Building Project in Malawi - Summer 2010 Expedition

On 10^th July 2010, sixteen pupils and three staff from the College set out for rural Malawi. The culmination of nine months of fundraising, with a total of over £10,000 raised for charity, proved to be an ‘adventure of a lifetime’ trip for the pupils.

The greeting on arrival was quite amazing and many of the group (including Mr Lamb) were moved to tears at the sight of over 500 villagers dancing and singing to welcome them. That warm welcome continued over the next two weeks; the group were living in Chilingani village and were well catered for by the constant delivery of chickens, sweet potatoes, rice and beans from their wonderful village hosts.  

Soon after arrival, the building work started and the Hurst group set about helping to build the new classroom. The Hurst donation paid for most of the specialist tools and supplies, as well as a team of local builders.  The villagers made the bricks and fetched the essential water and sand. A true cross-cultural workforce soon completed the classroom, meaning some 50 children a year can now go to school without having to walk up to 11 kilometres a day.
The experience was phenomenal and a real eye opener for many of the group. They ate, lived and worked local style. They ate grasshoppers for snacks, showered under a cold cup of water every day, and learnt to speak (and sing!) in the local language of Chichewa. Whether through the regular football matches, dancing, playing with the kids and everything else they did in the community, the Hurst team felt totally at home in the dry and dusty, yet beautiful, mountain village.

After their hard work they set off for a week to explore the country walking to the top of the majestic ‘island in the sky’ Mount Mulanje and then into the bush on safari at Liwonde National Park (where they saw huge numbers of elephants, hippos, crocodiles, two porcupines and a Giant Eagle Owl, amongst other things!)

Mr Lamb expressed his thanks to everyone who contributed to the fundraising and to making the trip such a success. The building of one classroom is a wonderful achievement; however there is more to do and the College is keen to start planning a second trip to build an additional classroom adjacent to the first.