#camp sky

In April, some other PCVs and I hosted a week-long education camp called Camp Sky. The camp hosted 80 students from across Malawi, and aimed to better prepare them for their important and challenging final exam and their futures beyond school. Two students from my school were selected to attend the camp, and my school chose to send the intelligent, hardworking, and entirely wonderful Ester and Diness:

The national exam was held in July and now the results are out! So, how did these two rockstars do? AWESOME, of course. They achieved competitive scores  of 19 and 20 which will allow them to pursue paths of higher education or careers or more. In fact, with the help of an organization called CAMFED, Ester is already looking over college applications for schools in Malawi and the US! 

“Madam, masowa!” students and friends greeted me as a reminder that I was out of the village for all of April. Yes I was missing, including missing from tumblr, and I’m here now to tell you the biggest and best reason why: Camp Sky!

Camp Sky was a weeklong education camp for some truly spectacular Malawian students, and I was one member of a team of dedicated PCV coordinators. It took us a whole year to plan the camp. We discussed every detail and problem solved more than I ever thought I would- from forming our objectives all the way to buying 68 chickens without any cash. It was one of the most challenging, exhausting, and rewarding experiences of my life.

The camp was a success! Everyone had a great time, learned a lot, tried new things, and made new friends. The biggest evidence of success I’ve seen is in my own students that attended the camp. One week of meeting peers as gifted as they are, access to resources  & information they were lacking, and simply being believed in has changed them. They came back more confident, carrying with them the belief that (as one student put it)  “the impossible is now possible.”

Friends,

I've been in Malawi for 20 months and a majority of that time has been spent with high school students. These hardworking kids face unfair odds just to make it to school. They may come from families who would prefer they were working in the fields or married off at 14, or maybe they're AIDS orphans living with an elderly relative. They walk an hour to reach a school with hot, overcrowded classrooms. They go the whole day without eating, as there is no lunch program. They sit and wait for teachers who frequently don't show up, or simply give them notes in their second language. They do this all so that their senior year they can take a national exam, known as the MSCE, that will determine their future. These exams are not easy. You may remember how difficult it was for you to understand Romeo and Juliet- imagine doing that in a foreign language, while hungry, sitting on the floor, etc etc. Or being tested on a lab experiment in which your school has no science lab and you've never practiced an experiment before. But! There is hope. Peace Corps Malawi education volunteers are organizing a national education camp for 80 of our hardworking, high achieving students, to give them that extra push they need to succeed. They are going to travel to the capital (many of them leaving the village for the first time) and have a week of classes in Bio, Chem, Physics, Math and English taught by PCVs. They will finally get to practice those lab experiments, learn about test taking skills, study strategies, career and higher ed opportunities, nutrition and health, creative expression and more. I guarantee you that every piece of your contribution will make a difference in their lives. Please donate here: https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=14-614-002 Follow along my blog for updates, or check out campskymw.tumblr.com

 When Malawian students are finished with their final year of secondary school they sit for national exams called the MSCE (Malawi Secondary Certificate Examinations.) The exams are scored on a scale of 1 (the best) to 7 or 8 (a pass). Students must pass English and five other subjects with good scores to receive a certificate. The score that they receive then determines their future and options. Students need to have very competitive scores to earn a chance to go to University, and they list their scores on their CVs/resumes if they are pursuing other options as well. The MSCE determines their future and it matters to them. A lot. And we want to help give them that extra push by making sure they understand topics that they are bound to receive questions on.

  “But we shouldn’t focus education on exams only!”

Camp Sky is a national education camp held in Malawi and organized by Peace Corps Education Volunteers. The goal of Camp Sky is to prepare hardworking senior students for their MSCE (national exams) and their bright futures beyond secondary school.

Camp Sky 2014 will be held from April 6 – April 13.

Other facts: