The school trip is just the beginning!

 

And in the blink of eye, it's all over! But for the 44 students - and nine members of staff who accompanied them - this trip marks the start of a whole new love affair with Malawi and our partners there.

In October, we crossed the Equator to return to Malawi, three years after this trip of a lifetime was curtailed by Covid. We then spent the next two weeks travelling 500 miles to visit our partners in Blantyre, Zomba, Mulanje, Mangochi, Salima and Lilongwe, transported in two Skywaves buses (and a trailer for all 40 bags of donated equipment that would be difficult to buy in Malawi).  Our thanks right up front to the three men who took such good care of us all: Aaron, Alex and Paul, pictured below:

In Blantyre, we spent time with Open Arms at their care home and had lunch with the village chief at Nomala as part of Open Arms' outreach programme. We had a great day with STEKA and their secondary school students, exchanging perspectives on shared interests like climate change and women's rights - as well as some interesting dance moves.  We even managed to squeeze in a tour of the Mapeta textile factory to learn what it takes to produce Malawi's legendary printed fabrics.  

Then it was time to split the group into two to scale the dizzying heights of Zomba Plateau and Mount Mulanje. No mean feat in 30 degrees Celsius but we did it and learnt a lot about the desperate state of deforestation in the area. Thank you to Petal of Zomba TREEZ and Kondwani of Mulanje Conservation Trust for taking us through the superb work they are doing with the local community to protect the environment for everyone.

Two days on safari at Mvuu Lodge proved to be every bit as luxurious as we'd dreamt while spending three nights in tents. And catching a glimpse of some of the most endangered animals in the world - as well as some beautiful birds and arguably less beautiful insects - was a privilege indeed!

Then we were off to Mangochi to meet Thom at Thom's Colourful Classrooms and Rita at Bolera Palms primary school on the shores of Lake Malawi. Once a thriving fishing region and backpackers' haven, overfishing and Schistosomiasis have taken their toll. Thom and Rita are doing their best to provide the village children with an education, but faced with dwindling reserves of firewood, water and fish, increased food prices up 30% on last year and a petrol crisis, it's proving a challenge, even for them.  

The women in Mangochi were particularly appreciative of the (new and gently worn) pants and bras donated by this community through the Smalls for All initiative. Underwear is unavailable to buy locally and essential for comfort and dignity.  So many girls leave school once they reach puberty because they lack the means to manage their periods - a taboo subject in Malawi. Our girls spent time with some of the younger girls, challenging this taboo and passing on reusable sanitary pads made by the fabulous Trinitas of Tinapads, to encourage girls back into school.

Another highlight was spending an afternoon in lessons with the secondary students at Malawi Children's School. It would appear no-one thinks they like poetry, whichever country you're from, but after a session exploring themes of identity and belonging in Ben Okri's 'An African Elegy' and Jackie Kay's 'Old Tongue', Malawian and Scottish students alike were transformed.

After an afternoon of hard study, it was surely time for a spot of retail therapy. Nettie's Sewing Workshop trains men and women, graduates of MCV, to become tailors so that they can provide for themselves and their family.  One afternoon with our group and Nettie's revenues were almost back to pre-Covid levels!

But then it was time to leave and this time to Salima to spend a couple of nights at Kuti Wildlife Reserve Park. This park has been less successful engaging the local community in the protection of its animals and ecology and the ravages of fire, poaching and lack of tourism were plain to see.  Provision of basic school materials to three of the bordering schools, organised by one of the park rangers, went a small way to demonstrating the benefits of the park to the community.

Our last stop was Area 23 in Lilongwe for the much-anticipated matches against the Kalulu Queens and Scores Football teams. The Queens proved to be formidable opponents but our students squared up well to the Scores boys (and yes, they were a bit younger than our team!).  The afternoon proved to be quite the experience - not least in mastering the art of crowd of control.

And then it was time to leave. But not before a quick stop to the award-winning Achikondi Clinic that has achieved so much in reducing neonatal death among mothers and their newborn babies. Charity Salima set up the clinic in 2008 with precious few resources and always goes to great lengths to demonstrate how much she appreciates the support of this group.

So now we're back in Scotland and taking some time to reflect on our visit. There's no doubt that we learned as much about ourselves as we did about the people who make Malawi 'the warm heart of Africa'. We're now reviewing how best we can continue to support the people who do so much to alleviate poverty in this region. We would love to see as many people as possible get involved - here are just some of the ways:

- follow us on twitter and instagram

- find out more about us on the WMP website

- join our mailing list and receive our twice-yearly newsletter

- nominate Watson's Malawi Partnership (don't forget the apostrophe) on Amazon

- become a friend of Watson's Malawi Partnership

- organise your own fundraising event

And of course, stay in touch. We'd love to hear from you.