tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31499115683304744222024-03-13T04:47:58.792-07:00Dunblane Likhubula Partnership - Likhubula 2016Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-64422155094525118982016-07-07T01:27:00.005-07:002016-07-07T01:27:50.130-07:00Day 6
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">…it’s still raining! We’re told it is good rain, but we’re
not so sure. It’s also very cold. Our friends laugh when we say this is just
like Scotland.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Another busy day started with a quick stop to the Marys
Meals kitchen at Nansato Primary school at 6.30am. Meals are served before
school now to minimise disruption to teaching during the day. The BB guys got
the chance to stir the Likuni phala (fortified maize porridge) and we all got a
taste – sweet barbequed porridge was the closest description we managed. Marys
Meals is something of real interest to the whole community in Dunblane and so
it was good to see this still going strong at Nansato.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a quick drop off of boys for painting at Pasani
Primary school, we picked up Mr Safari and visited Chambe Secondary school.
Chambe and Dunblane High have been attempting to link for some time now with
frustrations and difficulties at both ends, culminating in a suggestion by
Chambe that they would be looking to terminate this link a few months ago. We met
with the Headteacher to understand the frustrations and find a way forward. We
got a good telling off, but both sides are willing to draw a line and start
afresh, with clear contact points at both ends and a promise of key priorities
from Chambe’s perspective to be sent later this week.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a quick break for lunch at Likhubula House and a
chance to catch up on the week so far, we headed back down to Nansato Primary
for the first of 3 more meetings.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We had a quick catchup with the BB guys painting the classrooms
at Nansato – these are looking fantastic! Gift, one of our previous bursars now
studying accountancy, had come down to lend a hand!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We met with Mvano (guild) to pass over the gift and best
wishes from Dunblane Cathedral Guild. The Mvano plan to use this money to
support the most needy in the community. We are promised photos. We were then
presented with a gift of a chitenge which we will pass on to the guild.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Meeting number 3 of the day was the re-arranged bursary
programme meetings – the first attempt being cancelled earlier in the week
after we were even later than Malawi time! This was a very productive meeting
with Mr Nyambalo the bursar monitor, Mr Safari the chair of the steering
committee and both the head and deputy head teachers of Nansato Primary. We
have some great proposals to take back to the Dunblane committee to open up the
scheme, as well as answers to a number of the questions being asked back home.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Final stop of the day was our final steering committee
meeting and meal at Nancy’s Dream restaurant. We reported on the work we have
done this week, actions we had agreed to take and any further action required
by the Likhubula committee. All agreed it had been a very productive visit and
the future looked bright. We shared a great meal together (chicken and rice
with veg… and pizza and spaghetti bolognaise!) and exchanged some gifts. We
were given a sand and glass mosaic including Scotland and Malawi flags which
was like nothing we’d seen before and incredibly generous.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">George leaves tomorrow and so this ends the majority of the
work of the partnership for this visit. We hope it has been a productive week –
it has certainly been busy! We look forward to returning to the Dunblane
committee to share our updates and move our partnership forward together…
Umodzi!</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-18263681908891324822016-07-07T01:27:00.001-07:002016-07-07T01:27:05.932-07:00Day 5
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today it rained… a lot! What’s all that about!?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We travelled to Blantyre to meet with the contractor from
the housing project. Originally we were to meet in Likhubula, but problems with
his car meant this wasn’t possible. If Mohammad won’t go to the mountain… then
Mulanje mountain goes to Blantyre…</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This was an important meeting and a key objective of the
trip. The project has not been an easy one, and so it was vital we got a good
understanding of the difficulties and proposed way ahead from all parties. We
have come away with some good information for our committee to consider when
taking the important next steps to ensure the houses are completed.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After a quick visit to the bank and lunch with warm drinks
to defrost – did we mention it is freezing ????? (and a very funny misunderstanding
involving coffee in a teapot, tea that looked like coffee and the lesson not to
trust George with your teabag…!) – we headed back to Mulanje to visit Mulanje
Mission Hospital and Ruth Shakespeare. Ruth is the director there with a huge
amount of experience she is willing to share.
