Mercy mission takes pupils to Madonna orphanage

La mission de la pitié amène des pupilles à l'orphelinat de Madonna.


By Andy Dixon
Published:  23 September, 2008

CAITLIN Conners almost left the Republic of Malawi with more than she bargained for after an emotional visit to the same orphanage which won over music idol Madonna's heart.
The 17-year-old was part of Nairn Academy's dreams+teams group which re-traced the steps of the pop queen, two years after she met and eventually adopted baby David.
Another young boy, one of 600 children who live there, climbed into Caitlin's lap before falling asleep when the dreams+teams group visited in June.
"A little boy, maybe two years old, didn't say anything, but just crawled up and fell asleep on my knees," she recalled. "Words can't describe that. It was so unbelievable and unexpected.
"He just curled up in a little ball. It was definitely one of those moments I will never forget. I was very tempted to take him home."
Caitlin and her school-mates plus three members of staff were in the Republic of Malawi on an 18-day trip with the aim of embracing the poverty-stricken country's culture while giving the Malawian people a taste of Scottish life.
The group generated around £30,000 for the trip through fund-raising and sponsorship. Most of the money was spent on sports equipment, tartan, shortbread, stuffed Loch Ness Monster toys and other items to give to the people they met.
Caitlin, of Manse Road, Nairn, discussed health issues and sex education with Malawian teenagers, including the problems of Aids and HIV.
Coupled with malaria, an illness caught from parasites passed on by mosquitoes, the diseases contributes to lowering the country's average life expectancy to just 48 years.
For Malawians, death is a large part of life, with coffins made by road-side carpenters with as much frequency as a piece of household furniture.
In contrast, as the visitors from Nairn discovered, happiness can be sparked by the kindness of others.
"It has been completely life-changing," explained, Caitlin, a school prefect.
"They were so appreciative of all the little things we did. Just by us turning up, they thought it was the best thing ever.
"They thought we were so important and so high-powered, but we were just a few kids from school and it messed with our heads a bit."
The dreams+teams group flew from Aberdeen to London Heathrow on 23rd June before boarding a 12-hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and then a two-and-a-half hour flight to the Malawi capital of Lilongwe. They arrived almost 25 hours after leaving Nairn Academy. The group stayed in a large security-guarded lodge, about one hour from the airport, and on day three visited the Academy's link school, Chipasula Secondary School.
When they arrived at the end of a dirt track, some of the school's 1400 pupils flocked towards them, cheering and waving.
The seven-building complex offers education to pupils in the morning or afternoon, with 68 members of staff and classes of up to 40 children.
After touring the school, the group were invited to a community gathering in a village nearby. They discovered people had cycled from miles around just to see them.
All the pupils on the trip were selected because they had leadership qualities, demonstrated through school or extra-curricular activities.
This included sporting qualifications and one of the elements of the trip was to teach the Malawians sports coaching and leadership skills.
At the school, the pupils explained to groups of boys and girls how to divide teams fairly and rules for sports like football, rounders and hockey.
Later, they visited the local market, where they learned to barter.
One of the country's key tourist attractions is Lake Malawi, situated in the north-east. The group took some of the Malawian pupils and teachers with them, stopping off at rural villages comprising mud huts.
Then, after teaching some locals how to play rugby on the beach, they visited a church before returning to the school to give more rugby lessons. At the same time, the Malawian girls taught their Scottish counterparts how to play netball.
On day eight they visited the orphanage at Mchinji, 10km from the Zambian border. Fifteen-year-old Mark Bain, who kept a diary of the trip, recalled the orphans were aged up to 16.
"It was a big eye opener for all of us," he said. "It is something that we could never explain properly. You really need to be there to understand completely. All the children looked so happy. Their clothes looked a bit messy, but the children themselves looked clean.
"There was a lot of them coming up to us and asking us if we were their next mummy or daddy. We didn't know what to say to them."
The group donated footballs and baby clothes.
Back at the school, they compared the differences between life in Nairn and Malawi. Most of the pupils in Malawi walked up to 10km to school every day and none ate sweets, chips or fast-food.
On day 12 of the trip, they met the school rector, Moses, for the first time. He died five days later.
The day after meeting him, they travelled to a different camp, where they spent the remainder of their visit. Activities included safari, where they spotted elephants, hippos and crocodiles, and danced with locals around an open fire. They even attempted to teach the Malawians "The Dashing White Sergeant".
Later, they visited Mulanje Mission Hospital where they donated mosquito nets and medical supplies including first aid kits.
"Overall the whole trip was just great and I would love to do it again," said Mark, of Grantown Road, Nairn. "It was the experience of a life-time.
"The main highlight for me was the school and the activities we took part in there. The welcome we got was huge and they were always wanting to please us.
"Malawi has a lot of poverty, but you just need to see past that and take the people for who they are."
It was Nairn Academy's deputy head teacher Sheena MacGillivray's sixth trip to Malawi and she is hoping eight pupils and two staff from the link school can visit Nairn in June.
She said she was extremely proud of her pupils.
"It gives them a much greater understanding of the world and their place in it," she explained. "They have seen things that they have only read about in newspapers and watched on television, but to see it in real life, and to meet the people and have positive experiences and overlook things like the poverty puts these things into a completely different perspective."
Labour MSPs Peter Peacock and Jack McConnell visited Nairn Academy last week to hear of the experience.
Mr Peacock, a list MSP for the Highlands and Islands, was inspired by the group and hopes to visit Malawi in the future.
Former first minister, Mr McConnell, was also impressed. He has visited the country regularly and is expected to take up the duties of British High Commissioner to Malawi in the spring, a role in which he will represent the UK Government.
He said Nairn Academy's visit was one of the best examples of a Scottish school helping an African country.
"Some of the pupils here said their lives will never be the same again," he continued. "They have learned something about themselves, about what to appreciate in life, and how they can help other people. I really hope that others will follow suit."
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FORMER first minister, Jack McConnell, plans to question the rates school groups pay when visiting African countries.
The 12 pupils from Nairn Academy who went to Malawi paid £99 each for a visa — official documentation required to gain entry.
Mr McConnell, who is expected to take up the post of British High Commissioner to Malawi next year, has promised to raise the matter with the UK Government when in that role, if not with the Scottish Government before.
"It should come at a discount," he said.
"It's certainly worth raising."
Deputy head teacher, Sheena MacGillivray, described the costs as prohibitive.
"It is one thing I would like him (Mr McConnell) to help us with because it's a lot of money for our kids to raise, over £1000 just for a bit of paper," she said.

Facts about the Republic of Malawi
Population — 14 million
Capital city — Lilongwe
Borders — Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique
Languages — English (official), Chichewa (national)
Independence — Since July 1964 (from UK)
Main exports — tobacco, tea, sugar and cotton

Source: The Inverness Courier.