Malawi – ExperienceSomethingAmazing

Let’s help Patience

Today hasn’t been a good day. Actually, the last few days have been tough with Something Amazing programs building up, school and work. A few days ago, I got terrible news that has hurt me in ways I didn’t know where possible. Every time I am faced with death it hurts me a little differently. Not every situation is the same, but this one was quite different. In Malawi, we sponsored a family, (that I have spoken about in previous post) Patience and her mom Felua. Ms Felua was diagnosed with cancer about 12 years ago, a few days ago she was feeling pain and went to the hospital (which was normal for her)and passed away.

An overwhelming feeling of inadequacy rushed all over me. I became very close with this family as I visited 2 to 3 times a week, whether I was tutoring Patience, dropping off food for the house. This became a regular routine for me and I became attached. We may not have been able to speak a single word to each other, but while I was there I could tell Ms Feula knew her days were numbered and she wanted the best for her daughter. There was a large language barrier, between us, but that didn’t stop a bond. Many times I didn’t know what to say and many times there wasn’t a smile ever to be seen on anyone’s faces. Maybe there wasn’t food in the house, maybe Patience was tired from taking care of her mom, maybe everyone was tired and just needed a break. Many times I went over to the house and I did not have any good news for the family but simply could bring my presence.

One of the few times I brought good news, was when a Something Amazing participant built her a house to give her and her daughter a place to live. Times I just wanted to cry at the situation, that patience and her mom lived in. And this is one of the few rare times, Ms Felua smiled and seemed content with life. I don’t really know much about her, or where she came from all I knew is her and her daughter needed help and I could do that. Even a few days later I still think: Could I have done more? Could I have visited a few more times? Could I have given patience one last hug? Could I have done a million things better? I was feeling convicted of things I couldn’t control. My biggest fear was what would happen to Patience, there was no immediate family I felt could take care of her and give her a loving family.

My Manager on the ground in Malawi, talked to the local chiefs to ensure that the house will still be Patience and the main issue was who will take care of her. The best solution was to send her to boarding school. Now I don’t know how she will go to school, who will pay for her fees, but it’s the least we can do. Patience is in need of many things in order to be ready for school. I may have not been able to help her as best as I could while I was in Malawi, but I can help make her future a little brighter. Patience story is like many Malawians. Something Amazing aims to help one person at a time, and this time we need to come together and help Patience.

Even the smallest amount can help:

$170 provides for a years’ worth of school
$65 is a semesters worth of school
$25 provides 4 new uniforms and jumpers or blankets and hygiene items
$20 provides a new book bag
$ 14 provides a mattress for her new school
$12 Gets her several new clothes for after school
$4 Provides 8 new books and math instruments
$3 provides new school shoes
$ 2 soap and hygiene things

Any amount can help us. I will be selling small wallets and a hand-carved chess table at a later time if we cannot get donations promptly. Anything not funded, I will make sure she does not go without, but I need your help as I can’t save the world by myself.

Until Next time

Stay awesome

Jill

The People of Malawi

If you remember a few months ago I told you I wanted to know the people in the village by name. Each person has a story, each person has value. Therefore here are some of the people of Malawi. These are the people I learned to love in the village, here are a few of my favorites. Something Amazing had the opportunity to help some of these people out.

1. Chino

Chino is a man of many trades, he owns a bicycle repair shop, a few bicycle taxis, is a priest, and he always has a few bee hives in which he keeps. I met Chino on the first few days I was here in Malawi. The first few days I needed a bicycle fixed, at first, he tried to over charge us, but we promised if he gave us a good price we would only come back to him. This friendship formed and we now stop by his bike shop every day. One day Chino invited me and Tarik (the German I lived with) to go see his bee hives. Not realizing we were going to collect honey, it was probably one of the single handed dangerous things I’ve watched here. Chino and his brother, with no protective gear other than long sleeves, started making a fire under the bees nest to make them sleepy. As the flames got higher and the bees got lower, all I could hear is Chino saying. “Don’t be afraid, but be careful.” After about 30 minutes of battling bees, we got the sweetest honey I have ever tasted. Chino recently got he be stolen, which greatly affects his business. Sometimes in life, you have to reward amazing people when life tries to get them down in life.

