Teaching ICT lessons in Malawi

Born in the 90's and growing up in the UK, I took it for granted being regularly exposed to the technology that surrounds us here. Something that made me take a step back and realise how the world really varies from country to country was when I had the opportunity to teach ICT lessons with the children at the schools we were visiting. With a small amount of previous teaching experience and regularly having to help my technophobe relatives with technology, I thought how hard could it be and volunteered to help  run ICT classes. I didn't think that many children would want to attend when there was a bunch of Muzungu (White man) volunteers playing fun games outside but we soon had children piling through the door and the staff had to select the older children who they felt would benefit more from the lessons. Between 3 and 5 children squeezed around on laptop (which we had brought along with us) or very old styled computed; each student very keen to at least be able to have one hand touching it. To my amazement this was the first time the majority of the children had seen a computer/laptop. At Mbame primary school I noticed on the blackboard that they had some work on the theory so felt this would be a good place to start.

The theory included the names of the different components of a computer, where to find the letters and numbers, punctuation, the arrow keys and how to use a mouse. Things I just assumed they would already know. To help with the slight language barrier, a member of staff  would translate what I was saying which allowed me to go round to each computer set and point out what I was talking about to the children. 

I started with a group task of  typing out the alphabet; getting them used to finding the letters. It took them much longer than I had planned and I had to keep reminding myself this was the first time they had used a computer. I tried to think back to my first experiences on a computer but was so young I can't remember not being able to touch type. Children in the UK are encouraged at such a young age to use computers; I have cousins that have their homework set on a computer at much younger ages than the children I was teaching. Despite this, the majority were quick to learn and by the end of their 45 minute session were typing much faster. 

To prepare them for secondary school (where they would be using a computer) I thought it would be beneficial to teach how to use Word. We started with basic sentences using capital letters and full stops. They found the concept of just pressing each key rather than holding it down difficult and would end up with 'mmyyy naameeeee' so spent time practising just tapping the keys and also how to use the backspace if they go wrong. They were all too keen to use the backspace and would delete the majority of their work so that they got a longer turn at typing or someone else would delete their work as they were typing if they noticed they had gone wrong. Other than this I was impressed how good they were at sharing. I laughed to myself imagining if we had this kind of structure in a UK class of having 3-5 students at one laptop or very outdated computer all having to share. At the same time however it really made me wish that we could have provided enough laptops for them to have one each so they could practise individually. It was a shame but we made the best with what resources we had.

 On the blackboard there was a pre written passage about 'The Chief'' which encouraged the use of different punctuation. I showed them this and after demonstrating how to type the rest of the punctuation, how to underline and centralise text, set them off trying to type this individually. The physiotherapists in the group made a useful observation that the children would only type with one hand and that to benefit their fine motor skills we should encourage them to use both hands to type so I tried to implement this. All of the children were successful at typing out the passage and were keen to learn more. I loved that the children were so keen to learn and wanted to stay longer than their lesson to practise. It was a beautiful work ethic that I find lots of children lack in the UK. At the end of the lesson when they had spent extra time practising typing sentences they asked if they could do some fun things on the computers so I showed them how to load up photos, videos and music which they all enjoyed looking at and listening to despite the lack of variety. I hope that the children manage to remember some of what I taught them and that it will benefit them in secondary school. I definitely won't forget my wonderful experience teaching them. 

Lunchtime in Malawi

I had the opportunity to get involved and witness the process of lunchtime in various schools across Malawi. Every school had a different process but the outcome was the same. 

Over the UK and various others so called "developed countries" the problems they are dealing with is, during lunchtime the children have access to a variety of unhealthy, high calorie choices at lunchtimes. Often low nutritional value and not a huge benefit other than energy. This energy is rarely used up efficiently  leading to a generation of kids that are overweight, potentially malnourished and at risk of many different lifestyle diseases in later life.

However in rural Malawi they are dealing with malnutrition at the opposite end of the spectrum with the children not always eating enough. At school the children are given one option, phala. Phala is a porridge created from a maize blend from Mary's Meals. For the majority of children the mug of phala may well be their only meal of the day. 

With this being said the perception that is given in the UK media of African child overly skinny with large bellies and flies around there mouths was not the only reality I saw when in Malawi. 

I regularly fast therefore I have an idea how difficult skipping meals are, especially when you are expected to concentrate at school without food. The difference with fasting is I will have the option to break my fast however these children don't have that same luxury. However it gave me the opportunity to some what empathize with their situation. 
  

