Camp Three

Last week we finished up Camp Three, where we had our home stay - so there is lots to tell about today! For camp three, I had a class of 7th graders, who of course, were so cute. The girls at this camp were the most curious about us, and would give us snacks and want us to eat the nsima with them. They mostly snack on ground nuts, potatoes and sugar cane that they eat right off the stick. All are pretty good actually!! I am such a sucker for those ground nuts :) Anyways, the students I had this camp were very smart and I think a little better off than some of the other schools we have been. We figured this because many of the students have shoes, which was pretty rare at the other schools we went to. So far, I have taught Standard 6, 7 and 8, and I like Standard 7 the best, but that could be biased because I happened to really like my class this camp! My favorite lessons are about the difference between a deforested environment and a lush environment and also how HIV affects the body. I also love teaching the girls about women's empowerment!

However, I am really starting to notice how many misconceptions there are about HIV and condom usage here. Very similar questions are asked at each camp, and many of the questions are about whether or not condoms have HIV on them. In the Girls Empowerment discussion, they ask a lot of questions about forced sex, which can be really difficult to discuss, especially the specific questions. I can't help wondering if these are real life situations that they have encountered and it makes me very sad sometimes, especially since many of the students are only 10 or 11. But we try to be as open and honest as possible with them and try to help them feel strong and empowered. But it really has given me a different perspective about life here. All in all, I really love working with the kids, teaching them and learning from them as well.

We also encountered a thief situation at the school, where a boy (not a boy from the school) had gone into one of the houses near the school to steal things. The kids at school saw and some of the classes took off running after the thief. They caught him about 20 min later and came back to the school carrying him like goat (by the wrists and ankles) because they had beaten him pretty badly. We weren't sure if he was unconscious or faking it so that they would stop beating him. Many of the students were saying to burn him, and our translators told us that villages take theft very seriously and many places will burn people that steal. Villages often take matters like this into their own hands because in the rural areas, there may be only 3 police officers that are responsible for such a great area. We called the police and an ambulance and the boy was taken to jail instead. Needless to say, we had quite the reflection session following that event. None of us felt threatened in any way, but it was certainly a frightening thing to see.

Usually the students, schools and villages are very protective of us because we are the guests and take very good care of us, which makes us feel very safe. The hospitality during the home stay was absolutely incredible and welcoming.

We stayed in a village with about 10-12 huts/brick houses, and there were about 3 of us to a house. I stayed with Megan and Paige in this brick hut with 3 other women from the village that were about our age. The room we were in was next to where the goats sleep so we were woken a few times to squealing goats and kicking. We helped the village remove the dried corn from the cobs to makes nsima, helped them roast some ground nuts for snacks, and carry water to the village. They and we did everything as a group. The sense of community here is amazing. They could speak a little English and tried to teach us some Chichewa (which some of us are catching on to a lot now - unfortunately it is all related to our curriculum, so the words we do know are like sex, condom, abstinence, deforestation, tree, forest - which are rarely used in everyday conversation). Anyways, they laughed at our accents but were very supportive and happy that we were trying to speak their language.

The women made a nsima feast for us and really wanted us to try all of their "relishes" (which is not the same here as we consider relish in the US...their relish is like a side dish/vegetable to eat with the nsima). It was soooo delicious. All the women in the village and volunteers sat around the feat and ate together. They made a turnip relish, pumpkin leaf relish with nuts, and an okra relish. It sounds interesting, I know, but so good. Then we all sang and dance together - there was even a 1 year old baby that was dancing with us too! (Apparently my hair terrified him, so he wouldn't get too close to me, or any of the volunteers) They taught us some of their traditional dances and some wedding dances and songs. They were laughing so hard at us and at one point we thought they were tricking us and seeing if we would to continue to follow whatever they did. Then they wanted us to sing to them, which was fairly interesting. We were trying to think of songs we all knew the words to and somehow we came up with "Ain't No Mountain High," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," and "Build Me Up Buttercup." Those probably weren't the best songs they have ever heard, but they still danced when we sung and it was so much fun.

Then we went to bed at 8. They have no electricity or lighting after the sun goes down and with the language barrier, there isnt too much to do when it gets too dark. But we woke up early so we could watch the sunrise, which may be one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. I have never seen so many colors in the sky before. One of the girls in the village picked fresh berries for us, and after sunrise they made a big fire to warm up by. Great morning. I will never forget the family or my experience with them.

The we went to the school and played a soccer game with the kids. It was the World Camp volunteers and some of the girls at school versus the next champion team of World Cup. These kids are just amazing at soccer. Plus it was really difficult for us girls because all of us had to play in our long skirts!!! Anyways, we lost. But it was really fun and funny to say the least.

Safari - Mfuwe, Zambia

THE SAFARI WAS INCREDIBLE!!!!! I could have stayed in Zambia for ever. It is so beautiful and the place we stayed at was great. We camped out in tents on their grounds and I think I really enjoy camping in Zambia, especially when you pass sleeping hippos face first into the bushes with his butt sticking out on the way to your tent. Particularly after a few drinks, that becomes one of the most hysterical things to see. In the mornings we would wake up to the baboons dropping things from the trees on our tents. haha. Around the camp site, we had elephants during the day. We were really in the wild! I chose to go on three game drives. On the first drive (which was a late afternoon drive) we saw hippos, zebra, buffalo, baboons, hyenas, giraffes, elephants, a leopard, crocodiles, impala, puku, a mongoose and millions of birds and owls. It was a four hour drive and I loved every second! I am so glad I had my nice camera with me to capture everything!! I can't wait to show you all pictures. The second drive we did at 6 am. It was pretty quiet out that morning and we saw a lot of what we had seen the night before, but we were really itching to find the lions, so we decided to go on one more afternoon drive...and we found the Lions!!! I was so excited, we made our guide stay there for probably half an hour. It was a momma lion and five cubs (but they were pretty big).

After the lions, we went to have a sunset happy hour by the river, which was incredible. We were out trying to find the leopard again or wild dogs (which apparently are some of the rarest things to see in the area), but instead we ran into the lions again while they were hunting. We followed them for a little while, but it was pretty dark out by that time and we couldn't see any prey around so we decided to go try and see other things before heading back. Regardless, we were hunting with the lions!! (kind of).

I that covers everything so far! can't remember if I wrote this last time though...last weekend on our day off we hiked Khoma Mountain! It was so beautiful once we got to the top to be able to look over the land and see some of the villages, and if you are really quiet, you can hear some people singing. It was such a cool view of Malawi!

I hope everyone is doing well and getting warm weather in Chicago and Minnesota!! Love and miss you!

Laura (or Raura as the Africans call me)