Photo Gallery 3: The Primary Schools

End of Assembly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Gallery 2: Katawa CCP Primary

Tuck shop

Standard 7

Photo Gallery: The Orphan Centres

Party food at Mary Martha



Orphans enjoying the party food - nsima, rice and meat.

The Last Few Days

WEDNESDAY – SCHOOL ACTIVITIES – A TIME OF LAUGHTER

Wednesday was a wonderful day, one of the best.  The students, Tom, Heather and Sophie delivered the numeracy activities which were very successful, although the students had to use all their skills to engage the children due to the young children’s language.  At the early stages the young children are taught in their own language Timbuka and English.  The children  loved using the chalk boards.  Tom stole the show when he put on his kilt and did a twirl; laughter filled the class.  Many children came out to try on the kilt, but the star turn was the teacher dancing the Highland Fling.

In S7, Number Bingo using the chalk boards was a hit.  The class also worked in groups to prevent a collaborative poster demonstrating Malawi.  We were all struck by how tight the classroom was for moving around.  The children were all very engaged in the activity, chatting, laughing and co operating.  Tom, Heather and Sophie were excellent at leading the activities.

At Lunyangwa Girls’ School we took photos of the desks funded by St. Mark’s Primary.  The children are very proud of them.  Three children sit on a bench.  Our Scottish singing went down well with the girls, particularly the song Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.  Our highlight was when the teacher brought out the drum and the girls surrounded her.  They started dancing and singing to the beat of the drum.  All the girls have a natural rhythm.  Time to leave but as we were heading up the hill out of the school a teacher came running to request a visit to her class because the girls had been waiting eagerly in anticipation to see us.  The students I think felt like film stars. In this class, the girls had prepared a special clapping song – wonderful.  Once again trying on Tom’s kilt went down a treat.

In the afternoon the students jaunted off to participate in the football and netball matches at the Secondary school while I went to St. Peter’s to lead the teachers’ workshop on numeracy.

THURSDAY – VWASA MARSH

This was an extremely tiring and very hot day.  With some of the Malawian Students we went to Vwasa Marsh.  There was much chattering in the bus.  At Vwasa we saw elephants, impala, water buffalo and hippo.  I loved the experience of crossing the river by going over the sandbank.  A truly memorable experience.  On the way back home I kept yawning because I was tired.  However my friend Playmax beside me would ask if I was hungry. I had to smile because it is amazing how one action can mean different things, depending on your culture.  It was a late night arriving back in Mzuzu.  AH, another black out.  Another candlelit dinner.

FRIDAY – FAREWELL

The 6.30a.m Mass was celebrated in English today – a kind gesture from Father Philip, our host.  Megan read at Mass which was a nice touch. After breakfast we all attended the  Secondary Farewell Assembly. I am sure I speak for all the group when I say it is an honour to represent our friends from home…you are all really helping the lives of the people here.

Time for shopping now.  Tom and I felt like 2 candidates from the Apprentice. Our task was to purchase plastic plates and cooking pots with an hour.  Our kind taxi driver assisted us at the Tanzanian Market and we also visited the Chinese Supermarket. We learned there were different types of pots; some for the cooker and others for the fire.  Tom was the keeper of the finances and we managed to haggle a good price for the pots. We were both delighted, our numeracy skills were tip top. Not only did we manage to achieve our target we also had time to source and purchase some acrylic paints for the boys at Nkhata Bay.  Our successful shopping trip really demonstrated the application of many of the skills acquired in school.

Later, I attended the afternoon assembly at St. Peter’s Primary, outside in the blazing sun.  I presented a football and 2 cases of materials consisting of stationery, boards, pencils, crayons and toys eg. Skipping ropes.  Some of the toys and craft materials will be allocated to the Girl Guides which takes place after school. I showed the children and staff the lovely blue bags Mr January, the tailor, made for the chalk boards. These will now be put on a hook in one of the classrooms for staff to borrow.  Mr Ghambie reminded the staff and children of the funds given for further development from St. Mary’s Primary.   There was much singing and dancing. Once again I reflect on how much at home we take for granted and how much we have.  It is good to share.

