Here I am at twenty past four on the first day of our introductory courses. I am sitting on my sofa in my own little house at Mitsidi and I am absolutely shattered, but I feel happy because the day went pretty well. The morning and afternoon groups were different from each other, as they so often are and although we followed the same plan the sessions felt different, although both went OK. We introduced ourselves to our students and did a bit of admin, such as checking contact nos and making sure that they all really has their MSCE certificates. One chap turned up on the off chance that there was a place and as about four of the morning students didn't show up at all we let him stay and he took an active part. I said he could come again tomorrow. At least he is keen, and it is Malawi so it appears we can do as we think best at the time. I'm not sure what I really think about this but at the moment David and I have decided to go with the flow and see what happens. We are discussing all such decisions and so far have not found it difficult to agree. I did a couple of short presentations, one on the content of the course and the assessment process, and one on what you might expect a Children's Centre to look like. This was illustrated by pictures of children playing in a Norwich Children's Centre. I am sure it will not be quite the same but it was the best I could do at the time!
We got the students to make name cards, partly to make it easier for us to learn their names and for them to get to know each other and partly to see how they got on with a creative task. Most of our materials are still in transit. Probably stuck on the docks in Durban where there has been a strike, but fortunately each of us brought a few things in our luggage so we managed to muster a few pots of glue, four pairs of scissors, half a sheet of A4 paper per student, felt pens, wax crayons and glitter. I made a name card myself with MARIAN in big purple spotty letters and decorated with a big, bright African sun and some flowers and of course, being me I had to have a bit of sparkle, so I put gold glitter all over the sun. I was wearing a purple skirt and blouse with little gold bits on the blouse, so it rang true when I said that what this name card says about me is that I like purple and a bit of sparkle, I have just come to Africa where the sun is so hot, which is so different from my home in November when it is cold and wet. I said I loved flowers and like to grow them at home and that the fact that I made my letters spotty tells them that I am a little bit lazy as it is so much quicker to fill an area with spots, rather than colour it in properly! David also made a card with cut out letters which showed a different approach. They were soon working away and chatting and getting to know each other as they worked. Some students were a bit slow to get going, I think they must have less opportunity to do this sort of thing due to the lack of materials and different educational approach, but when I got the glitter pots out there was a rush to use them. They are I think the best value item I have ever bought. Twelve tiny pots for 99p in The Range at Long Water Lane! They were certainly marveled at today and there is still loads left for another time.
While they were working we asked them to think about the things that were most necessary for children. Next each student had to get up and show the name card, say what it said about them, say why they wished to work with children and say what they thought were the most important things that children need. Everyone made a contribution. Some people spoke passionately about the role of children as future leaders of Malawi. Many of them identified themselves as Christians and talked of the importance of religion, this is very different from the average Early Years student in the UK.
I wrote down all the important issues raised on scraps of paper and then in groups the students arranged them in long lines in the order of importance. This exercise sparked some healthy debate. There were some surprises. One group put 'Land to grow food' right down at the unimportant end. When I questioned this they were all agreed that it is important for the parents to have land to grow food, but not important for the children. This was a way of looking at the question that I had not thought of and it underlined to me the importance of being clear in the way I explain things to students! Another group put nsima at the unimportant end. This also I questioned as it is the staple foodstuff of the area, but I was told that this is not the best and most nutritious diet and therefore it is not important. I guess that's fair enough. David had a lively debate about the position of 'fun' in the list of necessities, all groups had it near the bottom and he had to struggle to persuade them to move it further towards the middle. I am not sure whether this would happen with a group of students in the UK. Perhaps Maureen and Laura you coud try it out some time and let me know!
David wrapped the session up with a brief presentation on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and for the morning session that was all we had time for. In the afternoon we played a couple of name games: 'The space on my right is free and I want… to come and sit with me', and 'I sit in the grass with my friend'. Everyone was soon running about and laughing and by the end I had learned perhaps a quarter of the names, which is a start. I find it much easier to remember the European style names than the Chichewa ones. The European style names tend to be a bit old fashioned to my ears, we have a Florence, a Mildred, several Joseph's, Esther, Victor, Benard and George. These are not too difficult but I am struggling a bit more with Numawethi, Chifundo, Chimwemwe and Chicco. I expect I shall get there in the end! I will probably remember Chimwemwe as the plumber is also called Chimwemwe and mercifully he did put the toilets in working order, so he is up there among my favourite people at the moment. Apparently Chimwemwe means 'happiness' which seems appropriate in the circumstances!
So much to think about, and I am very tired despite sleeping relatively well last night. I hope I shall have enough energy to get through to the end of the week.
I have been delighted that some of you are beginning to comment upon what I have written, some directly on the blog and others by email. Knowing that you are reading and enjoying my ramblings will certainly encourage me to keep on writing, so if you want more let me know what you think. Becky I hope you enjoy making mango crumble, perhaps I shall have started a trend on the dinner tables of UK! I hope it is better than mine was as it was a bit dry. Perhaps I should have cooked the mangos a bit first to create a bit more juice… I must say that cutting up and dicing seven mangos took quite a while. The flip side to not having to cook very often is that when you do you are cooking for 14!
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