tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20883926510048010392012-01-22T13:22:28.514+02:00Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.comBlogger801100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-50884408692936559292012-01-22T12:15:00.000+02:002012-01-22T12:15:10.433+02:00

Hello again, Its been another busy week with the 'Ignite' team despite the weather (well, it is the rainy season!).  After finishing the project, we invited the children to come and try out the equipment - such excitement.......... the multi - purpose climbing frame! Note the creative use of the tree stumps - what we term as TALULAR - using locally available materials!

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-53292073367495659102012-01-16T08:14:00.001+02:002012-01-16T08:14:45.442+02:00

Hello everyone.  On Sunday 8th January I welcomed a team from Ignite in Northern Ireland who came to help us with our school building project.  It was great to see some old friends and meet a couple of new people too.  Here you can see Simon, Desi and Trish as they discuss what they are going to do on the first morning at the site.  Its the rainy season here and we have had some heavy downpours

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-36536374024764623952011-12-29T11:16:00.001+02:002011-12-29T11:16:41.723+02:00

Hello again, and I hope you all had a very happy Christmas!  I had a lovely Christmas day, we had a church service which lasted almost 3 hours (better than some in the city that lasted 5 hours!). It was a good celebration of Jesus birth with the children doing a nativity drama which was great! Christmas in Malawi is not the commercial hype that we find in the UK, however the shops in Mzuzu in

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-27468490813238198622011-12-18T18:41:00.003+02:002011-12-18T18:45:58.693+02:00

Hello everyone Well, holidays were well and truly over and it was back to work.......I got a phone call on the last day of my holidays to tell me I was expected to be in Mchinji (which is in the central region at the Zambian Border) for a workshop to refine the Early Childhood Syllabus on Monday morning.........but........there was no fuel in Mzuzu!  So, I decided to go on the bus on Sunday

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-53488355045056742352011-12-07T14:55:00.001+02:002011-12-07T15:40:38.074+02:00

Hello everyone after a long silence, I am just back from my well needed holiday - I went for a wee hike on the wild coast in South Africa and then spent some time with friends near Johannesburg.  I really needed a rest (and I needed another one after our hike) but it was really relaxing and just nice to get away from everything.  I thought I would share some of my photos - its a beautiful

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-27550389976334073542011-11-07T21:16:00.001+02:002011-11-07T21:17:17.423+02:00

Hello again from a wet and thundery day in Mzuzu! Its been quite hectic since I last wrote.  I came back from Liwonde and did office work for a few days before heading off again for the final week of the training.  The day before I left I had some visitors - the children who live around usually come to play in the garden.  It was really interesting to watch and listen as I am doing my

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-58405001100957705932011-10-25T16:58:00.002+02:002011-10-25T20:34:25.757+02:00

Hello everyone after a long break from the blog - its not that I didn't want to write but sometimes there is not much to write about - dwelling on the problems we have is not what you want to hear.  We are struggling big time with fuel shortages - it is worse than ever with queues at each and every filling station.  When you go with a car there are twice as many people there with jerry cans, and

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-6360836200159937512011-10-04T15:03:00.000+02:002011-10-04T15:16:37.619+02:00

Hello everyone, Its been a great week in many ways, so many new experiences and a bit of travelling.  A few weeks ago, I was facilitating training for Mphatso Children's Foundation which is on the lakeshore near Kande.  Last Thursday I was invited to the main centre to witness the graduation of the participants for the second time.  The first time was in Mzuzu but this time in the village

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-595658475212960372011-09-25T15:13:00.000+02:002011-09-25T15:18:27.447+02:00

Hello everyone, thanks for the comments on the last blog - it is encouraging to know that many people are reading the blog and keeping up to date with what I am doing!  Much has happened since I last wrote - as one of my comments suggests - I don't have much 'me' time, but I am trying to improve on that!! As many of you know, my colleague Fiona has finished her assignment with us and left for

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-57210340567077872162011-09-11T19:11:00.004+02:002011-09-11T19:36:39.877+02:00