Ruth’s vision for the hospital is one of a holistic approach to health
including sustainable farming and crops, recycling and she is endeavouring to
develop these through the Mulanje area. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We came away with some clear thoughts and suggestions to
take home. In particular, relating to a nursing project young people at
Dunblane High school have been working on and how best to take this concept
forward.</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-33552181495331193792016-07-04T07:48:00.001-07:002016-07-04T07:48:07.344-07:00Day 4
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">After some peer pressure from Mr. Nyambalo, Fiona agreed to
attend the early morning English service. She was the first to arrive at church
at 7:30 with the service eventually starting at 8:00am (Malawi time). Although there were only 5 people at the
service she enjoyed reading passages from the bible, offering a prayer for the
collection and evening singing an accapela solo version of Praise My Soul the
King of heaven. It was a great
experience.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In between the services, Fiona managed to get a couple of
good conversations with Mr. Safari and Mr. Nyambalo which has given the trio
some food for thought for their return to Scotland. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Soon after, the kilted Brigade arrived much to the delight
of the growing congregation. Two and a
half hours later and after much dancing, singing and worshiping, we returned up
to Likhubula House only to turn back an hour later having had time to eat our
packed lunch. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We met with the village chiefs in the afternoon for a much
longer meeting than we anticipated. However, it was an excellent meeting which
truly demonstrated the support of the chiefs and indeed their effective working
relationship with our Steering Committee.
Many ideas were bandied about and we look forward to sharing them with
our own Committee when we return. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The only disappointment from today was the RAIN! While in our meeting, there was a torrential
downpour and we suddenly thought we were back in Scotland. It is still raining now but we are hoping
this will clear for tomorrow when we head to Blantyre and Mulanje for further
meetings. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-24753315737351340172016-07-04T07:46:00.004-07:002016-07-04T07:47:22.574-07:00Day 3<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are travelling with the BB group from Dunblane, with
Fiona and Ian sharing their time between the BB Classrooms for Malawi group and
the Partnership work.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Having received the abuse for not painting yesterday, we
joined them at Pasani Primary school to help with the classrooms. The school is
looking so much better already and the guys are working really hard. The
schools continue to tell the team what a big difference this will make in
providing better environments for learning, keeping learners in school, and
attracting good teachers to the schools.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">At lunchtime, we met with all 15 Dunblane-Likhubula Bursars
from Chambe Secondary school. There are currently 5 in forms 1, 2 and 3. The
group arrived sporadically so it was a good opportunity to speak to them one to
one. We learned about their aspirations and favourite subjects as well as what
they find most difficult (maths by the sounds of it). At this point the BB boys joined us and it
was really amazing to see the two groups interacting together. The buzz in the
pagoda was incredible and a testament to global citizenship when two cultures
can mix so easily. Later that evening we did a feedback session with the boys
and they were overwhelmed by some of the stories of the bursars. Some of the
learners told the boys how their parents, siblings, grandparents had all died. They spoke of long walks to school, endless
chores but also about a love of learning, similar hobbies and shared challenges
and goals.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We enjoyed a lovely lunch (chicken and rice…..a familiar
menu!) and then some speeches from some of the bursars and the bursar
monitor. They said that they were
proud to be Dunblane bursars and endeavoured to work their hardest. We also reiterated our pride in what they
were doing and encouraged them to keep working hard. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">It was a particular highlight to meet up with Christina and
Gifte, two of our bursars who have gone on to further education. Christina is at teaching college and training
to be a primary school teacher. Gifte is
enrolled in an accountancy course and enjoying his studies. Both are articulate young adults with a
great future ahead of them. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">(In more exciting news, the goat from Nakonyo village has
given birth to a male baby! We have suggested they name the goat Kilby… our Dunblane
committee may appreciate this!)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-87350914272131169712016-07-04T07:46:00.000-07:002016-07-04T07:54:42.819-07:00Day 2<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Another busy day today – with many more to come!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the morning we met with Ruth and Jessica from the
Likhubula steering committee to visit all of the houses being built. These were
funded through a grant from Scotland-Malawi Partnership following floods in
Malawi in 2015. This is possibly one of the most challenging projects for the
Partnership with huge delays and frustrations on all sides.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We visited all 6 houses (each in a different village) and
met with the beneficiaries. It was important to understand what had been
completed, what still remained, and who had undertaken the work to date. Most
importantly, we spoke with the beneficiaries to apologise that they still did
not have a completed house and to promise we would be returning to Scotland
armed with the information and photos we had gathered to ensure that, one way
or another, their house would be complete.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Emotionally, it was a difficult morning. Many of the
beneficiaries had already moved into their homes despite some still being
building sites due to the delays. We all – on all sides of our partnership and
the project – have a responsibility to see this through and to learn from the
