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