School’s Out

Schools closed on Friday for the Christmas break.  Pupils received their end of term reports.  Some children took their reports to show the women at the Women’s Development Centre.  The women are very keen to know how the children are doing.  Once again we spent the afternoon playing games and chatting; some children played with the rubber ball we bought near the rubber plantation while others tidied the grounds.   The planning for the Christmas Party on 23 December has started.

Some people may remember a few years ago I showed a film of James and his young friends making a football out of plastic bags.  James is now at secondary school and he is in the photo below wearing a red top. 

Visiting with Allan & Lucy from SPRODETA

We also popped into Kacheche Secondary school to hand in some jotters.  The school was very quiet because all of the student were sitting the end of term exams.  We were impressed by the school library which was created by the local community.  Now it houses school books issued by the government, however the school is keen to receive any books to extend the reading material for students.

 

 

 

I never tire of seeing the landscape here in Malawi; beautiful banana plants, maize plants, slash and burn, goats roaming, tall trees and the dusty red soil.  Very soon the landscape here will change due to the rains flooding the area thus making the road impassable.  Let’s hope the tobacco plants survive!

 

 
 

SPRODETA has trained people in agriculture and breeding of goats.  We visited a lady who was given 2 goats from SPRODETA in the hope kids will be born and they can be sold to give her a source of income to help her children.

 

 


We went to see the tobacco plants and banana trees.  The workers always have a smile and a greeting for us.  Everything here is labour intensive, compared to back home.  Just now the workers tending the tobacco plants have to walk to the well, carrying 2 tin water cans and go down several metres to collect water.  Back and forward we watch them go about their task in the blazing hot sun.
 

 


There is also a new project being developed – Fish Farming.  Currently the men are preparing the ground for the fish reservoir.  There’s a lot of digging, transporting soil and lifting bricks.  It will take many, many months to prepare; work will cease during the rainy season.
 

I was interested when I saw women down at one of the wells.  The water here is a muddy colour; not clear.  We were told they will use the water for washing clothes and dishes and for cooking.  In a few cases this water may also be used for drinking.  The images of the Water Aid adverts immediately came to mind.  We see these things on T.V. but to witness in reality cuts you right through to the core.  Once again, I am reminded of how fortunate we are to have clear running water which we just take for granted.
 

Donations from Largs

 Last week, Allan Kumwenda from SPRODETA (Small Producers Development & Transporters Association) drove us to see some of the projects they have in the Mzimba District.  One of their aims is to help people in remote areas and to give children the opportunity to be educated.  In doing this they also look at the homes and how the family can be assisted to become self- sufficient to support the children.  Allan took us to see a rural school, situated several kilometres off the main road to Rumphi, between the hills. 

We were given the task of presenting boxes of beautiful story books on behalf of the Largs Rotary.  You can imagine our surprise when we recognised the schools – Kelburn Primary and Brisbane Primary.  I was honoured to present these books over on behalf of the schools and the Rotary.  It was even more wonderful to see the joy in the childrens’ faces when they saw the beautiful books.  Books are precious at home but they are scarce here and it feels like you have given Golden Treasure.  

 

 

 

The DHT who had been at the school for 17 years expressed his thanks and told us how much the school has been helped.  Initially he was teaching outside under the tree but now there are 4 good classrooms and 170 pupils.

 

For anyone who is interested, books, pencils etc. can be shipped out to Malawi through Ravenstrust (see website) for a small donation or we will be home in June for a few weeks and we will be happy to bring some items back with us for our partner schools and others. 

 

 

 

New Babies

Before Tom left for home we visited the maternity ward at St. John’s hospital to see the new babies and give them gifts from friends in Scotland.  There were 10 new arrivals.  In fact one baby was just a few hours old.  All the mums were delighted to receive the beautiful hand knitted outfits and clothes.  Ruth, one of the big sisters was in luck because we also had a beautiful pink outfit of jumper top and sun hat which was just right the size for her.

 

 

Fr. Phillip has told us that they are looking to find out if a baby will be born just before Christmas Day so that he/she will receive gifts at the Mass on Christmas Day.

