From anabiyeni@yahoo.com Tue Dec 30 16:31:41 2003

Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2003 05:39:33 -0700 (PDT)

From: abby stamm <anabiyeni@yahoo.com>

Subject: Cohort 10 so far

Hello all, 12 October 2003

Not much to say just now. Cohort 10 first residential started off well. The students all have MSCEs. They speak English and will eventually tell me, nervously, when they do not understand me. It's wonderful. I can get through the material quickly, usually about one topic a day (as opposed to the previous cohort's one topic a week). We have been a bit slow about starting teaching practice at the demonstration school, so Tuesday mornings I have been sitting in the science staff room reading or chatting with the new VSO, who also observes teaching practice on Tuesday mornings.

Adrian left at the end of September and was replaced by a VSO from England named Jen Eaton. Jen is a primary school teacher with some informal teacher training experience. Like me, she is sick of teaching methodology. Oh well, it will be finished next week. The only US state she has ever been to is Wisconsin; her boyfriend's parents live in Milwaukee. Actually, his father teaches at Marquette I think. She was surprised to hear about Sellina's, Andy's, and my connections to Wisconsin, especially since it isn't a state you generally hear much about in Malawi. When Jen first arrived, we spent much of her first week going through the handbooks and the extra notes I gave her. The handbooks are sadly incomplete, which I know only because Adrian had told me; it never occurred to Mr Chibwe to do so. She also observed lessons at the demonstration school and one of my own lessons before I left for a Friday meeting in Lilongwe. I don't understand -- Peace Corps wants us to stay at site during the week, then puts our meetings on Fridays... Anyway, Jen is settling in well and enjoying herself now that we are finally starting the academic work.

I have been in and out of Lilongwe and Dedza for Diversity sessions, which are much more fun than teaching. Our last session went well. Corby (Health), Chris (Environment), and I showed up at the training site on Thursday night (2 Oct) with a folder full of notes and no idea what to do. We would be training trainers at 8:00 the next morning. We met with Jamusi (the head language trainer) after an amazingly vegan dinner. I'd requested it since Chris is vegan, but had not really expected it. All Jamusi said was that they wanted a session that helped them to learn how to deal with Diversity related issues when trying to assist trainees. We started by scrapping most of the existing session, then tossed around ideas for a while. Corby was just sworn into Peace Corps in August and had never facilitated anything before, so she was rather nervous. After several hours, with something workable drafted, she commented that it was easy working with Chris and me. We both debated about what to do and all she had to do was listen. At least she is more confident now.

Soon, she will be writing the sessions. The next morning, our session went very well, with the trainers choosing topics of focus that surprised me. They broke into groups to do role plays on issues they had dealt with and chose race, US region of origin, and sexual orientation. I also found it interesting that this time they focused on issues among trainees. In the past, they had chosen issues between trainees and Malawians. The new group of education trainees arrived in country on 9 October, so soon I will be training them as well.

What do I do when there is no Diversity work to keep me occupied? I continue to facilitate for Mzake ndi Mzake, do research on female condoms, and figure out new ways to teach my classes while saying as little as possible. I think my record so far is talking for ten minutes total in an hour lesson. Mr Chibwe was not happy when I told him that. He says I have to lecture more, but I hate lecturing. My theory is that if I'm bored in class, then the students must be bored, and when I talk, I get very bored very quickly. I like activities that force the students to do all the work. I learned recently that some of the other lecturers, both volunteer and Malawian, also refuse to teach when students won't participate. My classes are learning, now that they have gotten used to me. One class, C2, was upset when I told them I was turning them over to another lecturer. They wanted me to keep teaching them.

I gave C2 to the new IFESH volunteer, Jimmy Williams. We were all a bit nervous about getting another IFESH after the last three scandals, but IFESH insisted we try one more time. After about three weeks, I can report that he seems to get into less trouble than the others, but maybe he just hasn't had time yet. I do not get along with him at all. He seems to have this idea that since we are the only two from the States, we ought to be best friends. He is from Florida and has lived in major cities his whole life. He is high maintainance and very materialistic. I fled to Sellina's house because I couldn't deal with it. Never mind that everything he assumed about me was wrong and when I corrected him, he insisted he knew me better than I did. I still haven't figured out the logic behind that nonsense. He also seems to think that the other volunteers would rather hang out with him than with the Malawians. Does he have no interest in learning the culture and making Malawian friends? I don't talk to him unless I have to, and neither, I am told, does Dave Roberts, Hazel's husband who volunteers at the Division office.

There are now four volunteers at the school, all teaching in the sciences department. Three in Science and Health Education, one in Maths. Jimmy also teaches Foundation Studies, which is all methodology and would bore me out of my mind. I worry sometimes about the school. If all the volunteers left, there would not be enough people in sciences to cover all the classes. Fortunately, Anthony Mwakikunga is returning any time from now. His graduation in Mzuzu is in November, so he should move here shortly after that. I can't wait to see him again. Noah Chirwa will also be returning, but as he does not teach science, I don't know him very well.

What else to say? The three week teaching practice in the field was cancelled, for which I am very thankful. It will be scheduled for Cohort 10's second residential. We have a two-day workshop this week. So thoughtful of the Ministry to plan it during class time. When are we supposed to teach the students?

I am looking forward to November though. Benard Kwenyengwe and Elizabeth Kalimba, the two Form 4s that I sponsor, will be coming to visit me from Ulongwe when they finish sitting for the MSCE. Many of the lecturers here want to meet them since I talk about them so much. For some reason they are amazed that I continue to pay school fees for students at a school where I no longer teach. Oh well, they assure me that my students will be free to observe classes, chat with lecturers about possible careers, and generally feel welcome. In other words, they will get a far better reception than I did. Then at the end of November is Summer School, where I will get to see Steven Paul, my third sponsoree, and Esmie Mtambalika again (they are in Form 3 now).

