Janet's Blog from Malawi

Rydym newydd ddychwelyd o Malawi

2011-09-28T13:53:00.000+02:00

I hope the title for this blog has caught your eye and no it's not code.....it is in fact Welsh. When I first went on to the web link for this it was in English and I could follow it but now it is in Welsh so I'm lost. What I can tell you is that we had a visit from a crew from Newid Byd a televsion station based in Wales; Mererid Wigely producer, Aled Jenkins camera, Hywel Jones sound and four young people Lloyd Antrobus, Ioan Williams, Mali Rees and Teleri Davies. They were accompanied by Gerrault Wyn Jones and Megan Thorman from Outlook Expeditions. They were here to make a documentary for a TV programme on the problems facing girls education in Malawi. I understand the four young people had to go through some gruelling interviews before being selected to take part in the programme which will be broadcast in Wales on 24th November this year. We are extrememly grateful to Outlook Expedtions for suggesting the Chesney Trust project to be part of this programme.
The group spent five days in Engcongolweni and during their time there they took part in various acitivities. Arriving on a Sunday morning they attended the service in the R.C. Church in Ekwendeni and found it to be extremely lively with singing and dancing. From there they were transported to Engcongolweni where they were welcomed by Baxtor Gondwe, head teacher of the primary school where they were putting up for the duration of their stay.
They had a busy schedule which involved meeting with members of the local community, spending time with children in the primary school, meeting a young primary school girl in her home to talk about the problems she faces, volunteer work for the Trust - the usual moulding of bricks, and they made loads, and left their names on some! - meeting with high school girls and learning about their hopes and dreams of education, talking to an older girl at her home who had dropped out of education, playing games with the local children and generally keeping very busy and active. The District Education Manager, Mr Mwasikakata and the Community Education Officer, Mr Kumwenda from Mzuzu visited the crew to commend them on the work they were doing and to discuss the problems facing girls education in Malawi and in the district in particular. Adult litercacy classes are currently being held four days per week and the crew met with those taking part. The Edinburgh School is already making a mark in the area and once opened will bring not only education facilities to the area but employment.
While they were there we had arranged for a young local girl to prepare and cook their meals. We don't normally do this with volunteers as they generally prepare their own food but due to the the busy schedule it was agreed that someone should be employed to do this. Reyna Sikwese had ,of her own volition, cooked food for previous voluneer groups to introduce them to typical Malawian food so she was all to happy to take on this role. The crew thoroughly enjoyed the food prepared for them.
At the end of the visit the Trust was presented with a donation from the four young people who had raised money in several ways. Teleri did a bungee jump (brave girl) and raised £1000 for us. This was added to by Mali, Lloyd and Ioan and totalled 2000US$. At the request of Teleri, Mali, Lloyd and Ioan some of this money has to be used to send Reyna to school to study for a diploma in nutrion and food security. This is an internationally certified course and Reyna or her family could never have afforded the high fees to attend. I am delighted to report that Reyna's fees for this course have been paid and she is now attending classes at Skyway college in Mzuzu. The exam fees will also be paid when the time comes and that money has been set aside for that purpose. Reyna was so happy she was in tears and could not believe the generosity of these four young people. I have since met with her mother and she is so thankful that her daughter is being given this opportunity. The remainder of that donation was put towards the cost of completing the work on the foundation for the staff house currently under construction; for the purchase of 200 litres of diesel to get the maize mill up and running and for the insertion of another breeze block window to improve the ventilation of the maize mill house. And I'm happy to report that the maize mill is now in business!.
We hope the crew enjoyed their stay with us as much as we enjoyed having them and we know they have joined our Facebook page so can keep up to date with our progress. There are so many photos from this visit and I'm going to try to upload all of them.
Our team at the site send their best wishes to all of the crew. It was a wonderful experience for them and they all have their own stories to pass on to their families - as one put it to me 'this is part of our history and we can tell our children and grandchildren about our visitors from Wales'

Outlook Expeditions - Magdalen College School

2011-09-16T11:48:00.000+02:00

Magdalen College School was our final group of students for this year and like the other teams set to work with a vengeance, determined to beat the number of bricks moulded by the previous groups. I have so many photos from this group that I've decided to publish all of them and let the photos tell the story!

We are grateful to all three groups for their fantastic effort with over 11,000 bricks in total. These will be built into a kiln and fired ready to start the work on the boundary wall.

Outlook Expedition Volunteers - Kettering Buccleuch Academy

2011-09-16T11:27:00.000+02:00

Kettering Buccleuch collecting water

During July we had two groups of volunteers from Outlook Expeditions. The first was from Kettering Buccleuch Academy and they spent five days on site. During that time they made over 5000 bricks and every time I visited they seemed to be off collecting water so I didn't manage to meet with them to get many photos. But the group leader Dan Goodwin has provided a video clip that is now on our Facebook page so thanks to Dan for that. The group worked hard and produced over 5000 moulded bricks. My only photos show them setting off to collect water and returning with their full buckets.......this is a tiring task as they have to walk approx 700 metres to the site for the water over rough terain and although it is winter here the temerature is around 25 degrees celsius.....so quite warm! Thanks guys for all your efforts and feel free to post your photos on our Facebook page.

Off to collect more water!

Sara's Nutrition Classes

2011-08-13T12:47:00.000+02:00

Sara’s nutrition and hygiene classes were a great success, welcomed, and well attended by the local village women. Over the four weeks Sara covered various topics from personal hygiene, hygiene essential when preparing food, diseases, food groups, nutrition during pregnancy, child nutrition etc. The women were all keen to learn and soaked up everything Sara had to say. The last session was one of questions and answers with the women wanting to know more. At the end of the final lesson the women performed a drama they had written to demonstrate what they had learned. This can bee seen on our Facebook page in a short video clip uploaded by Sara along with several other video clips of singing and dancing which is the tradition in Malawi when showing appreciation. The women had gifts for Sara to thank her for the time she had spent with them giving her eggs, groundnuts and oranges. Sara gave the women soap and iodised salt as a parting gift. Singing and dancing as they escorted her to the car they repeatedly asked her to come back again and teach them some more. For Sara it was a wonderful experience and perhaps she will find her way back to Malawi some day.

