“Azongu! Kongola!”

In the morning, we gathered in front of our hotel, once again full of anticipation and exhilaration. Our plan was to go to a school two hours away in southern Malawi. Along the way we saw many local markets, herds of goats and cows, stray dogs and crowds of people who were either carrying goods on their heads or had them on carts being pulled by donkeys. We stopped at one of the gas stations to replenish our bottled water, which caused quite an upheaval as group of young boys from the marketplace, who were selling eggs and donuts, ran over to us shouting, “Azongu!”, which means “white”. We greeted each other and took some pictures. Afterwards, we continued on our way and arrived shortly at the primary school in Chikwawa.

With the young boys from the marketplace

Upon our arrival at the school we were welcomed by the director, Chiwanda. He told us that the school was founded in 1919 and that some of his previous students received government posts as ministers or officials. There are 3 surrounding schools that also send their students to complete their studies here. The school has 1,223 students, including 650 boys and 573 girls. The school has 10 teachers and one intern, and there are 7 classrooms. Unlike the schools we visited on Monday, we’ve seen dilapidated sections of the building, with classrooms of children learning outdoors under the trees. Also, there are not enough houses for the teachers who remain here through the week and the toilets do not meet the basic needs of the teachers or students. Basically, it consisted of two separate buildings, one for boys and one for girls, in which there were always five toilets, which were essentially holes in the ground. There is much more that remains to be done!

In the school

In 2010, UNICEF introduced a new program at the school that focused on education of girls. The members of the program are chosen by “Community Mothers” and their selections are then approved by local officials who are responsible for social affairs. Currently, this program includes 21 girls, aged 12 to 19 years. Girls in the program will receive a uniform, school supplies (pens, notebooks, textbooks- from government programs, children receive only one pen and one workbook for the school year, which is not enough), and shoes. The shoes can be motivation enough for involvement because many students lack shoes but need to walk long stretches on hot roads to attend classes.

Girls with uniform

One of the students, Dorothy Joseph, who after attending the UNICEF program entered high school, spoke with us and said that the biggest obstacles to participating in school is physical distance, forced marriages, pregnancies, and that their teachers are only men, who do not always understand the needs of girls and their problems.

Dorothy

One of the main endeavors of the “Community Mothers” is to try to convince girls, who have left school, due to pregnancy or early marriage, to return to study.

Nzhoteka - Is it possible

UNICEF’s efforts here do not end at traditional education, but they also facilitate youth clubs where children can meet others and learn. There is also sex education of youth, which provides counseling and information about contraception. Additionally, they support children by empowering their parents through adult literacy centers where, during a nine month program, adults can learn to read and write and become self-sufficient.

At the end of our visit, children danced and acted out a play for us, which focused on the issues surrounding early marriage. Afterwards, we presented two suitcases full of notebooks, pens and pencils to the Headmaster, for which he responded with a cry of, “Kongola”, or “beauty”. With that we went on our way back to the hotel. On the way, our adventurers, Stázi and Máca, decided to visit a local market where they purchased some souvenirs and local delicacies, sticks of sugar cane.

"Kongola!"

We cannot wait to see what the next day holds for us!

Children saying goodbye

We built a what?

When I imagined the results of the Soft Toys for Education campaign in Malawi, I thought, “Great! I wonder if we built schools! We probably bought books! Maybe we supplied some uniforms!” You know what you get when you put together a building, some books, a teacher and students? You get a building, some books, a teacher and students. But when we layer in UNICEF’s Child-Friendly Schools Framework, ah, then the magic happens.

Viola Mah and Stazi Jacubcova meeting Mchuchu primary students - by Jennifer Huang

There are over a dozen specific characteristics of a Child-Friendly School (CFS). Mchuchu Primary School near Lilongwe, Malawi is one of the schools supported by UNICEF’s Schools for Africa program with a full CFS package. One of the highlights of our tour was the brick outbuildings which were Mchuchu Primary’s well-maintained latrines. Because proper latrines and hand-washing facilities promote physical health (CFS point 9) so that learners do not miss school. Plus, segregated latrines acknowledge that girls also attend school and must be provided for (CFS point 4). And menstruating girls are less likely to miss school or drop out if the school has private facilities (CFS point 4).

