March 6 | Arrive in Malawi, Africa
The Republic of Malawi is a democratic, densely populated country located in southeastern Africa. It borders Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the north, and Mozambique on the east, south, and west. Malawi is situated in southeastern Africa. The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from north to south. In the Rift lies Lake Malawi, the third-largest lake in Africa, taking up about 20% of Malawi's area. East and west of the Rift Valley are high plateaus. Malawi is one of Sub-Saharan Africa's most densely populated countries. Lilongwe, Malawi's capital since 1971, has a population which exceeds 400,000.

Malawi's climate is subtropical. A rainy season runs from November through April. There is little to no rainfall throughout most of the country from May to October, and it is hot and humid from October to April. One of its most distinctive landmarks is Lake Malawi, which is sometimes called the Calendar Lake, because it is about 365 miles long and 52 miles wide. How interesting! Those numbers match perfectly with the number of days and number of weeks in a calendar year!

I am in Malawi to visit a series of schools that are using Project Citizen to help Malawians become more educated and involved in the future of their nation. I know Project Citizen is important in many of the Arkansas schools. At the Project Citizen website www.civiced.org, you can click on the International Projects to see all the places in the world that civic education is being emphasized.