Mi welais Jack y do!

Typical Malawian classrooms.

We visited another two schools today, a primary school and a secondary school. Sunrise at 5am was breathtaking and the lake like a millpond. We have no water at present and power cuts are happening all the time so today's wash was in the lake while we had to take buckets of lake water to our rooms to flush the toilets. While we waited for our vehicle we watched two local boys climb a huge Mango tree. They climbed right to the top, some thirty to forty feet up. We watched with baited breath as they clambered around shaking branches and knocking mangos to the ground. Underneath several young boys ran around trying to catch the ones that had fallen; great fun for them and even better to watch. We travelled to a primary school, a large school of 400+ children which feeds the local area. Many children walk many miles to reach there. The children's smiles and the enthusiasm of the teachers help lift our spirits as we hit a bit of a low this morning. Walking into a class of 102 six year olds, all sat on a bare dusty floor in front of one teacher made me well up. I bit my lip to stop it quivering and talked about where we had come from and why we were here. . We sang ' Mi welais Jack y Do' with actions as well as 'Head, shoulders, knees and toes'. They loved it and joined in with all the actions and after a few practices were singing along as well. They also sang for us, their amazing melodies and rhythm making the place light up. Older children were learning English and were keen to practice with us. PC Williams did his usual pumping up of a ball and presenting it to the sports teacher, along with a background of screaming, excited and I'm sure grateful children. After introductions to village chiefs and elders we said our goodbyes and continued on to our second schools. Here we met the headteacher and he gave us a free roam of the school. Only four classes in the school, but it is in a remote part of Nkhata Bay district. We travelled down a 20 minute dirt track in a 4x4 to get there, an experience in its self. The children were studying electricity in Science and were listening to the teacher. They had no resources or textbooks but just listened to the knowledge given by the teacher. The children remembered it all at the end and it went to prove that with enthusiastic teaching and giving a chance for the learners to discuss and respond, they will learn. However, I think I would find it difficult to teach a subject without a single resource, a testament to the creativeness of these teachers. We also watched a teacher showing the children how to sow crops, a valuable and life long skill for this part of the world. After a traditional Malawian lunch of rice and vegetables we continued on to the regional capital of Mzuzu. Here we met the Regional Director of Education. She was an interesting lady and listened intently to what we had to say about schools in Wales and South Africa and was very honest with us about her opinions about education in Malawi. It was agreed that the sharing of each others knowledge was the most important part of the village. Along with this I can't help hoping that our visiting is bringing a bit of happiness to these people. Their smile is certainly infectious as the whole connecting classroom team were all beaming arriving back out our lodge this evening. Still no water, but at least I have a bit of electricity so that I can charge my camera's battery!