We went to help a village high up in the mountainous region, too far and treacherous for any vehicle to enter carrying building supplies such as bricks. We arrived to be engulfed by a large group of the children, as was the case at most villages we worked at. We met a group of villagers who were making bricks from the water, mud and clay dust which was available from the ground itself. The process involved mixing water and mud together with hoes, then all of us jumping around in the mixture till it was a smooth dough like consistency. I definitely shouldn’t have worn jeans! The mixture was then placed in casts and left to dry in the sun. As we started to get involved more and more villagers came out to help which showed a strong sense of community. Sunny Nahal
Words can’t describe the experience of volunteering in Malawi. I enjoyed every second of it and hope to go again in the future. From day 1 we started learning Chichewa (the main language spoken in Malawi) and a little about the culture and African music by meeting a chief and an artist. Dan Javed
Please click on a student name to read their reflective account of the trip to Malawi
Please click on a student’s name to find out more about them:
Beth arranged a cake sale at her local church and raised £40 to support rural community projects in Malawi. She talks of her motivation to join the DASH to Malawi 2014 work experience trip and a skill she hopes to share:
This visit would allow me to learn from the people in Malawi and to appreciate their resourcefulness. I have achieved my black belt in Shotokan karate which may be interesting for the locals!
Bethany Doda (Dietetics student)
Rob Poole looks forward to teaching schoolchildren in rural Malawi and having fun playing football with them. He describes his aspirations for the DASH to Malawi 2014 trip:
Experiencing the Malawian culture and their daily challenges will be inspiring and personally educational. I hope that the experience will allow me to have a greater impact on the children I go on to teach in my future career, and have UK schoolchildren recognise the privilege and power that their education affords them.
Robert Poole (Exercise, Nutrition & Health student)
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I have raised over £300 by asking family and friends and by having a collection at my local mosque where I explained about my trip to Malawi and how the money raised will be spent to support children, schools and projects in Malawi.
A member of the community said “This project sounds amazing. Hope you raise a great amount” and the local Imam said “May God reward you in abundance for the fantastic work you are doing. I hope it’s a rewarding journey for you, spiritually and emotionally.”
Danish Javed (Biomedical Science student)