Malawi October 09
14 June, 2009 - 08:12
I have been offered and will be accepting a placement working with the Teachers Union of Malawi, based in Lilongwe, Malawi, which is due to start in October 09. I would love to hear from serving volunteers of their experiences of volunteerring in Malawi and also from outgoing volunteers who will be there at the same time as I will.
My e-mail is: jenny.manley@hotmail.com
Look forward to hearing from you.
Jenny
hi Jenny,
Im Joven Madera from Iloilo City Philippines, I will be working in Salima Centre for Teacher Development in Malawi on October 2009 too. I love to join in the discussion for i would be benifited too. Nice to hear any message from you.My email add is jovenmadera2001@yahoo.com.
JOVEN MADERA
swapna
My Dream-"A world without thorns "
I agree with you totally, Anthonyqkiernan, by the way are you already in Malawi ? If so do tell us about your experiences , the small do's & dont's, any usefull tips,other than those already on the website .
best wishes to all
Swapna
Hi to everyone,
It's nice to see that there are so may of us all going out in October, I attended my SKWID trainining last weekend and met three other people also going out at the same time to work as Child Friendly officers. Does anyone have an idea how may people are going out in October?
Hope your plans are going well and will be great to meet you
Jenny
Hi Joven,
I trust you are well and everything is going well with your plans for departure. The VSO volunteer I have been speaking to is Carolyn, she is working in Education in Malawi and has been there since October 08. I have sent an e-mail to her advising I have passed you her email address, so she will be expecting to hear from you. E-mail address: t98749@yahoo.com I am sure she will be happy to try and answer any questions you may have.
Keep in touch
Jenny
Hi Jenny , this again joven, I would like to ask if you have any friends working in Malawi particularly in Salima. It would be apleasure if you willl give me an address.I will be working as child friendly officersof the said district starting October 4, 2009.
JOVEN MADERA
Jaro Elem. School
Hi Jenny,
I'm Laura and am starting in Malawi in october too! I have been accepted as an Organisation Development Officer in Chitipa, North Malawi. I have only just found out so am busy being excited and trying to plan everything but would be great to share any questions and information we gather!
Hope that your preparations are going well and look forward to hearing from you,
Laura
Hi Laura,
Great to hear from you and Congratulations on your placement. Who are you going to be working for in Malawi and what will you be doing? Have you ever done voluntary work overseas before? I havn't, so this is a completely new experience for me. I am really looking forward to it and as you say have lots to sort out before we go. Sharing ideas and information will be great. I have been speaking to a lady from VSO Canada who is based in Lilongwe and she has given me a lot of general info.. but I do need to contact her regarding more practical matters such as suitable clothing, anything else essential that we need to take. Will let you know any advice she has and in the meantime if you have any info. that will be great. I will be attending the SKWID course at Harbourne Hall on 8-12 August, do you know when you will be doing it?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
No I've never done anything like this before, all very new for me too! I am on SKWID training from the 18th - 22nd Aug so unfortunately wont see you then.
I will be working in the far north of malawi, the Chitipa district about 700km from Lilongwe so pretty remote. I will be an Organisation Development Officer supporting community groups with fundraising, project managemnt and on how best to organise themselves. Its a pretty scary job but hopefully I will be of some use! Doing lots of reading trying to gain as much knowledge as possible before I go!
Cool that you have a contact who has been to malawi, anything useful please pass on. I know a few people who have visited so will let you know anything useful they tell me.
Hope everything is going well, look forward to hearing from you again soon,
Laura
Hi Laura,
Sounds really interesting and I am sure you will be of great use, I feel the same really but I am sure that once we get there and see what is needed, we will settle in and get on with it. Are there any other volunteers working in Chitipa?
Shame we wont meet at the SKWID course but we can keep in touch anyway and will no doubt meet up at the Airport.