Thank you Sara for all your good work and for trying hard to improve my eating habits while you were here. I am doing my best to keep it up but I have to say my toasted sandwiches seem to turn out soggy, not nicely done like yours, and I’m keeping up with the veggies…….honestly!!!!!

Here are a selection of photos from Sara's vist, more can be viewed on Chesney Trust Facebook page

Sara's class

Lesson in progress

Elias acting as translator with some of the topics

A poem in English - what I've learned about Hygiene and Nutrition

Sara with some of the ladies from the Drama - and Elias too!

You get sick if you are not careful when preparing food

This is how food should be prepared

Thank you Sara - please come again!

New Vehicle, volunteers from Outlook Expeditions etc

2011-07-11T16:26:00.000+02:00

Sara at the site

Yes!........we have at last our 'new' vehicle on the road complete with Chesney Trust logo. We can now travel in comfort and style and my driver is being teased by his friends. They are telling him with such an expensive car he needs to wear a suit! The car is actually a 2006 model but having come from Japan it is in excellent condition and looks brand new.......Worried and I love it! it is an automatic, 4x4 so will be ideal for the roads we travel and will cope during the rainy season. Fortunately during this fuel crisis it is petrol and not diesel as diesel is in very short supply.

Henry our security supervisor at the site posing behind the car

We paid a visit to the the site last week and our workers there were very excited to see the 'new' car. We were there for a meeting of the village development committees and for a workshop on Nutrition and Hygiene. Sara has come from New Zealand for a month to work with the local women and has received a very warm welcome from the women. We also met some of the women who will be joining the tailoring classes that we hope to get started very soon.

Park Mains High School - July 2011

On 26th June our first group of volunteers from Outlook Expedtions arrived. it was a group of 28 from Park Mains High School in Renfrewshire. Here they are sitting on the steps of the maize mill during a lunch break

Moulding Bricks

Knee deep in mud with the locals helping out

The main task was moulding of bricks that will be used to construct a perimeter fence for the school. We find that most volunteers enjoy this and this group was no exception. Over the course of the five days they moulded over 3000 bricks and these will be built in to the kiln for firing at the end of the three volunteer visits.

Traditional meal cooked for them by one of the local girls

Lunch Time:

The group stopped for lunch which was served to them in the shelter of the maize mill house. The food was cooked for them by one of the local girls and consisted of nsima (the staple food of Malawians) with a bean stew and rape which is a green leafy vegetable

Time for a break

Enjoying lunch of Nsima, beans and rape

After Lunch some of the group visited Chisangano Primary School and donated a large number of pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers, pencil sharpeners and notebooks which were gratefully received by the head teacher Mr Nkhata.

Presentation of a laptop computer to the Trust.

This was donated by Outlook Expeditions and we were delighted to receive this as our other laptops in the office all have something wrong with them and we have been unable to have them repaired. Worried is particularly happy as he no longer has to suffer with a faint screen with lines running down it on one machine or the other which was continually crashing for no apparent reason. So a big thank you for this as it will make his work much easier.

We are now looking forward to our next group of volunteers from Kettering Buccleuch Academy who arrive on the 20th July..........watch this space!

Latest News from Malawi

2011-06-22T09:40:00.000+02:00

Hi from Malawi where we are moving into winter and the rains have finally stopped. Although in Mzuzu we can expect showers at any time of the year.

On 7th May I was a guest at the coronation of Senior Chief Mtwalo. Chief Mtwalo is the T/A (traditional authority) in the area we are working in. The tribe is N'goni and it was a colourful occasion. The President was there to perform the ceremony with two chiefs being elevated to senior chiefs. The families are regarded as the 'Royal Family'. There was entertainment throughout the day as we waited for the arrival of the President. After the crowning ceremonies there was a lot of dancing and singing performed by visitors from other areas but for me the best was the tradtional dancing of the N'goni warriors - this is a fantastic specatacle........

it was impossible to get close as it is not allowed to stand in front of the President's podium so this was the best view I could manage of the dancers......there must have been at least 100 of them!

The newly crowned Senior Chief Mtwalo and his wife.

On a more practical note we have now received a delivery of 45 boxes from our friends in Scotland. Included were white boards, easels and flip chart holders donated by Spaceright Europe and work boots donated by St. Margaret's High School, Airdrie. I mention these donations particularly as the Adult Literacy training programme started on Tuesday of this week and the instructor had been using masking tape to attach the flip chart pages to the board and the walls of the class room as you can see in the photo below.......

but when we arrived with our delivery we were able to provide a flip chart holder much to the delight of the instructor......

There are two people being trained as trainers who will then work in the community, using the class rooms, to deliver the adult literacy programme. The programme will run for 10 months and is desigend for those who cannot read or write and will include from the seventh month onwards those who have some literacy skills. At the end of the course there is an exam and a certificate is awarded to those who pass.

And the boots are mentioned because............... The boots as you can see from the out of focus photo, were gratefully received by our watchmen and ground workers who are based at the site. Some of these guys have no shoes and are either barefoot or have flip flops and one or two were wearing gum boots (wellies). The gum boots are supplied by the Trust for the site workers. The photo is out of focus as they were excited to have the boots and were jumping around. We have 7 workers at the site and the boots laid out are for the ones who were not present at the time - the night watchmen.

Thank you Scotland......we love our boots!

Also in the latest consignment there were another two sewing machines which means we now have 5 sewing machines. With this we now intend to start the tailoring programme. We have an instructor coming who will train 10 people, five in the morning and five in the afternoon over an 8 to 10 week programme. Once trained they will then be encouraged and assisted to set up a working co-operative to improve the lives of their families.

Our latest consignment.......

We are grateful to everyone who has taken time and effort to donate, store and to pack up these items to be sent out to us. We are particularly grateful to Aabsolute Storage in Glasgow who continue to provide us with a free storage unit where items can be safely stored until such times as they can be sent out and to Bill Richardson for his tireless energy in packing and delivering to the Raven Trust for transportation to Malawi.

Dire Straits ..........not the group, but life in Malawi!