2. Vincent Msiska.

Vincent is the Manager of the local organization I partnered up with, Kingfisher. He is dependable, hard working, and wonderful family man. Vincent is my number one person here in Malawi. He makes sure we are safe, that we have a translation when needed and that no one tries to take advantage of us. He makes sure everything is in place when we are going to help local people in the village. Vincent has 2 young daughters, Patience age 6 and Theleza age 3. An example of the type of father Vincent is, one day I gave Vincent 6 Oreos from my care package I got. For my knowledge, he ate all the cookies and we went on about our day. Later in the day, we stopped by each of his daughter schools to pay school fees and he proceeded to give 3 cookies to each daughter. I thought this was extremely sweet due to not always having the ability to buy sweets for his daughters. Sometimes it is the small things in life that can make a child’s day better. Something Amazing has sponsored his daughters in order to go to school. Vincent is also our proud manager back in Malawi over one of our new employees.

3. Mr. Konchera.

Mr. Konchera is the standard 6 teacher at the primary school I teach at. He is one of my favorite teachers at the school. In the beginning of my time here he seemed to never show up, but the last month he has been wonderful. Mr. Konchera said once about the strike, “I will teach my students. It doesn’t matter about the money at this point. The government doesn’t know this child, but I do. My kids will not do good on the end of the year test if things

continue this way.” He was the first teacher to acknowledge that the teachers are directly related to how the students can progress in society. Not many teachers were able to figure that out. I will forever have respect for the man. We also made a deal that if he came on time and to school every day for two weeks we would take him to the lake with us, for a mini vacation. He is in his later years in life and has never seen Lake Malawi which is only an hour from him.

4. Patience

Patience is a young girl, Vincent met a few months ago. Her mom has had leg cancer for the last 12 years. This makes it impossible for her to work or make any type of living. Patience mom was confined to crawling on the floor due to a lack of a wheelchair, we took her to the hospital and became aware of a program that provides wheelchairs for free. Patience struggles in school but really wants to learn and become better. I tutored her twice a week in English and math. She seemed to improve with the extra help that she got. Patience lived in subpar living conditions with the lack of food, a proper house and fully taking care of her mom. Patience and her mom slept on the floor of her brother’s house, not receiving a lot of food and unsure how long they could stay in the house. One of Something Amazing’s volunteers decided to help build Patience and her mom a house. Through trials and tribulations, she finally got a house. (I’ll post a blog about the house later.) One of my favorite memories of Patience was when I took Patience to get her new uniforms and asked if she wanted to pick up a little snack since we were hungry. Many children in Malawi do not get a chance to a be a kid since they are constantly taking care of their parents o the family. Patience is one of those kids, so when I asked her if she wanted a snack her eyes lit up as she grabs bags of chips to take to school. Patience and her mom are part of Something Amazing’s empowering the community program, we have and will continue to help with school supplies, school uniforms, and food.

You can help by clicking the link to the right.

Every day I miss the people of Malawi. Every day I feel as though I should be back over there. Many people did get on my nerves during my time in Malawi. Just like how a child gets on a parents nerves, that parent doesn’t stop loving that child. I will always love the community in Malawi, and maybe there is more to this story.

Enjoy this video of us at a birthday party. The little kids can dance!

Until next time,

Stay awesome

Jill

We Eat to Survive.

