Start of recording

Oh dear, I have left too long between blog entries again and now have too many things to write about. I don't know where to start. I guess chronologically is the simplest idea. Last week was distinguished by the fact that for the first time since I have been here we had a power cut every single day. The power was off altogether for over two days because of a lightening-strike putting out some vital piece of equipment. It was on only a few hours before the usual Tuesday evening cut took it away again. I am getting tired of finding things to do by candlelight. I can read, but it gets a bit of a strain after a while. Rita has discovered that little locally made oil lamps can be purchased very cheaply. I think I shall get one too and see if it produces any more light than a candle.

On Tuesday I spent a fascinating day with the choir, going to a recording studio in Chilobwe to start to make the backing tracks for the CD. Six of us went on the minibus. Chilobwe is a township clinging to the side of Mount Soche, one of the three mountains on which Blantyre is built. It can be seen from the Beehive site and from the door of our original classroom at St James' School. It has a distinctive clump of trees on the top and when I got overwhelmed with noise or frustration when teaching last year I used to go and stand outside the classroom door and look at it, so it is very familiar, but I have never been there before. Martin, the Choir Master was spruced up in smart black trousers and a pale blue shirt. The two sopranos were resplendent in African traditional dresses and the altos wore respectable black skirts and white blouses. I had not thought about dressing for a special occasion and so was in my ordinary work dress. Some of the others are normally clad in the blue work overalls of the Beehive site, worn by bricklayers, carpenters, plasterers and labourers alike. The choir has been saving for several weeks. On each pay day members have given what they can afford to a fund for fares and other expenses for making the CD. Meticulous records are kept and at the business meetings the names of the members who have given money are called out, anything from MK20 from the lower paid labourers to maybe MK250 from office workers or bricklayers. Mary was issued with enough money for our fares, just less than MK500 each, and I contributed enough to cover my own fares and a Fanta each, and we set off for the minibus stage at Chilomoni market. We squashed into a bus with eight or nine others and were off to Blantyre. We had to walk across town to the bus station near the market to get the bus to Chilobwe. The bus station was a heaving mass of people and white minibuses were moving apparently randomly, backwards, forwards and in and out of each other. Eventually we located the right bus and got in. There was a bit of a wait while the other places were filled, but before long we were on the move. The driver had a bit of trouble getting it to start, but fortunately the bus station is on a downward slope to the road and the engine kicked in just as we had to turn left up the hill away from the city centre. As usual I was fascinated by the names of the little shops in the trading areas of the suburbs through which we passed. My favourite on this occasion was the 'God will find a way' cosmetics and salon! The minibus ended its journey where the tarmac runs out in the middle of Chilobwe. Martin set off with confidence towards the studio, turning off the main track and round several corners before plunging steeply downhill. After a few hundred metres he declared himself lost and borrowed my phone to call the studio and get directions. As usual no one else had any credit! Actually we were only a few minutes away, but we were hot and a bit weary. We were revived by glasses of ice cold water and shown into the studio which was housed in a small house. The room was divided into two by a wooden partition with egg boxes stuck all over it, well there was a gap where two had fallen off. The walls were covered with tie dyed fabric in cream and orange. A huge logo decorated one wall, a yin/yang symbol with sun and moon superimposed upon it and 'Weapon of Peace' emblazoned across it. The half of the room we entered was a bit like someone's sitting room, with a three- seater sofa against the wall under the logo facing a wooden bench against the other wall. A large microphone stood next to the partition which had a window in the centre and an open door towards the back of the room. We could see through into the back room where the computer, keyboards and all the other technical paraphernalia was arranged. We met Eugene who worked with us for the whole day. He reminded me very much of one of my students, he had a quiet voice, an intelligent expression and considerable capacity for concentration. We were there for nearly five hours during which time we sang five of our ten songs and he prepared backing tracks for each of them. We broke for lunch for only a short time. All available food was shared. Martin took my extra MK500 out and came back with a Fanta each and a couple of loaves of bread, one or two people had brought rice dishes from home. On the way back on the bus Martin confided to me that he was very happy with the way the day had gone. He repeated several times that 'They understand the music, they care about the music, just like me' he said. He pointed out places of interest all the way home, making sure that I knew the name of every place we passed through and making me repeat the Chichewa names. We paused in the market for the purchase of potatoes, cassava and vegetables and then it was back to the bus station for a minibus to Chilomoni. All the members felt it had been a very satisfactory day. An arrangement had been made to record the backing tracks for the other five songs on the following Thursday. Unfortunately I was unable to go that day as I had promised to run the Stay and Play group for Diddy who had the day off for her birthday, but I was very glad to have the opportunity to go and see how it was done.