Next stop was the party at the Women’s Development Centre.  I read out Abby’s letter to to the children and presented her gift to them.  We were all very touched.  Games time was fun. Once again it is good to hear the children laughing.  The student distributed the gifts from home which the children loved.  Lucy, one of the widows gave me the recipe for the Maize cake.  I will give Caledonia Primary a copy of the recipe.  The uniforms we have ordered from the donations received will widows work for several weeks and assist the needy children. 

After our farewells, we set off to Nkhata Bay for a well earned rest.  Time for all of us to relax and reflect on the roller coaster week we have had.

WEDNESDAY - SCHOOL ACTIVITIES

There have been several unexpected "black outs" (electricity power cuts) therefore I have been unable to communicate.  Malawian people appear to take these power cuts in their stride and are well prepared.  Some places have their own generator. Fortunately our cooks Miriam and Doric are still able to cook on the stove outside to provide some wonderful food.  Our candlelit dinners are a delight and bring back childhood memories of power cuts in Scotland when the family would gather round and play board games or cards. However we have found ourselves in the dark supermarket unable to buy provisions on more than one occasion.  Last year these electricity cuts were usually on a Sunday in Mzuzu but now they are more regular.  If you are lucky to afford a newspaper then you will read when the cuts are scheduled.

Wednesday began with out usual daily Mass at 6.30p.m. followed by breakfast consisting of toast, egg and coffee.  Everyone is now in the swing of things and looking forward to the day's programme.  Tom, Heather, Sophie and myself headed off with all our materials to St. Peter's Primary. We decide to be the 4 Musketeers and stick together for lessons.  This turned out to be an excellent decision because we all loved working together and playing to each other's talents. 

Standard One was our first class where pupils were working on number.  Fantastic!  There were around 60 children present.  Already children were sitting in 4 circles on the floor with their jotters doing addition sums from the board.  Much learning is "chalk and talk" although we could see the pupils counting with stones and bottle tops.  After receiving a very warm welcome we began with introductions and a class lesson to allow the children to tune in to us and for our students to identify possible helpers for them in the circle before taking their activity.  Each student then was responsible for one circle of learners to interact using individual chalkboards for developing numeracy skills. 

TUESDAY: ST PETER'S & KATAWA PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Today was an early start for St. Peter’s Primary School which begins at 6.45a.m..  No time to have breakfast – the water was still being heated in the pot for coffee.  As I was approaching St. Peter’s I could hear the familiar sound of the drum beating, signalling time for assembly.  All the children were gathered in the large open space behind the school.  This is the “First Shift”.  Mr Ghambie, the Head Teacher, began assembly with a warm welcome to me and he extended his good wishes to everyone at St. Mary’s Primary and Parish Community who have been partners now for several years.  The children and staff were delighted to receive the cheque and 2 footballs; one football for Morning Shift and the other for Afternoon Shift.  There are around 1,300 children in total at St. Peter’s, therefore due to the lack of classrooms the school was divided into 2 with a Head in charge in shift and Mr Ghambie being the overall Head Teacher. 

 At assembly the children listen very well  to the announcements of the day; no letters home!!  The assembly rounded off with the singing of the National Anthem.  Ah, this touches my heart, very much.

 Mr Ghambie, the Head Teacher discussed later with me how the partnership with St. Mary’s Primary in Largs is a vital support link in helping school development and improving children’s education.  I am pleased the library, which has been created due to the kind donations and much fundraising at home previously, is still very much the hub of school life. This one room holds all the books for the school. This year, again another injection of books will occur  because of the tremendous support from donors.  Many, many thanks.  You probably do not fully realise the great impact you are having but I thank you because I can see first hand how the learners, staff and community benefit from the books.

 I explained to Mr Ghambie, that BAA Glasgow once more gave some funds.  With the funds many chalk boards were purchased for the school.  I arranged to lead a workshop with staff on numeracy activities S1 – S8 using the chalk boards.  Several staff attended this.  Staff had great fun participating in the activities – thank you to Miss McCallum and P4 for teaching Tom and me the Number Bingo.

