from the heat of Mzuzu to being so chilled out...

Greetings from a very chilly Belfast! Yes, I have arrived safely from Mzuzu and am frozen - its so cold here! But the positive thing is that my photos upload in a second here where in Malawi writing the blog can take hours!! I left Mzuzu on Tuesday - the rains have definitely come - we have had heavy rain in Mzuzu and further north, although in some parts there has been little. Pray that the rains will come to all parts of the country so that food security will be good in 2011.

I just thought I should update you on the last week before I left Malawi. We were doing two weeks training with some of the caregivers from Mzuzu Presbytery - there were 34 participants in all, learning about Early Childhood Development.

The training is both theory and practical and the caregivers have a very packed programme. Here you can see some group work.

and.....more practically, making glue from cassava..........


and cooking the glue

Making paint from natural leaves (non poisoness of course)

and the end products (paint brushes are made from twigs)

Hlezipe our guest facilitator from Loudon Presbytery (some of you will know Loudon as Embangweni)

Learning how to make playground materials

and doing outdoor games

Much of the training involves making materials so this is the scene after classes as dusk is beginning to fall and everyone is busy making materials

and one of the end products made on a maize sack

Myself in action teaching about nutrition and malnutrition

As I was leaving before the training finished the group bought me a gift and here is the leader of the group presenting it to me

the whole group

I spent the last evening with my facilitators, Hlezipe, Enala and Nicolas (who took the photo) - these are the Christmas cards I received from them, and my skirt is the gift I received from the group

I had to rush to school to say bye to the teachers and the kids and found them busy making materials too - don't they look good wearing their hats - here is the Pre-school class

and the toddler class

and the kids made me this beautiful card of Mary(who is black) with baby Jesus (who is somehow white)!!

Then I left all the festivities of Malawi, got on a plane and landed in Belfast -weather was fine but cold, and then when I woke up this morning suddenly its really freezing and everywhere is covered in snow!! Makes me wonder........why did I leave the lovely heat of Mzuzu!!!

Enjoy your weekend in the snow or the heat depending on your location. Wishing everyone who reads my blog joy, peace and happiness during the Christmas season and many blessings for 2011.

With much love

Diane

Hello there,

This has been a week of frustrations and also encouragement! At the beginning of the week we had our first real heavy rain in Mzuzu in the middle of the night! I never enjoy thunderstorms but this was particularly scary - the lightning was amazing. Unfortunately my car does not like thunder and each time there was a loud brattle above the house the alarm went off so I was up and down like a yoyo putting it off!! Kept me from being too scared I suppose. The storm was directly overhead and went on for about 2 hours! This is one thing I will not miss when I go to Ireland for deputation!!

As rains begin to fall its the time of year for fruit and vegetables in abundance and here you can see my avocado tree laden with avocado!! Yum!
Its also the time when we have more bugs - here is a bongololo or a millipede - these are really common during the rains - you find them everywhere and have to be careful not to stand on them when you get up in the morning as they make an awful mess under your foot!! Of course we get more snakes at this time of year as well and on Monday we had one at school - the little children under 3 thought it was great fun to see a snake and wanted to play with it........as you do!!

I was in Lilongwe on Thursday for a couple of meetings. On the way I noticed that although people have prepared the ground for planting, and in many cases have started to plant, there has not been a lot of rainfall yet. Imagine all these ridges were dug by hand with a hoe......... so we are hoping that there will be more rain soon.

I was in the office one day this week when I heard the under 3's class singing about Zacchaeus - when I looked out of my window this is the scene - one of the kids was up the tree while the others were singing and clapping......it was so joyful!! Imagine what health and safety regulations there would be for this in other parts of the world!!

I was invited to a congregation in Nkhata bay on Friday to see the beginnings of a nursery school - as you can see in the picture it is going to be quite a size! Two ladies from the Netherlands are supporting this project and they are hopeful that it will be finished by March!

Here you can see two ministers on the left,(second from the left is the minister of the congregation), then the two ladies who are supporting the project, and Nicolas. This is an exciting development for the area and we are hopeful that this will assist the young children a lot.

While I was there of course I had a look at what was happening in the nursery school which is now being held in the church building. The kids were having their snack!! There were not as many children as usual probably because parents are preparing their gardens and the children go too....

