Launch of Early Childhood Development (ECD) Books. Association of ECD in Malawi

Today the Daycare Manager and I were invited to attend the launch of the first ECD textbooks written for the Malawian ECD Curriculum. They are published by Dzuka, a branch of the Times Group. The whole event was covered live on Times TV. So far there are ten text books out and ready, three for Maths, three for Language and three workbooks, for English, Language and Maths, and the first of three books dealing with the Environment. There will be three for Environment but only one of these is actually available at the moment. The other two will not be long. Other subjects are being planned e.g. Geography. They cover the age groups 3-4. 4-5 and 5-6 years. We sat under a thin white canopy which filtered the sun a little but it was hot. The programme included prayers, speakers, demonstrations by Care Givers and children of how the books can be used and what children can learn from them. It was pointed out that the potential for making the most difference is with the small rural CBCCs which currently have few or no resources. However there is no budget for distributing the books to such users. Approaches have been made to various NGOs for help and funding for distribution, but it appears there are no concrete plans as yet. The books are well presented children’s workbooks linked to the Malawian ECD curriculum. However when I asked how they were linked to the curriculum, whether to the Early Learning and Development Standards or to something else, the man from the publisher was unable to tell me. They have shiny covers and colour pictures and would be a fabulous addition to poorly supplied schools. However they are 6800MK each (£2.72). This is quite a lot for Malawi. They are intended to be used by individual children, so a school the size of ours with, I think it is, 167 children would need 167x 10 books each year at 6,800 MK equals 11,356,000MK which is roughly £4500.00. This is totally unrealistic for us and relatively speaking we are a wealthy school. However there may well be some very useful teaching material in there and we are privileged to have access to a photocopier, so one complete set would probably be a sensible purchase. We were presented with 4 booklets today, all beautifully wrapped in gold paper with a silver bow. I was pleased to note that the children who were involved in the activities also received a wrapped book each, blue for boys and pink for girls! We heard speeches from the Chief Commercial Manager of Times Group, the Publishing Manager of Dzuka, a couple of Care Givers, The Executive Director of the Association of ECD in Malawi and the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Gender in Malawi. After his speech he cut a ribbon across the front of the bookcase displaying the textbooks. We all sang and cheered and then snacks and fizzy drinks were served to all. I have never enjoyed a Sobo Cocopina more ! It was very hot. We left quite soon as we had to go to DAPP and pick up a bale of clothes for the sponsored children. This was quite a red-letter day for the Daycare Manager who has been waiting for the money to be able to do this for a couple of months and some of our little ones are badly in need of clothes. She was very happy when she staggered out of the shop with the bale. The Driver helped her of course! Then it was back to the CC for a couple of interviews with senior staff. I am still in search of information for my training review and talking individually to staff is proving to be quite illuminating, and I have only had three such chats so far. I am looking forward to more!

The Weekend, writing the last training session, and planning the last 8 working days before I set off for home.

