We arrived at the school in a bus full of bats and balls for a day of fun filled activities. Upon arrival it was obvious that the students were eager to begin our day of games as they immediately took the balls and began a game of catch. This went on for some time before the teachers began to split up the students in to two teams for the games to begin.

The first game that we played was  ‘rounders’. The students in Malawi had not played this before but we broke them into teams and explained the rules.  This game was quickly picked up by the students at Namadzi, ending in a very lively game that was fun for all.

This was followed by the teams being split in to three groups with the help of  Mr Zikagwa. Each of the groups were assigned a game to play. One group played football, another played volleyball and one group played a local game called ‘Jengo,’ which could be describes as extreme skipping! Everyone had a great time and those of us who played ‘Jengo’ found it extremely challenging and were exhausted afterwards.

After this we split up into two groups, one group playing board games and the other working on some collaborative songwriting. We observed the students playing their traditional game of ‘Bawo’ and attempted to learn / play along with them.  This allowed us plenty of time to speak and mingle with the students as well as being taught a new skill. The other group started to work on our partnership song, this led to some great ideas being produced. The theme of the song is based around partnership. It is a work in progress, but is a mix of English and Chichewa that really shows potential to become something good.

Upon leaving the school, Joana advised us on the best vendor to buy chitenge fabric. There was a vibrant range of fabrics all with different patters and designs. All of the female students bought fabric to make into clothes or (spoiler alert) to give as gifts to family.

Overall it has been a great day for the partnership that has enriched both schools, we had a visit from the Malawi Scotland Partnership and also the British Council, and it was great to have the chance to meet with people who we have corresponded with.  The Malawi Scotland Partnership contributed to our Malawi Partnership day in Penciuik last October by helping Namadzi to produce a short film which we showed at the assembly.  It was great fun today with both schools having learned a new active game from each other as well as learning how to play traditional board games.