Malawian Visitors 2011
29 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
In December, the school hosted two visitors from our partner school in Malawi. Mr Wisdom Maseko and Mr Chrisipine Chabwera are teachers at Mlozi School along with Mr Chimtali and Ms Ajawa who visited us in 2010. The visit was funded by Global School Partnerships through the British Council to support joint curricular projects being carried out in both schools.
During their time in the school, they joined a variety of classes and all pupils had the opportunity to meet with them and ask questions to learn more about Malawi. Two joint projects are being undertaken by the schools, one on The Environment and the other on Health. Some of the pupils involved spoke with the visitors about the projects, and work that has been completed so far was exchanged. At other times, our visitors enjoyed new experiences on the climbing wall, toasting marshmallows with S1 in SMART, surfing the internet and playing basketball, as well as the more familiar football. They also managed afternoon tea with the Parent Council and visits to several of our associated Primary Schools to meet pupils and teachers at Kinlochewe, Gairloch, Poolewe and Inverasdale. Unfortunately, a planned visit to Bualnaluib was thwarted by wintry weather. Towards the end of their visit, they joined the school in two highlights of our Christmas celebrations, a performance of A Christmas Carol and the school dance.
Out in the community, they switched on the Christmas lights in the Library, met with the ATC, attended St Maelrubha’s church and the Shipmates Carol Service and played football with Wester Ross Youth Football. One Saturday, they travelled to Invergordon, where they tried judo, and Dingwall, where they met Elaine Maclennan who collected over 1000 toothbrushes that were taken to Mlozi School in October by Mr Hulme and Anna. Another day, they visited Coulin Estate, courtesy of Neil Morrison, where they got the opportunity to see deer at close quarters. They also visited Two Lochs Radio for an interview which you may have heard. We are very grateful to all the members of the community who invited them to and entertained them at these events – as well as demonstrating to our visitors the warm welcome of our community; this evidence of community involvement in our partnership strongly supports our grant applications for such visits.
Visits from Malawi to Scotland are restricted largely to when their school is on holiday and ours are not, i.e. August or December. Concerns beforehand that they would find it very cold here in December were largely unfounded – they had to be positively encouraged to put on warm clothes and were thrilled to experience snow for the first time in their lives. They thank everyone for the very warm welcome they received here and have lots to tell their families, colleagues and pupils back in Malawi. We look forward to further collaboration between the schools and the return visit of Mr. Hulme and Mrs. Johnston to Mlozi School in June.
Click here to see photos associated with the visit.
