Take 2 Return to Malawi after twelve years

Well, that was a surprise! Five or six months ago I had an unexpected phone call from Krizevac Head Office in Longton asking if I would be interested in returning to Malawi to help with review, updating, rewriting and accreditation of the ECD Diploma course for Care Givers working at Mother Teresa Children’s Centre in Chilomoni, Blantyre. It is now almost exactly twelve years since I returned from 20 months in Chilomoni researching, writing and delivering the first version of that course alongside my colleague David Meechan who is now Senior Lecturer in the Education Department at University of Northampton, married and father of two. How things change! Well done David! As for me I have filled the intervening years with working with children, in nurseries, as a nanny and most notably as a Sleep Counsellor with Sleep East, a CIC based in Norfolk, offering sleep counselling and support to families with children who struggle to sleep well. I did this with the lovely Joy Bishop who has become a very important friend, colleague and co-walker in the Norfolk countryside. We retired and closed the CIC at the end of 2022 and since then I have been enjoying a largely leisured life with my partner; keeping in close touch with my children in London, Bristol and Paris; adoring my grandchildren and visiting them whenever I can; doing a bit of gardening, drawing, making things and painting (not very well!); and getting a little older every year!! The project described to me six months ago has grown and evolved a bit in the intervening weeks. Now I am going to conduct an assessment of training needs for Mother Teresa Children’s Centre including training for new staff, continuous professional development for existing staff and anything else that may emerge. While I am there I will deliver a few CPD training sessions myself. I will support local staff in seeking accreditation of the Beehive ECD Diploma course by the Government of Malawi so that the qualification will be recognised formally across the country. Put together this is a huge amount of work and I am going for only 8 weeks. I am sure it will pass in a flash! I am looking forward to my return to the warm heart of Africa, to working with the Early Years Trainer at Mary Queen of Peace College and the manager and staff of Mother Teresa children’s Centre, to getting to know the children of Chilomoni again, to seeing more of that beautiful country, and especially to walking or driving home each evening as the sun falls in the sky and watching the surrounding mountains turn gradually from green to blue. So, my blog begins again after a long break. I fly from Heathrow to Blantyre on Friday. Encourage me with your comments. I’ll post again soon.