By Edson Eduardo, Brazil, Development Volunteer team April 2024
Where I live
July... we arrived to Malawi, it looked like a dream ..... we were all so excited and thrilled, everything was new for us, language, culture, people, and environment.
And now going to the third month in Malawi I would like to share briefly my experience here. My quartet and I live in Dowa/Malawi, which is based on one of the most huge refugee camps in Africa, called Dzaleka. I've never been in a refugee camp before, so living near one have been a new experience for me.
In the beginning, I was surprised with the new environment everything was different, but now after three months I am used to staying here and learning a lot about the people around me. I am used to strolling around and receiving hugs from children, they come to us sometimes screaming "azungu, azungu", holding our hands, and give us hugs and beautiful smiles.
I have seen strong women and men walk a long distance every day to fetch water or work somewhere. At the first moment, they look serious but after one glance they smile and greet me. When I go out to walk around I like to take the opportunity to talk with young from the camp, and then I always get surprised by how talented people are in Dzaleka: singers, poets, football players and musicians are some examples of talents I have found here.
My project
About my project specifically, I am a Core Group teacher in Dowa Teachers Training College run by DAPP Malawi. My task here is to give support to students in classes and differents other activities. I also give support to staff members, participate in meetings and get involved with different activities like community projects and youth clubs.
In our first week, we participated in the Building Week, we worked for three days altogether cleaning the school. It was a delightful moment, teachers and students working hard but at the same time having fun, with music, smiles, and a strong energy of cooperation.
After the period exams (two weeks later the students had exams during the morning and afternoon ), I and my quartet organised an evening activity with a bonfire, plays, popcorn, and dance. It was another amazing moment we lived together.
Surely I can't say everything that happened in three months otherwise this article would be too long. But I want to mention how amazing has been this experience in my life, to develop myself as a human being, to teach me life skills, and to keep working to make the difference in the world.
My expectations for the next month
In this month our students will come back from holiday and my expectation is to get close to them to give support in different ways and help them in their journeys. About the youth club and community project we are starting a music project, where I am giving music lessons to teens from our Dzaleka ( the refugee camp). The main idea is work on skills like cooperation, empathy, art, creativity and other competences through music.
I am keen to help them to develop new skills and talents.
Do you think is possible to develop skills like cooperation and empathy through music lessons? I would like to know your answer, but this is topic for another article. I am eager to share about this new experience soon as possible.