LAST DAY CELEBRATION

At last it was time for the celebration on my last day in Boma school. Many children had stayed in and around the classroom where the celebration was to take place and I was delighted to see them. 

Children who stayed at school to watch the celebrations.

I could hear loud music as I followed the Head Teacher across the dry, dusty playground towards the classroom where we found all the staff assembled.

All the staff had cooked and brought in food for the party.

Ennes, a friendly and vibrant young Malawian teacher was holding a microphone and dancing as I entered the room. On the blackboard they had written in chalk: 

There was dancing which I am not very good at but I tried very hard. Luckily no one laughed! 

Dancing with Ennes.

Then I was asked to sit at a table with the Head Teacher, Deputy Head and Assistant Head. Before we ate, a teacher led us in prayer. Religion is not a bolt on for people from Malawi. It is not something that happens on Sunday but a part of everyday life. Prayers here are said in a natural and often spontaneous way and people regularly give thanks to the Father for many things. Traditional Malawian food was served and this time I knew not to talk too much while we ate...ha ha! Shortly after this two village chiefs arrived and sat down to share the food with us. 

Then it was time for speeches:

The Head Teacher Mr Foster Amose

Mr Amose thanked me for coming and said that he and all the staff were very proud of me.

One of the village chiefs giving a speech confirming the link between Boma and Sissinghurst.

Then the chief of the village was invited to give a speech. Finally, I was asked to give a speech. I knew I would be asked to but I had decided not to panic or prepare on paper but to speak from the heart.

Ennes asked some teachers to dance as an expression of joy and thanks for my visit to Boma school and then I was asked to go with five ladies to receive my present which was in the Head's office. 

I was suspicious which made the teachers laugh and we set off across the playground to the office. Once there they explained that they had made me a traditional outfit worn by Malawian women. It was lovely as you will see but skin tight! After some tugging and pulling the outfit was finally on and we walked back towards the classroom. The children who had stayed laughed, clapped hands and walked with me across the playground.

A small group of men who were fixing some broken desks stood with their mouths open as I walked past which was very funny.
Finally it was time for gifts. Boma School teachers came up one by one and presented me with a vegetable basket, two cooking bowls, a selection of cooking spoons, two serving spoons a sieve to prepare sima, a traditional shopping basket and broom to sweep with. 

After this I presented the Head Teacher with presents from Sissinghurst school. Everyone was very excited and grateful for their gifts. 
I had a wonderful trip to see Boma School and learnt a lot along the way. I hope to see our partnership develop over this coming year and look forward to Mr Amose coming to visit us next year in June.

FUTURE LINKS WITH BOMA SCHOOL

We (the teachers) were both pleased and sad to wake up to our last day in the schools of Malawi. We were pleased because by now most of us had upset tummies and we were very tired, and sad because it has been one of the most extraordinary, challenging and interesting experiences of our lives. 

We met for breakfast at 6.30am as we did everyday ready to set off to our schools at 7am. Our drivers, Frank and Dave who are from Malawi, helped us to take the bags full of gifts for our schools and heaved them into the back of the jeeps ready to set off.
Boma school was first as it is only ten minutes down the road so I got out and Dave carried the presents to the Head Teachers office. Now today is my last day so I know that in Malawi they have a celebration day to say goodbye to their visitors from overseas. I suspect there may be drums or dancing or the children might sing and there might be presents or speeches...my head is full of ideas about what might happen! 
All morning Mr Foster Amose (the Head Teacher) and I sat in his office filling out forms for Starfish Malawi and the British Council who help teachers to go out to Africa to work in their link schools and then fund a return visit so the teachers from Africa can visit the UK. 
Here is what we decided in a little more detail:
1.  Children in both schools will write traditional stories.  Boma and Sissinghurst will read each other's stories which will be an opportunity for our children to explore each other's cultural traditions.
2. Water is an issue both at Boma and Sissinghurst. At Boma there are water stands outside in the playground. These are provided so the children can wash their hands after they have been to the toilets. However, they are often empty because there are 4,600 children, the children play with the water and it runs out after first break by about 9.30am but school does not finish until 1.05pm. 

Water stand at Boma School provided so children can wash their hands.

At Sissinghurst we have water fountains. Children can use these to have a drink throughout the day and there is no shortage of water. However, children often leave the water running which is a waste of this natural resource.
Mr Foster Amose and I decided that the Pupil Council will appoint water monitors at both schools who will be responsible for a) at Boma, ensuring there is an increasingly consistent supply of water for sanitation during the school day and b) at Sissinghurst ensuring that water is not wasted. We will share newsletters between both pupil councils to see how successful the monitors are in achieving our aims.

