I woke up at seven this morning and was greeted by the warm glow of the sun already shining high in the sky. I had a shower to properly wake myself up and then settled down for breakfast. This morning I had mandazi, some pumpkin and a cup of Mulanje tea. After breakfast I sat and read a chapter of my book in the sunny courtyard and thought through my lesson plans for the day.
I headed over to the primary school for 9am although I was a little late as I was diverted by the nursery school children who were keen to play and see what I had inside my bag! I got to my classroom and was greeted by the children and began to teach them English! Today I taught them the phonetic sounds of six more letters, they are picking it up quite quickly and hopefully are well on their way to learning to read! I popped back home quickly at the 10.30am break for a drink and continued my lessons until midday. I then headed back for lunch which was an omelette, a fanta and a pack of crisps and had a good chat with Duncan. Refuelled I went to the secondary school at 2pm to teach Computer Science. After the lesson some of the students stayed behind to ask a few questions and I helped a small group of them with their maths homework until around 3.30pm. I then went to the library to meet Damson. He took me on a cycling trip to buy some bananas and do a bit of photography. We got back by 4.30pm, just in time to play rounders with the orphans. We played a couple of matches and then played a little football as I watched the sunset, before heading back to the house at 6pm for dinner I hungrily ate my chips and eggs and washed it down with coke. I spoke with Duncan and his family about how our days had gone and Damson soon came over so we played some cards and backgammon until around 10pm. I went to see Wilson to chat about going to watch the school football match the next day before doing a bit of stargazing. I am now feeling pretty shattered so will just finish planning my morning lessons before I tuck myself and my mosquito net in and drift off to sleep. This article was written by Patrick Massey, who did a teaching volunteer placement from April to June 2009. (You can contact Patrick through the SOC Facebook page)
There is a both a secondary school and a primary with an orphanage attached to it. You can get involved wherever you like and your contribution will be tailored to suit your skills and ambitions. As well as being a really nice guy, Duncan is very active within the local community giving you the volunteer a great platform to get to know lots of different people of all ages and positions. The best thing about the experience is that you can genuinely make a real difference and all your efforts are appreciated. There’s plenty of opportunity for travel within Malawi – to the mountains, on safari and to the beautiful Lake Malawi – all of which Duncan will assist you with. It’s a fantastic opportunity and not one to be missed! This article was written by Greg Kent who did a teaching volunteer placement during July 2009. |
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