We finished our week of workshops at 3 local schools by providing training for staff to help take this work forward in their own teaching practice.
Breakfast at Liwonde Safari Camp: pancakes, banana and honey.
8.30am Teacher training at Liwonde Secondary School. 40 staff from Liwonde Primary & Secondary, Balaka Secondary and Malosa Secondary Schools.
Workshops:
1) Drama warm up and coping with mental health in and outside the classroom.
2) Equality with a focus on gender equality.
3) How to tackle the UN sustainability goals in different subject areas and the St Peter's Character Compass.
Teacher's from my workshop had to leave with at least one strategy they would utilise in their lessons or day-to-day interactions with their students to try and improve gender equality.
I gave Catherine the headteacher at Balaka Secondary School the extra money fundraised by Dawlish College staff, governors and students for art materials to use for mattresses instead as I felt this was greater need and also delivered the art materials bundle.
Here was my only experience of a drop toilet whilst away. Least said the better but it was very unpleasant and the children at Liwonde Secondary School have to use them everyday.
We popped to Liwonde market to buy food and some of the others bought bowl stoves to cook on.
Lunch at Liwonde safari Camp: Avocado on bread.
Becci and I went on boat safari on the river Shire in the afternoon. Our boat Pumba had a shaky start as it kept cutting out for 5 or so minutes but the safari guys didn't seem worried. We found a buffalo, which are quite a rare find, elephants, fish eagles, and many shy hippos. We also saw a few speedy crocs, one was medium sized but we thought it looked pretty big. The water was calm and beautiful and full of lush green lillies and weeds. We saw fisherman in small boats carved from trees which looked like little pairs of slippers lined uo on the riverbank. We heard someone say that approximately one fisherman a week is lost to a crocodile attack.
Dinner at Liwonde Safari Camp: Buffet of approximately 10 different vegetarian dishes and deep fried treats and chicken.
After dinner we chatted with a Swedish couple staying in Malawi for a year as an audiologist and engineer and an American engineer.