Blogs from Nkhata Bay, Northern, Malawi, Africa

It's been some time since I discussed the volunteering I have been doing at Butterfly and I can assure you it hasn't just been one big holiday for the past 6 or so weeks. Since the first week in December I have been teaching 11/12 kids from the ages of 4 to 7 in the morning. They study English from 8 til 9.30 with Alice, one of the co owner's then Maths from 9.30 til 12. From the onset, I have decided to not only teach Maths but to also include Science and of course Geography into their curriculum. My mornings usually include lesson planning which means writing all their exercises in their books. As you can imagine from the age differences, their is a huge disparity in the ability of the children so planning isn't ... read more

More pictures. Sorry for the backlog. Pictures include: Butterfly Space, Sunsets, Chikhale Beach, Luskwe - cliff jumping and more... read more

How time flies! I have been volunteering at Butterfly Space in Nkhata Bay for almost 1 month now. I slowly became used to the heat and my surroundings on arrival and also saw some of the projects which are running here at the lodge. Since then, things have quickly moved on and I am rather busy which is great. Before arriving here, I was always going to get involved with the Butterfly football team but unfortunately, the local Malawian who is supposedly the "coach" is wholly unreliable so I decided to set up my own team. As many of the projects and facilities are available to young local people here at Butterfly, I thought it would be good to increase our connections with the local primary school - Chikhale Primary School. The school is approximately a ... read more

Resumo: morando em um lugar que é a minha cara; Estudando; Criando novos projetos; Estou bem! hummm .. atrasada nos meus posts como sempre. Mas aqui estou para dizer que moro hoje em um lugar que é a minha cara! tranquilo, de frente para o Lago Malawi, comida caseira, jardim orgânico, banheiro ecologicamente correto, pessoas simples, alguns voluntários por perto ... mas preciso dizer que quando cheguei neste local vi esta mensagem "Hidden in our hearts is a longing–to live deeply, fully, and with purpose and joy; to know and be known, to be connected with another, and to make a difference in the world. In the dance of giving and receiving, we create ourselves, our community, and our world.". Assim é hoje e prentendo que assim o seja .. Giving & Receiving, creating myself, my ... read more

The nice description ‘Africa for beginners’ in the Lonely Planet book sounds great and of course you are expecting quite relaxed, friendly and a beautiful country, we were really looking forward to hit the road by backpack in an easy way this time. But when we finally arrived to this country and faced to extreme poverty, hassle which remained us a ‘light’ Kenya and remote capital city so we understood that our trip through Malawi won’t be so easy and it is nothing for beginners in our opinion. The situation is getting worse for every day and we are rushing though this country because you never know what it can happen in the short time of period. However we booked a bus ticket from Lusaka to Lilongwe and the boarding time was 4.30am. It was absolute ... read more