I went to Ulongwe briefly when Cohort 9 was finished. I felt exactly like I had returned home. It was so hot I had a chronic headache, but everything else was wonderful. I felt welcome and wanted. I saw Mr Binali, home on holidays from his studies at the Islamic university in Uganda. I stayed with Madam Kamphonda, the headmistress. One of the Form 4 boys, Tebulo, was also staying with her. He had been housesitting while she was in the hospital in Blantyre, then had just stayed on after she got back. I chatted with him in the back yard until probably 10:00 pm. The stars were beautiful, as they always are when you are far from annoying electric lights. I remember one thing he told me was that whatever else he learned in Life Skills last year, he had learned how to write decent essays, which would help him on the English part of the MSCE, since their English teacher had not taught it. Mrs Zembani was upset because I stayed at the CDSS instead of with her. I will probably stay with the Zembanis when I visit again in January before returning to the States.

Madam Kunda took a while to track down. It turns out that after I left Ulongwe, she and a few other influential people in the area decided to start a Village AIDS Committee. That week, they were holding a workshop to educate village elders about HIV/AIDS. >From what I saw posted on the walls, Madam Kunda was using activities that she had learned from the Peace Corps Malawi Life Skills Manual. I know many volunteers despair that when they leave, everything they had done falls apart. Madam Kunda is expanding on what we had done, but it is possible that if she ever leaves, it could fall apart. At least for now Ulongwe is continuing to benefit. I am about 90% sure that one of the new trainees will be going to Ulongwe this year to replace me finally, so the whole school is very excited. I will be overjoyed if it happens.

Added 20 October 2003

According to rumour, tomorrow is statistically the hottest day of the year, at least in Kasungu. Today is comparatively cool (compared to the last week or so), so we will see. On Thursday I go to Dedza, which is thankfully much colder. Anyway, weather aside, on with the story.

Last Monday was Mothers' Day, so I went to the Chiwengo orphanage for the day. It was a nice change of scenery -- hanging out with other Americans, a Canadian, and a Sierra Leonin who was along for the ride -- though I am still only marginally comfortable around kids. The younger they are, the more awkward I feel. But like the local dogs, they seem to flock to me. I don't understand. I'm told with the dogs, it's because I don't hurt them. With the kids, who knows?

Tuesday and Wednesday, we had a workshop that was completely pointless as far as I could tell. We were supposed to be commenting on the revised primary school curriculum, but I got the sense that all of our comments were for nothing. As one lecturer put it, "By the time we all figure out this model [Zambian], we will be trying to implement the Namibian one, then we'll try Botswana..." Meanwhile, nothing will have improved.

Thursday, Mr Thomo came from a Ministry division that I've now forgotten. He met with the lecturers, and later with the students. He has a sense of humour and is generally optimistic. He also spent a bit too much time in my opinion answering question with, "That's not my department; ask someone else," or "Well, things are supposed to work this way," as if our problems were our imagination. Why can't people just deal with the problems and get on with it? Our major problem at the moment seems to be a lack of communication, with very few staff knowing what's happening and the rest clueless until literally five minutes beforehand, if then. This leaves most of the rest of us feeling unmotivated, unwelcome, and frustrated. On top of being exhausted from teaching since January with virtually no break, I'd think disaster was waiting to happen if Malawians were not so accepting and nonconfrontational. Mr Thomo's other news was that we will definitely not have teaching practice (in case we hadn't already deduced this, no one having bothered to tell us), so the term would end three weeks earlier than we had planned, throwing off our schemes of work, exam schedules, and pretty much everything else. I am not the only one who was furious at this, especially since their motive is to give us a two week break (maybe, if they don't schedule another pointless workshop instead) before bringing back the nightmare Cohort 9. A year ago, they said Cohort 9 would be the last. Now they are planning Cohort 11. For me, none of this may matter, but I worry for my friends, who are feeling overworked and discouraged, and next year does not look to be any better. From the math, it should be worse (Cohort 9's 16 weeks + Cohort 11's 16 weeks + Cohort 10's 16 weeks and 3 week teaching practice all between New Year's Day and Christmas).

Friday finally gave me an excuse to be cheerful. It was Science Fair day over at the demonstration primary school. Some of the projects were very clever (I took photos for once, dad). My favourites were a simple "computer" (press the right key and certain lights turn on in a fancy cardboard monitor with a theatre gel screen) and very well sculpted helicopters. The rotors were the only movable part, but as art they were beautiful. I don't remember it all: physics demonstrations, food preservation, a very noisy pedal powered transportable maizemill that really works. Today my students turned in their improvised spring balances, filter systems, and pulleys. I have only glanced at them, but I have very good artists and possibly engineers in my classes. More on them later.

Added 24 October 2003

No sign of Justin with my a-drive, so I am still dependent on Bindili to send this. But since I have plenty of Diversity related files to dump on the network as well, it will not be a problem. Our session yesterday went okay. About the training in general, Dora is worried. Of the 34 people originally signed up to come for education, only 27 confirmed for staging and only 24 showed up. After two weeks, the number has dropped to 20. Interestingly, three fourths of them are male. Three fourths of Peace Corps Malawi is female, so several female health volunteers are happy about this. We were disturbed to learn that a few of the new trainees only applied to Peace Corps two months ago, generating comments that Peace Corps is sacrificing quality for quantity. Meanwhile, we are speculating what Gaddi Vasquez' resignation means. He was the head of Peace Corps Washington. I am curious what RPCVs stateside have to say about it.

Nothing more to say at present.

Love to all,

Abby