BE THE RESOURCE FOR CHANGE

Changing someone’s life is the greatest achievement that one should be proud of. But to bring that change depends on how you understand change. Most people believe that to change someone’s life requires one to have resources like money and material. This is quite true but it is not a limitation for anyone having the passion for change and this is what ICS placement has made me realize; if you do not have resources for changing someone’s life then be the resource.

It’s a greatest experience beyond my expectations being at this ICS placement. Personally, I am enjoying the placement in all dimensions especially the project we working on of “go back to school” which aims at sending back to school primary school drop outs. We are just four weeks into the placement but I feel like my contribution has and is still bringing impact to the communities we are working in.

Some of the beneficiaries of this project

To identify the children who drop out of school we use door to door approach. Before starting this exercise I had some fears mostly on the communities’ reaction towards this activity. But when we started visiting different homes to identify children who dropped out of school, it has not been so challenging as I anticipated. This exercise is improving my skills on door to door type of approach activity in the way that whenever we visit a home, we explain why we are implementing this project and its impact towards the individual, family, community and society and convince the families to help their children to get back to school. There are lots of families in the villages who do not understand the importance of school so they give less or no attention and responsibility for their children to get educated. They prefer taking the children to work in the fields than sending them to school because they do not see the immediate effect of school. So to convince these parents requires special skills of approach.

door to door identification process being carried out

Another exciting activity that I am enjoying is doing lessons in schools where the beneficiaries of this project have been enrolled on human rights and life skills. This is one way of advocating human rights to learners. There are a lot of children who do not know their rights and they are violated and subjected to different kinds of abuse. For them to realize their rights they need someone to sensitize them. So as a resource for change, this is another good opportunity to change someone’s life. The lessons we do usually helps us to be resourceful in order to feed information which is valid and useful. The lessons also are also helping me improve my public speaking skills mostly in terms of planning and how to deliver the intended message. It looks simple to stand in front of children and teach them but whatever you feed them has an impact in their lives.

Taking a lesson to an open space to make it practical and fun

As the placement is progressing am hoping to experience a lot. It is a chance not worth to lose as it is the best to bring change to the society. As a citizen who has no resources to change someone’s life but having the passion, I take myself as the greatest resource that can bring change to the society.

Blog by

Collins Mtumodzi-ICS volunteer

In Siya-Siya Salima

A new team for further success!!!

Here in Siya Siya we are now into our fourth cohort, on the 2nd of may 2018 10 new volunteers arrived in Siya Siya, five UK volunteers and five Malawian volunteers. The cohort has progressed and adapted well to their new lives where for the next ten weeks they will be living with the local community's of Salima and volunteering in the two educational zones of Kanongola and Matenje, helping to teach primary aged school children, community's and family's towards the importance of education and the advantages of going to school.

team meeting with T/A khombedza

So far we have successfully been teaching in classes around life skills and child rights. On the surface this looks like an easy task but in reality it comes with so many challenges both personally and professionally. Often we find it difficult to know exactly what the learners might already know or how we can teach them something new and useful, but once you enter the classroom and see many children with smiles upon their faces and eager anticipation all worry's and fear melt and fizzle away. In the short time we have been on placement we have already conducted many class lesson and classroom activities, this gives hope that no matter how small the progress or how difficult the challenges might be everything we do adds and aids to change. the team has also used this opportunity to monitor the progress of the children through class registers and exam results, which has been exciting to see how well the learners are progressing but also where the learners might need the neccassary support or further care.  

push pull activity in siya siya transitional centre:- picture credit norah

life skills lesson in kanjuwi transitional centre:- picture credit Dani Alexander

As well as classroom lessons we have also had a couple of identification activities whereby we aim to identify  children who have either dropped from school or who no longer go, we can walk for what seems like miles and only identify a small or limited amount of children. but the best way to motivate yourself in this environment is to look at the bigger picture of what we are doing and those life's that we are positively impacting and helping to improve, it is not about our struggle but instead about how we can best conquer someone else's struggle and empower them to become sustainable in their own life's. the family's are very friendly. It is fantastic to see how the vast majority of parents take the education of their children seriously and actively encourage their children to attend school.