Two Mchuchu primary students using the school's hand washing taps - by Natasa Njegovan

Beyond the classroom, teacher and books, the whole community plays a part in educating a child. Mchuchu Primary’s Parent-Teacher Association collaborates to be family-focused (CFS point 12). Additionally, the school has the input of a Mother Group: 10 women nominated from surrounding villages to advise girls especially on remaining in or returning to the schooling system (CFS point 2). These women act as the eyes, ears, voice of the school in the village, and represent their village when they meet at the school. It is a community partnership focused on the well-being of the children (CFS point 13).

Listen to your elders - Mchuchu Mother's group and PTA members await us - by Viola Mah

The saying goes that it takes a village to raise a child. I’m learning that it takes so much more to educate that child.

Nseba a young Malawian - by Viola Mah

“How did we not meet any snakes?” The screenplay of our trip to Africa

Cut to the airport in Prague. Five excited women stand waiting. Anticipation takes flight and takes us along for the ride. Eventually we touch down in Frankfurt and find our connection. As we board, the First Officer of our Ethiopian airline asks us, „Where exactly is Prague?“ It was only a few months ago that we were asking the same about Malawi.

Cut to Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa. Our first touch with the real Africa. Now that feeling, that realization, is sinking in, becoming more tangible. We are the ones standing out now, the ones who are wearing strange clothes. We take flight once again and travel through Blantyre despite it being further away than our final destination of Lilongwe, Malawi.

Malawi from above

Cut to us, us exhausted and exhilarated five, standing in Lilongwe airport. The whole airport is one basic building, with high-tech finger and eye scanners accompanied with low-tech stamps in a paper envelope. From the very beginning, we discovered Malawi is a land filled with people who are quite simply nice, polite and humble. We are greeted by UNICEF representatives who are waiting for us with 2 Land Cruisers with massive antenae in the front. The cars look like Rhinos with wheels. They’re the domesticated kind though, and they’re kind enough to take us to our hotel. It’s during our journey to the hotel that one of our fears is put to rest. The UNICEF representatives assure us that when we finally meet that deadly snake we’re so afraid of that we take a picture, because it would be the first of it’s kind in Malawi. Relieved, we finally reach the hotel and settle in. Soon after we continue on to dinner where we meet our Canadian colleagues Viola, Natasa, and Jennifer, and our colleague from the IKEA Foundation, Jonathan. We’re here and together and everything‘s going to be alright.

The next day takes us to a meeting at UNICEF headquarters. We discover that UNICEF’s speciality is not just good will and empowering others, it is also, as acting director John puts it, „very good at providing death by PowerPoint“. With our weary eyes, but still beating hearts, we learn that providing education is much more complex than just teaching numbers to children. It is about survival, through health care and nutrition; it’s about development, through education; and it’s about participation, by taking an active role in the society. We also had the honor of meeting Mr. Michael Banda, who is responsible for education, which is in part sponsored by the IKEA Soft Toy Campaign.

UNICEF meeting

Cut to Mchuchu school, our first fieldwork. The school is introduced to us by the Head Teacher, Elise, and the Deputy Head Teacher, Anette. They tell us about the history of this school and show us around the classrooms, toilets and bareholes. Then we meet them, it’s hard not to fall in love with them. Very sweet, very curious, they love the camera, but are still shy. It’s just impossible to stop taking pictures of these amazing children.

Looking at their pictures

Later, we are invited to observe a lesson in Life skills. The subject of this lesson is regarding the barriers preventing effective communication about HIV. The topic provides us a new perspective and the only audience members more engaged than us are the ten year old pupils.

Thanks to the support of UNICEF, kids are now learning in classrooms

Cut to us now as we are being introduced to the members of a school committee and a mother’s group. They play a key role in the children’s education, especially the girls‘. These mothers are appointed from nearby villages and come together twice a month to talk to girls about their troubles. They also visit girls who dropped out of school because they had children. They are trying to persuade them to come back to school to gain an education, which would broaden their options in the future.