2011-06-07T16:26:00.001+02:00

Hi Folks, my blog is supposed to be an update on the progress of the project but over the last few months the project has stagnated due to a number of factors - mainly due to a severe shortage of funds but we struggle on.
So for a change I thought perhaps an insight into daily life in and around Mzuzu might be of some interest. This is the 'city' of the northern region and is surrounded by lush green forests due to the climate and the fact that there is generally more rainfall and indeed showers can come at anytime during the year with the exception of August to early November. It is now winter and the mornings and evenings are cold, even for a mzungu like me! This surprises local Malawians as they think since I'm from Scotland I should be used to this kind of weather but the body does adjust and when the temperature drops by 10 degrees or so you feel the difference so the winter woolies are now out of storage and the elcetric balnket will be going back on the bed.
I'm fortunate to live in a reasonable house in what is known as a low density area and I have a 2 metre high wall surrounding the property. This is necessary for security and at night there is a security guard on duty as break ins are common place. To an extent this is understandable given the deprivation suffered by the majority and the lack of work available. Normal housing in and around Mzuzu varies from mud built structures to brick built as can be seen in the collage.

Houses around Mzuzu city

Typical toilets, shower rooms and kitchens

Facilites are basic with outside pit latrines (toilets) and bathing rooms (showers ie a bucket of water). There is a communal tap for fresh water and most houses have no electricity but rely on paraffin lamps. Kitchens are outbuildings with wood fires for cooking, meaning smoke filled, dangerous areas where accidents occur regularly especially with young children falling on the open fires. Smoke inhalation is also a major health problem. The table in the photograph is typical of that used to place dishes and cooking utensils on to dry once they have been washed.

Some local grocery shops

Travelling around is an experience in itself - for those of you not familiar with transport in Africa you take your life in your hands each time you use public transport. According to figures there are more deaths on the roads of Malawi due to accidents than there are deaths from AIDS. A minibus can crash and all the occupants killed, a lorry carrying 'matola' (that's people paying to ride in the back of an open truck) can often be so tightly packed its impossible to count the number of people on it - I've tried and there can be 60 or more packed like sardines in these trucks. The road signs advise motorists to 'Arrive Alive - speed kills' or to 'Share the Roads with other users'. What it doesn't tell you about the other users is that these can be people walking, young children, bicycles, goats, chickens, cattle, dogs etc. Road sense or highway code as we know it is non existent.

In Mzuzu a popular form of transport is the Sacramento which is a bicycle with, if your lucky, a padded seat at the rear, but often just the wire seat. These are very busy in the morning transporting people to town, women with babies tied to their backs, children going to school anyone who can afford to pay for the service. Another form of transport is to take a taxi. These taxis are mostly very old vehicles with smashed windscreens covered with sellotape, doors that don't always open because there is no handle on the inside, boot lids that rattle and shake and a strong smell of petrol from the plastic containers they carry in the boot in case they run out of fuel. They never leave until the taxi is full and you can be sharing it with 3 or 4 other people, maybe someone with their live chicken at their feet. My most frightening experience is when they travel down the hill from my house and they switch off the engine to save fuel. Its a very steep hill and runs for about 2kms and I pray that we reach the bottom safely and that the vehicle I'm in doesn't have power assisted brakes or steering! Fuel shortages are frequent and last week the taxi I was in ran out of fuel half way up the hill so it was 'sorry madam' and I had to get out and walk. I have to say I don't mind the walk on the way down but on the way up its a different story all together.

Even with my own transport I've had my share of scary experiences. I had borrowed a car from a Malawian friend while I was in my first year in Malawi. While travelling from Nkhmenya to Mzuzu a tyre blew and the car rolled, ending upside down in a ditch......miraculously I walked away from this without a scratch. I have to say since that incident I have been extremely particular regarding the quality and maintnenance of the tyres fitted to the Trust vehicles and no longer borrow cars. At least our vehicle is looked after and well maintained. Next time was last year after a visit to Kwik-fit to have new tyres fitted. Job done I headed off for Lilongwe but had a feeling something was 'not right' with the steering so wasn't travelling too fast. I was able to steer the car to the side of the road and stop safely but imagine my shock when I got out to see my rear wheel rolling off at speed into the forest. Some little kids went running after it and found it and rolled it back out for me. When help arrived from Mzuzu they just looked at the vehicle and said 'God loves you madam'. The nuts had not been tightened properly! Kwik-fit accepted responsibiltiy for this and compensated us for the damage. Worried, the Trust driver, now routinely checks the wheel nuts, tyre pressure etc prior to setting off on any journeys.

Lost my wheel !!!

As if that wasn't enough the last incident was when the brakes failed .....yes failed! I was heading to the Lake for a quiet weekend and realised there was a problem with the brakes which I had to keep pumping to get them to work until finally even pumping them didn't work. I had to do a handbrake stop as I approached the police road block but they didn't realise I had a problem so I passed through. Once safely out of sight I stopped and called Mzuzu once again for help. Worried arrived a couple of hours later and with help and a roadside repair was carried out, new brake pads fitted and I was on my way. This was really my own fault as the brakes had been making a grinding noise and Worried wanted to have this checked out but I was so desperate to get away for the weekend I took the risk. We have now sold this vehicle as it was becoming a liability with mounting garage bills and we are just waiting for our 'new' vehicle which has been recently imported from Japan to be released by the MRA.

At Chesney Trust, of course, we take road safetly serioulsy and we never take risks. Our driver is qualified to drive public service vehicles and has completed a defensive driving course. He drives safely and within the speed limits at all times. The maximum speed on the roads of Malawi is 80kms per hour and now that the traffic police have speed cameras one can never be sure where they might pop up. They are also all around the country doing spot checks on vehicles, and drivers in an effort to reduce the casualties on the road.

At the end of this month we have our 1st group of volunteers from Outlook Expeditions coming, students from Park Mains school in Renfrewshire so we should have some interesting news and photos for next time.

So, life is different ..........interesting, challenging but never boring!!!!

Long time silent!

2011-04-02T16:00:00.000+02:00

Over the last few months I have been on home leave. I decided to take this time out as during the rainy season there is no chance of any construction taking place. During my absence there hasn't been much progress that should probably be no progress on the site but no doubt the bush will have grown wild again!