I enjoyed the Stay and Play. I rang the student volunteers the day before and gave each of them something to prepare. I also encouraged them to arrive in time for a brief planning meeting before the families arrived and to my delight there was one student already present when I arrived at 7.30am. The session starts at 8.30am and by 8.15am all six of my volunteers were there and the room was laid out with a variety of activities. I gave myself only one teaching point for the session; that the activities we provide for the children at each session should be dictated by what we observed about the children's interests and abilities at the previous session. Diddy has set up a pattern to the way the group is run, with similar activities and equipment in similar places in the hall each week and the children are beginning to know where to go to find what they want to do. I had made some yellow play dough with red glitter in it. We taped strips of paper to the floor and made huge, group paintings. There were cars, balls, dolls, puzzles, maths games, water play, baby play, musical instruments. Each student had prepared a song for the music session at the end and Vasco was ready with a story. I assigned special responsibility for a particular activity to each student, but encouraged them to keep an overview of what was happening in the whole room as well. We had 24 children and perhaps 18 or 20 mums. I was so proud of the students. Each seemed to know exactly what they were doing and the session went very smoothly. I had made popcorn for snack time and was going to give each child their small portion on a piece of paper so they could put it down and keep it clean. Gilbert saw what I was about and immediately started twisting the pieces of paper into cones. This was so much easier for little hands to manage. The others picked up on what he was doing immediately and everyone was served in record time. Such team-work! Story time was a delight. I found out afterwards that the story Vasco told was written by Gilbert. My Chichewa is poor and I could only pick up the gist of the tale which was about a tortoise and a rabbit. They had made laminated pictures of the characters and also Vasco acted the part of the rabbit and used our big, tortoise floor cushion to play the part of the tortoise. The children were totally absorbed. It took a bit longer than I had planned and therefore there was not enough time for all the students to do their songs, but that was my only criticism. After the families had left we spent ten minutes talking about how the day had gone and 'Hey Presto!' we had a plan for next week. Excellent.

We are so busy here that time passes very quickly and the weekends roll around before you expect them to. Saturday was filled up by shopping in Blantyre and swimming at Mitsidi. In the evening Chris and I went to see Hugh and Linda perform in the Musical Society of Malawi Christmas Concert. There are only a couple of Malawians in the choir and orchestra but there are certainly a good mixture of people of many nationalities. There were songs in Chichewa, Swedish and Latin as well as English. It was a joy to sing along to various well known carols although I was disappointed to have to keep quiet during 'Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar', which is one of my favourites. After the performance there were mince pies and Christmas biscuits so we came out feeling quite Christmassy!

