Work and holidays combined!

Hello everyone,

Have had a great couple of weeks - time is flying past so quickly!  Started out with training in Champhira Presbytery which was down this lovely African road!

Mloyiso is our trainer in this Presbytery and this was his first attempt at organising a workshop - he did really well and you can see here the participants - some of whom walked 14 kms just to learn about ECD!!

Singing and dancing...

Malawi has quite a large Muslim population and it was the celebration of Eid al-Fitr so they were breaking the month of fasting with a feast.  I think this guy was late as he was really rushing along!

Had a lovely surprise late one afternoon when there was an 'odi' at my gate, and I went out to find a very tired Florida who had just come on a bus from Lilongwe.  Many of you in Ireland will have met Florida as she has been there a few times!  She stayed the night and we talked and talked until I almost fell asleep and had to tell her to go to bed!

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More training this time at Enukweni where Freeman who you can see here was the lead trainer!  It was well organised and the participants were having a great time!

Group work at the training

As I am going on deputation in September I had hoped to have a week off at the end of August.  However, I have been invited to be part of a working group in materials development for Early Childhood in Africa so that plan failed.  The working group is in Johannesburg though so its not all bad.  I had organised to go with a friend to South Luwangwa National Park in Zambia that week though and was pleased that it was able to be changed and so we went this past week instead!

So off we went on Monday last and what a thrill when we arrived at our destination and I knew the guy welcoming us as he used to work in Liwonde near Zomba.  Then when we went on Safari, its my old friend Godfrey who is our guide.  So it was a great couple of days - here are a few of the animals we spotted!

 Arrived back in Malawi yesterday and Helen had to be back in Ekwendeni this morning so we left before 5am and arrived around 9.30 in Ekwendeni.  I had some visitors today which was nice and then in the afternoon Pemphero and Blessings came with me to the market where we had a lot of fun buying vegetables!!

We passed on the mice though............

Coming home we passed Aunt Mabels shop where Pemphero thought it was hilarious that there were 'statues just like me'!!  Not sure if that is a compliment or not but it made me laugh!!

And to finish this off here is the sunset a few minutes ago from the back door - what a wonderful world we have!

Its been a great couple of weeks.  This coming week I am taking a workshop myself and then I leave at the weekend for the working workshop in Johannesburg!!  No rest for the wicked eh!!

Enjoy your week.

Blessings,

Diane

Training and more training!

Hello everyone, hope you are enjoying the summer holidays!!

Here it is the cold season and boy has it been cold this past week with very heavy rain in Mzuzu (too heavy for the time of year).  I have been busy since the last blog - because I am going for deputation in September there is so much to do to leave............

Have been out and about a lot as we have much training happening at present.  On my travels I meet many lorries like this one piled high with tobacco - many of them are broken down on the road causing havoc!

We had training of caregivers in Chihame in Bandawe presbytery on the lakeshore and I went to supervise - here you can see some of the local materials used for play!!

Our training always includes a lot of singing and dancing as we are an oral society and learn much through song!

The whole group had their picture taken before I left - unfortunately it is in the shade but for some reason they wanted it behind the bush!!

At the same time in Rumphi Presbytery we had caregiver training going on.  We partnered with another organisation called Mathunka who have 8 CBCC's and we trained their caregivers with our own.  I also went to supervise and found them having a great time!

The lady in pink is one of our trainers from Livingstonia Presbytery and she was doing a great job with the caregivers!

Nicolas was facilitating along with George and Eliza and here you can see them drafting their final report before they went home.  George is our trainer in Rumphi Presbytery.

Travelling in Rumphi can be a challenge and so Mathunka sent a car to pick up their participants- the lady climbing on the back of the pickup has twins - one on her back and the other one on a child's back in front of her!  

As you are aware from some of my previous blogs, there are often children coming to play in my garden.  I have not been home much recently but one day they were all there in the afternoon playing football.  The ball got stuck up the tree and the girls decided to throw their shoes up to see if they could bring the ball down.  This did not work but one of the boys went up and brought the ball and one shoe down - the other shoe is still there......

Last weekend I went with a friend to Vwaza wildlife reserve which is about a 2 hour drive from here!  I have had some amazing (but perhaps not good) experiences with elephants there in the past and was somewhat nervous.  However, there were no elephants to be seen and we had a relaxing day watching hippos, crocodile, warthog, baboon, kudu and impala.  There were also a lot of birds around.

Baboon with baby

Hippo in the water

Some of you will remember last year I went to Vwaza and came back having been bitten by a Tsetse fly and had a very nasty infection on one arm which took quite a long time to recover!  Well............this time I got bitten on the arm again and it was really painful - driving home I was in agony.  The next morning however it was fine but my ankle was swollen and painful just like the last time.  I had to go to the doctor and get some medication and unfortunately he has advised me not to go to an area with Tsetse fly as I tend to react rather badly!!  I am happy to say it is fine now!

This past week I had a trip to Euthini to supervise another caregiver training.  It was a great day out and we had a lot of fun - it was great to see 2 men caregivers!!

There were many photo opportunities and I especially liked this oxcart passing the grocery store - I thought you would appreciate it!!

On the way home we passed this shop too!

