Susan Cross, primary teacher trainer, Malawi
At 18, Susan Cross considered volunteering with VSO but didn’t have the confidence to go for it. Some 30 years on and now an experienced primary school teacher, Susan returned to VSO. Here she describes the rewards and challenges of two years spent as a volunteer in Ntchisi, Malawi.
Susan on why the time was right to volunteer
Lots of things fell into place for me. There was a change of head teacher, I was divorced and both my sons had left home. Fortunately I was mortgage free, so I didn't have the worry of a mortgage commitment while I was out of the country. I lived in a four-bedroom house which I shared with two cats and I was starting to think "is this it?” I had always promised myself that I would like to try and work abroad between the ages of 50 and 55. So really I had nothing to stop me.
On life in Malawi
I shared a house in a rural town called Ntchisi. My housemate was a colleague and now friend Helen, another volunteer. So any adaptations or trials were shared, which was a great help. The local people were very friendly and were very interested in us. This was sometimes difficult to escape from, but it also gave me a welcome opportunity to reflect on what life is like as a minority.
My favourite things about Malawi were the people I worked with and the country itself. It has such vast landscapes. I can't describe the feelings of having to ride my motorbike (yes, I learnt to ride a motorbike!) over a rise and being faced with a breathtaking view.
On sharing skills
Helen and I were Ntchisi District’s first ever VSO volunteers. We were employed as Continuing Professional Development Facilitators – in-service teacher trainers. We started with a needs analysis for each of the schools in the nine zones of the district, and then put the subjects in order of priority. Amazingly the first subject the teachers asked for help with was Music.
We ran workshops that were based on discussing what the problems were when faced with teaching a particular subject and how we could solve them. We delivered each workshop nine times and the final workshop bore little resemblance to the original one because we gradually adapted to the needs of the teachers attending. Our workshops were always great fun and we shared lots of energisers and practical ideas on locally available resources and how to make them and how to use them. People here would laugh if I took a game into school made from old biscuit boxes, but this was a luxury in Malawi. I think I learned as much from my Malawian colleagues as they did from me.
On the challenges
Often nothing worked the way I expected it to, and until I adapted this could be very frustrating. My capacity for getting things done was limited by the lack of resources, lack of local knowledge, lack of fuel, lack of money and just the lack of infrastructure. I found the best way to deal with these problems was to smile and take a deep breath. What was important to me was not necessarily important or essential to local people. Some things I’d just have to accept, even though I didn’t like it. I could indicate that there may be a different way – but who can say that our way is right?
Looking back
I enjoyed the job I was sent out to do. I hope that sharing some of my classroom skills and ideas about different ways of teaching have helped. Even if only one teacher took something away from the experience, then that is how changes start.
I would always recommend volunteering to people. I really do think that we all take for granted the fact that we can read and write. I never realised that such a basic skill was such privilege in another country.