Hello everyone,Sorry its taken a long time to write but its been a few hectic weeks. Just an update on our school - a few months ago I posted on the blog that the big trees at school were chopped down - well now they are being made into planks to use for the next building.......and this is how they are done...by hand!!!A couple of weeks ago I had a workshop for the teachers at our school in

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-64544871862660861112011-08-28T14:02:00.006+02:002011-08-28T14:25:15.682+02:00

Hello everyone This past week has been mostly in the office catching up on a lot of paperwork and planning for the next few months! But........its also been a week of visitors. I had Jim and Ruth Campbell from PCI staying overnight and unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of them! Then it was great to see some more friends from Ireland, Maureen and Aileen who were visitors of Samuel and

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-50903590380659467592011-08-14T21:05:00.006+02:002011-08-14T21:24:46.456+02:00

Hello everyone, Its been a hectic week as we finished off our workshop on Saturday. This week we were blessed to have another District Social Worker as a facilitator - as you can see on the right he is quite tall - Enala and myself were feeling rather small this week!! Saturday was the finale when the participants presented what they had learnt during the workshop and we had an official

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-88610508540129525662011-08-07T21:36:00.004+02:002011-08-07T21:55:26.487+02:00

Hello everyoneIts been a couple of weeks since the last blog - life is certainly never dull! I am still doing interviews for Trainers of Trainers (ToT's) in Early Childhood in Presbyteries - last week I managed to get about half of what I wanted to do done - why??? .......no fuel of course! I went to Lilongwe and visited 3 Presbyteries on the way - then had to wait in Lilongwe for 3 days before

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-22835117003239067182011-07-24T14:20:00.003+02:002011-07-24T15:00:43.818+02:00

Hello everyone from what has been a very difficult week in Mzuzu and indeed in Malawi. My week started off well as I was doing interviews for ToT's in Presbyteries. I went to Ekwendeni to do interviews while a driver sat in a queue at the petrol station.(We hadn't had any diesel for 3-4 days). He managed to get fuel and picked my up from Ekwendeni to take me to the next destination which was

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-56159671598205094122011-07-17T20:31:00.003+02:002011-07-17T20:51:07.807+02:00

Hello everyoneI hope this finds you all well - as I mentioned in the last blog I had flu which was awful, then a fortnight ago I got a bite on my arm which became infected and from the wrist to just above the elbow was swollen up like a balloon - a hefty dose of antibiotics and its back to its normal size again and thankfully I feel a lot better.This week I have been interviewing candidates for

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-90441519109521842692011-07-03T19:24:00.003+02:002011-07-03T19:41:50.266+02:00

Hello again,The good news is that we got home from Lilongwe safely last Sunday, the bad news is that I am still coughing - even after antibiotics I can't seem to shake the cough. I am trying to slow down but with visitors its not easy! This coming week we have two holidays so I am looking forward to that.I am doing more interviews looking for trainers and so on Wednesday I took Paul to

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-37445332831419333512011-06-26T09:37:00.003+02:002011-06-26T10:13:04.078+02:00

Hello everyone,Its been a couple of weeks since my last blog but this is life! I was sick for a few days with a flu type illness which knocked me off my feet. Its the time of year when many people are sick due to the cooler weather!! It was great a few weeks ago to witness the lunar eclipse - as I was walking home from Bible study the moon was amazing!! I hope people in the northern

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-7264218765286293732011-06-13T16:05:00.005+02:002011-06-13T16:17:53.904+02:00

Hello everyoneI didn't get around to writing yesterday because I didn't have a lot of news until I found some this morning........... you have to keep reading to see what happened!! School is going on as usual and here you see one of our teachers reading a story to the toddlers - the toddlers are a very active and vocal class and really enjoy school!!During the week I had to go to Lilongwe to

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-54649673033315913542011-06-05T14:17:00.006+02:002011-06-05T14:37:49.242+02:00

Hello everyone,I hope you have had as exciting and diverse week as I have! Annex who works in my garden brought his wife and children to visit - a lovely happy family. Annex has been with me since I moved to Mzuzu and he is a great gardener. He did have a few issues with the vegetables I planted - when the parsnips were just about ready, I found them in the compost heap - Annex informed me

