Giraffer på Youtube! =D
Lade upp en till film med giraffer!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je8Qw_wOZV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je8Qw_wOZV8
En malawisk förskola på Youtube!
Nu har jag lagt upp min andra film på youtube, som visar hur en malawisk förskola kan se ut! De håller på att göra tegelstenar så att de kan bygga ett hus, så just nu sker undervisningen under ett mangoträd.
Kolla in filmen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-JeGnXg5I8
Kolla in filmen!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-JeGnXg5I8
Once
Some days ago I saw a really good and different movie called "Once". It's an Irish movie with lots of music in it that describes the difficulties with love, when you're dragged back into your old life, away from someone you might have ended up with otherwise... is that escaping? I think so.
There's also a very good song in that movie called "Falling slowly" by Frames.
Anyways.
Work here is going on fine, I feel that I really like my work although sometimes it feels too much.
I visited a preschool today that it took almost two hours to get to by bicycle... the way back was almost two hours as well and it was really hot... I slept for a few hours when I got back.
The preschool has some problems to collect the school fee, because the parents don't want to pay it, they don't seem to understand the importance of preschools. So I've invited the village group headman, the preschool teachers and committees, the parents and the whole community for a meeting tuesday next week. I will talk to them about preschools and let them discuss how they will solve this issue, because a preschool cannot be run properly without school fees being paid.
At the same time, I'm compiling all the preschool reports we are making into the computer, so that I easily can give it as one excel document to the responsible person for preschools here at the project. Then I'm also resonsible for the Youth Centre, so I will have to be there some days this week as well and try to improve the managing of it. Now we don't really have it agreed which people will be there during which days, so last week I was there four out of five days and the fifth day (when I was busy with other stuff) nobody was there. So I really hope that I can make it work without depending fully on me.
What more can I say? I really really miss all my close friends now, because when you get to a new place, a new country, for six months, you don't really have the chance to become a close friend with anyone unless you're very lucky. Often it takes time and things are moving slowly. In Denmark, I had just gotten a feeling of that school being my new home after six months, when I had to move on to Malawi. I guess it will be the same thing here, that I will start feeling at home just when I have to go back to Denmark... This thought makes me very sad sometimes, because everything I start building up here will disappear when I go... It feels a bit hopeless to get to involved with people here in one way, since I probably won't see them so much after I leave.
I've made another movie that will appear on youtube soon, about my work with preschools. Have patience!
There's also a very good song in that movie called "Falling slowly" by Frames.
Anyways.
Work here is going on fine, I feel that I really like my work although sometimes it feels too much.
I visited a preschool today that it took almost two hours to get to by bicycle... the way back was almost two hours as well and it was really hot... I slept for a few hours when I got back.
The preschool has some problems to collect the school fee, because the parents don't want to pay it, they don't seem to understand the importance of preschools. So I've invited the village group headman, the preschool teachers and committees, the parents and the whole community for a meeting tuesday next week. I will talk to them about preschools and let them discuss how they will solve this issue, because a preschool cannot be run properly without school fees being paid.
At the same time, I'm compiling all the preschool reports we are making into the computer, so that I easily can give it as one excel document to the responsible person for preschools here at the project. Then I'm also resonsible for the Youth Centre, so I will have to be there some days this week as well and try to improve the managing of it. Now we don't really have it agreed which people will be there during which days, so last week I was there four out of five days and the fifth day (when I was busy with other stuff) nobody was there. So I really hope that I can make it work without depending fully on me.
What more can I say? I really really miss all my close friends now, because when you get to a new place, a new country, for six months, you don't really have the chance to become a close friend with anyone unless you're very lucky. Often it takes time and things are moving slowly. In Denmark, I had just gotten a feeling of that school being my new home after six months, when I had to move on to Malawi. I guess it will be the same thing here, that I will start feeling at home just when I have to go back to Denmark... This thought makes me very sad sometimes, because everything I start building up here will disappear when I go... It feels a bit hopeless to get to involved with people here in one way, since I probably won't see them so much after I leave.