Let’s talk about food. I have been asked many times how the food was over in Malawi. At home I have a plethora of choices. Today will we have chicken or fish? Do we want sautéed veggies? Rice or pasta? How bout tacos? What about Chinese food? These are daily questions I ran threw my head when looking into my pantry. Americans are wasteful, we also buy way too much, even things we may not need or want. We buy it because it is there.
The average Malawian, even though there may be many options for food, eat to survive. Varation in food is for those who have money. Having anything left over in your pantry is for those who have money. The average pantry is completely empty. Everyone buys food just for that day and there is no left overs. Mnay homes do not have elctricity or there ar emany power outages that make having a fridgerator difficult. Now the access to get food is very simple usually a 5 minute walk from any house. The need to go to a store that is far is not the issue. Personally, I feel if the store was far, everyone would still only buy what they need because that is the culture.
The daily menu looks like, breakfast: tea, butter and bread, sometimes boiled sweet potatoes or porge (made out of NSima). One time we had popcorn and tea that was a very interesting day.
Lunch: NSima (which is corn grinded down to flour and water) with some sort of relish (usually: mustard greens, chinese cabbage, pumkin leave, tomotoes, onion and possibly beans)

Beans and Nsima

Tomato and Nsima

Dinner: is usually very similar to lunch there maybe chicken, (usually once a week) and a different Varation to the relish as mentioned above. Other than the above mentioned options these are the meals that are made. (The fish I had is only had the campsite due to being right next to the lake different area ,different staple).

Each night at dinner we would huddle around a small coffee table. There was one bench that 3 out of the 11 people in the house could sit on. In Malawi it is custom that the vistors eat and dish out their food first. Now I know you are probally imagining big serving dishes, with alot of food. But no, these were small normal sized bowls meant to feed 11 people. Before dishing any food out a younger child in the family would have a pitcher of water and a bowl, for each person to wash their hands before eating.

Now you may think to yourself why don’t you buy other food, cook for the family, show them a different variation? This is like telling your grandmother there is a different way to make a dish, that she has prepared 80 years the same way. It just doesnt happen. Even if there is rice, pasta, anything else, everyone still wants the staples. It is what they know. I can not change that, nor do i wnat to but j can adjust. I have learned to love certain ascents of the food, and sometimes just close my eyes and eat because I’m starving. Sometimes I’m still hungry. Many times I just don’t think about it. Or sometimes I make the choice not to eat because I can not stomach the meal. Meal times are no longer an enjoyable time of the day for me.

I have learned that we eat for survival here, not for enjoyment. Maybe this is one of my many first world problems, but adjusting is never an issue. All I can think about many times is just wanting tacos. I have personal found a few hidden gems that I enjoy here, like these fried donuts (without the super sugary part) and a few good cookies. Or the fresh fries and fried chicken on the side of the road. As I choke down this sweet potato and tea, I’d rather run into the comfort of my money, but sadly others cant.

Until Next Time

Stay Awesome
Jill

“You are welcome here!”

This blog is by Something Amazing second participant Nadia. Jill met Nadia last year in South Africa while they worked at the same orphanage. Nadia volunteered for 2.5 weeks in Malawi and here is her Experience:

Red sand. A constant smell of fire. Green trees. Mountains. Clothes drying in the wind. Women carrying buckets on their head. Goats running free. Men driving fast on fully packed bikes. Bumpy roads. Malawi invites you into a beautiful world of kindness, breathtaking nature and hospitality. To me, this simple life seemed very primitive in the beginning, but I adapted quickly. After being stuck in Lilongwe due to missing luggage, it was a relief to arrive in Rumphi (3 days too late). After only one day at the school, my stay in Malawi finally made sense.

In school, I met a bunch of wonderful kids who were eager to learn. A willingness that isn’t even comparable to most Danish student’s – and even my own by that age. This makes it even more unbearable when most of the teachers don’t show up for work. However, it pushed me into performing actual lessons for the kids. Since I’ve never taught in a school before, this was quite nerve wrecking. But I realized that anything is better than nothing – and we sure had fun! My background in social education work gives me another perspective on how kids learn, and the teacher of grade 5 was definitely surprised when I made the whole class jump around like kangaroos from Australia! But this is a balance. From what I’ve learned about volunteering in Africa, you must respect and understand the culture to be part of it. And in this position, you can share knowledge – and both parts get wiser.

