Celtic FC Foundation return to Malawi for first time in six years…
‘The warm heart of Africa’
For the first time in six years Celtic FC Foundation returned to Malawi, as the volunteers, including Matt Corr from The Celtic Star, arrived safely in ‘the warm heart of Africa’, following a gruelling journey which began at Celtic Park more than 24 hours before.
Their trip began at 7.45am on Sunday morning, as the group left Celtic Park by coach for Heathrow Airport, affording them plenty of time to get to know one another.
Linwood Coachworks
And Celtic FC Foundation is exceptionally grateful to William Roberts and Linwood Coachworks who very generously covered the cost of the return coach journey, together with a meal for the team at Heathrow Airport.
The volunteers then set off on an initial flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, before travelling on to Blantyre, Malawi, where they were met with their first challenge of the trip – as around half of the cases had failed to arrive.
The tired but excited group arrived at their accommodation in Blantyre, where they settled for a well-earned rest, ahead of the first day of volunteer work.
Masalani Community Day Secondary School
Raring to go on Tuesday morning, the volunteers made their way to Masalani Community Day Secondary School, where they will work for the remainder of their time in Malawi.
The school, which also previously benefited from Foundation support back in 2018, had only four classrooms but required at least six to cater for the range of secondary school subjects.
A number of the participants from the current group had originally been scheduled to travel to Zambia in 2020 but the trip was postponed due to the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic. Monies raised back in 2020 have helped fund the building of a new two classroom block at Masalani.
Classrooms for Malawi
Accompanied by a representative from Celtic FC Foundation partner, Classrooms for Malawi, the group received the warmest of welcomes, taking part in a ceremony consisting of songs and poems from the young people at the school and speeches from the local MP for the area, the Educational Division Manager (EDM) and the Headteacher.
Ross Hart of Celtic FC Foundation, who is leading the group, also said a few words, thanking the local community for their kindness so far and participating in a ceremonial hand over, with the EDM officially opening the new classroom block funded through the Foundation.
An incredible bond has already been formed
Over the new few days, our group – consisting of Matt Corr, Robert Corr (brothers), Frank Davis, Stephanie Fulton, Emma McBeth, Sarah McLetchie, James Murphy, Karen Pattison, Finn Rowden and Lisa White – will paint and decorate this new classroom block, which was constructed by Classrooms for Malawi in time for our volunteers arriving, as well as participate in several other activities which will support the development of the school.
Despite still being very early into their Malawi adventure, and having experienced a couple of early setbacks, an incredible bond has already been formed, not only with each other but also with the community that they have encountered.
Each and every one of our volunteers is doing the Foundation and the entire Celtic Family proud here in Malawi. To support their efforts you can make a donation HERE.
Matt Corr’s Malawian Diary
Matt Corr has been writing a brilliant diary about the trip to Malawi over on The Celtic Star and has also supplied the photos we have used here on Celtic Shorts.
The journey from Celtic Park and arrival at their accommodation in Malawi, their home for the week, was covered on Monday evening and the full story of what happened on their first day at the school on Tuesday is covered in Matt’s second diary post which was published this morning. Links to both below…
READ THIS…Matt Corr’s Malawian Diary (day 1) – We’re all off to Malawi in the green
