Sunday, July 19, 2009

Update from Domasi village

Domasi Village-Suni Village
Written by students Richard Barakat and Raechel Rosen

We arrived at Domasi Village on Thursday, July 9th after a four hour drive from Lilongwe. When we pulled up to our village house, it was dark outside and chickens were walking around. We walked into our candle-lit house and found out that our headlamps were our best friends. The house consisted of several couches, a boy’s room, a girl’s room, and mosquito nets draping each.

Every night we eat an authentic Malawian meal, lit with candles in a rustic setting. On the first day, we were welcomed by the Village Headman and introduced to our “families”. After our scavenger hunt that Mike and Marissa prepared, the local children performed traditional dances for us. When they were done, we all joined in.

The next day we went to a boat safari in the Liwonde National Park. We then took a boat to a progressive school funded bythe HELP Malawi organization.

The following day, we went to local churches, and ate lunch with our families. Then, some group members hiked to the top of Zomba Mountain. On the 13th we were grouped into five different mini-internships or attachments. The organizations included St. Luke’s Hospital, PCI (Project Concern International), and community-based charity organizations (Macobo, Yoneco, and Village to Village) . Some students were unhappy with their attachments due to the slow way Malawians operate. However, everyone learned to deal with it the best way they could.

As the week went on, everyone got started on their independent projects. The projects concerned HIV/AIDS, environment and other African issues. They range from artistic awareness, to hands-on solutions for medical problems, to setting up a plant nursery. We will be using these projects for a HIV fundraiser on Monday.

Our eleven day stay in a rural Malawian village has affected all of our lives and we will remember it forever.