I did have a first-hand experience of it when I threw myself into building a house for a woman I was introduced to. A woman in a wheelchair with cancer, who really needed the help. I did not want to be the white person who just paid for everything. Therefore I started carrying bricks and balancing giant buckets of water on my head.

My money was short, but I realized something after worth: maybe I could have both given the woman a house and employed people in the process of building it? The locals expected me to – “cause I’m the rich white person” – but I was too focused on just having a finished house for them to move into. Luckily I will keep on learning every day – and volunteering abroad teaches me a lot.

My time in Malawi was definitely too short. This welcoming country is full of opportunities for those wants to get close to the African people and do actual educational, humanitarian and/or developing work. I find this simple life charming and admirable. People getting everything out of nothing. Even a bike ride through the village warms my heart. I do miss warm showers and a bigger variety of food, but I will definitely go for another Malawian adventure.

Stay Awesome

See you again / Paa gensyn

Nadia from Denmark

Faith to Move a Mountain

In America, you go to elementary, middle and high school, usually free of charge and without any uniforms. If desired one can further his education by going to college/university or a technical school to gain a skill. A lot of the time students must take out large loans in order to afford school. Many times there are scholarships, and other aid available for the students if they meet certain criteria. Here in Malawi education is between the have and the have-nots. Those who have money can continue in education those who do not basically are forced into poverty or early marriage. In Malawi primary education, grades from 1 to 8 (Roughly age 6 to 16) this education is free, but the parents must provide uniforms. This processes a problem due to some parents unable to feed their family. Although a uniform cost roughly $2, most Malawian’s live off of less than $1.25 a day.

Once a student reaches high school they must have high test scores in addition to paying for the fees to go to school. (Roughly $100 a year, which is roughly 3 months of salary, for people who can barely afford food each month). In order to get into university or college, it’s even harder; you must have high test scores in certain areas as well as be able to pay for school. Many students cannot pay for school, therefore, they pay a portion and truly work on faith that the rest of the semesters will be paid for. Living semester to semester not know how your school fees will be paid for is quite hectic.

For a few weeks when university was on break we had a fellow student teacher, Caleb, volunteer his time, his entire break, helping teach the students since the teachers were on strike. Every day he walked up to the school and helped teach some classes and did it with a smile on his face. He asked us about our home country and truly became a friend during this time. On his last days, I found out that he had no way of paying for his next semester’s tuition. I felt it in my heart that he was a young man trying to make the best out of a situation. Caleb truly wants to succeed in life, but sometimes it’s hard when it feels like the universe is against you. Something Amazing paid for his semester at school. I personally know what it feels like to worry about school being paid for. It is an uncomfortable feeling and it is not something to take lightly.

I took a huge leap in faith paying for Caleb’s semester. I wanted to help a friend out who desperately needed, but I did not know how the rest of his semester would be paid. I sadly, informed Caleb that although Something Amazing could help him out now, it was not guaranteed for the rest of his time at University. It has been a few weeks since Caleb returned to school, we were informed that he has been having an even harder time due to his financial situation completely changing. Still unable to help him in his time of need, my faith started to disappear. I wasn’t truly sure what to do or how to help than something amazing happened yesterday. After contacting several people, out of the blue I received a donation to help Caleb out with books, food and other things for this semesters. Along with someone pledging to pay for the remainder of his semesters. Words couldn’t describe the excitement and relief that I could finally give Caleb some good news. All Caleb could say was, “Wow Jill if feels like a dream.” Even on my hardest days things like this make it all worthwhile. If Malawi has taught me one thing, it is that Faith can move a mountain.

Currently, Something Amazing has given a scholarship to the following people:

Freddy: Studying to be a plumber he has been sponsored since 2016.

Andrea: he is currently in high school, sponsored since Jan 2017.

Patience: a young girl we paid one/two semesters of her kindergarten year.

Teleza: a young girl who we paid day care for two months.

Caleb: studying to be a teacher, but wants to take his degree abroad and study to be a doctor.

