ICS blog

In many ways this week has been the most enjoyable so far, although maybe the busiest! The team has visited three schools and has taken the drug prevention fair to over 300 children. Growing in confidence and personality after each one, everybody involved feels like we have made some real progress, and hopefully given the young children inspiration to stay on the straight and narrow road in what can seem an impossible task, especially in the neighbourhoods and social conditions some have the experience of growing up in.

Another busy, entertaining and informative week in Masaya has come to an end, with time seemingly accelerating by the day. The pace is unrelenting (in a good way): we’ve visited the school in El Pochote for the first time, painted all of the vinyls which will be used to cover the eco-latrines, planned plenty of activities and workshops to hold in the community, and have even had the chance to learn some more about Masayan culture.

After a nearly a week of preparation, it was here. Our Cleaning Campaign (La Campaña de Limpieza). Ideas had been flying around alongside paint brushes, games were at the ready, bags of sweets and bubbles to hand, and the banner looked perfect. We were off.

Team Catacamas have had a busy week. Our involvement in the community has stepped up a notch.

Today has been the best day of my life so far. Surpassing the previous day that held those king jewels. Graduation Day. The day I graduated was filled with anticipation, exuberance and a huge sense of achievement. From as long as I can recall, a perfectionist with a competitive streak, educational achievements had always been a colossal goal of mine. Never wanting to be second best, and wanting to prove I wasn't stupid, I got a first.

This week we delivered our first awareness campaigns for – World Cancer Day! Due to our work with COWHLA, we decided to focus on cervical cancer because of its link with those living with HIV and AIDS. People living with HIV and AIDS can be more at risk of contracting the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).   

We prepared a presentation about how cervical cancer affects the body and explained about the importance of going for screening. We also stressed the importance of recognizing the symptoms of cervical cancer and how they are treated if caught early. 

First blog for team COWHLA Walero (COWLHA of today) this cycle! After spending our first week in Lilongwe for culture and language orientation, we have now started our placement in Chikhwawa. We moved in with our host families, and although sometimes challenging, being in a host home has allowed us to experience a wider knowledge of Malawian culture. Our families have been extremely welcoming and seem very happy to be hosting us for the next eight weeks. We have also practiced using basic Chichewa (the local language) with our host families and in-country volunteers.

Trees are essential to our welfare. Not only do they improve the quality of the air that we breathe, but they provide food and shelter for humans and wildlife, prevent floods, conserve both water supplies and the environment. Therefore Team Catseye participated in a tree planting exercise at Msiki Village in Mzuzu on Friday 30 January 2015.

We arrived at 9:15 and were joined by 8 people consisting of Msiki AIDS Support Group members and individuals from the community including the Village Headman.

The in-country ICS volunteers (ICVs) of the January to March placement started their journey on 12 January 2015 with a two day pre-placement training workshop at Mpatsa Lodge in Salima.

ICVs were taught about Progressio Malawi, the ICS programme, the Monitoring and Evaluation process of Progressio, Orientation on UK culture, among others.

First meetings always fill me with nerves, second meetings make me feel awkward. Meeting the people who you’ve met once and then are going to be living with for the next 10 weeks was like seeing that aunt you see once a year. Or at least that’s how I thought it would be, it was like seeing a friend you haven’t seen for ages; picking up exactly where you left off: the banter and inside jokes just like before you parted. They say you don’t really know a person until you go on holiday with them (not that this is a holiday, we are working very hard), and that seems true.