3. We will organise a litter pick in the playgrounds of both schools. We will sort the waste into paper, plastic, food etc. We will then make graphs to show the results. After sharing the results with our link school we will consider similarities and differences in the waste our schools have produced. We will challenge stereotypical views and perceptions by exploring in depth the implications which arise from these results. 

After all the form filling we enjoyed a break and the Deputy Head, Mr Stanfield Muta, asked me about shops in the villages in England. One cultural difference I have noticed is that Malawians do not seem to talk as much as we do in England. They are happy to sit and have silence as much as they are to talk and ask questions at times where in England it is considered polite to keep the conversation going. During lunch I was told off for talking too much :-) 'You have not eaten your food...too much talking.' 
The Head and Deputy like to listen to the radio in their office to keep up with the news. I asked them about Ebola and they said they were not worried at this time. This is because the Ebola outbreak is very, very far away - Africa is an enormous continent and distances between countries here is huge. In addition, as many people are relatively poor they do not have the money to travel large distances across Africa. Also, Malawi people live in communities so there is no need for them to travel to distant places to see people. 

Time was marching on when the Deputy said that the children did not know I was going tomorrow. I was so disappointed as I had hoped that the children would sing or dance and that I would have the opportunity to say goodbye. So, I set off into the playground where it was now break time (probably the fourth) for the older children. They immediately began to surround me as I had a camera  and they just have to be in the photograph! I walked around slowly as I was encircled by a hundred to two hundred children at times and wondered if such an event would be possible in England or if you would all push so much that someone would get hurt! The children stared at me and giggled at times and one brave girl talked to me. She wanted to know my name, about my house, the children I teach and what I do after school. I told them I was going back home the next day and said goodbye. It is one of the most extraordinary things that all and I mean almost ALL the children want to 'high-five' you or touch your hand. So as I walked I 'high-fived' and squeezed the hands of as many children as I possibly could saying to them 'Joy, happiness and a tummies full of food' as that is what I wish for each and every one of the children at Boma school. They repeated, 'happiness' back to me as we made slow progress around the playground and back to the office. These children are curious, well behaved, respectful and happy. They are also children like Sissinghurst children and can be naughty, so sometimes one little child would push too much to the front and an older child would smack them lightly on the head and push them back but on the whole they care well for one another. If they are naughty in class they are sent to the Head Teacher's office. When they come into the office they duck down onto their knees and wait to talk to the Deputy as a sign of respect. To talk to the Head Teacher you sit on a long narrow bench at the front of the office and wait until he is free to talk to you. Then you move up to the next bench nearest to the Head when he is ready. 
The children come into the office to collect books for the lessons which are kept there in boxes and in piles on the floor. Look at the photos below and see if you think we could help the pupils at Boma school to find the books! What do you suggest we could do to help?

Mr Chris Knott has talked to Mr Foster Amose about an irrigation kit for the school. Irrigation is a way to keep crops watered as they grow - if they dry out the plants die and there is no crop and it is always hot in Africa with very little rain. The governors, staff and parents will hold discussions about this new idea for growing food for the school to supplement their porridge program. If they decide to do this they will need to fertilise the ground using organic fertiliser as modern fertilisers have spoilt the soil and taken away the nutrients that are needed to grow crops. Mr Amose and I agreed that next year we might carry out a composting project at Boma and Sissinghurst. 

DAY THREE BOMA SCHOOL

I am disappointed to find I cannot add video for you to see as the files are too large but I will try.

Day 3 and today is a teaching day for me. The Headmaster, Mr Foster Amose, is very keen for us to share good teaching practices so I am going to tell the children the story of the Little Red Hen.

First, Ruth Phiri (our link coordinator at Boma school and the lady who you may remember visited us a few years ago) and I set off to visit Standard 6a. The children were sitting at desks or on the floor and in the middle of a lesson but the teacher was expecting us. There are not enough desks for all the children so some sit on the floor. Generally, if you are the last one into the classroom or you are late, you sit on the floor.

When an adult enters the classroom, the children all stand up and say 'Good morning Madam. You are welcome Madam.' The teacher then says, 'Good morning children. You may sit down.' 'Thank you Madam,' chorus the children before sitting back down in silence.

