Decorating Eggs

School closed on Friday for the Easter break.  In the afternoon at the Womens' Development Centre we organised an egg decorating competition for the children.  36 eggs boiled in the kitchen.  Once again we are grateful to have our new cooker...they were ready in jig time.  The children loved decorating the eggs, then we had an egg race. rolling the eggs down the hill.  There was much laughter as many of the eggs exploded.  Finally the children ate what was left of their egg with a few pinches of salt and some of them tried the hot Nali sauce.  It was great start to their school holiday.

Merry Christmas??

Last week we finally received our Christmas card from our niece in Ireland.  She had posted it before Christmas time.  We now know why it did not arrive on time.  The message on the envelope informed us it was "MISSENT TO MALAYSIA"! (even though the envelope was correctly and clearly addressed).  Obviously this is a clear lesson why we should concentrate during our geography lessons.  Anyway, we are very happy the postal service was able to redirect the card to us.

Visit to Mzambazi

Once again we were delighted to visit Mzambazi, near the Zambian border.  This time the purpose of our visit was to present 42 mattresses for the girl boarders who sleep on the bed springs at the moment.  As you can imagine the girls were absolutely delighted with the gift from donors in Scotland.  Now the girls will have a very comfortable night’s sleep and be able to concentrate more in class.  Paul and I only wish the donors could be here to experience the extreme joy from the whole school community, village head men included.

The pupils had prepared a wonderful programme of entertainment to celebrate this joyful occasion. Pupils sang, went on parade, danced and enacted several dramas.  We could not stop laughing when the pupils presented a Press Conference which included both of us.  I must say we liked the “Malawian Paul and Anne” who were interviewed by the press.

Our journey to and from Mzambazi was an adventure in Fr. Peter’s comfortable Honda CRV; the radiator overheated both ways.  The 30 min stops were excellent for speaking with local people and taking some photos in the hot sun.

Guava Picking

There are many trees in the Fathers' garden; orange, avocado, plum and guava.  Usually on Sundays the children come into the garden to pick the fruit from the trees.  There is always a lot of laughter and they climb up the trees to get as much fruit as possible to take away.

Yesterday a couple of students took a break from their studying to come into the garden and pick some guavas from one of the trees.

Farewell

Today the student group (Alfred, Blair, Harry, Annie, Elena and Lughano)  accompanied by Fr. Phillip Nkunika, Parish Priest also School Director and Mr Ken Mughogho, Head Teacher, started off on their journey to Scotland.  The first  leg is a road journey from Mzuzu to Lilongwe, the capital to catch the flight at 2.15am. on Friday morning. The students have never been in an aeroplane.  Now they will experience 3 flights; Lilongwe to Nairobi, Kenya, then onto Amsterdam in Holland and lastly onward bound to Glasgow, Scotland.  Everyone was very excited this morning.  The students are thrilled to have the opportunity to meet their Scottish friends at St. Matthew's Academy in Saltcoats and I know they won't be disappointed.  The group have been practising their traditional dances so  hopefully many people will have the opportunity to see them.

 I am very excited for them and I can't wait to hear their stories when they return to Mzuzu.  This is a chance of a lifetime to strengthen the school partnership and it will be a wonderful educational and personal exerience for each of them. Meanwhile, with the school we have set up a blog for anyone wishing to find out more about St. Peter's Secondary here in Mzuzu.  Just look up:-

stpeterssecondarymzuzu.blogspot.com

Ready, Steady, Bake!

Having purchased a loaf tin at Shoprite, I tried all over Mzuzu to find household weighing scales.  A couple of parishioners even tried to locate, but alas, none were found. The ladies were telling me they do not use scales but judge the weight of ingredients using handfuls; their recipes are passed on from generation to generation. We brought measuring cups with us, which have been very useful.  I fancied trying to make a cake as butter became available in the supermarket.  Thanks to Louise, Paul’s sister, a suitable recipe using measuring cups was found – Easy Lemon Pound Cake.  This morning, I decided to give it a go.  We were absolutely delighted with the result……mmmm…cake is delicious!!

Exam Time

Just now is the exam period in Primary and Secondary schools.  Every class is sitting the end of term exams in every subject.  In Standard 8 and in Forms  2 and 4 the pupils are sitting mock exams in preparation for the National exams.  On Friday the secondary pupils were involved in taking the school furniture up to the Church Hall where the examinations take place.

Today when we were passing Lunyangwa Girls’ School we saw some of the pupils completing their exam papers outside, in the shade.

"Monire" St. Mary's

This photo is for St. Mary's primary pupils and staff, past and present, and the parishioners.  Mrs Ireen Jerre still has wonderful memories of meeting you all in Largs. She speaks fondly of the warm welcome the group received in Scotland.  We were having a nice meal at her house and she wanted us to capture her warm greetings to you all.

Latest visitor to the garden

Look what appeared in our garden yesterday afternoon.  Just managed to get a quick photo then it flew off (don't know what it is called).

Nkhata Bay

We travelled in one of the “fill up and go” taxis to Nkhata Bay at the lake shore.  The car was very fast …..too fast; it felt like one of the rides at the fair. However, we spent a lovely couple of days relaxing by the lake at Mayoka Village; there was even some entertainment one evening.  At this time of year, due to the rains the landscape is lush and green. It is also lovely and warm.  

As usual I could not resist spending a morning saying “Monire” (hello) to all the stall owners and purchasing a variety of curios because this is a difficult time of the year for people.  Just now everyone is waiting for the maize to be ready for harvesting.  There are also fewer tourists to spend their money at the stalls. 

Open Day at Lunyangwa Primary

Paul and I attended the Open Day at Lunyangwa Girls’ Primary School which is partnered with St. Mark’s in Irvine. This day is for the learners to show invited guests and parents what they have been learning at school.  It was a very big event outside, beginning around 10.30a.m. and finishing around 2p.m. There was even a television crew from one of the tv stations recording.   Learners were singing, dancing, reciting poems, debating current issues, displaying spelling skills, mathematical skills and dramatizing a short play. Science experiments were shared with the audience.   I was also invited to demonstrate a short English lesson with Standard 6 using the phonics method. I was very surprised to hear I was on tv that night!  

One thing I particularly enjoyed was seeing the class teachers dance forward with their students who were receiving prizes for being the best student of the year group.  It was also very interesting to hear how they make shoe polish and to see the various produce which is grown locally.

New Addition

Yesterday the cook tied up a bull in the garden.  The bull is a gift to the priests from someone who has just retired.  As yet we are waiting to see what happens; Father has not confirmed they will eat it.  I hope they don't eat it....we heard it mooing this morning and it seems to be enjoying munching the greens.