Malawi Coincidence...

Whilst spending a month as a volunteer with the Umoyo Orphanage project in a remote village near Njebwa in Northern Malawi recently I shared some amazing experiences! The purpose of the trip was to finance and show the villagers how to install 6 ‘Ecodomes’, environmentally friendly waterless units for hygienic disposal of human waste.

My Trefoil Guild donated one hundred pounds to the project and I was given a Trefoil Scarf to present to a villager and a celebration Guiding scarf to give to a new younger friend. The Guild felt it would be a brilliant way to help celebrate the Centenary.

I cannot tell you how much excitement such a simple gift could bring. The lady in the photo is the eldest lady in the village, and is ninety five years old, she still sits on the floor and is living without running water or electricity.

The young lady, I happened to meet by chance living in Blantyre, a city south of Malawi, just happened to be the great great grand-daughter of the oldest lady in the village hundreds of miles away – and was also a new member of the Guides! She was so excited; she kept her scarf on for the two days I was there, even wearing it to bed!

Perhaps the guide was in a unit helped by Friends of Guiding in Malawi? .... see other articles about Malawi on this website and in The Trefoil magazine. Barbara Welcomme-Allen, South West Region.