Farewell to the Warm Heart of Africa

It’s hard to believe our January session is over. We are all home safe and sound trying to get back into the swing of things in the “Western World.” Although it was sad to leave Malawi, I’m definitely ready to be back in a place where toilets with seats and running water are the norm.

During our last week in Malawi we continued our home stay in Mchezi and worked with the other half of Standard 7 at Mkhosa Full Primary School. In addition to teaching the regular curriculum in the mornings, we each took on projects with Mchezi Community Based Organization in the afternoons. I teamed up with Christine and our Field Assistant Rejoyce to work with an HIV+ women’s support group. We talked a lot about nutrition on the first day and focused on empowerment paintings on the second day. With a limited amount of time, we found this to be an easy, creative way for the women to bond and express themselves in an artistic manner they haven’t necessarily been exposed to in the past.  

Mark had a great time teaching Mchezi’s youth group how to play baseball in a two-day mini-camp. By the end of the week, all participants were excited and proud that they had mastered the “simple sport.”Tucker partnered with Field Assistant Cyrus to talk with local farmers about permaculture. The farmers were fond of the new techniques introduced, and many of them were already familiar with them and were excited to put them to use. They talked about water catchment systems, planting beds instead of rows, and the benefits of intercropping. The farmers viewed permaculture as a potential solution to the community’s struggles with poverty and poor nutrition.

All in all it was a great week. We met so many friendly and inspiring people in Mchezi, especially at the CBO and we are confident they will continue to do amazing working in their community long after we are gone.

To finish off the session we headed to Lake Malawi for the weekend, where we basked in the sun by day and sat around a bonfire by night.  For our last day as a group, we woke up at 5am and watched the sun rise over Lake Malawi. There couldn’t have been a better way to end the trip. 
 
It seems like a lifetime ago we all sat together at the airport for the first time, awkwardly introducing ourselves. We’ve come a long way since then, we’ve met so many remarkable people, seen some astonishing sights, and been inspired by so many stories. We’ve grown, learned, inspired and changed, and of course learned some really great dance moves along the way.

Zikomo, chinuo, peace and love,

Cara (with Christine, Mark and Tucker)

Students help southeast African village pursue sustainable economic initiative

BOONE—What can you learn from a journey to Malawi?
Eleven students from Appalachian State University recently traveled to Malawi to learn first-hand about managing Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the obstacles to Malawi’s economic development. The trip was part of a course offered by the Walker College of Business.
The trip in early January was the college’s first short-term study abroad program to Malawi.
“Malawi was selected because it is such an extreme example of a country and economy with almost insurmountable obstacles to development,” said trip co-leader Dr. Marty Meznar.  “Also, World Camp’s headquarters are in Asheville and we have known of their work in Malawi for several years.” Meredith Church, who works with Meznar in the Walker College of Business and who also was a trip leader, had previously worked with World Camp in Honduras.
As a result of their experiences, the students have used their business skills to help one village develop a plan to reduce its dependence on fluctuating funding levels from various support organizations.
Malawi, a republic located in southeast Africa, is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. Its population has been ravaged by HIV/AIDS and the average life expectancy is less than 40 years.  Hundreds of thousands of children have been orphaned as parents succumb to the virus. The country is land-locked, there are few paved roads, and an unreliable electrical grid reaches only 4 percent of the country’s 11 million residents.
The Appalachian group was hosted by the NGO World Camp, an organization active in AIDS education and prevention efforts, among other projects. The group also met with other NGOs such as the Jewish Heart for Africa and Never Ending Food.
“The trip provided students with opportunities to improve their cross-cultural communication skills, to understand some of the unique administrative challenges faced by non-governmental organizations and non-profit organizations in general, and to apply their business skills in a very practical way,” Meznar said.
While in Malawi, students participated in a home-stay in the village of Mchezi, about an hour’s drive outside of downtown Lilongwe.  Life in the village is coordinated by the Mchezi Community Based Organization (CBO) which offers home-based care to 150 AIDS/HIV patients in the late stages of the disease, provides food and supervision to 3,700 orphans, oversees 600 children in its early childhood development program, and offers job training programs (such as sewing lessons) to community residents.
Because these efforts are supported by grants from various governmental and non-governmental organizations, when funding ebbs, the efforts cease.  To help address the village’s economic needs, the business students developed a plan to fund community efforts through the construction of a corn mill.  Currently, village residents transport their corn several kilometers and pay to have the corn milled into flour.
Students identified the start-up costs of establishing a mill in the village, assessed the monthly operating costs, determined the projected revenue from milling fees and found that start-up costs could be recovered in the first year of operation.  The revenue generated from the mill would be sufficient to fund the activities of the Mchezi CBO, eliminating the reliance on outside donors.  The mill also would create several jobs in the community.
“Getting the mill running will cost around $20,000 in U.S. currency,” Meznar said. “That includes not just the mill but also the electrical equipment to power the mill.”
The students have now formed a club to raise funds for the Mchezi Maize Mill project. Mchezi CBO leaders have applied for electrical service and permits to operate the mill.
For more information on the Mchezi Maize Mill project, contact Ethan Herman  hermanec@email.appstate.edu.

