What's new...

Hello from Mzuzu where we continue to enjoy blue sky and sunshine although it is beginning to cool down a little. I have been reliably informed that I have not yet experienced anything like the cold that is to come. Suddenly I have a yearning for the boost button on my central heating panel in Coleraine!

So what is new in Mzuzu for the Monitoring & Evaluation Officer for CCAP's Early Childhood department? (that's me by the way!)

Well, I continue to learn more about my job and the variety of tasks it brings. As I am building up the pre-school database I am getting to know names of people in each area and very importantly the geography of the Northern Region is becoming clearer. This will be really important as I begin to travel a bit more to visit and monitor some of the pre-schools in the outlying areas. Already I have found out that the most well used direction usually given as we travel is simply 'Go straight', definitely a problem when one is at a fork in the road!

As well as the database I do all sorts of other tasks such as turning the piles of paper seen above into the neat pile of handouts below.

Sorry about this, a slight technical glitch when uploading the photos. No, it has not snowed in Mzuzu this week!

Here are those neat and tidy handouts.

I also went out to do some monitoring in Ekwendeni Presbytery with Diane and 2 of the team of trainers in ECD, Nicolas and Memory. It is still a bit of an adventure for me to find these places but the journey at least at this time of year when it is dry is enjoyable and the scenery is lovely.

When I go out to do monitoring it is in the car but when the trainers go out to do their monitoring they go on foot or by bicycle. They often have to travel for some hours to reach the schools and in some cases as we discovered the schools have not been open that day. Would we be prepared to do that in the UK? I am learning that this is life for the ECD trainers in our presbyteries here.

Finding our way to the nursery!

Not open today!

Memory, Nicolas and Diane finding out that the nursery is not functioning. By car, 2o-25 minutes drive from Ekwendeni. Usually Memory would have to make this journey on foot
or by bicycle. She would not normally have much time left in her morning after making a visit to this place.

We did however have a successful visit to another nursery in the presbytery and here you can see some of the children. It is good to see what is happening in different places.

How different the nursery settings are here but the potential for doing good things with and for the children is tremendous. I was sorry to see the children sitting in rows learning days of the week and months of the year especially as they are 2-6 years old.

We found that they did have some play resources but they were packed away in a sack. After chatting with the caregivers we were able to talk to them about letting the children play with the resources and learn through their exploration.

It is hard for untrained caregivers to know what to do with small children but that is why CCAP has this big vision - to equip the caregivers in its' pre-schools to give the children in their care the best possible start. What a privilege to be part of that.

I continue to teach 1 day per week in pre-school. Here are some pictures of the last days of this term.

Playing with friends

Playing with the water bucket, minutes later it became a hat...!


Enjoying the bouncy castle, socks off please teacher!

My home continues to be an animal haven. Think Dr Dolittle would feel most at home here. I would certainly be asking him to talk to the animals about relocation!
This small frog helpfully leapt off the curtains and onto my head...


A beautiful praying mantis.
It is about the size of my index finger and is living in the back porch.

Lizard enjoying the sunshine on the ledge of my outside kitchen.

And to finish...

Here is one of my new small friends. We found this very big dandelion 'clock'
just outside the fence and she had never seen one before. Look at the concentration on her wee face as she works out what this new thing might be and do!

I hope you have a great week where ever you may be and can take some time to enjoy a 'dandelion clock' moment!

Blessings

Fiona

what is it like..?

Hello from a lovely warm Mzuzu. It has been another blue sky day here and thankfully not any volcanic dust in sight!

I have put together a selection of photos that will maybe help me to answer the question I am asked a lot at the moment by family and friends.

"What is it like for you in Malawi, are you enjoying it there?"

The short answer to this question is YES! Let me explain....

I enjoy welcoming visitors to my home, here is my neighbour Ruth and her son. They called round after church and it was lovely to share coffee and some Fifteens.
I enjoy learning about how to make child-centred learning work in a new context and using materials that are very different to the ones I am used to in Northern Ireland. I am constantly being challenged to think differently and little by little I am getting there!
I enjoy watching caregivers learning how to make a difference to the pre-school experience of our smallest children. For some it is radically changing the way they offer care and hopefully will have a big impact on the development of the children in their care.
I love the beauty of the sunrises....
and the sunsets.
I enjoy having a poinsettia still alive and flowering after the end of January!

As well as enjoyment there are a few challenges, let me share...

I enjoy also the thrill/shock of meeting new creatures in and around my home. I was attempting to wash the dishes when I met this lizard in the sink. It's possible that it was more shocked than me! I have also made the aquaintance of the frog that lives in my small toilet, again a mutual shock I think. Household chores hold a certain amount excitement that just was not there in Coleraine!

One of the major challenges can be communication. The Internet when it works is such a good way to keep in touch but it can be really frustrating when it doesn't. Here is a snapshot of one recent session, broadband it is not. Patience is a much needed and exercised virtue!

If this was a heart monitor, this patient would be in big trouble... The good news is that when it works well many things are possible even blogging!

Do I enjoy having moved my life to Malawi? The answer has to be YES.

Watching the children really enjoying learning, exploring and developing makes the challenges seem less difficult and adds very much to my enjoyment of being here.

Please do remember to pray for the work that CCAP is doing in the area of Early Childhood Development and for the people who are training caregivers and developing the programme. It is a huge task as we work with literally hundreds of pre-schools, the caregivers who staff them and the children who attend. With God's help we can do it. ECD is a relatively new concept in Malawi but the opportunity to give the children the best possible start makes it a very worthwhile challenge.

Enjoy your week

Blessings
Fiona

a quick hello

Hello from Mzuzu,
Just a quick update if the network will allow me to post this...

Apologies for the lack of pictures and no blog last week but I am having to learn that there is a time to be patient especially when working with the internet here. It is a daily challenge at the moment to get enough connection to bring in and send out emails. If you have written and received no reply yet please be patient and I will keep trying to get my emails sent.

Time is flying by and I am learning much about building databases and sorting out the mistakes I make when working with new computer programmes!

I spend 1 day a week teaching in the toddler class in our pre-school at the Synod. I love being in the classroom again, is great fun to be with this age group and I am really enjoying working in this new environment. It is always exciting to spend time with small children because they have such a sense of awe and wonder about the world around them.

Also I continue to help one of the trainee teachers from the pre-school prepare for the International English exam he will sit in a few weeks time. This is a particularly challenging exam and would stretch many of us whose mother tongue is English. Spare a thought (and definitely a prayer...) for the many overseas students who have to sit and pass this exam with high marks in order to study in the UK.

As many of you are beginning to experience the longer evenings and hopefully warmer weather, Malawi is beginning to shift into the cold months. I am even told that the days shorten here as we move towards the summer solstice, we will lose 15 minutes or so of daylight. So the expression "The nights are drawing in" works here also!

I am noticing that the network has a few more kbps at the moment so will sign off here and attempt to post this. It is the electronic version of making hay while the sun shines I think!

Have a great week!

Blessings

Fiona