Malawi Study Abroad
Students from Virginia Tech left for Malawi Study Abroad in June accompanied by students from Radford University and North Carolina A & T. (See http://www.cradie.soe.vt.edu/studyabroad/index.html for the 2007 announcement.) The emphasis of this Study Abroad program iwasto study the impact of culture on teaching and learning in Malawi, a sub-Saharan African country. In addition to students’ teaching in schools, reading and discussing materials related to history and culture, and visiting villages and museums, they carried out service learning projects in their schools. A feeding program at Malemia Primary School was re-instituted with contributed funds and a school library was established with materials brought from the U.S. At Domasi Demonstration Primary School the school library that had been established in earlier visits was upgraded. In previous years, a series of maintenance projects had been carried out at Domasi Government School. As a result the school has established a Maintenance Committee with community support. Study Abroad students met with them and contributed to the committee’s planned projects. Because students expressed an interest in returning to Africa in some capacity, an informational seminar was arranged. Jeff Sykes, an IFESH (International Foundation for Education & Self-Help) teacher stationed at Domasi College of Education, discussed how IFESH places teachers in sub-Saharan Africa. IFESH also has a program that provides recent college graduates and graduate students an opportunity to work overseas for nine months as International Fellows (see http://www.ifesh.org/fellows.html for a full description). Another opportunity that emerged was teaching at Tiyamike Mulungu Center, an orphanage with a well-run primary school and secondary school in development. They will provide lodging for volunteers. (See http://www.freewebs.com/tiyamike-center/index.htm for more information.) This year students were also able to visit Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during a stopover on the way back to the U.S.
During last year’s Study Abroad, Malemia teachers were paying for the feeding program, but because salaries are approximately $30 per month, they could no longer take from their own families even though the needs of their students were so great. The signs of malnutrition are quite evident throughout the school. Porridge is a thin mixture of water, ground maize, and a little sugar. Pupils bring their cups to school for the twice per week feeding. Because school officials want to stretch the contributed funds as far as possible, they are limiting the amount of sugar and not including ground nuts (peanuts) flour, which would provide a source of protein. Ndalapa Mhango, a Virginia Tech doctoral student from Malawi and a former head teacher in a school with a feeding program, estimated that the cost of making the porridge with appropriate amounts of sugar and ground nuts flour would cost approximately $20 per day. For the 1,000 pupils at Malemia, that means each feeding would cost two cents per pupil. Study Abroad students will continue to raise money so that the porridge made will provide the needed sustenance to provide for healthy growth of bodies and brains. The money will be sent through a Primary Education Advisor in the District Education Office that works with the school.