Experience of making the Phala: 

 Making the phala was a straight forward process, however it was long and required some level of upper arm strength to constantly be mixing the porridge and getting the lumps out. I was reluctant at first to do it because I didn't want to ruin it. However I did it anyway with the help of some of the older children from the school. I did find it quite challenging however I would never really get this experience again so didn't want to waste it. As it cooks on the firewood a lot of smoke is released and this smoke if it gets in your eyes can make it quite difficult to see. I often found I had to step back every now and then for some fresh air. After being left on the fire to keep warm it is then ready to serve. 

Experience of serving Phala:

I did enjoy the serving process, it really kept you on your toes. I did feel it was more important that I helped served the child rather than worry about my own lunch. Plus it kept us busy so you often didn't realise it was lunchtime.

They all came over eager with their cups and lined up in one long queue. We were told that it was half a cup of phala per child. The younger ones were given priority over the older children so they would come first. They came lining up standard by standard and it felt as if the line went on forever. When you thought the line was going down then another class came out. Almost instantly a sign of relief came over me and the others serving when we finally were done. Plus there was an element of excitement in the air as the atmosphere changed once the bellies were full.

What we quickly learnt was once a cup was given to you, often you rarely saw the child who gave you this cup. Mostly because your head is down concentrating trying to work quickly, therefore when giving the cup back to the owner wasn't always easy. What we found was the kids seem to have this mutual respect with each other. They all seemed to just know who the cup belonged to. If we accidentally gave the cup to the wrong child, the children quickly rectified the mistake. Very refreshing to see. Mostly because I doubt we would see this selflessness in the UK.

  

Story time:

While serving phala the one moment that really stood out for me:

On this occasion we kinda felt a slightly more stressed while serving. We started realising that some children were coming for seconds some even tried for thirds. You know that whole supply teacher situation. They probably thought they could get away with it. 

They know under normal circumstances until everyone has had then they shouldn't be coming up for seconds. However many tried and some were successful others were not so. 

A little girl probably about 4-5 years came over to get seconds we had recognised that this girl had some already and ask Shan to speak to her. Shan worked with us and looked after us when we were out, and helped us translate when needed. She eventually left, probably disappointed. We then asked Shan what the conversation was he was very reluctant to tell us. We kept pushing and eventually he told us. He asked her why she was coming for seconds. The little girl then replied that she was getting some for her mum. Shan then explained to her that the phala was for the children only and she left.

I felt horrible because it then dawned on me that she is probably one of the many children whom this porridge is the only meal they would potential have.

In a world of plenty it hard to understand why some people have so little. 

Malawi reflection

Everyone loved having photos taken! (Mbame primary school, Blantyre)

It’s been a little over a week since arriving back in England after a month in Malawi. It did seem to take me a while to readjust; everything just seemed so modern and technological back here! The main thing that I keep thinking about and will always remember from my month in Malawi is the abundant happiness of all of the people I came across over there, the smiling faces everywhere! Their content and joy with their lives and the little they had was quite overwhelming and almost made me feel guilty for the way we live our own lives in this Western world and the lack of appreciation we have for the numerous resources we have available to us and our quality of life. Each and every child I met was uniquely resourceful, humorous, showed kindness and protection to one another and showed immense love to us visitors; there were several that I particularly became attached to and I believe that I will continue to think about them often. Especially with the amount I have been talking about them and showing photos/videos to friends and family! A valuable experience I had there was being involved in an interview of a family with 4 albino children, along with Dr Lund, Liam and Bryony whilst at Lake Malawi. I had never participated in this kind of interview before and so it was extremely interesting to initially listen to the conversation between the more experienced interviewers and the family and to then feel I could ask my own appropriate questions. I found that the conversation ran more smoothly when questions allowed for the interviewees to expand and develop their answers into other topics. The children were quite shy and it was often the father who answered for them but I had expected this. I had learnt from Pat that it was normal practice to have the first interview in the interviewees home as this is often a secure place for them, where they can feel more comfortable and allows a rapport to be built which can help with future interviews. We had Harrison (our driver from Fisherman’s Rest) with us to act as translator when necessary, which was useful on several occasions. However, the standard of English of the family was generally good due to the level of tourism in that area. We also made sure that we took appropriate gifts for the children, including sun cream, long sleeved clothing, magnifying glasses to help with their reading as albinos suffer with nystagmus and we also took lots of stationary as the children were all re-starting school. This was just one of the numerous unforgettable experiences I had in Malawi and I wish I could go back as soon as possible to continue helping! This trip has inspired me in the long term as I am about to start my PhD researching new antioxidant treatments for sickle cell anaemia. This is a blood disorder that is mainly prevalent in regions of Africa; therefore I would like to complete my PhD successfully with the intention of using my findings in field work in Africa to potentially introduce new treatments there. It is safe to say that I will never regret my time in Malawi and I can’t thank everyone involved enough for making it the best experience of my life to date!

