Friends of Malawi: News

Since 2001, Peace Corps Volunteers in Malawi have hosted an annual two-week summer school called “ C amp Sky " . This program offers students from Community Day Secondary Schools the opportunity to attend classes that complement the subjects they are taught during the traditional school year. This year Camp Sky will be held from November 9 to November 21 in Zomba.

The students coming to summer school typically deal with overcrowded classes, scarce learning materials, and overburdened teachers. However, despite these obstacles many have strong academic performance, and these students want and need a chance to go further with their education. For Camp Sky we select the top male and female students entering their final year of secondary school. Since most have never traveled beyond their home regions, students are excited to travel and meet other peers from around Malawi . At summer school student will participate in a learning experience unlike any they have ever known: small class sizes, highly qualified and motivated teachers, access to computers, a science laboratory, a library, and a chance to explore their artistic creativity.

The theme for this year’s camp is, “Pezani Njira Yanu” (Find Your Path) which captures the spirit of Camp Sky . We will offer advanced core classes in preparation for the government exams that determine students’ options after graduation. Another main focus of summer school is exploring future career opportunities. To learn more about Camp Sky and see picture of previous summer schools visit our website: http://campsky.blogspot.com/.

Camp Sky is an independent creation of Peace Corps Volunteers therefore it is not funded by Peace Corps. Fund raising efforts are necessary for the running of the camp so that we can pay for essential items like school supplies, transport, facilities and food. Donations from home, no matter what size, are crucial to Camp Sky . All donations to the Camp Sky project through Friends of Malawi are tax deductible. Below are some suggested levels of giving although any donations are welcome.

For the past seven years, Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) in Malawi , Africa have held an educational camp (a.k.a. “Summer School”) for the best and brightest of the students at each volunteer’s school. The project has created a unique environment for higher learning that is unavailable to the students at the Community Day Secondary Schools (CDSSs). Due to lack of qualified teachers, classroom space, and necessary teaching resources, many of the CDSS students are not taught enough subject material to truly shine in their final test, the Malawi School Certificate Examination (MSCE), which often determines their chances to continue their education at the universities in Malawi . The students at the CDSSs are at an inherent disadvantage compared to the students in the private secondary schools, which are often outside of the price range of an average Malawian family. This disadvantage is addressed and rectified somewhat by the placement of education volunteers in CDSSs throughout Malawi , but we believe that still more can be done to improve the education of our students.

In November 2008, Peace Corps Malawi will continue this admirable tradition and facilitate a 12-day Summer School that will provide upwards of sixty students with instruction in their main MSCE subjects. Education volunteers will choose one boy and one girl from their Form 3 classes at their CDSSs based on academic performance, interest, and personal character to attend this Summer School. As in past years, students will return from this program with new skills, life-long friends, and a better understanding of who they want to be personally and professionally. The camp will take place at Zomba Catholic Secondary School , a beautiful facility located on the outskirts of Zomba.

Summer School will be staffed and taught by Peace Corps volunteers, each specializing in a given subject area. MSCE subjects, like English, Mathematics, Biology, and Physical Science, will be offered, but a strong focus will be placed on an elective/vocational component, such as astronomy, creative writing, and music. Elective/vocational courses will be incorporated with service learning giving the students hands-on experience with community development and skills they can use to improve their villages. The students will also have an opportunity to explore different vocations and service opportunities during a career day and on field trips to nearby sites, including Liwonde National Park , Chancellor College and the Zomba Plateau.

Schedule

Summer School 2008 will follow a similar schedule to past years’ schedules. The program will start on November 9 and end on November 21. Students will be divided into classroom groups of approximately twenty students each. Each group will learn core subjects—Biology, Physical Science, English, and Mathematics – as well as elective courses , such as nutrition, general health care, perma-culture, natural resources management, ecology, and grant writing. In addition to normal daily classes, we hope to organize field trips to Liwonde National Park and the Zomba Plateau. Three well-balanced meals and two tea breaks are planned for each day. Athletic activities will be offered in the afternoons, and entertainment will be provided each evening.

