Friday 5th August our last day at Fishermans Rest

In the early hours of the morning we were greeted by delicious pancakes cooked by mamaa and the Blantyre patrol (Millie, Lucy, Olivia and Alice). We then had our last Chichewa lesson with the Fisherman Rest monitors which was the best ever experience of learning a language.  Strolling up the steep hill we reached the bus which transported us to Kachere 2 school where we did our final activities with the children and served phala for the last time. Pearl treated the local Mothers who cooked the phala to a Morris dancing lesson, costume and all! The leaders bid an emotional goodbye to the mothers who they had formed quite a bond with despite the short time they spent together and promised to send them lots of the photos they had taken of their children and them. We then serenaded the children with a goodbye guide song and bid our farewells, which was very emotional and caused mama to cry.

Getting back to fishermans rest we ate our lunch surrounded by a thick mist because of the weather being really miserable and cold in the early hours of the day. We then split up and either did painting, stove making or visiting the local clinic to deliver donations.

I visited the local clinic which i thought was surreal and shocking because there was only one patient in the entire clinic and the consultation and waiting rooms were so small. However, it was a really good experience to see  how you would be looked after if you were to fall ill in Malawi. I also found out a lot of information about the patients; I discovered that many were suffering from HIV or Malaria. We donated 30 mosquito nets and hand knitted jumpers for babies to the clinic. It was very rewarding to be able to give something to a place in need.

Some of us went to build a stove for the second time which was another great experience. Meeting the family we saw how much the 'changu changu moto' project would benefit their life and it made me overcome with emotions. The other group finished off painting the Windows of the new school which is going to be opened next week. Millie who was a part of the painting group got paint on her face because she had a really bad aim.
Once we all finished our activities we made our way back to Fishermans Rest where we had to repack our bags for the week's camping that we have ahead of us. The highlight of the day is getting our fishermans rest tops and happy pants which were tailored to our sizes and turned out amazing. As well as it being a day full of joy some tears were shed as it was the last day of us working in schools, seeing the Fishermans Rest staff and staying at the tea house.

Mia & Sai