As I write, it is almost a year since I flew back from Malawi after my first visit there with the
Book Bus. Many changes in my life lead me to take that trip but, upon
reflection, I recognise untold ways in which my life has, in return, been
changed by Malawi.
How did I come to visit Malawi?
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| Book Bus volunteer, Andy Wright |
When the twin spectre of divorce and redundancy hit me in the summer of 2013 I
thought of taking the time, and using some of my redundancy money, to do
something a bit different, rather than rush to find work asap. I needed some
serious re-grouping. Gap years were neither fashionable nor encouraged when I
was younger and I didn't particularly want to wait until retirement to find
that I didn't have the energy or income to do this...whatever it might be.
I'll travel, I thought. There
were so many places I'd wanted to visit- mostly cold places like Iceland,
Nepal- that hadn't fitted in with my plans before, so I started to explore the possibilities.
I had a crisis of confidence, though. At the age of 47 I worried that I
couldn't afford to have a gap on my CV. I didn't want to spend a long period
travelling if I had nothing to show for it when it came to impressing
employers.
I'll volunteer, I thought. And so I spent a
few afternoons browsing the web in search of ideas. Many of the projects that I
found were looking for longer term volunteers- six months, two years. Many of
these, like UN volunteering opportunities, were for people with specific
specialist skills or in war zones- this wasn't really what I had in mind. At
the other end of the spectrum were the many companies offering gap-year type
experiences to school and university leavers, maybe with a holiday or safari
tacked onto the end. Again, this wasn't really what I was looking for.
In my working life to date I had
been a primary school teacher and head teacher, followed by eight years in the
charitable sector, supporting small, local community charities with their
resourcing needs and issues of trusteeship. I hoped to find something that
might make use of these experiences. As I searched, one charity kept appearing
over and over again. This was The Book Bus. Instantly I could see how this
would fit in with what I was looking for.
Then I looked at where the Book Bus operated, and my mouth fell open.
Volunteering in Africa
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| Sharing books & stories |
Malawi-the warm Heart of Africa.
As a child me and my brothers had all worn T shirts with that slogan on the
front. They were brought back from Malawi by my father who spent some time
there in the early 1980s on behalf of another charity. I grew up knowing much
about the country- the names of some of the cities, the lake, the currency and
language and the Life President, Hastings Banda. Mostly, however, dad brought
back stories of the people- friends he had made, meals he had shared, welcomes
he had received and children, children everywhere! His visit to Malawi had a
profound impact upon his life and upon ours as a family.
A generation later and here I
was, faced with the chance to follow in his footsteps. Bringing my knowledge up
to date, I learned that Malawi was now a democracy, had been affected badly by
AIDS, famine and corruption but was now rebuilding and recovering. The Book
Bus, I learned, had been working in the country for several years, bringing
books, games, fun and the joy of reading to all those children and offering
support to the teachers and schools in the villages of the Shire Valley.
Books and storytelling
Within a few weeks I was on board
a flight out to Malawi, a journey that has become a watershed in my life. And,
after landing, within a few hundred feet of the airport, there were the
children, excited by almost anything. Everywhere I went during the next month
it was true, there were children everywhere. Playing by the road, selling
grilled mice on sticks on the outskirts of town, in their hundreds in schools
and dancing for money on the shores of Lake Malawi. On the surface, I was able
to bring much to these children while visiting their schools. I brought books
and storytelling, games and I even brought a little guitar with me to sing
songs with them. (I needn't have bothered; they were more than capable of
singing loudly and confidently without me. In fact, in many ways the guitar
held them back!)
"However, what I was to discover was that during my stay I would easily learn more from them than they would from me".
However, what I was to discover
was that during my stay I would easily learn more from them than they would
from me. My first lesson was this- that it was possible to be very happy,
almost all of the time, with almost nothing- few possessions, a tiny house, not
much to eat, virtually no money and almost none of the things that we consider
essential. I wouldn't say that this experience has turned me into a Ghandi, but
I certainly have a very different view now on possessions and need. In the
whole of my stay I only ever saw one child cry, never saw any bullying and only
ever saw happy, content children.
