On June 5th 2015, I embarked on one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  Within a group of 36 I travelled to Blantyre, Malawi; one of the world’s poorest counties; with Holyrood Secondary School.  For the past eight years Holyrood has travelled to Malawi each year building a closer relationship with the schools, communities and the government, by providing essential support in the construction and running of Schools.  This year I was lucky enough to be chosen to go, out of 100 applicants.

However, to go to Malawi each team member had to fundraise £1850 to cover costs of travel, accommodation, food and transport in Malawi.  At first this seemed like a daunting task, one which I would find hard to achieve.  After help from family and friends I easily achieved the set amount, which enabled me to go and help.  Yet upon speaking to Thompsons solicitors, they were extremely interested and offered to help by donating a generous sum of money towards the overall funds.  This donation was not covering costs of our travel or accommodation this money helped the Holyrood 2015 Malawi team carry out essential work.  

This year the team carried out multiple renovation and construction projects. Renovating six classrooms in Zingwangwa primary school, classrooms that will be used for pupils sitting there exams from all over Blantyre and for senior pupils.  In Matindi Primary school, the team renovated four classrooms, painting images on the wall that would assist teachers during their lessons and engage children’s minds more.  Furthermore, we started a project with a local orphanage that has no suitable classroom blocks for teaching or motivating children under the age of six.  Blocks that had no windows, no proper floors or any sort of fun or brightness within it.  Holyrood hopes to continue the work at this orphanage after making a great start this year. Also, the team in the space of two weeks helped construct two new classroom blocks at two different sites.

Going to Malawi was a fantastic experience and I feel so lucky and privileged that I had the chance to travel there and help with the construction and refurbishment projects.  However, I would never have been able to go there and we as a team would never have been able to carry out the work we did, without the donations that were so generously given.  I want to especially thank Thompsons Solicitors for their donation and support.  Thank you very much, Zikomo Kwambiri.