Meeting the mother group

As we bid farewell to the children, who were kind enough to show us a glimpse of their culture by playing music with some buckets, complete with some dancing and singing, we handed over an IKEA Family suitcase full of goodies (i.e. pencils, exercise books and footballs).

As we close the door on the first leg of our adventure we look forward to driving a few hours to our next stop, Blantyre. Weren’t we just there yesterday?

- Petra, Adela, Stazi & Maca

What kind of baggage are you carrying?

It’s May 15^th, UNICEF’s International Day of the Family and I’m packing for my iWitness journey to Malawi with UNICEF. Deciding what I will need (sunscreen, long pants) and won’t need (evening gown, heels) is turning into a metaphor for the trip. ‘Baggage’ sometimes refers to negative thoughts that we carry around with us. I suspect that this trip will remind me to stop fretting over traffic jams and bad coffee, and to start appreciating how much I have and am able to do.

I’m taking along many well-wishes from my IKEA family who are almost as excited as I am. When I come home, I’ll tell them about how our seemingly ordinary jobs affect people and families thousands of miles away. We go to work and maybe talk to a few people, hang a banner, restock a pallet. How is it possible that these small actions can change the world?

I’m taking along much love from my own family who are torn between missing me and being proud of me. When I come home, I’ll tell them about how our ordinary lives would seem quite extraordinary to these people on the other side of the world. My two children have always had a cosy bed to sleep in, food to eat, and plenty of water to drink. Can my kids even imagine struggling to be educated or healthy? I’m not even sure that I can. If only I could take them along. Maybe with a bigger suitcase?

Credit Viola Mah: Alexandra Shepherd & Benjamin Shepherd

What I learned about education in Ethiopia

My name is Anita Pap. I am one of the lucky people who visited UNICEF projects in Ethiopia supported by the IKEA Soft Toy Campaign. Even though my trip was six months ago, I still think about it every day.

Arrival

One of the most important UNICEF programs focuses on education in Ethiopia. It is important that every child has access to a quality education. UNICEF focuses on teachers and the training of teachers. The continuous development of teachers is very important so children’s education quality does not fall behind other countries’ students.

A warm and welcoming greeting

One of the major problems is that not all children have the opportunity to attend school. Nearly 82 million people live in Ethiopia. About 82% of the population is found in rural areas and makes a living from subsistence farming. The children who live in rural areas help their parents with housework and work with the animals. Sometimes these children don’t have a kindergarten and nursery. The fortunate start education at the age of four, but some are not able to afford for their children to attend school when they reach the age of six. Many children drop out of school when they have finished the first grade. Over one out of five students drop out of school before reaching grade 2.

Girl at school

Over 3.02 million children are out of school.

European education systems are different from what we saw in Ethiopia in many ways. The children go to school in two shifts per day. The first team’s lessons start in the morning and finish early in the afternoon. These young people have lunch at home then help their parents work in the fields and around the house. The other group arrives at school early in the afternoon and learns until early evening. This team started the day with work.

Blue Nile

They will learn games and rhymes in kindergarten. They get to know some new words in English and Amharic from pictures. Amharic is the local language in this region. Lessons are interactive, playfully and sometimes they try new things in practice. (For example: ball games, painting, math). The equipment is very simple, just like the environment. Often the teachers paint pictures on the wall. There are few images in the textbooks.

Farmers from the area

The biggest influence on me during the Ethiopian trip was when I saw the children and teachers’ attitude to each other. I talked with a man who works in the hotel reception where we were staying. He said to me, “You must respect three people in your life: God, Teacher, and Parents. In that order.”

It was a very incredible feeling when I saw the respectful behaviour for the teachers. The children silently sit in the classroom and watch all the movements and speech of the teacher. Most of the children who live there want to be a teacher when they grow up.

