We began our journey at Heathrow Airport where we met up with Aayla and her family. After a gruelling 29-hour journey, we finally made it to the idyllic Ripple Africa base at Mwaya beach and were eager to find our cabins and head to bed. Waking up fresh after a good night’s sleep, our first day involved exploring the area and visiting the local library followed by painting murals in some of the newly decorated pre-schools.
Over the weekend, we experienced ‘life as a Malawian woman’. We worked hard to harvest, prepare and cook a traditional meal which tasted delicious. We also took part in a joyful local church service which included some wonderful singing from the local choir (and ourselves!).
During our visit, we mostly spent time teaching at Matate 1, the pre-school we all fundraised together for last year. We delivered lessons, played with the children and taught lots of songs and games. The afternoons were spent leading training sessions for the teachers in the area. We helped them to create new resources out of recycled and natural materials and shared some more English games and songs for them to take back to their schools.
The rest of our time was spent engaging with the many projects that Ripple Africa have created. We particularly enjoyed learning about Ripple Africa’s fruit tree planting projects which have been developed to help households generate a sustainable income. Aayla and her brother also impressed us with their enthusiasm during our visit to the cookstove building project. They made mud bricks by hand and then constructed a stove for a local Malawian family all by themselves! A highlight of the trip for us, was visiting the fishing project, where we learnt about the challenges of overfishing in Malawi and saw the incredible impact the project has had on the environment.
We met some amazing people during our stay, including a lady called Matilda who single-handedly runs the disability clinic at Mwaya. Not only does she assess and treat the children for free, but her groups provide essential emotional support for the local families. It was inspiring to hear the stories of the children, who through this project have been able to gain more independence with some even attending mainstream schools.
The trip has left a profound impact on us, and it was wonderful to see first-hand how our generous donations are being used. Most of the money we have raised has gone towards the running cost of the Matate 1 pre-school for the entire year as well supporting the many projects that help the local community.
Well done to Hazel, Gigi and Julia in Year 3 for their book sale at the end of last term. This raised the incredibly impressive sum of £319.00 for Ripple Africa.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped us raise such a significant amount for Ripple Africa, the £11,600.48 has made the world of difference!
Miss Bartlett and Miss Jackson
