school

Another fun day at school xxxx

School today

Reading pop up books and making a pop up lion.

xxxxxx

My awesome weekend in Zomba

Just had a great weekend at Zomba Plateau, we stayed in a house with the beautiful view above. Had lots of time to walk and read, it was such a nice escape. 
As we drove up the winding road to the top it felt less and less like we are in Malawi and more like somewhere you might in North America with a large lake and forests. It was really beautiful and the locals sold the most amazing fruit, yellow berries, which were alittle like raspberrys, red bananas and green passion fruit.
A fun weekend xxx

This week at school

Lion masks we made at the orphanage with some very excited standard one to threes

So the last week has been a really interesting one at schools. Last Friday we went to a Juvenile reform centre for boys aged 7 to 15. All the boys had committed crimes ranging in seriousness. One boy had been sent there after stealing from his parents. Teaching here was a real challenge as many of the boys had missed out on many years of education so there were many 14 and 15 years olds in the very first years of school. We were not expecting this and some of the boys didn't look too impressed at us reading the books aimed at much younger kids, but they seemed to warm up a bit when we got the parachute out for games.
Then later in the week we took a trip further down south towards the border to stay at an orphanage for a night. It was an amazing experience and the owners Pam and Will do a great job with well over 100 children in a very small space. The children were amazing, they had great English and a really good understanding of what they were reading which I haven't found in any other school in Africa. Finally before we left they sung to us I think they would have continued performing all afternoon if we had been able to let them.
This week we are back to our local schools allow everyday is a bit of an unknown now as to weather we can get to the rural schools we are planning to visit due to the rain.
Thats all for now, can't believe I will be home in 4 weeks, miss you all lots xx

Hello from Malawi

Hey Eveyone
So sorry it has been so long since I have written, the internet connection has not been great and unfortunately I am still not able to put up any more photos but will try and add some more when I am at home in only 5 weeks!!!!
So heres the catch up for the last 6 weeks!

Two weeks by the lake
So after 2 days travelling across Zambia and Malawi we arrived near Monkey Bay on Lake Malawi. We camped on the beach with the most beautiful views and visited some wonderful schools in the area. We were also able to donate 5000 books to children and school libraries around the lake which was amazing. My favourite school was an orphange called Moet where the children were just beautiful and were very determined to teach me the local language. During the weekend we also had a chance to go to the Lake of Stars festival which included artists from across Africa and around the world. It was AWESOME!

Croc Valley
The following week we spent back in Zambia at a campsite called Croc Valley. We camped next to river with crocodiles, hippos and elephants walking around. The most amaing day was spent getting up at 5.00 to see the sunrise over the river bed with 18 elephants crossing, I am so sad I can't put the picture up now! We also then went to a preschool where the day turned into a party with hat making, balloons, lollies and parachute games. What a day! During our free time this week we got to hang out in the elephant friendly pool, go on a night safari and see an amazing play performed by a local drama group who aim to tackle difficult issues such as Aids and Malaria with the local people.

Blantyre
The following week we travelled back to Malawi and down to Fishermans Rest which overlooks the Shire Valley, 20km from Blantyre and this has been our permenant home for the last 3 weeks and will be my home for the next 5. We stay in the most beatiful cottage and bush hides with Antelope walking around the grounds and the most amazing views and sunsets I have ever seen. It also means I now have a bed!!!!!
The schools here in Malawi are much larger than Zambia and even poorer so I really feel like the book bus will make a huge difference to the children here as the programme gets more established. We have had some great welcomes to every school and children are wonderful. My favourite school so far was pretty rural where the children had little to no English and I doubt they had seen many white people before, but after a slow start we left with the whole school smiling, shouting and waving.

I have many more tales to tell but that is all for now and I have to go and prepare my lessons for tommorrow. I will try and blog again soon.
Miss you all lots xx