FHS in Bandawe

No break from lessons

The group has now been to the school they are supporting – Bandawe Girls Secondary School. The plan is to spend a significant part of the rest of the stay visiting the school and getting to know new friends. And that means lessons! Zoe’s been in touch with the following:

“Interesting first day at the school, they are teaching us Tonga, the local language”

Now, for those who thought that Tonga was a Pacific island, then here’s your lesson for today. According to this article on Wikipedia (always to be read with reservations but useful nevertheless), the Tonga are an ethnic group believed to be from the northern part of Malawi.

Zoe also reports that it’s warm during the day, cold at night, everything’s interesting and there’s an awful lot to take in.

Another snapshot of the journey

We’ll try to share some of the txts that filter through so that readers of the blog can get a flavour of the adventure the group is having. Here are some thoughts on the journey from Kathleen:

‘We r on th bus goin 2 th hotel. Its amazin! Its sunny n mr kamanga came 2 meet us at the airport n gave evry 1 a big hug. Iv been in 3 countries 2day kenya zambia n malawi. We hd a stop in zambia this mornin. Iv seen so much already!’

Once again, I think you get a real sense of the wonder and the sheer amazingness of this trip.

More as we get it.

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Definitely not in Falkirk now

A couple of texts arrived this morning. Short and to the point as usual, but definitely capturing the essence of being in a different country:

“Wow! Baboons in garden! Rlly close!”

And another one close on its heels:

“Things r gr8! Went 2 fishing village. Children loved us+our cameras! Safari lodge beautiful! Saw monkeys!”

It sounds like they are having a fantastic time and I expect we’re all looking forward to seeing the photos when they get back.

The next leg

At the moment the group should be settling down for an overnight stay in Nairobi airport. Not the most comfortable arrangement but since they have an early start probably a sensible one.

The next leg of their journey takes them from Nairobi to Lilongwe – but it’s a ‘circular’ (think bus routes) that goes via Lusaka airport in Zambia. You can get details on the Flightstats website. It does mean a longer outward trip but they’ll be on the short leg on the way home. Hopefully they’ll also get to see a bit more of the country from the air.

And they’re off!

A surprisingly on-time and awake bunch of teachers, students and parents started gathering at the check-in concourse of Glasgow airport from around 3.40 this morning. One hour later everyone was checked in and heading for the security area.

The obligatory group photo was taken.

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Even the rector, Mr Anderson and another teacher, Miss Derrick, came along to see everyone off – that has to be above and beyond the call of duty at 5am.

Amidst a few tears and plenty of hugs, the group were sent on their way and bleary-eyed parents headed home. At the time of writing the group are probably at 30000 feet somewhere over southern Europe heading for Nairobi. We look forward to hearing from them later today.

Journals

During the trip, everyone is being encouraged to keep a journal to record their thoughts and experiences. It is hoped that they will then share these thoughts when they return and you can read them on the website.

If you plan on publishing your journal on the website, create it as a new page and make its ‘Parent’ page the ‘Journals’ section. You can write it as one single page, split it into pages or even into subsections. But however, you choose to present it, please share your thoughts with everyone reading.

So, what is the group going to be doing?

Loads of stuff and hopefully they’ll let us know all about them when they get back.

But, if you want a rough idea of what the plans are, check out their itinerary.

There are no hard and fast plans, largely because everything will be running to ‘Malawi time’. That means things happen when they happen.

Another wee update

On Friday, there was a parents’ information evening but there was also a wee social gathering beforehand. The group was very pleased to welcome Michael Matheson MSP as a special guest. Mr. Matheson has been very supportive in helping the group secure funding from local businesses.

As always, some piccies are in the gallery

Today (Saturday) saw us in the Howgate shopping centre rattling buckets and accosting unwary shoppers. Once again the Samba band were on hand to make some attention-grabbing noise and a very respectable total of around £630 was raised. Thank you to everyone who helped out and to those who contributed so generously.

Many of the other donations from businesses and other events have also been tallied and the total raised is just over £6000.

Fundraising update

The fundraising efforts at the school show brought another £402 into the coffers. Added to this, £353 was raised from the sponsored waxing and £157 from the various quizzes.

This brings the total raised so far to around £2850!

Thank you all so much for your generosity and support.

Please do try and pop along to the coffee morning in Old and St. Modan’s Church this Saturday (14th June). Unfortunately I’ll not be there so if anyone has any photos from the event that they’d like uploaded, let me know (or leave a comment) and I’ll sort something out.

Callander Square day

A large number of pupils, staff, and helpers descended on Callander Square shopping centre between 12 and 2pm today to elicit money from unwary passers-by – and to talk about the trip to Malawi.

There was a great response and many people stopped to chat and find out more about the trip. There was also a very generous response to the collection appeal with just over £300 raised.

Thanks again to everyone who helped and supported the event. Photos can be found in the photo gallery.

If you’re a Falkirk local, check out page 2 of the Falkirk Herald from 29th May. There’s a feature about the trip. Or you can read about it online.