If you want to help send one of the following ,or another student to school please donate. Something Amazing runs fully on donations, to send one high school student to school it only cost $45for three months. Without donations we wouldn’t be able to send anyone to school and we thank you very much.

If you have any questions please contact me

Until next time

Stay awesome

Jill

4 Sticks and a Mud House

In the last 48 hours, I have seen living conditions that wouldn’t even be fit for a dog. A house that was essentially just sticks held together by mud with a straw roof. One bedroom made for 8 people to live in, with no running water or electricity. I saw 6 kids running around who probably hasn’t eaten in a day or two. I’ve seen parents huddled around a circle trying to use the scraps of corn in order to make corn flower to have something to eat. Kids having huge holes in their clothes because that’s all they have. Looking at these things hurt my heart so much. It is the first time I wanted to cry immediately when seeing something.

Now the reason I was at this house held together by sticks and mud was that a few days ago I lost my phone. My phone fell out of my bike basket and I didn’t notice until 20 minutes later after riding into town. At first, one of the men who found my phone demanded money in order to get the phone back. I was taken back because although I lost my phone, I’ve never been held at ransom for anything. We (my host brother, several collages and local friends) eventually talked the man down off of a high amount of money for Malawians, 5,000 kwacha (Roughly 6 dollars) and convinced him to give my phone back. We agreed the money will be paid at a later time.

Now let’s fast forward back to today. I wanted to thank the man who found it in his heart to give my phone back because he could have sold it and brought a new house. (Androids/smartphones are hard to find here and very expensive). After talking with the school board members and one of the men who found the phone it was explained that asking for a ransom is not how the Malawian culture does things. They explained that I am volunteering in his community and that he should be happy that I am here. It is the Malawian culture return something that does not belong to them without demanding money. In the meeting, I wasn’t able to say anything due to the culture. I left the meeting not feeling right inside my heart. Therefore, I and a fellow local friend went and found the man at his house. We explained that I just wanted to thank him for returning my phone because he truly did the right thing.

After seeing the rough living conditions (mentioned above) we asked did they have any food, and the answer was no. My heart sank deep into my chest knowing that one of the kids I teach every day lived in this house. He is a quiet student and his home life is less than desirable. Therefore I did what I felt was right. I went into town and bought enough food for 2 weeks. It’s not much, it does not solve all of the problems these people face, but hopefully, it just makes it easier for a little while. Before sending the wife back up the hill with the groceries, I explained (with the help of my friend) that when you do good things, you can be rewarded.

In Malawi, the average person lives in less than a $1 a day. So the next time you pull into the Chik fila drive thru and order a $8 meal but are upset that the fries aren’t warm enough. I want you to realize that some people haven’t eaten in a few days. These are the people I am encountering every day, these are my students from my class, or my neighbor next door. This is not to shame any one, but with $8 and your help, you can assist in more ways than can be imagined. I cannot fix everything or anything at all, but what I can do is make small impacts in ways people would never expect.

If you can please donate using any link found on my blog.

Until next time

Stay Awesome

Jill

Continue Moving Foward

Many times on you have only heard about the hard times I am having. Things in Malawi for the average person is hard. I do struggle most days with the cultural differences. Many days I am frustrated 75% of the time. I want to flip tables, yell, cry, become confrontational with people and sometimes I don’t even know what to do. I feel like I am on a wild roller coaster, which often comes to a sudden standstill. A stand still that many times I do not think I can overcome, but I keep trying. Yesterday was one of the most difficult days I have had since arriving. I have written previously about my adventures and frustrations at school, and how many teachers do not come to work consistently (read off to school we go). I have had several meetings with the local head chief and brought the issues to his attention. I felt we finally started to move in the right direction, then all the teachers in Malawi went on a strike due to a financial issue that was never addressed last August. This strike has the potential to continue for upwards to a month.

I felt completely defeated at this moment. I had to walk away from several conversations with the teachers and focus on how we wanted to divide 3 teachers (me, Tarik (the German) and Henry (my participant) between 200 students. Through all the frustrations of this strike and the many other things, here are two things I truly enjoy about teaching at the school.

