Mrs BB and I were not the only ones who've been away over August,
Joseph together with thirty-five Hampshire Explorer Scouts returned home after almost a
month in Malawi where they were joined by local Malawi scouts
undertaking work on three village schools, building 181 new desks and
repairing further 41, repairing and painting 17 classrooms which were
badly in need of attention, also constructing a kitchen and a toilet
block.
The
outbound flights, first leg London to Ethiopia with a five hour
stopover before taking the second flight to Lilongwe the capital of
Malawi took around 24 hours followed by a very bumpy 6 hour bus journey
to the Ntchisi forest where they camped for two nights to become
acclimatised, daytime temperatures 25 degrees cold at night and with
tropical twlight falling around 17.30 the evenings were dark. Another
very long and bumpy bus journey took them to Mzuzu where they set up
camp for the work on the local schools.
The
uncomfortable bus journeys were just an introduction to how different
things are in rural Africa. Cooking for example throughout the month was
done over open fires, there was a rotation every 6th day when each of
the teams took a day off the work on the schools to cook for the whole
group which involved a trip to the market for supplies. One day chicken
was in short supply so “Jeremy” was acquired at the market and carried
back still alive and clucking, which was a first time, close up
experience with the food chain.
Building
desks involved going to the market, selecting and bartering for a huge
pile of raw timber, which then had to be transported, sawn and cut
before being made into desks. Previously in many of the classrooms the
students sit on the floor which is especially a problem for the girls
who culturally are under pressure over modesty, so sitting at a deck is a
major improvement in their ability to participate in class.
Many
of the classrooms required substantial repairs to the concrete floors
and walls and with that completed all 17 were repainted, many for the
first time and with murals to make school a much better experience. A
library was built at the Mpamba Primary school. The local economy is so
poor that money isn’t available for even basic repairs.
The
construction of a kitchen at the school means that that children can be
fed which encourages attendance. The kitchen was very basic, just walls
and a tin roof. There is a preparation
area, a pantry with cooking done on open fires.
A
couple of local builders were brought in to help with the construction
of a toilet block at the campground which is used by local scouts. Again
nothing very sophisticated just walls, a roof and no plumbing, it’s
called a “long drop” for obvious reasons.
During
the stay a local businessman heard of the project and kindly donated
2million Kwacha (about £800) to the project, a lot of which was used to
provide books and mosquito nets which were distributed to local families
as malaria is a major problem. He also returned with a Malawi
television crew who broadcast a news feature about the project.
It
wasn’t all work, the team had Sunday’s off and visited local churches
and other recreational events. When the work was completed there was yet
another bumpy bus ride to a beautiful camp site at Makusi on the
shores for Lake Malawi for a couple of days, followed by a safari at the
Nkhotakhota reserve.
At the end of the project the team also donated their expedition tents to the local Malawi scouts.
Returning
back to England after 24 hours of traveling was an emotional
experience for the explorers and families alike, with no phone or
internet coverage for over a month the only communication had been 3rd
hand updates on a face book group. All of the explorers were asked to
give their reflections, many of which were about the huge disparity
between life in Africa and England, the life lessons and especially
resiliency and team work they had learned and most significantly the
warmth, friendship and appreciation of the people in Malawi.
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