identification in kanongola educational zone:- picture cedit thoko

The biggest part of being in placement is how we are changing the mindset of communitys and actively encouraging them to empower and improve their lives but also how we are helping the lifes of those within the community we live in, the team has realised that's its not just about what we achieve when we are out in the field but equally the achievements we notice within everyone we meet. Two weeks in we have succeeded with so much and know that ahead is challenges, but this team will not stop until we have achieved everything set out.

form c monitoring in chinkuli school:- picture credit esther

blog by Jason lee Taylor




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A Volunteer's Attempt at Managing Expectations

The highs and lows of life as a volunteer in Malawi make managing one's expectations an absolute necessity. Whilst the UK volunteers were told repeatedly at our pre placement training to have no expectations whatsoever prior to and during our ten weeks away from home, it was only really once the project got going that we realised exactly why.

At the very beginning of our placement, I did my absolute best to conform to the 'no expectations' rule. As such, when we arrived at the International Service Head Office in Lilongwe on our first day in Malawi and I was told that I would no longer be going to Dedza (where the temperature is cool, the town is established and they have flushing toilets) and instead I was off to Siya-Siya (where the heat is crippling, the town is small and the toilets are holes in the ground), I embraced the change wholeheartedly. Because despite being told by International Services that I was off to Dedza a month before we departed, according to our no expectations training, I shouldn't have ever actually expected to end up in Dedza, right?!

Upon arriving in Siya-Siya on the Friday night, my first weekend can only be described as an initiation to life here and again went to show how important it is to have no expectations. By the time Sunday night came, I had seen cockroaches crawl out of the tea bag box (having already drunk a cup), experienced my first hole in the ground toilet disaster, ate breakfast in the living room of my host home surrounded by chickens and been bitten a thousand times by bed bugs. Yet I had also met my lovely host family consisting of the most polite and smiley children I have ever come across and begun bonding with my wonderful in-country counterpart and room mate, Victoria. And so begun the highs and lows of life as a volunteer!

Vanessa, Fenna and Leo with Martha and Sara from Fenna's host home

In terms of the project, it took a while to realise just how important it is to keep all of our expectations equally neutral. Our days and weeks can vary significantly here with productivity and impact fluctuating. For example, the plan for week four of our placement had all of us excited as we were set to get our first taste of two fundamental project activities - conducting anti-bullying campaigns in primary schools and identifying children in remote villages who have either dropped out of primary school or who have never been, usually due to extreme poverty. On the Sunday preceding week four, I could not help but have high expectations for the week ahead.

On Monday morning of week four we clambered into the minibus bright and early to get to Chawira Primary School to conduct our first anti-bullying campaign and to teach life skills and child right's lessons. The anti-bullying campaigns require us to read CYECE's anti-bullying peace declaration to all students in the school, this means we usually have to get to school's for their morning assembly. Unfortunately for us, what should have been a fourty five minute journey to Chawira turned into a two hour journey as our driver got lost navigating the windy dirt roads. Considering how many of us we squeeze into the minibus and the fact the roads are less road and more pothole, the extra hour and fifteen minutes felt like a really long time. But worst of all, it meant we missed the morning assembly and disappointingly we were unable to perform our prepared anti-bullying play and the peace declaration.

Despite this, we all delivered really successful child rights and life skills lessons to each year group at the primary school. Victoria and I taught Standard 3 and 4 Child Right's and every student was fully engaged in the activities we had prepared. These included; getting the children to express their 'right to a name' by drawing self-portraits and writing their names next to their pictures; understanding the difference between rights and wants, and learning that with rights come responsibilities, such as the responsibility to turn up to school everyday. So, after the low of missing our opportunity to conduct our very first anti-bullying campaign, came the high of teaching effective and interactive lessons to the children.

Fenna and Victoria teaching Child Right's at Chawira Primary School

Tuesday night of week four graced us with a spectacular storm and the rain continued throughout Wednesday morning, when we had planned to visit Mtolangondo school to conduct what should have been our second anti-bullying campaign. We were not about to let the rain dampen our spirits so again we clambered into the minibus bright and early. We were only about ten minutes into our journey when we realised the road we were travelling down was effectively a mud slide.  As such, it did not come as a big surprise when we became quite literally stuck in the mud. After thirty minutes of pushing the minibus in the pouring rain and getting covered in mud, we were on our way back to the office. Frustratingly, the school couldn't be reached because of the weather and we were again unable to conduct our first anti-bullying campaign.