The eagerness to learn.

I have had overly large classes to teach at one time ranging from 7 to 14 years old due to the lack of teachers. Today, while teaching grades 3 and 4 I noticed grades 1 and 2 were standing at the door trying to listen to what I was teaching. My class size was already 70 students and I decided to open my classroom up to the younger grades. This doubled my class to roughly 120 students. At first, it was frustrating and difficult to get a bunch of students whose third language is English to sit down and be quite. After about 10 minutes of settling down, I was able to conduct a lesson about foods that are good to eat. The students try their absolute best in order to understand what I am teaching due to the language barrier. Everyone runs up to me to get their work checked. Sometimes the students will return several times in order to have all the answers correct. Through the lessons, I have taught roughly 75% of the students. On average the students are able to complete the work correctly and understand the assignment given. We have to focus on the small wins.

The willingness to give their last

Many students come to school without having breakfast due to the lack of food available. They may only have a few peanuts, bread, bwabwa (a local fruit/snack), or a small snack in which they are always willing to give me half. The willingness to give me their own pen or food resonates strongly in my heart. These students do not give because they were told, but simply because they want to share. I will always be able to respect anyone willing to give their last, even when their next are not promised.

I have seen the students brighten up over the last few weeks.The looks on the student’s face when they received the new uniforms was priceless. The looks and attitudes of some of the students have completely changed in the last week of receiving uniforms. One boy in my class, Charles, was a trouble maker and never did his work. I found out that Charles did not have a pen in order to complete his work as well as not having a uniform. Since receiving his uniform and a pen he is one of my most talented students. Even with the challenges faced every day I still enjoy waking up and going to school. They say the darkest moment in the night is when the stars shine their brightest. When your faith is tested you simply have to believe that there will be light ahead and continue moving forward.

Thank you to everyone who has supported the people of Malawi. Continue to pray and send good thoughts my way while I am here in Malawi. Each day I hope for the best day possible.

Until next time,

Stay awesome.

Jill

You don’t have to like me, but respect me

(As a reminder these are my experiences. I cannot speak for a whole country or continent.)

The social norms here in Malawi are very different. I feel like I have taken a time machine and have gone back in time. The roles of men and women are simply: the women are the main providers, whether that is bringing home money, taking care of the children, or doing all of the house duties. The women are to go fetch water, get firewood, or sell the harvest. Men and women are not respected on the same level and I have experienced this first hand. For example, an older gentleman that works at the campsite asked Ernest (A fellow Malawian female) to go fetch water, since she was busy I went instead. I got about 5 liters of water,(4 really big bottles of water) which I had to walk about 10 minutes in total to retrieve the water. It was not a far walk but can become difficult due to the amount of water I was carrying. When I returned about 20 minutes later, the older gentlemen asked, “Why I only got 5 liters of water instead of the 15 liters?” This would have been a fair question if 5 other guys were not simply just sitting around doing nothing. I simply replied, “Your welcome for the 5 liters of water, and one of your other men can go get the other 10 liters.” It is seen in this culture that, fetching water, regardless of how far or how heavy it is a women’s job. I have walked into rooms and have not been acknowledged solely due to the fact I was a woman. This has made me want to flip many tables. Many of the times I am by far the most qualified person in a room, due to experience in teaching, almost fully completing a degree, owning a nonprofit, and have done lots of research on developing nations, but I have been overlooked due to my gender. This is their cultural I cannot change it I must accept it. Now I simply stay quiet and observe the people around me.

The structure of work is very different here. There are plenty of men who go to work, but this solely depends on the structure of the household. If one does not own a business, is a driver or owns a farm than the person does not work. Here in Rumphi, Malawi if you own a business you are successful. It does not matter if your business makes a profit, but you own something and one should be proud. I do believe that owning a business is something to be proud of. My only issue is when walking down the street for 5 minutes you pass 15 mini shops (usually a small outhouse looking building with the simple necessities), 5 barber shops and 15 people selling vegetables. I do not know how people make a profit to survive. This has become a systematic problem due to the lack of education. In Malawi, Primary school (1^st grade to 8^th grade) is free, after 8^th grade, the parents must pay for the student to continue education. Parents cannot afford for their child to continue their education due to the lack of funds available. The other issue is the student cannot pass the 8th-grade exam due to constantly being out of school or having unqualified teachers. Many of the students in rural areas miss weeks’ worth of school to help on the farm or help their parents earn money to get food.

