Blog Malawi

Summer Days in Malawi

26.11.2012

help2kids_01We have all been rather busy over the past two weeks here in Malawi, Erin Straford (our former Guesthouse Manager & Volunteer Coordinator) has decided to leave her position with us and return back home to Australia. We wish you all the best Erin! Thank you again for all your help, hard work, and dedication, not only to our organization, but also to the community of Lifuwu! You will be dearly missed here by all, and we certainly hope you will come back sometime soon to pay us a visit!

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In light of Erin´s departure, we are happy to announce that we now have new management staff member. Our new Volunteer Coordinator Francesca from Rome, Italy, will be working with the community and school to organize new projects programs for our volunteers! And our new Guesthouse Manager – Myself, Luis from Madrid, Spain\Miami will be looking after the Friendly Gecko Guesthouse and making sure that everything is running smoothly!

We are looking forward to an amazing new year with many new exciting ideas and projects for both the Volunteer Programs here in Lifuwu Village (Leopard Bay) Malawi, as well as the Friendly Gecko Guesthouse! 

Our volunteers here in Malawi have also been very busy. We have had some new friendly faces arrive, and some familiar faces leave.  Simone has left to do some exploring and adventuring with some friends in South Africa, and Andri has left us to do some Safari´ing in Kenya with his father. Evelina and her sister Signe have also returned back to Dar es Salaam after a short stay here in Malawi in order to continue helping with the Volunteer programs there. Thank you all so much for your amazing help and contributions!

Gabi and Andrea have been teaching and playing with the younger children at Kazembe Primary School in the afternoons, and the kids are always really excited and happy to see them. They truly do an amazing job.

During the mornings, and now with the coming Mango rains starting in the middle of December, myself along with the help from our house staff and the awesome school teachers at Kazembe have decided to expand the learners classroom shelter that our generous friends the Australian backpackers initially built for the school a few months back. This will ensure that the students are able to stay dry during the rains and that they keep learning in a much more comfortable environment.

Melina, Sarah, Urs, and his girlfriend Damaris have just arrived a few days ago, and have already started working hard with Francesca and I to get involved with the school and community.  

Friday nights are usually pizza night here the Friendly Gecko, which I might add the girls have completely perfected down to an art! …and which also marks the beginning of another fun n relaxing weekend for the whole Malawi help2kids\Friendly Gecko Staff and Volunteer “Family”.

During the weekends we have all done a little bit of exploring in the surrounding areas, including hiking up the Senga Bay mountain to enjoy a truly spectacular view of Leopard Bay and the Lifuwu river valley below, as well a visiting the extremely beautiful and relaxing Safari Beach Lodge, as well also having some delicious food while listening to live local music at the Sunbird Livingstonia Beach Resort restaurant. Both only a 30 minute walk from the beach and offering a very comfortable setting to relax and unwind a little from the day to day volunteering activities incurred during the normal weekdays. 

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In the following month of December, help2kids will help fund and build alongside with the community of Lifuwu a whole new classroom shelter in order to get the last two remaining Standard 3 and 4 learners under a roof and safely away from the elements. We will also begin new smaller “Learning” programs focused on helping kids prepare for their end of year examinations, as well as continue assisting the school teachers at Kazembe during the day.

Many new and other exciting developments are also underway and we certainly hope you will come join us here in Malawi!

Kind Regards,
Luis Vazquez