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...