Decisions made re course applicants

Today is a bit of a red letter day because we have finalized the list for our four short Introductory Child Care courses and with the help of a charming Malawian volunteer called Christopher we have begun to let the successful candidates know that they have got a place. Everything is different here and the post takes a long time. Letters must be collected from PO boxes and so it may sometimes be a week after delivery before someone checks their box. Therefore, as we have less than two weeks before the first course starts, we have been advised to telephone all the successful candidates if at all possible and if they live in Blantyre, which they all do, to ask them to come to the Beehive office to collect their letters. We have mobile phone nos for about three quarters of the 132 candidates so Christopher has the job of ringing them all to impart the (good?) news! David and I have written and addressed all the letters, and been to the Post Office to post the ones for folk who didn't give a phone no. It all seems topsy-turvey to me but apparently people have begun to arrive at the office to collect their letters so it seems to be working! It feels good to have the selection out of the way and be able to get on with more practical things. This afternoon we visited the head of Social Services in Blantyre, a city of over a million people. He has a team of 12 Social Workers and a number of Child Protection workers. He explained his accountability to the Department of Gender, Children and Community Development and gave us a lot of information about the early childhood development programme which I shall write up as my first job tomorrow morning.

First thing today David and I went to the rooms in the local primary school which we have been allocated as training rooms. The main room is the school's IT suite. It has about ten computers of which one has an internet connection. The room also contains the school library, most of which is made up of books donated by the Krizevac project. There are a lot of books on shelves, I wouldn't say they are randomly arranged, but as a librarian's daughter I would say that a little more order in their arrangement would be desirable! There are about thirty banana boxes full of books that remain to be sorted and we have promised the librarian, who rejoices in the name of Orpheuse, that we will help him to unpack and shelve them, and tidy the place up. This is certainly the best equipped room in the primary school and I feel a bit guilty about taking it over for six weeks, but this is what has been planned for us. We are determined to transform the room into a combination of attractive learning space and a demonstration play space for pre-school children. Since much of our equipment is still in a container on the high seas somewhere between the UK and Malawi this will not be easy! We have enlisted the help of Mary who works for Beehive and is a highly colourful character more reminiscent of Mama Ramotswe than anyone else I can think of! I am determined to visit her tailor before I return home and acquire some dresses just as striking as hers. You will certainly notice me if I do, I can assure you of that! She is going to take us shopping for cushions and chitenge, string, bamboo poles, mats, baskets etc. We shall get books for pre-school children from our own Bee Books shop stocked with donated books from UK. A few toys have been stored for us from previous containers and we shall have to go foraging for cones and seed pods etc. The room is dark because it has a dark grey concrete floor and dark grey fabric over the windows to keep out the heat of the sun. The tables are dark wood and the chairs are all either primary school size or broken. There is quite a bit to be done if our students are to enter the room on the first day and think 'Wow! That's different, as we are determined that they should!

My own little house is becoming more homely also. At last I have a central light in my living room and also a desk lamp, so for the first time tonight I am able to type without leaning forward and squinting at the keyboard. Malcolm acquired me a bookshelf that has been replaced by a bigger one at the site office so I have started to fill it with children's books and toys, not many yet, but there will be more when the container arrives. I bought a couple of batik pictures off a street vendor today so I now have dark giraffes against a blazing sunset on the living room wall, and ladies balancing pots on their heads in blues, greens and purples in the bedroom. I am looking out for a nice bright rug or two to cover up my own dark grey concrete floor a bit. If I am going to live here for 18 months I must have a bit more colour. Jane is going to take me to the cheap fabric shop and I am hoping to find something really red and cheerful!! I am spending a lot more money than I was led to believe I should need, but I guess that the rate will slow down once I have my space sorted and comfortable.

We are planning a trip to see Lions at the weekend. I am looking forward to that!