 

Farewell Tom

We had a 5 hour road journey from Mzuzu to Lilongwe where we stayed for a couple of nights before Tom departed.  Now that Tom is safely back home, I wonder if he is missing the various music we listened and sang along to throughout the various car journeys; Zambian, Malawian and Gospel music… 

St. Peter's Primary

St. Peter’s Primary has had links with St. Mary’s Primary for several years now.  St. Peter’s has so many pupils (around 1, 800 pupils) that it operates a 2 shift system – shift a and shift b. Each shift has its own head and depute, however Mr Ghambi is overall head of the school ie. both shifts. Pupils and staff attend school mornings only one week then next week afternoons.  Classes are very crowded and it becomes extremely hot in the afternoons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Staff and pupils have welcomed our visits.  They particularly enjoyed it when Tom allowed them to try on his kilt.  Now every pupil is sitting end of term exams in every subject, even Standard One.  Paul and I have been assisting Mr Ghambi and the head of shifts in setting up email accounts and training them in creating and sending emails. Several training sessions are planned.  There is an ICT club in the school which is commendable however, you will be amazed when I tell you that only 2 school laptops (previously gifted by St. Mary’s) are able to cope with the internet and the club is using to obsolete desktop computers.  Staff members are keen to be trained in ICT as they wish to assist learners in this area.  Despite the lack of resources, there is certainly a strong commitment from staff and pupils to learn and to develop.  It is also good to see the school library which was a development involving all of St. Mary's community is still the hub of the school.

 

 

 

 

On one of our visits student nurses were carry out school medicals; weighing and checking the children's appearance.  They will make referrals to the hospital if required.  I could not help thinking how fortunate we are to have access to our school nurses to assist in a variety of ways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Observing classes at Lunyangwa Primary for girls

Tom and I spent a morning in classes at Lunyangwa as we were keen to see the learning experiences of the pupils here.  Some things mirrored Scottish schools.  We saw pupils working in groups.  In Standard 7 the girls sat on the floor then sat a circle for their group work. They were obviously used to doing this.  We were impressed by how well the pupils worked together then feedback information to the class.  

 

In another class we observed a science lesson where pupils were looking at model fish and handling real fish.  Once again the girls worked in groups.  This class were sitting on plastic stools but Tom and felt we would be uncomfortable sitting on them for a long time.

 

 

 

In Standard 3 there were around 70 pupils present with the majority of them sitting on the floor.  It looked very crowded and uncomfortable.  Certainly we were beginning to get very hot inside the classroom.  The class was working on English – answering questions from the teacher then completing an exercise from the board in a jotter.  The pupils are expected to bring their own pencil etc. with them to school.  If they forget, it is not automatic they will receive one from the teacher.  Compared with Scotland, staff and pupils are working with very limited resources.

 

 

Standard 1 and 2 classes are very fortunate to have desks which were funded by St. Mark’s Primary.  It is much more comfortable for pupils sitting at the desks and it provides more space in the class to move around. There are around 50 pupils today in these classes.  They were delighted to sing for us.  We also tried singing “Head Shoulders, Knees and Toes” however the African children have a different rhythm from us…….but it was fun!

 

 

Despite the lack of resources teachers had made an effort to have displays about the learning on the class walls.

 

 

Tom and I had eaten breakfast at 7a.m. and by noon we were very hot and thirsty.  An invitation was extended to us to have a typical Malawian meal with the staff at 12.30p.m. Several of the staff had cooked the food in their own homes.  It was delightful – nsima, rice, beans, freshly made tomato sauce, greens, fish and meat cooked with bananas.  Once again we feel the warm heart of the people.

 

 

Katawa Primary and Nursery

Tom who is now back in Scotland will have good memories of visiting Katawa Primary.  We spent a morning filming some of the pupils.  We listened to the girls singing several songs and then Patience from Standard recited several passages from the Bible.  Tom had taken his kilt along and the Scottish Saltire to share with pupils.  Several enjoyed trying on the kilt and doing a twirl. 

