18 Canadians embarked on their first service trip to Kuwala on June 2-10, 2024.
Eighteen individuals from Canada embarked on the first service trip to Kuwala Christian Girls School, which included a week of activities on Campus, in the communities, and with NGOs and partners in Malawi.
Many subscribers followed our journey and activities through a daily video blog. Let’s take you through the highlights of our trip.
Day 1: We arrived late afternoon to the warm greetings from the Kuwala Administration and loaded our suitcases, boxes, boxes, and boxes of supplies onto the truck! A good night’s rest was welcome with a 7-hour time change, approx. 30 hours of flying time and airport stopovers, arriving around dinner time in Lilongwe, Malawi. Each participant travelled with one or two donated laptops and equipment for the Campus.
Please download the PDF for additional images and explanations that provide more insight into the service trip, and its participants.
There was too much content and photos to show here. Stories from the Field format provides a more immersive reading experience.
Day 2: The anticipation mounts as we complete the two-hour bus ride to the school. We are welcomed by singing voices and happy smiles! We took a detailed tour of the Campus, the farm, and the orchards. We saw the maize mill in operation, with village residents stopping to mill it for flour. The team set up the new workshop space, which is in the final construction stages, and began to set up the tools, saws, and equipment from DeWalt tools.
Construction and projects are underway, including a new hostel to support the ever-increasing student enrolment. Setting up and testing the commercial-grade audio-visual equipment donated by a Canadian company that is now closely becoming an active partner in the work at Kuwala. A complete system of high-end equipment will allow us the opportunity to broadcast events live, teach and train long distances, meet and mentor, and provide the opportunity to bridge the distance between Canada and Malawi.
After a long day, we returned to the hotel to host a dinner meeting with delegates from US Aid and a local NGO. Ideas are shared, and the guests provide an overview of Malawi.
Day 3: Back at Kuwala, students delivered presentations and performances in the humanities, languages, and sciences. Of particular note were the drama, poem reading, and student Excel® demonstrations showing the use of technology in the classroom: a rarity in Malawi. The girls explored the art of acting by developing their skills in improvisation and presented their monologues and scenes to the audience. After lunch, the Canadian delegation provided teaching and training in handbells, keyboards, bracelet making, computer skills, and engineering to small groups of students.
Day 4: The group toured a Malawi Refugee camp and met with a representative from the United Nations and the Malawi Government. Malawi set up the Dzaleka Refugee Camp in 1994 to accommodate about 12,000 people. Today, it hosts more than 56,000 refugees from Congo, Rwanda, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Over the years, the Refugee Camp has evolved from a temporary settlement into a more permanent community, with refugees establishing businesses, schools, and other essential services. An average of 100 babies are born in the camp each month, and 200 new refugees arrive monthly.
Day 5: The Service Team toured a local village in small groups with one of the students from Kuwala who lives there. They met her parents and village elders and saw first-hand the challenges in remote Malawi. Most live in small villages with tiny brick houses and corrugated sheet roofs. Some villages still have clay/loam walls and reed roofing. Most villages have manual water pumps or wells.
The second group toured a local community school and met teachers, staff, and students. The tour of the Campus, teacher housing, and scant resources demonstrated the impoverished challenges many public schools in Malawi face. In rural areas, due to the large class sizes, which often exceed sixty-plus students, resources are extremely limited in some schools; the students brainstorm and share their learning while sitting in the shade outdoors.
The afternoon was another opportunity for the Canadian Team to provide student service workshops. They are all eager to learn and participate. The Canadian and Malawian board members had a remarkable evening dinner meeting and exchanged many ideas.
Day 6: Saturday is Sports Day at Kuwala, and having us there to visit provided the opportunity to have us join in the fun! From traditional favourites like sack and bottle races, Bikoko, relay races, and musical chairs to the lively soccer game in which the teachers also participated.
