Observing our the lovely Standard 6

June 17th, 2011: Alison Reynolds
Second Day of School at the Domasi Government School

Today was our first day of actually being in the classroom. When we arrived at school we were greeted warmly by cheering children as our bus was engulfed by them. Bebe and I met our Standard 6 teacher, Gertrude. Gertrude is wonderful and really seems to be happy and excited to have us in her classroom. It is an amazing feeling to be welcomed into such a diverse environment. We got a feel for our class as we observed our teacher, she first taught about inequalities. Gertrude then proceeded to teach Life Skills. Much to our surprise Gertrude began a lengthy casual conversation about the different abbreviations associated with HIV/AIDS, the meaning of the human race, and how to promote the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS. Bebe and I held back tears as this real life issue was openly discussed. Until this week it had not occurred to me the reality of the HIV/AIDS epidemic I would be facing in Malawi. After my first day at school the harsh reality became very apparent. After Life Skills the children went up to the front of the class in groups of ten or so and performed a dance for us. The children were amazing dancers, the way they could shake it was truly amazing. One student named Frank stood up and performed a perfect rendition of Justin Bieber's song "Baby". We were surprised by his choice of American song and happily joined along. I couldn't help but think that this is what America is sharing with the world. Gertrude then gave the children a fifteen minute break. She shared with us that the Muslim students would leave at this time to go to the Mosque. Bebe and I did the Hokie Pokie, Grey Squirrel, and Simon Says during break time but it was basically just 50 plus kids copying everything we did and said including random animal noises. After break Gertrude said she was tired and we sat outside the classroom chatting while the students were inside. The students sat patiently as the 15 minute break grew to 45 minutes. We found it interesting that the teachers seem teach whenever they feel like it.
After school we traveled to town because the main internet transformer blew up in an adjacent town and we wanted to e-mail our families on the DSL computers. The internet was sooooo slow and I really felt my impatient American tendencies beginning to show. I have much to learn from the patient Malawians.