was also a blast. imagine the movie The Terminal i guess.
last night we had a shabbat dinner with what seemed like 100 loud jews (family) and 50 huge dogs (really only 12 people and 3 dogs). at dinner i ate even more meat... i'll get used to it again i guess... oh ya... and cockroaches are definitely in season now! otherwise the weather is beautiful.
today we went to rosh hanikra which are these caves at the north part of the country at the lebanon border. the caves are made by the Mediterranean sea crashing into it and water dripping down from the rocks. the walls are very salty and have beautiful colored algae growing on them. it was definitely a nice place including the cable car ride you have to take to get down there and the very cheesy movie they played that included water spraying at the audience whenever they showed the waves crashing into the caves. very wannabe-disney if you ask me.
on the way there we stopped at a mcdonalds to get some ice cream. even though i hate going to mcdonalds here, its mildly entertaining to see that they have hamburgers in pita instead of a bun if you want. and on the way back we stopped for shwarma at some famous place in haifa (at which point i left my brand new camera on the table. we went back half an hour later and got it back though). after shwarma we tried going to this apparently beautiful park, but it had closed a few hours earlier so we took a tour of the town which was equally nice. it was really cute and full of little coffee shops and art galleries.. oh and more ice cream... kinda like miracle mile for a miami reference and... ya i have no reference for worcester. haha.
all this time outside has left me dehydrated and with a huge headache.
as far as plans for malawi... oy vey. lets just get there already so we can overcome all these stupid road blocks which currently seem to be neverending. ummmm i cant believe i'll be in malawi in like 5 days.
until next time, salaam
i am writing from step one of my journey- day 2 in israel.
thus far, i had a pretty decent 10 hour plane ride where i watched "confessions of a shopaholic" (i do not recommend) and "madagascar 2" slept and ate meat for the first time in a while. of course theres always the overweight, smelly israeli that has to put his bag above your seat. but thankfully no one was sitting next to me! waiting in JFK for 5 hours doing laps around the terminal and duty free shops was also a blast. imagine the movie The Terminal i guess.
last night we had a shabbat dinner with what seemed like 100 loud jews (family) and 50 huge dogs (really only 12 people and 3 dogs). at dinner i ate even more meat... i'll get used to it again i guess... oh ya... and cockroaches are definitely in season now! otherwise the weather is beautiful.
today we went to rosh hanikra which are these caves at the north part of the country at the lebanon border. the caves are made by the Mediterranean sea crashing into it and water dripping down from the rocks. the walls are very salty and have beautiful colored algae growing on them. it was definitely a nice place including the cable car ride you have to take to get down there and the very cheesy movie they played that included water spraying at the audience whenever they showed the waves crashing into the caves. very wannabe-disney if you ask me.
on the way there we stopped at a mcdonalds to get some ice cream. even though i hate going to mcdonalds here, its mildly entertaining to see that they have hamburgers in pita instead of a bun if you want. and on the way back we stopped for shwarma at some famous place in haifa (at which point i left my brand new camera on the table. we went back half an hour later and got it back though). after shwarma we tried going to this apparently beautiful park, but it had closed a few hours earlier so we took a tour of the town which was equally nice. it was really cute and full of little coffee shops and art galleries.. oh and more ice cream... kinda like miracle mile for a miami reference and... ya i have no reference for worcester. haha.
all this time outside has left me dehydrated and with a huge headache.
as far as plans for malawi... oy vey. lets just get there already so we can overcome all these stupid road blocks which currently seem to be neverending. ummmm i cant believe i'll be in malawi in like 5 days.
until next time, salaam
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Becca- #2
The Road to Malawi.
So we're not there yet, but it has been an incredible learning experience thus far. We have encountered many obstacles with school, with ethical regulations, with money, with housing, with places to volunteer, etc. but it is coming together. I am so proud to say that we have created this project on our own (with tons of help from Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund and Raising Malawi). We couldn't have organized this project without any of the people at this organization, but really the four of us have put in A LOT of hard work, late nights, endless writing and researching , and tears into this project.
I think the most important thing we have learned thus far is how to navigate through all the systems that exist for this type of project. With this experience, I know that we will be prepared for the next time we each do real research. I think this has given us the confidence to make things work even though most days seems like one step forward and two steps back.
At this time, while we are all off in different places, I would like to thank Shohini, Tanya, and Kim for being a part of this incredible team... the Fabulous Four as some call us. Cheers to Malawi.
PS: example: we really dont have enough money to stay at hostels and things every night. Know anyone we can stay with? hmmm..
yay!
So we're not there yet, but it has been an incredible learning experience thus far. We have encountered many obstacles with school, with ethical regulations, with money, with housing, with places to volunteer, etc. but it is coming together. I am so proud to say that we have created this project on our own (with tons of help from Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund and Raising Malawi). We couldn't have organized this project without any of the people at this organization, but really the four of us have put in A LOT of hard work, late nights, endless writing and researching , and tears into this project.
I think the most important thing we have learned thus far is how to navigate through all the systems that exist for this type of project. With this experience, I know that we will be prepared for the next time we each do real research. I think this has given us the confidence to make things work even though most days seems like one step forward and two steps back.
At this time, while we are all off in different places, I would like to thank Shohini, Tanya, and Kim for being a part of this incredible team... the Fabulous Four as some call us. Cheers to Malawi.
PS: example: we really dont have enough money to stay at hostels and things every night. Know anyone we can stay with? hmmm..
yay!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
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