"Hi there Beth...home life has been difficult to settle back into! I just want to be back in Malawi! The dissertation went very well thanks to Tiffy who was amazing in helping me and Leah. She just seemed to know exactly what to do and was genuinely interested. We really couldn't of got things started without her.
Thankyou again!
Imi"
Imogen Bennett, Malawi Team 1, 2006

"28th July, 2006
Dear Beth,
The Quest group has really done amazingly well. I can't believe how a school can be built so quickly and with so much good will and sense of purpose. I am so impressed and so grateful to you all. A big 'thank you' again from the Joshua Orphan Care Centre.
Sylvia."
Sylvia Avegherinos, Director and Project Partner, Joshua Orphan Care Centre

Malawi Summer Team 2006 (Update 1)
Muli  Bwanji from Malawi!

So far everyone has been really busy settling in and being welcomed into the community. The chicken coop is really great and nobody expected anything nearly as nice. Also the pavilion is a great place for us to have our food and group meetings. Everyone is enjoying getting to know each other and we have all taken roles in the group to share the responsibilities. Idah the cook is an amazing help, and we are learning so much from her.

We have all been delighted by how interested and affectionate the orphan children are - their presence is a great reminder of why we are here....the fact that they are so happy even in thier poor circumstances humbles us. We visited the site on Monday after our official welcome to the community, which involved drama from the youth group, singing from the villagers and a beautiful rendition of 'sing hosannah' by the Quest team. When we visited the site we were accompanied by 100+ children - all of whom were fascinated by our activities!

We commenced work on Tuesday and continue today to work on the foundations of the project. It was hard work but everyone was very willing to get involved and it was satisfying to see some results even so early on. We hope to start laying bricks on friday - if our cement can be delivered via the rather bumpy roads! We are keeping a daily journal between all of us which will hopefully a great memoir when we returen to the UK.

Beth we hope that you got home safely - we're sorry that you couldn't join us on the project, but Marc and Tiff are doing a fantastic job!

Love from Elle and Leah xxx

Malawi Summer Team 2006 (Update 2)
Hi,

Eli and Leah here.

We are at Doogles, we camped here last night and everyone is loving the showers and toilets and eating something other than porridge and maize!! We went to a party at Sylvia's friends house last night which was so good, we had curry and beer...lots of happy volunteers...and leaders too! It's so nice to have a break from building, we made quite a lot of progress at the site this week with the foundations complete and brick laying is planning to commence on Monday but we're not sure how much we believe the builders on that one!! Everyone seems to be still enjoying the whole experience and each others company, if a little tired, and Kate seems to be settling in well. We're all looking forward to next weekend when we come back to Doogles for the night and then go on safari on the Sunday...can't wait.

The plan for this week is to carry on at the site but also for the majority of us to take lessons in both primary and secondary schools. We're leaving here at lunchtime and hope to be back to plan the lessons this afternoon.

Will hopefully be in touch on Friday to let you know how the week has gone. The video is coming along fine...not so sure abou the quality of it though!

Hope everything's well at home.

Leah and Eli x

Malawi Summer Team 2006 (Update 3)
Hey Beth!
Time for another update from Malawi....it is just Elle today as we said
goodbye to Imi, Leah, Rachel and Laura this morning...very sad!! However, we
have lots to keep us busy and we are just in Blantyre now buying packed
lunches for our 4 day trek up Mount Mulanje which starts this afternoon.
Eveyone is trying to pack as light as possible - I think that the guys are
finding this a lot easier than the girls though!

We finished the project on Wednesday - Mbinda now has a two room classroom
with a roof! Everyone is really proud of what we have achieved and I think
the community is a little shocked at how much can be done in such a short
space of time!

We had a fantastic leaving party on Wednesday night after we
played Malawi vs England football.....which we just won (rather ambiguously)
but it was all in the name of good fun! After the game it was back to the
chicken coop for BBQ'd goat and Nsima.Yummy!! We invited all of the members
of the community who have helped us with the project and in true Malawi
style, there were speeches, singing and dancing...... Thursday was clear out
day and then a farewell photograph at the school which John should be getting
to you  soon. It was really sad to leave the fantastic children and the
friends whom we have made during our visit, but we have great memories and
hopefully some good video footage to look at when we return home!

Last weekend's safari was a great success - we saw giraffe, zebra, warhog
and impala on our game drive in Llengwe and had a huge BBQ meat
feast.....everyone was SO excited considering we have eaten meat only a
handful of times in past few weeks, it was a real treat!

Must depart for Mount Mulanje now but hope to email you again on Tuesday
night when we will be back at Doogles for the last time!
Hope all is good with you,
Elle xxxx