FHS in Bandawe

The group has had a busy couple of days, visiting an orphanage and two other schools in the area.

But they’ve also had time to relax, visiting a ‘gorgeous and idyllic’ beach and playing volleyball. But then they had a little reminder that nature can be scary as well a beautiful. The area they are visiting is on a geological faultline and they experienced an earth tremor . ‘Very, very scary’ according to Rebecca.

From Rebecca and Alison:

“Hi! It’s bn rlly cl! Bats+milky way+heat+beach+wild puppies! So cute!”

Now, I’ll bet you’re thinking that those rabies injections weren’t such a bad idea after all

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.

Sunday 29th June 2008 Departure - at the unsociable time of 05:55

Flying from Glasgow to Amsterdam and on to Nairobi.

Overnight stay in Nairobi airport (that’ll be comfy then).

Monday 30th of June - Flight from Nairobi to Lilongwe.

Overnight stay in the Korea Garden lodge (Korean hotel in Malawi - no idea why).

Tuesday 1st of July - travel to Salima.

Overnight stay in Senga Bay Safari Lodge.

Wednesday 2nd of July - Travel to Bandawe.

Staying at Sambani Lodge.

2nd to 12th July

Daily visits to Bandawe All Girls Secondary School.
Excursions to Nkhata Bay, Old Bandawe, Mzuzu, Mukundi Orphan Care, Chinteche Hospital

All-day trips to Nkhata Bay for sightseeing and shopping and Mzuzu for a visit to the synod offices and the local museum.

13th of July - travel to Lilongwe.

Overnight stay in Korea Garden

14th of July - Flight from Lilongwe to Nairobi.

15th of July - Nairobi to Amsterdam to Glasgow.

Arrive in Glasgow at around 21:40.

Go home, sleep for a few days.

Start planning visits to tell everyone all about the trip.

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.

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.

Yummm….

I forgot to bring my camera to grab some photos from the staff cake day but, to be honest, I’d have needed a seriously fast shutter speed to capture the moment before they all disappeared anyway.

Many thanks to all the staff who came along to support the coffee and cake break and well done to those who won raffle prizes.

We didn’t do a full count of the money but it looked to be around £140 or more. That’s an excellent total and very much appreciated. Thanks as well to Mathiesons for supplying a big pile of cakes.

Now, I wonder if there’s any of that iced gingerbread left…

*** Update - the final total was just over £180. Thank you so much.

… on the 31st of May where you can be entertained by (some of) the Falkirk High School Samba band and other musical delights. There will also be an opportunity to learn more about the FHS - Bandawe link and to speak to some of those who are going.

You can also take the Chitenge challenge. If you want to know what that is, you’ll need to come to Callander Square shopping centre in Falkirk between 12 and 2pm on Saturday 31st of May.

Coffee morning in the halls at Falkirk Old & St. Modans Church in the town centre.

More details to follow.

Raising awareness of the trip for the wider community in Falkirk.

Those going on the trip will be at Callendar Square shopping centre to tell people all about the trip, what they hope to achieve and to help raise the profile of the great work that is being done in Malawi by individuals, groups and charities from Scotland.

Ably supported by the samba band and choir, the event should be a great day.