This last week has flown by, and most of it has been work. It has also been very hot, so I have been working in a state of dripping sweatiness that I rarely experience in England, even in a sauna!
When we knew I was coming out here for a month, I agreed with Mari that I would deliver one of the short courses she and David have put together for their students, to keep them motivated and engaged during the delay to the opening of the children’s centre. I had imagined, rather unrealistically as it turned out, that we would find some time to prepare this either while we were away or during the weekend, but actually I found myself, on Sunday night, drinking juice while Mari and Chris had gin and tonic, and working up an outline, which Mari and I discussed briefly before going to bed.
Luckily we had Monday to pull things together, and by the end of the day we had a full outline, all materials ready, and a set of adapted scenarios courtesy of Mari and David, which related to everyday situations in a children’s centre in Malawi, rather than neighbour disputes in the UK. David had also prepared Merton and Sutton Mediation Certificates for everyone who was expected.
The day had started, as usual for a Monday, with assembly, which is attended by a majority of Beehive workers, and conducted in a mixture of Chichewa and English. Each week a part of Beehive is responsible for leading part of it, and this week the construction choir was singing, resplendent in the “Beehive construction choir” T shirts that Brian and Sue donated before they left. One of the songs they sang was the one that Linda and I had learned when we visited them in the first week, so I got the words out of my handbag and Mari, Hugh and I sang along. Nothing in Malawi goes unobserved, and Peter Nkata immediately commented on this, and asked if we would like to sing something for assembly. We declined!
Assembly is also the opportunity to introduce new arrivals, and this week it was Father John’s turn. He is the new Principal of the JP2 Leadership and IT Academy, and Mari’s new next door neighbour. He is originally from Mozambique, but came to Malawi as a refugee at the age of 17. He has travelled widely and speaks several languages very well. He delivered both his meditation and his introduction of himself in Chichewa and English. He is a tall and imposing figure, with a lot of presence, and seems very kind, but I thought I discerned a hint of sternness as well! I particularly enjoyed listening to his meditation in Chichewa, as he speaks very expressively, and I am beginning to be able to pick out one or two words I understand – though not enough to know what he was talking about! It was easier with the introduction, as country names, dates and numbers are the same, so I had worked out that he came from Mozambique, how long he had been in Malawi, and a few other details about him, from the Chichewa version.
There were also all-important announcements about Wednesday, when the Civil Society had called for a vigil, in protest at some of the government’s actions. The vigil was called off, but the Civil Society asked Malawians to stay at home for 3 days, and pray for Malawi. Beehive advised their workers to do whatever was necessary to stay safe, and to stay away from any unrest.
At lunchtime Mari and I visited the choir again, armed with one copy of the words to “Morning had Broken”. Since we were last there, the children’s centre building has been painted white inside, which has really made a difference – it feels much more like a room, and less like a building site, even though there is still plenty to do. Martin, the choir master, arrived before most of the choir, and we had to sing him the song, which he picked up really quickly. He then floored us slightly by asking us for the alto, tenor and bass parts! When we told him we didn’t know, he just made them up himself.
It was amazing to watch him in action, singing all four parts and pulling everything together, with the command “Sing!” At the end Mavuto came over and asked us to bring more copies of the words, which we agreed to copy for him the next day, and give to him at Marc’s English class.
Both Tuesday and Thursday were taken up with the course – “Staff relationships, teamwork and conflict resolution”. Both days the group size was about 25, which is the largest group I have delivered training to, particularly when I have been leading on all sessions. Mari was a great support, but because it was my subject matter, I was basically in charge. It was lovely to work with Mari’s students for a whole day and to see how some of the exercises and games we routinely use in the UK translated into an African context.
On the whole things adapted pretty well – but there were a few things that were harder, or didn’t really seem to work. It seemed to be harder to get students to share personal experiences, and draw on those rather than speaking in general terms. Some of our instructions seemed to cause considerable confusion – it seemed to be necessary to break them down into stages much more than I would normally do. But we got there in the end. And it was clear from many of the things they talked about when considering what might cause conflict in the children’s centre, and how they might approach resolving it, that they have learned a lot from Mari and David over the last year or so.
