Thanks for keeping us posted about your travels. It is especially interesting to read about the attempts to help young mothers back to school. I don't recall us asking too much about that when we visited the schools in South Africa. I know we had some discussion about it but I don't remember the details about it. It is good to know that your initial travels went well and I hope they continue to do so.
Many people from our church community, Spirit of St. Stephen's Catholic Community, where Henry, Ali and I are members and Kelli has just been hired to coordinate and support our religious education program for children, have asked if we are going to give some type of report back to the community. So I am hopeful that we will be able to do that in some fashion and especially have videos that we can share with the kids in our community. So hopefully there will be a video from this group as well that we can share or put some of our pictures together in some type of presentation.
Be well and keep posting, from "Gogo" Grandma Rosemary
Monday, August 24, 2009
You Go Girls!
Malawi has been a wonderful experience. The schools have been very welcoming. I was so excited that most of them have been initiating programs that encourage young mothers to return to school. One of the schools has even set up a daycare on site so the children have a place to play and eat while their mothers receive their education. It brought tears to my eyes to see all the young women in their matching shirts that campaigned for girls going back to school. Everyone in the community seems very proud of this program, and it was great to see the rallying behind it. Love to you all, Bridget Kennedy
CRECOM schools in Malawi
This is Henry. Maybe I should say Henry Bromelkamp because for the last two weeks in Malawi everyone has been using my full name because we've also been traveling with my Malawian friend Henry Solomon. Henry, if you ever read this, you can know that our travelers very much enjoyed your warm spirit and good humor and engaging discussions. I met Henry in 2005 at a wood carving shop on the top of Mount Zomba. He had dropped out of tenth grade for lack of school fees. In 2007 when I saw him again, we went looking for a secondary school for him to finish high school. Now he's a 22-year-old 11th grader at Zomba Catholic Secondary School, one of the best schools in Malawi. To put it in perspective, the school fees are $355 per year-- that includes instruction, books, and -- a year of room and board! It was hard to say goodbye to Henry yesterday when we sent him back to Zomba on the minibus.
We spent Saturday visiting schools built by CRECOM (sorry I'm going to forget what the acronym stands for, but it's about creating change from community action) in rural villages near Balaka, Malawi. One primary school was constructed with a room for a computer lab, with the intent that developing computer skills in young learners would be very beneficial for future learning. The school hasn't yet been connected to the power grid, and there are no computers yet, but the school is beautifully constructed and the head teacher is still hoping to complete the project. With CRECOM, the village is expected to provide the bricks and labor, then CRECOM finds a donor or the government to provide concrete, wooden roof trusses, and iron roofing sheets. Another school Maye has 1045 students with five teachers! The eleven nearby villages have already made hundreds of thousands of bricks, which were stacked in neat piles in the back of the school, awaiting resources for concrete and trusses and roofing. The headmaster Peter would very much like to have a sister school in Minnesota or California (our traveler Bridget is from Sacramento). Any ideas?
We spent Saturday visiting schools built by CRECOM (sorry I'm going to forget what the acronym stands for, but it's about creating change from community action) in rural villages near Balaka, Malawi. One primary school was constructed with a room for a computer lab, with the intent that developing computer skills in young learners would be very beneficial for future learning. The school hasn't yet been connected to the power grid, and there are no computers yet, but the school is beautifully constructed and the head teacher is still hoping to complete the project. With CRECOM, the village is expected to provide the bricks and labor, then CRECOM finds a donor or the government to provide concrete, wooden roof trusses, and iron roofing sheets. Another school Maye has 1045 students with five teachers! The eleven nearby villages have already made hundreds of thousands of bricks, which were stacked in neat piles in the back of the school, awaiting resources for concrete and trusses and roofing. The headmaster Peter would very much like to have a sister school in Minnesota or California (our traveler Bridget is from Sacramento). Any ideas?