In these situations, I cannot do anything, because these are systematic problems. But what I can do is make the teachers accountable for showing up for work. I can make sure that each day I am present for school the students are in class as much as possible. I can make sure that even if a teacher isn’t present learning still continues. Education is key to accomplishing anything in life. Although going to college and university is not always the option for everyone, education is. This goes for anywhere in the world, students are our future. We want to make sure that each student knows they can accomplish anything. We (teachers, parents, friends, decent human beings) must uplift and protect our children so that they can go be Something Amazing in this world.

Remember to subscribe to the blog(bottom right-hand corner)

Until next time

Stay Awesome,

Jill

Off to School We Go

First, I want to thank everyone that reached out to me over the last few days. It truly means a lot to me. If you know anyone else that is out in the missionary field please pray for them daily and send them a message, it truly does help us during our toughest days.

I have struggled the last few days to write a blog on my time at the school thus far. The school can be extremely frustrating due to the mentality of the staff members and the school committee. I first will walk you through my typical day. The sun is rising at roughly 5:30/5:45 which means it is time to wake up and get ready for the day. I refuse to take a shower in the morning because it is extremely cold at that time and it would just make me cranky. We have a small breakfast and head out the door about 6:30 in order to ride our bike 45 minutes up several hills, past many corn and tobacco fields, in order to get to the school. We arrive at the school about 7:15 to a handful of students cleaning the classrooms and front yard with a bundle of tall grass, used as brooms. About 7:30/7:45 a lot more students have arrived and the Headmaster (Principle) has gathered the students in rows in order to sing morning songs and have prayer before starting school. At this moment only about one teacher has shown up and is able to assist during the morning ceremony. Teaching in the classrooms are supposed to start at 7:30, but only two out of six teachers has arrived.

The students are now sent to the classrooms while the teachers talk and wait for the others to arrive. Some days teachers do not show up because of a plethora of excuses. For example, they were “busy,” hungover, or just didn’t feel like coming to work. This can happen anywhere between two to three times a week. Over the last week and a half, all the teachers have only come to school once. The other teachers come anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour late, because the walk to school was too long. About 8:30 the teachers begin to teach, if a teacher didn’t show up for the day their class just plays outside in the field for the entire day. The class periods are about 25 minutes long, many times after a class period the teacher will call for a break, which should last about 10 minutes, but usually last roughly 30 minutes. There have been many days that teaching has been disrupted for the students to build bricks or pick corn in the field. I have not truly understood this method completely, and probably never will due to the cultural difference. It is very often that school has finished at about 11:30 am and all the students are sent home.

Many of the students walk a few miles in order to go to school. With the plastic bags in hand hold their torn notebooks and with holes in their clothes the students are ready to learn. I have had the pleasure to teach several English lessons and break the material down for the students to understand. English is the student’s third language that they will have learned by the age of 8. This causes many struggles and confusion when trying to understand a lesson fully in English. The students must also use a lot of memorizing skills due to the lack of textbooks in each class. In certain classes, there are four books for a class of twenty-five. I commend each student for their bravery and readiness to learn even with the lack of textbooks and supplies that a normal American class would have. I would never take any frustration I have with how the school is running with the students. The students have such a pure heart. They enjoy running around barefoot, and playing in the field, enjoying life like any other child.