When this arrived on my plate for lunch I wasn't quite sure(check out the teeth), but its delicious - its butterfish from the lake.....to be highly recommended!!

Nkhata Bay - a lovely spot

This coming week we are beginning a two week long workshop for the caregivers in Mzuzu Presbytery. There will be around 35 participants and I am busy making materials to show them what can be done with locally available materials (in this case, cardboard and bottletops!)

What a lovely surprise and such an encouragement for me on Saturday morning when 12 of the 15 Presbytery trainers arrived to wish me a safe journey to Ireland (I am going mid December) and to bring me gifts in appreciation of the work I am doing! I was very humbled and received so many beautiful gifts...........

This lovely globe is carved by hand and I was pointing out to them all where Ireland is on the map!!

This is a picture of the group - not smiling because I put the camera on self timer and they were not sure whether it was going to take a photo or not!! What a lovely end to a mixed week!!

I am sure preparations are underway for Christmas in many parts of the world - here there is little sign of Christmas yet and I enjoy that. Sometimes Christmas becomes too commercialised and the real meaning of the celebration is lost!

Probably the last blog post for some time will be next week as I am returning to Ireland for 4 months! Thanks for all your support and comments so far............maybe I will write from Ireland where I believe it is quite cold.............how will I survive!! Wishing you a lovely week.

Blessings and love

Diane

Hi there,

This week has been a bit less hectic in terms of rushing here and there. Its been nice to spend a whole week at home! Rains have still not come to Mzuzu although around the country there has been some rain. I have been in the office most of the week catching up on paperwork. We are having a 2 week training in Mzuzu Presbytery in December so I am busy organising that! On Wednesday I was leading morning prayers here at the Synod - the them was 'Fruit of the Spirit' - I actually enjoyed it!!

I finished off a craft project this week - usually in the evenings I am too tired to do any sewing but I managed to finish my quilt cover!!

This young man started the Pre-school here in Mzuzu when I arrived in the north. He comes to visit and I was delighted this week as he was able to read me a story (in English!!) - makes me feel proud when I see children developing like this.
On Friday night I attended a Thanksgiving dinner with some American missionaries who work and live in Mzuzu. There were quite a few kids there and after the food they were outside playing - it was dark. One of them saw something move and it was one of these.......a black mamba! This is not the actual snake as I did not have my camera. It did not survive long!!

For three days Enala, Nicolas and Emily our trainers were in Malangazi with the caregivers from nine nursery schools. They had a great time - here you can see Enala teaching. When they came back yesterday they brought me a gift from the minister of a large sack of ground nuts (peanuts) - absolutely delicious..........

As I don't have many pictures this week I thought I would show you some of the colourful trees we have here in Mzuzu! This one is a Cassia tree and it is my least favourite as just before it blossoms my asthma flares up!! It does look beautiful though.

This is the flamboyant bloom which is fabulous - in Mzuzu these days we have such a colourful display of them.

This in in my garden - the bourgenvillia - I love this blossom as do the birds in the garden.

Malawi is home to many frangipani trees both the pink and the yellow blossom - such a pretty tree.

And for Molly - your Gogo came to visit me this week - she is in great form and sends lots of love to you and your mum!!

Hope you have a wonderful week ahead.

Blessings

Diane

Chitipa trip

Hello again from a warm and humid day in Mzuzu,

I never thought I would be glad to hear the sound of thunder bringing rain our way, but it was lovely this morning to hear the loud brattle of thunder. Unfortunately it just brought a sprinkling of rain to Mzuzu but the temperature has dropped a few degrees which is nice. It must be raining somewhere nearby!

As I said last time, I went on a trip to Chitipa to meet with the District Social Welfare Officer about what we as CCAP are doing in Early Childhood Development in Chitipa district.

Chitipa is in the far north west of Malawi - it is one of my favourite places in the country. Its a rural area with a road leading to it that leaves a lot to be desired - its about two and a half hours of very rough dirt road. I was pleasantly surprised as it is one of the roads being tarred in Malawi and although it is still dirt, it has been smoothed out a lot and so the bumps were not as severe as last time. I am just glad that I had the opportunity to experience the 'real' Chitipa road, before it becomes tar!