Today I was invited to Mphatso Children's Foundation on the lakeshore to address the caregivers - we trained the caregivers a couple of years ago.  I know its the weekend but this weekend is packed - I am also out tomorrow!!  It was great to see these people again and hear their experiences.  Unfortunately I got stuck in the sand but got out eventually. It was really windy by the lake and the sand was blowing all over the place!!

This is how the sky looked today - quite dull and overcast and COLD!!  As I write I have a blanket round my shoulders!!  But then we don't have heating in our houses...

So its a busy time and I am tired.  I look forward to a week when it is not so busy and I can rest a bit.  I value your prayers for safe travelling as I have much travelling this coming week also.  Today I passed three accidents on the way to the lakeshore....the roads of Malawi are really dangerous!

Thank you for your continued support, for taking time to read my blogs and for all the comments - I really appreciate you all!  Have a great week.  (and happy birthday Maureen!!)

Blessings,

Diane

School holidays............but not for me!

Hello everyone and hope you are enjoying the weekend!  Once again I have had a busy time.  

A few months ago I mentioned that one of the volunteers from Europe who assisted us in building a nursery school at Nkhata bay was killed on the road.  She had come with a friend and that friend returned home to attend the funeral.  She came back for 2 weeks to finalise things here as she realises she can never stay in Malawi after what happened.  I met her at the centre and felt so sorry for her.  I trust that she will find peace once again in her heart when she finds a new direction in her life.

I went to discuss with the committee at the centre about the sustainability of the centre now that the donors have gone.  I await feedback..........  Here you can see the children washing hands before they receive their porridge.  

On the way home there were many bananas for sale along the roadside - bananas are available all year round here, different types savoury plantains and sweet bananas, and they are all delicious!

The next morning Nicolas and myself set off to Elunyeni which is in Jombo Presbytery to monitor a group of our Trainers training some caregivers.  This car was in front of us for a time - it seems to be the local bread delivery truck!!

The trainers did not know we were coming so they were very surprised!  Here you can see the ladies (and one man) being trained.  They were a good bunch of people, some with very low education levels (lower primary school), but all eager and willing to learn!

Sometimes it is good to monitor as we need to assist our trainers who have little experience with some guidance.  Here you can see Nicolas assisting in one of the queries from the caregivers which the trainers were not able to to explain properly.  The three trainers are all relatively new and did not have a lot of experience.  Just for your information, the building they are in is the early years centre!

As with any training that takes place in the rural areas there are challenges.  We had registered caregivers from our centres to be trained but caregivers from three additional centres arrived, which gave challenges in terms of materials and food.  Thankfully the manse was nearby and the minister helped out!!

On the way home we passed by part of Vwaza Nature reserve where I have had several close encounters with elephant!  Saw no elephant that day but just some impala and baboons having fun!!

On 11th July we had our school closing here at the Synod.  You can see the children crossing the road to the hall singing and dancing as they went!

They put on a really nice programme for the parents and I am delighted to see how our young children are developing - it really is a credit to the caregivers.

This is Mrs Nyasulu who heads the school - she is a wonderful lady, a ministers wife and has a diploma in Early Childhood from Zambia.  She gave a very touching speech to the parents.  All the children received photographs and balls and pencils so they were happy!

I wrote in May I think about the twins whom a colleague has taken on after the death of their mother.  I went to see them last week and they are thriving - they are really gorgeous and at 10 months are busy feeding themselves!

This last week Nicolas and myself had a workshop for our trainers in Ekwendeni.  It was nice and sunny although cool (but a few degrees warmer than Mzuzu).  We have 28 trainers and 27 came.

relaxing at snack time!

Some of you will have met Frank.  Frank joined us in 2008 as a trainer for Henga Presbytery.  He has a lot of experience working with children as he was a Standard 1 teacher for many years.  When Frank joined us he was already retired from teaching and last week we were sad to see him retire from Early Childhood - however.......he is 82 years old so I think he deserves to retire!!  He was our 'young man' of ECD!

We also lost another of our trainers.  Naomi who was the trainer in Luwerezi Presbytery has decided she cannot cope with the pressure of being the Umanyano Presbytery worker (PW) and the ECD trainer.  She also came to work with us in 2008.  We will miss both of these people as they did much for the children of Malawi.

Kamoza giving Naomi a gift

Of course no ECD training would be complete without singing and dancing and here you can see Khwima teaching us a new song about playing a guitar using you leg as the guitar. It was a lot of fun!

Part of the workshop was about creativity.  We gave the trainers a challenge as to what they could do with a margarine tub and some local materials.  here you can see a plant and a gourd which was made into a watering can - very creative.  Also on the left a pair of slippers made from seed pods!

We always have some ECD children to help the trainers to understand what early childhood is all about.  This is Hlezipes's daughter (Hlezipe is our trainer from Loudon Presbytery) who is 10 months old and was really active - she is already saying quite a few words and will walk any day now!  She had fun with our locally available play materials!

 This is Emily with her son Laston.  Emily has had a very difficult year as her husband died suddenly about two weeks before Laston was born.  Emily is our Trainer in Mzalangwe Presbytery and her son is 3 months old.  

So its been a busy time.  Because of school holidays the next 6 weeks will be hectic as we have many different training workshops going on.  I will going out to monitor some and Nicolas will monitor others.  Please pray for safety on the roads as we go.

Wishing you all a wonderful week.

Blessings

Diane

PS I hope this will now save as it has taken me the best of 3 hours to upload the photos today