I have less than 4 weeks of work left and in typical Sarah-fashion I jam-packed them with events. On the calendar for May is an adults-night out at a local restaurant, a 3 day trip to the lake (which 40 people signed up for!!), a toy/book drive for the refugee camp, the Woman’s Association Food Festival (at which we’ll have an American table) and our big Hail & Farewell Pool Party/BBQ. Whew. I’m gonna be tired. But at least I’ll go out with a bang! Hopefully I’ll have some energy left to manage packout and selling stuff in the 3 weeks that will remain after I finish work. Eek – 7 weeks only! That’s ridiculous.
Last week was one of Nia’s favorite events of the year – Take Your Child to Work Day. Each year, dozens of Malawian and American children come to learn what goes on at an Embassy. This year we had a whopping 50 kiddos. It was insanity. The day started with a visit from the Ambassador who swore them in as “Diplomats for the Day”.
After that the kids broke into groups and rotated to 5 different stations, each presented by a different department or agency.
The health unit, for example, let them look in a microscope and hear their heartbeat. USAID taught them about what kinds of projects they do in Malawi. CDC did a cool handwashing exercise with fake germs and a black light that illuminated the areas that they had missed. Nick taught the kids how to do facial recognition. In his exercise he had a baby picture and 3 adult pictures and the kids had to figure out which of the adults went with the baby picture. Was super fun!
Nia’s favorite station was the one run by our Marines & Security Team. Not only did the Marines let her try on their gear, but she got to learn how to detect a bomb under a car! A very valuable skill, wouldn’t you say?? :)
The day culminated with a fire safety presentation from our facilities team. We’ve done this in the past and it’s always been a huge hit. But this year it was even more mind-blowing for the kids because the facilitators decided that instead of an adult demoing how to put out a fire, that each child could give it a whirl. I’m pretty sure we lit that fire 50 times (maybe more because kids were trying to sneak back in line to do it again). Here’s our little firefighter taking her turn. She nailed it!