 My next adventure was to travel to Katawa CCAP Primary School in a different part of Mzuzu.  I am delighted to be the ambassador for Caledonia Primary in Saltcoats which will now be Katowa’s Partner School.  My transport was arranged – travel by pick-up.  My driver, Kembo who came to St. Matthew’s on the last student exchange, not only drove me all the way, he also escorted me to Mr Mvula, the DHT and school contact.  I felt like a precious parcel being delivered.

Katawa Primary is everything |I remember, except for the crowded classrooms.  Everyone is here and some of the younger children have waited behind just to greet me. Enrolment is good, but like most schools here the learners are squashed into classrooms, with very little room for movement.  Warm greetings are extended to Caledonia Primary and to Mrs McRonald, link person.  Staff and pupils were all excited to receive information and gifts from Caledonia Primary. They loved looking at the photos which will be displayed.  Gifts were displayed on a table and all the children were gathered to see. They loved the books, seeing the school tie and sweatshirt and the photos. There were songs of joy.  The school has one computer used for administration so it will be arranged to view the film from Caledonia later.

Every class greeted me with happy faces.  I truly cannot convey in writing how much the partnership means to Katawa.  The younger classes still sit on the floor, while the senior classes have desks. I heard the cow bell ringing which indicated the lesson period had changed therefore some teachers moved class to teach their assigned subject.  It was great to meet also the ladies who were running the Tuck Shop.  Various items were on sale such as popcorn, little doughnuts and ice lollies which look like ice poles.  They were very happy to have their photograph taken to share with everyone at Caledonia Primary.

The staff gathered and we prayed for everyone involved in the new partnership – may it be a successful and happy one. Soft drinks and biscuits were provided then speeches were made.  It was a wonderful visit.

Time to go. My driver had been waiting a very long time.  The visit finished with seeking out the Kindergarten. I found them in the newly completed Church Hall because their room was being repaired.  The children were having their lunch which they bring from home.  I spoke with the staff who told methere is lack of toys for the children.  This made me sad when I think about the amount the number of toys we have to play with at home?  Perhaps there is something we can do?

MONDAY - SCHOOL VISITS

This morning breakfast was at 6.30a.m.  We has rice pudding, toast and coffee.  At 7.00a.m. attended St. Peter's Secondary School which is ST. Matthew's Academy partners school.  The group was introduced to all the staff then we attended the school assembly which is taken out in the open.  It was wonderful again to hear the students singing their national anthem.  I was very impressed to see the changes which have been made in the past year.  There is now a toilet block for staff members being completed.  Soon it will be finished and this improvement will be most welcome.  There is now a new computer room where the school proudly displays their 4 PCs.  The ladies at the Women's Development Centre have sewn special covers to protect the computers and keyboards when they are not being used. The school library has also been upgraded.  All this has been possible from donations and grants received by the school.

At Lunyangwa Primary, the new Head Teacher greeted us warmly. The school is grateful to St. Mark's Primary in Irvine.  Their kind donation has enabled them to have desks made for the little children who previously sat on the cold cement floor for lessons, the Head Teacher's room has been newly painted and the wiring, sockets etc, has been put in ready for the electricity to be switched.  These improvements will help the learners and staff tremendously.  Louise, everyone from Lunyangwa greet you, the children, staff and all of St. Mark's community.

At St. Peter's Primary, Mr Ghambie had organised the programme.  Some of the children performed a special dance for us and recited poems to welcome us.  Senior learners took part in a debate.  We were impressed by the standard of their presentations.  We shared a snack and refreshments with staff.  St. Peter's extended their thanks to all of St. Mary's School and Parish Community for their tremendous kindness and support.  The Treasurer gave a report.

SUNDAY - DAY OF REST??

The group were all ready for the English Mass which started at 7.00a.m. The Church Bell rings every day at 6.00a.m. signalling the start of the new day, although we have heard the rooster before this time. For some of us this was half and hour extra lie in because the week day Mass is at 6.30a.m. All the students were proudly wearing their St. Matthew's school uniform.  A very warm welcome was extended to the group at Mass. It must have been quite daunting for the students standing at the front of the Church to introduce themselves, however all of them spoke very well.

We had a quick breakfast consisting of coffee, toast, boiled egg and a choice of Blue Riband margarine or peanut butter which is very popular in Malawi.  |On the table there are always bananas because they are freely available and they are a good price.

