in the field: Meet Layne!

Hi everyone! My name is Layne Schwab and I’m a World Camp intern hailing from
South Burlington, Vermont. I am a rising senior at Colby College in Waterville,
Maine with a double major in Government and Global Studies. I’m interested in
pursuing a career in international development and in the past have interned
with the International Disability and Development Consortium and the Women’s
Microfinance Initiative. I absolutely love exploring new places so I’ve been lucky
enough to have a year filled with traveling. I spent this past spring studying the
European Union in Brussels, Belgium. At Colby, I’m a member of the cross-country,
indoor, and outdoor track teams, and serve on the Student Advisory Board of the
Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement and as co-president of
Colby Social Entrepreneurs. I chose to intern with World Camp because I wanted
to learn more about this region of Africa and HIV/AIDS, and to try teaching. I’m so
happy to have spent the last few weeks in Malawi as an intern with World Camp; I
have had such an incredible experience so far and have met so many people that I
will never forget. Malawi truly deserves its title as the “Warm Heart of Africa.”

It’s amazing how fast time flies here. We spent last weekend at South Luwanga
National Park in Zambia camping with hippos and chasing leopards. No kidding!
Our safari trip managed to exceed my already VERY high expectations. We arrived
at the park Friday afternoon. We proceeded to pitch tents – a new skill for some
- while keeping an eye on the food we brought in case the dozens of baboons and
monkeys hanging around the campsite should try anything! Bright and early the
next morning we went on our first group ride in the park. It was an absolutely
beautiful morning despite a little wind. Before we had even arrived at the park,
we had the chance to see elephants and giraffes in the brush. Seeing a giraffe try to
gather his long, wobbly legs and try to break into a run was priceless. As soon as we
entered the park, we had our first lion sighting on the far side of the river. Later on
we also had the chance to see a warthog searching for some lady warthogs and to
stop our car among a heard of impalas who seemed to accept us. We took a break
at the river to drink coffee and tea and watch the sunrise amidst a lovely chorus
of hippo grunts and groans. My personal favorite part of this trip was watching a
leopard casually cracking a baboon skull with her teeth on a tree branch not all that
far above our car. The Saturday evening drive was also awesome. We had a driver
who was willing to go a bit off the road so we could get extremely close to groups of
giraffes and elephants from several angles.

Besides the two drives on Saturday, many of us chose to go on a second morning or
night drive on Sunday. Laura, Andrew, Wynndee, and Maysam all chose to go on
the Sunday morning drive and returned pumped about seeing two male elephants
bashing their tusks (helping each other with some strength training!). For both the
morning and night drives on Sunday we had a very detail-oriented driver Joseph,
who entertained us with fun facts about EVERYTHING that we saw (Did you know
that hyenas are terrible hunters? Or that hares eat their own feces? We didn’t
either). Andrew, Wynndee, Maysam, Windy, Karen, Laura, Donna, and I all went
on the Sunday night drive. I think we can agree that having a leopard crawl under

our car, posing with her head sticking out long enough for us to snap some pictures
before casually sauntering to the middle of the road to lie down in front of us, is an
experience they’ll we’ll forget.

We were fortunate enough to see every animal that we were hoping to see and from
much closer than we thought we would ever be to them. There really is no other
way to describe the experience than as once-in-a-lifetime. However, as much as I
loved Zambia, I was definitely excited to get started with our third group of learners
and to meet our latest homestay families back in Malawi!

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.

And now for a word from our Youth to Youth (Y2Y) team!

The Y2Y session in Malawi wrapped up last week after a very successful four week program. Here are some highlights from our three amazing volunteers, Maïlyse, Lindsey, and Lucy:

“It is the first day of our first camp, Balangombe, and the bus pulls up to school. Before we are even able to park we are bombarded with smiling kids who are yelling and cheering. I think that is when it finally hit us all that we are in MALAWI! Morning songs that first day were by the far the best of the whole trip. There was an overwhelming amount of energy from everyone. The whole morning was a whirl of excitement, especially when we got assigned our first class.

No other day of camp can compare to that first day, it was amazing and everything we wanted.

Our next favorite memory comes from Balangombe as well. It was our third day and probably the hardest, funniest, most exhausting day from the whole trip. This day was probably the most memorable day of our whole stay here. We learned how to keep control of our kids, how to NICELY tell them to be quiet, and most importantly, we learned how to laugh at ourselves, and be patient when things don’t go perfectly.

Our first weekend we went to Lake Malawi with just Y2Y, it was some great bonding time. The next day, we taught a modified HIV curriculum in a really great center for local disadvantaged kids. The kids were all ages, and had a ton of fun in class and showing us their gardens. It was a good experience!

We arrived at our third camp with a sign saying, “You are most welcome to Kasiya Primary School.” The minute we got off the bus, we knew this was going to be another amazing school! And it sure was!

At the end of our four days when it was time to give them their very own AIDS Ribbons, they were bouncing off the wall…literally. We definitely were thankful for their enthusiasm.”

Next stop was SAFARI! While driving to Wildlife Camp, we saw an elephant and Mailyse was…let’s just say, excited! We were greeted by the owner telling us that it’s not uncommon for hippos, elephants and even lions to come at our tent! We took a safari drive that night. It was beautiful to see the sunset and animals! We saw a leopard, hyenas and even a fearless honey badger.”

Thanks to our wonderful Y2Y volunteers for all their hard work, enthusiasm, and positive energy this summer! We are excited to start incorporating some new changes to the curriculum and program that this Y2Y group helped develop.

Submitted by: Maïlyse Ferber, Lucy Keener, Lindsey Wirht, Malawi Y2Y 2011 volunteers; Rachel Dudasik and Katie Sacca, Y2Y 2011 Program Coordinators

Safari, Safari, Safari

Just got back from our safari holiday in Zambia, and it was awesome! We camped at a resort called Flatdogs (or Lazydogs, either way). Due to some delays crossing the Zambian border, we arrived at our campgrounds after dark. We were apprehensive at first about all the sounds we could hear in the bush, but Katy reassured us that they were just hippos far away in the river. On our way back from dinner, however, we were quickly confronted by a giant hippo munching its way through our campsite. So thanks for the reassurance Katy. We soon discovered that hippos weren’t the only wildlife we would find in our campsite. Elephants, monkeys and giraffes were frequent visitors as well. We also quickly discovered how delicious the food was, and how friendly the staff was. G-Funk was quick to befriend a lovely British chap named Ed (or Todd by Scott and Jaren). We think it was the mice in his pocket that was the source of his endearing and charming demeanor.

On our first drive, we stopped for bunny rabbits and owls among others like elephants, giraffes, zebras, hippos, bison, wild dogs, hyenas, baboons, velvet monkeys, and a leopard. Lions weren’t spotted until the second and third drives for some, on which some of us witnessed them hunting at night, which also may be the scariest thing ever. Saturday night was full of fun and hilarious bonding time among the group, and more hippos wandering the campsite. On Sunday morning we packed the bus to return to Lilongwe, but were delayed again due to some curious and hungry elephants digging through the bus for snacks and Katy’s bag. After a while they moved on, but Katy’s snack and memory card were eaten unfortunately. After a lovely four days of rest, relaxation and adventure, we are now back in Lilongwe and ready for the next camp!

Paige and Laura