Since I've been home I have been able to visit the Mary Erskine Junior School and take part in an assembly. I also had lunch with the Chesney Club and spent some time with the pupils who had lots of questions to ask aboutl life for school children in Malawi. I have attened a trustees meeting, a meeting of the Edinburgh Lions Club, The Leith Rotary Club a NIDOS workshop and managed to fit in some visits with friends and relatives. It has been a busy time and I'm looking forward to returning to Malawi to get on with the work that is being so well supported.

The new desks installed in the class room

Last week I received some photos from Worried, my office assitant of the the first set of 20 desks for the class rooms. These desks are being made by students at Mzuzu Technical College and a further 20 are still to be completed.
The room is now taking on the appearance of a class room and all that is required now are the students. We are hoping we will be in a position to open at the start of the the 2011 - 2012 academic year - September this year - quite a challenge but I think we are up for it.

While I have been home the class rooms have been used for meetings for the groups selected to take part in the small scale livestock project.
I understand the steering committee has been formed and the groups and sub groups have been fully prepared for the hand over of the livestock which is due to take place on my return. This will involve the handing over of 40 female goats and 10 bucks. The idea is that the groups will begin breeding and as the stock increases further groups will be formed. This is an income generating activtiy for the villagers from the three villages within the catchment area of the school.

The The Tailoring Hopefuls

Before I came home in December we took delivery of the first three hand operated sewing machines and a further two machines are currently on the way. Once these arrive we will start the tailoring classes for 10 local women. Once trained they will be encouraged to set up a co-operative and operate as a business, again an income generating project.

Walking to the nearest maize mill

20kgs on her head and a baby and a child also carrying a 20kg bag

Plans are also in the pipeline to have the maize mill operating within the next few months. This will make a real difference to the lives of local women who have to travel up to 10 kms to the nearest mazie mill.with a 20kg bag of maize carried on their head and a baby slung over their back. Once our mill is operating this will drastically reduce this daily trek. Women have all the chores to do and spend much of the day collecting firewood. preparing meals for their families and grinding maize.

Once back in Malawi my task will be to draw up the programme for this year's group of volunteers from Outlook Exepditions. We have had had two very successful years working with this organisation and look forward to another successful visit again this year. apart from that we have a group coming for a few days from St Maurice's High School in Cumbernauld and we have a group of 5 independent volunteers coming for a month in August one of whom is a returning volunteer and ex pupil of St Maurice's who visited in 2007 so she will see a massive difference when she comes out in August. My niece is also coming from New Zealand for a month in July and she will be working with the women in the local villages implementing a food and hygiene programme. So a busy few months ahead.

I will further update once back in the Warm heart of Africa.......until then cheers and keep following us either on the website or on our Facebook page

Sensitisation Workshops

2010-12-17T13:32:00.001+02:00

Over the last six weeks or so we have been holding sensitisation workshops in the area within a 5 km radius of the Edinburgh Girls School. The purpose is to engage the local community in the proposed developments we want to bring to the area.
The workshops were intended to raise awareness and understanding of what development means - it is a hand up and not a hand out and the people have to be involved and the develpoment proposals must fit in with what they want for their area.

Workshop at Engcongolweni

We got off to a good start with almost 100 people turning up for the first meeting which was held at Engcongolweni with the Inkosana and the village chiefs in attendance - this was important to give credence to the meetings. We followed up with similar meetings in Chisangano and Enthongeni.

The Chief reporting on his group discussion

At each meeting the facilitator first introduced the days events, held a tutorial session then sent the participants off in groups to discuss their needs and come back for a plenary session. Everyone took part and the resluts were very positive and encouraging.

Each village has it's own Village Development Committee (VDC) but it was part ot the programme that they were encouraged to form one committee to oversee the developments within the 5 km radius and to unite them rather than having them pulling against each other. At the end of the workshops it was becoming obvious that we were achieving our aims.

It was then agreed that all future meetings would be held in the new classrooms of the Edinburgh Girls High School and this is now the focal point. We suggested a meeting for Training and Advocacy to be held at the school and asked for 200 representatives from each of the VDC's. We were delighted on the day to have almost 40 people in attendance.

1st use of the new class room

Our new classroom was an ideal venue and we were happy to be able to make use of the premises.

This was a morning session and at the end of the morning it was agreed that a committee would be formed with representatives from each of the VDC's. This committee will attend all future meetings and report back to their respective villages.

Training in progress

Question and answer session

The proposed projects are goat and pig farming and tailoring classes. These will be income generating activities and eventually the groups will be encouraged to set up working co-operatives.

The programme has been drawn up for the small scale livestock projects and sessions will begin next week and continue over the next two months. Farmers will be indentified for goats and for pigs and will be trained in feeding and caring methods. Suitable secure pens for the animals built in preparation for the handover of the livestock which will take place in March next year.

The staff house is now completed and with the onset of the rainy season construction work has come to a halt. We have been on the receiving end of some very generous funding from Singapore and will be in a position to continue with construction once the rainy season is over - around April next year. We have sold the Trust vehicle which served us well for the past four years but with a mileage of over 300,000kms it was considered time to look for something else. So we are now scouring the markets for a suitable vehicle.

The Trust office in Mzuzu is now closed for the Christmas holidays and I'm taking what I think is a well deserved break and returning to Scotland for 9 weeks. I know the weather has been extremely cold with heavy snowfalls so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there are no airport closures next week and I reach home safely.

To all out followers we wish you a Happy Christmas and all the Best for 2011................Blogs will be back next year but for now follow us on on The Chesney Trust Facebook page and join us if you haven't already!

Staff House

2010-11-17T16:21:00.000+02:00

It's been a busy month one way or another with very little time to spare for blogging but hopefully some of our followers have been keeping up with progress on Facebook.
The staff house is nearing completion with only the internal finishing to be done. This will be delayed until after Christmas as we are just a little bit short of finances at the moment.

Staff house nearing completion

We will make the house secure with solid wooden exterior doors and the glass will be put inthe windows and that will have to do until we can get the painter in to finish off.
We were promised the house would be ready in six weeks and it is thanks to the supreme effort of the young man employed to undertake the construction......well done Mr Soko!

