Early in the week I got a text saying that I was invited to work at Camp Sky. Sky is a peace corps run camp for form four students from all over the country to help them prepare for their national exams. These are students from the poorest, lowest quality schools in Malawi. The camp gives them the opportunity to work with lab equipment not available at their schools, understand difficult topics through fun activities, and learn how to apply for jobs. It give them the opportunity to do better on their exams so that they have the chance to get into college and have a better future. I feel so excited and privileged to be a part of this camp.
Another exciting thing that happened this week was that I received a free pair of shoes. Toms shoes advertises that they give away a pair for every pair purchased and it turns out that that's true. It was really neat seeing it in action. A truck pulled up to my school on Monday with burlap sacks full of solid black Toms shoes and every student at my school and at the village primary school got a pair. Since they had left over, the teachers got a pair too. I'm glad to see that this company is true to their word and that shoes are going to people who definitely need them.
(I decided that solid black was too plain so I made mine a bit more colorful with some embroidery thread)
On Tuesday, I went to a village football match that turned out to be a lot of fun. I knew a lot of people there and talked to some of my students. My neighbor saw me and came over to give me a bag full of oranges and to talk. We won the game and a huge crowd of spectators proceeded to run onto the field, then march back and forth, from goal to goal, singing and dancing in celebration.
Aside from all that, the rest of the week was pretty routine. I had Chichewa language lessons with my tutor. Another neighbor came over for dinner, brought me a pumpkin and taught me how to cook it. Another night, I went to her house for dinner and she sent me home with even more food (my neighbors are too nice to me). I went to church yesterday, which consisted of sitting under a tree and listening to a sermon in Chichewa. And of course I have been teaching. This week was a review week. Term 2 exams start tomorrow. I can't believe that I have finished two terms of teaching already. Time has gone by so fast.
(If you want to help us with camp Sky here is a link where you can make a donation. We run on donations and need your help to keep the camp running and make it possible for students to participate in this amazing program! Any amount helps. 5$ is equivalent to about 2,000 Malawi kwacha and enough to cover one student's meals for the entire week of camp)
