Welcoming in Ed13

As I have mentioned, I was honored to be selected as a Resource PCV (RPCV) for the Education 2013 (Ed13) group.  This is a large commitment, involving for a Training of Trainers (ToT) for a week and a half plus the time you spend with the trainees during training.  I was happy and proud to give this time to help this new group become the best PCVs they can.

If I were to describe ToT and Pre-Service Training (PST) in one word, it would be "enlightening." The ToT was very interesting because I got to see all the hard work that goes into making PST great. It's fascinating being on that side of the operation. I found that I was really enjoying it; it reminded me of RA training as a GHD.


Jaime and I were honored to be the Week 0 and Week 1 RPCVs. That means we met the group at the airport, and helped them in their first week and a half in Malawi, involving countless questions (which we were thrilled to answer), their initial acclimation to life in Peace Corps, moving them to homestay, and their first few nights living in a rural, Malawian village.  A few other RPCVs also came to the airport with us, but they had to go back to work in their own villages awaiting their week with this group.

The airport was fun.  There is a mystical cheeseburger sold at the airport restaurant that we have all heard about as the “best burger in Malawi,” which granted there isn’t a long list of competitors, but there are some good ones out there.  We got to the airport in time to order burgers and eat them before the new group arrived (it was quite good, but not the best).  There is an observation deck on the second floor of the airport where you can normally pay mk300 to watch your friends arrive, or you can do what I did, walk up to the guy with a small posse behind you, and say, “We are Peace Corps here to welcome the new volunteers,” which gets you in for free.  We really started getting excited as we watched their plane landing.

I stole Jaime’s camera and took lots of pictures.  We were told by the boss not to make too much noise, so we did just the opposite and cheered them on as they blinking, stepped into the sun.

 The first few days they spent at the Malawi Institute of Management (MIM), where they had private rooms, hot showers, 5 catered meals a day, and WiFi (basically, they were a little coddled, but I think every group would say this about the newer groups).  I was amazed at the amount of technology they had brought, best seen when they were all taking in the WiFi which was only available in a few areas.
 

After this vacation period of a few days, they moved to homestay and began the adventure as proper Peace Corps Trainees (PCTs).  Jaime and I spent the next four days with them in the village as they adjusted to the real Malawi that they would call home for the next two years, and learn to love more than they could ever imagine at this point.

It was so interesting seeing these experiences for the first time through the eyes of someone else. It's odd to say it, but we've been here so long that it's easy to forget that so many of these things are different from life in a developed country. The reactions of the trainees made it apparent that we have come a long ways in this past year at integrating into our country's culture.  Welcome to Malawi Ed13!  I hope your own experiences are unique but as rewarding as mine has been!