We popped in to see the nursery class.  The nursery is now back in the original building because previously there had been problems with the roof. There are 32 children in the nursery.  Martina explained there were 3 workers over the period of the week.  A couple of the children were sleeping on a bed while the others were sitting on the floor.  Some of them were holding the little knitted teddies which had been sent from volunteer knitters abroad.  All the children were looking happy but they were very quiet compared to the children in our nurseries at home.  When I was there I could not help but compare the environment to our colourful nurseries with so many toys and bright things to explore.

 

 

 

I was delighted to receive a parcel for Caledonia Primary which Tom will take personally to the school.

 

 

 

 

Black outs!

We have had several days referred to as “black outs”.  These are power cuts – no electricity.  We normally expect these to happen on a Sunday and have to be prepared. However we have also experienced them at various times during the week without warning.  One morning, luckily I had just made it out the warm shower and all the shampoo was washed out my hair.  Another evening we were fortunate to have just finished cooking our dinner on the electric cooker so we were able to enjoy eating by candlelight.  Nevertheless on Tom’s last evening here we were in the middle of preparing omelette when suddenly the power went off.  You do not know how long the power will be off so we had cheese sandwiches and orange juice instead.

A big “thank you” to our friends for the solar powered radios.  We use them all the time!

 

Charging solar powered light (left) and 2 radios

 

Women’s Development Centre, St. Peter’s Parish

At the Women’s Development Centre we met Virginia(mum) and her triplets, Vincent, Victor and Veronica.  This family is supported by one of the Fathers thus the children attend Katawa nursery.  I do not see nurseries here in schools; this is the first one.  Normally children attend primary from the age of 6 years so the triplets have a couple of years yet at nursery hopefully.  Mum is supported by the ladies at the Women’s development Centre; they give the family some basic essentials at certain times eg. maize. Thanks to a donation from home, nursery uniforms are being now being made for the children.

Rosalee (left) and Modesta (right) from the W.D.C
Mum and triplets (centre)

Once again, we spent a lovely afternoon playing games with the children but eventually had to give up due to the scorching sun.  The children love the Frisbees.  Once again I am amazed at strength of the girls. They were moving heavy logs for the fire.  Life for many females here, I think is very demanding and physical.  I find even just buying the vegetables at the market, my shopping bag gets heavy quickly and I can only carry it a short distance.  Perhaps I should have attended the gym more regularly, prior to coming out here!

Activities at Lunyangwa Primary

We spent a wonderful Friday afternoon at Lunyangwa recently.  The entertainment was planned by the girls and staff so that we would become more aware of their culture.  Normally the girls go home early on a Friday but they stayed to join in the activities.  The sun was extremely hot but luckily we were given a shady spot to sit.  We watched several traditional dances from different classes.  I loved the homemade outfits, particularly the hats.  The girls led their own dances, with one of them being identified as the leader.  Poems were recited about topical issues and then some information was given about the school.  It was evident the girls are very proud of their school. A group performed a drama which demonstrated peer pressure ie. going off with friends when parents request girl stays at home to study

 

 

In school as part of the expressive arts, needlecraft and knitting are compulsory.  There is a clear teaching programme from Standard 3.  The girls showed us some of the bags and dolls they had sewn and knitted.

 

 

Sports were organised; a volleyball match and a netball match.  The supporters were great singers.  I watched in amazement as the girls lifted up the long wooden posts and stuck them down into the ground.  A couple moved large heavy boulders and threw away bricks from the pitch.  I had to smile – risk assessment – not a form in sight!  The volleyball and the netball matches were impressive (despite the heat).  The girls were pleased to receive the gift of a football.  Locally football is now being promoted for girls and there will be a league starting up for the primary schools.  All in all, it was a wonderful joyous afternoon.

 

Nkhata Bay

 

We love Nkhata Bay by the lakeside.  Here you meet many tourists, volunteers and backpackers looking for some rest and sunshine.  For us, we enjoy meeting and bargaining with the stall holders who have become our friends over the years. They greatly appreciate our support and the support from home.  Many of them use the funds to help pay for school fees for younger family members.  Tom was delighted with his raffia sun hats which he will turn into light shades at home.