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-69942635279789804552011-05-28T16:39:00.004+02:002011-05-28T16:57:50.605+02:00

Hello everyone, hope you are having a relaxing weekend!! Today, I have been busy with household chores and after spotting this beautiful butterfly feasting on a fallen papaya (pawpaw) in my garden, decided to write a few words. The black blob to the right of the picture is a large fly so you can see the size of this lovely butterfly.During the week I had the opportunity to go to visit Phiri at

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-35562291714270775532011-05-22T15:10:00.006+02:002011-05-22T15:27:55.854+02:00

Hello everyone,Its been another busy week in Mzuzu. Monday was a national holiday - it was Kamuzu Day, and I was taking a friend back to the airport in Lilongwe. On the way we did some walking in the hills of the Vyphia - it was a beautiful day, the flowers were stunning, and so this weeks blog is really all about the beauty of creation........Lovely yellow flower peeping out of the grass........

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-43494590044840419572011-05-14T09:47:00.007+02:002011-05-14T10:15:57.240+02:00

Hello everyone,Good morning from a sunny bright morning in Mzuzu. Its been a busy week with many visitors passing through just for a change..... Its nice to go into the garden, look up into the tree and see this lovely face peering back at you. Pemphero has just learned to climb my tree to find a ball he lost - unfortunately the ball was never found!!On Monday and Tuesday we had an

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-23510074088202933772011-05-01T19:00:00.004+02:002011-05-01T19:15:54.246+02:00

Hello everyoneIts been a long time since my last posting and I have had a busy time in Ireland. It was good to be with friends and family but I missed Malawi very much and its great to be back. I was very tired on leaving Ireland and the flight was good although not much sleep. By the time I reached Mzuzu I was shattered. However, just last Thursday a container had arrived from PCI and the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-41534946523256327812010-12-17T19:48:00.008+02:002010-12-17T20:11:36.168+02:00

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

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-2732059491245001422010-12-05T10:48:00.008+02:002010-12-05T11:29:09.228+02:00

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

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-56449639188066199272010-11-28T19:30:00.003+02:002010-11-28T19:47:46.889+02:00

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

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-30231488727410871012010-11-21T12:20:00.006+02:002010-11-21T13:29:45.507+02:00

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

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-19501109070870580002010-11-13T14:51:00.008+02:002010-11-13T15:31:02.644+02:00

Hello everyone from a very hot and sunny day in Mzuzu!! I thought I should update the blog today as tomorrow I am off to Chitipa for a couple of days. As you saw in an older blog, on the car which I drive are the following words......the gathering for Africa. I will come back to this later............. (had to put the picture here as I just thought about it!) Its mango season, and although

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-304964644178703422010-11-06T18:02:00.008+02:002010-11-06T18:35:22.585+02:00

Hello everyone........Thank you for your messages and prayers during the time I was down with malaria. It was a horrible time - I was off work for a full week! However, I am happy to tell you that I am feeling much better and the past week and a half have been travelling visiting trainers in their various locations and co-ordinating training.We went to Kajiliwe to train a committee and here you

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-70195310174667330942010-10-15T09:13:00.011+02:002010-10-16T07:21:27.753+02:00

Hello everyone......Yes, its been a long time since I last wrote. First of all one of these friendly little creatures gave me malaria, so I was not well for a few days, but thankfully much better now.Then my computer lead decided it had had enough and it would not work anymore. I had a major panic - all my documents are on the computer for work, emails are there, what was I to do?? My good friend

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-61822187621997486812010-09-24T21:20:00.012+02:002010-09-24T22:08:28.557+02:00

Hello everyoneHope this find you all well. As I said on my last posting, I had two weeks leave which unfortunately is over now and I have to go back to work on Monday. I was really tired and needed some time for rest and relaxation and reflection as Sandra below told me!!Although I was on leave, because of the fuel situation I was not able to travel as much as I had hoped to. The fuel situation

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-67053237955254536022010-09-12T20:10:00.007+02:002010-09-12T20:44:48.466+02:00

