Pre-Service Training (July - September)

ACCOMMODATIONS

For the first week, trainees will stay in dorm rooms at the Dedza College of Forestry, which sits at the base of the Dedza Mountain in the middle of a high altitude pine forest.  The facilities are very simple but clean, with common bathrooms.  The first week is designed to orient us to Malawian culture and to the main goals and objectives of Peace Corps Malawi's mission.  But there is only so much we can learn about a culture from a distance, therefore after the first week, I will be placed with a Malawian host family.  The people in Malawi are renowned for their hospitality, generosity and kindness and there is no better way to get to know the people of Malawi than to live with a host family.  At the end of the first week, I will be moved to one of five home stay villages, which are divided by language groups in order to immerse me both linguistically and culturally.  I will be provided with my own room, with simple furnishings, within a family home.  Most home families do not have electricity, but I still will find my evenings full of socializing with my community members by lamp or fire light.  My host family has been hand-picked by Peace Corps and has received their own cross cultural training to prepare them for their time with me.  Additionally, there will be a Cultural Language Facilitator, a Technical Trainer and a second year Peace Corps Volunteer in each village to conduct our training sessions and to serve as a support team for any questions or concerns that may arise.

OVERVIEW OF TRAINING SCHEDULE

Week 1:  Introduction to language, culture, and the health system of Malawi

Week 2:  Community needs assessment methodologies and integration (knowing our community)

Week 3:  Communicable disease prevention (water, sanitation, malaria, diarrheal diseases)

Week 4:  Community Health (EPI, MCH, Family Planning) and HIV/AIDS in Malawi

Week 5:  Food security and nutritional deficiencies (food availability, permaculture, malnutrition)

Week 6:  Supervisor's Workshop

Week 7:  Site visit

Week 8:  Promote interventions for support and adoption of health behaviors such as (Life Skills, IGAs)

Week 9:  Training closure and preparation for swearing-in in Lilongwe