20,000 bricks built in to kiln ready for firing

Following the visit of the Outlook Expedition volunteers and their brick making we had more bricks made so that we could have these built in to a kiln ready for firing. This task has now been completed and the kiln built. The firing will take place on Friday of this week.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we will open the door of one of the classrooms to some of the local community for a workshop. We have been holding sensitisation wrokshops over thelast few weeks in the three main areas within the 5 kms radius of the school. We listenend to the concerns and issues raised by the local community and the workshops now will be for training and advocacy.
We have now received our three hand operated sewing machines from UK and will hopefully soon begin the tailoring training programme. This involves bringing a trainer from the Lydia Foundation in Zomba who will train six local women in basic women and girls clothing. These women will then train others and they will set up a co-operative to generate an income for them and improve their living standards. This is part of our plan for the improvement of the lives of the local community.
With only a few weeks left until I come home for the Christmas break a busy time ahead and unlikely that we will start the tailoring classes until I return. I will keep you all posted of any developments.

Good luck with the sales at the Christmas Fair this weekend ......have fun!

The Handover

2010-10-10T19:15:00.000+02:00

On Friday 1st October the long awaited handover of the first class room blocks for the Edinburgh Girls’ High School (Malawi) finally took place.

It was a colourful and joyful occasion recorded for us by TV Malawi and Una Purdie who is currently in Malawi visiting and filming Scottish funded projects for the Scotland Malawi Partnership. Our guests included the T/A Inkosi Mtwalo, Inkosana Jere, the Village Chiefs and Headmen from the surrounding villages, representatives from the Divisional Education Offices, Mr Kumwenda from the Community Education Department, Mr Harawa from the NGO Board of Malawi, the chief of police from Ekwendeni, the head teachers and staff from Engcongolweni, Chisangano and Enthongeni Primary Schools, Mr Mukumbwe of Fukumele Building Contractors, Mr Mike Lwanda, the architect and design consultant for the project, other invited guests, members of the local community, boys and girls from the three primary schools and the Chesney Trust Board in Malawi – a lot of people! Then there was me, Chesney or Janetee as I’m known locally!

Entertainment was provided by the three primary schools, singing, dancing and dramas.

Chisangano girls rehearsing and then performing with Chesney joining in - as custom requires

Engcongolweni Girls Choir sang a very moving tribute to Chesney Trust thanking the Trust for the donations made to the school of a computer and printer and now for this school that they can look forward to joining in the future.

The boys, not to be left out, performed a drama on the importance of education

While the girls from Engcongolweni danced.

Then it was the turn of the girls’ choir from Enthongeni and the local women.

Finally came the handover of the keys from the contractor, to the consultant and finally to Rev Henry Mvula, Chairman of the Malawi Board. Unfortunately I was so busy running back and forth for the TV Malawi people with the people they wanted to interview that I didn’t get any photos of the day. All the photos were taken by Una’s friend Janet MacDonald who is accompanying her on her visit to Malawi – thank you Janet! Una has promised me some stills so once I have them I will post the actual handover. I do have one of Mike explaining to the people that this is just the first phase of a much bigger project and that it will take time to complete.

Una and Janet thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, Una from behind the camera and Janet who mingled with the crowd and eventually had to cover up due to the extreme heat and the blazing African sun – she is the one under the pink wrap!

Sorry Janet, but I couldn’t leave you out!

Volunteers 2010

2010-08-11T11:41:00.000+02:00

Hard on the heels of our first group Little Heath Group 1 arrived. They spent 3 days on site and produced at total of 2012 bricks. They experieinced the problems and difficulties of the local community, particularly with access to water but they took up the challenge and fetched and carried water from the nearest borehole some 700 metres from where they were making the bricks. They did try to carry the pails on their heads like the local women but had to give in to that method! Their last day was spent going to church with the local community in the morning, enjoying a lunch prepared for them after the service and then in the afternoon taking on the local team in a game of football. The game proceeded at break neck speed with the locals showing their flair and coming out winners in the end with a 2-1 score. This group had carried out a laptop computer from Outlook Expeditions to be donated to the Trust and this was duly handed over to our visiting trustee from Scotland, Lyndsey McLennan. After what they all agreed was a far too short visit they headed off for their safari in the south of the country but not before handing out 'goodies' to Baxter Gondwe, head teacher of the local primary school for the children at the school and the sewing kits that had been donated by the school for the womens tailoring classes to be run by the Trust.

Having said goodbye to the group we then welcomed our final group, Little Heath Group 2. The buzz of excitement generated by this group was electric! They had been given such good reports from their friends in Group 1 that they were most anxious to get to the site and get started. They were determined to beat the number of bricks made by their fellow group and did in fact make 2052 bricks (from memory so they will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong!). I found them thoroughly enjoying trampling in the mud, singing as they worked and obviously very happy. The photos say it all!

On Sunday, their last day, they went to Church in the morning and then joined Elias and his family at their home for a traditional meal. They enjoyed rice and chicken with vegetables - rice being offered to the guests. Normally it is nsima that Malawians eat. This is prepared with maize flour (cornflour) and although filling provides no nutrional value - I have to say it is an aquired taste! After the meal the group presented hand made cards to Elias, Watson and Henry, thanking them for showing them how to make the bricks and welcoming them in to their community. It was then time to go outside for a demonstration on making nsima. Once prepared of course everyone had to try it and they were again served up with a plate of nsima and vegetables and to their credit they consumed the lot! So, well fed they set off down the hill to the village for what has now become a tradition - the Sunday afternoon football match. Before the match the group presented me with sewing kits and an assortment of small toys. The sewing kits will be for the tailoring classes and the toys - well more about that next time.

We are extremely grateful to each of the groups for all of their efforts, bush clearing, cleaning the maize mill brick work, filling in drum holes (huge potholes) in the access road and moulding over 5000 bricks. The bricks will be stock piled for future use as we will require to build a security wall around the hostels and the classrooms. Their participation was total and they all integrated well with the local community and joined in with the activities prepared for them. Each of the groups camped at the local primary school where there is access to boreholes and clean drinking water. Baxter Gondwe, head master, had organised bathing facilites African style for them and gave an animated demonstration of both the use of the 'showers' and the pit latrines. He has a block of pit latrines kept specially for visitors which he emphasised time and again.

