Madalitso

Thought that I'd introduce you to Madalitso or Mada as everyone calls her. Mada is the daughter of a couple who have worked for my host family on and off over the past few years. (Mada's wearing my glasses in the picture on the left.)

Madalitso's family lived in our house while it was being built and stayed on for some time after it was completed. Mada and her sisters were part of the family for a while, and Phyness (my host family's matriarch) sent Mada to preschool. Mada really enjoyed preschool and loved to come home and share the alphabet amongst other exciting things.

Mada is seven now, and she and her family live a five minute walk from where I stay. Sometimes in the evenings after work I walk over to her house to visit. They have a small house in area that's shared with several other families. They use candles for lighting and charcoal for cooking. They have a well for water. I'm usually welcomed with hugs when I go and visit.

When Mada's family moved out of Phyness' compound they didn't continue sending Mada to school. Education is fairly inexpensive in Malawi. It's supposed to be free, but books and uniforms are necessary and they are not included in the government's free school program. Also, sometimes the education available at the free schools isn't of the highest quality because these schools have very large classes. I was talking to a primary teacher in training and he said that he expects to teach between 50 and 150 students. Imagine a class of 150 grade 1 students! Bedlam!

I decided that I would help to send Mada to school because my host family said that she was very smart and that it was a shame that she wasn't going to school. Mada has started grade 1, but she's behind her school-mates who are two years younger than her. She visits me most Sundays for the little extra help that I can offer. She's learning to speak English very quickly (all school is taught in English). She started responding to my questions almost immediately after she started school (which is much, much faster than I can claim for my Chichewa skills).

She's still working on learning the alphabet and learning numbers, but there's progress. My only hope for her is that she will be able to choose where she wants to go with her life. I think a bit of inexpensive (for me) education will go a long way towards giving her that kind of choice.

Thanks for reading.