Saturday On Saturday morning it was get up and out early to walk the Way of the Rosary with the Catholic children of Chilomoni. They do this every Saturday in the month except one, when they attend Mass. The children are led by Chris, who has taken this role for the last 24 years. The way of the Rosary leads around a peak of the mountain. There are 14 stations and the prayers are mostly to Mary. During the whole walk of about 5 Km the children repeat 150 Hail Marys. At each station one of the older children does a reading and there are prayers. The walk is beautiful. The path is steep and it goes much more up and down than the Way of the Cross which feels like a fairly steady climb. My step counter revealed that the number of flights climbed on this day is quite a few more than on the day I climbed up to the cross. Children present ranged from small toddlers who were often carried by brothers and sisters, to adolescents up to about 18 years. All took the occasion very seriously and participated in the prayers and chants. The first part of the walk took us to the back of the mountain with respect to Chilomoni. This side is much more sparsely populated and the views were stunning. It was a clear, bright day. There were flowers and butterflies to distract me and although it was a bit hazy you could see for miles. We paused at each station. At most there was some shade from small trees but again it was noticeable that many trees have been cut and the regeneration cannot keep place with the removal. After the last station children were offered a drink of water from a 5 litre container that some of the older children had taken turns to carry. There was only one cup and children formed a long queue for a turn to drink. I noticed that perhaps a quarter had brought their own water bottles, as had I. It struck me that the day before I had heard members of the Outreach team revising with parents about how to reduce cross infection with a variety of infectious conditions and that had included not sharing cups, spoons, towels etc, and here we were using the same cup for at least 40 children. We all walked back along the Chilomoni side of the mountain, breaking into small groups and chatting as we went. Many children wanted to talk to the mzungu and I had many similar conversations, I think more dictated by their knowledge of questions in English than by their curiosity. ‘What is your name?’ ‘Where do you come from?’ etc Everyone was friendly and when I stumbled or slipped on the stony path I was never short of a kind offer of a steadying hand. Everyone had shoes, which was definitely not the case 12 years ago, but most of the girls had flip flops, crocs or ballerina slippers which are not the best mountain-climbing footwear! The boys also had crocs but there were quite a few with trainers which were much more suitable for protecting the feet. After our return to the shrine the children were offered food and there was to be singing but I wasn’t able to stay as Bhavna was there to collect me. It was our job to meet up with the three engineers who have arrived for a six-month voluntary stint and show them various shops and venues around town that might be of interest to them while they are in Malawi. We picked them up from Blantyre Sports club, where they were enjoying watching a sporting event, and took them off for lunch at a pizza restaurant, and for a whistle-stop tour of the facilities of Blantyre. Sunday The plan for Sunday was for the five of us to go for a day out at Zomba but unfortunately Bhavna wasn’t feeling well so it was me and three young men who set off at 8.00am to find our way to Zomba and the plateau which is about 2000m above sea level. Fortunately for me and my aching muscles this mountain is accessible by road! It took a couple of hours to get to Zomba. We discovered some of the problems of using sat nav to find your way about in Malawi. Google maps does not give you any information about the quality of the roads it directs you along. When we got near the mountain it directed us up a very narrow dirt road. We had an automatic car with not incredibly high clearance and it soon became clear that it was not really up to the job. Finding a suitable place to turn round was not as easy at it sounds, but we made the right decision to turn back because we knew that there was a tarmacked road from Zomba town to the plateau and it looked like this narrow turn off was a short cut in terms of distance but not of time. Once arrived at the plateau we made a beeline for the Ku Chawe hotel which has lovely gardens, beautiful views, Mzuzu coffee, and a menu whose snacks include Welsh rarebit and steak sandwiches. At hour later, feeling fortified we set out to explore. We started with the curio sellers. Zomba is also famous for finding a variety of minerals and stones and selling them to tourists, so we had a good look at these as well. I am going home in less than two weeks so I took the opportunity to buy a few presents. The boys bought a beautifully hand-made, round games table with Bawo on one side and Chess on the other t the bargain price of 1000,000K (approx £40). The area around Zomba is greener and lusher than the area around Blantyre. We were higher up so it was cooler and the views were terrific. We first retraced our steps a short distance down the mountain to a reservoir and walked along the dam and part of the way around the edge. The reservoir is surrounded by trees. We didn’t have time to do a complete circuit and also see other sights, so turned back the way we had come and returned to the car. We set off to follow the circular track around the plateau in an effort to find Chingwe’s hole. This is a mysterious hole in the ground, close to a viewpoint, which is reputed to have been used historically to dispose of ‘unwanted people’ variously described as criminals, lepers, the mentally disturbed, who were thrown down the hole dead or alive. Very unpleasant, but we were not able to make it as the car again proved unequal to the task. This time finding a turning point was even more difficult but we managed, engineering is a very practical vocation, and returned to the hotel where we picked up a guide and asked him where we could go that it would be possible to reach in the car we had available. He suggested a couple of waterfalls and possibly The Emperor’s view point, so we negotiated a fee and off we went. We started with