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Week 1 at Mchezi

It has been an eventful, slightly soggy week in Malawi. We have successfully navigated another week of village living. This time the school was not too far from Lilongwe in a charming hamlet called Mchezi that we will actually be returning to for our last week as well. The school sits on a slight hilltop giving a most excellent view of the surrounding area, and some of the coolest sunsets we’ve seen. Mchezi kept all of us busy. We are now working with the Community Based Organization on personal projects for this coming week. I think it is safe to say we are all fairly excited about next week. Mark, forever the Red Sox fan, is organizing a baseball game and providing the

youth groupwith homemade bats and balls for after we leave. He is also working with the secondary school students on their more advanced math skills. Christine and Cara are teaming up to work with the local HIV/AIDS support group to bring in some new perspectives and resources. I will work with farmers from the area on the permaculture

Last week we were also given the task of completing a cultural scavenger hunt - Boys vs Girls. I am not ashamed to say the girls won by a considerable margin, so tip of the cap in their direction. To win, they spent hours preparing the traditional Malawian dish of nsima, so they truly went that extra mile. I think I can speak for the group when I say that I hope it rains less this week than last. With a couple of well placed cracks in the roof you might be surprised how moist we got while sleeping. We are getting delicious Malawi tea in the mornings though, and that pretty much negates the nagging sogginess.lifestyle. So, in addition to teaching until two, we will also be filling our afternoons with these hefty projects. It should be fun, but we do anticipate drooping eyelids in addition to smiles come this Thursday.

In other news, we climbed a very cool mountain by the name of Nkohma on Sunday. It was a spectacular hike, and we hear that the views from the top are incredible, but somehow near the peak we found ourselves in a very persistent cloud, so our pictures from the roof of Malawi look remarkably like Scotland...

So, we are still all having fun in the sun. We are all excited to head out and teach and inspire for one more week. Time here has flown by so fast. I find it hard to believe that we will be prepping to leave one week from now. But until then, more kids, more songs, and more memories!

Submitted by: Tucker Johnson, January 2012 Intern

From Luzi to Zambia to Mchezi, a week with World Camp Interns!

Time is flying here in Malawi. After gaining experience teaching during our first week in Luzi, we began work on Monday at the Chimutu Full Primary School school with newfound confidence in the classroom. Chimutu is a city school in Lilongwe and we were commuting there each day, which luckily provided us with all of the creature comforts of the World Camp house.

The kids in Luzi spoke and understood a very limited amount of English, so we were used to relying heavily on our translators and not worrying about the kids overhearing our conversations in English. This was a bit different in the city, as almost every kid spoke

English well enough to carry on a conversation. While it was convenient at times, it was also a bit difficult as it challenged us to organize our thoughts better because the kids could understand what we were saying. Rather than sometimes using our translators as a clarifying buffer between our English lessons and what was relayed to the students in Chichewa, we were forced to clearly and concisely convey our material when we spoke English to our translators.

