Sunday 6 October

Another uplifting action packed day: 2 masses lasting 2 hours each, a tour of Mzuzu, a trip out to a village, called Jojo, right out in the bush.

 

 

 

 

" Today has been the most eventful day that I have experienced in Africa so far, also equally as rewarding as the trip to the orphanage centre. The day started at 6am as I woke up to the sound of the bell to let people know about church. We attended two masses-an English speaking mass first then a Chitumbuka speaking. I was taken aback by the way that the men sit separately from the women and that they start dancing and singing all together during every hymn, which I have never experienced at my local parish in Scotland. Later on we went to the market place in downtown Mzuzu which is a complete shock to my system as a westerner. It is an extremely run down tight market place where people are constantly shouting at you asking you to buy things, as we casually walk past 6 or 7 chickens in lots of different cages. Then we visited a local village which is about half an hour from our home on bumpy typically African style roads. This was the most fulfilling moment as I was given a chance to play with the Malawian children away from the city that otherwise would not have had a chance to see a white person ever in their lives. The children instantly took to us and they were laughing and joking and scrambling in for pictures. I extremely enjoyed giving the children and adults the balloons and lollypops and my particular favourite was giving a ball to the group of boys and the group of girls. The funniest part of the night for me was as we were leaving the village, the leader of the village walked up to us and gave Mr Mcguigan a live chicken, which Ms Henderson had to hold all the way home during which it flapped and squawked giving everyone a massive heart attack.

So far Malawi has been a breathtaking experience, I have never experienced people as warm as the Malawians as they always look for handshakes and always shout ‘you are most welcome to Malawi’. I have loved every minute of it and the memories that I have gained throughout my time in Malawi will stay with me forever. "

Ewan Grant

 

 

"I am having a great time in Malawi so far. The people are so warm and welcoming. The masses this morning were certainly interesting with a seven o’clock start everyone was up dancing and singing. The first mass was in English lasting an hour with a short break for breakfast then back down to the church for a 2 hours mass in chitumbuka which was filled with lots of dancing and signing. My highlight of the trip so far has been the visit to the traditional Malawian village today. From the moment we arrived they had us involved in their tasks such as grinding the maize, making shovels by hand, and collecting the water from the spring down in the valley below the village (which Mr McGuigan done especially well). After we gave gifts to the villagers they returned the generosity by presenting us with a live chicken !!! Much to Heather and Miss Henderson’s dismay so much so that Miss Henderson sat with the chicken on her knee the whole way back. I am looking forward to meeting all the pupils at the various secondary and primary schools around St Peters tomorrow."

 

Tom Cochrane