Day TWENTY ONE - June 7, 2010
Today at school I did my astronomy lesson about the galaxy and the solar system. Before I started teaching I learned that they didn’t know much about it so I had to really start from scratch explaining what asteroids, comets, and so on are. It was really interesting and since I’m not that good at drawing after my lesson I went around to each group with my laptop and showed them a picture of the solar system so they can see it better. Danielle and I also did an activity outside where we had some students represent each planet and they demonstrated to the class how they rotate around the sun.
After the lesson we played a quick game of Red Light, Green Light since we were already outside and we had the teacher, Gift, be the one to demonstrate; the kids loved seeing him sprint and freeze like a kid. The kids really enjoyed the game so I was glad we had a chance to teach them it.
When we got back in class Danielle went on with her lesson and she taught more about geography and she went on to explain about the New and Old World and colonization. Most of the students understood, but some still struggled with learning the continents.
Later we went to M.I.E. to meet up with the rest of the group and some Malawian Teachers. We were discussing the mission statement and goals we wanted to set for this study abroad program. It was a group consensus that the main goals we wanted to accomplish in the future were extending the feeding program to daily and making it more nutritious, getting more materials and better teaching methods, and getting the government to make a water pump closer to the schools.
We went into town today and of course ate at Tasty Bites.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Day TWENTY - Malawi's Independence Day
Day TWENTY – July 6, 2010
Today is Malawi’s Independence Day. Everything is closed so there isn’t much to do. Half the group went to a sustainable farm and the other half just chilled out at the lodge. I was one of those who stood at the lodge because me and farms never workout and my cold was getting worse. I had a nice day of watching the weird American channel and its random movies.
Today is Malawi’s Independence Day. Everything is closed so there isn’t much to do. Half the group went to a sustainable farm and the other half just chilled out at the lodge. I was one of those who stood at the lodge because me and farms never workout and my cold was getting worse. I had a nice day of watching the weird American channel and its random movies.
Day NINETEEN - Scholarship Students
Day NINETEEN – July 5, 2010
I feel a cold coming on and I’m so tired because I couldn’t get any sleep the night before since my nose was stuffy. Today’s school day was kind of slow. We helped with Chipo’s English lesson and I was actually very happy to find out that the kids were really happy to see Danielle and I which made a big difference in my day. After school we met with the 16 scholarship winners. Apparently our three universities have this program where we award certain students from the three primary schools we work at scholarships to pay for their tuition in secondary school. So there was a mini ceremony in one of the rooms in my school and some of the kids parents came which was real nice.
After that we went into town again to pick up stuff and Danielle, Sarah, and I walked to Tasty Bites for dinner. Today was alright, but I hope this cold passes soon.
I feel a cold coming on and I’m so tired because I couldn’t get any sleep the night before since my nose was stuffy. Today’s school day was kind of slow. We helped with Chipo’s English lesson and I was actually very happy to find out that the kids were really happy to see Danielle and I which made a big difference in my day. After school we met with the 16 scholarship winners. Apparently our three universities have this program where we award certain students from the three primary schools we work at scholarships to pay for their tuition in secondary school. So there was a mini ceremony in one of the rooms in my school and some of the kids parents came which was real nice.
After that we went into town again to pick up stuff and Danielle, Sarah, and I walked to Tasty Bites for dinner. Today was alright, but I hope this cold passes soon.
Day EIGHTEEN - Movie Night
Day EIGHTEEN – July 4, 2010
Happy 4th of July guys!!! I really wish I was there! Today was another free day. Danielle and I walked to Tasty Bites and had some really good chambo (fish) and one of the guys we met at the party paid for our meals which was really nice. It was cool day; I got to relax and wash my hair and watch the weird movies they play on the English channel. Oh and Carly forgot she left the Cinderella Disney movie in her laptop so we had a movie night and everyone watched it so that was kind of fun.
Happy 4th of July guys!!! I really wish I was there! Today was another free day. Danielle and I walked to Tasty Bites and had some really good chambo (fish) and one of the guys we met at the party paid for our meals which was really nice. It was cool day; I got to relax and wash my hair and watch the weird movies they play on the English channel. Oh and Carly forgot she left the Cinderella Disney movie in her laptop so we had a movie night and everyone watched it so that was kind of fun.
Day SEVENTEEN - Party!
Day SEVENTEEN – July 3, 2010
Today we had no plans! I was so happy because we finally had a day to relax and catch up on sleep! We been busy since the day we got off the plane so this was a much needed day!
All everyone did today was go into town, eat, watch TV, socialize, and sleep.
The best part of today was the party that Peter threw us at the lodge. They invited a couple of people we knew and a couple of guys we didn’t know. It was sooo much fun though! Everyone got a chance to let loose and enjoy themselves.
Today we had no plans! I was so happy because we finally had a day to relax and catch up on sleep! We been busy since the day we got off the plane so this was a much needed day!
All everyone did today was go into town, eat, watch TV, socialize, and sleep.
The best part of today was the party that Peter threw us at the lodge. They invited a couple of people we knew and a couple of guys we didn’t know. It was sooo much fun though! Everyone got a chance to let loose and enjoy themselves.
Day SIXTEEN - Child Feeding Program
Day SIXTEEN – July 2, 2010
Today was really nice. At first we went one of the other primary schools with the rest of our group to observe their child feeding program which does need a lot of funding so hopefully when we get back to the states our group can conduct some events to raise money.
