BLOG UPDATE! So as we had our first weekend off we decided it would be a great opportunity to check out some of the locally available activities that our potential 2014 candidates could visit when over here. On Saturday we climbed a section of Mount Mulanje (Malawi’s tallest mountain) to see the beautiful waterfalls and scenery. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain we stopped at the entry point where the bus was stormed by many Malawian men looking to be our guide for the day, allowing us to barter for the best deal. We eventually chose Thomas to be our guide and only cost us a tiny sum of approximately £3 for the 12 of us – which he was delighted with. From there we set off on our expedition and climbed up the mountain. En route we passed lots of women and children from the local village coming down the mountain carry lots of piled up wood on their heads that they use for construction. It was incredible to see the strength of these women and very small children and the strenuous work they have to go through for their families – making us all think how much we take for granted back home. After around 45 minutes we reached the waterfalls that were absolutely stunning and well worth the tough trek over very rough terrain. We spent another 45 minutes admiring them and taking lots of pictures that you can view on the page, and even dipping our toes in the very cold fresh mountain water! After making our descent from the mountain we thanked Thomas for his duties as our guide for the day and he informed us of his stall he has, selling hand crafted cedar wood kurios. This consisted of the usual type of African souvenirs but also some very bespoke items and the group all bought some gifts for friends and family. After all our onerous activities we travelled back to Kabula Lodge to have a nice relaxing evening. On Sunday we made the decision to visit Majete Wildlife Game Reserve – again thinking this would be a good excursion for the pupils next year as they will be working hard during the week on the project. This turned out to be an excellent choice and a first for the Malawi Leaders of Learning group as well. We were given a guided safari around the park by our driver Faiso who educated us on all the animals within the reserve. He was extremely knowledgeable and went into lots of detail about the animals and history of the park. One of the facts we learnt was that elephants, like humans, are either right or left handed. You can tell this by looking at their tusks – the one they use most will be shorter therefore their dominant hand. On our journey around the reserve we witness sights you would only have seen on TV before and it was breathtaking how close you could get to wild African animals. As you will see from the pictures we saw Elephants, Baboons, Impala, Nyala, Warthog, Waterbuck, Hippos, Crocodiles and Zebras. We have decided this will be a great opportunity for the young people involved in the project next year and an even better reward for a hard weeks work. After a good day at the park we drove back to Kabula Lodge through the mountains and witnessed a beautiful African sunset – check the pics below. Throughout our journey, at times you wouldn’t even believe we were in Africa with such amazing, lush scenery around us. However, at various points, we drove through many townships watching the children wave at us reminding the group of the true hardship that lies within Malawi. This left us the evening to make preparation for our second week at Chichiri. Today was the beginning of our second week at Chichiri Secondary School, to which we got off to a very positive start attending the staff meeting and whole school assembly. We were introduced to young people of Chichiri as the teachers of their partner school in Scotland, Springburn Academy. When introduced individually the pupils stood up and cheered, this was a great experience and we felt so honoured to be given this opportunity. The pupils and staff are so thankful for us being in Chichiri, hence the warm reception at the assembly. Following on from this we discussed more of the project with the Chichiri partnership coordinator Damian Likoya and got the opportunity to observe a Maths lesson with some form one pupils and also take a form 1 and form 3 class outside to play Rounders - a game they had nor seen or participated in ever! The pupils loved Rounders, especially the competitive element to it and afterwards we had a discussion with them on how they could play without the equipment that we all have at our disposal in Glasgow. We organised some plans for the remainder of the week and planned some lessons in Maths and PE. Mr Lamb will taking the Form 3 class again to help finish their syllabus and do some course revision in Maths and Miss Timlin will be taking a selection of Form 1 and Form 3 classes to do more team building PE activities that can be recreated with locally available resources. However we managed to gather some PE equipment before leaving and have now donated it to Chichiri Secondary, which they were so grateful for and will now be able to have more sustainable PE lessons. So all the plans are in place at Chichiri for the rest of the week and tomorrow we have been given the opportunity to visit Mary Meals to gather a better understanding of what they do here in Malawi, experiencing first hand of porridge delivery to the children at early years centres and primary schools in very rural locations. Again this will be another good addition to the itinerary for next years Springburn Malawi Leaders of Learning cohort. Keep posted for more updates and please share the page and tell your friends.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Jun 2013 14:24:39 +0000