Vanessa and the minibus stuck in the mud

It was really disappointing to have planned to do two anti-bullying campaigns in week four and to have completed a grand total of zero, and I kicked myself for having set my expectations too high. Yet, all hope for week four was certainly not lost as we successfully completed our first day of child identification. We visited villages in the Konongola zone (specifically around Dwere Transitional Centre) and identified a total of thirty one children who should be in primary education. This means that once these children go to their nearest school and register, our partner charity CYECE will provide them with school uniforms and scholastic materials . This means that hopefully they will complete their primary school education.

Even expecting the worst could not have prepared the team for the shocking poverty and family circumstances that we come across during child identification. However, our team has recognised that child identification is the most important and sustainable aspect of the project. As such, since week four we are proud to have completed numerous days of child identification meaning we have surpassed our target set by International Service of identifying 225 children and identified a total of 318 children. We hope to keep on surpassing this target in our last few weeks here.

Fyaupie conducting child identification in Mnema district

I hope this has given all readers an insight into life as a volunteer. As cliche as it sounds, it is a rollercoaster ride with constant ups and downs and in order to keep spirits high it is vital to have no expectations whatsoever. Thanks for reading.

Written by Fenna Maynard
Photos by Fenna Maynard and Amy O'Hagan

Time and Gender – a UKV’s perspective

‘Malawi-time’ is the fond name used by locals to excuse the delayed start time of any activity. The conflation of this sometimes ‘timeless’ community, in which a wall clock is a rare sight, vs. the deadline-driven, hypermodern conceptualisation of time in the UK required acclimatisation for the UKVs. However, having become accustomed to this relaxed pace of life in Siya Siya, it came as a shock to realise that we were four weeks into to a ten week programme, and that the midterm review was looming.

Working with CYECE felt slow at first, everyone was adjusting to a new team and environment. Gradually, however, the project gained traction and the past two week have felt busy and productive. Highlights include starting the identification of marginalised children in T/A Makanjira and Mwanza and monitoring the progress of beneficiaries in Mlesi and Msambafuma schools. Identification involves going to houses in a community and recording the names of children who have dropped out or never attended school. To monitor beneficiaries our team goes into a school and uses the available resources – registers and exam records – to ensure that those children who had been previously assisted by CYECE were attending and progressing in class. We have continued conducting Life Skills and Child Rights’ lessons and developed a process of sharing lesson plans and building on them between each visit. A lesson that has stood out in particular for me was a lesson taught in Matenje Primary School on Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights. We used role plays, discussion based activities and a plenary exercise which asked the learners to consider their own goals in life.

A learner completing an activity during our Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights lesson at Matenje Primary School. Photo taken by Amy.

On the 4^th March, which many reading this will recognise as International Women’s Day, we met with the traditional authority of Mwanza. Communicating our work and intentions with the community is an essential part of the project, and a key factor in making development sustainable. It would be arrogant and foolish to waltz into a community and begin to make changes without the advice or, more importantly, the permission of the community elders. Our meeting with T/A Mwanza was reassuring and inspiring on both a personal and project level. Having planned nothing to commemorate IWD 2018, I was delighted that T/A Mwanza was female.

Here come the girls! The women on our team on International Women's Day 2018, just before meeting T/A Mwanza. Right to left: Fyaupi, Fenna, Hope, Vanessa, Victoria and Amy. Photo taken by Amy.

The meeting itself was a cultural first for the UKVs. There were men seated around 3 sides of the room, facing the TA, who was sitting regally on a bigger chair on the 4^th wall. After the other male elders had introduced themselves, it was time for T/A Mwanza to speak. Preceding her speech, everyone in the room began a rhythmic clapping as a form of respect, it also acted as a way of building tension before she stood up. Although her welcoming speech was in Chichewa, looking around I saw the UKVs watching her intensely, captivated by her aura. It seemed wonderful to me that in this patriarchal society in which all the authoritative figures I had met up to that point had been male; here was a woman commanding the audience and respect of a room full of men. She made her audience laugh with ease and subtlety. The work that she had done reducing child labour and marriages in her community was the main subject of her talk, while appreciating the difficulties in doing so with limited resources. She had even visited Ethiopia to represent her T/A at a pan-African summit

This meeting reminded me of a lovely moment we had while introducing ourselves at Matenje Primary School. The teacher with whom we were liaising was explaining to us what the previous cohort did at the school and in what way our presence could be made useful. Lucius asked her, “Would you find it helpful for members of our team to speak about their lives as a way of being a role model for these children?” To which Madam Desire replied with a warm but ever so slightly indignant tone, “I am the role model!”

