Bringing a school trip to Malawi
The Author
Maureen Casey is a Maths Teacher at St Margaret’s Academy near Edinburgh. Maureen has led numerous school trips out to Malawi and here she shares what it is like to be a group leader and tips for organising your own student study expedition to Africa…find out more about Orbis Study Trips here.
A starting point to bringing a school group to Malawi…
My relationship with Malawi started probably about 2009 when I became interested in the work of Mary’s Meals. As a school we started raising money to build a Mary’s Meals kitchen at Malombera Primary School. We then raised enough for a second one at Mpira primary school.
At that time Holyrood High School in Glasgow had been travelling for a few years to Malawi and had a TV programme made about it. There were staff in St Margaret’s who really encouraged me to go for it.
How to begin with your study trip to Africa
It’s hard to know where to start organising a school trip to Malawi. It’s not like your PGL trips where it is obvious which company to start with. I visited Holyrood and while their model was different from what I was going to do, they gave me the encouragement to get started.
I looked on the Scotland Malawi Partnership website and The Responsible Safari Company/Orbis was mentioned there. This was the starting point of the trip to Malawi and although I didn’t know it the it was the beginning of a trusted working relationship over many trips and years.
Add on a safari or not? Definitely yes!
So the first trip headed out in June 2013. For this trip I organised the flights through a separate company, it worked but in future everything was done through RSC/Orbis. We stayed in Nanchengwa Lodge on Lake Malawi – AMAZING. We worked in the community in local village, Mdala Chikowa on a community project, building a classroom for the local primary school. As the teacher in charge I was terrified of taking them on Safari but was over ruled by the group, totally the right thing to do, so a Safari stay, a visit to an orphanage and a visit to Malombera primary school to see Mary’s Meals in action were included in the trip.
A combination of activities works really well…
In June 2015 a smaller group went to Malawi – Ebola was in the news and this put some off. We stayed at Nanchengwa again and worked with a local organisation CISER on a classroom for a secondary school, to become Rainbow Hope. We worked with the CISER Youth group which was brilliant for our pupils as they were the same age – had the same interests, hopes and dreams and got on really well. We visited a local primary school, the Open Arms orphanage in Mangochi and stayed at Mvuu Camp for a safari. We went to celebrate Mass at the local Catholic Church and were so warmly welcomed – something that is true of everywhere you go in Malawi, no pre judgement just taken for who we are.
Maureen Casey with Joseph Makwakwa at the completion of the classroom build they did at Rainbow Hope Secondary School in Jun 2015.
Top tips for bringing a school group to Africa
1. Self-belief and lots and lots of preparation. Ask Orbis any questions at all.
2. Get the management team of the school behind the trip and if possible get a member involved.
3. Involve outside agency when meeting parents. I used the Scotland Malawi Partnership, they will give the same answers as you but to hear it from an independent source reassures parents.
4. Meet continually with your pupil group, I meet with them one lunchtime a week as well as fundraising events. This builds relationships and knowledge of each other. Be honest about the conditions in Malawi, toilet, water, electricity.
5. Take a nurse as part of your group, although all other leaders had a qualification in First aid.
In June 2017 we headed to Mpira Primary school, in Mwanza District, to work with the charity Classrooms for Malawi, and the local community on our project to build and renovate classrooms. The welcome we got at the hotel was second to none. The staff kept our group occupied playing netball and football every day. We had our first experience of a Chichewa Mass. The guides from Orbis took us to the Mozambique border and a local market to buy material nothing is ever too much trouble. We visited Rainbow Hope and the orphanage on the way to Makakola Retreat on the shores of Lake Malawi. An absolutely beautiful resort.
Global Citizenship in Malawi with Orbis Expeditions
In June 2019 we worked with the community of Ntondoko Primary School and classrooms for Malawi. Although a rural school we were able to stay in Blantyre. This trip we really pushed the experiences – we hiked Mount Mulanje, visited a Fairtrade Tea Plantation, had a day safari to Mvuu, visited the Comboni Fathers Training College, visited the orphanage in Mangochi and the textile training workshop for young people and a three and a half hour Chichewa Mass.
For all the trips I have to say that anything I asked for within the trip was fitted in. Dom, Kate, their Malawi team, the guides and drivers are second to none.
School Trips to Malawi are life changing for all involved…
The experience of all, young and old, is life changing. You appreciate other cultures and be welcomed for what you are. Your pre judgements are shattered. Yes there is poverty but everyone has the same dreams. A visit helps build classrooms but it also lets you see the beauty of Malawi, supports the economy and raises awareness of different challenges in other parts of the world. It shows the real side of the Global Goals and gives all of us a passion for equality in our lives. We come back with a changed view of what is important. A few pupils have changed careers to go into nursing and teachers have changed what they see as important for young people. The life skills gained are many- care of others, tolerance, teamwork, charity, challenging prejudice and discrimination, resilience. We are challenged to look at equality, food waste, recycling, human rights, communicating with others and the value of family.
Fundraising
1. Try to get the local community involved, we did cluster primary school and local parishes.
2. Tell your story to as many people as possible, lots want to help they just don’t know how.
3. Quiz night
4. Ceilidh
5. Big Raffle
6. Sponsored Kiltwalk (National)
7. Sponsored walk – local
8. Race Night
9. St Patrick’s/St Andrew’s Night
10. Gin Tasting Night
11. Afternoon Teas
12. Dress down day at school
13. Bag Packing
My final words…
Overall organising a trip to Malawi is probably one of the most worthwhile, stressful things you will ever do. The hard work and worry is far outweighed by the experience young and old will get out of it. It is LIFE CHANGING. I cannot thank RSC/Orbis enough I could not have done it without them. I would totally recommend schools or other groups to use them to plan their Malawi trip.
Interested to bring school group out to Malawi?
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