So I introduced myself and explained how our schools are linked and with Ruth's help began to tell them the story of the Little Red Hen which they repeated back to me with story actions. "Once upon a time there was a Little Red Hen who wanted to make some bread..." Once Ruth explained that they were meant to copy me, they did exactly that. Even if I said something that wasn't part of the story, such as, 'Oh, we forgot the part where we grind the wheat...' or 'Could you hold this picture please Ruth,' then they would repeat that too. It was quite funny as the children were all vey serious indeed until I made a pig noise and that made the children and Ruth laugh as I don't think they usually do things like that in schools in Malawi :-)

Standard 8

I told this story with pictures to children aged from around 9 to children in Standard 7 and 8 so children up to the age of around 12 and 13. I taught six classes and only one of them giggled or found it funny. For the older children I decided to tell them the bible story of the Lost Coin as you saw Elephant class retell in assembly before I left to visit Boma school. We started with a 'Hot and Cold' game in which they had to find a silver coin that I had hidden in the classroom. Then we learnt the story with actions. Afterwards I explained how the story tells us that God never gives up searching for us until he finds us. The children were wonderful in every class  and I told them how much I appreciated their respect and participation. They asked me about the children in England and what they did after school and we compared it with what they did after school. It seems that children in Malawi are more involved in the work around the house and home - sweeping, cleaning, helping to gather firewood as well as playing games. Then Ruth decided that I should try to tell the Little Red Hen story to the youngest children even though they don't speak much English.  Standard 1 children (aged 6 which is when they start school here) had had their porridge and gone home after first break but Standard 2 children were still in class so off we went. These children were the same age as my own class but spoke only a little English. They were very impressed that I could say 'Koukou' or perhaps that is spelt 'Kuku' in chechewa which you may remember is the word for chicken. Ruth taught them the English words for cat, pig, dog, cow and chicken and slowly, a few words at a time we told the story in English and Ruth translated it into Chichewa so they would understand. They were brilliant - I bet we couldn't tell a story in Chichewa!

Standard 6

I shared with the children some of the fun things we do when you are all a bit fidgety - show me five fingers, or actions with our hands that you all follow - and they very much enjoyed them. At Boma, the teachers say, 'Order!' and the children repeat, 'Order!' and stop talking. Sometimes they sing a song the teacher told me so I asked her if they would sing one for me. They sang, 'We are marching in the light of God' and not in Chichewa but in English. It was a bit more fun than our version so we must ask Mr Foster Amose to teach it to us when he visits us next June.

Standard 2

Then it was time for lunch at the Head Teacher's house after the children had all gone home at 1.05pm. When I say the children had all gone home this is not strictly true. As I mentioned before, I think, the children don't have TV to go home to so they often hang around at school in the playground and play with each other before going home a bit later. Also, local children come and drink water from the water tap or just hang around to see what's going on!!

Local children getting a drink and just hanging around in the afternoon in Boma School playground.

After lunch, Mr Foster Amose and I talked about how we are going to link our schools over the next year before he visits us in June. We are going to write stories, carry out a litter pick and sort to see if our waste products are similar or different and explore the results in terms of global citizenship and responsibilities, and the Pupil Council in Boma and at Sissinghurst will appoint water monitors.
Boma school were given a large water container which links, through pipes, to the main supply.

The water storage tower funded by charity for Boma School.

 The pipe then runs underground to the tap you see in the picture below.

Boma School water tap - one single tap for 4,600 children and Mary's Meals kitchen.

 This is the only source of water for the school which you will remember has 4,600 children and 63 staff. The large green bucket is filled up by Mary's Meals kitchen staff who volunteer to come to the school and cook the 'para' or porridge that the children eat each day at break time. The women fill many of these large green buckets with water and then carry them on their heads to the kitchen where they mix the water with maize before making porridge in huge pots which sit above open wood fires.

Chris and I attempted to life the buckets and I could not even lift them off the ground. The children use their cups - you see a small green cup in the picture of the tap - for 'parra' and for drinks of water throughout the day. One of the things we could help with would be to house the tap securely as the children play with it and it is beginning to look like it will break which would be a disaster as you can imagine.
When the children arrive at school I noticed many of them are carrying sticks. I was told that each child brings some firewood to school and it is used by the volunteers to burn underneath the large pots which cook the porridge.

Mary's Meals Kitchen at Boma School. Firewood is brought in by the children and piled up outside ready for the volunteer staff to use to cook the porridge.