Hello everyoneWhat a lovely week we have had! Great excitement when the moderator from PCI, Rev Norman Hamilton, his wife Evelyn and daughter Julie arrived. Here you can see one of the choirs who welcomed them. During the welcome ceremoney, Norman with his counterpart from CCAP Synod of Livingstonia, the moderator, Rev C Baloyi in the middle, and Rev M M Banda the previous moderator....all mods

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-85690567005066564102010-09-07T20:01:00.007+02:002010-09-07T20:34:50.409+02:00

Hello allApologies for not writing but as usual its been busy! More teams visiting and lots of casual visitors too, on top of that more weddings, and of course my regular day job!! By the way, the car is here in Mzuzu and has been registered and hopefully tomorrow will be ready to drive - more details next time!! For those of you who know Rev Binnie Mwakasungula, you will enjoy the next couple

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-70358994896473797602010-08-23T15:33:00.008+02:002010-08-23T15:57:09.340+02:00

Hello everyone and greetings from a beautiful sunny day in Mzuzu! This week has been very productive as school is on holidays, visitors are becoming less, and there is more time to do the small things which need done! And so on Monday and Tuesday, I was working with our volunteer Fidelis laminating pictures of animals and transport for our nursery schools throughout the northern region. We

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-76576237121350135762010-08-15T18:15:00.006+02:002010-08-15T18:39:05.194+02:00

Hello everyone I hope this finds you all well. I am feeling more rested today after an eventful and busy couple of months. I went to church this morning, had friends for coffee, and then sat in the sun and read a book all afternoon which was lovely! Mind you, while I was in the garden, I spotted this amazing spider........... and it had made a beautiful large web................During the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-91562007219368665242010-08-06T16:17:00.010+02:002010-08-06T16:48:54.436+02:00

Hello and greetings from a beautiful sunny warm day in Mzuzu!! This has been quite a busy week with one thing and another as usual! It was a pleasure at the beginning of the week to spend some time with Peter Turton, the minister from my home congregation where I grew up in Armoy! We spent some time visiting nursery schools so that he could see what we are trying to do in Early Childhood in

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-74803986960670145472010-08-01T20:43:00.007+02:002010-08-01T21:06:41.298+02:00

Hello all Its been another busy week for the PCI team. The week began with visits to some schools around the Mzuzu area where the team worked together with the caregivers in the schools to help them with some methods of teaching young children. There was a lot of fun both for the kids and the team as you can see by the photos. However, as we all know all work and no play makes you a dull person

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-47748688928507132392010-07-25T08:12:00.011+02:002010-07-25T09:29:42.386+02:00

Hello all Its Sunday morning and while my friends are at Church, I am sitting home writing this because I can't speak at all - I have completely lost my voice and have a very sore throat and chest! Some might say that is a good thing, but it is very frustrating when I have a PCI team here together with my team of trainers from CCAP. As I write they are probably singing their hearts out in

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-67608514368446624042010-07-21T20:54:00.006+02:002010-07-21T21:27:30.857+02:00

Hello everyone Just an update on the last day before the Ballycarry team left. In the morning we went to Chinteche to an orphan care centre to see amazing work going on with widows knitting goods for sale, and orphans learning a trade like sewing or carpentry so that they will be able to earn a living. Of course it was a formal occasion and here you can see the 'top table'!A group of the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-45511258553694126452010-07-12T15:32:00.008+02:002010-07-12T16:31:26.071+02:00

Hello everyone Hope you have had a good week. Here, the team from Ballycarry have been extremely busy as you will see from the photographs. This was the children who arrived for the Bible club!! Just a few......... Owen, the driver having a rest after the many hours of driving........ Work begins at the site of the nursery school...and here is the view I had last week with nothing on it - I

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-35426014078247356832010-07-04T18:34:00.007+02:002010-07-04T19:24:21.107+02:00

Hello all... I had intended to write last weekend but I was called away to another Curriculum workshop on Monday which meant I had to drive all day on Sunday. I left Mzuzu at 9am and arrived in Zomba just after 6pm. The journey was beautiful as I took the lakeshore road. In Mzuzu we still have much rain every day and its cold but along the lakeshore it was beautiful with the sun shining and

