Stuff I've Used

By popular demand, how I've used things from my packages:

-I traded pens for fruit that my women's group used to make Jam
-My markers have gone dry from my students using them so much
-The yellow beach cover up was adored by all when I visited Nkhata Bay
-Chocolate was devoured by me
-Hector promptly took her new chew bone and lost it (dumb dog)
-My neighbor's daughter tried to eat one of hector's doggie treats (no comment)
-After reading, I traded magazines with some of the artists in my village for art (thus boosting literacy rates and the beautification of my own home)
-My iwes played with everything in my home
-The Umoza women's group made a bunch of baby dresses from donated pins and needles (though our supplies are running low on needles because the tricky things get lost)
-Coffee helped me survive life
-I mixed cheese powder packs from macaroni and cheese with potatoes to make scalloped potatoes, and also with tomato sauce to make cheesy spaghetti sauce
-I rationed my M&Ms for a month (it was worth it)
-Beef jerky kept me healthy when I couldn't afford to buy eggs
-People magazines kept me company until midnight one night when I couldn't sleep from lonesomeness (what has Kate been up to since Jon left?)
-I made many many many outfits from the patterns and sewing kits sent (the most successful being a jacket I banged out last week)
-Every time we get a new book, the students fight over it in the library (and some have started wanting to read the novels!)
-Novels sent to me have kept me sane (currently reading 'The Magus' as sent by Auntie Helen- tell her we need to chat)

so there's just a little idea of how what you send gets used. As always, coffee, summer sausage, jerky, reading material, and things for the library are always wanted (as well as any other strange thing you think would make me smile)

Out

beeb

Camp Sky Pictures!

Ok guys, so here's the thing. I wasn't at Camp Sky the entire time (they were doing something called 'model school' at my site, so I had to leave early... we are all very sad that I can't be in two places at once). Also, while I was there, I was pretty busy, and didn't grab my camera often- plus, right now the internet connection I'm on is s-l-o-w, so all of this means I have very few pictures to share, but here they are:
The Camp Sky Campus

My students, smiling for once (this was attempt #4)

Women's Groups

This week Peace Corps sent two trainees to my site to practice teaching at my school- it was nice to hang around the school, but not to have to do any of my own teaching/grading. One nice thing about it was the fact that we have two HUGE tables in my library that were perfect for cutting out sewing patterns. Normally I cut out my pieces on the floor in my house which is dirty and prone to Hector steps- and at this time of year, there is some sort of itchy dust in the air from a local plant called 'buffalo peas', which is like itching powder, and has been known to settle on my floor. All of this inspired me to go talk to my carpenter who has made me a table, futon, coffee table and shelves for my house over the past few months- honestly, I'm running out of ideas of things for him to make me, but I have a spare room that I use for storage which I decided I could use a big ping-pong sized table in for cutting patterns, and hell, even ping-pong. I am very excited for him to finish so that I can teach my iwes how to play ping-pong. I told him just to make two saw horses and a table top so that the table could be moved outside for ping-pong tournaments. I can easily knit myself a net, so now I just need to find paddles and balls... maybe in a Chinese goods shop in Mzuzu? There are all sorts of strange imports from China at those stores. If I get replaced next year, whoever gets my house next is getting hooked up.

I also had a friend who lives a few hours away visit for a bit- he had some good ideas about income generating projects for my second women's group which I'm excited to try out. The group has been interested in making different jams and jellies, and my friend's idea was to package them in little single serving containers that can be bought in Mzuzu and sell them in the market for 10 kwacha each. Our group's eventual goal is to raise funds to build a primary school to replace the mud brick structure that is currently being used. If we made a more secure primary school, we could stock it with teaching and learning materials, but as it is, without doors, windows and just a thatched roof, everything that isn't nailed down is prone to theft.

Umoza is also going well, we are making little baby dresses while we wait for the school year to start, at which time we can sell our uniforms. I am learning a lot about sewing from my ama, Margaret, and I think that the other women are too. I bought a dress from the group to give my neighbors for their baby Melissa (named after me, poor kid)- she looked so cute! I'm still trying to decide what the group should make for me to bring back home at Christmas time, and baby dresses are definitely a possibility.

That's about all for now, thanks for the packages, letters, emails and phone calls- they've made the past 11 months go by fast (can you believe its been 11 months? I can't)

beeb

Back at Site

hey all- I'm back at site safe and sound,and I got two packages, one from auntie Alison and one from Mary from LDO- thanks guys!

Day 3, Way To Be!

Everything is going well here at camp sky, the kids are having a lot of fun, and so am I! Last night, after dinner, we had a salsa lesson which the kids loved- the lights were out, so the whole thing was done in candle light, which was all quite dramatic. The trainees are here now, so they get to get an idea of what exactly Camp Sky is, and how to run it next year. They are a great group, I can't wait to get to know them better (and of course, come back next year to help out with camp)

My kids are all smiles! Thanks for all of the support!

beep

Camp Sky Day 2!

Hello everyone! I am here at camp sky- my kids (aliases Ken and Olivia) love it. Last night Olivia seemed kind of sad and lonesome, when we signed up for extracurriculars, she made a beeline to my 'sewing' table and was the first to sign up, which broke my heart, but she cheered up today after the first round of classes. For a lot of these kids, this is the first time they've been away from home, so you can understand why they would be a little withdrawn at first.

Hanging out in the staff room with all of my Peace Corps friends is a lot of fun, we're all really getting into our lessons, and since we have a lot of materials, we can really kick them out of the park- construction paper and markers is refreshing after all these months rationing them at site. We're teaching root words in the English classes, so I'm getting my fill of prefixes, suffixes and roots- my mind is reeling, I'm going to kick the GRE's ass.

Our camp director Elisabeth has been working like crazy to pull all of this off, I can't believe it, I could never do her job, but the results are amazing! A lot of time and effort has gone into making Sky a success, especially on the part of our wonderful donors, so if you want to help next year's kids have as much fun as the 2010 group, please donate- Camp Sky is a wonderful Peace Corps Malawi tradition, and all proceeds will continue to benefit students in future groups.

I love you all, I can't wait to come home at christmas time!
Beeb

Camp Sky!

Hello everyone, I am posting from dusty Kasungu where I am helping to prepare the camp sky campus! Thank you all for your support- and if you donated and would like a thank-you card from me and my students, just post your name and address in my comments section, and we will make you a card!

Things here have been good, we've been working hard cleaning out classrooms and dorms for the kids- I am looking forward to the sewing lessons that I'm doing with my friend Jamie and my Batiking class with Esther. We are also semi-planning a run through of Romeo and Juilet for the kids, because even though the play is on their syllabus, most Malawian students haven't seen it (or read it in its entirety for that matter).

The kids come tomorrow, so excited!

Also, we are still accepting funding- any surplus funds go toward next year's camp sky, which I will also send students to, so don't worry, it all goes to a good cause. The link below is still the camp sky link:

http://www.friendsofmalawi.org/grants/how_to_donate.html

Yewu Ukongwa! I'll post later this week with updates about how it is going.

More Pictures!

Eviscerated Pig


Iwes at Esther's schoolThe Market

Pictures?!

Alright, you asked for them, and after 10 months, I guess I can finally put up some pictures. This is me at the beach by my house sometime in February- jealous?


Hector the pup

A meeting of the Umoza women's group


Umoza sewing!


Students working in the library.