On Sunday Sarah and I were privileged to be invited to accompany Matthias, the stores man on the building site, to Chikwawa to visit his mum and family in their home village. I did the entire journey propped up on a mattress in the back of the pick-up. Even in Blantyre it was a warm and sunny day. I was glad I had my sunglasses in my bag and had smothered myself in suntan lotion before we left. I was also equipped with big scarf and a chitenje to cover myself if the sun seemed too strong. All went well at first as we drove out of Blantyre on the Chikwawa road. I noticed that the blossoms on the flame trees were beginning to drop and the rain of the previous weekend had allowed the maize to grow so that it was now about 18 inches high. I could see Mount Soche to my right as I rode backwards in the back of the truck and was able to pick out Chilobwe where I had been with the choir a few days beforehand. As we approached the outskirts of Blantyre and Fisherman's Rest we passed people selling mushrooms at the side of the road and resolved to stop on the way home and buy some. Mushrooms are a rare treat in Malawi. I guess it must be the season for them. We drove down a steep winding road from the mountains around Blantyre to the plains of the Shire valley, and the temperature got hotter and hotter as we descended until it was about 45 degrees and pretty unbearable. As we went down I knelt up and leaned on the cab of the truck so that I could see the incredible view of the valley getting closer and closer. The breeze was quite strong and this was enhanced by the fact that Matthias is no slow driver! The little hair I have left was standing straight up in the air when we got to the bottom and I had to keep my dress from lifting itself above my head by the simple expedient of kneeling firmly on the hem. I excited quite a bit of interest. Clearly it is not a common site to see a middle-aged azungu woman peering over the cab of a pick-up driven by a Malawian. Loads of people pointed and waved and called out 'Azungu, azungu!'. I was just beginning to feel that I was so hot I would have to ask Matthias to stop and let me recover in the shade, when we crossed the Shire river, went through a police road block and after a few hundred yards swung off to the right up a dirt road. A few hundred yards further and we had arrived. We were warmly welcomed by Cecelia, Matthias's mum, who spread a bamboo mat under a tree and made sure we had zitenje to sit on. Matthias and his step-dad had chairs and the rest of us on the mat. This was rural Malawi! Cecelia and Matthias's two female cousins who live with his mum following the death of their father, his Uncle Sylvester, rushed around bringing drinks, and cooking both in the house and outside on an open fire under another tree. When they offered food or drink to the men they sank to their knees to show respect. I didn't see either Matthias or his step dad lift a finger to help during the whole time we were there, but the girls were busy all the time. They made a lovely meal of chicken, rice, nsima, tomato soup, and salad which we ate outdoors under the tree. Occasionally the mat had to be moved round with the sun so that it remained in the shade of the tree. It was at least ten degrees hotter in Chikwawa than it is in Blantyre. I am so glad we do not live in those temperatures all the time; I don't know how I would cope. We were kept well supplied with water and drinks. They routinely put salt in their drinking water in order to replace the salts lost through sweating. I daresay Annie will tell me off for discussing toilet issues in the public medium of a blog, but I didn't need a wee all day, which is just as well as the only loo was a shared pit latrine which even Matthias said he would not recommend! The family has a small farm where they grow food and also cotton as a cash crop. Planting had not yet started as so far they have had no rain at all. Cecelia has an interest in traditional medicines and she told us all the uses of the tree we were sitting under and of other plants growing around us. I was fascinated. We met little Sylvester who is three years old. I was interested to hear about the village CBCC which he attends from 7.30am to 5.00pm each weekday to enable his young mum to go back to school. I rooted around in the depths of my hand bag and found him some balloons. Also a rubber ball made to look like like the earth as seen from outer space with clouds superimposed upon a globe of the world. This excited great interest and poor little Sylvester had to wait while it was passed around the whole family and admired. An older lad passed by on the road and Sylvester wanted to show him his new ball but his grandfather advised him not to as he feared the older lad would take it off him. I hope I have not caused trouble with this gift. After about three hours it was time for us to set off back to Blantyre. When we passed through the road block in the other direction we all had to get out of the car and walk on a pad soaked in disinfectant as there is foot and mouth in Malawi at the moment. At the top of the climb up the mountain we stopped to get our mushrooms and again at Fisherman's Rest for coffee and icecream (and a proper toilet!).

