Behind the Internship: First Impressions in Malawi

Flying over the Congo to Malawi, I noticed an immediate difference in the land bellow us. Taking off from America, everything was laid out like a small Lego city. Everything was gray; the color of buildings with the occasional splurges of green grass, rainbow cars, and blue waters. Looking down over Africa, it was like a vast land stretching over a reddish-brown blanket. It was accented with black, I’m assuming lakes and rivers that appeared black from my angle. As we got closer to Malawi, I noticed that there were things that looked like winding red dirt ribbons. My first impression was to think that they were rivers, because they meandered very similarly, but when we got closer I realized they were dirt roads.

I’ve never traveled outside of the US, so the entire experience of simply traveling from the Lilongwe airport to our house was a fascinating experience. I feel like I must of looked like a cow or something, staring every direction with my mouth slightly open, drinking every new scene in with hungry eagerness! The roads of Lilongwe were swarming with people. They were all talking, yelling, trying to cross the road, selling goods at small booths, carrying babies, and living. From an outsider’s perspective, it looked a lot like one big family reunion, because everyone seemed to know everyone else. I wanted to jump out of the car and be a part of it all…which of course I didn’t, since I knew better.

It hasn't taken long for me to settle in the house; it already felt a lot like a home. We started orientation within three hours of arrival. With the rigorous day to day process of being thrust head first into the curriculum I should have reviewed more before coming to Malawi. I was suffering extreme jet lag, and it felt like I was a walking zombie for a while there, but going to bed much earlier than I am used to has put me on the schedule quickly.

Our visit to Chisomo on Saturday was the first experience I had with the children. Chisomo is a place that takes children off of the streets and helps them get their feet on track. Even though I was not teaching here (we interns were watching the coordinators teach to see what the curriculum looked like in action), I felt so excited approaching it. The children had the biggest smiles, especially once our program was over. I took my camera out for only a few seconds without knowing how crazy that would make them! I was surrounded by kids begging me to take their picture, let me look at pictures, and posing in front of me excitedly. I have a feeling I will have plenty of pictures when I leave here.

Being here has been such a striking culture shock. The bustling market here reminds me of a combination of the flea market at home and the Disney movie, Aladdin. Eating the staple food, Nsima, was an adventure all in itself. (I’m not very good at eating with my hands, I get it everywhere). No matter what I have been doing, I am falling more and more in love with Africa every day. I miss a lot of people at home, and think about them a lot before I go to sleep, but now I know that when I am home sleeping in my bed, I’ll be missing Africa at night too.

Submitted by: Nicole Bradley, Malawi SS1 2011 Intern

WC Impact Areas: Empowerment-Creative Radicals

One of the main reasons why I decided to volunteer for World Camp in Malawi in 2009 was because I was impressed by the way in which this organization presented itself: carefully trying to introduce a critical debate among disadvantaged rural Malawian students. WC’s humble, interactive, and confronting approach towards empowerment stayed with me. But, it was not until months after I left Malawi that I started to recognize similarities between WC’s work and the ideas of the Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire. It’s exactly this similarity that encouraged me to get involved again with WC. This summer I will return to Malawi as a Program Coordinator.

Kids at school. Photo Credit: Katy Lackey

I was first introduced to Freire’s thoughts during my graduate studies. Here I learned that discussions surrounding development processes have generally shifted from social evolutionism and modernization theory towards an increasing emphasis on the inclusion of intended beneficiaries in these processes. Yet, after my experiences working for several NGOs in South Africa, Botswana, and Cameroon I have seen that hopeful notions of participatory development are too often overshadowed by the existence of problematic power inequalities at all levels of society, which makes it questionable to what degree claims of participation are truly empowering.

The existence of these power inequalities – between international donors and NGOs, men and women, teachers and students, etc – makes many people argue that aid to Africa is a Band-Aid, not a long term solution. Yet, by returning to Freirian ideas I believe that there are paths towards more transformative change. Paulo Freire argued that one must educate people in such a way that they are in the position to continuously reflect and act upon their social situation. Eventually, people could then work hand in hand with those who show genuine solidarity and are willing to critically encounter the world (so-called “creative radicals”) in order to recognize and transform existing power inequalities. 

Interns Gretchen Visser and Reiner Terwindt present
teacher certificates during community awareness presentations.

During my time in Malawi I learned that students often knew quite a lot about HIV/AIDS and deforestation but they did not always recognize the power that they had to change their social reality. Over the years, WC has worked with these students to further increase their knowledge about the issues that surround them through critical thinking and interactive teaching methods. This way, WC has been able to start a process of carefully increasing beneficiaries’ power to face their struggle. By doing so I believe that WC sets an example for many others trying to support disadvantaged groups. One should not want to fight their struggle for them, but rather be willing to find creative solutions that increase the capabilities of disadvantaged groups to participate in their own fight against existing problems. 

I’m really excited to be part of stimulating such critical debates in Malawian classrooms again and by doing so encouraging Malawian students to make themselves stronger!

WC Happenings: India Environment Day in Kindergarten

World Camp swept Frisco Elementary today. Kindergartners participated in a special lesson about our work in India with Coordinator Katy Lackey.

Katy Lackey, WC Coordinator,
with kindergartners from Frisco Elementary.