The highlight for me, on both days actually, was the team working exercise in which they had to build a tea cup out of 3 pieces of paper and one piece of sellotape about 3 inches long. We gave them quite a long time to do it, and it was fascinating to watch how different teams approached it. Quite a few of them spent quite a few minutes looking blankly at each other, but after a while they started to experiment, and by the time I gave them 5 minutes to finish off, on the first day most teams were standing around their tables, excitedly putting the finishing touches to their creations.
We subjected all the cups to 2 tests – the most attractive cup, judged by Sarah – and the most effective cup, judged by holding each cup over a bucket and pouring a measured amount of water into it and David timing how long it took for the water to come through. The winners on both days held water for well over a minute, while the losing cups leaked almost immediately. On the Thursday, the cheers and whoops as this test was carried out confirmed the reputation of the group as the noisiest class in JP2!
After both classes we handed out certificates, and took some photos, so that I can see if I can get a good news story about MSM into the Wimbledon Guardian when I get back. We shall see!
On Wednesday, because of the planned day of action, Beehive volunteers were asked to stay at Mitsidi, and Vince arranged a series of meetings to discuss things of relevance to all of them, starting at 8.30. This meant a relatively late start to the working day (Mari’s normal working day starts at 8 so we have been leaving Mitsidi between 7.00 and 7.30 most days) and we trundled down to the big house at about 8.30, after breakfast, to find Giacomo and David making breakfast for themselves.
Vince reported that all appeared to be quiet, and advised us that if we wanted to go to the site we could, but that it was best to go on foot, as vehicles would be more likely to attract unwelcome attention. He suggested that a quiet day at Mitsidi was probably the most sensible option.
I stayed with them for a long and complicated discussion about the relative positions of containers on the site, and how best to move them around, but left Mari and co. to their children’s centre meeting after that, and went back to the house to do some writing.
After the meetings Mari made soup for everyone, and we all ate lunch together. Mari and I spent a quiet afternoon and evening, including a swim and a lounge by the pool, while the younger volunteers took the vehicles and went to see what it was like in central Blantyre.
Apart from the course, Thursday was notable for running out of diesel on the way to work, halfway up the track from Mitsidi! It was a hairy moment, as the handbrake on the blue car is a bit dodgy, and we were on a fairly steep slope. Sarah went back to get some help, but fortunately some other cars came up the hill, and the occupants came to our rescue, and manoeuvred the car to the side of the road. One of the them was driven by Father John, who then kindly gave us a lift to the site. Luckily we had set out early, to make sure we got there in time to prepare for the course.
Another highlight of the week was dinner with Mari’s friend Mary, at Chez Maky. We sat on the khonde, overlooking the lights of Blantyre, and had a really enjoyable evening eating, drinking and chatting.
On Friday we walked into work – I have come to really enjoy the walk – through the houses at the back at Mitsidi, and up the hill to a road lined with kiosks and people selling food at the side of the road. Lots of children call out to us as we go by, and adults sometimes greet us, and sometimes just stare, usually with interest rather than hostility. Mostly a greeting in Chichewa calls forth a response, and a smile.
I spent some of the morning writing, and some helping Linda with her spreadsheets. As I was sitting in her office, some loud music started up from outside. It sounded rather as if someone had parked a car under the window with the stereo playing, but it turned out that the school opposite was having some kind of event, and the music, which was a weird mixture of religious music and pop, was coming from quite a distance away. It lasted most of the rest of the afternoon.
Mari and I ate our lunch and then went off to choir practice. Today the choir were practising a song in English, so at least the words were easy to pick up! When Martin and Mavuto realised that I was leaving on Wednesday, they suggested that the choir should sing with us in assembly on Monday. As this weeks JP2 are supposed to be leading assembly, they asked us to check with whoever was organising it whether this was OK. Mari spoke to Chrissy, who works in admin, and she said she would check for us, but thought that it would be all right, so we passed this on to Mavuto.
Mari and I then had to go into town to change money, and then go on to Torrent vehicle hire, to settle our debts for the car hire last week. When we returned, Chrissy borrowed the car, and we walked back to Mitsidi, and went for a swim before dinner. On the way to dinner,we bumped into Father John, who embraced me warmly, and said he wanted to invite me to his parish near the tea plantations for the weekend, so I could see something of village life! Sadly, I had to decline, as we had already made arrangements for the weekend, but he said he would take me on Monday instead. If it comes off, it should be a most interesting trip!
We lingered over dinner till about 9 o’clock – pretty late for Mitsidi, and then Mari and I came back to the house to go to bed.
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