August 30, 2016

Today Ana, my roomie, said "ugh, *sigh* and at 6 o'clock, ugh! we'll have antelopes!" 

Today we have our first day of pure volunteering. We started with Orphan Care, which we basically knew how to sort out from previous classes. The schedule called for 3 hours of OC. We had a water shortage, so some things were postponed. But, even so, we got everything done within an hour! Cleaning this and that, and mainly laundry. Here is a pic of the laundry station:

Then, we had a long break before we had to do baboon observations. Finally, I got to spend quality time with the baboons! I haven't had time to really sit and watch their behavior, so I was thankful. Ana took a pic of me doing this:

I like the baboons so far! They are much slower than the monkeys I'm used to. The females are in estrus, so we had some dominance questions to answer.

I also don't really understand their method of data entry.... Like at all. But, like I always say- not my monkeys, not my circus! 

Then- a lunch of egg sandwiches and salad. Obviously I put the salad inside the sandwich. 

THEN- DRUMROLL PLEASE!!- I present to you a major highlight of the trip:

Outreach! The Lilongwe Wildlife Trust (this title refers to the organization as a whole, rather than just the Centre where the animals are cared for) runs an adult literacy program all over the country. It's a woman-focused class that provides free reading and arithmetic education to those who have not had a previous chance to receive it. Today, my roommate and I signed up to volunteer with the crew! I was shy about this because I'm neophobic or something. But my roomie and I signed up. We were picked up still not knowing at all what the afternoon would entail. Haha, this truly turned out to be a life highlight.

Remember the literacy stats I recited a few blogs ago? About 45% of adult women cannot read or write in Malawi. Ana and I packed up in a van with 5 Malawians, two boys, 3 girls, and headed deep into the city. They spoke a little English. Two were college students (including one of the girls), and three work with the program every day. We pulled up to a location that was completely not what I had anticipated!! I pictured them borrowing a school classroom for the classes or, I don't know. Instead, we were walking into a lean-to hanging off the side of a woman's house. No one was speaking English, but instead, everyone was singing in Chichewa. We walked into the lean-to and took off our shoes and put them with the others before standing on the group's mats and joining in on the songs aka just clapping because I can't sing in Chichewa. The last clap was one clap before I thought it was going to be, but I don't think anyone noticed. 

There were an estimated 20 women of all ages sitting on these mats ready to begin class.

Our Malawian counterparts then explained to Ana and I what we would be doing.

Each woman was handed a worksheet with three standard math problems and one word problem. The math problems were like this: 301+456, 3270x14, and 692-238. The word problem said in Chichewa, "20 men cut down 400 logs of wood together equally. How many did each man cut down?"

Each woman had to do these problems on their own and then have them checked by us.  One by one they turned their papers in after a long work period. Each time a paper was handed in, I would check it, then explain to the woman how it's solved if she gets a question wrong. The first time a staff member asked me to explain a problem to a woman, I was very nervous! The language barrier is intense! But, I tried and realized that I may be ok at it! It was tricky to figure out how to convey some things... But resolving this was fun! 

I eventually took over alphabet practice with a young woman who just started the class. We practiced writing, reading and singing the alphabet. It was truly an amazing experience.... She was visibly proud of herself when she got things right! This was such a rewarding experience. I'll never forget it. Here is a picture of us together:

On our ride home, we listened to Drake and Lady Gaga remixes.

I ate dinner when I got home, then fed the antelopes their dinner (this has to be done after dark so that the wild monkeys don't swoop in and steal all their food). 

Good day.