One day during our Summer School program, our students will meet professionals in a wide variety of career fields. Students will have the opportunity to learn about their chosen professions and learn about what characteristics make these men and women successful. The students will hear testimonies on how these individuals met their goals, and they will receive valuable advice on how to pursue their professional aspirations. It is our hope that our students will come away from our career day with a better idea of what they want to do and what it takes to be successful professionals in Malawi .

The counterpart program runs for two weeks. Counterpart teachers will observe the PCVs teaching and learn how to self-critique lessons as well as critique and process the lessons they observe. Later in the week they will team-teach with PCV teachers, helping both groups learn from each other.

Junior counselors, who are successful alumni of past Summer Schools, will participate in both classes, as teachers’ aides, and in the counterpart program, sitting in on sessions such as “Why is there no cure or vaccine for AIDS?” and “Rights of teachers and students in the classroom.” The second week they will take a trip to Zomba for a Career Day, interviewing and shadowing professionals in many fields and then meeting later as a group to present information about educational requirements, employment possibilities, benefits, and responsibilities learned that day. Overall, we hope that the junior counselor program will motivate current students by seeing the success and enthusiasm of past students.

We hope all participants in Summer School will practice their new skills by presenting demonstrations to their home communities. For example, after learning how to make mud stoves and the theory behind their use, we hope participants will be able to run a similar demonstration themselves in their villages.

Goals and Objectives

1 Summer School will create an environment in which students take pride in, enjoy and value education and achievement, and consequently students will become a positive influence on their peers upon return to their villages.

2 Summer School will encourage and develop critical thinking and leadership skills among students, Junior counselors, counterparts, and PCV’s.

3 Summer School will impart test taking skills and subject matter skills in Math, English, Physical Science and Biology to prepare students for the MSCE.

4 Summer School classes will be an example of student centered learning for counterparts and students.

5 Summer School will provide a forum for intensive skills sharing between Peace Corps Teacher Trainers and counterparts.

6 Summer School will encourage students to plan for their futures by discussing career preparation and volunteer service opportunities.

7 Summer School will facilitate cooperation between students, counterparts and PCVs and will develop team building.

Beneficiaries

The main beneficiaries of Summer School 2008 are, of course, the selected students. The school will allow the students to see themselves as intelligent, motivated, and most of all, important. The chaotic setting of an average CDSS makes it very easy to overlook the students who apply themselves, study, and generally want to excel. Instead, teachers spend time and energy struggling with discipline, class size, and unreasonable syllabus requirements. Positive reinforcement is a rare and wonderful thing in the CDSS system. This is exactly what the Summer School will provide. The students will have a chance to exceed their boundaries, and see what they are truly capable of. The individual attention generated by the relatively small classes and the accelerated pace of subject material also provide the students with a better chance of passing their MSCE after Form 4. The students will return to their communities and become good leaders and role models. They will be able to educate others, start new clubs at their schools, and motivate their peers.

The group that will benefit as much as the students are the counterpart teachers selected to attend the school. They will be able to observe classes and learn different teaching styles, be educated in the different styles of learning, and undergo training themselves by our teacher development volunteers. Included in their training will be grant writing, communication classes, and information exchange through networking with teachers at their own schools and across Malawi . It has been one of the long-term goals of Peace Corps Malawi that the Summer School be organized and run completely by teachers from Malawi , and on their own accord. This would be a successful completion of one of Peace Corps grassroots goals.

Communities in which both students and counterparts are residing also benefit from the education of their brightest children and teachers. One of the main goals of the school is that the participants return to their villages and eagerly communicate all that they have learned. They will be able to set a good example on a variety of subjects, ranging from gender equality to HIV/AIDS prevention.

The student portion of the staff benefit as well. An integral part of the staff at Summer School 2008 will be ‘junior counsellors’, who are alumni of the 2005. This student component of the school staff will be at an advantage from their participation, and will be able to gain self-confidence and learn to be comfortable and dynamic in positions of responsibility. They will have an opportunity to reinforce what they have learned in their final year of school, which will better prepare them for university entrance exams. In addition, they will benefit immensely from the Career Day and be able to introduce themselves and have the chance to make an impression on businesses they are interested in working for.