It has taken me some time, but I have found the project I will conduct for the students while I am here. All of the schools in Malawi require a uniform. Regardless of whether a student can afford the uniforms they are allowed to come to school. At the school I teach: 40% of the students do not own a uniform, and 85% of the uniforms have large tears, missing buttons or completely do not fit the student. It cost roughly $2 to buy a new uniform for a child.Something Amazing will be donating new uniforms to the students that do not have a uniform roughly 35. We also will be repairing the broken uniforms and making them like new. The students have a sense of pride when wearing these uniforms. We want to ensure each child can feel a sense of happiness when coming to school and not a sense of shame because they cannot afford a uniform. School should be a place of refugee when a home situation is not ideal. Something Amazing has hired a local tailor which will help make all of the uniforms for the students within the next few weeks.

Something Amazing is still receiving donations to help provide uniforms for the student. If you donate $10 you just provided a uniform for 5 students. We thank everyone in advance for helping with this project.

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Until Next Time,

Stay Awesome,

Jill

I Almost Gave Up

You read that correctly, after one week I was ready to pack my bags and head to Zimbabwe. This trip is physically and mentally straining to my body. Malawi is a beautiful country, the scenery, the school and the people are all amazing. Riding my bike to school for forty minutes, past beautiful mountains and many Maze (corn) fields is absolutely breathe taking. Saying, “Mwawuka,” (Good morning) to every person and they respond, “Nauka Makola Kwalimwe” (Good morning, I am Fine) gives me a sense of being welcomed into the community. Having all the students run towards you as you ride into school. Or all the students staring while I speak English, gives me a sense of curiosity from the students. Coming home to a wonderfully cooked meal by my Host family and eating dinner together as family. Gives me a sense of a family away from home. Even though all of these things happen daily; a large part of me struggled this past week.

Many times a Malawian sees a foreigner, they think they have money. It has been embedded into their minds that foreigners will give them whatever they ask for. This is extremely difficult for me because many people want to take advantage and lie about their particular situation in order to get money out of you. I have offended people by saying I do not have whatever they are asking for, or told them no because they wanted something of mine(ex. a headlamp, water bottle, my back pack). Teaching at the school was wonderful. There are many loving teachers and students, but many things that hurt my heart as a raising teacher. Many of the students lacked writing utensils, notebooks, textbooks, desk or anything to sit on. The way that the students must learn is through memorization because there is only a textbook enough for the teacher. Many times teacher will show up to school an hour late or not at all. This makes learning disruptive, or for that day there is no learning that happens. These are systematic problems that needs to be address.

The moment that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, was this weekend at the campsite. The campsite was beautiful with Lake Malawi, the lake of a thousand stars, only a 100 yards away. At the campsite, because it is an hour or so away from the village (far away from a town), the food selection was very limited, no electricity, or a lot of running water. I find comfort in food, especially in a period of adjustment. At the campsite we had little fish with eyes in tomato sauce, pap (which is corn flour and water mixed together, very tasteless) and a larger fish(Almost for every meal) (picture below)
. I physically could not make myself eat the food although I hadn’t eaten all day and we were doing physically labor in the sun. Mentally and physically, I was drained and did not think I would be able to last two and a half months in Malawi. I was 5 minutes away from packing my bags and calling a quits. Although I know I can’t leave because I have participants depending on me to be here while they come; I felt defeated. After eating a cookie, some plain bread, and getting a few encouraging messages I felt better. I know giving up is not a solution and pressing forward is all I can do. It is only week one and it can only get better from here.

This journey is not easy, and I never thought it would be, but I could not have prepared myself for how Malawians live daily. I am a privileged American. I do not have to struggle to find food. I do not have to worry about whether I will eat in the morning. I do not have to worry will we have electricity this month. I do not have to worry about walking to school for hours at a time. I do not have to walk a long distance just to get (sort of) clean drinking water. Many Malawians go through these daily/hourly struggles.

Continue to pray for me, and send your good thoughts my way. Encouraging messages do help me through difficult patches. Remember to subscribe to my website on the bottom right hand corner. Follow me on Facebook: Jillian Marie Bundy or Experience Something Amazing, as well in order to get daily/every other day updates.

Unitl Next time

Stay Awesome

Jill

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