Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Pupils tell tales from adventure in Malawi
Youngsters from St Margaret’s High have published their latest volume of diaries from the Aiming Higher in Malawi project.
Pupils who visited this summer have compiled accounts of their personal experiences in a book entitled ‘Friendship, Family and Faith’.
It has been printed by Capital Solutions to enable all the money raised from their sales to go to the school’s fundraising for Malawi.
The Airdrie secondary sponsors an orphanage, partners a school, has helped construct a women’s refuge, founded the Makhoza Catholic women’s cooperative, sent pupils to the country to educate Malawians on health issues and won the school impact category at the inaugural Scotland- Malawi partnership awards in October.
Former pupil Carly Friel, whose account of her third trip to Africa is featured in the new volume, told of her latest visit to meet Chikondi, the young boy she has sponsored for the past five years.
Carly said: “He is growing in strength every year and I cannot put into words how grateful I am to have been given the opportunity to watch and help him grow up, gaining more confidence each year.
“As he is unable to speak and walk I initially thought it would be challenging to build a relationship with him but I was so wrong.
“Each year I have seen him be more confident, begin to walk with minor assistance and seen how happy and his family are.
“This little boy has been a blessing in my life and I will continue to support him and his family in every way I can.”
Former pupil Lauren Strain, making her fourth trip to Malawi, told of seeing the level of poverty at Mulanji prison.
She described it as “one of the most challenging experiences on my trip” and said: “I think it was in this moment I realised the severity of the poverty that existed.”
She added: “It was, once again, a remarkable trip of selfdiscovery. It left me stunned at what I have witnessed and genuinely heartbroken at the circumstances individuals are subjected to.
“However, with that it has shown me strength in its purest form, the value of love, compassion and faith in one another and that in the most oppressive circumstances the community around you can truly be a guiding light.”
St Margaret’s headteacher Stephen Snee described this summer’s visit as “a real privilege” and said: “It was everything that I expected and so much more.
“I met some of the most inspirational people from the planet and was with some of the most inspirational young people from Scotland.”
Council leader Jim Logue visited St Margaret’s for the launch of their diaries.
He said: “They provide a wonderful insight into some of the work being done in Malawi by the school, in particular through supporting the work of Sister Anna Tomassi who feeds pre-school children and leads a prison mission.”