kim again!

This morning was day 1 of Counsel Home. When we arrived the children were all outside because there was no electricity and the classrooms were locked. We introduced ourselves to the teachers and played ring games with the kids, most of which were between 3 and 6 years old. After a bit we were able to go inside where we split off into different classrooms.

The classroom Tanya and I were in mainly had 4 year olds. It was their snack time and before they could eat they had to each stand and recite a few words saying that they must wash their hands so that they don’t get diseases. (in Chichewa) The teachers encourage the children to practice good hygiene and there is a special lesson in cleanliness every morning. After the grace the snacks were distributed. Some families did not send any food with the children and so those who got food were encouraged to share. When they were done eating they were allowed to play with toys until the next activity. The main teacher then began the lesson of the day, which was learning the letters A B C D. each child was randomly called up to the front of the room to point and say each letter. If they did it correctly the whole class would sing “Well-a-done, well-a-done, sure, keep it up!” They have a lot of singing in the classrooms and often times teachers will even get up and dance to the children’s singing.

At the end of the lesson porridge was served to everyone, including us. No one was expected to go without food. It wasn’t bad just a bit bland, and crunchy at times, something that could take some getting used to. As Becca said “it’s like a surprise in every bite”. Some kids scarfed it down while others simply wasted it. For many this would be their only meal for the day.

After lunch the children were released to go home or play in the yard. It was a very short day compared to the long hours we had spent at Crisis Nursery last week. On our way out we met two of the programme directors who promised to meet with us the following day. Memore was already in the car waiting to drive us back into town so we left to come back again tomorrow.

On the car ride back we did some reflection on all the events from the past two weeks. It was obvious we were no longer looking at health care, it seemed the project had spiraled into a whole new field. We also were not doing as much to help as we had originally planned. Tanya continued to voice the fact that it seemed we were not being used in ways that can provide maximum benefit to Crisis Nursery or even Counsel Homes. Furthermore, nothing we were currently doing is sustainable for other volunteers or Raising Malawi to carry on after we leave. Through more discussion we realized we could channel our energies into rectifying all of the problems we were facing as volunteers. For future volunteers we thought should be some sort of a volunteer packet in relation to the three places we are visiting just so that others who want to help can see where their skills can best be used instead of taking days to orient as we had done.

We are going to try to develop these ideas more and hopefully speak to Lois tomorrow. We also have an agreement with the Pakistani man from Sana for him to cook us cheap good dinner tonight so we’ll see how that goes.