It has been one heck of a week here in Southern Malawi. 5 days, 10 schools, 20 teachers, and hundreds of adorable children. To say the week was an eye-opening would be a gigantic understatement. I can't really do justice to what I have seen and heard this week, and as much as I try to write down everything to share here and for my own memories, it never seems to cover the breadth of what the experience has been like. I have posted a small amount of the pictures taken over the past week on the photos page and I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I liked taking them. Click on any of them to open up a slideshow where the pictures are a bit larger.
The data collection has moved along swimmingly. I am lucky to have assembled such a great team and have had the privilege of working alongside new research assistants each day. Every one of them seems more eager than the last, and the data simply could not have been collected without all of their wisdom and hard work. I am working on creating certificates for all of them and hosting a final meal/gathering to celebrate their hard work and dedication to the project.
As far as the schools go, there has been a tremendous range from one to another in terms of resources, building facilities, class sizes, and teaching pedagogy. I have seen everything from roofless, dirt floor classrooms to beautiful new school buildings built through Save the Children. I have watched a teacher effortlessly command a classroom with nary a resource, textbook, or writing materials, just her words. There were class sizes as small as 45 and as large as 240. Part of the experience, (an equally exhilarating and anxious part), was the moment we first stepped out of the truck each day and onto new school grounds. Never once could I have correctly guessed what I was about to see, because literally, every school felt different, let alone contained different materials, children and faculty. We often speak of places having an energy to them, a pulse, but I have never really had that feeling outside of a sports arena until I came to see these schools in Malawi. They breathe, they talk, and every one in their own, very distinct, fascinating way. It is something I will never forget.
Outside of the data collection, the week has been fairly quiet. Fuel shortages remain a very large problem all across the nation, and especially in Southern Malawi where there are fewer cars. That may seem a bit backwards, seeing as with fewer cars, there would be less demand for fuel, but it is for precisely that reason that this area is affected so much. Fuel is rationed across the country when it is shipped in, and the areas with the greatest concentration of cars, trucks, buses and planes (ie. Lilongwe, Blantrye) get the most fuel, leaving areas like Zomba in an increasingly perilous state. We have been running low for a few days now, but Julius assures me he has a plan. Exactly what said plan is, and if it will work, I have no idea. Will keep you informed.
In other, other news, the wildlife of Malawi has begun coming out in force. This week I have hung around with monkeys (pictures to come), eaten dinner with a stray cat (also, picture forthcoming), and killed the most incredibly massive spider I have ever seen close up. I am normally a very, anti-killing-animals-that-have-wandered-in-to-my-living-space person, but this thing HAD to go. It's body could have easily covered my palm. I just shivered again reliving it as I wrote the previous sentence.
Hope the week has gone well for everyone. I miss being home, having home-cooked meals, and watching football on the couch, but I have to say, this was the first week that I felt not only truly happy to be in Malawi, but proud as well.
Cheers
