Isaac Hill, Malawi 2021
I am writing to you to thank you for your donation towards the cost of the three-week trip to my Explorer Scout Expedition to Malawi. There were fifty people in total, the majority participating in building an Education Centre, of which I was one, and smaller individual Scouts of The World Award Projects. Originally the trip was supposed to take place in the summer of 2021 however due to the pandemic the trip was postponed until summer 2022 when on Saturday the 23rd of July we flew from Manchester Airport to Blantyre Airport, Malawi.
The money you donated went partly towards the cost of the trip (£2000) and partly towards a total of £500 that was used to buy the tools and materials that were used to build the education centre. When we arrived in Malawi we travelled to Chita Carla the local town we were staying in. We were welcomed to the FOMO (Friends of Mulange Orphanage) Kwamba centre, where we were staying, by the children who went to school at the centre, with lots of singing and dancing. We spent the following week and half building the new centre in Mangani. The construction had already begun on the site before we arrived, with the walls being around waist height. Over the course of the week, we all developed our brick laying skills and by the time we reached the R&R section of the trip many of the walls were above head height with window frames fitted on two of the main walls.
While we were in Malawi the contingent was split into four patrols, I was in the black patrol. Within our patrols we were tasked with cooking for the rest of the contingent on our rest days. This allowed us to experience many of the local markets, which was a challenge for our bartering skills, and shops while buying food. This also allowed us to buy souvenirs and practice our local language skills, these slightly improved over the course of the trip.
During the R&R section of the trip I took the opportunity to climb Mount Mulange (3002m), the highest mountain in Malawi, to its highest point, Sapitwa Peak. This expedition took 3 days, where the first day took us to our first mountain hut, on the second day we walked to Sapitwa Peak and then back down to a second mountain hut. On the third day we walked down the rest of the mountain, stopping to swim in the largest water fall on the mountain. The next part of R&R section of the we travelled by bus to a safari lodge in the south of Malawi. While there we got the chance to see many of the big five, I personally saw hippos, zebra, elephants and two cheetahs with one group glimpsing a black rhino.
We also had the opportunity to watch the FOMO football team play on two occasions while we were in Malawi. FOMO also organised their annual Bonanza day to coincide with our trip, on this day we stopped working and took the opportunity to see the FOMO centres to compete against each other in sports such as football, netball and running. Following the competition all of the participants were given a new sports kit from Kit Aid. As part of our trip, we were asked to take with us and donate football boots and sports equipment for the FOMO teams to use, these were gratefully received.
While we were on our R&R activities, the local builders that were helping us had continued work on the Mangani Centre. When we returned the building was at roof height however the roof had not been fitted as the metal plates had not arrived. Through the rest of this week we focused on pointing much of the brick work and breaking up the broken bricks. When we left Malawi over half of the roof had been placed and the plastering of some parts of the walls had started. Around 3 weeks after we left the contingent was sent photos of the completed Mangani Centre.
The Mangani Education Centre, that we built, will become a central part of the village of Mangani, used by children, aged 1-13 years, for their education for many years to come. It will allow them to gain an education and open up more opportunities for a better life for them. It is much bigger and functional than the previous accommodation which will now become a storeroom. This is now one of the fourteen Education Centres that FOMO has built and now run.
Overall, I found the trip extremely enjoyable, it has left me with lifelong memories and chances to experience things that very few people will have the opportunity to experience. It has been a privilege to know that the work I done building this centre will benefit the education of a whole community.
I am very thankful for Pawprint’s kind donation that helped allow me to take part in this trip.
