What are the problems in Mulanje?

Kara o’ Mula Country Lodge

As we drove up Mount. Mulanje in the truck I must admit there was some element of fear (maybe a little more than some!) the truck swayed and swirled up the mountain. It was late in the night and the rain was heavy, and there was a big sign of relief as I got to my room. I must admit a part of me was thinking what have I got myself in for?

However, the morning arrived and one look outside of my window changed everything…as I type this I have views of the peak of the mountain, tropical plants and the tea reserves, it is spectacular! The lodge is rustic and has a very traditional feel. The owners are trying to protect the environment and be as sustainable as possible. There are numerous locals employed to grow vegetables in the garden to use in the restaurant and water is used as efficiently as possible.

The lodge employs 54 people and most seem to be locals. The majority are employed for security and landscaping of the area. It seems to be vital for the local economy. Talking to many of the staff they explained to me finding a good job in the area is tough, many end up picking tea and doing other low paid manual labour.

Here are a few images...

The tea reserves on Mount. Mulanje

The view from my room

The vegetable garden at the lodge - all of the produce is used in the restaurant

My first impressions of the capital…

After an eight-hour flight to Nairobi and then another two-hour flight to Lillongwe…I am nearly at my final destination, Mulanje. However, I have a few hours in Lilongwe before I catch my bus.

As the taxi drove into the city form the airport I failed to see the hustle and bustle of what I had imagined. I turned to my driver and asked him if we were in the suburbs, he said no to my surprise. We were pretty much in the centre.

Looking out of the car window I saw children walking home from school, street sellers who seemed extremely laid back and no traffic what so ever. Billy my driver laughed as he said, ‘this is the way it is... locals take things slow and go with the flow!’

As I got out of the cab no one bothered me or tried to sell me anything…instead I was greeted with friendly faces and smiles. I grabbed a quick bite to eat and made a move to catch my bus to finally arrive to my final destination Mulanje.

A glimpse of Kilimanjaro on my flight from Nairobi to Lilongwe

Technical Problems!

The original plan was to upload pictures, videos and text to the blog every day. Unfortunately technical issues got the better of me. The Internet at the lodge was very slow and could just about let me read e-mails let alone upload images!

However, I am now back in Lilongwe and the Internet is better so will be loading some of my posts now and then the rest when I get back to London. Enjoy!

  

Year 7 and Njedza Primary School

In the last academic year, pupils at Coopers' Coborn have been sending letters, cards and information about their lives. In response the pupils at Njedza send us a package with lots of photos and pupil work. It gave the year 7s a 'real' insight into the unit of work they were studying. Below are some examples of the work and photos recieved:

One of the teachers at Njedza

Pupils studying in a classroom

Working hard during a maths lesson!

An information sheet made by 11 year old Ekari

Work sent by 10 year old Katie

Many of the year 7 pupils at Coopers' Coborn were surprised at how many similarites they found with pupils at the link school, such as the TV shows they watched, the subjects they studied and the hobbies they had.



Njedza Primary School

Njedza Primary School is located in Mulanje, a town in the Southern region of the country. The school is located in the foothills of the Mulanje Mountains. The school has just over 1900 pupils and 40 teachers. The school and 3 main aims for this academic year:

- To support education for girls
- Build more classrooms to avoid overcrowding
- Improve communication with its link school (that's us!)

A part of Njedza Primary School 

In October 2012, I am going to be travelling to Mulanje, Malawi to visit The Coopers' Company and Coborn School's link school. The aim of the trip is to develop our ties with Njedza Primary School. The Geography Department have taught a unit of work called 'Malawi - closer than you think!' to year seven students for many years, and the trip will enable us to develop a new set of resources and lesson plans incorporating our new link school.

This aim of this blog is to provide information about Malawi and will follow my journey to Njedza Primary School.