Its all about the children.........

Hello everyone from a dull and grey day here in Mzuzu, but are we complaining - no, not at all because we really need rain!  We have had a couple of days of rain which is great - mind you I don't appreciate going to the market and sloshing through the mud!!

This past week has been busy as we were training caregivers from 5 private Early Childhood Centres which belong to Wukani Private Schools.  Although it was busy, it was a really enjoyable and fun time.  This is the entrance to one of the schools where we conducted the training.  Very wise I thought!!

At the minute we have 4 different workshops happening, one in Chitipa, this one in Mzuzu, one in Njuyu and one in Mchinji, so its a busy time.  This is because schools are closed so its a good time to train the caregivers so as not to disrupt the programme.  I can imagine the thoughts of people in Ireland if they were asked to attend a workshop the week before Christmas!!

In Mzuzu we had our trusty trainers, Kamoza, Enala and of course Nicolas. Kamoza and Enala were with us for the first two days and then Nicolas and myself facilitated for the next 3 days.

me in action.........

We had 12 caregivers from 5 centres and they all had a very good understanding which made the teaching simple!

We did a lot of group work so that there would be active participation, and it turned out to be great fun.

I really appreciated being able to do a lot of the facilitating and I don't have so much time these days to teach, and I really enjoyed it.

and yes, one of my topics was brain development!!...

Nicolas loves doing music and movement in the early years with the caregivers and we used our local musical instruments and has a wonderful time.

We were blessed this week with heavy rains, but I did not think it such a blessing when we had torrential rain during one of my sessions and due to the noise on the tin roof, I had to go round each person individually and shout!!

 Our locally available materials.......

On Friday we had the closing ceremony where I had to make a speech as the 

ECD Co-ordinator.

Our guest of honour was the Manager of Wukani Schools and you can see the lovely smile as she made her closing remarks.

So all in all, it has been a great week.  I continually am humbled by how people here want to learn, and how they enjoy learning.  Every time I facilitate a training, I learn so much from the participants and this time was no different.  I praise God for the opportunities I have had in Malawi in this role.  And I praise God that we have the opportunity to reach out to so many children all over the north through the caregivers that we train.

Apart from training, of course there were other things happening during the week.  The final stages of the electrical installation at the new school building was completed thanks to the fundraising the school had a few weeks ago.  Here you can see the inside of the classroom now with light fittings and sockets and switches!

Our two watchmen, Brave and Gift.........

 and Lemoni (good name for a gardener), who works in the garden trying to keep the grass down, which is not an easy job these days as it grows so quickly with the rain and the heat, with the added bonus of snakes possibly lurking in the grass!! 

I hope you have also had a good week as we prepare for the birth of Jesus.  I am sure in the UK there are Christmas carols singing all around and trees glittering with fairy lights.  None of that here, in fact not really any mention of Christmas at all!!  One of my friends is returning home to USA after 14 years in Malawi.  Please remember her in your prayers as she goes through the transition of life back in the West, in what has been a very speedy and unexpected exit from Malawi.

As we train our caregivers to look after our young children, I think of Mary who had the privilege of bringing up the baby Jesus.  Let us remember the reason for the coming of Christmas.....its all about Jesus, its all about the children...........

Wishing you many blessings during the coming week,

Diane x