By the way - I have only seen one spider and that was in the hotel. It was large and ran like the wind. We all stood up on our chairs and a member of staff chased it around the room with his shoe...very funny indeed! In the back of a jeep on the way to climb up Black Rock to see the sun set over Kasungu Park there was a small stick insect. It was quite sweet but next to me which was not a wise decision. It's little legs waved and it walked towards me and I leapt off my seat and sat in on the floor to avoid it. Another teacher said she would pick it up...no problem she said...and she let it walk onto her hand. When it's little legs tickled she was scared and threw it off her finger! Luckily, Frank who is one of our drivers from Malawi picked it up and carefully put it outside. Phew. A few days later I saw an enormous stick insect and said to everyone that it was lucky that our stick insect in the jeep had not been THAT big! No...said Frank...that is a praying mantis....WOW! The only horrid thing was Tetse flies that flew into the jeep through the window. Everyone was trying to swat them as they carry a disease called Sleeping Sickness. I squashed one with my water bottle and it was full of blood so we knew one of us had been bitten...heavens how horrid. They are very unpleasant and all around the park land there were special traps to stop them from proliferating. House point for anyone who looks up 'proliferating' and can tell me what it means :-)

Day 2 Kaufipa School

Day 2 and Boma school had a holiday and was closed so I went with Miss White to Kaufipa Primary School. Kaufipa is much smaller than Boma with 500+ children and is an hours drive away from the town of Kasungu, where we are staying, so it is out in the countryside. 


The children here were so excited to see Miss White and today, and to have a visit from Chris Knott from Starfish Malawi. 

We were introduced to the PTA representative, the govenor's rep, the head teacher, the deputy head and the chief of the village. After a very purposeful and productive meeting with all these representatives, Miss White carried out a P.E. Activity with the school in competition with their partnership school from StarfishMalawi, Borough Green. The children did speed hops, chest-push throws with a ball, a tennis ball throw and long jump all of which were counted or timed and then compared with Borough Green's results. This really reinforced the links between the Kaufipa School in Malawi and Borough Green School in Kent. 

This was the longest long jump from a Standard 6 child in Kaufipa school.

The children crowded round to see the competition. Two climbed up a tree and the older prefects stopped the other children from pushing forward which was a constant problem! 

I spotted one young girl who was selling something from a bucket. It turned out to be a small cake, similar to a doughnut. She was buying these locally and selling them during break time at double the price - an entrepreneur in the making? As at Boma school, the children at Kaufipa School have an easy going, happy attitude. Except for pushing and crowding, they are very respectful and well behaved. Even though they crowd and push, it is very rare for any child to get hurt or to be pushed over. The older children generally look after the younger ones. They, also, are fascinated by visitors from Europe...'Mazungu'. 

Miss White, Chris Knott and I were taken to the head teacher's house for lunch. We were joined by teachers George and Charles, Mattheus and the chief, Walter who was 87 years old. We ate chicken and rice with Irish potatoes and a tomato sauce. We had a very interesting conversation about Malawi culture and community. George told us that he had moved to teach in this area because his daughter has encephalitis (where water gathers around the brain) and they could get medical treatment for her in this district. He said that her head had swollen to twice the normal size and she had to stay in hospital. She now has a drain inserted at the back of her neck and after treatment is back at home. She is three years old. Charles told us that people in Malawi do not worry about time in the way we do. George told us that Malawian people have a tremendous sense of community. This is for their extended family but also for fellow Malawians as a whole. For example, when George and his family moved to this area, the local people arrived with maize and potatoes to ensure that George's family had food. All for one and one for all! We compared the good and bad things about life in England and life in Malawi and I summed it up by saying, 'We have quantity, but you have quality.' 


Walter, the chief, led us in prayer before our meal.  Before we ate, the headmaster's wife Rose brought round a bowl and a jug of water for each person in turn to wash their hands - this is repeated at the end of every meal. Lunch was eaten without knives and forks. Generally, these are offered to visitors but people mostly eat with the fingers of their right hand and we wanted to join in with the local traditions. I then asked to see the hens at the back of the house and found lots of chickens with small, black chicks running after them. The chichewa word for chickens is 'Koukou' and is very difficult to pronounce! Malawians seem to love it when I try to learn their language and are very keen to teach me - I can count to four and know the names for some animals so far! The kitchen was outside, and is an open fire housed inside a small hut with a door. From this room smoke pours out from the cooking fire. This is very bad for the women who cook on the fires as they are breathing the smoke in every day and it makes many women ill as they get older because it hurts their lungs. A young woman called Melody was washing plates in a round plastic bowl and there were noisy chickens everywhere and a few goats wandering around as there are everywhere in Malawi - even next to main roads.

I expect you will want to know what the toilets were like! They have pit latrines so people  go in to the toilet and there is a hole in the floor - they don't sit down, they squat over the hole and there is a pit underneath the hole ... that's it. Very practical and does the job but not what we are used to! 

Boma school Day 1

Now the main purpose of the visit begins tomorrow as it is Monday and the first day we can visit the schools. 

