At a recent SI Glasgow City meeting, two recipients of awards from the Soroptimist International Scotland South 3S Fund outlined their experiences in Malawi in 2017.
Carol travelled to Malawi with 7 other volunteers to prepare a building for use as a school for over 200 children. The group also helped distribute backpacks to school children, which had been donated by people across Scotland. Carol used the 3S Fund donation to purchase educational toys used by all ages for the children.
Kirsty travelled to Malawi with the charity Project Trust, which specialises in placing school leavers in projects around the world, and she taught in two nursery schools for 8 months from September 2016 to April 2017. Teaching children aged 2 to 5 years was a challenge when Kirsty could not speak the local language, but she did manage to share basic numerical and literacy skills. Kirsty admitted that Christmas 2016 in Malawi was difficult as it was the first time she had been away from all her family at this time of year.
Both Carol and Kirsty agreed that some of their experiences were distressing and sad, but the majority of emotions were of delight in assisting Malawian communities in need.