William’s Falls, a flight of relatively shallow falls with a pool at the bottom deep enough to swim in. I enjoyed dangling my feet in the water but one of the lads stripped to his underwear and had a proper swim. The falls were in woodland, the sun filtered through the leaves, the water was freezing. We inspected the track to the viewpoint but again felt that we shouldn’t risk damaging someone else’s car, so went to see Mandela falls which turned out to be at the far end of the reservoir from the dam. We purchased raspberries and Cape gooseberries from the roadside fruit sellers, dropped the guide off at the hotel and set off for home, making it back about half an hour before sunset. Monday Today has been a useful but not very exciting day. I have been struggling to put together my last formal training session for the CC staff. The Centre Manager wanted me to help the staff to have the confidence to take responsibility for improving the quality of what we provide for the children for themselves, to understand how to work productively as a team and to focus upon making positive change rather than complaining about everything that is less than perfect but doing nothing about it. I found settling upon an approach very difficult but finally settled upon a presentation called Mother Teresa Children’s Centre: A Centre of Excellence? I shall start by asking them to consider what it means to be a centre of excellence; to work with the other members of their team who are at the same training session to consider what it means to be a team; what their team is expected to do; how they divide the work; what it is we have to provide if we are to be a truly excellent children’s centre,;what our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are; how we can move forward to make things better, and what help we need to that? Let’s hope I can pull it off! I’ll let you know how it went after Wednesday! Having made the decision the whole thing was written in three hours, much to my surprise! The rest of the day I spent planning the next week, starting to talk to at least all the senior staff individually, and writing lists of questions to ask the managers, the ECD lecturer and the Head of the whole Mary Queen of Peace complex before I go home.

Another Day with the Outreach Team

Garden Project visits We visited three garden projects this morning. Two in Likhubula and one in Mulangozi, both outlying villages on the edge of Chilomoni. The CC Outreach team are involved with these projects which are shared with Ministry of Agriculture. They are part of the work of the Parenting Groups. Local parents are helped to find locally available land for gardens which they work on a voluntary basis and share any profits. The project was kick started by the provision of seeds and tools but in future years these should come out of the profits when veg are sold, before they are shared. There are enough seeds for families to have some to use in their own back yards. These veg are for the use of the family for their own meals. They were growing many leafy green veg but also aubergines, amaranth, pumpkin. I took lots of photos. Water is a problem. The third garden was next to the river but carrying cans from the river is a problem for those who are further away and parents get dispirited because it is a long job that must be done every day. Therefore some drop out, thereby increasing the load for those that remain. The Outreach Manager was with us today and he pointed out that a portable solar pump would be really useful. They could transport it around several projects each week and it would ease the pressure of watering. Most of the volunteers were women. I hope this is because their husbands are working elsewhere. Parent’s Group The Outreach Team of MTCC run three Parenting Groups each week in different locations in Chilomoni. This afternoon I visited the group in Likhubula, the same group who are involved in the first garden I saw this morning. We arrived at about 1.45pm and sat in the shade of a mango tree waiting for the parents to arrive. By about ten past two there were about 8-10 parents and we moved into a classroom. They are nearing the end of this course and next week there is to be an exam. Those who can will write the answers and those who cannot will be asked them verbally and the caregiver will write the answers for them. Today is revision day. They reminisced a bit first about the session two weeks ago when they learned how to make biscuits. Since the whole session was in Chichewa I remain in ignorance about how it is possible to make biscuits over a charcoal stove. The lady who taught the others has since started her own micro business making and selling biscuits and apparently it has begun very well. Then we got down to serious revision which turned out to be health related. For this part I had an interpreter so I learned quite a bit about the symptoms and treatment of Pinkeye, Mumps and Scabies. I was called away at this point because the bike club had arrived and they were keen to show me their prowess. Bike Club We walked about a quarter of a mile to a fairly quiet section of tarmacked road. This was the best surface they could find for practicing tricks. A responsible adult was dispatched a few yards up each of the four roads at a crossroads to stop any traffic and the demonstration of their talent began. I was treated to a quite spectacular display. They raced, they rode bikes backwards, they spun in circles, they cycled with their legs over the handlebars and then the two star riders jumped over first two, then three and eventually five of their friends lying in the road. At this point my heart was in my mouth! What are we doing taking responsibility for a club doing an activity with this amount of risk with very little safety equipment at all, never mind jumping over healthy young boys lying in the road, when they could jump over something inanimate and get the same experience without taking the risk of a nasty accident. All the boys had helmets, although one or two had to be reminded to wear them, but the only other protective equipment I saw was one pair of knee pads. Apparently there is also a girl’s team but today they had come straight from school and the girls were in their school dresses so they were not allowed to ride for safety reasons, much to their disgust. The members of the club obviously love what they do and practice hard.