Handwashing station

The teachers’ dedication to the profession and to the children was an incredible experience for us. Sometimes the teachers prepare their own materials by hand to help the children learn. The teachers are constantly training themselves because they are very important for the quality of education. One teacher deals with at least 40-50 children at the same time, but sometimes teachers can have 100 students per class. I see in their eyes their commitment and willingness to help.

There is a need for education and training. These children walk 6-8 kilometres every day in the sun and the rocky, gravel roads, sometimes barefoot, just to attend school. These kids help their parents before and after school.

Spinning cotton

We experienced during our trip one of the biggest opportunities for improvement in Ethiopia: giving children access to education. This is supported by UNICEF, the IKEA Soft Toy campaign, and the adults who earlier attended education programs. This problem won’t be solved easily.

The Soft Toy campaign is much different from other donations. For each soft toy IKEA sells (irrespective of the value), the IKEA Foundation donates 1 euro to Save the Children and UNICEF projects. This campaign runs from 2nd of November to 23th December this year. The donation will help many more children change their lives through having a quality education. The campaign has raised € 47.5 million since 2003, helping more than 8 million children in 45 countries have better living conditions.

Saying goodbye to Ethiopia

Before I went to Ethiopia, I was afraid of what would happen, if I would experience some of the negative things that the media presents.

Fortunately, it didn’t happen. It was wonderful to get to know the culture of the local people. I saw so much of UNICEF’s work for children. I know the IKEA Soft Toy campaign’s role in this and we can help create better living conditions for people.

It seems to me Ethiopia is a country of extremes. Some things are very nice and work well and some are bad, but it forms a cohesive whole. The people have got simple equipment, but everybody uses their minds.

I was very sad at the airport, because this week passed quickly and I was already missing my new friends. But I know I want to do everything possible to make the next Soft Toy campaign more successful. This is my new goal and now a lot of work fills all my free time, but it makes me happy to know that I can help.

My feelings haven’t changed; perhaps they have strengthened. I now have even more of a feeling for this place and culture. Maybe the real home of my heart is in Bahir Dar and therefore it is difficult now to say goodbye. I wanted to visit Africa and I wanted to know the differences between cultures before the trip. And now I only want to go back to my new home, to the dear people I met.

I hope I will come back and that this wasn’t last encounter with Katrina, Indrias, Solomon and other people who live there. I would like to see this country in 2 or 3 years to see how much develops. What will happen to the kids who I met in the kindergarten?

I say goodbye from you, dear blog readers. Thanks to everyone who has read my notes.

I hope I will sign up again in a few years and the adventure will continue in Bahir Dar, or somewhere else in the world.

Anita

IKEA and UNICEF partners in front of the Blue Nile

Final farewell to Ethiopia

Well, the moment has come to say goodbye.

The trip, location, people, tastes, sounds, thoughts, moods were all wonderful. I enjoyed very much the Ethiopian everyday life and I got an insight into those places where you are allowed to enter as tourists.

This was an opportunity which we will not get twice in our life. That is why I have embraced it, and thus got a lifetime of memories for myself.

I am grateful for this journey to the organization of UNICEF, IKEA Foundation, and IKEA, who deliver the program together. In addition, I would like to thank István Bolyky, my colleague in Budapest, who provided the maximum assistance in the preparation for the trip, and to Petra Cempirkova, who organised all of the travel preparation. I could always turn to them for help,they were always willing to help me.

In this trip the most of the help was offered by Katrina Crew, Digital Content Manager from the IKEA Foundation, and she was “our mother”.

Eternal gratitude to Indrias Getachew, who organized all of the programs and provided a wide range of information. His great attitude made our days more enjoyable.

Similarly, a lot of gratitude and thanks to the UNICEF drivers, especially Solomon, because he was a sort of bodyguard when we went out in the night, and he always had a good mood, creating a great atmosphere during the time we spent in the car on our trip.

And now let’s look a little summary from our experiences:

What was unique, interesting, different from the usual for us?