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Lilongwe days
Hi this is Lori,
Hello from Malawi!! We arrived here with (essentially) no mishaps -- safe and sound. We have been having a wonderful time. Ketema and his family have been incredible hosts. Yesterday, our first full day in Malawi was a busy one. Dr. Nyirongo from a medical facility in northern Malawi, has been a visitor at Ketema's house the last few days along with us. Each of us brought with us an extra suitcase filled with medical supplies that are going to the Dr.'s facility. Yesterday he took us on a tour of a hospital here in Lilongwe. The conditions of the hospital buildings and grounds were sobering to say the least -- with broken windows stuffed with rags, different buildings for TB, malaria etc. Also the babies -- several women holding three day old newborns. What really struck me though was the friendliness of the people as the Dr. greeted them and asked about their children etc.
After the hospital we went to an outdoor market filled with fresh produce, beans, rice, just about everything you can imagine and of course the rows and rows of dried fish (yes, dried fish). All of the fish, painstakingly set out in carefully arranged piles (so as to make them look more appealing). Yes, the smell was interesting. Again though, the friendliness of the people is astounding. We managed to take a number of pictures!
Next stop was a craft market with dozens of vendors selling carvings, paintings, jewelry --beautiful things. It was a little overwhelming for me as they are very persistent in their selling techniques! Thankfully the Dr. and another friend, Henry Solomon, were there to help us in the negotiations! This was our first of many buying opportunities on the trip but each of us did pick up a few items as souveneirs. After this was lunch at Mamma Mia's! As a group of 9 we managed to put away 5 pizzas! Mom, you would love the crust -- thin as tortillas!
The culmination of the day was and dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant nearby (Shela) that is actually in a private residence. Not to mention a nice relaxing happy hour prior to dinner! We had 13 people total at dinner -- bigger group since we had even more visitors and Ketema's daughters joined us as well. Dinner was incredible with us getting the opportunity to sample many different dishes.
The things that each of us have been so impressed with since we have been here is first of all the friendliness and warmth of everyone we have met, the opportunity to meet such interesting people, the incredibly high level of service everywhere you go, and for me the stark contrast of the simplicity of life here compared to what us Americans are used too. Extremely refreshing!
Enough of my rambling...today we head out to Lake Malawi which we are all very excited to see! I do not believe we will have internet access for a couple of days but will write again when we have the chance! Love to you all!!
Hello from Malawi!! We arrived here with (essentially) no mishaps -- safe and sound. We have been having a wonderful time. Ketema and his family have been incredible hosts. Yesterday, our first full day in Malawi was a busy one. Dr. Nyirongo from a medical facility in northern Malawi, has been a visitor at Ketema's house the last few days along with us. Each of us brought with us an extra suitcase filled with medical supplies that are going to the Dr.'s facility. Yesterday he took us on a tour of a hospital here in Lilongwe. The conditions of the hospital buildings and grounds were sobering to say the least -- with broken windows stuffed with rags, different buildings for TB, malaria etc. Also the babies -- several women holding three day old newborns. What really struck me though was the friendliness of the people as the Dr. greeted them and asked about their children etc.
After the hospital we went to an outdoor market filled with fresh produce, beans, rice, just about everything you can imagine and of course the rows and rows of dried fish (yes, dried fish). All of the fish, painstakingly set out in carefully arranged piles (so as to make them look more appealing). Yes, the smell was interesting. Again though, the friendliness of the people is astounding. We managed to take a number of pictures!
Next stop was a craft market with dozens of vendors selling carvings, paintings, jewelry --beautiful things. It was a little overwhelming for me as they are very persistent in their selling techniques! Thankfully the Dr. and another friend, Henry Solomon, were there to help us in the negotiations! This was our first of many buying opportunities on the trip but each of us did pick up a few items as souveneirs. After this was lunch at Mamma Mia's! As a group of 9 we managed to put away 5 pizzas! Mom, you would love the crust -- thin as tortillas!
The culmination of the day was and dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant nearby (Shela) that is actually in a private residence. Not to mention a nice relaxing happy hour prior to dinner! We had 13 people total at dinner -- bigger group since we had even more visitors and Ketema's daughters joined us as well. Dinner was incredible with us getting the opportunity to sample many different dishes.