It may seem that we have been nothing but encouraged by the empowered women we have met in the previous anecdotes. Unfortunately, however, these are isolated incidents and the majority of women we have come across in rural villages have given me much to think about. Hope and I were in Ndolo village identifying marginalised children, and found ourselves sitting down on an ‘Mpasa’ (outdoor mat made of palm leaves) surrounded by mothers and their children, hoping to be helped. Methodically, we wrote down the names and basic information – such as earnings and assets – of these potential beneficiaries.

A nutrition clinic for infants and mothers at the Khombedza Health Centre. Photo taken by Amy. 

It was one family in particular that stuck in both mine and Hope’s memory; a mother with five children all under the age of 18. Her husband had left her for another woman, and decided not to divorce this woman formally. He was sending her one bucket of maize per month, but this is meagre and in no way constitutes appropriate ‘child support’. As well as being restricted to her earning potential by her duty of care, she was unable to remarry and be supported by another man (an unfortunate necessity for a woman in her situation). After meeting this mother and hearing my concerns confirmed by Hope, I began to notice how few men there were in T/A Makanjira. This observation was confirmed when we revisited the village and found even more women in these situations.

I would like to briefly add a couple of other aspects of Malawian culture that further convey the cultural perception of the role of a woman. The first I found out in my first week in Siya Siya; a mother will, in lieu of her birth name, be known by her peers as the name of her first born child with ‘Ma’ in front of this. So, my host mother’s name is ‘MaEmma’. While I appreciate that calling a mother in accordance with cultural norms is a sign of respect, there is an unsavoury twist. Often, even if a daughter is technically the first born, the mother will take on the name of   any younger sons. The issue I have with this, admittedly stemming from my own Western definition of liberation and gender equality, is that a women seems to renounce her entire identity to both her husband through her surname and her children through her first. I wonder what impact this has on her sense of self. Moreover, while identifying children who had dropped out of school with Daniel, we met a girl who Daniel told me was an orphan. I was then confused when Daniel also informed me that we were speaking with her mother. I had to ask, once we had filled out the form, how people in Malawi define an orphan. It is any child whose father has passed away: the child’s mother may still be alive.

The CYECE Salima project focuses on empowering an entire generation of children, regardless of gender. It is widely accepted, however, that poverty and gender inequality are inextricably linked. Providing quality education to this youthful generation should set the necessary steps in motion to enable the social mobility of both genders. As a consequence, I hope that young women will feel that they have the potential to contribute to their community in an intellectual as well as domestic capacity. The women I have met so far working for International Service have inspired me and instilled a faith in me that with the appropriate support, they will be able to change their own lives and by consequence the lives of future generations.

- Vanessa Hall

Who the FUNK are the Kardashians?! A week in the life of an ICS volunteer.

Saying farewell to my nearest and dearest as the placement spun around the corner proved to be a lot more tear-inducing than I had originally thought. There was the mission of packing and re-packing my rucksack, the difficulty of choosing what I needed to bring with me to survive, and the devastation of not being able to come coupled with my pet pooch. However, I arrived on time to Terminal 2 London Heathrow airport and combined forces with the other UK ICS volunteers, some of whom were meeting one another for the first time. Being as nervous as I was, I managed to make my way through to departures without my team and missed the group photo! Luckily, I successfully and safely completed the two part journey with my new squad and we received a very warm welcome from Lena in Lilongwe. Our ten week adventure was off to a flying start.

The International Citizen Office in Lilongwe felt somewhat like summer camp with everyone in bunk beds and some top and tail action. The days to follow consisted of getting to know our other halves (counterparts), being introduced to our fellow in-country volunteers and Mercy’s guesthouse where we ate our meals. Not forgetting the introduction of bucket showers and additional training, including; Code of Conduct, Safety and Security, Budgeting, and theorising potential project plans and ideas.

