After two weeks in Malawi with the GWC 2024 school trip, Duncan was keen to return the minute school was over.  So here he is now, working for Rita at Bolera Palms Primary School on Lake Malawi and he has just enough time to share a few words about this experience so far! If you know someone who might be interested in a gap year in Malawi,  get in touch >> Returning to Malawi to live and work in a rural community seemed a natural next step after the school trip in 2024. Now, the pace is marked by the day-to-day rhythm of life rather than a series of highlights. It has been a privilege working at Bolera Palms School, teaching everything from maths and English to art and dance. Visiting nearby state funded schools has made clear just how standout Bolera Palms is by comparison, with its consistent teaching and opportunities clearly reflected in pupils’ confidence, literacy and enthusiasm for learning.  Outside school hours brings the opportunity to participate i...

This year, we are raising funds to help the Mount Mulanje Conservation Trust build an education centre.  The plan is for this residential centre to sit alongside the new weather research station which is now reporting live data from Lichenya Plateau at a height of 1890 metres. It will enable local school children to enjoy a similar experience to our own school children, spending a few nights on the plateau experiencing the fragile beauty of the massive inselberg and learning how to protect it. Mount Mulanje is a renowned biodiversity hotspot, a vital source of freshwater and is of huge spiritual significance to the communities that live on and around it. In June, the mountain was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Malawi’s third. Every year, we give some of our fundraising to the MMCT to raise, plant and care for thousands of new trees - including the critically endangered Mulanje Cedar - as part of their long-standing reforestation programme. In this way, we hope to offset s...

After the tremendous success of the piggery business that we supported two years ago, we have been asked to help 12 young women set up a new chicken enterprise.  The plan is to purchase 100 broilers and 100 egg layers and use the proceeds to build a sustainable business and feed their families. 

When one of our students learned that John Swinney was in Malawi at the same time as our trip, they invited him along to our parents’ evening to swap stories. The First Minister had visited Malawi to mark the 20th anniversary of Scotland’s historic Cooperation Agreement with the country. And he was so bowled over by his own experience there, he did just that! Here he is at GWC, taking the time to talk to students and enjoy some of their photos. After praising the presenters and identifying with many of the positive impressions of Malawi that they had shared, the First Minister told the students: “I’ve experienced lots of things in my political life…but nothing has had the effect on me that my trip to Malawi did – nothing.” Mr Swinney said that he had been thinking hard about why that was, venturing: “…it’s possibly that despite the hardship…despite the acutely more difficult challenges that people in Malawi face, there is something still in that human spirit…the joy of interaction...

We very much enjoyed our tour of the new facilities which now include a sewing workshop and a beauty therapy and a hair salon supported by Charlie Miller. Mr Sanderson, pictured here, was quick to take advantage!

Tom's new school vegetable garden is such a success he's building a new wall to protect the produce.  He's also taking the opportunity to improve the playground and freshen up the walls at Colourful Classrooms Nursery School in Mangochi. Looks like everyone wants to help out!   Despite all the work going on around them, the children clearly love getting involved, learning and playing as they go!   See their progress for yourselves in this short  video clip!