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...

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...

In October 2024, the 10th Malawi trip set off on the 18,000 mile round trip to the ‘warm heart of Africa’.  Fern Graham, one of the students, captures some of the highlights of the trip for us.

  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.

It's been a long time coming, but we're now just weeks away from returning to Malawi.  This week, we gathered three years of donations, stored carefully around the school and beyond, and packed them into 43 suitcases to take with us to October.