Another day with the Outreach Team

Morning I was asked to be ready for 9.00am to go to court with the Child Protection Officer from the Outreach Team to observe a case and support the family. This was a defilement case. I asked the CPO what is the difference between defilement and rape? Apparently if the child is under-age it is defilement, over-18 and it is rape. Penalties are higher for defilement. A 13 year old was abused by a family friend who visited the house. She told no-one but school picked up that something was wrong and that is the route of referral to MTCC and the Child Protection Officer. This happened 8 months ago and the child is now pregnant. A case has been brought against the perpetrator. The child and her mother have testified in court and a judge has decided that there is a case for the accused to answer. He is on remand in a local prison. Today is the day for him to appear in court. I went to MTCC reception to meet the team and wait for transport to court at 8.50am. The CPO joined me after about half an hour and explained the case, and about 20 mins after that transport arrived. On this occasion it was a small bus which had just completed its daily run to bring pupils to the Primary and Secondary Schools. We shared it with a Primary School child and his mother. The child had been running along the outside of a building and had run full tilt into the sharp corner of an open window and had a small but jagged head wound. We dropped them off at Chilomoni Clinic on the way. There was also another Beehive staff member on a separate job and a driver. We arrived around 10.00am to find the child, her father and a sleeping younger sister perched on the wall outside. They had gone to considerable effort to get there, travelling some distance from their village to Blantyre, with all three of them on a motorbike. This would have been a significant expense for them. We joined them on the wall and waited, watching others going in and out of court, including 6 young men handcuffed together in pairs. After nearly an hour the prosecuting policeman came to the CPO and informed him that the Lady Magistrate was not able to be present so the court sitting was cancelled, so we should all go home. We will be informed of the next date. What a disappointment for everyone but especially difficult for the child. Afternoon We visited the Feeding Centre at St James’ church in the centre of Chilomoni. This is the church that Beehive built for the local people as one of its first projects. The feeding centre has been running for 24 years and one man has been volunteering and run it for all of that time. It used to be only three days a week but since Beehive has been running it, I think about 4 years, it happens every school day. Children of the poorest families are recommended to the Centre. Currently they have 55 children who they are feeding for 5 days a week. Today 52 attended. Children come from a number of local schools and range in age from 6 years to 18 years. Today the meal was nsima, cabbage and small local fish. We arrived as the children were helping with the clearing and washing up. Chores finished, they welcomed us. There were prayers, singing and dancing. The children lined up in four groups, boys and girls separately, and Primary and Secondary pupils separately. I was there with two CC staff members. They led a session with all 52 children together which talked about good and bad behaviour. The children were divided into groups of ten, ages and genders mixed this time, and each group had a sheet of flip chart paper and a pen. They had to list five good and five bad behaviours. A spokesperson was selected from each group to present what they had written. Four out of 5 spokespeople were boys. There were fewer boys present than girls. The staff drew out the learning points for the children. The lesson was mostly in Chichewa so I didn’t follow it all in detail but they did translate the main points for my benefit. Then I was invited to lead some games. Help! I could have done with a bit of warning for this but fortunately I have played games at recent staff training events so I mostly picked things I had done in the last few weeks. We played Spiral and Knots and although at first they moved too quickly and kept breaking hands, they got the hang of it really quickly and worked together cooperatively. Then we played ‘Round and Round the Village’ which is a singing game. This was brave of me because I am among the world’s worst singers, but fortunately one staff member picked it up quickly and supported me. One has to skip and dance as well as sing, so very quickly I was breathless, hot and very red in the face! They loved it though. It is an old game. I remember playing it in about 1960 and it was old-fashioned then. It doesn’t go down very well in the UK today but, as I have said before, in Malawi they are inhibited by different things, and singing and dancing is no problem.

