a new era....

Since my last blog post the week before Easter, we have had a lot of changes in Malawi.  On 5th April, 2012 we heard that our President had been rushed to hospital in Lilongwe.  There was much speculation as we waited for news of what had happened.  Listening to the BBC and other radio stations we learned that the President had died.  But it was not until 7th April that it was announced on State radio here.  

Tomorrow the 23rd April, we will have a public holiday as a State funeral will take place at his home in the South of Malawi.

We now begin a new era with a new President, Joyce Banda who has no easy task as she takes over an economy that is crumbling and people who are in despair.  However, she is a lady with much experience in politics and human rights issues, and she has a lot of support no only from within Malawi but internationally.  We are hopeful that Malawi can begin a slow  but sure turnaround!

I can now say that I met the President of Malawi, as she was the one who gave me the Early Childhood Certificate a few years ago!!

Last week the body of the late President was here in Mzuzu for 2 days so that people could go and view it and pay their respects.  I did not go but this is a photograph of the banner across the road on the way to state house.

The country is still in crisis - this last week we have had more fuel because Zambia assisted the country with fuel for the funeral.  Sugar queues are still long although the price has been regulated once more.  We have had torrential rains over the past week when the rainy season is supposed to be ending.......this has resulted in some maize which was almost dry becoming sodden.  Hopefully it will dry again and not rot.  Life is not easy for people here on any level.

The Early Childhood Programme is going on as usual.  The container that arrived a few weeks ago had a lot of stuff for Early Childhood.  So, my house has been piled high with plastic boxes and cartons - yesterday I managed to sort out some of them.  For those of you who read this and send things, I want to say a big thank you - so far I have opened around two thirds of the boxes and I have found very few items which are not much use here!  I appreciate the time and effort you take to fill these boxes, and we do appreciate what you send.  Yesterday I had a call from a minister from Chitipa who was in Mzuzu and wanted to know if I could give him any play materials to take to their nine nursery schools - he left with a box of toys and books for each centre.......

I have started my research for my dissertation in Early Childhood studies.  My study is on play in the early years and I am distributing questionnaires to 150 caregivers in the Mzuzu area (restricted due to the ongoing fuel crisis).  So I was out this week delivering questionnaires and I must admit I was shocked at some of the centres I visited.  I had forgotten how bad some of them are.  Children are in small dark crowed rooms with no toys, untrained teachers and its not a pretty picture.

I also found a few caregivers with canes in their hands to keep children under control...... once again I am humbled and hope that my research can at least go some way to helping in planning and implementing our programme better in the future.

We are in the third term of school which is going on well.  We have a huge waiting list for our school and when I see the conditions faced in other centres, I realise why!

This coming week I am meeting with the Regional Early Childhood trainers in the north to assist them in material making - making materials from 'rubbish', and helping them to understand the use of materials and how they help young children develop.  I am looking forward to that!

In my garden the bird life is flourishing as usual.  I talked some weeks ago about a mongoose in the garden - well now they are two.  On my way to work on Friday I was almost ambushed by them as they were playing a game of chase and I got in the middle!!

I found this nest on the ground below the lemon tree - I am not sure what sort of a bird it belongs to...

This Bulbul is a frequent visitor with all of his family............. it was hard to find him in the foliage of the tree.

and there is always colour from the flowers and plants all year round...

On a different note, its the time of year here for citrus fruits.  The oranges in my garden are almost past, the lemons are just ready and I found some grapefruit in the market last week.  As I was cutting the grapefruit I was amazed at the number of seeds inside only half of it, so the camera came out...........

Think I might plant a grapefruit tree!!

I leave you with a photo of the dam in Mzuzu in the evening light.   I trust that you will have a good week.

Blessings

Diane

End of term.....

Hello everyone

Just a short note.  School closed for Easter holidays last week and children were very busy painting eggs to carry home.  Lots of concentration going on - each child was so proud of the egg they carried home.  I was given a lovely home made Easter card from the children too!!  Now I will be alone in the office for the next three weeks - no children running in to greet me, or chat!!

Its been a wet week with lots of really heavy downpours.  Rainy season should be coming to an end but when..........

This week I was confined to Mzuzu as my car has no fuel and although diesel came to the pumps it was all reserved by large companies and even after waiting for 2 days on a queue we got nothing!  Its all very frustrating.  However, I did get through a lot of office work which was good.

The most wonderful news this week is that my student Nicolas passed his exams.  I am really proud of him and he is delighted with himself!  Thanks for all the prayers from those of you who know him.

Wishing you a good week,

Blessings,

Diane

school...

Hello everyone from a dark afternoon in Mzuzu.  Its been really hot recently and humid and so we have amazing thunderplumps complete with lightning of course.  The past few days every afternoon we tend to have rain.  I am hoping the rains will soon be over as the  way out of my house is a mud bath!

