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We are delighted to show the New Nursery school at Kalkoma School in Malawi.  All of those who helped with fundraising and donations should feel very proud of your achievement.   It should not be long before the children are enjoying their new classroom complete with easels, how exciting!

Please watch our video below -

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RinHN-FnLQs

 

 

please donate to our ongoing work in Africa by emailing maggie.sprights@btinternet.com.

After a long journey of 24 hours flying on 3 planes through Paris, Niarobi, Zambia and eventually Malawi we arrived at Lilongwe airport short of one very large bag.  It was the bag that all the sports equipment and gifts were housed.  Paris "Charles de Gaulle" had been closed due to extreme thunder storms and only reopened minutes after we landed - baggage chaos ensued.  The five hour stopover in Niarobi airport was grim as anyone who has been there will know. 

The departure from Lilongwe was delayed as we travelled to the airport each day hoping the bag would arrive as it was instrumental in the sport project I had written and intended to deliver to the pupils and teachers.  By day 5 it was a real downer.  Lilongwe is dirty, slightly dangerous, exhausting due to constant negotiations/bartering for every taxi ride - not the place to be.  Transport in Malawi is very difficult to find unless you can be funded to hire a vehicle which is exceedingly expensive.   The day we left Lilongwe to travel up north to the remote Embangweni and Kakoma we swung by the airport just in case - and literally jumped for joy when the bright blue kit bag was lighting up the concourse.

From the moment of arrival at Kakoma school and village it was an atmosphere of life and excitement.  There is a very positive energy around this area.  People are happy, they are fit,  there bodies are very able and their connection to the natural world around them is strong in the absence technology, electricity and running water.   Their resourcefulness is most impressive and taught me alot.  

When I immediate emptied my kit bag of footballs, rugby balls and other sports equipment I quickly had an audience of hundreds.  The children vied for the job of pumping up the balls sadly we only had 3 pumps.  It was like christmas and rightly so they had 20 expensive, new, shinny leather footballs and 3 rugby balls, and ropes, and markers and lots of other stuff. Lessons began immediately and at the time I had no idea of how popular they would become and how hard I would work.

The fitness level of all the children was astonishing I could not tire them out, girls or boys.  From waking in the morning to bed at night they are using their bodies actively - no electricity means early nights as it is pitch dark at 7pm. No water means walking distances to bore holes and carrying heavy buckets home on your head.  They children were skilled at everything I taught them, they have a natural abilit