Final school assembly - Malawi style

Yesterday was the final day for the CRED team at Bwelero school, a rural primary school about 4 miles away from Nkhata Bay that we have been helping at all week

As it turned out, our final day coincided with the final day of the academic year for the children so we were able to take part in their final assembly  And what an interesting cultural insight it was. 

For a start were all the speeches - from teachers, head teacher, chair of the school board, chair of the PTA, chief village elder, local health authority rep and local community development officer amongst others. 

It seemed a bit excessive until you hear what they were talking about and then you realise how integral the school is as a channel of communication to the local community. 

As several parents were also there, all speeches were heard by them also which meant that when the health guy spoke about the immunisation clinic for under-5's the message was going further than just the students

And when the community development guy spoke about a funding proposal that has been accepted by World Vision to pay for bikes so that teachers can set up 'reading camps' in the villages to ensure that children still get access to learning even when the rains mean they can't get to school, there were lots of excited whispers from the children, presumably those who have to walk miles each day to get to school. 

It was the same guy who went on to warn the older girls about the men from South Africa who write letters to teenage girls in Malawian villages 'wooing' them and enticing them to leave rural life and run away. To run to a life of alleged excitement, glamour and marriage. But of course it doesn't end like that, and the community spokesman yesterday was telling the girls how it does end - in trafficking and servitude - and was telling them not in the confines of the classroom but in front of parents who might have been taken in by the letters of marriage and have persuaded their daughters to go. 

These final assemblies are so much more than just a rounding up of the academic year. They are a chance to get some key community messages out to a population who are in part illiterate, don't have access to TV and radio, and don't read the info leaflets available. Obviously the church is another avenue for getting the messages out, but it's good to see that all opportunities are being used to reach everyone

After the public messages bit of the assembly, the focus switched to the students and letting them know the outcome of their end of year results and therefore who would be going up to the next class in September and who would have to repeat the year

The protocol seemed to be that they did a year group at a time, reading out number on roll, number who took exams (which was always less than number on roll - evidence that not all students could afford the exam?) and number who passed. They then went on to read out the names of those who passed the exams and those children stood up, with expressions ranging from relief to pride to embarrassment to delight. 

So far so good, but then you look at the expressions of those who didn't pass and you see despair, upset, and you wonder at the other emotions going on inside. How many times have they failed that exam and had to resit that year? What will it be like being one year older in the class whilst other younger ones come through? What will the parents say when they hear that the amount of years before the child finishes school is now at least one year more as a class has to be repeated? Will the parents let them stay on to finish school or will they decide that it is pointless and instead make the decision that the child has to go out and work?

So many thoughts flying round in their young minds along with the shame of being one who doesn't get the honour of standing up as a successful student. It was hard to watch and something our team members noticed and mused over later in their own ways

I felt also for the class teachers. Having only 48% of your class pass an exam can't feel good and yet when that class is 140 students in size is it any surprise? How can 1 teacher get round all those students to give them all the input they need? There's no teaching assistants to help with remedial groups, no interactive whiteboards or resources to liven up the teaching, not even electricity to enable students to do homework. It's an uphill battle to say the least

So it has been great to come this week and support those teachers and pupils. To bring resources that the teachers can use when we've gone; to give some new ideas on teaching methods (everyone seemed to love the grid method of multiplication, and the use of number lines for introducing negative numbers!); to give opportunity for the less academic children to also succeed and shine, through arts and sports; and to give the teachers the chance to observe their children in education but whilst not having to be the teacher. For these reasons alone it's been great to come

Add in the many and varied benefits that the team members have gained through all this, and the new perspectives and insights they have gained about all sorts of aspects of life. 

Lots of positives to the trip to say the least

That final assembly was thought provoking for us all in many ways, whether students on the team, teachers on the team or just as observing bystanders. Education is a right for all, but it's fascinating, and challenging, to see how that varied that universal right can be. 

Veronica - an 'ordinary' Malawian grandmother

Veronica would say she is just an ordinary person doing what has to be done for the sake of her family. I'd say she is an extraordinary grandmother holding her family together in very tough circumstances. 

Yes, there are loads of others doing similar selfless acts here in Malawi and across the world, but Veronica is the one I've just met and who is most on my mind at this time

Veronica is 42 years old although she looks like she is in her late 60s or 70s. Life has really taken its toll on her and it shows in the wrinkled skin, gnarled hands and tired look in her eyes

A widower of several years, Veronica has five children aged 16 through to 26

She lives with the two youngest, and also cares for five grandchildren from her older children. Having said that when we visited Veronica she had at least ten children under the age of 8 years hanging around her, so I suspect she actually cares for more than just her five. 