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-21072635780061216092010-06-20T10:20:00.009+02:002010-06-20T10:42:18.790+02:00

Hello and greetings from a wet and chilly Mzuzu - its a day for woolly jumpers and thick socks! Much has been happening in Early Childhood Development and this week at our school we have had much creativity! The children were moulding clay (at home you would use playdough or something similar but we use mud) and they were really enjoying making different shapes. The finished products left to dry

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-42006849158712404422010-06-06T19:43:00.005+02:002010-06-06T20:12:01.785+02:00

Hello everyone Greetings from a chilly Mzuzu evening! Its definitely getting cooler, so if you are visiting in the next couple of months please bring warm clothes! Excitement this week as we watched the school roof going on - its a real blessing to see this happening so quickly! The school from the opposite side of the road! This week I went to Karonga and we visited Kasoba village but also

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-105808071216839642010-05-30T15:20:00.007+02:002010-05-30T15:48:55.442+02:00

Welcome to Zomba!! I was in Zomba for a week attending a workshop organised by the Ministry of Gender, Women and Children where we are planning to develop a new curriculum for Early Childhood Development in Malawi. It was held just outside Zomba at Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) and on Monday I left very early in the morning and collected the District Social Welfare Officer from Mzimba to

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-68196111609273270062010-05-23T15:54:00.007+02:002010-05-23T16:18:51.668+02:00

Hello everyone, Its been a couple of weeks since I have written but again its just hectic - I never seem to have a minute and today we have no electricity yet again.....or water.......... The school building is coming on - the roof has started and hopefully during the next week the iron sheets will start going on.This is a picture of the school building just this afternoon so as you can see

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-69933596181363929512010-05-09T13:16:00.008+02:002010-05-09T13:59:19.733+02:00

Hello all Apologies for no posting last week - this was due to a number of factors - the internet connection was so bad that nothing would work, I had a very busy week as usual, and I think I am suffering from exhaustion. I woke up this morning with aching limbs and no energy - all of last week I have had a dreadful sore head, but lets hope it gets better soon! This did not deter me of course

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-4243409158748140122010-04-24T20:05:00.007+02:002010-04-25T08:48:35.986+02:00

Hello everyone.........what a week!All was going well on Monday when we had a visit at school from the District Social Welfare Officer to tell us that we were having an official visit from the Ministry of Gender on Tuesday - no other information was given.The following day a car arrived and two ladies got out - I welcomed the first one and the second lady just stayed back which I thought was

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-77316997511692120442010-04-18T12:58:00.009+02:002010-04-18T13:33:40.475+02:00

Hello and greetings from a beautiful sunny day in Mzuzu. Its been a great week at the workshop. We had 16 participants representing 14 Presbyteries and they were all giving presentations about the work happening in the field. On the first morning we had the Education Secretary to open the workshop (unfortunately I didn't take a photo), but on the second morning we had the Acting Deputy

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-38816375796737787512010-04-11T18:49:00.005+02:002010-04-11T19:14:25.870+02:00

Hello everyone, hope you are having a good day!Its been a good week - no elephants in sight, got my assignment finished and sent (mind you by the end of it I was so fed up reading it that it may not make any sense, but its been sent!). Have to start the next one now!Today we had the usual Sunday without the most precious commodity on earth - water! Almost every Sunday we have no water all day -

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-65548371865558760572010-04-04T12:33:00.009+02:002010-04-04T13:30:09.625+02:00

Hello and a very Happy Easter season to you all! Today we had our Easter morning service in church from 7am - it only lasted 3 hours as we celebrated the risen Christ! All week there have been services in our church and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday there are 3 different services one after the other. The church this morning was packed!This week has been quite hectic as usual. On Tuesday I took

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-3016160974981387932010-03-28T16:09:00.004+02:002010-03-28T17:02:05.042+02:00

Hi everyone As I was thinking what I could write about this week, Fiona gave me an idea. She commented that no one would believe what a variety of things happens on any one day in my life, and so I decided to take a day and write about it. The pictures don't really bear any relation to any one day but are just chosen at random from my vast library of pictures. Usually I get up around 5am just