In Ethiopia it is still only 2004, according to their calendar. It was good to be 8 years younger again for a week
Young people move only their shoulders when they dance to modern Ethiopian music, but it is incredibly fast and impressive. They smiled when we tried to do it.
Coffee is always filled to overflowing the cup.
When they drink coffee, they light incense, thus elevating the mood of the moment.
The local residents carry grain, with their bags and dishes on the top of their heads; they do not carry it in their hands.
The boys on street corners clean people’s shoes, who ask for this service.

In paintings, if a person only has one eye, that person is bad; people with both eyes are good.
There are many poor people wearing a medal with the image of Maria Theresa on their neck, which is worn with great respect. The coin also serves as a means of payment, as it is silver.

If you touch a certain product at the street stalls you are no longer allowed to leave without the merchandise. If the price is not suitable for you, and you want to leave, the seller will go after you and begin to negotiate until you buy the goods at the right price, which is suitable for both of you.
There is carpet on the floor only in the kindergarten we saw. The kids have to take off their shoes, so the shoes are lined up outside the “group room”. Otherwise the room was empty, we could not see any other games or equipment in it.

At pedestrian crossings on the road cars have priority. If pedestrians are using pedestrian crossings, cars use their horn and drive in front of pedestrians.
Traffic lamps are rare there; a policeman directs traffic at critical crossroads.
Taxis are blue and white painted Lada cars in Addis Ababa. The locals say these are very strong, only they possess traction on a gravel road.

What was admirable?

The respect with which the children listened to their teachers during lessons. There was not any shouting or quarrels.
A lot of smiling, bright-eyed children
Their friendly manner. Almost everyone smiled and waved at us.
People work hard, and show strength.
Their attitude to work. There are very high poverty levels, but the Ethiopian people are hard workers. I took a photo from the airplane above to see a lot of cultivated plots.

A lot of eucalyptus trees, with their wonderful healing effect
Drivers watch out for humans and animals on the sides of the road. They can use the car horn in order to warn them to keep off lest they get hurt.
Their culture and monuments that are centuries old shine in glory. (Some buildings have not been restored, and they are still amazing).

What fills me with regret?

The poor lack of equipment at school
Many children have no shoes on their feet
The lack of basic hygiene (toilet, hand washing) for most schools, restaurants
Even with UNICEF’s help many don’t have learning opportunities

That’s why I would like to finally ask everyone who has an opportunity to help during the IKEA Soft Toy campaign before Christmastime to promote children’s education, because after each soft toy is sold, the IKEA Foundation gives one euro to UNICEF or Save the Children, who spend the money on those improvements which we described in our previous blogs.

Water supply program in Gunda village

On Thursday we visited Gunda village and the local primary school to learn about the community water supply.

The children had a surprise for us. When we arrived they were waiting for us in front of the school in a big group with a wonderful bouquet and sang a greeting song for us. It was a very touching moment. Then they presented us with the well (and its operation) which is in a closed place and they are guarding it.

Children in Ethiopia pump water from a well

This well is very useful, because it makes their lives so much easier. Before they had it, the women and girls used to have to walk many kilometers to find fresh water, and they had to walk barefoot in a stream, so they often cut their feet on the rocks. Now the well is close to their homes.

Each family donates 1 birr ( =13 HUF, = 0,04 EUR) a month and it’s put into a bank account, which they manage, in case of problems. The well is 13 m deep and gives fresh and clean water to 40 families (on average there are seven members in a family) so it serves 280 people.

After that we visited a traditional house and household. This was very pretty. It has a living- and bedroom together. Children sleep in the living room, parents sleep on the loft and in the house is a separate room for sheep. The kitchen is in a separate building. In the kitchen a woman brought out some cotton which is used for making clothes and bags. Anita and Sara tried to spin it. It was very funny, because only Sara could do it the right way. The toilet is separate too, and they can wash their hands there. This is a very big thing, because they couldn’t do it before.

At the end of the visit the local people entertained us for a picnic and we had an opportunity to taste some kind of beans and seeds. They made us a traditional local food (named fir-fir) which is Katrina’s favorite Ethiopian food: bread (which is rather like a pancake, but the batter is lighter) with a vegetable puree. This has an interesting taste. The bread is a little sour and the puree is very hot. I didn’t like it very much because I don’t like spicy foods. And they made for us a very tasty coffee.

