Glow

I just finished one of the most exhausting and rewarding weeks of my service. At Camp GLOW I met some amazing girls and women who inspired me with their stories, whether they were professional women who have gone far in their careers (e.g. the Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development, Honourable Theresa Gloria Mwale M.P.), or were amazingly strong girls dealing with some shit (e.g. raped by boyfriends, pregnant in a country where abortion is illegal, treated like Cinderella by their moms and aunts, and one brave camper shared with everyone that she was HIV+ because she was born with it. Damn). These girls have everything going against them, and I am so impressed that they persevere so gracefully.

I was a co-counselor with Patricia, a Malawian woman who works for an NGO in Salima (and whose brother is currently making me some furniture). We had a great group of girls, who named themselves L.O.V.E., standing for: Ladies Of Various Ethnics. Some other Americans were laughing at this, as I was the only non-Malawian white person in the group, but I pointed out that the girls were from different tribes and areas of Malawi, so that counts as various 'ethnics,' sure.

As counselors we facilitated some of the sessions in our small groups. It was pretty fun, and come to find out, I'm a decent facilitator (I miss Team Lib!). I like getting the kiddies to think about goals, decision making, sex and gender, etc. etc. Thavite CDSS, get excited for the Girl's Club that'll be coming your way next school year!

My favorite guest speaker was Dr. Mary Shawa, the Principal Secretary for Nutrition and HIV/AIDS for the Ministry of Health. She was a snappy dresser (fitted pantsuit in the vein of Hillary Clinton except actually cute), cute and bubbly, with an inspirational life story and good advice. A favorite quote: "Make [good] decisions so that you can be the next future Dr. Mary Shawa." I mean, just listen to the title of her Ph.D. dissertation: Effect of economic improvement projects for women in Malawi on nutritional, economic and social status of household members. (2001). Damn, that's sexy! Although I did appreciate how Chimwemwe Banda, some director of somethingorother at MBC (Malawi Broadcasting Corporation) talked about herself in third person. "Who's behind all these news programs? Chimwemwe Banda is!" I was like: "Annette McFarland really likes what you have to say!"

Callista Mutharika, fabulous first lady, graced us with her presence on Saturday. First, a group of 40 people (her entourage) came to MEDI on Monday to make sure it was up to snuff. It wasn't. Water stains on the ceiling just won't do, so workers spent all week painting the ceiling and replacing the panels. That was the first clue that this lady was a serious diva, (or as she would say, a 'BIW'; 'Best In the World'). Luckily she didn't make any terribly outrageous gaffes; apparently earlier in the week she had made some comment about the shortage of fuel in the country, and how it shouldn't affect villagers because they don't have cars. What about ambulances? Allegra said she saw a woman at her site get on a bike taxi after she had been in labor for SIX HOURS because the ambulance didn't have any fuel. Bike taxis are an ordeal even when you're not in labor-that woman should get some sort of medal! At one point in Callista's narrative of her (pretty charmed) life, she appealed to the girls, and said something along the lines of: "I was nothing special, just like you!" Hmm. My advice to Callista: think, then speak. She also advised us all to be FMOBs: the First, the Most, the Only and the Best. Well, by the very definition of the word, we can't all be the first, Callista. We also can't all marry presidents. But overall, she wasn't terrible, and she was looking soooooooo good! Her jacket matched her skirt matched her shoes matched her purse: hot pink, yeah gurl!

I was pretty enraptured by what Lisa Vickers, Charge d'Affaires of the American Embassy, had to say. She talked about girls empowerment, and going after your dreams, etc. etc., (which, since she was speaking at a normal American pace, most of the girls probably didn't catch), but I was into it. I was just so turned on by the fact that it was part of her job to show up to such a function and say a few inspirational words to Malawian girls and hobnob with the first lady. Yeah, I think I could do that as a career! It was definitely hot.

Now I need to rest. Wine, cookies, soaking my infected thumb and movies at John's are the perfect way to decompress. And I've got a whole bucket of banana wine waiting for me when I get back to site. Glow team glow, shine girls shine!