We later split into the two teams and were on route to either Siya-Siya or Dedza. Little did I know what I had let myself in for; instantly everything seemed more beautiful, the clouds looked puffier and a lot more relaxed here in Malawi as the concept of time evaporated. By the time we had arrived at our new homes and met our new families, it was dark.  So, I sat in my new box room, alone, warm and verging on insanely anxious. A first impression, the Malawian culture is portrayed as a blessing and a curse in the outback. The amount of children seen under the age of 10 in the passing villages and that of Siya-Siya is remarkable. Yet, culture has taught them in other ways to unite and live off one another. What followed was spotting the most incredible star-shower I have ever seen with some new friends.

Soaking up the undercurrents of the city, on my first day in the village I encountered the hole in the ground that was to be my toilet for the next nine weeks either I had to go, or I had to go, go.  Venturing out into the market and embracing this foreign land, it was time to mingle and meet the locals.  We were able to get a true sense of the culture and somewhat of an idea of what it would be like to be famous with people constantly shouting “Mzungu!” (white person). We roamed the local market to sample of the fine street food – chips and egg, more accurately described as a chip omelette, nothing like we would expect in the UK. Trying out the culinary customs – eating with your hands, which was more a onetime thing as I could only hear my mother in the back of my mind telling me off as a young child. As I underwent a crash course in the native language, Chichewa, this proved very funny for my teachers, unfortunately at my expense. A man offered for me to become his wife in exchange for his bike. Where I’m from this would be considered an insult, but here a bike is one of his most treasured possessions, which took a moment for me to register. Despite dressing modestly and trying local cuisine and language, I will never blend in here; yet I intend to use this to my advantage, to help achieve the overall aim of the placement – enrolling, retaining and educating young people in schools.

 Music unites us: In-country volunteer Mbilika Mwentembela and UK volunteer Alun Cook.

Siya-Siya is located in the heart of Malawi. No travel guide book could have had me prepared for this and I longed for a sense of a familiarity but my phone was completely out of use. We wondered around the small village of Siya-Siya to quite literally stumble upon the river “Lipimbi” to see some of the locals bathing and doing their washing. Watching the sun and moon cross paths on a beautifully simplistic landscape, this all made me wonder - do I take advantage of such things when I am back at home in Ireland? Is my mind pre-occupied and distracted by pointless things so much that I am unable to notice the beauty around my own home?

Bubbles of joy! In-country volunteer Victoria Chilemba introducing bubbles to the children at the Transitional Centre.

On Monday we were surprised by the team leaders and told that today we would be teaching a class in the transitional centre that our office is located next to. It came as a shock to realise that for our first class we would not have a wifi connection or adequate time to prepare a detailed, well thought out lesson. Thankfully, Madame Maureen had the class syllabus. I got Mathematics which I thought should be easy to teach in any language. Paired with Fyuapi, Hope and Mbilika, the Beyonce’s of Chichewa (!), we were assigned to teach the kids the importance of using tallies and graphs. I was nervous but then realised the children simply enjoyed our presence. They were responsive to the mzungus, fortunately for our in-country team members. The class had initially only nine students attending at the start of lesson one but by the third lesson there were thirty-two children attending. Slowly as the class went on I began feeling more comfortable and more focused on setting goals to achieve by the end of the lesson. Success! They were able to complete the exercises we had planned.

Instead of viewing this experience as a huge personal challenge, I must take the view that I am in a unique position to be volunteering and living alongside this community. This is how people in certain parts of the world live for their entire lives, not just for a measly 10 weeks like I will be doing. This highlights again what is really important, the reasons as to why am I here – to help reduce child labour and marriages, improve access to education, to educate and learn in turn. I have witnessed the multiple long, hot walks women and children make in order to obtain water for the household, and it has now become clear to me that I use far too much water at home. Children huddle around you as you drink bottled water in anticipation not for a drink, but for the empty plastic bottle; I have never seen anything like it – it is as if a plastic bottle is fairy dust. Bottles are collected by shops in exchange for money to be washed and re-used by shops to sell local water or cooking oil.