Everyone involved has given positive feedback with our volunteers experiencing the hospitality of the Warm Heart of Africa and giving our Malawian friends, as they put it, stories to tell their children of the time we spent with the visitors from England.

So to everyone involved, yewo chomene!

Our First Group of 2010 Volunteers

2010-07-27T14:27:00.003+02:00

We welcomed our first group of 14 volunteers from High Worth Grammar School in Kent to the site last week with Engcongolweni Primary School hosting the visitors in the school grounds, providing washing and toilet facilities - African style! The group worked very hard at bush clearing and then brick making - a staggering 1052 bricks in a day and a half - and in between time they enjoyed meeting the local children, attending church, playing football, socialising with local families and sampling Malawian food and hospitality. They will be posting their own blog and linking it to our website so more to read about from them.

On their last evening they camped in my back yard in Mzuzu as they had an early start to their journey south the next day. It was great company for me on a very cold Mzuzu night as the group was in good spirits, not dampened by the rain or the cold as you can see from the photos ...........if I manage to get them uploaded!

Well, I seem to have them uploaded but I wish I could figure out how to have them placed with the text flowing round the photos..................hints and suggestions welcomed.

Before leaving Engcongolweni they donated lots of stationery, pens, pencils, pencil cases etc to the primary school as a thank you for the hospitality provided them. They also donated sewing kits for the women's tailoring classes due to start once the classroom blocks are completed. Thank you to this group for all their hard work and we hope you will follow our progress and perhaps take up the Pedometer Challenge on your return - full details on our website.

Back to Malawi

2010-07-17T16:47:00.001+02:00

After a break at home for 6 weeks I was quite looking forward to coming back as word from Malawi was that the classroom blocks were finished and due to be handed over on the 15th July and the staff house would be 3 weeks later. This was a 'malawianism'! Imagine my disappointment when I found that the classroom blocks were not finished and the staff house not even off the ground. It looks as though it will be another couple of months - given the rate of progress of the contractor - unless we take drastic action...............hmmm..............that just doesn't work in Malawi.................manyana, manyana, manaya comes to mind. They will tell you it will be ready on Monday but don't tell you which Monday. Is that this week, next week, sometime never????????? It's very frustrating but just for the record here is where we are:

Two classroom blocks nearing completion!

We now have our first group of volunteers from Outlook Expeditions here so some interesting postings to come next time.

Another Site Meeting

2010-05-26T14:50:00.000+02:00

Another site meeting this morning but once again we are disappointed at the rate of progress. We are 16 weeks behind schedule with a finish date now of 10th July for the class room blocks and I have to say I'm less than hopeful . For the staff house the contractor has been given until 31st July and it is unlikely that the house will be completed by then.

The site was visited recently by Kennedy Nkana, Statistics Officer for Mzimba North Education Division and he was delighted that such a development is taking place within his area. We hope to be able to take 20 girls form the surrounding area who have dropped out of school back in to the education system and this is welcomed by the education division.

Since our last visit 3 weeks ago the only difference is that the windows frames have now been set and the beam above is in place............

We recently donated a desk top computer to Engcongolweni Primary School and the head master and the staff are now putting this to good use. In the photo is Baxter Gondwe, head teacher at the school surrounded by Scottish flags!

While we were at the school we met with the students who want to join the drop-outs class and we met with the Engcongolweni Girl Guides.................

Latest News............that was almost a month ago...........network's been down, down, down!!!!

2010-04-16T15:45:00.059+02:00

4th May: I have been struggling with a very poor signal so access to the internet has been practically non existent. I have a Wifi dongle and it is slower than the 14kbps dial up! Try to open a website...........go make some tea, maybe when I come back it will have loaded..........no , not yet, OK..........check what the garden boy is doing.............loaded now? Oh no 'cannot display the web page' and that has been the situation for almost two weeks. How am I managing to get on today, well just bought a Wifi card from a different ISP and bingo...........I'm online. My first task was to get to my online banking to transfer my monthly funds for my living expenses out here and all was going well until I hit the 'submit' button.......,.slow down, melt down then a message from the bank ' sorry we are experiencing some problems, please try again later'...............does somebody up there not like me or what...................aaaarghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Anyway that's all part of life out here so down to business which again has been slow and problematic but we are overcoming the difficulties..........an old 60's song comes to mind (for those of you old enough to remember - 'we shall overcome') yes a sense of humour is essential. See below:

17th March: How time flys when you're busy, or having fun - I've just realised the last post was on 20th February so what have I been doing with my time? Well........we had deadlines to meet for project proposals and we were working flat out but sadly we were not successful with either the Scottish Government call for proposals or with Fondation Ensemble but we remain optimistic and we keep plodding on.

Progress at the site has been slow, marred by the rain and, would you believe, strikes by the labourers! Yes, it happens here in Malawi too. Thankfully the problem is NOT with Chesney Trust it is a problem for the contractor and his employees but nonetheless it has a knock on effect and as a result the construction has slowed down. Our consultant has called for a site meeting with the contractor to resolve the difficulties and this will take place next week. Hopefully the outcome will be satisfactory and work will begin again.

The photos taken on site yesterday show the progress to date although we had expected the classroom blocks to be completed by now.

4th May: The consultant who is looking after the project called a site meeting and the contractor has been told in no uncertain terms to 'get his act together' and the classrooms have to be completed by the end of June and the staff house by the end of July. So hopefully............

Now the battle to upload the photos begins.............

Well, that wasn't so bad...................we are getting there with construction. What I can say is that a very high profile lady's ground breaking ceremony was a week after ours and the following photo was taken last week..............so some comfort knowing that despite having mega bucks, this is still Malawi and it will be done in Malawi time!!

Latest News from Malawi

2010-02-20T16:33:00.003+02:00

Site meeting with the consultant 18th February 2010

On Thursday the architect from DSA came for a meeting at the site with the contractor and Chesney Trust. He was there to check on progress and take samples of mixtures for analysis of mortar mix, check the quality of the S.S.B’s and the standard of work in general.