Extracts from notes taken on a day in the community with members of the Outreach part of the Children's Centre

CBCC in Sigregge. Brick hut, walls and one side open. Metal Roof. Care Giver said he has been concerned about the safety of the hut for children since some damage was done at the time of Cyclone Freddie. 67 children registered. 25 Boys. 42 Girls, Approx 40 present today. Porridge supplied by Beehive through Seibo. Cooked over charcoal outdoors. Takes one and a half hours minimum to cook. Children were indoors when we arrived. Permission given to take photos. James was speaking to volunteer teachers about their planning. Some homemade resources and blackboard and chalk but little else. One other two children arrived with pens and notebooks but not many. We all went outside and formed a circle for songs and games. Brief discussion of the weather. Video taken of games. Photos of homemade resources. Photos of the azungu stirring the porridge. After perhaps 30 mins we left. CBCC Mwai. Slightly more substantial brick hut. 40 children registered. 22 children present. 40 Registered. Some homemade resources on the wall. one small box of wooden bricks.Words chalked on the brick. We arrived at porridge time. Also through Beehive and Seibo. There were only 18 plates and 16 spoons so some children had to wait their turn. Videos of the azungu serving porridge. Children eating etc. Again James spoke to teachers. No time for games at this visit. Nzeru Private Nursery School. 38 children registered. 25 present. Very old (?1950s) fixed playground equipment. More substantial brick building. Nursery class at far end. Homecorner separated off with zitenge hanging on strings. A couple of Primary children had wandered in from the next room and were hiding behind it. Walls painted with alphabet, numbers, etc. Photos taken but v. few resources. James spoke to teachers while 2 CGs and I talked to the children very informally. A SEND child was very interested in the azungu, touching hands and arms and when I bent down, my face. Played Peepbo from behind my hands. Round and round the garden etc We had to leave to get the car back for 11.00am so no formal games or activities here. Afternoon. Home visits 1. A child in Dove’s Room has not attended for over a week. We have heard from another parent that the child is sick. This is a visit to check that everything is ok and that the child has seen a medical practitioner and find out whether she is receiving treatment. The mother is young. The child is 11months. She has had sickness. Last sick on Sunday. It is Tuesday afternoon. At first Mum said she had taken the child to the clinic and the doctor had not prescribed any medication but following further questions it became clear that she had not attended the hospital in this episode of sickness but 3 months ago and she had been giving the same medication (zinc sulphate) that was prescribed last time. The Caregiver used this as an learning opportunity explaining that it was not necessarily the same condition, requiring the same treatment this time; that courses of medication should be completed; about correct storage of medicines and keeping them clean, that medicines have expiry dates etc. Mum was encouraged to take the child to hospital again today and confirm with the doctor whether further treatment is necessary and when it is safe for the baby to return to nursery. This is a sponsored child living in a rented house at 4000K per month. Very basic, next door to a bar, very close to other houses, beaten earth floor. We sat outside in the sun. The child was present and crawling about and taking an interest in her surroundings. 2. We travelled across to the far side of Chilomomi and Ntukwa in search of a family comprising mother and 11 children who came to the notice of the CC a couple of years ago after the death of the father, when Mum was expecting no. 11. Several of the children were malnourished and the CC introduced them to a feeding programme where they were fed and monitored. Their condition improved so they were discharged but now there are signs of malnutrition again. We did not have a specific address but enquiries found a neighbour who knew the house and we were led there. The Mother’s firstborn, a young woman with 2 children of her own who lived nearby, came to the house and joined her 14 year-old sister who was in charge of the younger ones while her mum was out looking for piece work about 5Km away. Apparently the 14 year old had gone with her mum but there was no luck finding work. Someone had taken pity on them and given them 500K, about 25p, and Mum had sent the child to buy sweet potatoes to take home and cook for the children. She was building a fire to do this as we arrived. A Beehive worker told me that 500K worth of sweet potatoes would not realistically feed more than 3 people. The caregivers asked questions, is everyone well, do the children go to school, do the younger ones go