Finally the Countryside (Day 8)

After spending a week in Malawi we finally got to do what I came here for, interact with the kids, and it was a great experience. This morning we awoke and drove about 30 minutes out of Lilongwe. It was an eye opening drive. First off all I was able to see how people live a bit outside of the city. There were lots of small houses, mostly made a brick arranged in small groups. Every few miles there were small shacks selling a variety of items. These include fresh veggies, dried fish, mice on a stick. Eww. They remind me of the scorpion suckers that are sold, but these are not a food just for tourists. During the dry season Malawians slow burn the fields to help stop fires. They actually collect the mice that have been burned, skewer them with a stick and sell them as a snack food. Last session one of the coordinators made a bet and had to eat a mouse. He said the head was the worst!!!

As we drove up to Yossa, an after school program for orphans, the kids chased the bus down the street yelling “white person” in Chechewa. When we arrived, the students that we were supposed to work with had not arrived. They came according to “Malawi Time” which is always WAY later than the time stated. We got to play with the little kids while we waited. There was a small playground with swings, climbing poles and slides. It was a trial in communication to play with them and not use any words. They did know “head, fingers, knees and toes” in English. When the other students arrived we did some songs and dances with the kids. We will be using these when we begin teaching next week. The kids were so excited by their white visitors that the hung on to every World Camp Volunteer’s hands tightly and when we went to a small class, having to leave the little “rugrats” outside, they followed us and literally had to be chased away!! In class it was funny to see the Malawian’s reactions to our demonstrations on condom use. But it definitely paints a picture of the difference in cultures. The people in the room were ages 15 to adults. They were very embarrassed and kept looking back at us with uneasy smiles. I can imagine it was a little like teaching the concepts in a US middle school. It is sad to think that this difference in culture, their unease in talking about sex and HIV, is partly why the disease is so prevalent. It shows how important education is and hopefully the difference we are making.

One thing I noticed on the trip to Yossa was that the sky here looks different than it does in any places I have been to in the States. It is a deeper clear blue that stretches off into the distance and it dotted with huge white puffy clouds. It looks so cool and serene and void of any pollutants that we have. It is funny that the sky looks so clean but the ground is covered with garbage that people just drop on the ground.

For dinner this evening we had a traditional Malawian meal of Nsima and relishes. One relish was made of bean and the other tomatoes and pumpkin greens. Nsima is a corn flower patty that is boiled and used to scoop the relishes. I was not a fan of the pumpkin relish. I cannot imagine eating the same thing everyday for my life but this is what many of our student do.