Let the photos show the progress so far:

After inspecting the work we sat down to the site meeting. This was progressing well until it was interrupted by heavy rain and a thunderstorm and we had to scramble for cover. It was agreed that the work was of a good standard but the contract has over run the deadline of 25th January 2010 and the contractor was advised to speed up or suffer damages for delays. A revised work programme is to be submitted to DSA for consideration and approval.

On Friday 19th February 2010 the project was visited by Karen Gillon MSP during her visit to Malawi. Karen has visited the site on two previous occasions and was amazed at the trasnformation to the area with the completion of the bridge, the construction of the maize mill house and now the work started on site for the school. We were accompanied by a team from Malawi Television News as a follow up to their visit when the ground breaking ceremony took place last October. Karen was invited to lay some bricks and was more than happy to oblige. Accompanying Karen was Charlotte Ager, a former pupil of Mary Erskine Stewarts Melville school.

The local Chief, Inkosana Lazaro Jere welcomed the visitors back to the project. Everyone was intervied for TVM news.

It was a visit enjoyed by all present .

Rain, Rain and yet more Rain!

2010-01-20T11:06:00.001+02:00

Yes, it's that time of year again when you don't venture out without the raincoat and the umbrella although with the torrential rain neither offers much protection. Not my favourite time of year as it is hot and steamy. There was an earthquake in Karonga at the beginning of January with aftershocks lasting over a week and the tremors were felt as far south as Mzuzu. It was a bit strange to see parked cars shaking and the furniture in the house shaking but no damage in Mzuzu. There has been severe damage in Karonga and some deaths but aid is there and people are being put up in tents and assisted with clean water etc. I understand it was 6.something but the damage is much less severe than that in Haiti.

We have been very busy in the office after the Christmas break with lots of paper work to catch up on but we are now begining to see the wood from the trees. Unfortunatley not the same can be said for the progress on the school site as that has been hampered by the rains. I visited the site last week and the surrounding bush is now a lush green and the vegation is reaching for the sky so it looks as though there will be plenty of bush clearing work for our volunteers coming out again in July and August. We have had confirmation from Outlook Expeditions that we are to receive three groups of volunteers this year so we are now planning work programmes and activity/entertainment programmes for the groups. The bush clearing done by the volunteers last year saved us in time and money as this did not have to be done by the contractor.

On site the foundations have been completed for the two classroom blocks and the pit latrines have been lined but as we are using soil stabilised bricks construction has been held up by the rain as these bricks must be kept dry. The foundations for the staff house will be dug out and further pit latrines so there is still work to be going on with.

As soon as we have some up to date photos I will post them on the website.

Seasons Greetings from Malawi

2009-12-17T11:38:00.001+02:00

As we come to the end of another year we can look back over the last twelve months with some degree of satisfaction with the bridge successfully providing safe access throughout the rainy season, the ground breaking ceremony for the school and the beginning of construction of the classroom blocks. It has been a somewhat difficult road but we are on the way now and hopefully next year will see the classrooms filled with students.

We are extremely grateful to our friends in Singapore for their very generous donation of £10,000 which is coming our way. This will enable us to forge ahead with the construction - yewo chomene!

We are now in the rainy season and this morning when I looked out of the window this was the view – very reminiscent of home with the mist – but thankfully it dries up quickly and the sun comes out again.

It is strange to be thinking of Christmas when there are blue skies and temperatures around 34 degrees, cooler when it rains, but the reminders are there in the shops with the Christmas musak, the Christmas trees and the decorations. The contractor is finishing up this week for the Christmas and New Year holidays and we are taking a break too until 4th January 2010.

All that remains is to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and all good wishes for a Prosperous and Successful New Year.

At long last - it's officially a building site!

2009-11-29T10:20:00.002+02:00

At long last the school site is now a building site!

The project board has been erected at the tarmac and site preparation is underway with the laying out and digging of foundations.

The soil being dug out is used to make the soil stabilised bricks (SSB’s); an environmentally friendly method of producing bricks as they are not burnt meaning no trees are cut down to fire the brick ovens.

Making the SSB’s: the soil is mixed with cement and put into a press and the brick is formed. Bricks are then laid out in the sun to dry and then stock piled under cover to prevent them getting wet.

The foundation for the first classroom block has now been completed and work is underway on the second block. The next stage is for the concrete slab to be laid and after that construction of the walls will begin.

While this is going on the pit latrines are being dug out. This is done by hand – no machines here – and digging is to a depth of 4 metres. These will be lined with concrete blocks before the upper walls are constructed.

With the start of the rainy season it is now a race against time to have the walls up and the roof on the buildings under construction so that work can be done inside to finish the buildings. The completion date for this first phase is 25th January 2010 but I’m not optimistic and expect some delays. A two bed roomed staff house is also being constructed but only the foundations have been dug out for that as of now.

With the exception of the foreman and technical staff all the workers on the site are local people, men and women who are benefitting financally. There's a great atmosphere on the site and everyone is working very hard. They have a visitors book and anyone calling at the site must now sign the book with their details and the reason for the visit. We try to visit once per week to check on progress and we're always welcomed.

Mulhako wa Alhomwe - Journey to revive culture, tradition

2009-10-31T17:00:00.002+02:00

All work and no play makes for a dull life but last weekend I was the guest of my good friend Anna Kachikho, Minister of Tourism and Culture, as we joined the Lhomwe Tribe to celebrate the groups first anniversary of the revival of the Lhomwe culture and tradtion in the presence of Ngwazi Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi.

Anna dressed me from head to toe in traditional dress - yes even the shoes were made specially for the occasion - and I had no problem entering into the spirit of the day. Everyone was wearing the cloth specially designed for the function. This is a tradtion in Malawi and the men have jackets, shirts, hats made and the women dresses and headgear so I blended in well.
After the opening speeches it was down to the business of the day and the dancing began. A raised podium had been constructed so that everyone had a good view of the dancers. There was a break for lunch and afterwards the dancers returned - it was quite a spectacle with all the different colours and styles of dress, the constant drum beat and the whistle blowing.

