Our time working with the Chesney Trust was an incredible start to the African Experience. We arrived at Engcongolweni school in Mzuzu late in the evening after a long journey from Lilongwe and were greeted by an excited and friendly crowd. We felt extremely welcomed and greatly appreciated the huge amounts of hospitality – including the classroom and supplies of water (especially when we later found out how much effort it required!).

The project work that we did was interesting and rewarding, and was a very memorable part of our trip. We engaged in tasks such as bush clearing, brick making and painted a maize mill house. We could not believe how much of the site we had cleared and we particularly liked using the slashers and machetes which otherwise we would have never had the opportunity to experience! Technical support was on hand to make sure we used the tools safely and correctly.

We had lots of fun brick making! This involved stomping around knee deep in glorious mud to create the right consistency and then casting them into a mould. What an excuse to get dirty! We transformed the look of a maize mill house by painting it inside and out, if we needed another excuse to get dirty, this was it!

During the project, we made lots of new friends.  Ellias and Watson had the twelve of us for lunch and showed us around their farm. We are extremely thankful for all of the effort they put in, along with their help in clearing the land and painting the maize mill with us! Jane (Watson’s niece) was also such a lovely person and we enjoyed talking to her and hearing about her school and work. Ernest and Daniel were also unforgettable people who we miss greatly!

Baxter, the Headteacher of the school, along with all of the teachers, and the community were so helpful and gave us so much to remember and treasure. Experiencing a traditional Malawian church service was definitely something we shall never forget, especially our panic at having to sing! We thoroughly enjoyed listening to all of the wonderful choirs, along with the goodbye ceremony that the school children put on for us which was excellent.

We had all this fun knowing that it was all in a very good cause. It was an honour and a pleasure being involved in the first stages of a school being built, and thanks to the Chesney Trust, we got that opportunity. We wish you good luck with the rest of your project and hope one day we will see you again!  

By Chloe Collier