Too hot to handle!

Today has been very hot and under the midday sun we felt our skins burning and sweat pouring off us. After a relaxed breakfast we sat on the beach waiting for the car to pick us up. It took a long time to arrive due to the fuel crisis. Amazingly petrol prices here rose by 30p a litre today and now costs about 160p a litre; much more expensive than in Wales and a price no-one can afford here! We eventually headed off to the centre of Nkhata Bay where we were due to meet some important people. We toured the education offices where each room was stacked to the rafters with papers. We met various education officers and had a short meeting in Mzondi's, the Director of Education for the Nkhata Bay region's office. Behind him on his wall sat a picture of the president of Malawi, Dr Bingu. This man's picture is everywhere you look; on advertising boards at the side of the road, in all offices and classrooms too. The offices were very hot and we couldn't stay in them long. We then headed off to a school near Nkhata Bay were we were met by the Head teacher. Children came running from everywhere to say hello to us. We spent a fantastic few hours visiting classes and watching lessons. As it had passed 1pm, only the older children were left at school as those under 11 had finished their lessons (they had been there since 7am though!). However, when word got around that a group of 'mzongus' had arrived, many came back to school. There were 'whoops' of joy from the children as our camera flashes went off or they viewed themselves on the screen at the cack of the camera. It's amazing how the children all smile and are all polite, even when they come to school barefooted and in old scruffy looking clothes. The lessons we watched were very interesting. There were 64 children in one class and 70 in the other. In the class of 70 all the children were sat on a bare dusty floor. With them they had one old exercise book that they take to and from home each day. None had a pen or a pencil and they only use these on very special occasions. We talked to them about Wales which many hadn't even heard of, except some of the boys who knew of Ryan Giggs! We were treated to singing and dancing, they have such good rhythm here and love a sing song. They enjoyed it when we joined in and danced with them. PC Meirion Williams gave the children a leather football, which they were all very excited about as children use rolled up wool and plastic bags to make footballs here. One boy managed to header the ball over twenty times on his head without it falling to the floor! We visited the cooks where they were peeling and cutting vegetables ready for the children's lunch. They have one hand pump in the school from which they get their water from. Children push up and down on one end and water comes from the spout. It is from this that they get their drinking and cleaning water. Mr Price enjoyed showing the children his juggling skills(I have to say it was much better than his dancing skills which they all laughed at!). All the children just want to shake our hands, give high fives and touch our hair (they think fine light hair is funny to touch as theirs is so coarse and thick). It was amazing to see what they used as resources. In one class we saw an abacus made from a cardboard box with sections for Hundreds, Tens and units and bundles of sticks rolled and tied into hundreds, tens and units. Another abacus was made using old bottle tops stuck on nails; very creative ways of recycling and making things that are effective for teaching maths. We really don't realise just how lucky we are in Wales. After a lunch of 'Chumba' fish, rice and a tomato sauce we headed off to meet the District Chief of Police. There are only 33 police stations in the whole of Malawi and one is in Nkhata Bay. The policemen are very smartly dressed in khaki green while the police ladies dress in blue uniforms. PC Meirion Williams and the Chief talked and discussed how police work in our countries. One thing that is very obvious, both in the police and in schools is that we are both trying to do the same things, even though the circumstances are very different. We even saw a prison where the prisoners were dressed all in white. They were doing lots of jobs like cutting logs, breaking stones and making charcoal. We couldn't understand why they didn't escape, but the chief assured us that his policemen kept them all under control. On our way home we joined in a game of football with a group of Malawian boys. It was 12 boys against Mr Hughes, Mr Price, PC Williams and Mr Bartman (a head teacher from South Africa). We started brilliantly going 2-0 up with our silky moves (and great finishing from Mr Hughes!). However our celebrations seemed to inspire them and tire us out. With the sweat pouring off us and the boys skills starting to show, we soon went behind 3-2. We had to give up before we ended up in hospital due to exhaustion! Tea this evening was eggs and rice in a tomato sauce which was delicious. We met a few other 'mzongus' who now live here; Americans, South Africans and Australians. Some were over helping the Malawians to build libraries and school buildings. We finished off the evening with a game of pool, with the final result being Wales 1 South Africa 1. We'll have to wait to see who wins the decider! We hope everyone is well back in Wales and we hope to speak to you tomorrow (although a power cut each day is making this difficult). Hwyl am y tro.