Her youngest child, a lad age 16 years is at primary school in standard 3. The fact that he is so far behind where he should be is evidence either that it took several years before the family could afford to enrol him at school, or that they can't afford for him to take the required exam to progress to the next year, or that he is academically struggling and so has to repeat the year many times

Whatever the reason, he is a 16yr old in the same class as 9 yr olds, and that can't be easy. 

I don't know much about the next child up, but I do know that the oldest child is a son who lives in Tanzania, and the other two are girls. 

Both of them have been married, had children (the grandchildren Veronica now cares for), are divorced or widowed from their first husband and have married again

In Malawi the norm, particularly in the rural areas, is that when a woman marries again the new husband does not take on the care of any previous children. As a result Veronica has been given the long term charge of all her grandchildren and those children will grow up not really knowing their natural mothers. So hard for all three generations and clear evidence of how little voice the females have in this society. 

Veronica doesn't have a reliable form of income. Three days a week she is up at 4am to collect charcoal and be at market before other vendors to try and get the best sales. So to say that her income is meagre at best and very unstable is certainly no overstatement. 

Food comes from the garden, and occasionally she will sell a chicken if money is needed for school fees or some other bigger cost. The house was built by her son before he went to Tanzania but is now in some state of disrepair to say the least. Termites have attacked the roof and the mud walls need a lot of patching up. 

Veronica is certainly up against it but despite everything she remains positive and cheerful. She trusts in God to provide for her and the children, and hopes that she will be able to stay in touch with her children

She really is an extraordinary lady, quietly living in an extraordinary way - selfless, caring, there for everyone, endlessly giving. 

An inspiration to meet and one to pray for as she continues to raise up the youth of today

Enjoying life without a laptop (for a bit!)

At team debrief on Sunday evening one of the girls commented on how much friendlier and less anxious everyone seems in Malawi. She reflected that in UK lots of people  are always seeming to get angry or stressed about their phones or laptops breaking or not performing properly. Ouch! That is exactly what I was like the past week or so as my laptop kept letting me down and life seemed to be caving in as a result. Poor Tim and the girls - what they had to put up with. I feel so bad looking back

But now, having inadvertently left my laptop at Heathrow (it's now been found and is being returned home) I find myself in the unusual situation of being in Africa without a laptop. And it's really quite nice!

Rather than spending my spare hours trying to keep on top of other bits and pieces, writing reports, sorting photos and posting blogs, I have had to offload those tasks to others, or delay them until another time. And as a result I have time to chat, to be, and to just enjoy the moment a lot more than has perhaps happened on some previous trips. 

Rather than being focused on accessing Internet so I can download emails and stay on top of every bit of communication I am enjoying the time spent ambling down the hill with team members, enjoying the view and living life in a simpler and gentler way. 

Yes there will be things I have to do when home to catch up, but I can definitely recommend forgetting the laptop every now and then. 

The initial moment of realising that I didn't have my laptop and not knowing where I had lost it was pretty heart stopping and anxious, but thanks to a wonderful combination of prayer and practical support from family and friends resulting in a laptop found, I am now in a lovely place of relative techno-freedom

Of course it's not total techno absence or I wouldn't be posting this, but God has definitely turned an apparently negative situation into s beautiful positive, as He so often does

May I remember this lesson for a long time and proactively 'forget the laptop' a bit more often going forwards. 

On arrival in Malawi

A short blog written on my phone during a 6 hour Malawi bus journey

I'm with a cred team and we arrived in Malawi yesterday. By the time we left the airport to journey to our accommodation I had discovered that I no longer had my laptop - lost or stolen somewhere between security at Heathrow and transit stop in Addis Ababa - and only 12 of the team had all their luggage. So 18 of us were without some or all of our luggage

Frustrating - yes. But what also came out of it was an incredible sense of community and comraderie as those who had shared with those who didn't, and folks local and global got involved in practical and prayerful ways of support. 

The girls didn't make a fuss about not having their kit. We hope it will turn up but if not at least we are still here, everyone is well, and we can still do what we came to do which is make a positive difference in the lives of others

The whole experience has been a good reminder that it's not what we have that counts, but who we are and what we do. Relationships matter so much more than material possessions and the team is demonstrating that very well

It would be nice to be rewarded with the return of our bags, but in the meantime we've got 500+ Malawian children waiting for a very special week, so there is work to do!

Blessings

H

Ps by the time of posting I have heard that my laptop has been found and the bags have all arrived in Malawi. Clean clothes tomorrow:-). God is good