challenges.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">More positively, while travelling around the villages we
were able to visit a number of the goat koalas from the goat project! In
Nakonyo village there was even a goat due to give birth any day now, while in
Mbewa we visited a second generation koala housing the goats born from the
original project. This will, we are sure, be well received news at the Dunblane
steering committee!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Travelling around Likhubula, it is amazing the number of
people who ask if we are from Dunblane and come to say hello. Indeed, some people have even stopped and given us
thanks for the work we are doing. The
partnership really is a whole community one.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">In the afternoon, we visited the market at Chitikale and an
internet café in Mulanje to update the blog (yesterdays!) as well as the BB
blog. While wifi at Likhubula house is best accessed standing on one leg
holding your ear (we might have tricked another school group into believing
this….!), Mulanje had great speeds.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We were due to meet with Mr Nyambalo (bursar monitor), Mr
Safari (Chairperson of Likhubula steering committee) and the Headteacher of
Nansato Primary school in the afternoon but we had fallen so far into Malawi
time by this point that we thought it best to re-arrange until later in the
week to ensure a good discussion.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">We are trying to fit a lot into a short space of time, but
we believe it to have been very successful so far…</span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-12096878208160643462016-07-01T05:30:00.002-07:002016-07-01T05:30:46.033-07:00Day 1
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our first full day in Malawi has been very busy. After a very full breakfast at Likhubula
House of eggs, sausages and fruit salad we headed down to Nansato Primary
School with the Boy’s Brigade Team. We
were met by literally hundreds of kids shaking our hands and singing. The boys
were overwhelmed by their welcome and thrilled to finally be in a school. They
had arranged a few songs for us and a lovely banner. We met with the Head Teacher and saw all the
building work that has already been completed by the Classrooms for Malawi
builders. From there we headed down to Pasani
Primary School where we were met by even more excited children. Some had clearly never seen so many ‘azungu’
(foreigners) or certainly not in such great numbers! Some very courageous children were even
climbing up on the back of the mini-van causing the door to open! </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The welcome at Pasani was amazing. There was a tug of war (no rope just hanging
onto bodies!) between the BBs and the Standard 1 class (5 and 6 year
olds)……each team won one game, poems especially written and performed by young
learners and more singing and dancing.
The school parent committee had also prepared delicious baked sweet
potatoes for us to try. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was back to Likhubula House for a delicious lunch, chips,
beef and coleslaw before we walked down the hill to meet with our committee. We had an opportunity to visit the new church
which is looking very impressive (and big!) before the meeting began.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our first meeting</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our first meeting was a great success. It was an open and honest discussion
underpinned by the values of friendship and working together. We started by making list of all the things
that the Likhubula Committee believed had gone well with the partnership then
moved to what hadn’t gone well.
Interestingly, this list would mirror what the Dunblane Committee had
also highlighted in terms of positives and negatives.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For the committee here, they unanimously agreed that the
water supply project and the support for education were particular
strengths. They also agreed that the
food aid and fertilizer project were particularly valuable for them in a time
of need. They also agreed that the
school toilet project had been very well delivered. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In terms of aspects of the partnership that hadn’t gone as
well, the Committee highlighted, the house, goats, broiler chickens and sewing
projects as not having such positive
outcomes. The links (or lack of) with Mvano was also discussed. As a wider committee we explored some of
the possible reasons for all these projects not being successful through a very
honest, frank yet understanding discussion.
It was excellent and truly demonstrated partnership values. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We discussed some of the ways we may move forward in the
future and will explore these further in the week and bring back some ideas for
our Committee in Dunblane to consider. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The sun was setting as we finished the meeting. 24 bottles of pop and some snacks (biscuits for the azungu and
bread rolls for the locals) consumed but a real sense of achievement was
highlighted. Luckily the bus came to get
us as it was pitch black by the time we finished congratulating ourselves. </span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3149911568330474422.post-54117258857447708622016-06-28T23:55:00.001-07:002016-06-28T23:55:04.231-07:00Meet the team<p dir="ltr">We're nearly there! Having safely travelled as far as South Africa, we are waiting for our final flight... Then we'll be on Malawi! </p>
<p dir="ltr">Our team is made up of 3 committee members - Fiona Anderson, George Bond and Ian Brown.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Fiona and Ian are also spending time with a group from Dunblane Boys' Brigade working with the charity Classrooms for Malawi to renovate 18 classrooms at Nansato and Pasani primary schools in the Likhubula area. This group will be blogging on their own site <a href="http://bbprojectmalawi2016.blogspot.co.uk "><u>here</u></a> </p>
<p dir="ltr">This will be George's first time in Malawi with the partnership. Fiona last visited in 2013 and Ian first travelled with the partnership in 2008. We hope to prove to be a good team with varied interests and experience.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We're all very excited to be traveling to Likhubula to represent the partnership and hope to be able to keep you up to date while we're away. Watch this space! </p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17070560065880733585noreply@blogger.com0