3rd week of training, Lilongwe

We've reached our third and final week of training! We are back in the capital city of Lilongwe and are staying in the Malawi Girlguides headquarters.  So far we have finished two training days.  Similarly to the previous weeks we began with leadership.  The girls were very responsive and as they are slightly older this week, it easier to communicate in English.  They worked especially well on a project called 'my county'- where they had to create their own set of laws.  These included free scholarships for all Girlguides and no discrimination.  Today we have been working on camp skills, as many of the girls have never been away with Girlguiding.  They have learnt knots, pioneering, map reading and even set thier own treasure hunts at the end of the day.
We're continuing training in Lilongwe for another three days.  Thursday is a very exciting day for the Malawian Girlguides as they have been invited to the Africa Union Summit-a meeting between all of Africa's presidents including Joyce Banda.  MAGGA was chosen out of the Malawi's youth orginisations and 250 Girlguides will give a presentation on why the organisation is important to young girls.  Everyone here is very excited and it is a great week to be with MAGGA.  This morning we even met Margret - the president of MAGGA.
We shall hopefullly update you soon with how the rest of the week goes.  We've had the most amazing time and so sad training is coming to an end!
Malawi love xxx

Hello from Mzuzu!

Hello everyone!

Welcome to a very photo heavy post in our blog. Sorry for not updating more regularly! We have been so busy with training that we haven't had chance to visit an internet cafe!

We have just finished our training at Mzuzu - where we had an absolutely amazing time. We met some wonderful girls and ladies and they were all very welcoming. Unfortunately we were only able to train there for 3 days as the girls could not afford the transport and packed lunch for a full 5 days. But luckily we knew this and the beginning of the week and were able to plan accordingly and cram all our training into 3 days!

Gemma playing Splat-Bang!

 Day 1 - We began our training on Leadership. The girls and leaders did some excellent role plays where they dealt with difficult situations that a leader may face. By lunchtime we knew we would only be training for 3 days, so we began to train on public presentation.

Emma pins on name badges

 Public presentation included tips on how to speak in public and how to behave in an interview. The GOLDies acted as different candidates - good and bad. The girls thought it was hilarious and enjoyed Thea's bad dress sense and messy hair.

Rachael and Glory hold up a group profile

 

The girls enjoyed playing games outside and learning new songs, although they also taught us some!

Alice plays Foxes and Chickens

Day 2 - On day 2 we split into 2 groups. 3 GOLDies taught Teenage Health whilst the other taught the Rainbow Programme to the leaders. Teenage Health was lots of fun, and a good opportunity to talk about a subject that can be taboo. The girls certainly had lots of questions for our anonymous Q&A box! The Rainbow training also went really well and the leaders responded well to the Rainbow jigsasw, 4 Ls and 5 essentials. In the afternoon they were taught craft and activities they could run with their own Rainbow units.

 

The girls make up their own games, using random objects

Becky and Alice tie friendship knots with their new friends!

Day 3 - Our final day was split into Camp Skills and Craft for fundraising. In the morning the girls learnt how to tie knots and had a mini pioneering challenge!

Emma helps build a pioneering structure

Which patrol has the tallest structure?!

Grace looks for hidden string outside to make the longest cat tail in a wide game

 

 

 The girls also learnt how to use a compass and what to take on camp. They had fun trying to direct each other when blindfolded and the GOLDies even made up a camp game called Leader's Coming (in the same style as Captain's Coming)!

Thea helps Deborah to crochet

 In the afternoon we moved onto fundraising. We began by brainstorming ideas and then discussing the pros and cons of each. Then we began 3 craft activities - Crocheting, Newspaper beads and Bead brooches. We finished with an overall evaluation for the week.

A big group photo of all the leaders, guides and GOLDies

Another group photo of the leaders and GOLDies

We all had an amazing time in Mzuzu and were really sad to leave. But soon we shall be in Lilongwe to begin our 3rd and final week training. Just before we leave the North we're going to visit Lake Malawi at Nkhata Bay and are all very much looking forward to it!

Lots of GOLD and Malawi love,

Team Malawi xxx

Our first week in Malawi!

Hi Everyone,

This is Team Malawi speaking to you from...Malawi!!! We have arrived safely in country after a very long plane journey. We traveled down to Blantyre (in the south) on Monday and began training on Tuesday.

We have been working in a local primary school where the girls are on camp. They are a mixture of Guides, Rangers and Leaders who are very eager to learn.

On our first day we held a workshop on Leadership and Public Presentation. The girls really enjoyed this, and at the end of the day gave speeches in groups on 'Why you should join Girlguiding in Malawi'. Many of them said Girlguiding helped them to learn life skills, and how to respect each other. They also thought it was a safe space, where they could make friends and have fun.

On the second day we ran sessions on camp skills. We had sessions on typical camp knots, equipment and traditional camp songs. They all thought it was strange we would bring a groundsheet for rain!!
We also trained the Leaders on the Rainbow programme. We discussed the 4 L's (Look, Learn, Laugh, Love) and the WAGGGS principles. We also held a Q&A session so they could learn more about how and when to have Rainbows.

So far everything has been really positive and we have been having lots of fun with MAGGA. We hope that this continues in the next 2 weeks of training. We shall update you soon with photos to follow!

Lots of love from Malawi!

Team Malawi 2013 xxx