Our second Mass of the day started at 10.00a.m. which is spoken in Chitumbuka, the local language.  We were all delighted to have heard the good homily at the first Mass so we could still follow. The hymns thankfully have easy choruses therefore we were able to join in some of the singing.  It is wonderful to see the altar boys and congregation moving and dancing to the hymns. At the offertory  as well as presenting the bread and wine there were also gifts from the Parish groups consisting of soft drinks, bread, eggs, flour etc. for the Priests.  It was hot in the Church so you can imagine that after two and a half hours when Mass finished were ready for a cold drink.

In the afternoon we visited the village of Juno which is 17km from Mzuzu. The tarmac road becomes the red dusty road into the countryside.  Some of the landscape is greener than before due to the rain which had fallen before our arrival.  Fortunately it has made the temperatures a little cooler, although it is still hot for us. Father Philip explained that during the rains it is very difficult to travel over the muddy track to the village.  The villagers do not visit Mzuzu city on a regular basis; they would have to walk all the way or walk several kilometres to the nearest trading post to try and get transport.  Mass is only celebrated here a few times of the year.

The villagers, adults and children were very happy to share their culture with us.  We all gained a better understanding of village life.  We were given the opportunity to pound maize.  Usually the women do this to prepare for making nsima. This was hard work.  One of the ladies demonstrated how she would mould the clay for the cooking pots.  We then went to fetch the water from the spring which was not very far away but the ground was rugged and the hill track down was very steep.  Some of the students filled the basins and buckets with water then proceeded to carry them up the hill on their head.  Much of the water spilled over and they were very tired by the time they got to the top of the hill.  This is one of the daily tasks of the villagers. I now understand better why Malawians do not regard walking as a leisure activity.

 

The men of the village demonstrated how they made tools for their farming activities.  We could see maize, sugar cane and banana trees growing on the land.  They also kept chickens and sheep. The children were very happy to dance and sing with us.  On our departure gifts were exchanged.  We appreciated the gift of the live chicken which was placed in the mini bus to come with us.  Each of us fully realised what a precious gift we had been given. We also reflected on how happy the children and villagers were living together as one big family, helping each other without interference from our high tec lifestyle.

Arrival in Mzuzu

We have arrived safely after the long journey. Our flights to Amsterdam then Nairobi were smooth. Father Philip and Father Edmund with Mr David Mhango, the Head Teacher at St Peter's Secondary, were there to greet us at the airport. They drove the group by car, minibus and pick up truck to Mzuzu.

It is now Saturday. It is wonderful to be back in Mzuzu. Our group visited the Mary Mount, the top girl's secondary school in Malawi. Here, the girls, who are boarders were washing clothes, sweeping classrooms and cleaning their dorms. At Mary Martha Orphan Care Centre the orphans and volunteers enjoyed their meal of meat, nsima, rice and greens which was kindly provided from the various donations at home - thank you. The students of the group had planned a variety of games  for the orphans to learn: Duck, Duck, Goose. At then of our wonderful afternoon the children received gifts of lollipops and balloons while the adult volunteers proudly wore the new red tee shirts.   It was great to see such joy and to share the great friendship and memoires we are making for all of us. Everyone had a great time.

 

 

Hi Everyone.

This is my first post, so please let me know when you receive it.

The time is getting nearer for the visit to Malawi.  Preparations are well underway.  Two weeks ago three students from St. Matthew's Academy (Tom, Sophie and Heather) observed literacy and numeracy activities in St. Mary's Primary, Largs. They had a wonderful time and now they will plan their activities for teaching in St. Peter's Primary.  Many thanks to the staff and pupils for their time.

On this visit to Mzuzu I will be going to St. Peter's Primary (partnered with St.Mary's, Largs), Lunyangwa Girls School (partnered with St. Mark's Primary,Irvine) and St. Peter's Secondary School (partnered with St. Matthew's Academy, Saltcoats).

I am delighted to let you know that Caledonia Primary in Saltcoats is in process of establishing a partnership with Katawa Primary in Mzuzu; this is a very exciting time and I am looking forward to spending some time at Katawa.

Katawa Primary School