Sarah and Jacqueline, students at the local nursery (Lake Malawi)

Beautiful Lake Malawi

Mpemba health clinic

On Wednesday, the DASH team visited Mpemba health clinic, and to say the least, people's opinions were mixed.

The clinic is poorly equipped and hugely understaffed, where patients walk hours to the clinic and then wait hours to be seen; and most cases are then referred to Queen's in Blantyre.

In my opinion, the staff at the clinic should be praised, and I don't think words have yet been invented to just sum up how much amazing work they do. Despite conditions and lack of necessary equipment, the amazing staff remain unphased and work endlessly until their job is done.

We should all focus more on the positives than the negatives.

Gule Wamkulu - 'Big Dance'

Edgar, who is Pat’s scriptwriter came with his friend James, a musician, to tell us about the history of Malawi and explain the Gule Wamkulu (goo-lee wham-koo-loo). A Gule Wamkulu is a traditional tribal dance that involves dancers taking on the persona of spirit while wearing a mask.

 

Edgar and James

A Gule Wamkulu dance has three functions:

Education

Therapy

Entertainment

The director of the dancers will consult with the local community to address issues that are rife at that particular time. Each dance can take up to 40 days to prepare and is used to educate people about their ways, what they are doing wrong and things that need to be changed.

In Malawi, when a man marries a woman, he will move to her village and be “owned” by her family. This can often result in bad treatment, so it is believed that the dance may have originated as a release or therapy for men from the hardship that they suffered.

Gule Wamkulu often take place on special occasions or at prestigious events. They are incredible to watch and we were lucky enough to see one during our time in Malawi last year.

The dance also involves music and singing. It begins when the drumming begins. Hoards of onlookers came running to the middle of the village and within minutes the whole area was full!

Three different groups of characters involved in the dance:

-       Animals

-       Traits & Characteristics

-       Ethnic/ Professional Groups

Animals portrayed during the dances include hare, elephant and lions. The hare - kalulu, is a trickster. It is the first to perform and neutralises any magic powers that are active within the area. The elephant rarely performs and is only seen on very important occasions such as the death of a chief.

The Crocodile

Traits and characteristics depicted during the dances include Chadzunda and Nadola. Chadzunda is somebody that doesn’t listen. This attempts to encourage people to be more attentive. Nadola is a character that picks up anything that does not belong to him, and is used in an attempt to condemn stealing.

Ethnic and professional characters are often used to ridicule particular groups. One such character is mzungu, meaning “white man”. It is a word we’ve heard many times during our time in Malawi but is used in an inquisitive way rather than offensive. 

Mzungu – White Man

Police Man

CURE; teddy donation

Our amazing girls Liz and Erin holding their toy donations which were all lovingly provided by friends and family back home for them to bring and give to children here in Malawi.

They both decided that they would like to donate some of their teddies to Cure in Blantyre to the children our wonderful physiotherapists are currently working with; all of the children they are working with are all inpatients with mild to severe mobility issues.

Majete Nature Reserve

Majete is located in the Shire Valley and was declared a nature reserve in 1955. Following excessive poaching and poor management, resulting in certain species being wiped out from the area, the reserve was taken over by Africa Parks in 2003 and transformed into the incredible site that it is today. 

The initial priority of Africa Parks was to fence the entire reserve, making it more manageable as well as creating a much-needed barrier between the animals and the local community – for the benefit of both parties.

Following 4 years of work, in 2007, animals finally began to be re-introduced to the park. Since then, Majete has become home to a number of rhino, over 400 elephants and 5 lions as well as a whole host of other animals.

Our Vehicle for the Game Drive

During our time at Majete, we went on a guided game drive, saw lots of different animals, camped under the clear Africa night sky and enjoyed local food in the restaurant.

Elephants Protecting a Cub

Hippos Lazing in the Summer Sun

Female Nyala Drinking at the Water Hole

The Beautiful Zebra

We saw some beautiful animals during our time at Majete and were able to get very close to take these wonderful pictures!