Day 6

…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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!