I've made another movie that will appear on youtube soon, about my work with preschools. Have patience!
Youtube!
I have uploaded my first video on youtube now, check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwDvZJGIfgM
It's in Swedish (most of the time), so all my english readers won't understand so much.
Hopefully I will upload some more videos about life in Malawi in the future!
I've just finished watching "Byosoku 5 centimeters per second", a really good anime movie. It's totally one hour long, divided into three parts. It's about the difficulties with love, distance, time and people. A bit sad, but that's also the beauty of it, because it's sad in a very subtle and realistic way. I think most people can recognize themselves in some way. You can watch it on youtube, just search for the name and you'll find it.
Also, I've been thinking about love and how to find it and what it really is... because there is so much that you might think is love, but in reality it isn't... many times it's just fears, hopes, needs or dependency.
I think that real love first must come from yourself, because if you don't love yourself then you won't be able to show who you are to other people. If you can't show who you are, how can someone love you for the one you are?
If you show yourself just as you are, you will one day find someone that you feel a special connection with and naturally start spending more time with that person. I believe that this is the way it will happen, that you just start being together more and more and after a while, the Question is answered even though it was never asked.
The big problem is to just love yourself and have the courage to show other people who you really are.
I'm trying, but sometimes I would just like to find someone that I can naturally be myself with, sometimes I just long too much and I lose my patience. Sometimes I would just need some sign, something that can revive my hope again and make me believe that I'm not doing everything in vain.
It's in Swedish (most of the time), so all my english readers won't understand so much.
Hopefully I will upload some more videos about life in Malawi in the future!
I've just finished watching "Byosoku 5 centimeters per second", a really good anime movie. It's totally one hour long, divided into three parts. It's about the difficulties with love, distance, time and people. A bit sad, but that's also the beauty of it, because it's sad in a very subtle and realistic way. I think most people can recognize themselves in some way. You can watch it on youtube, just search for the name and you'll find it.
Also, I've been thinking about love and how to find it and what it really is... because there is so much that you might think is love, but in reality it isn't... many times it's just fears, hopes, needs or dependency.
I think that real love first must come from yourself, because if you don't love yourself then you won't be able to show who you are to other people. If you can't show who you are, how can someone love you for the one you are?
If you show yourself just as you are, you will one day find someone that you feel a special connection with and naturally start spending more time with that person. I believe that this is the way it will happen, that you just start being together more and more and after a while, the Question is answered even though it was never asked.
The big problem is to just love yourself and have the courage to show other people who you really are.
I'm trying, but sometimes I would just like to find someone that I can naturally be myself with, sometimes I just long too much and I lose my patience. Sometimes I would just need some sign, something that can revive my hope again and make me believe that I'm not doing everything in vain.
The Best Part
Here comes the Best Part, as I promised.
It's also the most complicated... It's about love, of course.
I've actually been thinking about writing this post many times, but I just haven't done it yet... I still don't really feel like I know what to write, but I'll just write anyway.
I've started to write poems again, something I'm happy about. Last time I wrote poems was during high school. I'll post the poems as soon as they're finished.
About love. I've realized that love is something that comes step by step and that you can't really know if someone is "right" or not, whatever "right" means. It's not about "asking the question" or something like that, it's more about just being yourself and if you end up spending lots of time with someone, then probably something will happen if both of you are interested.
So just taking things step by step is actually the best way, because then you also get to know the other person more, otherwise you just see the sides that she/he is showing to you.
------------------
I should also say something about my work here, since things actually really are happening!
This week me, Mitsue and Anna are having meetings with preschool committees, since the preschools are closed during the easter because people are harvesting their maize now.
We are bicycling sometimes one hour to arrive at one preschool where we meet between five and eleven preschools in the surrounding area. We are talking to them about how to make their preschools independent and strong.
Every preschool should have a school fee that the parents need to pay, so that they can buy sugar for the maize porridge that they serve the kids.