The day began with a few rounds of Humba, Humba...ok, 6 rounds, the kids just loved it! Following this, they did the Partner Stand-Up game.  That's the one where you sit back to back with someone of similar height, link arms and stand up together, without using your hands. Surprisingly the kids were quite good at working together, though Katy found that kids in America have sneaky ways to win just like kids in India and Malawi (like standing up when the teacher's not looking).

After energizing the group and talking a bit about what it means to be a team, the 13 kindergartners learned about Indian greetings, customs, animals, clothes, food and schools. They were particularly impressed that women carry heavy loads on their heads, cows meander through traffic, the size of dosas and that some kids learn while sitting on the floor instead of desks and chairs.

The group then focused on environmental issues, talking about how trash in the street was unsafe for animals and unhealthy for children. They also learnt what we use trees for and what trees offer us. As Jack so eloquently explained, "They give us air. Also they give us some oxygen. And then we cut them down and burn them in our fireplaces." The kindergartners asked questions, drawing comparisons between deforestation caused by overpopulation in India and deforestation caused by the pine beetle in their small Colorado mountain town. The class successfully played World Camp's "Where Are the Trees?" and "Population Impact" games for a better visual understanding of these issues.

Club Badges

The kids wanted to do something to help Indian kids protect their environment, so Katy inducted them into The Kids Don't Litter Club. Each kindergartner said "I promise I won't litter. And I will teach one person one thing I learned today," then received their official World Camp Kids Don't Litter Club badge.

As most of you know, one aspect World Camp focuses on is building HIV and environmental activism in schools. This most commonly takes the form of community awareness presentations and school impact clubs. The Kids Don't Litter Club is a global kids environmental club. World Camp friends and fellow travelers, Alisa Bright and Tessa Weston, brought the club to our India OTE Program back in 2008. The club actually began in Oregon, though has gained members in El Salvador, Panama, Thailand, South Africa, Vietnam, the Philippines and Malawi since. To be a member, all kids have to do is pick up one piece of trash each day. If (s)he forgets, no big deal, just pick up two when you remember the next day. Of course, members are allowed to pick up more than one piece of litter a day....you never know if there was a member in some other part of the world that forgot to!

Stay tuned, we're gearing up for summer sessions and heading to Malawi next week!

In Celebration of Mothers Everywhere

"Today is about celebrating the life-giving forces that surround us. It's about strength, support, encouragement, love. Some of us have mothers that embody all these qualities, mothers that never leave our side. Some of us have lost our mothers. Some of us never really had our mothers in the first place. But, whatever the relationship with your mother is, if nothing else, we can appreciate that it is because of her that we are here right now. But today is about mothers everywhere. In India, many will celebrate Mother Ganga (the Ganges River), whose constant flow sustains life throughout the country. Let's honor mothers in all forms and aspects of our lives. Perhaps these are sisters or teachers or friends. The people in our lives that love us for who we are, yet still encourage us to become who we want to be. And also, the mothers in ourselves. The part of ourselves that nurtures new ideas, that gives a piece of ourself to others expecting no return, that loves fully and unconditionally. And let's not forget the Earth. There's a reason why we call her Mother Earth, today we celebrate that. We celebrate the world we live in and the resources that sustain us, let us grow, support us each day." 

Photo Credit: Karen Clark

I drew in a deep breath, rooting down into my yoga mat as our instructor spoke. This morning was one of those gorgeous Spring-has-finally-arrived days in Colorado. Bluebird sky, sun dancing along the lake, dry roads and snow-capped mountains. I woke up with the intention of spending the day with my mom. And now here I was, thinking about a million other mothers in a million different places. The girls that World Camp works with, who will one day be mothers themselves. The incredible women I've met around the world and how they've shaped who I am. 

Photo Credit: Katy Lackey

We often only think about our own mother on Mother's Day. We celebrate our mother, but maybe what we should be celebrating is what's behind the title, beneath the figure.To be honest, I never thought of taking the day to honor the Earth. Wasn't that what Earth Day was for? However, as the instructor's words washed over me,  the idea of life-giving forces sunk in. Perhaps influenced by our class focus on hip openers for the day. Nonetheless, I was brought back to what was quite possibly the best class I had in college. A philosophy course where, on the first day, the professor proposed two questions: 

Who were you given to love? 

Are you living the life that wants to live in you? 

Interesting, because I think these questions relate to this idea of what is life-giving, of what sustains and, at the same time, moves us to become who we are, to become a part of the world. Who has ended up in our lives, for whatever reason, that is life-giving? Those people that stand by us or stand up for us, that encourage and support us? Are the choices we make and the lives we lead life-giving? Do they inspire creativity and breed possibility? The answers to these questions fall back on the qualities we use to describe "mothers." And that is certainly something to celebrate.    

So today, we celebrate life-giving mothers. Our founders' mothers, for believing in their kids' crazy idea to build this organization. Our students' mothers who carry heavy loads and fully give each day to their families. Our coordinators' mothers for letting us go again and again to work in-country. Mothers around the world that fight for their child's right to live, even if they were the ones who passed HIV to them in the first place. The Amayis (John and Ngoni's wives) who support our program and make lunches for our students. Our home-stay mothers, who graciously take volunteers in as their own, if only for a night. Female teachers who are often mothers themselves, mothers to their students, and mothers to all of us in helping us question and learn. And to all the future mothers in our female empowerment groups for their strength, openness and hope for the next generation. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Dudasik

Photo Credit: Price Massey

Submitted by: Katy Lackey, WC Coordinator