Have you started the essential injections for Malawi yet?, as seeing as you only just found out you are going, there are quite a few and I would suggest you get get them booked asap.
Good luck with getting sorted and keep in touch.
Jenny
I am delighted to hear that you are going to Malawi in October 2009. I am going to Malawi as a VSO volunteer to work in Zomba mental hospital as a clinical psychologist. I am interested to hear from people who have worked or who are going to be there from October.
Thank you
shobha
swapna
My Dream-"A world without thorns "
Hi !!! All out there heading to Malawi ,I'll be joining u'll on 4th October in Malawi,am placed at Ntcheu District Hospital , as a Medical Officer.
Can any of you or your friends tell me what is the type of cellphone to bring, triband or a quad band , &if it is the Quad band which frequency is usefull in Malawi?
Anyways I'm excited to know you all even before I meet you.
best wishes,
Swapna
Hi Everyone,
Please see below for ideas of what you might want to take with you to Malawi. (Suggested by In country volunteer)
OK so some things to think about bringing:
-- laptop & a laptop surge protector!!
-- short wave radio
-- sunscreen
-- any vitamins (C or Multi-vitamins)
-- yoga mat etc...
-- nice and new underwear and pack some extra ones -- I have not found a place that sells nice ones.
--electronic stuff can be expensive and UK has the same voltage as Malawi I believe
-- movies to watch preferably on an external hard drive
-- as for clothes-- if you don't mind hunting around for second hand clothes and if size is not too much of an issue... their is a huge market with tons of stuff!! Yes, Malawi women tend to up for work but I just add/adjust what I brought with second hand stuff and I'm presentable. The same goes for shoes. You can also have clothes made here once you find a tailor-- always a fun thing to do and not very expensive
-- an LED light for power failures in the evenings -- but you can pick some powerful ones at Santa plaza in Lilongwe and the cost is not too too bad.
-- a cell phone that you can put a sim card into it
Hope this helps.
Jenny
Hello everyone,
It has taken me a while to get the hang of this VSO blogging....my age you see!!! Anyway now that I am gradually learning to use it let me say congratulations and a big hello to everyone. Thank you for all the useful tips. I will start my shopping soon...
I am really excited about meeting you all and start our work in Malawi!
Good wishes
shobha
Hey Jenny,
Good to hear that you are going to malawi in October. I am going there as well to work in Zomba mental hospital for 6 months. Are you all ready to go? what preparations have you done?
I look forward to hearing from you.
All good wishes
shobha
Hi Shobha,
Still got lots of things to do before we leave, but the essentials are getting there, only two injections to go and they are booked for 2.9, so really just need to do bits of shopping as per suggested items to take.
Keep in touch
Jenny
My Dream-"A world without thorns "
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for the list of things to be brought . You know in the excitement it is the small things which are forgotten.Well, adjustment is a must for all of us.
Can you suggest what type of cellphone would work in Malawi the best ?? A triband phone or a quad band,if quad band what is the frequency which is useful for good connectivity.
Hope your preparations are going on well.
Waiting to see you all in person.
Bye,T.c.
Swapna
Hi Swapna,
Sorry but I have no idea what type of phone is best, the only information I have been given is to bring a cellphone that is unlocked , so as you can buy a local simcard to put in. Maybe Yvonne can help as she has relatives living in Malawi.
Keep in touch and I look forward to meeting you.
Jenny
Dear All,
I have just got to start looking at these notices and thought I would join in. My name is Yvonne Hawthorne and I am going out with my husband Colin. We met Jenny on our SKWID course but are looking forward to meeting you all. We are going out as Child Friendly Schools Officers in the north of Malawi at Karongs.Laura, we were going to Chitipa but VSO changed this. Karonga is not too far away and has more facilities so we may see you. I am lucky in that I have one cousin who has a campsite on the shores of lake Malawi and has lived in Malawi for 20 years and another cousin who is on VSO in Mzuzu as a Psychiatric lecturer. She has been there three years and so I have someone to answer all my questions.