However, as on all dirt roads at this time of year, there was an awful lot of dust with the result that I have been coughing ever since!! Here, this gives an idea of what it is like to drive behind a truck....

What makes up for the dust and dirt though are the colours at this time of year - the trees are fabulous - its like autumn when the trees are changing colour - stunning.
But of course, a journey would not be normal without being stuck in the sand! Coming close to Chitipa town there is a patch of road which is really sandy - we were approaching Chitipa just at dusk and there were many lorries heading back to Karonga and being bigger than us, we moved to the side, only to get stuck again!

But many folk came to push - its a great photo with the dust all over us!!

As I said Chitipa is rural and beautiful with such friendly people. I am always amazed at the resilience and hard work ethic of people here.

How would you like to send your child to this nursery school? It is made of local bricks and mud and has a grass thatch roof. It is small and has an attendance of about 30 children. This may seem very basic to you, but in a part of Malawi which is not easily accessible, I take my hat off to the people who have the initative to make their own structures and not ask for handouts. There are many nursery school similar to this all over the district and credit should be given to the trainer who works there, Foster and to the Social Welfare department. I had a good meeting with the Social Welfare, shorter than planned which gave me more time to visit the district.

At Chitipa itself we have a nursery school - you can see the church in the background. I was delighted to see that they have made some play materials like the see-saw and the swing. Its brilliant that they are portable and can be brought inside at night.

While there, I went to visit some nursery schools and on the way we passed a couple of villages like this - unfortunatley I did not manage to take as wide a shot as I would have liked. There is one house in the foreground which belongs to a man (possibly a chief) and then 4 or 5 houses around like the one in the back right - each one of these houses belongs to a wife of the man! A good arrangement!!

Another one of our nursery schools..........Maligumu CBCC (Community Based Childcare Centre)

With Nicolas and Foster inside - you can see the sunlight coming through the roof - so you can imagine for yourselves what it will be like in the rainy season which is soon to be here!

When we first did training in Chitipa in 2008, we talked a lot about hygiene and toilet training. A week after that training I went with Foster to see some of the centres and we found that one of them had made a local toilet for the children out of mud - a pit latrine. I went to see it last week and found that although it is now not being used (they have built a new one), it is still usable even after two rainy seasons!!

Chitipa is a place of many languages. Chitumbuka is the main language in the north of Malawi but in Chitipa there are 26 languages! This is partly because it borders with both Zambia and Tanzania. We travelled to a nursery school on the Tanzanian border and it was really interesting to see that neither Nicolas (speaking Chitumbuka) or Foster (speaking Chilambia) were able to communicate with the children! Eventually with the help of one of the caregivers, they managed to do a couple of games with them.

The minister at Ipenza, Rev Bipa is a new minister and he is passionate about Early Childhood Development - they are planning to build their own centre just beside the church. We were graciously hosted by him and his wife.

Back to Mzuzu after a tiring trip, to catch up on much report writing and to prepare for a Parent Teacher meeting on Saturday. However on Thursday we had more excitement as our school was turned into a clinic in the morning when we had two nurses from the hospital to immunise the children against H1N1. Usually in Malawi, we have under 5 clinics where parents take their children for immunisation or health checks. However we are finding that it easier for health personnel to come to a school, and with the parents permission, we can do the job in a shorter time. All children under 5 in the country are being immunised this week.

The children did not appreciate the visitors - we had a lot of screaming as they received their injections. Children were in a queue inside the school and the nurses were outside on the verandah. Each child came in crying after their jab which did not instill much confidence for those waiting. One brave little lad said 'I will not cry'. After his injection didn't cry... he screamed!! However, after a few minutes he was fine, and then he laughed at the children coming after him crying!!

Nicolas had to do an assignment for his Diploma course which was to make an exercise for the children to do in class. Here you can see it successfully taking place as one child is blindfolded and trying to match local objects! Its always exciting to see progress at school!

All in all, a good week. We had a very successful Parent Teacher meeting yesterday - it is a pleasure to work with the parents we have, they are very understanding.

Wishing you a great week as you prepare for they Christmas rush, if it has not already started. No sign of it here yet thankfully!

Blessings

Diane

PS...thanks for the lovely comments - makes doing this so worthwhile!!