Muli Bwanji!
Greetings from Fisherman's Rest. We've had
the opportunity to enjoy our first week together here, in Blantyre, Malawi.
Fisherman's is a fifty-acre nature reserve overlooking the Great Rift Valley,
and impalas and nyalas have accompanied
us during our journey to orient ourselves to the TTS lifestyle...
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| Pronking Impala |
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| Nyala Buck |
The ladies of TTS24 took the long trip to
Africa in stride, relishing the chance to get to know each other a bit – between
airport scavenger hunts, Harry Potter marathons, and 2am mid-flight wake-up
calls. Upon our long-anticipated arrival in Blantyre, the girls were positive
about conquering those first-week fears, and jumped into a game of Capture the
Flag to shake off the plane legs. Throughout orientation, we wanted to be sure
everyone was on the same page in terms of TTS practices and policies. Through
skits, debates, conversations, and written reflections, the group was able to
focus our energy on important opening topics. We considered the relevance of
culture and what it means to be a U.S. citizen; shared our hopes and fears for
the semester; wrote letters to ourselves; read advice written by TTS23
students; and spent time getting to know each other in mentor groups. What
mentor groups, you might ask? Here they are for the first quarter!
Maris, Sydney SG, Hannah L, and Violet are
“Shades,” with Sarah and Quinn...
Maia, Sydney M, Ava, and Claudia are “Robe
Nation,” with Beth...
Sarah, Marley, Kait, and Hannah W. are
“Channel Four News,” with Katie....
Caroline, Sydney L, Marisa and Baylie are
“The Big Five,” with Mary Reid!
As you can see, the inside jokes are
developing nicely, and we are happy to be starting with our crew rotations in
which students lead the charge with particular chores, such as cooking,
cleaning, and packing (all completed, thus far, whilst singing Disney songs).
(We are still working out a great system for
having three Sydneys and two Hannahs!)
After our first tastes of classes, we set off
down the road to get to know some local kids at the community center, called
“Tilitonse,” meaning “We are together” in Chichewa, the local language spoken
in this community http://malawi.tripod.com/chichewa.html. Our group was introduced to a rousing game of rhythm and
mimicry called “Like I Do,” a popular local pastime with children and adults
alike, we are now realizing. The next few days were busy with more classes and more
outings into the community. We were set up for success by the careful
instruction of our Chichewa teachers, who came on a daily basis to work with us
on our local language skills – and had everyone speaking in basic phrases by
the end of the week.
We visited a school that is under
construction, and we helped to rearranged bricks in long fire lines with the
locals. A certain highlight so far was dancing around in the mud at the site,
creating the material to stuff into brick molds. Our team (TTS + community
members) made over 700 bricks in one hot day.
Boreholes are a source of life in this part
of the world, as they provide safe drinking water to rural communities.
Students of TTS24 were motivated to find out more about these important
resources and had the chance to become more expert in the function and repair
of a borehole.
During other excursions, we painted
classrooms, read books with children, taught computer lessons, and played games
(especially “Like I Do”). The girls reflected on what community service means –
both for them personally, and in the places we visit – a conversation that will
certainly continue throughout the semester.
Our last experience in the area was at an
orphanage, a touching and poignant experience for all. We joined the children
in a church service filled with heartfelt songs, dancing, and a dramatic play.
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| Mount Mulanje |
On to the massif!
Tionana (Bye),
Beth Billington
Wow..Thats was one packed week. Love the updates
ReplyDeleteYes, thank for the update. Sounds like they were very busy!
ReplyDelete