Productivity is key: Mid-meeting with the principle at Matenje primary school with the aim of empowering and educating the most marginalised children.

On Tuesday we hitch-hiked a lift to our first school Matenje primary school for introductions after paying a small fee to the local biker squad. The ride was surprisingly comfortable and we were taken on a very beautiful, scenic route. I had wisely selected my soundtrack; On top of the world – Imagine dragons, Waves – Kanye West, Good riddance – Green Day, to name a few and match my mood – bliss. Once we had arrived children swarmed towards us and greeted with “Bo”, accompanied by a fist-bump. A meeting was conducted with the deputy head master. He wanted our assistance in getting children to attend school and we discussed the challenges they faced. The severe lack of resources is exemplified by a few facts. One textbook is shared between five students and some classes are conducted under trees due to the need for infrastructure. After lunch we walked to Kanjuwi primary school which was made up of eight classrooms, consisting of 19 teachers, 1,045 male and 936 female students. Overcrowding is a severe problem, standard four holds more than 130 students. Moreover, the teacher has access to only two of the nine textbooks required to teach the syllabus! I am faced with teaching children that it is their right to be educated and that within a classroom setting they will learn some of life’s most valuable life skills. Yet there is barely any room in the classroom for the sheer number of children it accommodates. As a team we must overcome these challenges and plan interactive lessons in order to ensure that the most marginalised children coming to school without a book or a pencil, are learning too.

Thumbs up: ‘Siya today Siya tomorrow’ enjoying a ride back from visiting Matenje primary school with the with the local taxi service.

That night I experienced my first blackout and discovered that very few establishments within the village have installed solar panels. I was feeling extremely uneasy, warm without a working fan and left questioning all my life choices. Within the hour my mood had switched and as did the power, much to my relief. I was sitting in my host home with Andrew (my “brother”) fussing over my well-being, as well as the direction and distance between me and the living room fan.

After university, I was unsure of what to do, and I hoped that volunteering would allow me to redirect other people’s futures whilst also giving me a clearer picture of my own. Here the possibilities for potential careers are limited for those in rural villages such as Siya-Siya. Jobs are scarce, the economy is failing and the government neglects basic needs. However, this hasn’t compromised sense of personal security, which might be because I carry pepper spray! Everyone is so friendly, in comparison to the uninviting passers-by that I am used to back in Edinburgh.

Having completed week one of the placement, I am feeling more uncertain than ever. The problem that we are trying to tackle is prolific, and comes hand in hand with many others such as; lack of school resources, teachers’ wages and corruption. There are three things I am sure of - we all have to start somewhere, preparation is key and I love a challenge.

The best is yet to come.


- Amy B O'Hagan

Mahempe!

Ryan always draws a crowd!
Photo: Adrian O'Sullivan

The last couple weeks have flown by here in Siyasiya! At the start of last week we took part in two days training with our partner CYECE, where we were briefed on the monitoring forms for children in primary schools and transitional centres, data entry, life skills, anti-bullying campaigns and child rights. During the training we also formulated our schedule for the cohort, in order to ensure that we stay on track during the coming weeks and meet all of our targets.

Beatrice, Ursula, Tryness and Charli prepare the curriculum.
Photo: Adrian O'Sullivan

Using the skills we learned in our training we then devised lesson plans for the child rights and life skills classes we will be conducting in the 16 schools in the surrounding district. We deliver lessons in groups of four, with two UKVs and two ICVs, and each lesson lasts between 40-60 minutes.

In the life skills lesson we have decided to focus on teaching the children effective communication, assertiveness and self-esteem and conflict resolution, which will link directly with our anti-bullying campaigns which we will be delivering in assemblies later in the month. In the child right classes we are focusing on the importance of education and the barriers that children of primary school age face, for example child labour, poverty, early marriage and HIV and aids. These classes are vital because although the children we teach currently attend school, they are still at huge risk at dropping out, especially when the rainy season begins next month which  is when the majority of children drop out.