to a CBCC, are they fed there etc. All children attend school or CBCC except the 14 year-old who used to stay with a relative in Zomba and attend school there. She was registered at school in Zomba but in order to reregister in another school she needs a transfer code from the old one. The family has no access to a phone, the relatives in Zomba have no phone so they have not been able to contact the school and get the code. Therefore the 14-year-old cannot attend school or be fed at school. The family was given a 5Kg sack of likuni phala. I also gave them 5000K (approx £2.50) which is enough to buy about 10 Kg of maize. The Outreach worker told me that they used to have more access to food and clothing to help such families than they do now. These children 10 girls and 2 boys have dresses or shirts and shorts but no underwear and no shoes. They literally do not know where their next meal is coming from and this makes them very vulnerable. We talk a lot about supporting the poorest of the poor and it requires investment to bring such families to a level where they can take over themselves and maintain a standard of living where they have enough to eat to maintain a healthy body and enough clothes, for warmth, protection from sun, rain and rough ground, dignity and safety. These are the people who Beehive exists to support. To raise the standard of living of the people who live in the shadow of the cross on the top of the mountain is the purpose of all the Beehive businesses and enterprises. The profits the organisation makes have from the beginning been designated not for personal gain but for the benefit of the community of Chilomoni. Let none of us who are employed or volunteer here forget that this is what Beehive is all about.

Writing and Delivering Training about the updated Malawian ECD Curriculum

Monday was a fairly uneventful day. I continued my struggle to understand and explain the structure of the new (2017) Malawian ECD Curriculum but fortunately the penny dropped and I was able to see how it all fits together and which would be the right markers to anchor our system for recording children’s progress to. It is my opinion that the Early Learning Development Standards and the Indicators of development at different ages with respect to each ELDS are the way to go. I put together a,rather uninteresting, presentation to explain how the curriculum is constructed, how it relates to the previous version to which the CC is still working, and to define all the different parts of the curriculum. There are 6 Domains of learning. Domains are subdivided into Sub-domains and then Aspects. Each Aspect has from 1-3 ELDSs associated with it and each age group, Under 2s, 3-4s and 5 year-olds, has a number of Indicators which tell Care Givers how the children are progressing. In addition to this there are 7 Themes which run through the whole curriculum, and 8 Objectives of the curriculum which are the same as the `Themes with the addition of Physical Development, which is also a Domain! There are also Aims of the curriculum. Now do you see why I have been confused and almost literally tearing my hair out! All I have to do now is invent some more indicators to ensure that we maintain the enrichment to the Malawian Curriculum that I introduced 12 years ago and the job will be done! That will keep me busy once I get home on 3 August! If we are to introduce the new record system in September; it makes sense to change at the beginning of the academic year, I will have to get a wriggle on! As I was making a PowerPoint presentation out of all this I realised that we I would have to liven up the training somehow to prevent everyone from falling asleep, so I introduced six games, one for each Domain. On Wednesday I delivered the training to the usual two groups of students and having played each game I invited the participants to tell me what the children would be learning as they played each game. We played ‘ In God’s beautiful world you can find….’ after the manner of ‘My Aunt went to Paris and she bought….’ for the Moral and Spiritual domain; Pass the Face’ for Social and Emotional; ‘Ladders’ for Cognition and General Knowledge; ‘Robots’ for Approaches to Learning; ‘Chinese Whispers’ for Language and Communication and ‘Little finger to eyelash’ for Physical Development. In my experience the average Malawian is much more willing to play games than the average Brit and much more uninhibited; this leads to much laughter and enjoyment and we all learn better if we are happy and entertained. I also offered lollipops in the middle of the confusing and potentially boring bits. There is nothing like a bit of sugar for keeping one awake and aiding concentration!!! The observant amongst you will have noticed that I have missed out Tuesday! That is because Monday and Wednesday were related to each other, as are Tuesday and Thursday, so you will have to wait for the next entry to learn about Tuesday.