By the time the turn of the Phalombe women from Anna's home village came around I was ready to take part. I had been coached in the style of the dance and as we took our place on the podium there was a huge cheer as the crowd realised there was a msungu dancing and we had to do a second round much to the satisfaction of the crowd. I heard later that this was reported over the radio but thankfully they didn't know my name. But, of the only two pictures to be published in The Nation, yes you've guessed it ,there's one with the msungu! It was a long way to travel but I thoroughly enjoyed the day and look forward to next year's event.
Now back to work......................

Construction underway

2009-10-23T11:00:00.001+02:00

It's been a week since we visited the site and as you can see from the photos work is now well underway. The foundations for the two classroom blocks are being dug out and the concrete blocks to be used in the foundations are being moulded. These are laid out to cure and have to be frequently watered to prevent cracking.

There is no water on site and a brick tank, concrete lined, has been built to hold the water used for construction. The water is fetched from the river some 2kms away. Local women have been employed by the contractor to collect and carry the water from the river to fill the drums loaded on the contractors truck. They then drive back to the site and off load the water into the water tank. This task is carried out several times per day. It should perhaps be mentioned that this is the water source for people living in the area as there are no boreholes or access to piped water, this is the water used for cooking, drinking washing etc.
We are making some progress in our search for a suitable engine to drive the maize mill so hopefully that will be up and running in the near future.

This weekend I'm off down south to Mulanje to a function with lots of traditional dancing so should be some interesting photos for next week!

Lots more photos on the main construction site!

Update From Malawi Thursday 15th October

2009-10-14T22:32:00.001+02:00

Janet wrote

Hello everyone from Malawi,
Well you can see that construction has now started but we have no water on site yet so the contractors are building a large water tank that the local women will fill. They will be paid for this work by the contractors but it is not much fun in the blistering heat and the rough road surfaces! This is a very short blog to you all as I am travelling South to see friends and meet contacts who can maybe help move the project along. A few days respite recovering after the 3rd of October is welcome!
Enjoy the Photos!

Janet

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Official Opening of Ubale Bridge & Ground Breaking Ceremony.

2009-10-04T14:46:00.001+02:00

The 3rd October 2009 a very special day in the Chesney Trust calendar and what a day it proved to be - fantastic! The ceremonies were due to begin at 09.00am but in true Malawian style it was some time after 11.00am before we were underway. The purple and white cloth of Chesney Trust, Tshirts, purple and white balloons much in evidence.

The ceremony was attended by several cabinet ministers including Hon. Goodall Gondwe, Minister of Local Government, Inkosi Mtwalo (the chief of Mzimba region), Inkosana Lazaro Jere our local chief, the District Commisioner, the Divisional Education and District Education Managers, Village Head Men, and local dignatories - a long list.
The bridge was officially opened by Hon. Catherine Gotani Hara M.P., Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Community Development. The ribbon was cut and the plaque unveiled to much cheering and dancing by the local community. We then walked across the bridge with the TV cameras, radio and press journalists recording the events. It was then into the vehicles for the drive up the hill to the site for the school.
When we arrived the contractor was still busily trying to have everything in place - they had from the 3rd September to get organised but hey this is Malawi where time is not important - "don't worry Madam, we'll be ready " is phrase I hear all too often but my some miracle we always seem to get there and in the end everything was ready and the guest of honour donned her white protective coat and proceeded to dig up several shovel fulls of earth and the ground breaking was completed.

The contractor had a display board with the plans for the school and drawings of the buildings and he anwered many questions from the M.P's and others. Hon. Gotani Hara was particularly interested in what hostel provision would be in place and was delighted with the planned hostel accommmodation. Hon Goodal Gondwe was concerend with the water supply and has now promised to assist in providing piped water to the area. This will benenfit the school and also the local community who presently obtain their water from shallow wells. The Education Managers wanted know about pupil selection and were very happy to learn of our plans to include hearing impaired, orphans and poor children who would otherwise be denied an education.

Interviews were carried out by all the press in attendance and sometime this week it will be on TV Malawi news with a possible documentary on the work of the Trust in the area.
With the formal part of the occasion over it was off to the football ground at Engcongolweni for the entertainment and speeches. The children from the two local primary schools performed dramas, recitations, dancing and the choir sang a thank you to the Chesney Trust for the project of the school, for the bridge and for the maize mill. Hopefully we will have this on the website in the near future .
With the speeches over it was time for lunch and then off home to relax. Relaxation didn't come easily as I think I've been running on adrenalin for the past week but it was such a rewarding day and the culmination of two years work at this end and some very hard work fundraising in Scotland.
We have started ..................so we'll fininsh and we will be updating regularly on the construction that will soon be underway - the contractor is currrently measuring out and marking the foundation lines so watch this space...............................
Janet

Janets Latest News 23d Septmber

2009-09-25T09:14:00.000+02:00

23rd September 2009

Hi from Mzuzu.

We are delighted with the new website and the opportunity to keep everyone up to date with life and work in Malawi. Blogging is a new experience for me and although I can ‘talk a lot’ I’m not sure how I’ll cope with this but here goes……………………

After all the efforts by our trustees and fundraisers we have now reached the stage where construction is about to begin and we will soon be sending photos of the buildings as they go up. The site was handed over to the contractor on the 3rd September in the presence of the architect, Mike Lwanda and Mr Matundu, Treasurer and Trustee of the Malawian Board. The site drawings and plans were duly signed by the contractor and the handover completed.

The site for the school is in a rural area and access initially was difficult as the bridge over the river had collapsed. This had to be reconstructed and will be officially opened on the 3rd October. Now with just over a week to go to the opening ceremony for the Ubale Bridge and the ground breaking ceremony for the school we are in the final stages of preparation for the functions. The name plates for the bridge have been made and now have to be attached to poles and cemented in place. The commemorative plaque recognising the donors who funded this bridge is also ready, a pillar will be built, and the plaque cemented in to it to be unveiled on the day. Two or three days before the opening the railings will be painted and the area cleaned and swept.

It promises to be a colourful day with local men and women and the local primary schools providing entertainment, choirs, traditional dances and dramas. Chesney Trust will donate books to the three primary schools as a thank you for their participation.

We will post photos of the event and keep everyone up to date with our progress……………………..till next time.

Janet