Students taught lessons at Ulande School in Mang’umbi village
Materials for the school
The team stay at Fisherman’s Rest outside Blantyre for most of the trip.
Hannah and Liz on an early morning run
Cooling off in the pool
Our vehicle at Fisherman’s Rest
Early morning Chichewa lessons on the lawn
Bryony reports on a cultural experience- watching a local dance troupe.
A Gule Wamkulu is a traditional tribal dance that involves dancers taking on the persona of spirit while wearing a mask.
The dance has three functions:
Education
Therapy
Entertainment
Gule Wamkulu often take place on special occasions or at prestigious events.
The dance also involves music and singing. It begins when the drumming begins.
Hoards of onlookers came running to the middle of the village and within minutes the whole area was full!
More information on the student blog at:
http://www.dashtomalawi.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/gule-wamkulu-big-dance.html
The musicians and dancers pose, without their masks
The drums arrive in the village on a bike
T
A nyau mask
The monkey
Pat and Bryony were impressed with the facilities at this local clinic in a village on Lake Malawi.
We plan to continue supporting this clinic on future visits.
Nkhudzi Bay Community Trust clinic
Bryony gives donations to Agness Nyasulu
Several students bought clay pots made by a local potter.
A local potter shows off her wares
A pot before firing
Colourful chitenje cloth can be bought in any market in Malawi.
Local tailors make clothes for the team!
Liam visits a tailor with his cloth
Liam and the tailor show the finished product
Bryony is measured up by a tailor in Mdala Chikowa
Sophie reports on the My Girl project:
We were lucky enough to be able to observe and participate in education sessions for Project My Girl.
Aside from the science, these sessions ironed out the discrepancies between traditional beliefs of menstruation and the truth. It was shocking to learn some of the Malawian traditional myths that the girls originally believed and rewarding to observe them learn the truth and realize menstruation is a natural part of growing up.
Observing the progression in the girl’s knowledge and confidence to speak openly about menstruation was one of the most inspirational things about being part of Project My Girl. It was clear that the sessions had empowered the girls.
We handed out the reusable sanitary packs to each of the girls (three reusable sanitary pads and two pairs of knickers) once the girls had been shown how to use them. Each of the girls were so grateful and excited to receive their own packs and seeing their reaction was a touching experience which will stay with me.
Women walking home after the training session
Emily, a local tailor, making re-usable sanitary pads
Emily with a finished pad
The theme of the trip was supporting education.
The group visited several schools, many of them in very rural settings, supporting their learning, playing sport and helping in their feeding programme.
Nat reads to a small group of enthusiastic children
Becky plays ball with a group
Cataloguing books in one of the school libraries supported by the lodge where the group stayed
We took in part in borehole monitoring which involved surveying boreholes in the local area to asses whether they were functioning or not. We went out in teams to check the status of known boreholes and help repair them. This survey also allowed us the opportunity to monitor the quality of the borehole water.
Bryony at work with the field testing kit
Using a field kit the water was tested for faecal coliforms and in particular E.coli, with some very alarming results, with some water sources showing heavy E.coli contamination.
Work like this allows identification of contamination so that action can be taken which will help to provide safe water to communities, as a single borehole can supply 100s of people (Bryony Down)
Maimoona talks to the Imam and other village members
The group visited the mosque in the small lakeside fishing village when the children were reciting the Qur’an.