May 8, 2011
Happy Mother’s Day! I am now officially settled in Malawi! I am sitting on top of a bunk bed, in a room with five other Junior Fellows, and in a hostel in Lilongwe, the capitol of Malawi. Notice I chose the bottom up approach to explain my current location. Bed, room, hostel, city, country. Hey, I made a framework!
Our first flight left Saturday morning at 7am and our last flight landed in Lilongwe at 12:00 pm this afternoon. This is not as dramatic as it sounds though, because technically I am 6 hours ahead of those in Toronto, where we flew out. During this time I ate three airplane meals and slept 7 hours! I had a lot on my mind as we flew over the ocean (FYI we changed course to bypass Libya). I have committed to myself and fellow JFs to value other’s knowledge, opinions, and perspectives more than my own. I am worried that I won’t ask enough questions to understand, or speak so much that I shut down someone else’s perspective. I am walking into this situation with a serious lack of experience. I am reflecting back to B. Magee’s session about cultural understanding where he explained it as an ice berg. You may see the uppermost obvious information about a culture like clothing, language, and music and this is the part of the ice berg above the water that is obvious to the naked eye. However, there is so much more rich information below the water that a stranger will not see instantly. This includes family roles, livelihoods, gender equality, values, religion, and other hidden cultural qualities. I am worried I won’t ask the right questions or have the right approach to begin understanding the hidden cultural qualities. Thank goodness for pre-departure training to help prepare us for this. So much love for B. Magee, Cat Denis, my coach Annette, and all of the supportive figures from national office.
Tonight Duncan gave us an hour session of speaking the language Chichewa, Anna orientated us to safety and logistics. I have a meeting with Jolly Ann tomorrow morning to discuss everything I need to know about the community led total sanitation before my placement. I have finished multiple assignments and have emailed her back and forth, but tomorrow is when we meet face to face. I am so excited about getting into the headspace and transitioning into Malawi’s culture.
One more thing, I hung my mosquito net for the first time tonight. The six people sleeping in this room all look so cute huddling underneath the equivalency of a princess canopy that my sister in Canada owns.
Much love,
Karina
I'm happy to hear you arrived and are getting settled in Malawi :)
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to asking questions, learning and adapting I know those questions when they come to you. In the nearly 2 years we've been friends many of our conversations have shown me how inquisitive and insightful you truly are! I know you will do amazing and I can't wait to read you're future posts :)
Ahhh Karina I am so happy that you have landed safe and are starting to settle in. It sounds like you have met some amazing people who are helping you get adjusted to the Malawian culture. Keep up with that malaria protection (remember what we learned in microbiology)!
ReplyDeleteLove you and praying for you always
Jaye
Hey lovers! THank you for your messages!! I love hearing from all of you! THank you for your encouragement as well! I hope the summer is off to a grand start for you! Feel free to post some info about your summer adventures as well! i love hearing stories from back home!
ReplyDeletemuch love,
Karina
I am sure you have already asked lots of questions to help you understand more and more "information below the iceberg". And I am learning from you along the way that I am reading your posts!
ReplyDelete