Everyone can sing
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| Everyone can sing |
One of the many highlights of
each school visit was the assembly that began each day. I was proud soon to be
able to join in with their singing of the Malawian National Anthem-
"Oh God bless our land of Malawi, keep
it a land of peace..." and smiled and stamped my feet as they marched
out and on to their lessons-
"We are
marching oh! One by one, two by two..." I was fascinated when
suddenly, and without an obvious signal, one of the children, usually a girl,
would change to another song and the others all followed, switching seamlessly
to another tune:
"Are you ready? We
are coming! We are coming to Chimwabve school..."
When I was a headteacher, I
considered it a genuine privilege to take assembly each day, leading prayers
and singing. However, sometimes it could be a real effort getting children (and
staff!) to sing out loud without inhibition. So many of us have, at some time
in our lives, been told that we couldn't sing and we learn this, just as we
learn that we're no good at spelling, at running or that we aren't pretty. But
to these children in Malawi, it was as if they sang liked they breathed or as
they walked; that no-one considered singing to be a thing that you couldn't do.
No-one here really seemed to think of singing as a performance but as something
in which you took part. This was my second lesson- to worry less about what
others might think of you and just to lose myself in whatever it is that I'm
enjoying.
The currency of books
Books were powerful tools and symbols of education and such a scarce resource that, in many schools, they were kept stored away in boxes or cupboards or, at best, on shelves in the Headteacher's office.
Books seemed like currency in
Malawi; while travelling back from Lilongwe, the capital, we were stopped for
allegedly speeding. It's usual for the police to stop drivers for any number of
spurious reasons but we had learned that the best way to deal with these
situations was to be polite, cooperative and to try and speak a little
Chichewa, the local language. On this occasion we were minded not to hand over
any money especially as we hadn't been speeding. The conversation with the
police officer was wide and rambling and we talked about Lilongwe, his family,
the Book Bus and where we came from. His ears pricked up at the mention of
books and he told us all about his daughter who, although bright, would not do
well at her school as it was so poorly resourced and had almost no books. We
had just collected some new titles from a bookshop in Lilongwe, books in both
English and Chichewa. After a long conversation we agreed to give him one of
the new books for his daughter and, in return, he would let us continue our
journey. Although we felt aggrieved at having handed over one of our new books,
we were also glad to have, hopefully, given a book for his daughter to read.
Girls are particularly disadvantaged in the Malawian education system with a
large number dropping out of school at puberty to take on traditional domestic
roles at home or to be married off. Books were powerful tools and symbols of
education and such a scarce resource that, in many schools, they were kept
stored away in boxes or cupboards or, at best, on shelves in the Headteacher's
office. I remember clearly one particular school where the Head proudly showed
us the school ‘library’, a shelf of about 30 books in his office, still in
pristine condition and unread.
Book Bus volunteers unlock potential
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| Sharing skills to improve literacy |
The Book Bus unlocks this resource
and frees it up to be a powerful currency, one that can buy options,
opportunities and possibilities. All Book Bus volunteers can make this happen,
not just those who come from a teaching background. We are all schooled in the
use, the pleasure and the power of books. Teachers and learners in Malawi watch
us handle and use them in Book Bus sessions and marvel at our experience. And
so this was my final lesson- that books were of high value and not to be taken
for granted. At home I had boxes and boxes, shelves and shelves of books. Some
were favourites that I hoped to read again someday. Some were gifts and brought
special memories. Many were just lying around waiting for me to have the time
or inclination to read them. Oh what luxury! Here, unlike in the school that
I'd visited, were unused books, not because of their value and scarcity, but
because they were cheap and easy to obtain. I had taken books for granted but
never again!
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| A library of 30 books for 600 pupils |
Books: a rare and valuable commodity
A year later, many of the
memories of my visits to Malawi are still strong, thanks to pictures,
recordings, Facebook groups, blogs and, very importantly, the continued contact
with my new friends, Marian, Sarah and Jenny. No doubt some of these memories
will fade in time just as my dad's recollection of his time there as a younger
man have become muddled and faded. But the lessons that I learned from the
children of Malawi I know will stay with me forever: that you don't need much
to be happy, that everyone can sing, and that books are a rare and
valuable commodity that make us all rich.
Andy Wright
December 2014.
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