It's time to get funky

Thursday, June 6^th

            Today Liz and I decided to have a fun day with the kids. We got a playlist together of fun dance songs that we could teach them. The first song we taught them was the limbo and they enjoyed it so much! They found it hilarious that the concept of the dance was to bend down and avoid touching the walking stick we used. Although, with 101 kids today it was semi difficult to get them to wait their turn but I can’t be upset about their eagerness. One little girl named Ruth is so tiny that even on the last round of the limbo she didn’t have to bend much, it was adorable and she seemed proud of her accomplishment. The next dance we taught them was the Macarena. This dance was a little more intense and had a lot more moves so Liz and I demonstrated it for the class a couple of times before we actually started it. It’s difficult to explain things when they don’t understand English very much but for the lack of understanding they seemed to grasp the dance pretty well. Audra and Ashley told me at the last minute to make sure to bring iPod speakers and I am so happy I packed them because it truly helped with being in the classroom. The next dance we taught them was the Cha Cha Slide. This dance was their absolute favorite; they wanted to do it over and over again. The last dance we taught them was the Cupid Shuffle, which I think the excitement from the Cha Cha Slide overpowered the dance so we ended up doing Cha Cha for the 3^rd time. After break Ellen taught the class. They did a role-playing activity of the different rights they have here in Malawi. The first group that went role-played Chilungamo, which is the right to justice. The second was Wosewera, which is the right to play. The third was Woyendakulikonse, which is the right to walk everywhere. The fourth was Wolemekezana, which is the right to receive respect. The fifth and last one was Wotetezedwa, which is the right to protection. I loved watching the kids in their element and explain something in Chichewa by role-play. I can truly see how smart they all are, even if I don’t particularly understand their language.

            After class we went to our class with the rest of the Virginia Tech group. We talked a lot about the African culture and some of it was really hard to take in. In Zomba, specifically, only 13% of students from Standard 8 will be able to go onto Secondary school, which breaks my heart. When looking at my Standard 3B class and realizing that not even ¼ of them will go onto Secondary school just seems wrong. There are so many students in my Standard 3B class who I can see making a wonderful future for themselves and it’s hard knowing that even if they are capable, they may not get the opportunity. Even if students get to go to secondary school there is a concept here called “posting”. Posting is when the students are told what professions they will be going into and studying based on where people are needed. Earlier today, a teacher stopped Liz and I on our way to class and was asking us what we wanted to do when we graduated and both of us just kind of looked at each other and said we weren’t quite sure yet. He was so shocked that we didn’t have to know our future profession before entering school, like they do here in Malawi. The choices we have in the US to take our time and find our passion isn’t prevalent here. I hope to never take that for granted again.

            While in the class with Dr. Kelly we also talked about malnutrition and the family dynamics here in Malawi. On our way back from the Safari on Wednesday, Dr. Kelly told us that most of the kids we saw in the village were malnourished due to their large tummies and small heads. The largeness of their tummies is due to lack of protein. She said we could also tell by their hair; if it has white sections in it then the children aren’t getting the nutrition they need. In our family dynamics discussion, Dr. Kelly also told us that parents usually don’t show affection to their children, which clearly explains why they always want to touch us and be close to us when we are around. I couldn’t imagine not hugging my parents or not having them tell me they love me. I hope for the remainder of my time here I can show these kids the love that my parents and family have taught me throughout my life.

            After class we walked over to the Demonstration school to be picked up for a ride back to Annie’s. Liz and I were exhausted again so we turned in early. It was a great day but definitely hard to deal with all of the differences between our two cultures.

Until then,

Xoxo