The Porter’s race, The Waterfall, Meeting Mike the guide and his family.

The Porter’s race is a gruelling fourteen and a half mile race in a circuit that goes most of the way up Mulanje mountain and down again in a big sweeping curve. The Mulanje Porters are the guys who go up the mountain leading large and small groups of tourists whilst carrying all their gear for them. When I went up to Hope’s Rest, a CCAP Hut just before a steep rocky climb to the summit many of them did this barefoot, carrying one pack on their back and another on their front. They are very strong and resilient and were specially supportive of me as a 57 year old woman who was not particularly fit! Jeff has done a lot of long distance running and has been in training for this since January. He was going to do it with Vince, his long term friend but Vince had to return to the UK for family reasons and so he was bravely continuing alone. We drove from Blantyre to Mulanje in a couple of hours. The road was the same as my trip to the Catholic University at first, going through Limbe and Bangwe before we passed the turn for the university and followed the sign for Mulanje. It was sunny but hazy. We could see blue mountains in the distance and we watched the vegetation get greener and the housing get more wide-spaced as we motored along. After a while Mulanje became visible in the distance and gradually became more distinct as we got nearer. The haze lifted and by the time we were close the colours of the mountain were bright in the late afternoon sunshine. Of course this meant that we did not see the weather conditions that give this mountain its alternative name of ‘The Island in the sky’. This illusion happens when the top of the mountain is in sunshine and the bottom is cloaked in clouds when it truly looks liken island floating above the clouds. I have been fortunate enough to see this once in four visits, but not this time. In Mulanje town we passed the famous pizza restaurant I visited 12 years ago and turned left to follow the base of the mountain through the tea estates towards Likubula where we were booked into a CCAP Lodge, posh enough to be booked in dollars! The tea bushes manage to look dark green underneath but bright yellowish green where the sun is reflected off the shiny leaves at the top. The colour combination is startlingly bright. The backdrop of the mountain with the browns and greys of rock and the greens of quite dense woods at the bottom of the slopes was stunning, and all was bathed in the glow of the late afternoon sun. We checked into our lodge which is in the National Park and spreads for several hundred yards down the right hand side of a mud road that sets off up the mountain. Reception and the dining area are at the top of the hill and we had chalets quite a bit further down so there was a bit of a climb to work up an appetite for each meal. There were two different schools from the UK staying in the lodge, one of which had visited Beehive earlier in the week. It was definitely an azungu place. I saw more white people in an hour over supper than I have seen in the entire 5 weeks I have been in Malawi. Jeff got up very early to go and register for the race. Bhavna and I left the house at the more civilised hour of 7 o’clock and were just in time to see him set off in a field of less than a hundred runners. To cut a long story short the first runners, who were all Porters, were back down the mountain having run the full course in just under 2 hours. Jeff took his time. He said much of the course was very difficult to run at all and very rough underfoot, but it was well way-marked with huge chalked arrows and he never felt lost although he was alone with the mountain for much of the time. He made it safely back down again having covered the whole course, tired, achy but satisfied and having enjoyed every minute on the mountain. I take my hat off to him! Bhavna and I wandered about around the start of the race people-watching and admiring the Malawian ability to have fun without spending much money. A festival was to happen later in the day and people were setting up stalls selling all manner of snacks and other items. There were to be beer tents and a stage for free music, apparently funded by the government. Malawi TV was present albeit on a small scale compared to the British equivalent at a festival but there was one small van full of equipment and a team of staff. We went back up to the lodge for breakfast and planned to walk up to the waterfall and be back at the bottom in time to see Jeff return. He said he thought he would be 4-5 hours. After breakfast we decided it would be prudent to get a guide. We have both been up to the waterfall before but not for a while and although the way is fairly direct there are a few turns