Someone mentioned age. We are both in our early 60's and we have been teaching for y-e-a-r-s!!!! We were both supposed to ride motorbikes and we had a taster session at a nearby school. I was terrified and I could not possibly ride one. Colin was fine and he is going on his training next Monday.
I better stop. Hope to hear from you soon.
Yvonne
Dear Swapna, Shobha and everyone else,
Just to say that my cousin Elaine Beeby is a VSO lecturer in Mental Health in Mzuzu. I have e-mailed her and she would welcome any questions about life in Malawi.
Her e-mail is elainebeeby@yahoo.com
Yvonne
Hello Swapna and everyone,
Yes I did comment on my age....54 to be precise! No I have not done any pre-departure training this time as it was not felt necessary. All the trainings that I had to do in 2005 before my departure to Srilanka is sufficient, I have been told.
Although I have resigned from the NHS, my last day of work is the 20th of September when I intent to start my preparation to Malawi. I have found everyone's comments very useful and I look forward to meetin everyone.
shobha
Hi Everyone,
Hope your plans are going well. Has everyone received their flight details now? Well it's official, we are leaving the UK on 3.10.09, it's great to have a confirmed date as I find that will make me concentrate on what I still need to do. It's also great that there are 10 of us all going out at the same time, I look forward to meeting everyone at the Airport and for those coming from other areas than the UK, to meeting you at In country training.
See you soon
Jenny
Hello and Good morning everyone,
Yes I have received my flight details and now it seems all too real! I have not started my preparation yet...had an appointment for my rabies vaccination which I forgot! Remembered it during the early hours of the morning and started panicking...anyway have now got another appointment!. I am yet to buy my laptop and mobile phone, probably week starting the 21st will be my preparation week. I am sure everyone else are busy with the preparation! 10 volunteers to Malawi..that's a good number and I am looking forward to meeting you all at the airport and also looking forward to travelling in Ethiopian Airways!!!
shobha
Hello all, i have been reading all the postings with great interest as have been going through the matching process for Malawi, I have now heard that I have been accepted and have accepted a placement in Blantyre starting in Feb 2010. At present it seems like a long time away but know that it will come round really quickly as well. So hopefully will get to meet you all next year sometime. When you have all arrived out there and settled in it would be great if you could share how it is going, are any of you setting up blog sites? if so please do share the addresses with me, as I would love to follow them.
Thanks
Nikki
Hi Nikki,
Nice to hear from you and good luck with your planning, your right, time will go by very quickly, I cannot believe we have less than two weeks to go till we depart. If you let me have your e-mail address I will certainly keep you updated with how things are, although I will be based in Lilongwe so not sure if it will help as you are going to be in Blantyre, but hopefully we will meet up at some point. What are you going to be doing in Blantyre?
Jenny
Hi Jenny
The countdown must really be on now. I am going as a nurse clinical instructor at MCHS. My email address is nikki@mckeag6080.freeserve.co.uk , hope all your preparations are going well. It would be great to hear from anyone going out there so please do feel free to email.
Good luck and hopefully hear about all the news
Nikki
Hi everyone!
How are the preparations going in this final week?
Bad news for me, unfortunately I have to delay my departure as I'm waiting for medical clearance. I'm fine, just waiitng for some test results and they don't get back from the lab in time for me to catch our saturday flight!
Pretty gutted but know that its best to get the all clear rather than get over to Malawi only to have to come back home. VSO are being great and hopefully will have me sent out asap once I get clearance.
Just wanted to say sorry I wont see some of you at the airport and the rest of you in Lilongwe! But don't worry,no doubt I will see you all in country soon!
Good luck to everyone and thanks for all the hints/tips for the planning, its been great to panic/prepare together!
Safe journey to all and if you have net access would be great to hear from you all on how your getting on!
Hopefully see you all soon!
Laura x