The Circulatory System

We have been covering the Circulatory System in my Form 3 Biology class. Luckily I already covered this during Model School in PST, so I am able to build off those lesson plans.

Biology involves a lot of diagrams. We do have flip chart paper at school, but there isn't very much so I try to use it sparingly. I haven't used any for the blood and blood vessels topics, but I decided I needed one for the heart.

The sky darkened and it started pouring right when I started, then the power went out. But I'm a PCV in Malawi so I don't let a few obstacles like light and power get in my way...

I did two diagrams-- one of blood movement in the body, and the other of the structure of the heart.

Here are a couple of my students using the microscope to look at a cross-section of an artery as part of today's lecture. You can see the other diagram on the wall, and a diagram of a capillary I drew on the board during my lecture.

Tomorrow the heart! We will be covering the chambers of the heart as well as blood movement through the heart. Hopefully we have time for a group activity I have planned too.

Happy Groundhog Day

February 2nd is Groundhog Day in the USA, but it's just another day here in Malawi. We don't actually have any groundhogs here anyway. And it's not even winter either.

Malawi has only three seasons-- Hot Season, Cold Season and Rainy Season. As it is Rainy Season now, the weather is humid and sunny, alternating with cloudy and rainy. Everyday. Often several times in the same day. Which makes doing laundry pretty difficult. So everywhere I go, I bring my umbrella and my sunglasses.

To borrow from a popular saying-- if you don't like the weather during Rainy Season, just wait an hour.

So how many more weeks of a Rainy Season? Let's ask this little guy, that showed up outside my fence this morning:

Sir Crab says, "Kwambiri". There you have it, folks. Many more weeks of rain. Let the good maize grow!

The Other Football

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday, I will tell you a bit about football in Malawi. In Malawi, as in most countries, the term "football" refers to the sport where you kick a black-and-white ball with your feet. Or as we call it in America, soccer.

Football is huge here. If there is a football match on a TV, you can be sure people are watching it. (Well, the men at least. The women are too busy hauling water and cooking nsima.) It will be shown on the TV in the banks, and in the pool halls and bars (so I have heard). Some people in my village have TVs, and people get together to watch the game at home too. So kind of like America, except I'm pretty sure they won't be serving hot wings and tortilla chips and dip!

Malawi's National football team is the Flames. They have never competed in the World Cup (which is held in even years), but they did reach the finals for the Africa Cup of Nations (which is held in odd years). (Thank you, Wikipedia)

There are football matches between schools and between villages too. I went to one my first day in the village during PST. We also had a couple matches between PCVs and the villagers during PST. I've only seen one match since I've been at site though. I guess they must play elsewhere. Interesting fact-- at the village level, most players play barefoot. Imagine running over dirt with rocks and thorns and sticks in bare feet. Malawians are tough.

We don't officially have sports teams at my school. Several footballs and other types of sports equipment was donated to my school, so sometimes the students use it during PE or afterschool, but it's pretty informal.

Okay, that's pretty much everything I know about football. I would kind of like to learn more about it because it is so big here, but there are only so many hours in the day. I will try to watch the Africa Cup of Nations this year, since I missed the World Cup last year.

Now go enjoy your American football! I'm not really a sports person, but at this point I want to hug everything that reminds me of America, and the Super Bowl qualifies for that. So I am down for a Super Bowl party in 2017! You supply the TV, I'll bring the nsima. Just kidding : )

Where is my class?

Today I had prepared a really fun lesson for my double period Physical Science class. We are learning about electricity. I had a circuit to show them the difference between series and parallel circuits which they were going to get to use, as well as a group activity where they had to draw different types of circuits based on descriptions.

When the bell rang and I went to my class, this is what I found:

The rest of the class was outside slashing grass. It turns out that three quarters of the class was late to first period, and they did not clean the school in the morning, which they are required to do everyday.

So the punishment for missing class was to clean during first and second period. I was told I could start my lesson once they finished. About ten minutes before the end of the period, some of the students came into the staff room to mop.

I was able to enter the classroom and start teaching in time for third period. I showed them the circuit and we did some review and lecture, but there was not time for the group activity. I guess I will have to do that next week.

And that's what it is like to teach in Malawi. Or not teach, as the case may be.

The Last Mango

Today my mango tree gave up its last mango. You can still find mangos at the market, but mango season is definitely coming to a close.

How do you get a ripe mango out of a tall mango tree? If you are me, you patiently wait for the wind and rain to knock it to the ground. But the neighbor kids are definitely not patient. So when they came over to my house today and spied the yellow mango in the tree, they had a plan. And this was it:

And guess what-- it worked!

In terms of seasonal produce, I see lots of pineapples and a few mangos for sale by the road in my village. Bananas are harder to find, and the price is going up. (K300 for a bunch-- that's over $0.50!) Tomatoes and onions are still available, but they are small and a lot more expensive too. I did find bell peppers the other day for K20 apiece. They were crisp and cheap and really made my dinner taste fantastic. They are definitely my favorite vegetable (even though they are actually fruits in botanical terms, but whatevs). Which is why I saved the seeds and plan to plant my own tomorrow. Yum!

A Good Day in Malawi

It was a bit rough the first few days back at my site. Coming back to the village after being in the city with the other PCVs is always an adjustment anyways. However, this time was even more difficult because the house was all musty from the rain, and I had no water or power for two days. Plus it was super hot and muggy. Think peanut butter sandwiches for most meals, no laundry, dying phone batteries, limited bathing and sleepless nights in the heat.

Then yesterday everything changed. The power came on and there was water again! I was able to charge my phone, and even cook hot meals. Hot food is such a blessing. I also did a quick load of laundry in between the torrential downpours we had, and collected a bit of rainwater too. A few of the neighbor kids came over and we planted seeds in my new garden bed-- peas, squash, marigolds, carrots and Swiss chard. I gave them some seeds to take home in appreciation for their help, and they planted them in their home gardens. Would you believe the peas already have a tiny shoot coming out?

It's amazing how hot food, clean clothes, and spending quality time with the neighbor kids can make everything better!

After the Floods

I'm back at my site now after being away for 8 days. Everything is just how I left it, except for lizard poop everywhere and a new garden bed that my landlord's son put in for me while I was away. The wet wall seems to be drying now and the remaining part of the brick fence is still standing. The roof leaked in a few places, but it wasn't very much water.

On the mini-bus ride to my site, I passed through an area in my district that had been flooded. You could see how high the river had gotten, and many downed trees. There were also a number of buildings that had been severely damaged. We also drove by what appeared to be a flood refugee camp. The flooding was devastating for many people in Malawi, costing people their homes, their businesses and even their lives.

The Guardian has a series of photos on the flooding which shows the areas that were hit the hardest, Chikwawa and Nsanje.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/gallery/2015/jan/21/malawi-floods-cause-devastation-in-pictures

The second cyclone that was predicted to come through ended up missing Southern Malawi, so the weather has evened out here. It hasn't done much more than shower since I've been back, and there has been lots of sunshine in between.

I'm grateful for PC looking out for the safety of me and all the other PCVs. I'm also grateful that my home and school and my village are okay.