A team from Centrica PLC teamed up with The Microloan Foundation and travelled to Malawi to take on Mount Mulanje. With 21 peaks and rising to over 3,000 metres there three day climb was quite a challenge! The team all conquered Mulanje, reached an incredible fundraising target and then visited some of the inspiring women who are benefitting from The Microloan Foundation in Malawi.
Day To Day: Mulanje Hike Challenge. Microloan Women’s Group Visits.
TRAVELERS DIARY
September 30, 2014
Monica Fisher is one of the amazing women who embarked on the Malawi Challenge this year. In order to find out a bit more what this challenge will involve why not read about some of Monica’s experiences!
After completing the challenging trek Monica notes that:
One of the great things about the Malawi Challenge is that you won’t be facing it alone; you’ll be part of a team!
Furthermore after the demanding adventure there are opportunities to relax:
“We walked to a viewpoint affording a beautiful panorama down into the plains, seeing the roads we had arrived on, the villages and the crops and tea plantations below.”
“We took a steep path down through the forest, ending up at The Old Man’s Pool. The place was once known as a swimming pool for the elderly and those who saw an elderly man with white hair and wrinkles were said to be ‘blessed’. This large pool, some 60m deep, is fed by a waterfall and most of us enjoyed a swim before our final picnic in the mountains. None of us saw the old man but we did watch Mackenzie jump in from an outcrop high above the edge of the pool.”
“Our next stop was to the shores of Lake Malawi near Salima to meet some of the recipients the charity’s loans.
“We were also treated to a song which had the typical African rhythm and clapping, and at the end the Loan Officer told us that the lyrics were all about borrowing money and making repayments. This method has proved to be a much more effective way of ensuring that the borrowers take on board the business messages than the providing written hand-outs.”
“The true holiday part of the trip was then enjoyed, chilling by the pool before heading for Lizard Island just offshore. A couple of us swam and snorkelled watching the cichlid fish in the shallows. Others were content to watch the fisherman hauling in their nets or the otters swim by. But we all enjoyed watching the sunset, or should I say, the sun set on our Malawi Charity Challenge.”
Press Links to the trip:
https://www.microloanfoundation.org.uk/what-we-do/news/the-microloan-foundation-malawi-challenge/
Harry (10) and Tom (8) travelled to Malawi with their father and grandmother in half term this October 2017. The purpose of the trip was to understand the Malawi way of life and to put solar power and mosquito nets into a local school.
In the summer of 2016, a group from 25th Stirling (Dunblane) Boys' Brigade travelled to Malawi to renovate classrooms in two local primary schools in the district of Mulanje. They travelled with RSC partner charity Classrooms for Malawi - a Scottish charity who rebuild and renovate classrooms in Malawi using local paid builders and volunteers from Scotland.
Raising money for your charity can be a family affair - as shown by an inspirational group of families who brought their children to Malawi to learn first-hand the challenges of rural communities and get involved in a special challenge of their own!
Every year Royal Holloway University, London brings a group of 30-40 students Malawi for a weeks study trip. Students interested in development processes can examine the role of international aid and NGOs, as well as community-based initiatives and state-led education, health and infrastructure programmes.