It's been some time since I did some blogging so maybe time to explain. I'm currently in Scotland as I had to come home unexpectedly at the end of October to deal with some family issues which have been keeping me busy but thankfully the invalid is now well on the way to recovery. During this time Malawi has been on my mind and I do keep in touch with the office to make sure things are running smoothly. Sadly the situation with regard to FOREX, Fuel etc has not improved and the impact this is having on the economy is causing escalating food prices so the picture of daily life for the ordinary Malawian is grim.
Just before I had to leave we finally struck water close to the site. The drillers had several attempts within our boundary but no luck so eventually they had to move outside and on to Mbano family land and we are grateful to the Mbano family for allowing us to do this. The water source is some 600 metres from our boundary and will require to be piped to the site. The drillers also had to go deeper than normal to reach water so a standard AFridev hand pump will not deliver the water meaning we will have to have a solar pump installed - with the additional expense this will involve. The plan is to have the water pumped to the school site and stored in tanks for distribution to the staff houses, hostel etc. The Corrigan family continue to raise money for this project and we are extremely grateful to them. Once completed this will be dedicated to the memory of Owen Corrigan. Estimates for this work have been received and hopefully once the rains are over work will begin on getting the water on site.
With water no longer a problem we are in a position to apply for the licence to open the school for our first intake of students and hope to be ready for the start of the academic year this September. Obvioulsy there is a lot of preparatory work to be done for this to happen, advertising and interviewing for staff and curriculum development being high on the list and advertising our opening but hopefully the numerous request we have had for places for girls will bring us the right amount of students to allow us to go ahead.
It is also hoped that we will have solar power for lighting the classrooms. This follows a successful application to Solar Aid, Mzuzu and together we hope to roll out a solarisation project in the surrounding community. The timing of this is not clear and confirmation has still to come from Solar Aid's Mzuzu office regarding the fine details of this project ......so more on that at a later date.
Plans for the Big African Bike Ride to raise money for a hostel block are well underway and you can follow this on www.thebigafricanride.com Dan and Emma both have set up Just Giving sites and you can donate to this by texting CHES06 £2/£5/£10 TO 70070. At this point I should say 'thank you' to the group from Magdalen College School, one of the Outlook Expedition teams that visited last August, for their donation of just under £400 to the Bike Ride.
I usually take my annual leave during the rainy season as there is little that can be done in the way of construciton at this time and it is the season that I dislike most - torrential rain (when it comes) violent thunderstorms with serious forked lightning - only the other day I read on Nyasa Times that so far this year 20 people have been killed by lightning. Some struck by lightning, others because their homes caught fire so I have to say give me a cold Scottish winter with rain, sleet or snow anytime!
When do I go back to Malawi - that's the question everyone asks me, usually as soon as I arrive home! - probably around the end of April, beginning of May. I've missed my family a lot over the last few years so have some major catching up to do.
Sorry no recent photos...............