There was a lot of cheering, clapping, singing, and chanting. The girls encouraged and cooperated remarkably with each other, allowing us to interact socially with the girls and their teachers and promote positive physical activity. It was a day filled with exciting activities, laughter, and unforgettable memories.
Sunday in Malawi is a day for Worship! The morning service brought together the entire school, workers, teachers and their families. It was a beautiful morning of singing, worship and a sermon from a local Pastor. Mixing and mingling with the students and staff at a delicious luncheon provided for us at St. Peter’s Hall was delightful. The afternoon was a live broadcast of a joint worship service from Kuwala that connected with several Canadians. The final goodbye on Sunday was heartfelt and emotional. There were hugs, tears, group photos, and a promise to continue in partnership across the ocean.
One impactful week, we engaged the hearts and minds of a small group of Canadians. During our time together, we have brought hope and encouragement to a school of girls desperate for change and a brighter future. This transformational experience will unite partnerships to help Kuwala, communities, and the country grow and thrive. We are thankful for our new partners and those who support and pray for Kuwala Christian Girls School. As the saying goes, Malawi is truly the Warm Heart of Africa!
Shine Girls Shine.
If you want to know more about participating in a future Service Trip to Kuwala, please email us at Kuwala.org.
Graduation 2024, Kuwala girls shine.
The end of July brings to a close another busy and successful year of learning at Kuwala. This year’s Form 4 students began writing their National Exams the first week in July. National Exams culminate all the concepts and material learned in almost every subject for the entire year. So much preparation, long study hours, group study, one-on-one teacher time, and mock exams occur well before the National Exams. This focused preparation time is crucial to better prepare the students for the timed exams at Kuwala under the supervision of the Examiner and security personnel. The results from the National Exams are published about eight weeks after completing all areas.
Kuwala hosted a Farewell Dinner on July 19th. The administration, the Kuwala Malawian Board Members, and the teachers and staff at Kuwala were in attendance to congratulate the Form 4 students. The event was a live-streamed broadcast to allow the Kuwala Canadian Board members to congratulate the students in person! Again, this would not have been possible without the donation of the audio-visual equipment from Fifty North Events.
One of the Form 4 students, Doreen, spoke humbly and eloquently about her time at Kuwala and how much her experience, living and learning on Campus, has and will continue to change her life! The journey has been highly memorable and full of good times, laughs, and hard work. The students of Form 4 had a motto they followed all year; “Aspire to inspire before you expire.” Their smiles and contagious energy show they achieved their goal! To read the poem, download Stories From the Field.
A heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to all the sponsors who continue to sponsor a student at Kuwala. Without your support, these girls may not have had the opportunity to be selected to learn at Kuwala. These students come from very impoverished backgrounds, and having the continued commitment of Sponsors like you makes a girl’s future bright!
Consider spreading the word to your family, friends, congregation, and workplace about how $1500.00 a year can change one student’s life at Kuwala. This donation is 100% valued for a full tax receipt. We have sponsors who sign up for a recurring monthly donation of $125.00 on CanadaHelps or others who donate directly to Kuwala for the year’s $1500.00 donation. Sponsors who commit to the $1500.00 a year will receive a new student yearly. The sponsorship covers many school-year expenses from September to July.
We also value and send our heartfelt THANK YOU to the many sponsorship supporters who do not receive an assigned student but rather support the student sponsorship program through their donations. Sign up at Kuwala.org to follow our newsletter: published every second month and provides colourful photos and heartwarming stories from the field—Share, Like, and follow Kuwala on our social media sites, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Together, we will significantly impact the education and futures of young girls with no other options in life. Together, we will bring hope and light to communities in Malawi. Kuwala girls SHINE!
SPECIAL EXTENDED EDITION of the July 2024 newsletter featuring the Service Trip.
Explore the Full Insights into the Service Trip– Download the PDF!
The extended version includes more photographs, bonus content, and insights into Kuwala’s first service trip to Malawi. Click the button below to own your version of this magazine-style newsletter.