The PCVs and Peace Corps Education 2008 Trainees (PCTs) will learn incalculably from the school as well. The prevailing opinion among the past PCVs who have run the Summer School is that it is one of the most rewarding experiences of their two years in Malawi . The opportunity to teach gifted students and to be truly appreciated is an experience that results in a fresh love for teaching and learning. All students at the CDSSs with a PCV gain from a teacher that is willing to go the extra mile to help the students learn and better themselves. Trainee Education volunteers will have the opportunity to visit the school, and see both teachers and students at their best. This will allow them to see how such a school works, and be able to start thinking about plans for a school that they may want to organize. At that point in the training, they will not have had much opportunity to see Malawian students in a classroom with a teacher who is enthusiastic about the subject. Summer School provides them with an excellent example of how good a Malawian school can be.

People

Approximately 140 participants will attend the Summer School:

1 60 students from 30 different schools around Malawi, one male and one female student from each school, will be invited to attend.

2 10 alumni from Summer School 2007 will serve as junior counsellors and teachers’ aides.

3 An average of 5-10 counterpart teachers (rotating throughout) will be attending with their respective PCV.

4 An average of 15-20 PCVs will be staffing the school every day.

5 A support staff of Malawian cooks, watchmen, plumbers, and electricians will be on site.

Summer School is an ever changing and ever improving project. Every year is a separate program with new Volunteers assuming the leadership roles. In order to keep the project moving forward, we need to evaluate ourselves and learn from these experiences. In past Summer School programs, the participants were asked to complete a survey. They were asked about the activities, classes, food, schedule accommodations, and their general likes and dislikes. The participating PCVs summarized these surveys and passed them on to the next Summer School facilitators.

At the end of our Summer School program, we will also evaluate our performance. We will then pass on our recommendations and challenges to the facilitators of the Summer School 2008.

HIV/Life Skills

One of the subjects to be stressed at the 2008 summer school will be HIV/AIDS awareness/prevention and Life Skills topics such as decision-making. Until recent years, the belief among Malawians was that the HIV virus was an unnatural thing that should not be openly discussed, and that those stricken with the disease should be ostracized from the community. Thankfully, this opinion is no longer prevailing, but misinformation and myth about HIV/AIDS is still prevalent throughout Malawi. Summer school 2006 will address these issues with open, in-depth discussion about the biology of the virus, methods of transmission, community and economical impact, acceptance, and most importantly: prevention. These discussions will be geared toward educating the students on these HIV/AIDS issues and encouraging them to educate others in their community when they return. The students will be further taught the importance of good decision-making skills, communication, and critical thinking. These skills will enable them to plan for the future, and to have dreams and aspirations in their lives. These skills will allow them to realize that nothing is outside their reach.

Nutrition, health, and permaculture classes are also an important part of the HIV/AIDS and Life Skills section of the summer school. The students will learn how improvement in diet can improve the quality of everyday life, and prolong the life expectancy, of both HIV/AIDS patients and friends and family in their community. They will learn that a diversity of crops ensures that they have a variety of food and income-generating produce, should any one of them fail to have sufficient yields.

Gender Focus

Female students are greatly outnumbered in the Community Day Secondary Schools. In this Summer School, these students are in a more gender-equalized setting. These intelligent yet shy females take positions of leadership among their peers (both male and female). Facilitators of past summer schools noticed dramatic and positive changes in the female students upon their return to their respective villages. Many have become leaders in their CDSS’s and extra curricular clubs after the Summer School experience.

Through, teachers, volunteers, and career day guest speakers, both male and female students benefit from positive women role models. In addition, by participating in the same activities with equally capable and competent female students, our male students can reflect on their attitudes towards women. They may in turn become catalysts for change. Therefore the gender equality agenda benefits the male students as well.

Career Day