Hot Day

Fortunately after our visit to Katawa Primary, the rain disappeared and the earth dried up very quickly, leaving red dust on our shoes.  It was very warm in the hot sun. We were setting off to go further north to Rumphi which is always much hotter than Mzuzu.  Down town we took a people taxi.  We had to wait around 10 minutes before departing because the taxi will only go when the car is full of passengers.  Tom sat in the back then a man joined him with loads of plastic shoes. There was easily 50 pairs bundled in.  Two men sat beside me in the middle seat with their bags and Paul had the best seat in the front although some cases were squashed in also.  The boot was weighted down with sacks of flour. 

 

We had a very smooth journey to Rumphi lasting one hour.  It was great to see the green landscape changing to drier and dusty one as we passed through the various villages. It was wonderful to see everyone going about their daily chores; women washing clothes at the well, men and ladies digging in the fields also children playing at school. Thankfully it is a tarmac road all the way. Driving is the same side as Scotland.  The speed limit around settlements is 50Km but no restriction elsewhere.  As you travel further north the temperature increases.  By the time we arrived at Rumphi it was extremely hot, dry and dusty.  It felt our skin was being baked by the blistering sun.  The temperature was around 36 degrees Celsius  but I am told it can rise to 41 degrees Celsius.  Plenty of sun cream applied and lots of water swallowed.

To Katawa

On Tuesday we visited Katowa CCP Primary School in Mzuzu.  This school is partnered with Caledonia Primary in Saltcoats. Once again there was torrential rain falling so we managed to arrange a taxi to take us to the school which is a relatively short distance from St. Peter’s.  On arrival we were made most welcome.  Mr Joy Kondwe, Head Teacher, was delighted to receive the photos and letters from Caledonia Primary. 

Mr Thomas Mvula DHT and link person took us round the classes introducing us to staff and pupils. As we went from class to class we trod very carefully over the wet, slippy, rusty mud.  Everyone was very happy to see us and to hear about Caledonia Primary and Scotland.  Many of the classes at this time were studying English or mathematics using core textbooks.  Class numbers are still large and the school roll is increasing.  An extension is underway; 2 additional classrooms.  Just now Standard One is being taught in the Church Hall; they were involved in a phonics lesson, however they found time to sing a song to us.  Standard One and Two pupils sat on mats for their lessons while desks and chairs were evident (although very crowded) in other classrooms.

Sitting in the rain outside the classroom

Annie teaching Standard 1 Phonics lesson

Standard 2

 

Standard 6 - hands up "we received letters from Calendonia"

The Rev. Highson

The new extension



Meeting Children

Over the past few days we have met several children around St. Peter’s.  Thank you to Craig Hamilton from North Ayrshire Leisure for the donation of footballs.  The altar boys meet every Saturday after 7 o’clock morning Mass.  They are led in discussions and training by one of the older boys.  After discussions, they normally play games e.g.  football.  You can probably imagine how excited they were to receive the gift of the brand new football. 

 

We were unaware of the involvement of the girls within the Parish.  However, very soon it came to our attention that the girls who participate in the choir were complaining to Fr. Nkunika that the boys had received a gift (they were taunting the girls) and they did not.  Of course, in the name of equality we quickly remedied this situation.  The girls also meet to practise singing etc. on a Saturday and play netball.  They were absolutely over the moon to receive the football and immediately started to play netball.

Yesterday at Fr. Edmond’s Farewell Party some children came to join the celebrations.  They all seem to have a natural sense of rhythm.  They tried to teach us some dance moves however, I can you tell you they had fun laughing at our attempts.
 

 

Visit to schools

We have visited St. Peter's Primary (St. Mary's Largs partner) and Lunyangwa Girls School (St. Mark's Irvine partner).  Everyone was delighted to greet us.  Teachers here in Mzuzu have been praised for the good academic results recently.  Good results mean the pupils will have greater choice for secondary school.  It is very, very hot here so now I can see that pupils are happy to be in the cool classrooms.  Outside most classrooms at St. Peter's we can see the water buckets which are well used in this weather.  Classes in both schools still have a very high number of pupils.

 At Lunyangwa, I handed over the generous cheque (£700) from St. Mark's Primary, Irvine.  Lidia, the Head Teacher was delighted to receive it and a Board meeting will be called to discuss how this will be spent on assisting the school.  Recently the school has repaired several walls to make it safer for the pupils outside.  The Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher were very impressed to look at the beautiful drawings from P2/1.  These will be displayed in the school for everyone to look at.  They were also very interested to read the clippings about St. Mark's activities in the local press; loved the homemade Easter bonnets.  They thought the Scottish pupils seem to have a good variety of activities whereas a lot of education here in Malawi is discussion, talking and listening as well as memorising.  Some things however are similar eg. Sports Day.  During our visit we met Standard One outside with their teacher for an English lesson. 

First week - October 2014

Paul (Mr Carmichael), Tom (former student of St. Matthew's Academy) and I left Glasgow on Tuesday 14 October after a lovely farewell from family and friends.  Our route was flying over to Amsterdam (Schipol Airport) then an overnight flight to Nairobi and finally a short flight to Malawi (Kamuzu International Airport Lilongwe).  On arrival we were met by Fr. Phillip Nkunika, Parish Priest at St. Peter's Cathedral who is our host. he drove us all the way from the airport in Lilongwe to Mzuzu.  Our journey, from beginning to end took 24 hrs.  Fortunately everything went very smoothly.  However, I must admit we were a little taken aback when all air passengers had a machine pointing at their forehead before entering the country; they were testing for Ebola.

Travelling by road to Mzuzu was wonderful.  Just as I remember - the long, straight tarmac road, red dust contrasting with the greenery, beautiful purple trees and the particular smell of Africa - fires burning. It was wonderful once again to watch the people going about their daily business; chatting at stalls, selling fruit and veg., walking to market and children playing. Our lunch stop was at Kasungu - omelette and chips.

Finally we were delighted to arrive safely in Mzuzu. I feel so lucky to be able to visit St. Peter's Parish again.  Thankfully, all our luggage arrived.  We received a very warm welcome once again from everyone. The first few days it was very hot and dry; so hot we felt we could barely breathe at times.  Then we experienced the first rains.  It has rained several times.  The rain comes down in torrents and it  lasts for several hours at a time. Fortunately, the drainage channels appear to cope very well with the amount of water flowing. When indoors the sound of the rain is tremendously loud due to the aluminium roofs. Anyway, when we ventured out I was very lucky to have packed my inexpensive Wellingtons from Asda. I know they will be used many times during the rainy season which should start officially in November.  We have also experienced thunder and lightning and power cuts....ah.. we really know we are in Malawi!

Now I understand why many of the young children know the rhyme "Rain, Rain go to Spain and never come back here again.""





At the Father's House



Tom

Anne

The rains at the Cathedral

Rescuing a floating shoe from the channel at the Women's Development Centre
 

Fortunately, the weather has improved; lovely warm sunshine and a breeze.  It is just a nice temperature for Scottish people.