Friday, July 11, 2008

Teddy's Village

July 3 (Thursday):

Lexi and I decided to focus on English/ language development today.
She brought in a poster of the alphabet and I brought a set of phonics
cards that help with vowel sounds and the acquisition of vocabulary
for students. They sang the ABC's (somewhat similar to ours- but part
of the tune was different), and Macdonald said they learn it in
Standard 1. He enjoyed our lesson and said it would be useful for the
students because they have access to similar materials in their lesson
book, but there is no explanation or reinforcement.

We started to teach them hangman before their "break", but they got so
into it, that they never took their break outside! They basically got
the concept, but they sometimes had issues with how to play the game
and fill in the letters. Some of their phrases included, " Krista and
Lexi are our new teachers" and "I love Lexi and Krista." If that
doesn't melt your heart, I'm not sure what will.

Lexi and I brought 4 disposable cameras to take pictures of the
children (remember when we bought those Dad?). There's a place in town
to take the cameras to have them developed. We decided we want to give
each child a picture of him or herself. Lexi took the children outside
group by group to take their picture. They love it! Most children have
never seen a picture of themselves, so it will be a nice surprise!
While she did this, I taught the rest of the class "Heads up, Seven
Up" from elementary school. They loved it! I would repeat to the
children "No peaking", and he would reiterate it or tell a child to
sit down if they "Sneak a peep." They got the hang of the game right
away, and I think it's something they'll continue to play in the future.

You know, even if some children don't learn a thing while we're here-
at least they have a wonderful time at school. They each have
differing home lives, but some are much harder than others. Despite it
all, I hope school remains a safe and happy place to come to escape
any hardships.

We gave our class a treat with a piece of candy (gum, lollipops,
jawbreakers, Sweetarts- all from home) before we left for the day.
Overall, it was very eventful, and we were exhausted by the time we
left!

Today, the children brought us sugar cane and cassava (root of plant
with thick skin like a potato when boiled). We were so surprised! It
seems gift-giving for the guest teachers has become daily event.
Macdonald took out his 35mm camera to capture the moment. We were so
grateful to the children, especially when we know they could enjoy the
treats themselves.

We met for class for just a bit this afternoon. Teddy, Katie Brogan's
teacher from last year (Katie is a student from Virginia Tech who was
in my Human Development class and is a friend of Lexi's) met us at
MIE. He was about an hour early, arriving at 1, so we talked with him
for a bit. Lexi had to do most of the talking since Katie had given
him her information and he seemed most comfortable with her. After
about an hour, Charles picked us up to take us to Teddy's village.

Teddy's village was a few kilometers away. Charles drove us all the
way to the village, which included some narrow and rocky paths.
Somehow that bus can make it through just about anything- it's amazing.

Teddy showed us all around his village. We met some of his children,
saw his home, the village gardens, and met some people living there.
In total there are 70 homes in his village with families, and Teddy is
the only one who has an outside paying job. We had a quick tour, and
Teddy told us about the renovations for his new home. It was very
nice, but probably not much bigger than a standard living room size.
The walls are made of bricks and mud, and the roof had metal
shingling. It had a few windows. Chickens and goats surrounded the
area, and women were washing clothes and hanging them out to dry.

We got back on the bus, and Teddy took us to where his gardens are
located. They were just a couple minutes down the street, but they're
hidden from the road. Charles parked the bus on the side of the dirt
road, and Teddy showed us the way through the brush and dried plants.
It was a narrow path, and the dry plants make a lot of noise. If we
were going to see a snake on the trip, I swore it was going to be
then. I'm still dying to see a Black Mambo!

We finally came upon his gardens, and they were beautiful! He was
growing Mustard lettuce and tomatoes, and he was preparing another
small plot for other vegetables soon. He's done a fantastic job with
creating trenches surrounding the plots for irrigation. His gardens
were a village-style Freedom Gardens. He uses similar practices to
pump water from a nearby river to irrigate his sunken crops. We walked
done near the river, and he showed us the pump that he uses. It was
disassembled and hidden under some plants, so it took him a few
minutes to assemble. When it was finally assembled, he showed us how
it works and explained how often he uses it. The pump was positioned
like a bicycle, so Teddy has to stand up on it and pump for about 3
hours twice a week. It seems like a lot of work, but Teddy keeps it up
all year along with teaching.

Charles picked us up, and we headed back to town. We saw Teddy's wife
coming back from the market on our way out. He told Charles to stop
the bus so we could meet her. She came on and was very shy, but she
seemed happy to meet us. We thanked Teddy for inviting us to his
village, and then he discretely invited himself to the annual
teacher's party before we leave. Although he is not a teacher from our
current schools, he remembered from last year. Dr. Kelly said it was
fine, but it was funny how he was so bold.

We had to stop at Tasty Bites today! It's our favorite place to go in
town, and it's a nice break from Annie's Lodge food. We ordered 22
Samosas for 5 of us with spicy rice, Fanta and the amazing chocolate
cake. They brought the cake out first, and you better believe we ate
it first! It was delicious.

While we were talking, a woman a few years older than us from Canada
and her guy friend came in and asked us what to order. Of course we
said Samosas, but then we struck up a conversation. She's living in
Mzuzu, which is a couple hours north of Lilongwe. She said she had
hitchhiked all the way down and wasn't sure where she'd be going next.
We asked her why she was in Malawi, and she said she was doing
research on sustainable agriculture. The first words out of our mouths
were "Freedom Gardens!" We told her all about our experience there and
how she just HAD to go there. I gave her Mrs. Chinkhutha's card, so I
hope she makes it there!

We walked the mile back up to Annie's, and on the way, we stopped by
the tailor's house right next to Annie's to see if our dresses were
ready. We got to try them on and tell them if we needed alterations.
Some people had more issues than others, but overall they were great!
We really liked how they turned out. The tailor's house is so nice!
Especially for this area, it's surprising to see such a nice place. We
realized she must get a lot of business. We're not sure how much work
she actually does, but she has three men working for her. They make
everything so quickly, and I'm sure she makes a huge profit.

We're always exhausted by the end of the day, so we had dinner and
planned for Friday's class. Our whole week of classes is almost over!

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