A week later

The opening of the children's centre is fast-approaching and a lot of the projects that have been on the go for some time seem to have come together this week. We actually have the beginnings of a register with the names of real children who will come to us for day care from 16 January. There are 13 who are the children of Beehive workers who have had subsidized places at a local nursery for some time. These are being transferred to our own Centre. We have a committee consisting of representatives from Chilomoni health centre, the local police, Social Services, the local Child Protection Officers and a couple of local churches, also Mary Kamwendo, Beehive's main HR person, Sarah as Day Care Manager, and David. These people have recommended children for the sponsored places. David and Sarah, with the CPOs have visited these families and made recommendations and then it is the job of the committee to decide how the places are allocated. I do not think it will be difficult to fill the hundred places as sponsorship gradually becomes available. The cost of each place is approximately 750 pounds a year. We have a marketing campaign raising sponsorship from local companies, the Beehive companies themselves are sponsoring ten places and a couple of individuals are each sponsoring a child. We hope that individuals, churches and other groups in UK, or indeed anywhere else, will also commit themselves to that sum to give a child the chance of a good pre-school education and thus a good start in life. This week has seen the appearance of our Mother Teresa Children's Centre chitenje fabric from which the children's uniform dresses and shirts will be made, and a decision has been made about uniform for staff. The Centre itself is still officially a building site but I have been assured that it really will be handed over to us to start moving in furniture, toys and equipment by the end of this week. This is just as well as the plan is to have an open morning for the prospective fee-paying children on Saturday 17 December. Unfortunately I will not be about as I set off for Lilongwe at about 6.00am on that day on the first leg of my journey home for Christmas. This trip was booked in June, when I still believed that the Children's Centre would be opening in September. I am very excited about coming home to see friends and family, but the timing is not good. I shall miss the move into the Children's Centre and a very busy period of preparation for the first day for the children.

This week also has seen the arrival back from the printers of the three booklets we have put together. First there is our annotated version of the Malawian ECD curriculum. Then there is a manual for the Practical Assessment tasks for the third part of the Beehive Child Care and Early Years Education Diploma. Thirdly there is an Answer Book for each student with all the paperwork they will need to accompany their practical tasks bound together. David and I have spent a lot of this week watching students leading activities in a little pilot of the practical tasks. So far we have not uncovered any serious or unpredictable problems, fortunately! Marks in the pilot vary between 44 and 88%. I have come up with a list of advice for the students following the pilot but it is the usual advice really starting with 'Read the question carefully, however good your activity is, if it does not answer the question you will not get any marks!' I have seen much to make me proud during this week. The group of students who have been supporting Marc in his work with Standard 1 in St James have developed into a good team. Their relationships with children were a joy to behold. I think I am going to have some difficulties assessing people working with little children in Chichewa, but it is not as difficult as one might imagine. It is easy enough to see whether children are relaxed, happy and interested.

Talking of speaking Chichewa I find that I shall be leading assembly again this Monday. This time it is the turn of the choir to lead and I was forced to agree to their request that I do the introduction and link bits. I think it amuses them to hear me struggle to do it in Chichewa, but they certainly appreciate the effort. Yohane has proved to be a star yet again and has helped me to put together the things I want to say. It s probably just as well that I have this role as they are keen to keep the songs we are practicing for the CD under wraps until it comes out, and have put together a programme of four Christmas songs for the assembly, all new to me, all in Chichewa, and I really cannot get my tongue around them in the short week we have had to practice. Now I have an excuse which allows me to contribute to the choir's assembly but not mess up the singing! Another disadvantage of the timing of my trip home is that the recording of voices for the CD will take place on the 19, 20 and 21 December, after the site is closed for the Christmas break. This makes sense of course, but nevertheless I am disappointed.

On Friday night most of the volunteers went to the Gala Night performance of the Blantyre Sports and Social Club Christmas Pantomime. Gala Night means the ticket costs twice as much but you get a buffet and Pimms beforehand. It proved to be a bargain. Rarely have I seen so much azungu food gathered together in one place since I have been here! There were all sorts of little savoury treats including several types of vol-au-vents, prawn rissoles, tiny quiches and, joy of joys, a cheese board! There were also custard tarts and mince pies. The pantomime was exactly what I expected. It reminded me of the amateur pantomimes we used to go to with Auntie Ver when we were children, which were always such a treat. Despite last week's carol concert and the pantomime it still doesn't really feel like Christmas, - too hot! Only a week to go and I shall be home. I heard on the radio that it's 2 degrees at home, so it will be a drop of about 30 degrees. I shall definitely need a hot water bottle!