A Sea of Smiling Faces (Day 10)

I have never felt so much like a celebrity as I did today. It was overwhelming watching hundreds of little Malawian children flood the fields as they ran across in a sprint to see each and every “azungu” (white person) who had arrived at their school. We joked that we needed to have someone take a picture of all of us in the swarm of children and we could even play “Where’s Waldo” to find the volunteers. Today was an amazing day. I can say that I am honestly exhausted but feeling very content. Camp went really well. The students were all perfectly behaved. They seemed to have a good grasp of the HIV curriculum. Some of their names are very western sounding. We have a student named Gift and a Bertha as well. Others have names I cannot even begin to say or spell. The language is much different from ours and the students openly laugh when I try to pronounce parts of the curriculum. They also giggle and laugh when they all get in a circle and dance and it is my turn. I have never felt at uncoordinated and rhythmically challenged as that moment. We had some interesting questions during “female empowerment.” It is funny how little they know and are told about sex. They thought a man could get pregnant if a woman actually wanted to sleep with him

Today I got to experience drop toilets the Malawian way. All I could think of was in Slum Dog how the kid jumps into the poo pit to get his autograph. I can say is I am happy for plumbing.

We do not have camp tomorrow because it is the Malawian Independence day. There were extra police out and about today making sure that everything stayed calm for celebrations. The police are a lot more “serious” looking than the typical American cop. There are no doughnut breaks for these guys. They were decked out in full camo gear, driving a tank like vehicle and carrying serious guns. Our coordinator Jaren said he heard their guns were not even loaded, that they cops did this more for intimidation. I learned that Malawi was formed by three main tribes that did not want to fall into the fighting that much of Africa was experiencing so they decided to come together peacefully. I think that is a really cool story and is supported by how wonderful the people do seem here.

Sorry no pictures or videos today. It was suggested that we not use cameras until the last day of camp or the little “rugrats” will not leave us alone. I am going to take some in class pictures and maybe a dancing video on Wednesday.