What are you up to now?
- katlynsaley
- Aug 7, 2017
- 4 min read
While home in the States everyone seemed to ask what I would be doing when I returned to Malawi, and why I was so eager to go back in the first place. These are good questions, considering my role in Peace Corps has definitely changed from what I was previously doing during my two year service in Chipoka, to what "I am up to now". I'm no longer living in a village, my feet are clean and my hair is [usually] brushed, I'm not constantly sweating or in my chitenje, and also my scope of work is completely narrowed in. So, with that being said, this post is to answer those questions that friends and family at home were asking and is my way of sharing where I'm at now and what I'm "still" doing in Malawi as a third year Peace Corps Volunteer.
Above: A short video of my first full month back in Malawi.
One Second Everyday for July.
Since I returned to Malawi in the middle of June I have been temporarily sitting in as the Gender Programming Coordinator at the Peace Corps Office. Gender Equality is a cross-sector programming priority at Peace Corps Malawi and Volunteers are trained and encouraged to incorporate gender equality into all of their projects, and promote activities that address gender-based barriers on and individual, institutional, and community level. As the Gender Programming Coordinator is has been my role to support this process by providing gender-based research and training to both volunteers and staff. I am here to help the Peace Corps office and the volunteer community in planning and implementing activities that advance gender equality and lead to the integration of gender programming into all sectors.
During my first month back most of my time was spent on preparations for a Female Empowerment Camp at Atsikana Pa Ulendo (Girls on the Move) Girl's School. This project was suggested by a former volunteer's counterpart who came to our HIV Coordinator with a plan to implement a camp for the all-girls school he works at. Because Peace Corps recognizes that the best projects are always those that are conceptualized by the community they are designed to help, we as an office decided to partner with the school so we could make this camp happen for these 330 girls. However, before the camp could begin many things needed to be done. First we wrote a grant, invited 6 volunteers and 16 Malawian facilitators, sifted through resources, compiled sessions, created a timetable (whereby 11 different sessions were happening at one given time), shopped for materials, and held an orientation...and then it was time for camp. Before I knew it I was one and a half months into the job and the time had flow by.
Overall the camp was very successful (although stressful at times, as I'm sure you can imagine with 330 girls). It was so encouraging to engage with Malawian girls from a private school (most of them who grew up in the city), as the prevalence of good English skills and critical thinking was high, and the creative questions asked differed so much from the girls I worked with in my village. This of course is due to the private school having ample resources, the girls speaking English during the entire school day, and having dedicated teachers who are being paid higher salaries, and not because my girls that I worked with prior were unintelligent or not capable. These girls have just been given more opportunities in their life time and been more exposed to life outside of a village. The girls we worked with will be the future for Malawi and it brought me so much hope for this country interacting with them throughout the camp. During the three days girls were educated on HIV prevention and awareness, self-esteem and body mapping, reproductive health, communication skills, menstruation, how to sew reusable menstrual pads, and more. Below are some pictures from the week.
Above: Our amazing Malawian and PCV Facilitators! Without these 22 wonderful individuals this camp would not have been possible.
Below: One of the campers presenting the things she loves about herself to the rest of her group during a body mapping session.
Above: Helping the campers sew reusable menstrual pads.
Below: Three campers drawing the places they feel safe in their communities during a safe spaces session.
In this position thus far I have also been busy doing other things as well. The programming team at Peace Corps Malawi is at the end of pre-service training for its first intake group of 65 combined health, environment, and education volunteers. As part of this team, and as the Gender Programming Coordinator I was involved training these new trainees on anything gender related. This included sessions on how to incorporate gender into all volunteers activities, using a gender lens with all projects, what specific gender projects volunteers can do, and much more.
In the last month I also had a special opportunity to participate in a "Reality TV" show, and policy video made by PC Malawi. If you know anything about reality TV I think you'll enjoy, so I wanted to post it below. Even though it has little to do with my actual job, we often help each other out in the office, and to make this video our Communications Specialist was looking for characters...my big TV debut! I hope you enjoy :)
Above: "Real World, Real Rules."
This video was made by my talented friends (Brandalyn and Datu) who work for Peace Corps Malawi, as a fun way to present an often boring session for volunteers- POLICY.
Please note that the people in this video are just acting and this is not a true representation of their Peace Corps Service.
Although I am really enjoying my time at the Peace Corps Office as the Gender Coordinator, on September 5th I will be transferring into a Peace Corps Response position with Corps Africa. This is the organization I originally applied to work with in Malawi for my third year, and over the last few months there has been some funding challenges and so my employment has been postponed until now. But more on that in my next post :)
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