and we did not fancy being lost on the mountain. We had lingered over breakfast and the sun was rather high in the sky by the time we left at about 10,00am. Mike the guide led us up the steep road above the lodge. It was rough underfoot and we climbed steadily. The views were beautiful, every shade of green you can imagine, clear blue sky, bright sunlight, the brown of tree trunks, terracotta soil and a few bright flowers, but not that many. We saw birds, lizards and butterflies, all the varieties I saw the week before on the Way of the Cross but several others besides, including a large black one with bright blue patches on the wings. There were a few vervet monkeys at the bottom near the lodge but we didn’t see any more on the climb. We had warned Mike that we would be slow. He was very considerate, walking in front and showing us the way. He knew when we had stopped without turning round, he must have been listening to our footsteps, and paused and waited for us to be ready to begin again. We finally reached the waterfall after about an hour and a half. Most people say it takes about an hour. When we arrived there were about thirty people there including a Moslem woman of about my age who I had a little chat with. We congratulated ourselves about making it in the heat! Some lads were swimming and diving off a huge rock into the pool at the base of the waterfall which Mike told us is 65 metres deep. We sat with our feet in the water which was utterly delightful after the walk up in the heat. Bhavna got right into the water fully clothed. It was so hot she was soon dry again. We made the return journey down the far side of the river. On the way we saw several people, men and women, with large bundles of sticks on their heads, heading determinedly down the mountain. Mike got chattier on the way down and by the time we got back to our chalet we were quite friendly. We paid him his money and went for a rest and a shower. After an hour or so we ventured out again to follow the sound of the music to the festival a few hundred yards down the road at the place where the race had started By this time Jeff was back and was resting in an armchair on his khonde, tired but happy he had made it round the whole course. It took him almost 7 hours. At the festival we encountered Mike again in a clean white T-shirt enjoying the entertainment. He found us a good place to watch the music and we got chatting again. To cut a long story short Bhavna asked him if he lived in a local village and he said ‘Ten minutes away’ in response to which Bhavna asked him if we could visit his home and he said, ‘Yes, let’s go,’ so we did! I asked if he was married and had children and he was, and had a seven year-old boy called Winston and a baby girl. We had only walked about a hundred yards further when he stopped where a group of women were selling homemade snacks and drinks by the side of the path and introduced us to them. We walked on through the festival crowds and off between small fields, mostly growing pigeon peas, but also maize and vegetables. It took us at least half an hour to to reach his home which he showed us with pride. It was very small, dark and bare. A mat and cushions were the only furniture in the living area. There was a bedroom barely bigger than a single mattress where he and his wife slept with the baby and the little boy slept in a room that was hardly more than a cupboard. Outside there were two brick cubicles for cooking and washing and round the back a latrine. We did not stop for long but took a few photos and turned back as the sun was by now quite low on the horizon. The mountain was bathed in a warm orange glow. He walked us all the way back. I gave him a little money and said “Buy a new dress for your wife’ and his face lit up. ‘I will do that’ he said. Next morning we saw him briefly again and he said his wife had gone shopping. He was looking for more work as a guide. I did a bit of tourist shopping at the curios stalls and then it was time to head back to Blantyre, via the pizza place of course! Monday was a working day. I spent it at Mitsidi trying to make sense of the Government of Malawi syllabus for ECD. I think I got there in the end and have put together a training to teach the CC workers how they can use it to help with their teaching and also to prepare them for the fact that we will have to change our assessment system for children’s progress that I wrote to fit with the 2003 syllabus. The ‘new’ one is 2017 but the Children’s Centre is still using it as there is very little printed material available on the new one. This will be along job which will have to wait until I get home. I hope we shall be able to start using it in September so that we will not have to make the change half way through the academic year.