Traveling Light: Arithmetic, Punishment and Salad.

Here’s a bit of a random posting…

Things I like about Malawi...names. I love the names Malawian people use. One of the other volunteers, Mark (from Australia) and I were talking about names recently. He said that while he was in Zimbabwe, he met local children named Arithmetic, Punishment and Salad. He said that the parents were very poor and illiterate and used the only English word they knew. In Malawi, many of the people have Christian names, like Matthews, Marks, and Samson. There are other, more Malawian names like Mphatso, Rhodia, and Chimwemwe ( I love that one!). And then there are some interesting names such as Loveness, Promise, and Bright. The people I meet are surprised and amused by my name. In Chichewa, the main local language, 'Moni' means 'hi' or 'hello.' I've never seen my name in so much print! Of course, this is amusing to me because I never see it in print other than on personal documents back home. As a child, I remember my friends having stickers, pencils and other trinkets with their names printed on them - 'Colleen' 'Lisa' and 'Sandra' - and I felt slightly envious and a bit embarrassed by my strange name. I think the closest I came was when one Christmas, a friend gave me a key chain with the "ca" blacked out on a keychain that said 'Monica.' Well, I guess Malawi has made up for that!

Another thing I like about Malawi...the people. Everyone I've met has been warm, friendly and kind. And I've met a lot of people, not only at work, but also in my wanderings around Domasi. Each time I venture out, I run into someone who looks at me curiously, breaks into a huge smile, and greets me warmly. This is usually followed by profuse handshaking, how-are-you’s, and a lot of thanking each other. It sure helps to feel welcomed into the community! The children are great too! They start off shy but their curiosity quickly takes over and then they scamper after me, usually trying to talk to me in Chichewa, to which I reply in English after exhausting the few Chichewa words I know. So, we continue on, smiling and giggling at each other. I’ve had a few of the braver ones yell at me as I’m walking away, “Give me my money!” or “Give me my watch!” Clearly, grammar and syntax are very different in Chichewa. It’s all very entertaining.

Work is starting to take off, if somewhat slowly. I’ve been tasked with editing a research study investigating factors that contribute to the low participation of women in leadership positions in education in Malawi, South Africa and Zambia. I’m learning a lot while I work through this document.

I’ve also had my first glimpse of the work Read Malawi is doing. For the past two days, MIE has been hosting a workshop introducing primary teachers, head teachers and primary education advisers to the phases of project implementation and roll out. There are over 100 participants, and the aim is to engage these educators in creating a culture of readers in Malawi. Read Malawi is a book development program sponsored by USAID targeting the development and distribution of a minimum of 2.5 million books.

Currently, the classrooms in Malawi are in an appalling state. Many classrooms have 150 students and only one teacher. Most classrooms are without basic furniture, chalkboards and books. That’s why this project is so important – in order for learners to become literate, they must have quality materials to read and quantities that ensure frequent opportunities for individual and group engagement. The project also aims to provide guidance to teachers so that their students are successful in reading these materials, as well as to set expectations for making connections to literacy in their communities – and hopefully, this will lead them on the path to envisioning themselves as authors of future texts. All of the materials are authored and developed in Malawi for Malawian children! This is an important element in building local capacity. Read Malawi believes in good stories, skilled teachers, enjoying and learning go hand in hand, and promoting literate lives inside and outside of schools.

That’s all for now! More to come soon…

My Cooking Buddy