October 4

Another week has passed and I just realized I haven’t posted last week’s musings. So it looks like you will get a double dose. It has been a particularly bad week for power outages, three in the evenings and one during the school day. Good thing we had restocked our supply of candles, and I found batteries for the cassette deck in my classroom which worked out well since my lesson plans that day involved a recorded listening test.

This was a short week work –wise since Eid fell in the middle of it. I am not sure about the rest of the world, but in Malawi the government declared Wednesday the official Eid holiday so the school was closed. Apparently the president gets to decide which holidays will be observed, and some of those decisions come at the last minute, even when it isn’t a holiday like Eid that is decided more or less at the last minute everywhere. Although we knew there would be a holiday for Eid, we didn’t get the official word until Tuesday around noon. This is not a predominantly Muslim country, but it will be an election year next year so a holiday cancellation that would offend a whole group won’t be happening. Apparently last year Boxing Day was cancelled. That wouldn’t affect us anyway since we will be on holiday; however, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the calendar works out this year. Just as in Canada, the holiday didn’t seem to affect the retail sector much. Most stores and restaurants were open, unless they were Muslim small businesses. Banks, schools, government offices, etc. were closed and generally house staff get those days off as well. As for us, it meant an earlier start on the golf course and time to play 18 which doesn’t usually happen during the week.

As the weather heats up we are appreciating those early morning starts even more, whether for work or golf. It’s nice to have anything remotely physical done early or wait until the evening when it cools off. Fortunately the classrooms seem to stay fairly cool and there are windows on both sides so I can open them to catch the lovely cross breeze. This tends to play havoc with things I have pinned up for classroom decoration, oh well.

Earlier in the week we accompanied, Emma, one of the teachers from our school out to Chinsapo, to see the local school and discuss their needs. Chinsapo Primary School, with 5,000 students, is one of the six schools supported by L.E.A.P., the Lilongwe Educational Assistance Project. LEAP is a small charity begun by teachers at our school about 10 years ago, to help local, less fortunate schools. We had seen the Power Point presentation but visiting the school and meeting the children and staff is quite moving. The conditions in these schools are nothing less than shocking, 150 children to a primary classroom, most of which don’t have desks or tables, not to mention books or supplies. The children sit on the concrete floors and learn by rote from blackboards that stretch around the room. In spite of this, we were greeted with song, smiles, laughter and so much warmth. There are also outdoor “classrooms” but few that have shelter from the sun or rain, just a blackboard painted on the inside of the security wall. How the extraordinary woman who is principal of this school manages to keep it from descending into chaos is unfathomable. Coping with all that would be overwhelming for most people but she, like far too many Malawians, is also HIV positive and has been living with it for the last 8 years as well. Her house is on the school grounds and we were privileged to hold her brand new baby granddaughter before we left. LEAP raises funds to help the community paint walls and blackboards as well as build shelters, tables, benches and security walls so the little they have is not stolen or vandalized. LEAP is a small organization run completely by volunteers so every penny raised goes to the schools. For my small part, I am leading an activity with a group of kids at our school one afternoon a week. We are making wooden flashcards to be used as classroom aids and will eventually go out to the school to do some of the painting that is needed. In these schools, painting pictures on the walls provides visual aids for the teachers that will last longer than posters.

Back on the bureaucracy front, my previous optimistic report about Jean-Marcel’s health care insurance was somewhat premature. Although it is all set up and ready to go, the school is having difficulty paying for it. Not because they don’t want to, or don’t have the money, but because the Malawian banks question any money being paid or transferred out of the country. The local bank has finally agreed to put in a request to the National Bank in Blantyre. If and when it is approved, they can pay the bill to the Canadian bank. So that leaves us waiting, and hoping, again. Great quantities of patience and a sense of humour are prerequisites for living here, and I expect, most places in Africa.

Meanwhile, it is a golf and social weekend. With a staff party at one of the compounds Saturday evening and the big Zain golf tournament going on all weekend. More on that later since I will never get anything posted if I keep rambling on.

Cheers and best wishes.