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-44039471629383070462010-03-21T21:13:00.003+02:002010-03-21T21:28:06.559+02:00

Hello everyone Its been a couple of weeks since I wrote because I have been at Stranmillis doing part of my MA. It was a hectic 9 days, with classes and meeting folk, and coping with the cold! Boy was it cold! Am glad to be back in the heat. Fiona Innes arrived to join our department a few days before I left. I felt pretty bad leaving her all alone while I went off but as you can see from the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-46602429765952057182010-02-27T21:32:00.007+02:002010-02-27T22:09:34.418+02:00

Hi everyone from a wet and miserable Mzuzu! This past week I have spent at Chinteche on the lakeshore at a Strategic Planning meeting for the Education Department of the Synod. The lakeshore is a beautiful place to be....... Its the time of year for the lake flies which look like smoke in the distance. One of my colleagues was telling me that his grandmother makes a delicious cake with them!!

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-11270402290748637262010-02-21T18:09:00.006+02:002010-02-21T18:38:54.814+02:00

Hello there - thanks for all the messages and for the positive comments about the blog - glad you enjoy my ramblings!! This week has been even more hectic than usual. From Monday - Thursday we had parent/teacher interviews - yes, with the parents of Pre-school children. We had a great time with very positive feedback from parents. Primary school age starts at 6 in Malawi and yet when parents can

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-86317195455917427842010-02-14T14:05:00.004+02:002010-02-14T14:34:52.779+02:00

Greetings from a hot and sunny Mzuzu (with the odd shower of rain). I have had a really busy week and am glad of today to have a rest! Last time I was talking about training in Viyele - I went again this week to talk to the committee of the nursery school, together with one of the trainers. I was impressed to see that they have started a school garden so that they can supplement the plain

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-1213344672270788812010-02-06T20:56:00.006+02:002010-02-06T21:51:40.806+02:00

Hello again from a hot and sticky Mzuzu. We have had a lot of rain this week in the city so mud is everywhere - its a nightmare in the school as we have no separate room for eating lunch so when kids eat the room has to be cleaned as they play outside. This week they had to sit on the verandah and have a shower while the room was cleaned before they could go inside again. With it being the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-1107318926137599182010-01-30T17:58:00.005+02:002010-01-30T19:20:51.125+02:00

Hello from a very humid MzuzuThis week has been extremely hot and humid with some torrential rains showers, which in turn brings out the wildlife! Here you can see one of the many snails which live in my garden - they are in abundance - shame that we don't eat them - there would never be a scarcity of food! They are rather large compared to snails found in UK. I felt very bad the other day when I

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-31401128329137692292010-01-24T11:51:00.004+02:002010-01-24T12:21:50.505+02:00

Welcome to another blog........its been quite busy at school as we have 3 teachers off,two are sick and one has a sick child. Also one of our cleaners is also off to work in her garden. So out of 9 workers we only have 5 and its been hectic for the teachers who are present. Fidelis is a young man who used to work with World Relief in Chitipa and is currently studying at African Bible College.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-42081213912221431902010-01-17T14:13:00.009+02:002010-01-17T15:06:12.036+02:00

Hello there Not a lot has happened this week - just the usual although we have had some fierce weather the past two days. Yesterday we had torrential rain and wind, thunder and lightning - I thought the house was going to blow away. Among the rain were ice drops (not hailstones as they were too big) - lumps of ice - the picture does not really do it justice. The noise was amazing considering

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-18225839053708239452010-01-13T21:27:00.003+02:002010-01-13T21:29:51.852+02:00

Hi everyoneJust a quick note to tell you that last night about 1.15am there was another earthquake in Salima this time further south but on the lake shore. Nothing like the Haiti one, this one was 4.8 magnitude but still frightened a lot of people. There are a couple of experts here from USA at present so maybe they can help the people to understand why all these earthquakes are happening at

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-13839366484217245632010-01-10T17:11:00.005+02:002010-01-10T17:47:21.825+02:00