Visitors eat lunch with a community in Ethiopia

Visiting health and business projects in Ethiopia

We had a wonderful day on Wednesday.

Early morning we went to Dera Woreda, where we could see the Health Extension Program of UNICEF.

We visited Gibtsawit health post. It gave us a sense of what Ethiopia is doing to improve health with support from UNICEF.

We heard about different services (health promotion, community-based nutrition and selected curative and preventative health services) provided at the health post.

Other specific services include:
- immunization,
- diagnosis and treatment of common childhood illness such as diarrhea, malaria, pneumonia and severe acute malnutrition,
- growth monitoring for children under 2,
- community conversation,
- HIV counseling and testing among others.

While we were there, an Ethiopian man arrived and the health extension workers (Misa) took some blood in order to check if the man was infected by malaria or not. Fortunately he was healthy. Anita also wanted Misa to check her blood, but it would have taken approximately 20 minutes and we had not enough time to wait for it.

Otherwise Anita got a special tool for measuring mid-upper arm in order to see if childen and pregnant women are malnourished or not.

We saw a labour room here, because if the childbirth is uncomplicated, women can bear their children here.

After that, we went to a primary school and observed a school health program. Here children get information, education about the basic hygenic customs (eg. wash their hands before eating, after using toilet).

Here we saw the “model farmhouse”, which was built from local materials. There is disinfectant liquid in the playground, they show the children how to cook the meals in order to be healthier.

We went to another school. The classroom had only some equipment, which is not enough. We got information about the fact that UNICEF will impove this school with money from the IKEA Soft Toy campaign. (Now the floor is made of dirt, not concrete; the chairs, desks and roof need repairing.)

In the afternoon we visited some business owners, who could realise their businesses with the help of UNICEF and goverment.

They support those people, who ask for help and whose action plans are appropriate for this project. We saw three businesses. One of them was a coffee shop, where we could taste the world-famous, real Ethiopian coffee.

Here we learned some interesting information:
- wages of a women, who previously worked in construction: 8 Ethiopian Birr per a day (105 HUF = 35 euro cents)
- people need approx 600 Ethiopian Birr per a month for living (7.800 HUF = 26 Euro)
- average salary of teachers: 800 Ethiopian Birr per a month (10.400 HUF = 35 Euro)

When we finished our program, we did not want to go back to the hotel, because we enjoyed this day, so we wanted to continue…

Visit to an IKEA Foundation-funded school in Ethiopia

Dear blog readers!

I send a message to you from Bahir Dar today, where people are very friendly. Indrias (he is a UNICEF Communication Specialist) and Salamon (UNICEF driver and helper) help us a lot. We learned some new expressions in Amharic – an Ethiopian language (for example: thank you “ameseginalew”, cheers “letenachin”, good morning “dena aderik” for men and “dena aderish” for women). We have taught them some Hungarian words – they speak Hungarian well.

This morning we went to 2 schools near Bahir Dar. We learned a lot of interesting information about student and teachers. This education system is very different from ours. Children go together between age 4 and 6 in a kindergarten before first grade, just like in Hungary. The kids are too cute. I held back my tears only 3 minutes when I heard children’s voices and they greeted our team. I felt tears running down my face. Can you imagine that situation? Everybody kept smiling, just one girl was crying. Yes, the only one was me .

I was so happy when I sat down among them. The children showed us a traditional game and dance. Sara convinced me to sing some traditional Hungarian kids songs together. It was funny, but it seems to me children liked our small, spontaneously production.

After when we finished, Indrias said we had to go to another class. I was so sad, because I wanted to stay there with my new friends. Indrias asked the children, “What do you think if the girls stay here?” The children looked scared. 

We visited the second class where we tried to learn how to write our names.

We have experienced a lot of beautiful and incredible things, but now it`s not the end. We will experience traditional Ethiopian dancing with Indrias and Salamon tonight.

IWitness Global Citizens Blog