The school was grossly overcrowded—a pattern we have been noticing with education here in Malawi. The rooms were like saunas and there was not one desk in the whole place. It is no surprise that Malawian teachers have a tough time teaching, as a typical classroom was 90+ degrees and had 50+ students sitting on the ground—very few of whom had access to adequate school supplies.

It was a fun, challenging week and I think that we learned as much from the students as they did from us. It is always bittersweet leaving a village or a school, as you are exhausted and happy to be able to rest, but all the while the kids are opening up and telling you how much they will miss you. We finished off Thursday afternoon with these mixed feelings, but they quickly subsided as the excitement for our upcoming safari began to take hold.

We left early Friday morning for South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. After a long bumpy cozy ride in our driver Eddy's SUV, we arrived our Croc Valley Camp, our home for the weekend. Just as we were pulling into the camp, an elephant came out on the road and blocked us for a moment. This was a sign of a wonderful time to come. We stayed in the beautiful camp that was located on the river for 3 nights. The river was teeming with hippos that could be heard quite well throughout the day and night. Our porches were regularly visited by monkeys and baboons. For these few days, we enjoyed nice weather (for the most part), delicious food, amazing game drives, and plenty of beautiful African skies.

The drives were incredible. From the animals to the talented and knowledgeable driver Freddy to the beautiful sunsets, we simply had a blast. At one point, we came across 18 lions lying in the road—10 cubs and 8 adults. We waited and watched in amazement that began to turn into fear as they surrounded our truck. We watched for a while and then went on our way, untouched by the beasts. We saw countless other animals, including zebras, impalas, warthogs, a leopard, giraffes, crocodiles and many more. It was an unforgettable weekend, ad everyone got lots of pictures.

As our safari trip comes to a close, we begin preparing for teaching and staying in the village of Mchezi, our next excursion.

Submitted by: Mark Nelson, January 2012 Intern.

Happy New Year from Malawi!!

We survived our first week here with minimal damage . After four days of getting acquainted with the city of Lilongwe, we ventured to a small rural village called Luzi to begin our first camp. We covered topics from HIV to deforestation, to gender empowerment and creative writing. Our students ranged from ages eight to sixteen and we were thoroughly impressed by their eagerness and enthusiasm to learn. Though the language barrier could be frustrating at times, our Field Staff Cyrus and Rejoyce were wonderful and made communication a breeze. Despite the seriousness of the issues we were teaching, we found that humor was one of the greatest teaching tools available and were grateful that our students could laugh along with us. By the end of the week, they were experts on the material and, on the last day of camp, preformed skits and songs for the community.

Village life was interesting to say the least. We learned to be flexible quickly in a place where chickens roamed freely in our classrooms as we taught and the only time we were close to getting run over in the road was by a heard of cattle. We had our first encounter with the local staple meal, nsima, a corn flour based starch that you eat with your hands. We came across several new types of bugs and Cara and Christine will be the first to admit that neither of them used the latrine after dark for fear of running into a family of large cockroaches.

We were overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of the families that hosted us. They, along with the village as a whole, opened their homes to us as if they were our own. As warm and welcomed as we always felt, we often found ourselves feeling like an exhibit at the zoo, surrounded by (literally) hundreds of small children who were completely bewildered by the strange visitors. Though saddened by the remarkable amount of poverty we witnessed, we were inspired by the happiness and sense of community that surrounded us in the village. By far the highlight of the week was Mark's take on the Chichewa version of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, which we sang with our kids every morning before class. Each time we got to “Chiuno” (hips), Mark would proceed to put his hands on his waist and shake his hips like a twelve year old school girl. It was hard to tell who appreciated this hilarious move more, the kids or the interns. Overall, it was an exhausting, wonderful, exciting, challenging, and hilarious week and we can't wait for the next.

Peace and Love from Malawi,

Christine, Cara, Mark, and Tucker