I paid another visit to the school site this week and its looking good!!

I have been in the office most of the week as I had a lot of paperwork to do and reports to write. I took some time out in the playground and spent a whole morning in class on Friday which was great for me - not sure that the teachers enjoyed it so much though as I kept pointing out little things!!

I know that sometimes we get gifts from people of knitted dolls and here you can see one being put to good use!  This little boy was talking to the doll for a long time!!

Early morning as children arrived they were playing games outside.........

and later in the day in the playground I was asked if I would like to buy an icecream!!!

Coming home, right in front of my house this lovely bird (village indigobird) was having a bath and was not at all disturbed by me passing by!!

In the country tension was high this week as there was an important meeting in Blantyre about the state of the nation.  It resulted in a message to the President that he should either resign within 60 days or call for a referendum. There has been no reaction as yet!

Fuel is still in short supply and today I bought sugar at K330 - every day sugar and other commodities goes up, probably tomorrow it will be K350!  Rains have been sporadic and so some places have a good yield and other places the maize has dried up.  So perhaps 2012 will not  be such a good year for many people here!

Wishing you all a good week,


Diane

planting seeds...

Hello everyone, just a quick post today.  

I went to see our new school on Friday and thanks to Ignite, the team who came in January, the building is complete - its been painted inside and outside.  I took my camera but in the discussions with the watchman I forgot to take pictures inside, so next time............  

one of the outside doors

On Friday when I was in my office and all the children were outside playing, this child came and said that she wanted to read a book (the books are all in a bookcase in my office, due to space).  She sat for about two hours looking at books and talking to herself and occasionally coming to show me something.  I get very excited when I see early learning in action!!

 This morning I went to church where we had a really uplifting service.  Then I came home and had a walk around the garden as I have been away for a few weeks.  Its great to see so many thing ready!

rhubarb

granadilla (passion fruit)

pumpkin

guava

guava on the tree!

lettuce

strawberries (not yet ready)

carrots

and green pepper

I was thinking I should set up a stall in the market!!!

Only a couple of minutes later a downpour came on - this was looking out my back door - it was just a river!

I like this next photo - its the rain falling from the roof with the pine trees behind!

and to finish for today I leave you with this lovely picture - while I was in the garden I was thinking about my job as Early Childhood Co-ordinator and thinking how we are also planing seeds as we allow our children to develop in the proper manner!

Wishing you all a good week,


Blessings,
Diane

Exhausted after the graduation!

Hello everyone once again to my blog!  The workshop is over and I came home this morning exhausted - its been a long two and a half weeks!  We have been having severe thunderstorms and really heavy rains over the last days and the Cassia trees are out in full bloom at present.  They look beautiful but unfortunately they don't agree with my asthma!  

The workshop continued this week without any major hitches.  We had a lot of interactive time with the participants and they really are a great bunch!

We have a session on special needs in the early years, and here at the Synod we have a Special needs department and a resource centre at the primary school, so it was good to have Mr Gondwe to come and facilitate our session.

If you have been following this blog you will know that we have play areas in our early childhood centres, and during our training we ask participants to make samples of play and learning resources so the following pictures are some of the things they made.  These resources will be kept by the trainers to show as samples when they themselves are training caregivers in the villages.  As you will appreciate not all of them are artistic or creative, but we have many wonderful play materials!

for the reading area - books and pictures

Manipulative area - to refine fine motor skills

Musical instruments......some amazing guitars...

nature corner with seeds, sand, stones, water and plants

art area with our locally made paint, and of course clay

the dramatic area -with lots of dolls, but being gender sensitive there are boy and girl dolls!!

the female on the ox-cart

the male doll pounding!

 On Saturday morning we had the graduation for our new ToT's, and it was great to have the 'veteran ToT's' to join in the celebration!  

myself and fellow facilitator Macleod

drama by the participants

 We were privileged to have Rev L N  Nyondo our General Secretary as the Guest of Honour, accompanied by Rev M M Banda our Education Secretary.

The newly graduated ToT's with their certificates...

Here below you can see all the ToT's together, those who graduated in 2008 and the newly graduated.  Only two were missing from the photograph!  Its wonderful that we now have at least one ToT in every Presbytery of our Synod, so we hope that Early Childhood Development will really change and that many young children will benefit from our efforts!  We now have a total of 31 ToT's!

I came home from Ekwendeni this morning after saying bye to them all.  I am tired and for the first time in many years, I had a nap in the afternoon!  Tomorrow its back to work again to write reports and get caught up on things that have arrived on my desk in my absence! 

Continue praying for our country.  There is much instability - fuel shortages are worse than ever and prices continue rising daily!  And yet people keep smiling! 

Wishing you a good week where ever in the world you are.

Blessings,

Diane