Milestones

Approximately one year ago, I received my invitation to serve in Peace Corps Malawi.  Somehow, shockingly, I have made it through 6 months in Malawi.  A few weeks ago I administered my first set of exams, which was a truly stressful experience.  Here’s to an improvement next term!  May our exams be typed, edited, and printed on time, and no Muslim students will be late for Friday prayers because exams started 3 hours late. 

Side note/Malawi fun fact: proctoring an exam is called “invigilating” here, which was really confusing for awhile, but became really fun to say.  As in, “I am the invigilator for the Form 4 mathematics exam today,” or, “I am not invigilating any exams today, so I will go home and cook my nsima.”

Directly after the two weeks of exams, I scooted off to Lilongwe (the capital of Malawi, for those of you still working on your Central and Eastern African geography) for my In-Service Training, or IST, the landmark of any PCV who has completed 3 months of service!  I know most of my family and friends at home are still in the mindset of “Twenty-one more months?  That’s forever,” but I’m already shifting into the mindset of “Twenty-one more months?!  That’s no time at all to get things accomplished!”  I still feel like I’m learning about my community, and need to improve both my Chichewa and Chiyao, but I’m looking forward to working with local community members on projects around Ntaja, and seeing what I can get involved in.  In large part, that was the focus of our IST – discussing best practices in teaching, as well as learning about different grant processes we can utilize when working on secondary projects, and learning about different ways we can get involved in the greater PC Malawi community.

I was really excited for a few decisions my group made at IST – first, I was selected as one of two PCM Education 2012 representatives to the Volunteer Action Committee (VAC)!  VAC is made up of representatives of each of the training classes, as well as PC Malawi staff, and acts as a liaison between PCM and the volunteers.  It’s used as an outlet for both volunteer and staff concerns, messages, and policy discussions.  I’m really looking forward to meeting volunteers from other sectors and regions, as well as getting a chance to travel to Lilongwe on a relatively regular basis, since until a few weeks ago I’d only been traveling around the south of Malawi.  At IST we also nominated representatives to other country-wide volunteer organizations VSV (Volunteers Serving Volunteers, a peer-support organization), and the Diversity Committee.

Finally, and perhaps most excitingly, we made a few important decisions involving Camp Sky, a PCM Education-run MSCE-preparation camp that occurs for one week every year.  Each education training group is given the opportunity to decide if they would like to put on Camp Sky, and if so, if there are any changes to the organization and running of the camp that they would like to make.  Upon recommendations from second-year volunteers who worked on the camp last year, we have decided to postpone the camp until next April so that Form 4s can attend the camp only a few months before taking the MSCE, the all-important secondary school exit exam that qualifies Malawians to have better jobs, earn more money, and perhaps even attend college or a university.  Through last year the camp was occurring during summer break, with students who had just completed Form 3.  We’re hoping that the delay until next April will be effective both for the students in terms of preparing for the MSCE as well as for us PCVs in making the camp more stable and sustainable.  I am particularly invested in this decision, as I was chosen as co-program coordinator of Camp Sky!  So far we haven’t begun really working on Camp Sky other than choosing our team of coordinators, but look out for updates as the months pass!  It sounds like a potentially very stressful, yet very rewarding, job.

After IST, I hung around Lilongwe for a few days with some other PCVs, exploring the city a little bit, attempting to see a Malawian band in concert, and eating lots of kimchi (staying with a Korean at the Korean Garden Lodge definitely has its perks).  Currently, I’m taking advantage of the winter break by visiting a fellow volunteer in Mzimba district, in the northern region of Malawi.  She lives in a town up in the mountains, dominated by a large timber company, with her house in the middle of company housing.  It sort of feels like I’m in the middle of a coal-mining town, and I keep expecting to hear/see either some students trying to build rockets, or someone writing a song about being a timber-cutter’s daughter.  Clearly pop culture has limited my ideas on what it’s like to live in a company town.  It’s wonderful to be somewhere a solid 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) cooler than my home, with lots of trees, and electricity that works regularly.  Additionally, I can occupy my time playing with my friend’s puppy, two kittens, or two chickens!  It’s a menagerie over here.

Tomorrow morning, we’ll be off to celebrate Christmas with several other volunteers in Nkhotakhota district, aka my first visit to Lake Malawi!!!  I’m so excited to see and swim in this lake, eat fresh fish, and just relax.  Soon enough, it’ll be back to the realities of village living. 

So for now, Happy (belated) Hanukkah, and Merry Christmas!  On all your travels, yendani bwino!