After experiencing that Danielle and I could not wait to get back to our school. We love our students or as teachers in Malawi call them “learners.” When we first started walking to our school one of our teachers, Gift, found us and walked half way there with us. It was a really nice walk and we got to tell him all about the safari and he got to tell us that he really wants our class to perform the Aggie Pride chant at the farewell ceremony.
He eventually left us and we continued walking to school. We saw these little kids who looked no older than 5 walking home and then came this really tiny one who was in tears because the rest of the group kept running from him. We felt so bad! We tried to walk with him to catch up to the kids but they would not stop for him.
We did see women on the side of the road that were selling all kinds of food so Danielle decided to buy bags of popcorn for our students. After the first break we passed it out to the kids. I just hope they don’t expect to have snacks from us all of the time, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. Today Danielle taught them the John Jacob Jingle Himershmit song which they enjoyed after they got the words. I was surprised that some of our students volunteered to lead the class in some of the songs we already taught them like If Your Happy and You Know It, Aggie Pride, and Green Grass. It was all real fun. I just love our students. We also got to help them learn about acute and obtuse angles. Some of the students in the back were struggling so we might change everyone seats next week so we can give the students in the back a better seat to see the board.
We ate at Tasty Bites after school. I tried their cheese steak with rice; it was okay but I had to scrape the cheese off. I also had some really good chocolate cake and that was a real treat since we don’t ever get any dessert.
I can honestly say that when we leave I’m going to really miss our students, Gift, and Chipo.
Today was really nice. At first we went one of the other primary schools with the rest of our group to observe their child feeding program which does need a lot of funding so hopefully when we get back to the states our group can conduct some events to raise money.
After experiencing that Danielle and I could not wait to get back to our school. We love our students or as teachers in Malawi call them “learners.” When we first started walking to our school one of our teachers, Gift, found us and walked half way there with us. It was a really nice walk and we got to tell him all about the safari and he got to tell us that he really wants our class to perform the Aggie Pride chant at the farewell ceremony.He eventually left us and we continued walking to school. We saw these little kids who looked no older than 5 walking home and then came this really tiny one who was in tears because the rest of the group kept running from him. We felt so bad! We tried to walk with him to catch up to the kids but they would not stop for him.
We did see women on the side of the road that were selling all kinds of food so Danielle decided to buy bags of popcorn for our students. After the first break we passed it out to the kids. I just hope they don’t expect to have snacks from us all of the time, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem. Today Danielle taught them the John Jacob Jingle Himershmit song which they enjoyed after they got the words. I was surprised that some of our students volunteered to lead the class in some of the songs we already taught them like If Your Happy and You Know It, Aggie Pride, and Green Grass. It was all real fun. I just love our students. We also got to help them learn about acute and obtuse angles. Some of the students in the back were struggling so we might change everyone seats next week so we can give the students in the back a better seat to see the board.
We ate at Tasty Bites after school. I tried their cheese steak with rice; it was okay but I had to scrape the cheese off. I also had some really good chocolate cake and that was a real treat since we don’t ever get any dessert.
I can honestly say that when we leave I’m going to really miss our students, Gift, and Chipo.
Day FIFTEEN - Boat Safari
Day FIFTEEN – July 1, 2010
Well I missed the 5:30am morning walk, but from what I heard I didn’t miss much. I had a really good breakfast which started my day off great. Then we got to go on the boat safari.
The boat safari was nice, but really cold from all the wind. We saw lots of hippos and some crocodiles. We did see the sick baby elephant again too. We were looking everywhere for more elephants, but didn’t find any.
After leaving Liwonde Mvuu Camp, we drove to a nearby sustainable primary school to visit. What I noticed about this school was that most of the kids were not shy at all which was a nice change. They were all willing to talk and tell me their names.
Then we went to a small market to try and buy some things. Again, there was a whole lot of bargaining and yelling out prices. I tried to trade my water shoes for stuff, but the man wasn’t giving me a good deal; I did get to trade the toothbrush that Ethiopian Airlines gave me while on the plane. Some people did get lucky with prices and got some really nice things. We also drove further to where the people carve these really nice and big wooden chairs.
That was pretty much all we did today. Most of our day just included driving back to Annie’s Lodge.
Well I missed the 5:30am morning walk, but from what I heard I didn’t miss much. I had a really good breakfast which started my day off great. Then we got to go on the boat safari.
The boat safari was nice, but really cold from all the wind. We saw lots of hippos and some crocodiles. We did see the sick baby elephant again too. We were looking everywhere for more elephants, but didn’t find any.
After leaving Liwonde Mvuu Camp, we drove to a nearby sustainable primary school to visit. What I noticed about this school was that most of the kids were not shy at all which was a nice change. They were all willing to talk and tell me their names.Then we went to a small market to try and buy some things. Again, there was a whole lot of bargaining and yelling out prices. I tried to trade my water shoes for stuff, but the man wasn’t giving me a good deal; I did get to trade the toothbrush that Ethiopian Airlines gave me while on the plane. Some people did get lucky with prices and got some really nice things. We also drove further to where the people carve these really nice and big wooden chairs.
That was pretty much all we did today. Most of our day just included driving back to Annie’s Lodge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