Greetings from a beautiful sunny day in Mzuzu... (apologies for those of you in the snow and ice!!).Just a few snippets from this week. I forgot to mention that at the end of the year the Synod had an emergency meeting in which they wanted to present a petition to the Government. They had intended to march to the regional office here in Mzuzu. It was a colourful morning with all the ministers in

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-17673794000568269272010-01-02T20:11:00.014+02:002010-01-02T21:45:15.398+02:00

Greetings from Mzuzu. I have not written since before Christmas so I hope you all had a great day celebrating the birth of Jesus. As you can see in the next two photos, church here was absolutley packed on Christmas day - in fact we had so many people they were in the vestry and outside even though it was raining. The sunday school did the drama of the Christmas story and you can see Mary and

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-15591998120556482902009-12-24T14:44:00.016+02:002009-12-24T20:06:14.507+02:00

Hi everyone Blessings...........there have been so many blessings throughout this year - I thought I should share some with you. Today as I was attempting to write this we had blessings of rain - we have had two torrential downpours today. I had to stop due to the lightning so this is the third attempt - lets hope I will be successful this time. Actually the lights have just gone out........on

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-9930947495409402942009-12-20T12:13:00.004+02:002009-12-20T21:51:54.046+02:00

When I came home from church I checked the earthquake site again - it seems that the earthquake in the early hours was south of the previous earthquakes. This is the updated picture. It was 15kms deep this time compared to all the others which were 10kms deep. It has been reported on local radio that no one has been hurt. 9.50pm correction to above statement. Have just been talking with some

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-25805797013298621792009-12-20T06:57:00.005+02:002009-12-20T07:18:55.811+02:00

Good morning one and all. Its been a busy week at school - we closed on Friday for two weeks Christmas break and all the children were so excited as they prepare to celebrate the birthday of Jesus. I was not so excited when I spotted this snake outside the school the other day. For those who know about snakes you will see that it has recently eaten. In fact, it was dead and the large black and

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-8175546557888694392009-12-12T08:40:00.002+02:002009-12-12T08:49:33.271+02:00

This is one of the comments from a friend who lives in Karonga. Others are talking of witchcraft - Karonga has been bewitched and that is why we are shaking, others are saying the tremors are coming from Tanzania! Unfortunately this morning there were more tremors here and Karonga once more has had a couple of quakes around 4.30am when I woke up because the bed was shaking!! I was talking to a

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-63371871688011940512009-12-10T15:04:00.012+02:002009-12-10T16:55:05.149+02:00

A few photographs of the devastation to churches and manses in the Karonga district. It appears that most will have to be rebuilt. One of the manses has a crack right around the base as if you could just lift the top off. We are hoping the rains don't come too quickly so that people can get their houses repaired.Here you can see a picture of the back of Kasowa church where the wall would probably

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-38793061106813387982009-12-08T16:22:00.002+02:002009-12-08T16:29:22.204+02:00

This morning just before 6am once again my house was shaking but this time the intensity was greater, so immediately I went onto the internet to find out what had caused it and it was another earthquake at Karonga, this time of a magnitude of 5.9. I telephoned Karonga and there is much devastation. In Kasowa village many houses are completely wrecked, but the Pre-school is still standing.

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-50592172576096502152009-12-07T05:26:00.005+02:002009-12-07T17:48:23.106+02:00

Last night as I was working on my computer suddenly the earth was moving literally!! There have been 4 earthquakes in Karonga district some 95 miles north of Mzuzu, and even here we had some quite strong tremors - all the dishes in my dresser for those of you who have been here were shaking like crazy! The largest earthquake was 5.8 so I am hoping that not too many people in Karonga have been

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-4276553152744188072009-12-03T17:58:00.009+02:002009-12-03T18:26:33.266+02:00

Hello from a really hot Mzuzu - not that I am complaining - its beautiful weather! We have had a good few heavy showers of rain and people have planted their maize. Its the time when requests for fertiliser are coming in thick and fast every day. As well as that, with the school calendar changing and schools beginning again on Monday, many requests for school fees are coming my way! Its not an

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-19714153248740083162009-11-24T21:27:00.007+02:002009-11-29T20:56:49.666+02:00