The things that each of us have been so impressed with since we have been here is first of all the friendliness and warmth of everyone we have met, the opportunity to meet such interesting people, the incredibly high level of service everywhere you go, and for me the stark contrast of the simplicity of life here compared to what us Americans are used too. Extremely refreshing!
Enough of my rambling...today we head out to Lake Malawi which we are all very excited to see! I do not believe we will have internet access for a couple of days but will write again when we have the chance! Love to you all!!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Group 2 is here!
Just a quick note to let all interested parties know that Group 2 has arrived in Lilongwe. They are en route from the airport as I type. I stayed behind so we'd have ample room in jeep for people and bags. Looking forward to seeing them all. We'll be bloggin' about this leg as it gets going. We'll be in Malawi until Sunday with limited access to internet but we'll do our best. Barb
Monday, August 17, 2009
A brief rest for the leaders
Hi All,
The remaining travelers in Group 1 boarded flights from Lilongwe yesterday afternoon. By my calculations, if their flight to the States was on time, they are nearing land with about 2 hours of flight time left. It is a 16 hour whopper on the return flight. Thank goodness Delta has super 777 service between Jo'burg and ATL.
We wrapped up our trip with a stay at Mua Mission and a visit to the Kugoni Center for Culture and Art. It is one of the best museums I (Barb) have been to. They detail all the cultural rituals from birth through death with photos, clothing, masks and other examples. The accommodations there are simple and beautiful. Each of the rooms is animal themed with a story about the meaning of the animals and wood carvings of the animals throughout. We enjoyed dinner in their outdoor dining room and then a rambunctious game of spoons with 13 players. It was hilarious fun, especially for the three Malawians with us who had never played before and who needed to learn how to be more aggressive lest they get too many letters. For the Ryan/Kennedy clan, this group made an addition to the game I had not seen before - after a round, all spoon holders bang their spoon on the table in front of the spoonless person. Not my fave but enjoyed by many. It was great belly laughing and good fun.
Henry and I enjoying a quiet day of regrouping in Lilongwe awaiting the arrival of group two. We are finalizing details, arranging rental cars, and hanging out. I am looking forward to curling up in a barca lounger with Obama's Dreams of my Father. Group 2 departed the US on 8/16. After an overnight in Jo'burg they will be here in Lilongwe for Malawi-rama on Tuesday.
Thanks Colette for uploading pictures. I hope the others from Group 1 will do the same or send a link to online photo files. Bye for now.
The remaining travelers in Group 1 boarded flights from Lilongwe yesterday afternoon. By my calculations, if their flight to the States was on time, they are nearing land with about 2 hours of flight time left. It is a 16 hour whopper on the return flight. Thank goodness Delta has super 777 service between Jo'burg and ATL.
We wrapped up our trip with a stay at Mua Mission and a visit to the Kugoni Center for Culture and Art. It is one of the best museums I (Barb) have been to. They detail all the cultural rituals from birth through death with photos, clothing, masks and other examples. The accommodations there are simple and beautiful. Each of the rooms is animal themed with a story about the meaning of the animals and wood carvings of the animals throughout. We enjoyed dinner in their outdoor dining room and then a rambunctious game of spoons with 13 players. It was hilarious fun, especially for the three Malawians with us who had never played before and who needed to learn how to be more aggressive lest they get too many letters. For the Ryan/Kennedy clan, this group made an addition to the game I had not seen before - after a round, all spoon holders bang their spoon on the table in front of the spoonless person. Not my fave but enjoyed by many. It was great belly laughing and good fun.
Henry and I enjoying a quiet day of regrouping in Lilongwe awaiting the arrival of group two. We are finalizing details, arranging rental cars, and hanging out. I am looking forward to curling up in a barca lounger with Obama's Dreams of my Father. Group 2 departed the US on 8/16. After an overnight in Jo'burg they will be here in Lilongwe for Malawi-rama on Tuesday.
Thanks Colette for uploading pictures. I hope the others from Group 1 will do the same or send a link to online photo files. Bye for now.
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