The preschool should also make sure that they collect six bags of maize for one year (every bag is 50 kg) if they have fifty kids (adjusting the number of bags if they have more or less kids). They need to buy chemicals for this maize so that it won't get rotten or eaten by insects (unfortunately the only solution).
The best thing is if they collect more bags of maize than they need and store them, because then they can sell the bags in januari when the price is much higher (because it's dry season and no maize is growing). This way they can earn money.
We are also talking to them about using compost, natural pesticides and companion planting, as well as budgets and IGA's (Income Generating Activities). We are trying to involve them in the meetings as much as possible, so we ask them what IGA's they have and what ideas they have, so that it's not only us standing there and talking.
We are having our supervisors with us as well and they are making the translation for us. After the meeting we give them one bag of soya beans so that they can plant it together with their maize, because the soya helps the maize to grow a lot. We also give them some bread and Sobo (saft).
Sometimes they are really listening and those times it really feels good, because we're really doing development work. Other times they just ask us for more things and don't realize that we've been talking about independency.
This is the very problem in Malawi, that people are depending on others to help them, instead of trying to solve their own problems. Many people are just sitting around and are waiting for someone to come and help them, because they see other people that are doing nothing and still recieving lots of help. This is why we always try to work with the people, instead of just doing everything for them.
So, now I've written a lot, hope you're satisfied for now!
I'll write more some other day, now I have to sleeep...
It's also the most complicated... It's about love, of course.
I've actually been thinking about writing this post many times, but I just haven't done it yet... I still don't really feel like I know what to write, but I'll just write anyway.
I've started to write poems again, something I'm happy about. Last time I wrote poems was during high school. I'll post the poems as soon as they're finished.
About love. I've realized that love is something that comes step by step and that you can't really know if someone is "right" or not, whatever "right" means. It's not about "asking the question" or something like that, it's more about just being yourself and if you end up spending lots of time with someone, then probably something will happen if both of you are interested.
So just taking things step by step is actually the best way, because then you also get to know the other person more, otherwise you just see the sides that she/he is showing to you.
------------------
I should also say something about my work here, since things actually really are happening!
This week me, Mitsue and Anna are having meetings with preschool committees, since the preschools are closed during the easter because people are harvesting their maize now.
We are bicycling sometimes one hour to arrive at one preschool where we meet between five and eleven preschools in the surrounding area. We are talking to them about how to make their preschools independent and strong.
Every preschool should have a school fee that the parents need to pay, so that they can buy sugar for the maize porridge that they serve the kids.
The preschool should also make sure that they collect six bags of maize for one year (every bag is 50 kg) if they have fifty kids (adjusting the number of bags if they have more or less kids). They need to buy chemicals for this maize so that it won't get rotten or eaten by insects (unfortunately the only solution).
The best thing is if they collect more bags of maize than they need and store them, because then they can sell the bags in januari when the price is much higher (because it's dry season and no maize is growing). This way they can earn money.
We are also talking to them about using compost, natural pesticides and companion planting, as well as budgets and IGA's (Income Generating Activities). We are trying to involve them in the meetings as much as possible, so we ask them what IGA's they have and what ideas they have, so that it's not only us standing there and talking.
We are having our supervisors with us as well and they are making the translation for us. After the meeting we give them one bag of soya beans so that they can plant it together with their maize, because the soya helps the maize to grow a lot. We also give them some bread and Sobo (saft).
Sometimes they are really listening and those times it really feels good, because we're really doing development work. Other times they just ask us for more things and don't realize that we've been talking about independency.
This is the very problem in Malawi, that people are depending on others to help them, instead of trying to solve their own problems. Many people are just sitting around and are waiting for someone to come and help them, because they see other people that are doing nothing and still recieving lots of help. This is why we always try to work with the people, instead of just doing everything for them.
So, now I've written a lot, hope you're satisfied for now!
I'll write more some other day, now I have to sleeep...
