Macau Travel Place by Anjimile Mtila Oponyo

A festive mood grips Macau in June, when feasts and fetes abound. Macau’s diverse colonial history has resulted in a heady mingling of traditions and religions, such as the Dragon Boat Festival (sport.gov.mo/zh/sites/dragonboat) (2 June), when rowing teams race elaborately decorated dragon-shaped boats across Nam Van Lake.

Macau is said to be shaped like a lotus, a fact celebrated during the Lotus Flower Festival (14-22 June), when streets and temples overflow with colourful blossoms and lotus features on many menus.

June also marks the Feast of Na Tcha (15 June). On this day, a fog of incense wafts through the streets as a statue of Na Tcha, the Taoist god of protection, is paraded with dragon dancers, beating drums and clanging gongs. The parade undulates from the Na Tcha Temple in old Macau to the outlying islands of Taipa and Coloane.

Salvador de Bahia travel place in Brazil by Anjimile Mtila Oponyo

If you're headed to Brazil for the World cup in June, spend a few days soaking up the sights and sounds of Salvador, where the vibrant pastimes of African, Portuguese, and indigenous South American cultures collide.

The nation's third-largest city and first capital of the Portuguese New World, Salvador is a stunning blend of colourful colonial architecture, gleaming churches and cobblestoned streets which serve as the backdrop for Candomblé ceremonies and capoeira circles, all set to the intoxicating beat of Afro-Brazilian drums.

You'll have your choice of festivals taking place from 10 June onward, including the Festa de Santo Antonio, where young women pray to the patron saint of matrimony with hopes of finding husbands. Don't miss the Terreiro de Jesus, Igreja e Convento São Francisco, or the vibrant historic centre of Pelourinho, a Unesco World Heritage site. Just outside Salvador, experience the splendour of the Atlantic Ocean at Praia Porto da Barra beach - the northeastern coastal climate of Bahia state is warm year-round and rainfall is minimal during the winter months.

Anjimile Mtila Oponyo to Introduce New Secondary School Curriculum Next Year

The Final Secondary School Curriculum and Assessment Review (SSCAR)  Consultative meeting with University Deans from all Universities and  Colleges in the country was held in Zomba to ratify, modify and put  recommendations before its implementation next year.

Principal Secretary for Basic and Secondary Education in the Ministry  of Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Anjimile Mtila Oponyo said  the meeting organized to consult the Deans from various Universities had  come at the right time to make sure their contributions are included to  add value to the curriculum.
Dr. Oponyo explained her ministry had consulted widely from Chitipa  to Nsanje meeting heads of schools to seek their views to make the  syllabus accepted as a national programme aimed at tackling the needs of  the country for social, political and economic development.

Asked on what has been the major change in the proposed new syllabus,  the Education PS said: "Language (Chichewa and English) teaching will  be a combination of language and literature as one subject."

Dr. Oponyo further said Physical Science has been split into Physics  and Chemistry from forms 1 to 4 adding emerging issues such as climate  change, disaster risk management, gender, information and communication  technology (ICT) were among others included.

She said her ministry found it necessary to consult the university  experts to contribute on the curriculum change especially to look into  the transitional part from the secondary education to university  section.

The principal secretary also said her ministry is intending to put  forward a recommendation to parliament to consider abolishing the Junior  Certificate of Education (JCE) saying the examination at the moment has  no meaning because the standard formal education for employment has  been raised to the Malawi School Certificate of Education (MSCE).

However, Dr. Oponyo was quick to say the matter needed wide  consultation with all sections of people to reach at a collective  decision adding her ministry had no final say on the matter.

"The current situation is that even if people get the Junior  Certificate, they cannot be employed. Therefore the certificate has lost  its value. Should we continue spending on preparing this examination  and issuing the certificates that will never be used? It's for all of us  to decide," she said.

Malawi Institute of Education (MIE) Director Dr. William Susuwele  said the new secondary school syllabus has taken into account, among  other things, citizenship, economic development, environmental  management, occupational, entrepreneurial, practical, scientific and  technological skills.

He said according to the calendar in September 2014 the form 1  students will start the new syllabus then forms 2, 3, and 4 in September  2015, September 2016 and September 2017 respectively.

Dr. Susuwele said as a center of curriculum development, they decided  to consult the Deans of Universities to make the syllabus rich and  designed for the smooth transition from secondary school level to  university or college level.
A cross section of participants from Chancellor College, Mzuzu  University, Kamuzu College of Nursing, Health sciences, Catholic  University, Seventh Day Adventist University, University of  Livingstonia, Polytechnic and Domasi College among others, attended the  meeting.

President sister Anjimile Mtila Oponyo is a Malawian development worker and education administrator

Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo is a Malawian development worker and education administrator. She has worked in education administration for the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Development Program where she built schools in Lebanon.She received international attention when she was selected as CEO and head of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls in Malawi. She is currently a principal secretary in the Ministry of Education in Malawi.

She is a graduate of George Washington University, where she received her Master's in Education and took her sabbatical at Harvard Business School. Oponyo was the CEO of the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls until the project was cancelled due to lack of progress and mismanagement of funds. She is currently a civil servant working with the Malawi government.
Raising Malawi Academy for Girls

Once the Raising Malawi Academy for Girls (RMAG) project was terminated, a report was published that placed blame on Oponyo and Philippe Van Den Bossch, boyfriend of Madonna's former trainer. The report was created by philanthropic consulting firm Global Philanthropy Group, hired by the board of directors of Raising Malawi in November 2010 to help the organization restructure its strategy and approach.[6] The report implied that Oponyo and Van Den Bossch had acted outside their contracted roles. The report accused her of “outlandish expenditures”, including getting a "high salary, a car, housing, and a golf-club membership", all which were included in her contract by Madonna's aides.
Legal suit

Eight staff members of RMAG, including Oponyo, lodged the action with lawyer Charles Mpaka at the end of March 2011, claiming they were let go without proper termination procedures. The staff claims that they were being forced to sign a discriminatory termination agreement which was "unfair and unconstitutional" and included a 'confidentiality agreement' which prevents them from defending themselves against defamation and libel. Madonna's lawyer, Davis Njobvu, argued to the court that RMI was a registered trust in the United States and only provided funds for the construction and that there were no contracts signed between Raising Malawi, Inc. (RMI) and the former staff members. A Malawi court dismissed a legal action by Madonna to prevent her charity project from being sued by former employees for unfair dismissal and non-payment of benefits.All of the former RMAG staff members, except for Oponyo, have since settled with RMI.

Raising Malawi now supports education projects in Malawi through constructing community-based schools in the Kasungu District and by supporting scholarships for girls in secondary school. Madonna's visit to Malawi in April 2013 to see these schools was soured by a war of words. While Madonna stated publicly that she remained committed to the children of Malawi The government of Malawi, headed by President Joyce Banda, sister of Anjimile Mtila-Oponyo accused Madonna of lying and blackmail. Trevor Neilson, whose Global Philanthropy Group is managing Madonna's projects in Malawi, asserted that "The President of Malawi appears to be using her office to pursue the financial interests of her family."A year earlier in April 2012, at the Macy's Herald Square launch of her new fragrance Truth or Dare by Madonnain New York, Madonna said she's happy that Malawi's former vice president is now leading the country.
Personal life

Oponyo has six children.She is married to Patrick Oponyo. She is sister to the president of Malawi, Joyce Banda, who is the founder of the development and education Joyce Banda Foundation. She is sister-in-law to barrister, judge and former Malawi Chief Justice, Richard Banda.