In April, I joined a group visit to Malawi organised by Jess from Mbedza.   The Brussels Women’s Club, of which I am a member, had fundraised for one of Mbedza’s core projects -  The Songani Hope and Wellness Centre - and what I had learned about the Charity’s projects inspired me to go and see for myself.

 What a fantastic and interesting trip it was, beginning with our arrival at the chaotic airport at Blantyre; being met by a troupe of baboons when we reached our accommodation, being bowled over by the stunning views from our cottage over the Zomba plain, and then being served some excellent food prepared by a cook.  What a start to the trip and the best was yet to come!

Our visit kicked off with an interesting talk about Malawian culture from Peatry, Country Director, and we learned a few words of Chichewa, the language spoken by the majority of Malawians.  Our poor attempt at the language seemed to amuse the baboons who stopped and watched us for a while! 

The visits to the Mbedza projects were fascinating. I had not appreciated how important wood is in Malawi as it is their major source of energy. Everywhere around the Zomba plateau, we saw women carrying wood on their heads and men using bikes or rolling big logs down the slopes.  We visited two villages and we were given a very warm welcome by the chief and villagers.  In the first village, we saw the fuel-efficient stoves provided by Mbedza. The villagers explained that they were delighted with the stoves as they enabled them to cook more rapidly with less wood and was better for their health as the stoves produced less smoke. In the next village, we visited a tree-growing project where we were shown trees which amazingly only took 2 years to grow.  Once fully grown the branches could be used for fuel without cutting down the tree.    

Another day was spent visiting the Songani Centre where we were taken through an HIV counselling session by Frank, the deputy director of Mbedza Malawi.  Frank spoke of the stigma attached to HIV, which made it difficult to encourage people to get tested.    We learned more about the illness itself and were impressed by the care given.  As well as testing and counselling for HIV, the Centre serves as a Community centre and houses a library where students were quietly studying.  We were then introduced to a group of women who were learning how to sew.  They demonstrated how they made reusable sanitary kits for schoolgirls who could not otherwise afford sanitary protection.  This work was vital as without the kits, some girls had to miss school during their periods. Dance is an important element of Malawi culture and it was not long before our group was treated to dancing accompanied by much clapping. 

Other highlights of the trip were a visit to a secondary school where we met the students sponsored by Mbedza and later visited some of their homes.  We also visited Chiyambi Nursery in Monkey Bay and watched the children being taught and responding in English.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a safari (in Liwonde national park) and watching elephants cleaning grass before eating it, whilst drinking a beer was definitely a highlight.  As was a boat trip on Lake Malawi where we watched eagles diving for fish.  Some of the group went snorkelling which they thoroughly enjoyed but which wasn’t for me.  We also managed an historical tour of Zomba and visited the market.  Attending a church service was tremendous fun, and an extremely lively and happy occasion with music, singing and dancing aplenty.  My only regret was that I didn’t join in!

This was a truly amazing trip and I was so glad to have experienced Malawi this way.   Mbedza staff and the people of Malawi certainly helped make the experience a memorable one.  

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