Tom takes part in a Life Skills session on HIV
Photo: Lucky Katundu

The first week of lessons has been a monumental success as we have taught 257 children, all of whom have been hugely enthusiastic and eager to listen and learn. After delivering our first few lessons we also took time to reflect, change and adapt the lessons as a team. We are often unable to know the age of the children we will be delivering the lessons to until we arrive at the schools, therefore it is important to have several variations of the same lesson which we can adapt to suit the ages we are teaching. The children also have varying levels of English, therefore the lessons we deliver are primarily conducted in Chichewa, as a result the UKVs are ensuring they learn some key phrases in order to help facilitate and be involved fully in the lessons. As a result everyone is looking forward to another week of teaching next week!

Tryness, Beatrice, Sully and Charli lead a session on Child Rights in Mpondanjati
Photo: Adrian O'Sullivan

We have also been undertaking follow up visits for children who have said they were going to enrol in school in September but have failed to enrol. This involved going round to the individual children’s’ houses and talking to them and their parents to try and learn the reasons behind the child’s choice to not return to school.

The team have also now become a regular feature at the Famine Clinic on a Friday, and have now become involved with all processes. The team weigh the babies, measure their arm circumference and height, register the names and hand out the food. Our very own nurse Priscilla has even performed injections!

Written by Ursula Sullivan

SiyaSiya is Believing

First things first we want to introduce you to the team members of the second cohort!  

The in country volunteers are Lucky, Tryness, Priscilla and Beatrice. Lucky is 24, from Blantyre and likes reading. Tryness is from Mzuzu, but lives in Lilongwe, she is 22 and is a secret star tennis player. Priscilla is 22, she is from Zomba, has a BSc in nursing and midwifery, and loves watching the news. Beatrice is 20, she’s from Lilongwe, her birthday is in a couple of weeks and loves dancing.

The UK volunteers are Ryan, Charli, Tom and Sully. Tom is 24, half Ukrainian, lives in Nottingham and dances salsa. Charli lives in Lincolnshire, is 21 and has just finished her degree in criminology. Ryan, 22 is from Scotland and once broke his collar bone on a scout trip but didn’t tell anyone because he didn’t want to be sent home and miss out on the fun. Sully, 24 lives in Brecon, Wales and plays women’s rugby back in the UK.

And then of course we still have our team leaders – Sky and Adrian who have been in Siyasiya since our project work began in June.

The Team at the My Hands My Future washing community sensitisation

Our first week here has been action packed as we have settled into our new host families, learnt about the project and the work we will be doing over the coming weeks and attempted to find our bearings in the town of Siyasiya! Here is a rundown of some of the standout moments we’ve had in our first week!

On Tuesday the team introduced themselves to the 800 chiefs of Khombedza. As the traditional authority of the region it was vital for the whole team to introduce themselves to the chiefs and explain the work we will be doing in their districts. It also gave Ryan a great opportunity to use his newly learnt Chichewa – ‘Muli Bwanji Afumu!’ (Greetings chiefs!).

After the introductions to chiefs we went to Chikombe, a village near the lake where a hand washing ceremony was being held. The theme of the ceremony was ‘our hands, our future’. They talked about how hand washing is vital at preventing hygiene related problems, in particular diarrhoea, which is one of the main causes of increased child mortality rate in Malawi. In particular the sickness caused by cholera results in children being unable to attend school, which affects their performance and can lead to dropping out – exactly the problem we are trying to reduce!

The team distribute scholastic materials

The team also got the chance to assist in distributing scholastic materials to the schools and transitional centres in the Salima district. The process took two days, and consisted of dropping exercise books, pens and pencils to 16 schools in total. The materials are vital and will be used by children who have re-entered education through the programme.

On Friday we also had the chance to attend the famine clinic, which is run by Adrian’s host dad Mr Maunde and takes place every Friday at the hospital. The team learned about the processes involved at the clinic and helped distribute the soya porridge and chiponde to the families in need.

The team are taken through the vaccines delivered at the local hospital

Lastly on Saturday we went to one village where the new chief was being installed and there we had our first encounter with the infamous Gule Wamkulu (masquerade men). People cerebrated by dancing to modern music that’s when Sully, Tryness, Charli and Ryan joined in, as shown in the picture above. It was a crazy afternoon that really blew the minds of the UK volunteers especially, Siyasiya really is believing!

Ryan, Sully, Tryness and Charli dance at the installation of new chief

Written by Ursula Sullivan