We have settled into Kasungu Inn hotel near the town of Kasungu and have unpacked ready for school visits over the next week. 

I am somewhat nervous as Boma school now has 4,600 children and this sounds overwhelming. Added to this we are the only 'mazungas' in the area visiting the schools.  Mazunga is the Malawi term for a white skinned person and children in particular get very excited to see us. Add to this that I was concerned that the children might not understand the story telling activities that I had planned and I had a restless night. 

Monday morning dawned and we set off in the cars with the lovely drivers Frank and Dave. Boma school is only ten minutes down the road and another teacher called Vickie was in my car as she then had to carry on to her school in the country side of Malawi another hour away. 

We drove down a main road, turned off onto dry, sandy, red mud roads and turned into a large empty area a bit like a playground. Children were standing in small groups and waved as we went past. We drove across this area and then turned left between two buildings. The route was now lined with children. Children running, waving, calling, jumping up to try and see. Children everywhere as far as I could see. Children crowding around the car. Children who had taken their flip flops off to wave them. Children pushing, climbing, cheering. Before I had left the car I was overwhelmed to the point where I couldn't get out with any composure. My fellow teacher Vickie was amazed and simply couldn't believe the welcome I received from thousands of joyous, happy children.

I waved and was shown into a room where all the staff were assembled for a meeting. Mr Chris Knott from Starfish Malawi videod my arrival and then talked to the staff before we set off to the headmaster's office. We waded through happy, smiling children and then had a meeting in the head's office. All through the meeting  curious, waving children stood in the doorway of the office and stared or waved at their new visitor. 

Chris Knott and I went out into the playground during first break. This is when Standard 1 and 2 line up for their porridge. Porridge is provided by Mary's Meals, a UK based charity, and now ensures many children come to school just to be fed. For some, this is their only food of the day. Chris was surrounded by a sea of children.

I tried to photograph the porridge station but the moment you get out a camera children crowd round you, trying to get into the picture and they were nearly knocking over the porridge bucket! 

Chris and I went for a walk around the school grounds and found a clinic where he received treatment for his sore foot. 

This was a private clinic where you have to pay. Back within the school grounds we saw many new toilet blocks and water stands where children can wash their hands. 

After our walk we went to an agriculture lesson and learnt about farming equipment and safety. The children all put their hands up and click their fingers to get the teachers attention when they want to answer a question, so Chris and I had a go. The children were delighted when we got the correct answer and gave us a clap - just one and all in unison. 

The break time is staggered to allow time for all children to have 'parra' which means porridge. They line up to receive one cup full each. After each break time, a different Standard (class) goes home. At 1.05pm school is over and all children can go home. Then we were off to the head teachers house for lunch - chicken (fresh- no supermarkets near here) and rice and nsima. Mr Foaster Amose, headteacher of Boma school, walked us back to Kasungu town and our hotel - the deputy said it would take 20 minutes...it took 40! They all enjoyed the joke 😀. On the way Mr Amose (Pronounced Armos) explained that transport here is rare so bicycles are considered public transport and most are licenced. They have a long, rectangular shaped seat behind the 'driver' where the paying passenger sits. I also noticed a child playing with a metal hoop, using a stick to roll it down the sloping, sandy road.

Off to Kasungu Town

Sunday morning and I got up early to see the sun rise.

There was a group of hippos grazing on grass on the opposite side. Baboons were sitting on the grass, chasing the birds away and large deer were grazing on the grass higher up. 

Later we had breakfast and wondered if we would be lucky enough to see the elephants before leaving.

Ten minutes later one family appeared on the near side - our side of the lake - on the left hand side, then another family on the right hand side. Gradually, the two families met in the middle and there were 28 elephants greeting each other, playing in the water and making rumbling noises just a few metres away from us.

Elephants and Hippos

Saturday morning we met a young man in a green ranger outfit with a gun and after a safety talk set off on safari. After ten minutes we saw an elephant behind the trees. Gradually, eight elephants emerged from the bush - a whole family with male, female, teenagers and babies. One young male flapped his ears and made a noise and the ranger ordered us to climb up some steps to show we were retreating. From this safe area we watched them as they grazed on leaves and slowly moved past us. 

Over the rest of the safari which took nearly three hours we saw various deer and a huge number of birds which took flight as we approached - it was exactly like a David Attenborough video. 

Finally, we saw hippos. It was without doubt one of the most exciting three hours I have ever had. There were eight hippos in the water and every now and again they raised themselves up and bellowed.

Videos and pictures will have to follow as I cannot connect the iPhone or camera to the iPad so anything not videod or photographed from the school iPad can't be attached to the blog.