Our team in April 2010 are set to continue working with the Shewula community and Swazilands game reserves. Work will include classroom renovation, species surveys, trail bashing, invasive weed clearing and a game ranger course. Find out more about the 3 month Gap Year project and expedition here.
Week three has almost come and gone. It has probably been our quietest week so far - things have calmed down since our venture to Lake Malawi.
Progress on the school has slowed to a temperamental snail's pace. The roofs framework has gone up and the painting of the right-hand classroom has begun; however, the laborious levelling of the frontal school ground and brick shifting are still the two dominant activities. No - this is not quite true - in stark contrast to brick shifting, a third, highly exhilarating task has emerged: sand carrying...
We are almost into our third week in Malawi and many a thing has occurred since week one.
We made our way to Lake Malawi last weekend. Sixteen of us piled into three trucks; Elise, Bella and I in the boot of one which we made more comfortable with cushions, rollmats and sleeping bags, our intrepid and fearless leaders, Charlie and Richard in two other cars, and Redson, a friend and helper from Malawi in the third. It was a good four hour journey - the last half hour probably being the most painful ride in our lifes; imagine a motocross track with invisible bumps, sixteen people in 3 four-wheelers, and no helmets. It was an experience, needless to say.