Well, here I am back again after my 6 weeks study break - it has all gone so quickly and I am beginning to wonder what have I let myself in for!!Had a good few weeks and it was a joy to be able to share with Henry and Sarah for their wedding even if it was only for a short time - don't they look happy! Wishing them blessings... Now its reality time once more. Arrived back last Tuesday night to a

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-62802996674409896412009-09-30T11:52:00.005+02:002009-09-30T12:10:57.780+02:00

Last time I wrote I was under pressure – so much to do and so little time before I was preparing to fly back to Ireland. Well, I made it and here I am ready to go to my first class this afternoon. I had a hectic week last week and the past two days have been really nice just getting settled and seeing some friends and family.It was International Peace day on 21st September, 2009, and Montessori

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-87796981376856880482009-09-19T20:30:00.013+02:002009-09-19T21:19:22.358+02:00

Hi everyone, hope all is well with you where ever you are in the world!What a week – if it was palije nyengo last week then this week is palije nyengo chomene, which means there is no time at all! It has been hectic as I am trying to get a lot packed into a short time before I go home.Monday and Tuesday, Nicolas, Enala and myself went to Livingstonia for 2 days to do some training at the nursery

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-2325344514270395532009-09-13T12:44:00.013+02:002009-09-13T19:57:38.141+02:00

Palije nyengo means 'no time' and I feel as if time is passing by so quickly, I am always rushing and yet people say that living in Africa is more relaxed! Don't believe it!I was in Lilongwe on Friday to witness the launch of the 5 year strategic plan in Early childhood Development. It was launched by the Minister of Gender, Children and community development, Patricia Kaliati who is the lady on

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-12341045766090326802009-09-06T15:55:00.011+02:002009-09-06T16:29:29.421+02:00

Well as the heading states, its been an upside down sort of week. Last Saturday I was invited to the wedding of Rev M M Banda’s daughter Ivy in our church here in Mzuzu. Rev Mezuwa Banda is the Education Secretary for CCAP. The wedding was one of 4 taking place at the same time – it was a colourful occasion and lasted about 3-4 hours! Here is a photo of the bride and groom and their parents. On

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-14881250316181532242009-08-28T18:54:00.011+02:002009-08-30T15:19:40.836+02:00

Hello everyoneJust a wee update on what has been happening this week. Its been a busy week with people visiting, and also some visitors in my house that I did not appreciate! A team from Magherafelt in Northern Ireland were passing through on the way to Livingstonia which was great - lovely to catch up with some news from 'home' and to see some local newspapers.......and of course its always

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-13758211979460391442009-08-23T15:59:00.010+02:002009-08-23T16:56:11.341+02:00

What a weekend I have had so far. On Friday morning the teachers came to clean the school as it is the end of school holidays and we open on Monday. Frank and Annex are busy making some new swings for the toddler class. Its looking good so far.Meanwhile I was busy cleaning in the classroom when Frank called me to look out the window – to see this wonderful big shiny silver snakelike thing – with

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-16385106638146298682009-08-17T16:24:00.008+02:002009-08-17T16:48:12.404+02:00

A couple of weeks ago I had two visitors who came to help with making materials for two nursery schools in Mzuzu. Jonathan and Wesley are students who gave up of their time to do some needy work to help our children.The first place they visited was Zolozolo - it was in dire need of repair and there were no swings or play materials outside, so the boys set to work and did a great job. This was the

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-33678594296320366612009-08-16T16:14:00.002+02:002009-08-16T16:23:20.802+02:00

The weekend has been dominated by paint.........its school holidays and so I thought it would be nice to give the equipment a 'quick paint' to make it all clean and fresh. However, the 'quick paint' lasted about 9 hours altogether. I was painting knobless cylinders, red rods and number rods for those of you who know Montessori equipement. It was fun but it was messy - spray paint when the wind

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2088392651004801039.post-70982560516880526182009-03-12T14:13:00.001+02:002009-03-12T14:21:41.784+02:00

Coming soon... to a screen near you!!!

Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18350063347293792418noreply@blogger.com0